Nieman Journalism Lab |
| NewsGame aims to populate a virtual world with real reporting and pretend correspondents Posted: 25 Jun 2012 04:09 PM PDT
Game makers turned to journalism for inspiration long before Atari gave us Paperboy. There was Deadline in the 1970s, and Scoop and Calling Superman in the 1950s. (If you want to get really old-school, see Round the World with Nellie Bly.) The object is always to perform the duties of someone working in journalism: deliver the newspaper without getting mauled by a dog (or swarmed by bees, terrifyingly enough), work your way up from cub reporter, or put together the front page of a daily newspaper. What about a journalism game that yields real news stories? Thomas Loudon, CEO of the Dutch startup VJ Movement, is trying it. Here’s the idea for NewsGame, a Facebook game now in development: Players take on the role of foreign correspondents and face mini-challenges within the game world, such as “you have to cross the border into Iran” or “save child soliders in Somalia,” Loudon told me.
“You have to create your skills, your personality, you travel the virtual world as a journalist,” Loudon said. “You’re going to be cooperating or competing with other players you meet. You can decide to team up with a photographer, for example, and go together. Or you can ignore the photographer and say, ‘I’m going on my own,’ but you might not be as safe.” Players encounter issues in the game world that are probably playing out in real life — a bombing in Pakistan, drug battles in Colombia — then pitch related stories to actual journalists, who populate the game with original reporting. Loudon says he is working with VJ Movement’s existing network of 300 journalists in more than 100 countries. Those journalists are paid €750 to produce a video report or €150 for an editorial cartoon. (The rates are being tweaked to reflect pay scales in different countries.) While the game will be free to play on Facebook, players can buy in-game resources, FarmVille-style. This means the game, in addition to ad revenue, will pay for the production of the journalism. “The gaming business model that works really well at the moment is the model where you sell virtual goods or virtual credits in a game,” Loudon said. Product placement is another option. “Sony cameras,” he said, “or airlines, because journalists travel a lot, or hotels.” Loudon says he is also seeking partnerships with newspapers so that real-life subscribers can get game credits. Loudon says the company is in negotiation with “several large brands of comic characters” that he hopes would draw in players who might not otherwise be interested. Here’s how he explains it: “Do you know about The Smurfs? It’s an extremely annoying game but it’s a huge hit. A major success.” You won’t find Smurfs in the NewsGame world, but Loudon hopes the game will be populated with “comic characters that have a lot to do with journalism.” (For what it’s worth, I nominate Scarlet O’Neil over this guy.) NewsGame’s team of real-life journalists will report to a team of editors, and all reporters will be required to sign to an ethics code. “If we find out they have deliberately screwed up, they have signed a contract that says we can put a red cross on their profile on the site, and we explain why it’s there.” It remains to be seen whether gamers will like playing as journalists, and whether serious journalism can thrive in a game. Even if journalists are enthused about contributing, how will consumers feel about getting real news in an environment that blurs fantasy and reality? As anyone who has deliberately crashed a Choplifter into a crowd of digital people (or sent a fleet of Micro Machines off the cliff of a sofa arm, or mutilated a Barbie, etc., etc.) can tell you, people often do things in games that they’d never do in real life. But what happens when the two intersect? Take an example that Harvard Law professor Jonathan Zittrain raised at this year’s ROFLCon, an annual Internet culture conference. In 2006, when a World of Warcraft player died — in real life — the friends she had met in Azeroth planned an in-game vigil in her memory, spreading the word on WoW message boards. A rival guild saw this as an opportunity for a sneak attack and slaughtered all of the mourners. Some people were outraged, horrified. Others shrugged off the virtual massacre: It’s just a game. The conversation has sparked serious examination of gaming ethics and the extent to which real-life codes apply to massively multiplayer game worlds. NewsGame aims to be one of those worlds with crossover from real-life reporters. It’s not just a game. “It’s all going to be based very much on real experiences of correspondents,” Loudon said. “We’re gathering as much information as possible from correspondents to create the game. The whole idea, the reason why people would play, is basically to go along on that adventure.” |
| Where rock lives: Boston.com gets into streaming radio Posted: 25 Jun 2012 11:59 AM PDT
The to-be-named station would function in many ways like WFNX, with music, interviews and events based around the city. But instead of beaming out over the air, the channel would be exclusively available through Boston.com and mobile apps. The station will go live on Boston.com later this summer. Since last year’s split with BostonGlobe.com, Boston.com has methodically launched one new project after another, including event ticketing, sentiment analysis tools and a sports TV show. Just recently it applied to get into the domain-name managing business. It’s clear the web-native sibling to the Globe wants to stretch its arms out wide to find new revenue streams as well as new methods of building audiences. The technology is on their side here; it’s not that difficult to set up a streaming radio station. The problem comes in building an audience and making the station profitable. The Globe sees the infusion of WFNX personalities as way to help. DJs Julie Kramer, Henry Santoro and Adam 12 are joining the Boston.com staff along with former WFNX program director Paul Driscoll and the station’s leads on ad sales and promotions. All of the new Boston.com radio team were among those laid-off by ClearChanel in the WFNX purchase. “All of a sudden we realized this wealth of talent was suddenly available and we mobilized to launch Boston.com radio,” said Lisa DeSisto, general manager of Boston.com. DeSisto told me “Boston.com radio” is a working title at the moment. She said music programming has been an idea they wanted to pursue in the past, but couldn’t figure out the right format. A streaming radio station makes sense because it would allow Boston.com to take advantage of what they already have: a technical staff, established community connections, and an existing ad sales staff. They’re not yet releasing technical details about the station, but Jeff Moriarty, vice president for digital products at the Globe, told me they will have iPhone, Android and BlackBerry apps. Moriarty said they want to provide visitors to Boston.com or mobile users updated program and song information to make the station more accessible throughout the day. One of the biggest benefits to setting up a streaming radio station is the setup costs are significantly lower than over-the-air. The costs are even lower if you can use existing parts of your business, which Boston.com plans to do. “It’s like starting up a newspaper now. You don’t need a printing press anymore, all you need is some technology to get up and running,” said Moriarty. The barrier to entry, for Boston.com, is relatively low compared to the revenue potential. Still, it’s more money Boston.com is spending trying to build a new, stable revenue base. I asked DeSisto if they saw risks in spending out front of so many new projects. She told me the company is following its business plan and believes things like Boston.com radio will offer incalculable, intangible benefits. DeSisto told me they have high expectations for advertising through the radio station. Boston.com radio would be an outlet for existing advertisers with Boston.com and the Globe, but would also position the company to reach radio-specific advertisers. There still are some things that will be new for Boston.com, which, again, is where the former WFNX-ers will come in handy. They’ll need a programming schedule, a studio and a mechanism for paying royalties on songs. Where the ex-WFNX staff may be most needed is using their prior experience to help draw an audience to the new station. A streaming radio station seems like a good bet on a future where mobile devices, tablets and internet enabled-cars provide endless outlets for news and entertainment to consumers. But we’re still in the present, and streaming stations don’t occupy the space on the radio dial that can drive large audiences and build identity. Plus, if you’re in the online radio business you’re not just competing with the old-school stations, but also the Pandoras and Spotifys of the world. But Boston.com has a good market position to grow, having been online since 1995. They’re hoping that springboard, along with apps, events and a veteran radio staff that knows the territory, can give the station the launch it needs. “Without a terrestrial signal we want as many avenues available to get it out there,” Moriarty said. |
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