Put long lines and catch big fish.
Editor’s note: This article is from the micro-channel public number “all-media school” (ID: quanmeipai) , Author: Tencent Media.
The same world, the same “net class”.
Under the epidemic, topics such as “online courses are too bullying” and “how difficult are online courses” in the Chinese Internet world have caused heated discussions. At the same time, high school students in the United States also lived in days when they could not get home. You can only switch back and forth between “swipe ins-boring-then swipe ins”.
But recently, the “New York Times” intends to assign “homework” to high school students.
On April 6, the New York Times announced that it will collaborate with Verizon (a US telecom operator) to provide high school teachers and students in the US with free access to their websites and mobile programs within the next three months, with a view Time allows students to keep up to date with news.
“Even in distance learning, students can read in-depth professional reports and learn about news in various fields, from international issues to arts and culture to science, politics, etc.” In the joint statement, ” New York Times CEO Mark Thompson and Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg wrote.
For students, this is obviously good news. But the purpose of the New York Times is not just for the benefit of students. Over the past two centuries, the American newspaper industry and the education community have been cooperating. This is an exchange involving public interests and commercial interests. A win-win situation is the ultimate goal.
This issue of the All Media Group (ID: quanmeipai) compiles Nieman Lab articles, taking the free project of the New York Times as an example to talk to you about the history of cooperation between the American newspaper industry and the education industry and the New York Times Lifting purpose.
Newspaper + school =?
On June 8, 1795, Maine, United States, the Eastern Portland Herald published an editorial highlighting the benefits of using newspapers as a teaching tool.
“The question about the effectiveness of newspapers has been discussed widely, but one of the most important benefits of newspapers has been neglected. That is to help children read newspapers in schools and families …”
For more than two centuries since then, newspapers and education have merged two ardent hopes—improving social welfare and increasing economic returns. In the 1930s, Newspaper in Education (NIE) emerged in the United States. It not only opened a window to a wider world for students, but also subtly nurtured the young generation who might become subscribers in the future. The habit of reading newspapers.
In this respect, no newspaper in the United States has done more thoroughly than the New York Times.
In 2007, the “Knowledge Network” project of the New York Times combined newspaper content with teaching materials for credit courses and continuing education courses. This project was an early attempt by the newspaper in this field. One of the goals of this project is to give educators the opportunity to “select newspaper articles, archive content, images, and other multimedia content including videos and webcasts around specific topics, and provide them to students along with course materials “. The New York Times believes that students will “benefit from reading the topic-related content published in the newspaper.”
In 2008, the New York Times acquired a majority stake in the online learning platform Epsilen; in 2010, the New York Times took the lead in cooperating with universities to provide credit courses such as video courses at Ball State University The Project Share project in public schools in Texas is a state-wide project that provides multiple resources for Texas educators, including the New York Times, Texas Education iTunes U, and PBS.
Anita Givens of the Texas Department of Education said: “By providing a web2.0 e-learning environment for classrooms in Texas to help them collaborate, share best educational practices and access digital content, we are very happy to be able to Provide newer and more advanced tools for the development of the education industry and teaching in the 21st century. “
In 2011, the New York Times began offering teacher certification courses at Rio Salado College in Arizona, and continued to offer educational courses at the University of Southern California. Rio Salado AcademyIt is a community college in Arizona that cooperates with the “Knowledge Network” project of the New York Times to develop and provide a national online “post-baccalaureate” teacher preparation program. This program is for those who already have a bachelor’s degree and want to obtain a teaching certificate in primary, secondary or special education.
This series of actions was promoted in the process of the New York Times seeking to diversify its income. However, the cash shortage caused by the financial crisis caused the New York Times to sell its non-core business and cut its core products, and many partnerships related to education projects also collapsed (2012, New York Times) “Sell Epsilen).
But even so, the New York Times has never stopped combining newspapers with education.
Free business experience in the age of digital subscriptions
In the past few years, the New York Times ’focus on news products has yielded effective returns—the rise in digital subscriptions, the expansion of newsrooms, and the foreseeable boom in the future. Along with these benefits, there is also a remarkable cooperation with the education community.
In early 2017, users ’interest and demand for high-quality news surged. The most typical example is the“ Trump Bump ”phenomenon in the subscriptions of the New York Times and other media. Seizing this opportunity, the New York Times launched the “Subsidized Student Subscription” project, anyone can subsidize a high school student to subscribe to the New York Times. The positioning and vision of this project is: “Sponsor a student subscription and inspire the future generation of readers”.
Since the marginal cost of an additional subscription is basically zero, this project is essentially a donation to the New York Times. After all, as a profit-oriented company and a proud old media, it is almost impossible for the New York Times to directly add a “donate” button to the article page. The “Subsidized Student Subscription” project attracted 15,500 donors within a month and “funded” 1.3 million student subscriptions. According to a rough estimate, this brought about $ 2 million in income for the New York Times.
After this project, the New York Times relaunched the idea of earning revenue from sponsored subscriptions. Last fall, the newspaper announced a partnership with Verizon Cooperation to provide free access to NYTime.com for teachers and students of Title I High School (those with a large number of poor and disadvantaged students) in the United States.
It is worth noting that at the time, students or teachers could only enjoy this permission when they were connected to their school ’s network. Now most students are unable to connect to the school network, so they have this new collaboration between The New York Times and Verizon. This time, the use of free permissions requires teachers or school administrators to register and then provide students ’email lists instead of requiring students to connect to the school ’s network.
Behind the free: put a long line, catch big fish
Although no details were disclosed in the statement, it is conceivable that Verizon will pay the New York Times the corresponding remuneration for this cooperation. But even if it does not involve economic interests or does not have any public relations benefits, it is still a very good deal for the New York Times.
The most fundamental point is that this project will expose millions of young people to the content of the New York Times. At present, many people’s news consumption is growing exponentially. When these children want to know the latest news about the epidemic, the New York Times will be their first choice, and they may also share it on social networking sites. The content of the Times.
Presumably, the New York Times will provide students with standard subscription versions, including newsletter pushes and podcasts, such as The Daily. From the inbox to the podcast app, this series of products will embed The New York Times in students’ daily lives.
At the same time, the New York Times also obtained the e-mail addresses of all students-of course, it may only be the address of the school mailbox, not a private mailbox, but this has been of great benefit.
First, students become registered and logged-in users, and the New York Times can understand their content preferences; second, it opens the door for the future email marketing of the Times. For example, the New York Times can send an email to every child in this project after three months, offering a package of $ 1 or less, so that they can also read relevant content during the November election Even for children who have little interest in news, this is a potential selling point.
And all these initiatives have no financial losses. There are not many young people who pay for the New York Times, so this free project has little risk of eroding existing customers. The cost of providing access rights is mainlyIn dealing with email addresses and developing marketing / subscription plans.
In the education industry, the New York Times (and several other US national media, and more niche media) still have great growth potential. The isolation in the epidemic is accelerating the development of distance learning and online education on an unprecedented scale, and this provides more opportunities for the media. As Scott Galloway, a professor at the New York University School of Business, pointed out: “The search volume of ‘Master Class’ on Google has exceeded the search volume of ‘Business School’.”
Of course, education is a difficult bone to eat. People who believed in MOOC will replace higher education ten years ago have long felt. But projects like the “New York Times” that invest in education and attract young readers are not that troubling.
Reference link:
1.https: //www.niemanlab.org/2020/04/the-new-york-times-will-be-free-for-high-school-students-over-the-next-three-anxious -months /
2.https: //www.cmswire.com/cms/web-publishing/nyt-brings-the-knowledge-network-online-001677.php
3.https: //investors.nytco.com/press/press-releases/press-release-details/2011/The-New-York-Times-Knowledge-Network-Announces-Milestone-in-Texas-Education -Agency — Project-Share-Initiative / default.aspx
4.https: //campustechnology.com/articles/2011/06/21/rio-salado-college-works-with-new-york-times-system-to-deliver-teacher-training.aspx? m = 2
5.https: //www.profgalloway.com/post-corona-higher-ed