
NewsTilt is at the initial press release stage... good luck, guys - jgrahamc
http://newslabs.com/press-launch/
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jsm386
This seems really interesting. One question - from your FAQ: 'On the site,
content is organized around the journalist's brand, with a list of their
stories organized by popularity, controversy, etc. Each article has links to
similar stories on the site, links to similar topics, and comments. The main
page is a list of recent trending topics and recent stories. In time, this
will become a personalized news page. '

Are you guys aware of True/Slant? They seem to be working with a similar
model: 'True/Slant is the digital home for the 'Entrepreneurial Journalist.'
Knowledgeable and credible contributors anchor and build their digital brands
on True/Slant using tools that enable them to easily create content and craft
stories filtered through human perspective (not an algorithm).'

~~~
pbiggar
A key word on True/Slant's site is 'contributor'. Journalists on NewsTilt are
not contributors, they are our clients, and we work for them. A massively
different perspective.

~~~
smcnally
I hear where you're coming from here.

At True/Slant, Contributors are absolutely central to what we are. I'm not
sure if it's just nomenclature - and perhaps the differences between our
"contribs" and NewsTilt's "clients" will be more apparent once you've
launched. I can say, though, that we work our asses off for our contributors.

When we design, it's with Contribs in front-of-mind. When we build new tools
and features, their interactions are foremost. We recruit each of them
personally and provide advertising, distribution, SEO and other services on
top of a dead-simple self-publishing platform.

As I said, (above and in another comment below), our offerings are going to be
different from one another as we're different teams with different sets of
goals and experience. I'm very interested in what NewsTilt is bringing to the
game - we both seem interested in keeping journalism thriving.

Congrats on your launch, on your backing from YC and for your pre-launch piece
on TechCrunch. All the best to you and your team.

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pbiggar
Looks like we're going to launch tomorrow afternoon PST. We'll try to get an
early look for HN folk. Community is really important to us and to our
journalists, so we'd love you guys to stop by and set a great example.

~~~
ig1
That reminds me - I never got around to replying to your email from a couple
of weeks ago, oops, I'll try to get around to it soon !

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jasonlotito
Assuming the quality remains good, I'd really like this. Especially knowing
money would go to the author. Are you focusing just on ad revenue, or are you
looking into other ways to bring in money (like subscriptions that remove ads,
etc).

I wrote an article recently about how social news sites are hurting brand
recognition for smaller sites, so it's nice to see what amounts to a "social
news site" that puts the brand of the content producer up front.[1]

Honestly, I would like to reduce the number of sources I go to for news, and
I'd like to see news sites focused on news, not ads and massive animations and
videos. Hopefully, you guys can deliver.

And, honestly, I also like that you are using Facebook Connect. I do think
it's accurate that "Readers will write much higher quality comments if they
use their real identity." Part of the reason I use my name where I can. I
accept my comments, the good and the bad, openly.

[1]. [http://www.jasonlotito.com/news/reddit-hn-digg-reducing-
writ...](http://www.jasonlotito.com/news/reddit-hn-digg-reducing-writer-
recognition/)

~~~
pbiggar
> Are you focusing just on ad revenue, or are you looking into other ways to
> bring in money (like subscriptions that remove ads, etc).

We'll be experimenting with revenue models a lot. Ad revenue is just the
default.

> And, honestly, I also like that you are using Facebook Connect.

Glad people agree. I guess we'll see tomorrow how it goes.

------
ryanb
<http://www.newstilt.com/> brings me to an App failed to start/Ruby error
page.

~~~
pbiggar
Fixed now. That was an inopportune time to deploy!

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malloreon
This sounds like a gussied up Wordpress-MU installation with a bunch of
plugins (social media, SEO, etc), adsense api (so they can switch between
showing their ads and their authors' ads).

Or, rather, it sounds like this idea could be recreated with all that and
hiring a designer to make a nice theme.

The only difference is that they vet the writers beforehand, unlike Squidoo or
Hubpages or Buzzle.

I'm genuinely curious, how is this different than any other online journalism
endeavor?

~~~
pbiggar
By that logic, Google is just another search engine.

Even if the only difference was that we vetted the journalists first, think of
what that gives you. Seeing the newstilt logo on a journalist's page means you
know they're good. It opens up the possibility of syndication to newspapers
and other big content sites. It commands higher ad rates. It makes the
frontpage a worthwhile place to go (would you go to the frontpage of blogger?
probably not.)

Each little thing which seems like its practically the same as other sites, is
in fact massively different. We use Facebook Connect, sounds minor right? Or
it could be the difference between good and bad community (I'm betting on
better comments due to using real names). Consider even the fact that I'm on
HN. That means we know good community when we see it, and we recognize its
value. See if you find that in any other online journalism endeavor.

And we're not gussi-ing anything up in wordpress. You don't take the core of
your product off the shelf like that, at least, not as a technology company.

Our designer is working on the new site. It'll be pretty tomorrow.

~~~
smcnally
Totally agree that seemingly small tweaks can be huge differences and
differentiators.

When we were launching, many compared us to HuffPo, TechCrunch or one of a
handful of other blog networks. It can be annoying, but it can also be a bit
of - as Marcellus Wallace put it - "pride fucking with you." What you're
building will be its own thing because it's a different vision and set of
experience building it. True/Slant's been public for a year, and I don't think
I've heard those comparisons in awhile.

> And we're not gussi-ing anything up in wordpress. > You don't take the core
> of your product off the shelf > like that, at least, not as a technology
> company.

But then, you will be reïmplementing major chunks of a CMS from the ground-up?
Editorial and publishing workflows? Access controls? Tagging systems and info
hierarchies?

I am admittedly biased here, as we made a very conscious decision to build
trueslant.com atop Wordpress MU. I've built CMSes from the ground-up. I've
created them from general-purpose tools and content management-specific
frameworks. Building atop Mu has allowed us to spend significantly more time
and energy on the overall experience and less on the nuts and bolts.

I'd like to think we've done more than some gussying up; the Automattic folks,
among others, seem to agree

    
    
       http://2009.newyork.wordcamp.org/program/saturday-sessions/#cms
    
       http://www.slideshare.net/rogertheriault/technology-of-the-new-news-workflow
    

Bless you, too, for launching with Fb Connect. We implemented it after being
live for several months and had tens of thousands of existing Members to
contend with "linking" existing with Fb accounts (or specifically NOT linking,
as the case was). Doing it from the get-go should be simpler for everyone.

I look forward to your official launch.

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thirdstation
I realize I have an idealistic point-of-view but, I always thought journalism
was about the _news_ and not about the journalist.

EDIT: removed gripey, complainy questions.

~~~
jasonlotito
Yes, it is. But the source of that news is also important as well. Fox News,
for example, isn't highly regarded in many circles.

With this, the 'brand' is interesting. First, the journalist makes money
directly, which is nice. Secondly, the journalist suffers and succeeds based
on the news reported.

Finally, commentary offered by a journalist is also valuable. I don't have
time to be an expert in everything, but I can assume that a automobile
journalist will be better informed then me, and can provide me with meaningful
information.

Those are, of course, just my thoughts on the matter. =)

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joubert
How many journalists do you already have signed up?

~~~
angelbob
They were initially calling for 30. I'm not sure how many they're launching
with.

(Disclaimer: while I've met the guys who founded this and got a bit of early
information on their operation, I don't have a non-publicly good answer to
this question.)

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thirdstation
Who pays for the lawyers should the journalist get sued for libel?

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vaksel
did you forget to upload the CSS file? or are you just taking the whole
minimal design thing too far?

~~~
pbiggar
The launched site will be much prettier.

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iamelgringo
Godspeed, gentlemen. Looking forward to what you guys come up with.

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hockeybias
Good luck! ...Your link currently bombs when I try to use it! :(

