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The development of local news websites should aim in two directions: one is to establish an authoritative media image, and the other is to base on regional advantages
As Qianlong.com, Dongfang.com, Beifang.com and other websites continue to step up their pace of restructuring, the development of key local news websites has attracted more and more attention from the industry.
The development of network technology requires the transformation of traditional media. Many traditional media have realized that the direction of transformation lies in the Internet. At present, various localities have established key local news websites in the form of "fourth media" to seize the main position and promote the main theme. Traditional media have limited room for breakthroughs in terms of distribution and advertising. On the contrary, a Zhangjiajie News Network in Hunan, which started with a few thousand yuan, has established itself in a prefecture-level city with a total population of only 1.65 million. After just three years of development, its operating income has increased It actually surpassed Zhangjiajie Daily, which has a history of more than 20 years.
At the same time, key local news websites rely on the authority of the media to provide a full range of Internet services for the cities or regions where they are located, and have broad prospects. The profit model of online media is broader than that of newspaper media, and the rapid development of Internet technology will only make these profit models more breakthrough. It is worth mentioning that network technology itself has determined that the website does not only have media attributes, it can attract more users to the website for various rich experiences, such as shopping and games, making friends, recruiting, etc. The richness of this network's attributes also determines its unlimited development space.
At present, the development momentum of key local news websites is very good, but there are still some difficulties that we must face up to.
First, the portal website is not a news organization, but a commercial company. They use the technical advantages of the Internet to integrate news, and ultimately attract the majority of news readers. Going to portal websites to read news has become a collective habit of netizens. Against this background, if local news websites want to change this predicament, they obviously need to act preemptively.
Second, as we all know, the main personnel of local news websites are traditional news practitioners, while the backbone of commercial websites are technical personnel engaged in network development. Therefore, key news websites have obvious disadvantages in terms of technical planning, technology research and development, and technical support. As a result, most local news websites are still running their websites based on the idea of running newspapers. They lack a grasp of the advantages of online media, and it is naturally difficult to break out of the cocoon. Key local news websites must design their introduction mechanisms and salary systems to make them more attractive to talents with real experience in online media.
Since the Internet naturally carries media attributes, especially large portals that have developed self-media such as forums, blogs, and Weibo, they sometimes have more communication advantages than government media. Among them, commercial websites that operate well can carry out many market actions with public opinion, and sometimes even form different voices with local governments. Therefore, the development of key local news websites can be said to be not only a market behavior, but also have the function of purifying social order and conveying public opinion.
Specifically, the development of local news websites should aim at two directions: First, establish an authoritative media image. Currently, some key local news websites attach great importance to brand building, such as the well-known Hunan Red Network, which uses a series of sub-brands. Such as Red Chili Pepper, People's Voice, etc., gradually established the big brand of Hongwang.
The second is based on geographical advantages. In terms of public news, local news websites cannot compare with national news websites; in terms of attractions such as games and entertainment, they cannot compare with commercial websites. However, in terms of the authority and credibility of local news, because of its background in local government, it enjoys unique advantages. After sufficient efforts have been made in these two aspects, there is great potential to build a regional portal or even a comprehensive portal based on the credibility of authoritative media. In this process, because of the large number of users, its media functions will become more perfect.
(Author: Han Liyong is a media practitioner)