I used to think that every newspaper site should become a news aggregator a la Topix or Google or Yahoo! News. But I’m now thinking that Techmeme offers a potentially more interesting model for newspapers. It’s edited but dynamic, and so has the vitality of Digg without the nonsense and politics.
Interestingly, it is also social because you see the lead stories and the blogs and publications that respond to those stories.
I think that newspapers should take a careful and thoughtful look at this model. It would require some radical rethinking and risk taking — and it might not work exactly the same way as Techmeme — but I believe it would pay off.
__
Kate Kaye at ClickZ writes about newspapers’ online “social networking” efforts (via MarketingVox).
Screenwerk 
February 5, 2007 at 5:56 pm
Sure, it seems like a good idea for newspapers, but I think it would work better if Techmeme created local sites. Or take megite which allows you to upload your own opml and create a local news meme. I think it’s an idea with legs and one we’ll see before too long. But newspapers are too risk averse to try it, most anyway.
March 1, 2007 at 7:56 pm
[…] I’ve said before, I think online newspapers need to mimic what Techmeme is doing, in addition to generating their […]
November 2, 2007 at 5:02 am
[…] and The Times Earlier this year, in Feb., I posted the following: I used to think that every newspaper site should become a news aggregator a la Topix […]
May 12, 2009 at 11:15 am
[…] or other sites that have altered the boundaries of news and information? In February, 2007 I wrote: What Can Techmeme Teach Newspapers? This was just one of many posts in which I argued in favor of newspapers becoming news […]