NetNewsDaily: much more than a pocket money start-up

Posted by Christie Silk on June 10, 2009 at 9:53 AM

A thirteen-year old Scottish boy is one of the latest entrepreneurs to get involved in the web news business. Six months ago, schoolboy Scott Campbell launched NetNewsDaily, a site which aggregates and summaries global news stories, "so that people with little or no time are able to read it without rushing".

In an interview with the Guardian, Campbell described the functioning of the site and how he maintains a good work-home balance. The site reportedly receives around 1,000 to 1,500 uniques a day, a number that Campbell and his colleague Nathan Adam hope will triple within a year. To begin with, the project was funded entirely by the teenger's own pocket money, but now the site gathers around £150 a month in advertising. According to Campbell, advertisers normally approach the editors via Twitter or email. NetNewsDaily have also done several sponsored posts to boost revenue.

Aesthetically, the site is clear and concise, with a good selection of illustrative images. The news is divided into subsections of entertainment, health, politics, science/environment, technology, world, odd and interviews. Today's main world issues are selected as the UN security meeting in Darfur, Craigslist announcing the closure of its 'erotic services' section, and the death of the last Titanic survivor.

Aralynn McMane, Director of Young Readership Development at the World Association of Newspapers said of the project, "the layout is particularly interesting because it follows a lot of what some recent research found as U.S. young people's preferences in a news site, which are not unlike the preferences of a lot of older people."

It is encouraging that Campbell and his team of nine volunteers, have concentrated on the political issues of the European Elections and the resignation of UK Communities Secretary, Hazel Blears. An interview with Ross Thomson, a 21-year-old Scottish Conservative candidate betrays the site's youthful undertones, which perhaps, given the existence of similar projects, should be more explicit from the outset to garner a more defined market base, rather than trying to cater for an adult audience. Nevertheless, the project is remarkable for its coherent realisation and entertaining content. Campbell and his team are definitely the ones to watch as the next generation of online journalists and webmasters come of age.

Mike Smith of the Media Management Center will be talking about research into readers' online news preferences at the next World Young Reader Conference.

Source: The Guardian