The 2010 News Challenge was made possible in part by a grant from the Ethics & Excellence Journalism Foundation.
News Challenge was held at the University of Nevada, Reno, during the first week of June. Schools represented by the 15 participating students included the University of Miami, University of Alabama, Howard University, Syracuse University, University of Texas-El Paso, Kent State University and Arizona State University.
Presenters included Chris Hendricks, vice president/interactive, The McClatchy Co.; Ben Berkowitz, co-founder, SeeClickFix; Robert Samuels, director/mobile product development, The New York Times Co.; Aleksandra Chojnacka, director/audience development, City Circles; Sybril Bennett, journalism professor, Belmont University; and David Knight, executive director/digital media sales, New York Times Regional Newspaper Group.
The Challenge
The 2010 News Challenge focused on mobile content development. Three teams of five developed mobile apps for Metropolis Daily, a hypothetical newspaper in the heartland of the United States. Metropolis had a population of 545,000, a median household income of $43,011 and a daily circulation of 200,000.
Each team had a mentor. Mentors were Zella Bracy, business development manager, McClatchy Interactive; Brandon Harris, project coordinator/design and innovation group, Gannett Co.; and Yvette Walker, director/presentation and custom publishing, Oklahoma Publishing Co.
Teams had several hours a day for four days to develop their apps. In addition to the concept, their presentations included a mission statement and product description, financial overview, information on the target audience and a marketing plan.
The Metro-A-Day app, by Team Alpha, used existing content to expand the readership of Metropolis Daily and its Web site by offering personalized news to women under 45. Users could choose the news topics that interested them the most and see the top stories in those categories. They could also receive stories in their preferred format – text, audio or video, receive email newsletters and link to their calendars and social networks.
Team Alpha Downloads: Presentation | Tutorial | Business Plan
The Dare app, by Team Beta, was targeted at Metropolis residents ages 18 to 45. The app allowed residents to mix up their routines, try new experiences and interact with the community while using the newspaper’s existing business listings and event content. Dare users ranked their interests by category (arts, books, community, outdoors, sports, music, food, shopping). Based on their interest, the app suggested Metropolis-area locations and events to visit. There were three levels: Dare, Double Dare and Triple Dare. The app also allowed users to store and share information about completed Dares and enabled them to make “bucket lists” of Dares to try.
Team Beta Download: Presentation
The Frugal It app, by Team Gamma, enhanced consumers’ shopping experience while increasing traffic for local businesses. Aimed at both home decision-makers and consumers on the go, Frugal It allowed users to search coupons, offers and deals by category, name or location; to create and organize shopping lists; to maximize deals and coupon use; to receive alerts of new and exclusive deals; to review and discuss deals with their social networks; and to browse the paper’s consumer related articles.
Team Gamma Downloads: Presentation | Business Plan
Teams presented their apps on the last morning of the program before three judges: Jerry Ceppos, dean of the Reynolds School of Journalism, University of Nevada, Reno; Samuel Martin, president and publisher, The Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser; and Anthony Shelborne, vice president/finance, NAA.
For more information, contact Jeanne Fox-Alston.