Digital Magazine and Newspaper Editions: Visionaries
helping readers to research topics such as political trends or economic
conditions or for individual research like tracing a family’s history. Having all
of the content available in a uniform searchable database is a real benefit to
readers and society.
3. Why is it important to offer digital readers better ways to explore
information and seek alternate viewpoints?
Magazine and newspaper editors are used to selecting content for their
readers. Therefore, an article often becomes the final destination of the
reader’s quest for information. In the very near future, the editor will both
select and filter content for their readers. They will use their domain expertise
to offer readers links from the articles in their publication to other information
resources and viewpoints written by credible authors in authoritative
publications. And context-sensitive search capabilities will emerge that search
an array of credible publications looking for content that further explores the
topic covered in an article that the reader has just finished. This area will
evolve even further as the semantic Web develops. Soon applications will
emerge that will be able to predict what information will interest you and
deliver it to your desktop automatically.
4. What types of technology enhance the digital reading experience?
Using the experiences of other readers to find more interesting information
adds value to the digital experience. Applications like Del.icio.us, Digg, and
Twitter allow readers to recommend articles, information, and rich media to
others. They build on the wisdom of crowds.
5. Who’s doing a good job with cross-media publishing programs?
I think that Reed Business Information and McGraw Hill’s vertical market
magazines are quite sophisticated in using an appropriate mixture of content
and technology to serve the needs of their readers and subscribers. In the
newspaper world, The Guardian has been very innovative and has an
outstanding archive of past issues that has become an important research
database.


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