Digital Editors' Network

What is the point of the Digital Editors’ Network? After all, we already have the new media landscape being discussed online at Media Guardian , Press Gazette , Journalism.co.uk , holdthefrontpage , the Sociey of Editors , the Online Journalism Review and a wide variety of media industry and academic blogs. The usp has to be in the last word - Network – and the ability to connect people charged with delivering the digital revolution on a day to day basis. It might be a utopian idea born from the less competitive media environment here in Cumbria, but the aim is to develop a way for media websites managers to discuss the nuts and bolts issues with people in similar jobs. So we might be able to share tips or ask each other questions about how certain website features work or indeed whether they work. Already we have been able to pass on work done with the Newspaper Society on ways of developing reactive moderation for forums and blogs. You’ll find other websites that regurgitate press r...

News and media websites have seen a surge in their online audiences in the last year. That was the positive message to come out of a briefing at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston to which supporters of this digital editor’s network had been invited. Heather Hopkins , vice-president of Hitwise UK , revealed the findings of her research into the UK online media sector and fascinating stuff it was too. Hitwise, which monitors the proportion of visits made to sites rather than unique users, found that during 2006 news and media sites had seen a 28 per cent growth in their share of UK internet visits. Heather, who describes herself as a “data geek” was able to provide a detailed insight into how the online media market works thanks to the way Hitwise is able to track online traffic flows, search terms and visits through its partnerships with internet service providers. Here are some of the things that I picked out of her talk: Surprise, surprise the BBC dominates the online me...