Guy Kawasaki Interview on Newspapers at Alltop

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I recently noticed that Alltop, a 2.0 magazine stand delivering feeds on a variety of topics such as moms and journalism, introduced pages for the L.A. Times and New York Times. As any of my regular readers know, my background is in newspapers and I have some rather strong opinions about the industry’s current state. It prompted me to launch Investigative Mommy Blogger because of a concern of a lack of in-depth investigative reporting, and the first investigation there is nearly complete.

So when I saw the amazing and impressive Guy Kawasaki on Twitter talking about the L.A. Times asking Alltop for its own page there, I knew I had to seek out an interview. I sent him a direct message on Twitter and he responded quickly with his email address. He sets an amazing example, by being a total weblebrity (he only has, oh, almost 70,000 followers on Twitter alone) and yet being completely accessible. Others who social network should follow his example (I certainly do). I emailed him questions, and thought it was interesting he has the same concerns I do about the fate of investigative journalism (and the need to keep it alive).

Guy Kawasaki is arguably one of the most impressive and innovative players in Web 2.0, business and technology. He is a founding partner and entrepreneur-in-residence at Garage Technology Ventures. He is also the co-founder of Alltop.com. Previously, he was an Apple Fellow at Apple Computer, Inc. Guy is the author of nine books including Reality Check, The Art of the Start, Rules for Revolutionaries, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, Selling the Dream, and The Macintosh Way. He has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA as well as an honorary doctorate from Babson College.

Here is the interview:

Question: What prompted the idea of having newspaper-specific Alltop pages?

ANSWER: It was a late night email session with the folks at the Los Angeles Times
who are such big supporters of Alltop. I thought to myself: How can I really
show them some Alltop love and came up with the idea of creating an Alltop
page just for them.

Question: Did newspapers approach Alltop to ask for this, or did you approach newspapers?

ANSWER: Once we did LAtimes.alltop and saw the positive reaction, it was natural to
continue down the path of doing NYtimes.alltop, Washingtonpost.alltop, and
USAToday.alltop. Several more newspapers have expressed interest, and we’ll
do them too.

Question: Are there plans to add more newspapers to Alltop or a main Alltop newspapers-only page (distinct from the news page you currently have)? Can you say which newspapers we might see added soon?

ANSWER: If asked, we’ll do more. Our goal is WWDOR (“widower” worldwide domination
of RSS), so we want to cover all the topics eventually. I would love to do
more foreign newspapers and media sites. I tried to find multiple feeds for
Al Jazeera but could only fine one general feed.

Question: Have you encountered newspapers that are opposed to having an Alltop page or being in an Alltop feed?

ANSWER: Not yet. Frankly, I doubt that the New York Times and Washington Post even
know that we exist. Theoretically, we bring more traffic to them–at least
that’s the way we look at it.

Question: How do you think the way readers are consuming news is different now than it was just a few years ago?

ANSWER: Yes, for sure. An analogy is that many people are eliminating landlines and
just having cell phones. It used to be that when you moved into a new place,
you got a landline and newspaper subscription. Both are no longer so true.

Question: Where and how do you get your news?

ANSWER: It shouldn’t surprise you, but various Alltop sites, Twitter, and several
email-alert subscriptions.

Question: What do you see as the future of newspapers if they are to survive? Will the print newspaper become extinct?

ANSWER: Good question. I think that foundations should start online newspapers to
foster hardcore, investigative journalism. Imagine if the MacArthur
Foundation created the MacArthur magazine made up of all the Pulitzer-prize
winners who got laid off from magazines.

My greatest fear with the challenges that newspapers face is the lack of
lengthy, rigorous investigative reporting. I doubt that the next
Woodward and Bernstein will be Twitter users: “OMG, R. Nixon’s flunkies
broke into Wtrgte Htl.” Somebody has to pay for this kind of reporting, and
if the public won’t, I hope foundations do.

_{Photo of Guy Kawasaki by Bryn Colton.}

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4. Ask Moxie Mommy Blog Interview
5. Interview with Amy of Amalah