A while back, we had a look in a couple of posts at News Limited’s launch of The Punch, an opinion website (which, I guess, is a fancy name for a group blog). I suggested at the time that Crikey may have been the competitor targetted. It’s interesting – a month in – to see how things stand. Both MuMBRELLA and Ben Shepherd have had a look at some stats, and conclude that Crikey‘s more than holding its own. What’s also interesting is that there’s not a lot of return visits, or much engagement with the content from users, based on Nielsen numbers. It’s also estimated that the level of traffic might imply gross revenues of less than a thousand dollars a day.
I wonder how some of News’ online political opinion pages attached to mastheads such as that of The Australian would stack up. I’ve long suspected they don’t have a massive audience either.
Update: As Down and Out of Sài Gòn rightly points out in comments, both Alexa and Nielsen numbers would radically understate Crikey’s readership, as many peruse its content via the daily subscription email.
spent my first few minutes at ‘the punch. I’m statistically about right, spent about four minutes there, looked at about four pages. Shit boring, frankly. No central theme or identifying point.
wilful, I guess that’s because it’s not a “la di da” site for “people with three university degrees” or whatever guff Penberthy wrote when he launched the thing.
That, and the two Fists Of Death in the logo are just, well, off-putting. Definitely looks like a logo designed by journalists.
I can just imagine the scene in the News Ltd bunker when they were brainstorming the design:
*wavy vision and swirly discordant piano chords to indicate a dream-sequence*
Scene: A dilapidated office common-room, strewn with battered mis-matched chairs and wastepaster baskets overflowing bunches of scrunched up paper. The arrhythmic staccato tap of a heavy iron typewriter can be heard clattering offstage. A figure is slouched, unconscious, across one desk, sleeves rolled up and armpit-stains showing through the thin fabric of yesterday’s shirt. Another sullen figure leans back in chair, feet on desk, idly bouncing a ball of paper against the wall and catching it. Suddenly, a third disheveled figure bursts into the room, prominent five-o-clock shadow on display.
Penberthy: Ok you bozos, da brass want us to come up with a logo for da site.
Journalist1: Errr, bawss? What’s a logo?
Penberthy: You know, dumbass. A logo! A dinkus! A watchamecallit!
Journalist2: A logo, huh? For ‘The Punch’? So…it’s gotta be…punchy…right?
Penberthy: Punchy! I like it! That’s good work, Baines. That’s why you’re the senior writer here…you got that…what’s that la di da word? Cree-ay-tiv-ah-tee.
Jounralist2: Tanks bawss.
Penberthy: OK, so fellas. I need somethin’ punchy. What’cha got? I need you to smash one outta da park here. Hit me with whatever ya got. Go on, knock me out!
*wavy lines and swirly piano chords again*
———
And that, folks, is exactly how it happened…
The figure for Crikey may under count the readership levels of that publication. When I “read” Crikey, I read it in daily email format – a selection of its pieces combined into one giant article. Unlike the Punch, I don’t have to click on multiple links to read its content; it is automatically delivered to my email account.
Yes, the logo is definitely off-putting. As are the articles: completely devoid of substance. I’m obviously not missing much by giving the website a wide berth.
I visit every couple of days, and that frequency is decreasing rapidly. As Rachel said: articles are more than often devoid of substance. There’s been a couple of absolute stinkers by politicians… :/
@3 – Down And Out, indeed, that’s so. I’ve added a footnote thingy to the post.
The Punch? Flicked over a few times last week to quiz their utegate/Liberal stuff-uo. Tried to leave a comment, but it said I wasn’t allowed. Tried to find out how to be allowed. Couldn’t. Maybe my sweat on teh Macbook keys read my personality type & CV. And no, I didn’t say it was wussy journalism, even tho it is. Dull. No real personality shining out of anything. No feeling of views strongly held and defended; not even as interesting as ABC’s comments. More like doctors’ waiting room journalism. No wonder they don’t want degreed types.
Naah. I’ll stick to Crikey – I call it up, my mental “muscles” flex. And LP, OzForums and a few others Oz & OS – ditto.
I don’t subscribe to any News Ltd sites and consequently didn’t know what this post was about, so I went and had a quick look. There’s a bloke called Marcus Kuczynski who writes posts purporting to summarise what the blogosphere thinks about the big stories du jour.
Thing is … Marcus only ever refers to feedback on MSM sites. He studiously avoids any reference to actual blogs; it’s all ‘someone wrote this to the Courier Mail while somebody else wrote this to the Herald Sun’, with an occasional mention of an ABC site.
Either Marcus ignorantly believes columns written by journos on their newspapers’ web sites are blogs, or he shamelessly cross-promotes News Ltd web pages under the guise of reviewing blogs. Either way it’s just another indication of the organisation’s terminal decline.
The more interesting issue is why so many people on LP have this obsessive desire to keep writing about bullshit from News Ltd, and linking to their pathetic stories, and generally behaving as if News Ltd pissants like Milne and Lewis and all the rest are important and worthy of attention by intelligent people. That is the true mystery.
Ken, can I just say how much I’ve enjoyed your rip-roaring comments in recent weeks on media coverage? Heaven knows you’ve had plenty of material to work with, but you do a nice line in dignified, scathing disdain. Let ‘er rip Ken!
I’ll admit I like CJ’s blog over at the Curious Snail. Pineapple Politics works. They should make him editor. Beyond that there is no substance behind nor reason to visit a News ltd ‘opinion page’.
There’s actually a lot worse than the Curious Snail in the News online empire. Dennis Atkins is consistently interesting, and usually doesn’t follow the dumb arsed lead of the press pack.
“The more interesting issue is why so many people on LP have this obsessive desire to keep writing about bullshit from News Ltd, and linking to their pathetic stories, and generally behaving as if News Ltd pissants like Milne and Lewis and all the rest are important and worthy of attention by intelligent people. That is the true mystery.”
Come on Ken, let your hair down and do a bit of rubber necking some time. Watch as the empire crumbles. I have a link for you that is not Newscorp, promise….
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/thanks-so-much-for-your-comments-mr-barking-mad-20090629-d2f4.html?page=-1
Nicely done Mercurius. Though, what kind of coffee are they drinking? Certainly not lattes.
Maybe The Punch may be more interesting now that Leigh Sales has joined.
Also some of you may be interested in how Crikey’s Bernard Keane saw the address by News Ltd CEO John Hartigan at the National Press Gallery today.
Anyone else noticed how this “inward-looking” attititude of the Punch is now being reflected in the ABC radio morning show? (Sydney 702MHz) Michael Brissendon seems to be the only one who doesn’t sit in his office reading tea-leaves but instead actually goes out and, well, you know, reports…
The Punch is more inward looking than just about any site – and while that may keep the participants happy, as Mark points out – it doesn’t bring in the dollars.
For opinion pieces that are well thought out I’ll head here or to Crikey any day.