We were delighted to meet so many newspaper publishers and owners during the Texas Press Association conference earlier this month. We had some wonderful meetings with people eager to digitize their newspaper archives and make them online accessible.
A third of those who stopped by our exhibit booth had archives of more than 100 years which they’ve not yet digitized – there were numerous others who had 50-75 year archives and many have a mix of bound volume, loose printed and microfilm archives. They represent hundreds of years of archive content that the public cannot get to today.
Publishers recognize that they’re the stewards of their community’s history and they want to make that history accessible for the world to explore and enjoy. Additionally, they want to preserve the pages that are currently held in bound volumes kept in a back office. They don’t like risking that those books or loose printed issues could be damaged or lost should something happen like a roof collapse, flood or fire. But, increasingly, publishers realize that they have a money maker in that archive content and they want to learn how it can successfully be monetized.
That’s what Discover America’s Story is all about – a proven method for newspapers to use to create a new revenue stream. They sell ads against archive content and the revenue, which is all theirs, can be used to digitize the archive among other things. An Oklahoma publisher started the program to generate revenue for digitization but after that was paid for, he continued to sell ad sponsorships and has an ongoing revenue stream to show for it.
Discover America’s Story also allows publishers to retain all ownership and distrubution rights to the digital archive and it provides an easy online hosting solution for those who want it use it. Contact Discover America’s Story today to learn more about how to get started and ask about the program’s Guarantee.
Thank you again to the Texas Press Association for a great time at the mid-winter conference and trade show!
