《華盛頓郵報》尋求成為軟件提供商

The Washington Post is looking to become asoftware provider to other news organisations todevelop new revenue streams and raise its profile asa technology company.

《華盛頓郵報》(Washington Post)正尋求成為一家面向其他新聞機構的軟件提供商，以開發(fā)新的營收來源，并樹立其作為一家科技企業(yè)的形象。

 

 

The US newspaper, which has accelerated its search for digital revenues since being bought byAmazon chief executive Jeff Bezosfor $250m last year, has been approached about licensingthe software it has developed to power its website. Potential clients could include the recentlylaunched network of local and regional US newspapers whose subscribers receive free accessto the Post’s digital products.

這家美國報紙自去年被亞馬遜(Amazon)首席執(zhí)行官杰夫•貝索斯(Jeff Bezos)以2.5億美元收購以來，加快了搜尋數(shù)字業(yè)務營收的努力。一些潛在客戶已接洽該報，涉及授權使用該報為自身網(wǎng)站開發(fā)的軟件。這些潛在客戶可能包括近期發(fā)起的美國地方和地區(qū)報紙網(wǎng)絡，這些報紙的訂戶可免費訪問《郵報》的數(shù)字產(chǎn)品。

The paper views “the partner programme as not just about content but about us offeringtechnology solutions”, said Shailesh Prakash, chief information officer.

首席信息官沙雷什•普拉卡什(Shailesh Prakash)表示，該報“把合作伙伴計劃的關鍵不僅視為提供內容，而是由我們提供技術解決方案”。

Student newspapers at Columbia, Yale and the University of Maryland already use the Post’scontent management software in a trial for how it could be opened up to other professionalnews services.

哥倫比亞大學、耶魯大學和馬里蘭大學的學生報紙已經(jīng)在試用《郵報》的內容管理軟件，看該軟件如何能夠被其他專業(yè)新聞服務利用。

Developing a licensing business would be a further step in the Post’s efforts to generate digitalprofits as its print business shrinks. It also comes as changing media consumption habits andpressure from new competitors are pushing news organisations to invest in beefing up theirtechnological prowess.

在印刷版業(yè)務萎縮之際，發(fā)展軟件授權業(yè)務將是《郵報》在努力創(chuàng)造數(shù)字利潤方面邁出的又一步。另一個背景是，不斷變化的媒體消費習慣和來自新競爭對手的壓力，正在推動新聞機構投資于加強自己的技術實力。

The Post is swimming against strong currents. Standard & Poor’s estimated in Septemberthat US newspapers and magazines would see earnings before interest, tax, depreciation andamortisation fall by mid-to-high single-digit percentages to at least the end of 2015. Printadvertising revenue was set for further falls, S&P said, and “digital strategies alone will nothalt the overall slide in ebitda for publishers, which must increase subscription and cover pricesto try and stabilise revenues”.

《郵報》面臨的阻力較大。標準普爾(Standard & Poor’s) 9月估計，美國報紙和雜志至少到2015年底將出現(xiàn)5%至9%的利息、稅項、折舊及攤銷前盈利(EBITDA)下滑。標普稱，印刷廣告收入肯定會進一步下跌，“數(shù)字戰(zhàn)略本身并不能遏止出版商EBITDA的整體下滑趨勢，它們必須提高訂閱和零售價格，以求穩(wěn)定營收”。

“In the short and medium term, print provides the money until digital can become self-sustaining over time,” said Steve Hills, Washington Post president. “In the very long term, thebattle is all about digital. We’re taking that Jeff Bezos long view,” he said.

“在短期和中期，印刷版業(yè)務維持了收入來源，直到數(shù)字業(yè)務能夠逐漸自我維持，”《華盛頓郵報》總裁史蒂文•希爾斯(Steve Hills)表示。“就非常遙遠的長期而言，競爭的關鍵完全落在數(shù)字方面。我們正抱著杰夫•貝索斯的那種長遠眼光，”他說。

In past the 16 months, Mr Bezos has been injecting money into the Post. It has hired 100editorial staff, for a net gain of about 60, and launched blogs and digital products, including anapp on Amazon’s Fire tablet that offers morning and evening editions. The publisher no longerreleases financial information but executives point to traffic growth as evidence that thestrategy is working. Unique visitors increased 62 per cent to 45.8m in November from a yearago, according to ComScore.

在過去16個月里，貝索斯一直在向《郵報》注資。該報已經(jīng)聘請了100名編輯人員，使編輯人員數(shù)量凈增加大約60人，并推出各種博客和數(shù)字產(chǎn)品，包括亞馬遜Fire平板電腦上的應用，該應用提供晨報和晚報版本。這家出版商不再發(fā)布財務信息，但高管們將流量增長列為證據(jù)，證明這項戰(zhàn)略正在奏效。根據(jù)ComScore的數(shù)據(jù)，11月獨立訪客數(shù)量同比增長62%，至4580萬。

But it is the technology side of the business that shows the clearest signs of the Amazonfounder’s influence. The Post hired 20 engineers in 2014, and now employs 225, split betweendevelopers working on its digital initiatives and more traditional IT functions at its printingplant and human resources, sales and advertising departments.

但從該報的整個業(yè)務看，科技方面展現(xiàn)出亞馬遜創(chuàng)始人影響力的最明顯跡象。《郵報》在2014年聘請了20名工程師，現(xiàn)在總共雇用225名工程師，其中一半是該報各項數(shù)字計劃的開發(fā)人員，另一半執(zhí)行比較傳統(tǒng)的IT職能，分布于該報的印刷廠以及人力資源、銷售和廣告部門。

Mr Prakash said he was “borrowing a page out of Amazon” in developing software that bothsuits the Post’s needs and could be opened up to other users. Amazon Web Services, whichprovides cloud computing to customers from the CIA to Netflix, has become the ecommercecompany’s fastest-growing division.

普拉卡什說，開發(fā)既適合《郵報》需要、又能被其他用戶加以利用的軟件，是在“借鑒亞馬遜的做法”。提供云計算的亞馬遜網(wǎng)絡服務(Amazon Web Services)，已成為這家電子商務公司增長最快的部門，客戶包括美國中央情報局(CIA)和流媒體提供商Netflix。

“Technology is core to our business,” Mr Prakash said of the push to develop more software in-house. “You wouldn’t outsource the business plan or the revenue plant. Why would yououtsource technology?”

“技術是我們業(yè)務的核心，”普拉卡什在談到自行開發(fā)更多軟件的努力時表示。“你不會外包業(yè)務計劃或產(chǎn)生營收的工廠。為什么要外包技術呢?”