OK, I’m guessing. But I would suspect that there are very few who can boast a 25% ‘circulation’ rise.

Week-on-week.

And, I’m biased; we both share a fascination for the possibilities of # tags; and will both have a keen eye on events at Carrow Road tomorrow…

The answer is, of course, Mr S Fry and his http://twitter.com/stephenfry publishing vehicle… now with the better part of 27,000 ‘followers’ – aka readers – hanging on his every Twittered character; up from just over 22,000-odd when he first popped up on OWAB’s radar last week.

Fresh from the success of his inaugural #oscarwildeday, there are now prizes to be had as Stephen merrily wanders down the path that newspaper execs would recognise as ‘reader offers’.

I suspect it’s not a case of wittingly or not he’s proving something of a publishing phenomenon; I have a feeling rather that there’s wit in everything that Mr Fry does.

But as we all try and figure this whole web-thing out, it is fascinating to watch Stephen working those kind of numbers.

Particularly when you start to think what his cost-base must be.

Nigh-on nil.

Actually, that’s not quite right. That should read ‘what we’re thinking of doing here on OWAB…’

In fact by the end of the week, with a fair wind…

What’s is equally telling, given where we’ve been with Mr Fry of late, is that I picked up both links off their Twitter tweets.

Shane’s first, if only because it chimes more readily with S Fry’s Twitter kingdom.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/shane_richmond/blog/2008/12/01/stop_taking_the_social_out_of_social_media

It is, of course, a guest post by ex-BBC man Robin Hamman.

Several lines stand out as he wanders down the very same paths that The Guardian’s Ms Bell trod with her thoughts on the ‘Age of Participation’ and journalism needing to be seen as conversation… note this in talking about possible re-workings of the libel laws… that media might find itself “…pro-actively reviewing, participating in and guiding the online discussions they host..”

Which is, after all, all that Stephen Fry is doing; he’s guiding his audience to oscarwildeday – and all via one piece of kit, the # tag.

These two lines run on together, but hidden in their midst is not only this increasingly compelling need to engage with our audience; to physically get into the trenches alongside them, but also the whole Jeff Jarvis ‘do what you do best…’ school of thought. And then link to the rest…

Don’t try and be all things to all men; concentrate on what you do best – ie “compelling editorial propositions” [that's write in the case of Johnston Press, Archant, Trinity Mirror et al...] and, thereafter, link…

So in 2009 the challenge for media is to re-invent themselves in such a way that they are… “pro-actively seeking out, reflecting, and linking to the very best of audience comment, criticism and content.

“Next year, media companies will also need to get back to what they do best and concentrate on creating compelling editorial propositions rather than investing in ever more complex social software…”

Journalism as a conversation; a two-way interaction in which the reporter/writer/producer/ranconteur and wit actually meets and mingles with his/her audience and do what you do best, link to the rest…

Which brings us nicely onto Adrian’s link to the Huffington Post – as in doing Chicago…

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chicago/

That, too, is a block that we’ve been round before… http://outwithabang.rickwaghorn.co.uk/?p=92 … or maybe that should be an everyblock that we’ve been round before.

Without reaching for the nearest microscope and not really knowing one end of Chicago from another, I’m not in any great position to judge how far that drills down into ‘local’ Chicago; in the same way you wonder how far any Guardian cities proposition might drill down into ‘local’ Leicester.

But what is interesting is the panel that greets anyone who scrolls down a way; if anyone wants a link… there they all are… including of course, the EveryBlock Chicago.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chicago/#blog_links

It might not prove to be the future of local news, who knows? But all credit to the HuffPost people – they are actually big enough to recognise that they are not the only news show in town any more; that there are, actually, others out there… and by both recognising that simple fact and organising a links list on your home page, you are actually delivering your audience the kind of service that they are looking for…

Make my life easy; don’t try and kid me that you are the only people with both news and views in Illinois.

And in that there’s a big lesson for one or two over here to learn.

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For after waxing lyrical over the weekend about Mr Fry’s growing Twitter kingdom -http://outwithabang.rickwaghorn.co.uk/?p=181 – where he’s leading his audience today, and all from half-way across the Atlantic, makes for compelling viewing…

http://twitter.com/stephenfry

… particularly for anyone out there with their own head buried beneath their new media bonnet; tweaking this, testing that… and wondering whether this pipe will fit that application as they, too, muse on whether or not conversation might be the king going forward and figure that, perhaps, Ms Bell’s ‘Age Of Participation’ might be dawning.

OK, back to our Stephen.

Look at the numbers again; top right… sailing over the 23,000-mark now. A rough ‘circulation’ rise of 3.6%. In 24-48 hours. Enough, in short, to make any regional or national newspaper circulation manager weep.

But now look at the participation rate for his OscarWildeDay hash-tag ‘promotion’ – because that’s what it is.

If you look at it through the lens of old media what Fry is doing is offering a good, old-fashioned ‘reader offer’ – only in his case it’s not the chance to get an Evening News goodie bag or win £100 worth of Xmas shopping at Lidl, rather the chance to join him in an Oscar Wilde ‘moment’.

A show of support for Fry’s hero – all prompted, you suspect, by the hope that you, the follower, could yet find yourself in ‘conversation’ with the man himself. Not Wilde, but Fry…

Anyway, the numbers… 500 and growing. Out of a readership of 23,000. And growing.

What’s that? A 2.1% response rate?

In two hours…

That’s a passionate niche audience going to town big-time… Fry pushing all the right buttons as the twittering shepherd leads his devoted flock across the Atlantic fresh from dinner with his Mum and Dad on Friday night back home in Norfolk and that book signing in Norwich on Saturday…

And, of course, the ‘arsiness’ that is Norwich City’s result at Sheffield Wednesday.

What is really interesting, however, is what Fry is doing by using those #tags.

He’s making a channel from a conversation.

And that, for me, could be a real key to unlocking journalism’s future as a conversation.

For having gathered an audience around brand ‘Fry’, for those that now wish to go into a seperate little corner and talk just ‘Oscar’, so all they need to do is reach for the # button. And switch channels.

#oscarwildeday is simply the key that unlocks the door to the ‘Oscar Wilde Reading Room’, where no doubt our genial host will welcome them with a warming glass of mulled wine before pulling up a leather-backed chair by the fire and beginning to read…

Those that have a passion for Fry’s love of London black cabs will, no doubt, find an invite to the #blackcabs ‘room’; those that want to chat about his recent trip across America can be ushered into #roadtrip; the tecchies can swap notes on the new BlackBerry Storm in #tecchies…

All the time Fry merrily flits from room to room; spreading his usual bonhomie as he passes; bringing this sense of warmth and welcome to the eager community that gathers around his name.

Fascinating.

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After all, as we speak Peter Mandelson is – apparently, http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/nov/29/peter-mandelson-economy – drawing up a list of companies that he deems need to be saved as the recession bites ever deeper.

And, who knows? With a majority to protect, perhaps he might just slip the name ‘Johnston Press’ onto said list lest his local read go under… http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/

And with a few more backbenchers starting to twitch as the Tories continue to enjoy a 15-point lead in the polls, perhaps he’ll have a few more entreaties along similar lines… ‘Pete, got room for TrinityMirror, pal?’

Anyway, this was the original post – http://outwithabang.rickwaghorn.co.uk/?p=117 – the thought being that it could open the way for the academic institutions to man their PCs and start to build their own little publishing empires given all that free and eager labour at their disposal.

And having enjoyed a morning out with the good people at Cardiff’s post-graduate J-School this week, it is clear that amongst the next generation the enthusiasm and the energy are there in abundance; if our generation can just deliver the kind of elegant platforms they will need to flourish, then the world could still be their’s.

In the meantime, however, and my thoughts are starting to shift; or rather to return to the power of individuals as publishing brands.

Once upon a time as I threw myself off the top of Archant Towers – albeit with a little helping hand courtesy of my lack of headline writing ability – I took my tiny niche ‘brand’ to market with the initial launch of www.rickwaghorn.co.uk; we worked the name and all those years with all my chins being on display on Barclay Stands and bus stops across the Fine City.

But while a summer later I disappeared beneath the generic network model that is www.myfootballwriter.com/norwichcity, so other bigger, ‘individual’ brands have moved into the same space – with fascinating consequences.

Robert Peston, we’ve done – in particular, the fact that his near-instant analysis of the unfolding financial crisis was not enacted via either the Six O’Clock News or The Today Programme, but rather via his BBC blog… http://outwithabang.rickwaghorn.co.uk/?p=162

And there was an interesting discussion to be had with the kids at Cardiff over Peston, the BBC and the power of that individual brand – the ripples of which still flow over and round the Establishment; witness Pete’s thoughts on MediaMoney… http://blogs.pressgazette.co.uk/mediamoney/2008/11/27/pestomania-is-rt-hon-john-mcfall-out-of-his-gourd/

But – and for reasons that, hopefully, will become readily apparent over the next few weeks – there’s someone out there who is even more ahead of the curve than Mr Peston.

Stephen Fry.

http://twitter.com/stephenfry

I’ll declare an interest here; he’s a Norwich City fan; my mum and his went to college together some 50-plus years ago and have been reunited in recent years on the Norfolk BFWG circuit.

So there’s a mutual interest and a maternal connection.

But notwithstanding the fact that Norfolk remains the smallest of worlds, as much as the content is as engaging as you would expect, the numbers to look at are in the top right-hand corner; the followers and those that follow. Both topping 22,000.

I can think of at least two evening newspaper editors in this neck of the woods who would bite your hand off for numbers that topped 22,000. Numbers that appear to be growing with every passing post.

Wittingly or not, he’s also working that following in terms of marketing brand ‘Fry’; witness the post ‘Up to Norfolk for dinner with parents; book signing in Norwich tomorrow…’ and, lo and behold, so one of his followers twitters the next day from said book-signing queue.

Go back to Emily Bell and her ‘Age of Participation’, the thoughts we’ve already had about the future of journalism being somehow linked to joining what was once our audience in a conversation and, for me, I think Stephen Fry is getting pretty close to what one future for old, traditional media might look like.

For there’s a Sunday newspaper columnist par excellence who has not only found a technological platform that perfectly fits the needs of a 21st Century audience, but he’s also embraced it with a passion and an understanding that together empowers him to create unique content that is immediately engaging, eminently available, wholly portable and completely free.

And above all else, for those that follow and are following – potentially, at least – Stephen Fry is now up for a chat. He can drop in in your conversation, just as much as you can drop in on his.

And that’s brilliant.

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