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INQ7.net:
Delivering news
@ the speed of thought
By Erwin Lemuel G. Oliva
IN the sci-fi movie “Minority Report,” we
saw some brief scenes of people
reading high-tech newspapers, which carried hologram headlines
that changed as news developed. While this scene seems
far from becoming a reality in the next few years, the
idea of delivering news anywhere (with the Internet as
the vehicle), anytime, and to any device is a goal which
most news service providers want -- or, at least, this
is what they dream about.
With the continuing growth of Internet users all over
the world and the explosion of inexpensive devices that
can handle huge amounts of multimedia information, the
“Minority Report” scenario does not seem a
far-fetched idea.
Who would have thought that we, Filipinos, would become
one of the most sophisticated users of mobile phone technology
in the world? Thanks to cutthroat competition, prices
have plunged and mobile phone services continue to penetrate
far-flung areas of the country. The mobile phone, not
Internet devices, is currently the most ubiquitous device
in the country.
Not surprisingly, INQ7 Interactive Inc., the joint venture
of the Philippine Daily Inquirer and GMA Network News,
has its eyes set on the mobile phone market.
“The mobile phone market is definitely a key part
of where we’re going as a news organization. We
actually break news first on our ‘Extra’ mobile
phone service before we break it on the Web,” said
JV Rufino, editor-in-chief of INQ7.net, adding that the
online news service would soon expand its offering to
target mobile users even better.
Rufino said that INQ7.net has made strides in achieving
some of its primary vision of delivering news anywhere,
anytime, to any device.
“We already have
a version of the site for handheld personal digital assistants,
for example, that I personally use a great deal and mobile
phone subscribers to our Extra service can get Breaking
News and Business alerts throughout the day,” he
added.
Rufino said that the main goal of INQ7.net, however, is
to move out of the monolithic one-site-for-all approach
into a network of sites where each site caters to a distinct
audience.
Right now, the “INQ7Money” sub-website targets
readers who want business news. Meanwhile, the “Global
Nation” sub-website has grown into a portal for
news and information about our “kababayans”
(countrymen) abroad, he added.
“Ideally,
INQ7.net news should be ubiquitous. Think of the newspapers
and ads in the movie Minority Report.”
As editor-in-chief of an online news service, Rufino said
that one of most difficult challenges he faced is educating
both readers and media colleagues about the “Internet
(being) its own medium and not as a sort of stepchild
to print or broadcast.”
“I'd really
like to the see the online medium become established and
integrated as the ‘fourth media’ in a traditionally
tri-media Philippine set-up,” he added.
Indeed, when INQ7.net was just starting (it was officially
established in February 2001), the online news service’s
key goal was to make full use of the possibilities of
the new medium and not become just a copy of either the
Philippine Daily Inquirer or GMA Network, he said.
“In the next three years, I want to see the
website develop new features and content that will give
online readers a way of getting their news in ways that
can't be done in other mediums -- which can then complement
news from the Philippine Daily Inquirer and GMA-7,”
Rufino said.
INQ7.net was the first Philippine-based online news service
that introduced video and audio content through the website,
he said.
Rufino recalled that INQ7.net was the first to offer streaming
radio content from dzBB. Later, the website offered GMA-7's
news programs like Frontpage, as well as video clips from
the late evening newscast Saksi and the morning newscast
Unang Hirit. GMA-7's hourly video Flash Reports were also
integrated with the online news service’s text-based
breaking news.
INQ7.net is also fast becoming the repository for a selection
of clips from the GMA-7’s entertainment programs
like “Star Talk” and “S-Files.”
In the next three years, Rufino disclosed that INQ7.net
plans to offer more GMA-7 shows available on the website.
INQ7.net is also gradually churning out “non-traditional”
content, which indicates that it is turning into an information
portal. Although delivering news remains its focus, Rufino
said that the website is looking at offering non-traditional
content. It currently has US-Dollar foreign exchange information,
examination results, lottery results, among others.
In recent months, industry analysts indicated that delivery
of online news services as fast becoming a “commodity”
service. This somehow threatens INQ7.net’s business
model as it would proved more difficult for the website
to "sell" news to people who can easily find
information from virtually any website.
Rufino, however, believed that "speed" would
differentiate INQ7.net's service from other websites.
“Online news is becoming a ‘commodity.’
Most online readers get their news from a wide variety
of sources. In such a competitive environment the only
differentiating factors are being faster, more accurate,
and more readily accessible than your competitors. So
that's the INQ7.net news thrust,” he said.
Rufino also added that majority of the website's content
would always remain freely accessible and supported by
advertising. Its syndication service, however, is growing
steadily and seems to complement the website's advertising
revenue base, he said.
And this content is not available solely to Philippine
residents. INQ7.net’s readers come from the Philippines,
the United States and many other parts of the world. As
time passes more visitors are benefiting from the site’s
news thrust, which is to deliver information to Filipinos
anywhere in the world to any device they choose.
That power, the power of choice, is both a benefit and
a service which INQ7.net delivers to its readers.
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