Digital Content That Makes Money: Health in the paidContent 50

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April 1, 2011

Digital media news website paidContent launched a list this week that journalists and media profressionals should pay attention to. They reported and, in some cases, estimated the sales of digital advertising, content and subscriptions to come up with the 50 most successful digital media companies.

"We're the first to admit that the list contains a fair amount of guesswork -- informed guesswork but guesswork nonetheless. It is meant to help kick off a deeper conversation about digital success," writes Jospeh Tartakoff.

Indeed, a deeper look is warranted. What this list shows are successful models for monetizing what we put online. The top companies sell advertising, so it's not a huge surprise that Google and Yahoo lead the pack. But familiar news media companies -- The New York Times, Tribune, McClatchy and Gannett -- also made the list. Three companies have content specific to health.

[Scroll or click to the bottom of this post for this week's health media job opportunities, and keep up with Career GPS via RSS.]

WebMD was 20th on the list and the only health-dedicated content producer included. PaidContent estimates that the site and its networks made $534.5 million in revenue in 2010, making it the leader among consumer health sites.

Online marketing company QuinStreet came in at 32. While not its only focus, health care firms are among the company's clients. They also create health-related content. Their website advertsizes the service this way:

Our in-house designers, editors, and data researchers work together to design and publish original, authoritative, and compelling content that empowers consumers to make sound life decisions based on high quality information and data. Staff writers, reporters and freelance contributors include highly respected journalists, industry experts, and professionals spanning personal finance, education, career, home services, medical & health and B2B. Our articles, polls, calculators, surveys, widgets, slideshows, infographics and videos are syndicated and referenced by partners and notable news media including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, FOX News, Smart Money, MSN, AOL, Reuters, Time, Kiplinger, AARP and Consumer Reports.

The content mill everyone loves to hate, Demand Media, was 38th on the paidContent 50. Among the web properties that made it $252.9 million in 2010 is the fitness site Livestrong. You might never want to write for them -- you might even say that this has nothing  to do with journalism -- but Demand Media is making money with digital content and appears to have some staying power. Here's a tidbit from paidContent about recent search engine wranglings: "Recently, Google tweaked its search algorithm to make it harder for so-called content farms to appear high in the results. Early reports show that Demand's traffic has not suffered as a result. If that trend continues, it will help make the case to Demand's critics that its content quality rises above content farm."

What other health digital media companies have strong bottom lines? Share in comments.

Health Media Opportunities

New Job Listings

Copy Editors/Proofreaders, Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (via JournalismJobs)
Location: Needham, MA
Status: Freelance
Medium: Journal

FDA Reporter, Reuters News (via JournalismJobs)
Location: Washington, D.C.
Status: Full time for seven months
Medium: Wire

High Profile Healthcare Beat Journalist, The Deal LLC (via JournalismJobs)
Location: New York, NY
Status: Full Time
Medium: Trade Publication

Fellowships and Grants

Rosalynn Carter Fellowships For Mental Health Journalism
Eligibility: Open to journalists with at least three years of experience and citizenship from United States, Romania or South Africa
Included: $10,000 stipends to report on mental health issues, mentorship to complete reporting project
Deadline: Apr. 18, 2011
From the Website: "Fellowships are tailored to suit the needs, interests, and experiences of each fellow. They also generate knowledge and information to benefit the mental health field and the public. When appropriate, the program requests that fellows conduct one training session related to mental health and journalism for their peers during the fellowship year."

National Health Journalism Fellowship, USC Annenberg California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowships
Eligibility: Open to professional journalists from print, broadcast, and online media, including freelancers. Applicants need not be full time health reporters, but they need to have a passion for health news (broadly defined).
Included: All-expenses paid six-day program in Los Angeles, $200 stipend and upon completion of what are expected to be ambitious, major fellowship projects.
Deadline: May 2, 2011
From the Website: "To stimulate collaboration between mainstream and ethnic media, we encourage applicants to propose a joint project for use by both media outlets. Up to two collaborators for each project may receive a stipend."

Dennis A. Hunt Health Journalism Grants, USC Annenberg California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowships
Eligibility: Open to all journalist members of Center for Health Journalism Digital. Print, broadcast and new media journalists from anywhere in the United States are eligible to apply, as are all past fellows of the USC Annenberg/California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowships.
Included: Provides funding for proposed stories or multimedia projects that illuminate or expose critical community health or community health policy issues and acceptance to the National Health Journalism Fellowship program.
Deadline: May 2, 2011
From the Website: "Proposals can focus on a specific health topic or delve into a confluence of circumstances and conditions that impact health, including environment; social class; crime and violence; urban development; access to health resources or the lack thereof; school absenteeism; transportation or city planning, and and disparities in health. Topics that would NOT be eligible would include clinical trials, medical research, or the latest treatments for a disease or any project involving a population outside of the United States."

California Health Journalism Fellowship, USC Annenberg California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowships
Eligibility: Open to professional journalists from print, broadcast, and online media in California, including freelancers. Applicants need not be full time health reporters, but they need to have a passion for health news (broadly defined).
Included: All-expenses paid seminars in Los Angeles, mentoring for completion of reporting project
Deadline: Aug. 26, 2011
From the Website: "During the Fellowship sessions, Fellows get plenty of time to discuss with experts, and with each other, strategies for covering health news with authority and sophistication. Between the two sessions and for three months after the second session, Fellows confer by phone and e-mail with veteran journalists who guide them through work on major Fellowship projects."

Awards with Upcoming Deadlines

Award for Excellence in Science and Medical Journalism, The Endocrine Society
Eligibility: English-language journalism related to endocrinology and published or broadcast between March 1, 2010 and February 28, 2011
Award: Award plaque and travel to the Society's annual meeting awards dinner in June 2011
Deadline: Apr. 1, 2011
From the Website: "The award recipient is selected by the Society's Advocacy and Public Outreach Core Committee (APOCC). The committee will give weight to entries that demonstrate thorough research, accurate reporting, originality and contribute to the public understanding of endocrinology."

Pfizer Award
Eligibility: This prize is awarded in recognition of an outstanding book dealing with the history of science. The book must be published in English during a period of three calendar years immediately preceding the year of competition (books eligible for 2006 were published in 2003, 2004, or 2005). Edited volumes, as well as works with more than 2 authors, are not eligible. A multi-volume work by one or two authors may be nominated only after the publication of all the volumes.
Award: The award consists of a medal and $2,500.
Deadline: Apr. 1, 2011
From the Website: "The prize committee may consider books where medicine or technology is a central theme. However, both the Society for the History of Technology and the American Association for the History of Medicine award their own prizes and while strict separation of fields is not always possible or desirable, the Pfizer Award should be given to a book that is principally a history of science."

Annual Awards for Reporting on the Environment, Society of Environmental Journalism
Eligibility: Any journalism that is predominantly about an environmental subject and published or broadcast in 2010 with $30-$80 entry fee
Award: $500 first-place, $200 second-place and $100 third-place prizes may be awarded in all categories.
Deadline: Apr. 1, 2011
From the Website: "Honors outstanding environmental reporting. Award is given to encourage journalists to help educate the public and public officials on environmental issues. Results achieved by the reporting may be included."

Educational Opportunities

Brain Science: The Kavli Science Journalism Workshop
Eligibility: Reporters, writers, editors or producers with three years of full-time journalism experience
Program: Program runs Wednesday, June 15 through Friday, June 17. Accommodation, most meals and $750 travel reimbursement are provided.
Deadline: April 15, 2011
From the Website: "The Knight Science Journalism program at MIT is offering a three-day intensive course on the basics of the new brain sciences. The workshop will bring some of the top neuroscientists in the U.S. to explain their work and to become first-rate sources for the attending journalists. "

Rural Health Journalism Workshop 2011, Association of Health Care Journalists
Eligibility: AHCJ members (apply via website)
Program: The workshop will take place June 3, 2011 and includes breakfast and lunch.
From the Website: "Even if your newsroom is in a bustling city, there are untold rural health stories down the road. So join us in St. Louis for this special one-day, no-fee workshop to help you find and cover health stories in rural America."