Nozzl Media, Inc.

Steve Suo joined Nozzl Media with 18 years as a print and online journalist, most recently with The Oregonian. After being a finalist on two previous occasions, Steve won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in breaking news with a team of reporters covering the search for a family lost in the Oregon wilderness.  He was a Pulitzer finalist in 2005, for his series documenting the government’s failure to contain the spread of methamphetamine abuse. He was a finalist in 2000 for coverage, with other reporters, of bungled efforts to remove a beached freighter that was leaking oil onto sensitive shoreline. Steve holds a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Q:  What is your role at Nozzl Media?

A: Ultimately, my job is to anticipate the needs of news organizations and ensure that our product delivers. I’m responsible for acquiring the content that goes into Nozzl Media’s information stream – our partners’ own news stories, conversations from the social Web, and public records. The idea is to build a giant “firehose” of material in each market, and then to allow end users to choose how much to filter out. I also want to provide news professionals as much flexibility as possible to choose what they think is important. Publishers need to be able to limit the type of content appearing in their branded version of the stream, and to request additional content not currently in our lineup. Each branded stream is going to reflect the editorial choices of its owner.

Q:  Why does Nozzl Media include public records data in the streams it creates?

A: The first reason is that public records hold information that matters to readers. I spent a lot of my news career analyzing large public records databases for patterns and trends. But I also saw how individual data points (a single liquor license or building permit) could have high utility as news items – particularly if they could be matched to an individual reader’s location and interests. Nozzl is providing that information in real time, alongside social and traditional news media of equal relevance to the end user. We are bringing together data, analysis and discussion in one place.

Once we’ve acquired the records, there’s no end to what we can do with them. Steve Woodward likes to call it, “using every part of the pig, including the squeal.” In addition to populating the Nozzl Media stream, we envision offering direct access to the data for our news clients. Reporters would be able to do deeper sorts on a database of environmental violations to see if certain inspectors or certain industries are associated with smaller fines. Developers would be able to create specialized applications for end users: imagine a dynamically generated fever chart of home sales. And because our cost of acquiring data is spread across our clients, the cost of public records in each newsroom will be dramatically reduced.

Q:  What sort of public records information and social Web content can Nozzl Media provide?

A: Just about any electronic record can go into the Nozzl Media stream. We anticipate starting out with a core set — police and fire calls, restaurant inspections and property transfers – that have broad appeal. But the value of the stream will grow with the diversity and volume of records we’re able to pull. So we’ll be rapidly working our way down the list to more obscure items, such as OSHA violations and underground oil tank permits.

Q:  How do you get these public records?

A: Our goal is to automate the process wherever we can, so that we free up our staff to negotiate with agencies for better access to records. I would like to see our efforts result in wider access for everyone, not just Nozzl Media and its customers. My ideal scenario is where data sets are continuously updated in a widely accepted Web format, such as a static XML feed or a dynamic API call. That’s simple for us to process, it’s simple for other data users to process, and in the long run, it’s simpler for the government agency to provide. Of course, not every agency will see it that way. A less efficient alternative is to download data from online databases record by record. We’re also prepared for some folks to send a courier with a weekly DVD.

Q:  How does the presentation of public records and social Web content add value to Nozzl Media’s streams?

A: Individual public records describe events, and each event has news value to someone. It may not be news to all Portlanders when a liquor store opens, but it’s news to the neighbors. We give readers the ability to filter for records that are relevant to them, and we provide the ability to comment on or share these records. Even more important, we are presenting these records in the context of a news stream. There is an opportunity for readers to get the raw facts (public records), the bird’s eye view (news stories) and join the conversation (social media). It is a rich and interactive perspective on what’s happening in the community in real time.

Q:  In what ways do your years as a print journalist shape your work with Nozzl Media?

A: One valuable experience is having worked extensively with public agencies to obtain public records, both electronic and printed. I remember the PR flak who told me I’d have to pay $400,000 for a database of sales records for lottery retailers. In the end, the agency provided the data free of charge. The trick was in understanding the law, the technology, and the agency’s concerns.

Having done investigative and analytical work for many years, I have a good sense of how reporters use public records as a tool for enterprise reporting. In addition, I have worked on many big breaking news events when the immediacy of information is essential, and where the big picture doesn’t come into focus until everyone has a chance to take a breath. Both sensibilities play a role in the development of the Nozzl news stream.

Q:  What sort of challenges do you think traditional media operations – print and broadcast – face in today’s market?

A: Advertising revenues disappeared, and the cost of doing journalism did not. That’s probably enough of a challenge right there.

We used to worry that print readership was declining decade by decade. But the nosedive that ad revenues took in the past five years is far out of proportion to lost readership. Newspaper revenues evaporated because the Web stole the advertisers. The Web gave businesses more effective and less costly ways to communicate with customers.

Yet the need for a vibrant news industry remains. The natural inclination of bureaucracies is to control the flow of information, and the art of extracting and communicating information from the bureaucracy is hard to learn. Without being melodramatic, I feel comfortable saying that the failure to solve this problem has some ugly consequences for American democracy.

Q:  How does Nozzl Media help traditional media address these challenges?

A: We are building on the core strengths that each news organization possesses: content, sales channels, and branding. By creating a space that is valuable to readers, we are creating value for advertisers — and therefore our clients. We’re harnessing the unique capabilities of smart phones to deliver news and conversation in ways that readers want. We’re giving users greater control by increasing the breadth of information they can consume and creating tools to filter out the noise. The entire experience occurs under the banner of a news organization that is a trusted source in the community. We believe that there is enough revenue in this proposition to help news organizations turn the corner.

Q:  Talk about some people who were positive influences on you as a journalist and in your work, now, with Nozzl Media.

A: You never want to admit you had editors you liked. They’ll just get swelled heads and start dispensing more unwelcome advice. So I’ll just say I had the good fortune of working with some of the best over the years at The Oregonian and in my first paper after college, The Virginian-Pilot. The quality in an editor that matters most to me is enthusiasm — the ability to get excited about a story. Not many have it. The ones who had this passion inspired me to run faster and farther. You need someone to help you see the significance in what you are doing.

Q:  What do you do in your free time?

A: I don’t have much these days. Mainly, I enjoy building towers, cooking imaginary food and dancing around the living room with my two young daughters. When there’s a chance, I love fly-fishing with my wife on the Deschutes River, cooking (real food), and reading. Naps are nice, too.

Q:  What do you enjoy most about working with Nozzl Media?

A: What’s great about Nozzl Media is that everyone I work with shares my core ideals about the news business. We fundamentally believe in professional newsgathering, its role as an agent of open government, and the need to pay for it. At the same time, we’re all people who embrace new technology. Steve Woodward in particular embodies those qualities. He spent decades in old-school newsrooms, and he has better instincts for the potential of new media than anyone I know. He’s a natural leader for this endeavor.

What’s exciting is the feeling that we are helping to invent a new medium. If we are successful – not just us, but everyone else who’s innovating right now – then our products will be part of a whole new mix of media that serves readers even better than they were served before. And the model will be sustainable.