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How Google and Gannett uncover new stories from archival photos

Golfer Tom Watson receiving a green jacket at a major competition with a crowd gathered behind.
The Augusta Chronicle/USA TODAY NETWORK

For golfer Tom Watson, seeing never-before published images of himself during the 1981 Masters brought back vivid memories of the important moments that led to his victory that year. For Gannett, being able to publish the video interview with Watson was part of a three-way editorial partnership between USA TODAY, Golfweek and the Augusta Chronicle, made possible with many never-before seen images that were curated from the Chronicle’s 30+ years of Masters photo archives.

  • Black and white photo from 1969 of golfer Arnold Palmer hitting a golf ball at a major competition.

    Arnold Palmer hits in the fairway at the Augusta National Golf Course during the 1969 Masters. (Chuck Richardson -The Augusta Chronicle via USA TODAY NETWORK)

  • Photo from 1981 of Tom Watson and Byron Nelson playing golf during a major competition.

    Tom Watson is joined by Byron Nelson during the 1981 Masters Par 3 Contest at the Augusta National GC on Wednesday, April 8, 1981. (File Photo -The Augusta Chronicle via USA TODAY NETWORK)

  • A crowd gathering to watch golf.

    A crowd gathers to watch golfers at Augusta National Golf Course during the 1982 Masters. (File Photo -The Augusta Chronicle via USA TODAY NETWORK)

  • A photo from 1975 of Lee Elder golfing.

    Lee Elder at the Augusta National Golf Course during the 1975 Masters. Elder was the first Black player to compete at the Masters. (File Photo -The Augusta Chronicle via USA TODAY NETWORK)

  • Many umbrellas over people walking along a golf course.

    Spectators with umbrellas walk through a path in the rain at Augusta National Golf Course. (File Photo -The Augusta Chronicle via USA TODAY NETWORK)

  • A black and white photo of Johnny Miller taking a picture of people watching a major golf competition.

    Johnny Miller takes a photograph of spectators at Augusta National GC during the 1981 Masters. (File Photo -The Augusta Chronicle via USA TODAY NETWORK)

  • Jack Nicklaus crouching down on a golf course.

    Jack Nicklaus on the course at Augusta National Golf Course during the 1982 Masters. (File Photo -The Augusta Chronicle via USA TODAY NETWORK)

  • Tables set up outdoors for dining during a major golf event, with waiters holding trays.

    Outdoor dining area and waiters at Augusta National GC during the 1981 Masters. (File Photo -The Augusta Chronicle via USA TODAY NETWORK)

  • Tiger Woods being presented with the green jacket for winning a major golf tournament.

    Nick Faldo presents Tiger Woods with the green jacket for winning the Masters at the Augusta National Golf Course during the 1997 Masters. (File Photo -The Augusta Chronicle via USA TODAY NETWORK)

  • Close up photo of Arnold Palmer smiling at a major competition.

    Arnold Palmer at Augusta National Golf Course during the 1982 Masters. (File Photo -The Augusta Chronicle via USA TODAY NETWORK)

All three titles are part of Gannett, which partnered with the Google News Initiative (GNI) to comb through their network archives for valuable but untapped visual assets to digitize and make available for present use through Iron Mountain Entertainment Services (IMES). Gannett mined the Masters images from the archives of the Augusta Chronicle, which were part of 40,000+ images IMES digitized from several properties across Gannett, including The Chronicle, Detroit Free Press, the Tennessean and USA TODAY. Gannett and GNI teamed up with IMES to securely transport the assets from multiple Gannett photo archives to IMES’s climate-controlled facility in Boyers, Pennsylvania. Once there, the IMES team digitized them using high-resolution image capture technology.

This project further extends a multi-dimensional partnership that has been in place for over a decade between Google and Gannett. One of the primary goals was to create new editorial content from recently digitized images unlocked from analog libraries, much of which has never been seen before. Gannett used this rediscovered editorial content to drive additional audience and subscribers to various publications. The material will also allow for expanded revenue through traffic-based advertising, sponsorship or syndication channels such as Gannett’s in-house image licensing team at Imagn.com.

  • A woman closing her window with a picture of the Pope hanging off of the window pane.

    Maria Grucz closes her window after displaying a portrait of Pope John Paul II during his Hamtramck visit on September 19, 1987 in Detroit, Michigan. (Pauline Lubens -The Detroit Free Press via USA TODAY NETWORK)

  • An aerial shot of the Pope speaking to people and shaking their hands.

    Pope John Paul II speaks to individuals at Hart Plaza on September 19, 1987 in Detroit, Michigan. (Daymon Hartley -The Detroit Free Press via USA TODAY NETWORK)

  • Basketball player James Edwards shooting a basketball.

    Pistons player James Edwards shooting the ball while being guarded by the Trailblazers' Kevin Duckworth during game three of the 1990 NBA Finals at The Memorial Coliseum. (Craig Porter-Detroit Free Press)

  • People celebrating and watching a parade for the Pistons.

    Pistons Parade, June 18, 1990 in Detroit, Michigan. (William Archie, USA Today Network)

  • Nelson Mandela with George H.W. Bush walking and talking at the White House.

    Nelson Mandela with President George H.W. Bush at the White House on June 25, 1990 Washington. (Manny Crisostomo -The Detroit Free Press via USA TODAY NETWORK)

  • An aerial photograph of Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Michigan.

    Aerial views of Tiger Stadium during Nelson Mandela's visit. (File Photo -The Detroit Free Press via USA TODAY NETWORK)

  • A group of choir singers wearing white shirts with sashes.

    A choir welcomes Nelson Mandela on June 28, 1990 in Detroit, Michigan.

One of our challenges, and one likely shared by many legacy publishers, was finding materials from the archives that were in good shape and had supporting research materials. We had to carefully select visual assets that survived mergers and physical building moves, while rejecting materials that were not preserved over time. Doing this due diligence before embarking on the digitization process is important to ensure efforts are being put towards material that will have value and organization.

The variety of archival material that was digitized in this project allowed Gannett to experiment with several different content strategies at various properties. As a publisher, Gannett is pushing towards a subscription-based model for all of its media outlets, with aggressive growth goals. The Masters archival material offered us the opportunity to examine readership trends in content at different properties, with some being subscription-based and others being free to the public. This digitized material also allows Gannett to respond quickly to news where it is relevant to current-day events. An example of where we used these archival images was the recent death of groundbreaking Black golfer Lee Elder, using images through a gallery in Elder’s obituary.

This is a black and white photo from 1975 of Lee Elder swinging a golf club at a major competition.

Lee Elder at the Augusta National Golf Course during the 1975 Masters. Elder was the first Black player to compete at the Masters. (File Photo -The Augusta Chronicle via USA TODAY NETWORK)

Early in their transition to a subscription model, the Detroit Free Press used a similar strategy of mixing subscriber-only content with some that was open to the broader public. They drew both significant traffic and drove consumer subscription conversions using this archival material. A story looking back at the details of Pope John Paul II’s visit to Detroit with some of the archival photos was published as a subscriber-only exclusive that drove new subscriptions. The broader gallery page of archival images was open to the public and drew more 100,000 page views. A reader survey conducted on existing subscribers showed that 37% had read the piece on the Free Press’ site, and more than 50% of those felt that they would enjoy seeing more content like this in the Free Press.

Pope John Paul II and a cardinal in the Pope Mobile inside the Silverdome in Detroit, Michigan.

Caption: Pope John Paul II inside the Silverdome on September 19, 1987 in Detroit, Michigan. (Manny Crisostomo -The Detroit Free Press via USA TODAY NETWORK)

Our next steps involve identifying ongoing editorial opportunities where we can use this material. Gannett will also use artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies from Google Cloud Platform to uncover more opportunities to monetize content. The Masters material in particular offers a yearly opportunity to create “from the archives” types of content experiences where we can resurface rarely or never-before-seen images and develop new storylines. Within Gannett, this future content can be created and cross-promoted at local (Augusta), national (USA TODAY) and sports specialty (Golfweek) levels, giving this material far greater reach beyond that of any single publication.

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