Shaping the Future of the Newspaper Blog: December 2009 Archives

2009: A fa la la la Facebook Christmas

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 30, 2009 at 4:15 PM

Facebook was the most visited Web site in the United States this Christmas, the first time the social networking site as ever been the most visited U.S. site, Hitwise reported yesterday. The percentage of new visits to the site last week on Christmas Day and Christmas Eve also increased 10 percent, which could have played a part in the traffic increase, the firm reported.

This was also the first time Facebook beat Google in traffic in the United States, according to paidContent. In the United Kingdom, Google maintained its top position as the most-visited Web site on Christmas Day, Telegraph.co.uk reported.

Last year, when Facebook had 140 million users, it also saw a spike in traffic on Christmas. This year users are up to 350 million, AllThingsD reported.

SFN report: Global mobile users reached 3.18 billion in '08; most from developing countries

Posted by Erina Lin on December 30, 2009 at 4:00 PM

Mobile subscribers in 2003 accounted for 1.39 billion, while 703 million came from developing countries. In 2007, the numbers boosted to more than 3.18 billion, while more than 2.22 billion was from developing countries, SFN's World Digital Media Trends 2009 reported.

Worldwide, broadband subscribers totalled 101 million in 2003, with more than 80 percent coming from industrialised countries. In 2007, there were 348 million subscribers in total, 230 million of which were from industrialised countries, according to IDATE.

French online-only and print publications get €20 million

Posted by Alisa Zykova on December 30, 2009 at 10:35 AM

Online news outlets in France will receive €20 million in funding for 2009, with "traditional" news sites getting a larger portion, Le Monde reported today. "For the first time" online outlets would have the same access as newspapers do to receive help from the state even though the majority of the money would go towards "traditional" press publications.

The first meeting of the commission that equally represents both sides took place on December 21. The commission, whose task is to allocate the funding accordingly, looked at 18 cases out of the 70 it received. A number of Internet-only news sites would benefit from the subsidies, Le Monde said.

Chrome OS-run netbook rumoured to be released in a year

Posted by Alisa Zykova on December 30, 2009 at 9:07 AM

Google may be launching its Chrome OS-based netbook by the holiday season in 2010, IBTimes reported Sunday. The search engine company has already contacted numerous hardware manufacturers and sent out RFPs (Request for Proposal), according to the report. The device is predicted to cost under US$300 (€210) and will be sold directly by Google.

According to The Link, using Chrome for netbooks means building an open-source OS (Operating System) that will permit developers to build directly on top of the system and drop the licensing fee that Microsoft entails, thus making the netbooks 10 percent less expensive. The project may take away from the significant share of the OS market that Microsoft has.

Watching out for paid content obstacles

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 29, 2009 at 3:52 PM

Content wants to be free, and the nature of the Internet makes that possible - this has long been the refrain against paid online content. But as print sales and advertising have been on a downward spiral, made even worse by the global financial crisis over the past year, the argument for paid content has resurfaced, and this time, it's stronger. If news publishers haven't already put up some form of a paywall, they are seriously considering it.

However, one hurdle many general news outlets haven't considered yet was voiced by Alan Mutter. "One of the problems is newspapers fired so many journalists and turned them loose to start so many blogs," he told The New York Times. "They should have executed them. They wouldn't have had competition. But they foolishly let them out alive."

Image: Glenn Karlsen's flickr photostream

SFN report: Mobile social networking a worldwide increasing trend

Posted by Erina Lin on December 29, 2009 at 3:00 PM

Accessing social networking sites on mobile is also an increasing trend worldwide, SFN's World Digital Media Trends 2009 reported. In January 2008, the total number of the mobile social networking audience in the United States was 2.9 million. At the same time, MySpace and Facebook each had an audience of about 1.8 million and 1.2 million unique users, according to the Nielsen Company.

Apple tablet to be heavyweight e-reader competition

Posted by Alisa Zykova on December 29, 2009 at 9:56 AM

Apple Inc. shares have continued to grow this week after reaching a record high Thursday, The Street reported. Apple's stock closed at US$211.61 on Monday, up by $2.57 (1.23 percent) over the day's closing price of $209.04. The proposed reason for the rise is Apple's alleged launch of a new tablet computer in early 2010. However, Frost & Sullivan analyst James Brehm said there may be "strong interest in it, but it won't be the wave of the future," according to CNNMoney.com.

QuickPwn speculates that the tablet will not be a larger version of the iPod/iPhone as expected, but would instead be an eBook reader to compete with Amazon's Kindle, Barnes & Noble's Nook and other e-readers.

Should Amazon's Kindle change?

Posted by Alisa Zykova on December 29, 2009 at 8:19 AM

Amazon received a pleasant surprise this Christmas; "for the first time ever" consumers bought more Kindle editions of books than physical books, MSNBC reported yesterday. However, PC World's Jeff Bertolucci suggested that as the e-reader landscape is expected to change next year as other e-readers are launched, such as the expected unveiling of Apple's tablet computer, there are steps Amazon can take to prevent the Kindle device from becoming outdated.

One possible transformation is the addition of a colour screen, which would largely benefit magazines and newspapers, Bertolucci wrote. E-Ink displays are alright for books, but Kindle may have to swap it "to appease its news publishing partners." Another change could be dropping the physical keyboard since a touchscreen may be enough for "limited text-entry tasks" and the extra space could be used to enlarge the display.

Google's AdMob acquisition raises antitrust and privacy concerns

Posted by Alisa Zykova on December 29, 2009 at 8:07 AM

Two advocacy groups have urged the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to prohibit Google Inc.'s planned US$750 million acquisition of mobile advertising firm AdMob Inc., BusinessWeek reported yesterday. The Center for Digital Democracy and Consumer Watchdog issued a statement mentioning antitrust concerns and privacy issues that the sale incited, pointing out that it might "substantially lessen competition in the increasingly important mobile advertising market." according to Reuters.

Search giant Google, Inc. intends to improve sales of adverts featured on applications on mobile phones, Reuters reported. The resulting purchase of AdMob is presumed to spawn the biggest mobile advertising company that would occupy 30 percent to 40 percent of the market, Karsten Weide, an analyst from California's Interactive Data Corp., told BusinessWeek.

Report: Russian online ad spend will keep growing in 2010

Posted by Alisa Zykova on December 29, 2009 at 7:20 AM

While most media formats in Russia experienced decreased advertising revenue in 2009 compared to last year, online outlets saw a rise in theirs, according to data from the Russian Association of Communication Agencies (AKAR), Gipp.ru reported today. Experts also predict online ad expenditure will continue to grow throughout 2010.

In Russia, print newspapers and magazines saw a drop of 44 percent during the first three fiscal quarters of the year. Daily papers suffered the least, having had a 20 percent decline in ad spend since 2008. Meanwhile, specialised publications underwent a 55 percent decrease. TV ad expenditure plunged by 21 percent from RUB 94.5 (US$3.15) billion to RUB 74.5 (US$2.48) billion from 2009 to 2008, according to Gazeta.ru. Other spheres went through significant loses; for example, expenditure within exterior advertising decreased by 42 percent since the same period last year.

Bloomberg cuts general news department

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 28, 2009 at 5:06 PM

Bloomberg is rumoured to be focusing more on its core business of financial news, and less on general news, having disbanded its World News team last week, Gawker reported Friday, citing an anonymous source.

"Tom Secunda, one of Mike Bloomberg's earliest associates, and Dan Doctoroff, sent from City Hall to oversee the company, have been campaigning for much of the past year for Bloomberg to concentrate solely on business news and leave the rest to others. None of this stopped Winkler, in interview after interview, to insist [sic] that Bloomberg planned to expand its general news coverage to compete on all levels with Reuters," the Web site reported the tipster as saying.

Hearst sites to be more visual, have more data

Posted by Alisa Zykova on December 28, 2009 at 12:47 PM

Hearst Newspapers may be seeing numerous changes next year, according to a message sent out to employees by the firm's president Steve Swartz, Poynter's Romenesko reported last week. In the message, Swartz mentioned digital publishing efforts and the U.S. newspaper publisher's digital content strategy, which will present Web sites that are "much more visual" and contain the "richest possible package of local information and data."

According to Swartz, Hearst will use the group's new Nstein digital content management and distribution system. In addition, they will be launch a paid edition of daily news and entertainment content that will feature "exclusives and higher levels of customization" in addition to free material.

Microsoft study: Print ads more effective than online or TV

Posted by Alisa Zykova on December 28, 2009 at 11:54 AM

A study conducted by Microsoft Advertising found that for large retailers, print advertising is more effective than online ads, and more than twice as effective as television ads, The Times reported Monday. Each £1 spent on print ads garner £5 in revenue, while TV and Internet ads bring in £2.15 and £3.44, respectively.

Participants of the survey of 26 large UK retailers were anonymous, but included fashion retailers, department stores, large grocery retailers and big clothing stores. Twenty-four of the participants were "in the top 100 UK companies" when it comes to media expenditure, according to The Times.

2009: Year of social networks

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 23, 2009 at 2:11 PM

Social networking has been around for years, but 2009 was the year they became useful journalism tools, from Twitter being used to inform the world about unrest in Iran to the rollout of Facebook Connect to make sharing news and information easier.

This was also the year "your uncle became a Facebook friend, and your company started Twittering," as Computer World put it. This autumn, Facebook users reached 350 million, and time spent on the site was up 700 percent, to 13.9 billion minutes spent on the site in April, according to Nielsen.

Twitter announces profit for 2009

Posted by Alisa Zykova on December 23, 2009 at 2:06 PM

Until now, Twitter may not have been considered a profitable company, but that is all to change. The popular micro-blogging enterprise will be able to notify the public of a small but present profit for 2009 thanks to US$15 million and $10 million deals with Google and Microsoft, respectively, PC World reported yesterday.

Twitter's deals with the two companies dictate that users' "tweets" be available on Google's search engine as well as the Microsoft-run Bing. It is not sure whether Twitter would depend on the two giants or whether it would be able to develop businesses to boost income (e.g. advertising or premium services), Reuters reported Monday.

Russia's Daily Online may venture into video only

Posted by Alisa Zykova on December 23, 2009 at 1:55 PM

Russian-language online business news portal Daily Online might chuck the articles and instead focus on video content, Lenta.ru reported today. The outlet's budget was set to expire in December 2009 and talks between investors might go on until the end of January, at which point it would be more clear as to whether Daily Online would be shut down or transformed into a web-TV station, Infox reported yesterday.

Web TV as news seems like a good opportunity, including the advertising sphere, according to Chief Editor Raf Shakirov. Online advertisers expect an increase in video advertising in 2010, Infox wrote. However, industry members do not have a positive outlook on Daily Online's future.

France approves law to protect secrecy of sources

Posted by Alisa Zykova on December 23, 2009 at 1:50 PM

French Parliament on Monday night approved a legislation that protects a journalist's sources, Le Monde reported yesterday. However, while journalistic sources may be protected, it all depends on the "gravity of the crime or offense" and the "importance of the information in demand," the text reads.

The right-oriented UMP (Union for Popular Movement) and the Nouveau Centre (New Centre, also known as the European Social Liberal Party) voted for, the PS (Socialist Party) against. Meanwhile, the PCF (French Communist Part) and the Greens did not engage in the debate. The National Assembly voted the text in the same terms as the Senate, aiming for its definite passing.

Council: Journalism must be fostered in new spaces

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 23, 2009 at 1:49 PM

Journalism is vital to societies, and a "new technical, political and financial ecosystem" must be built to support it, the Global Agenda Council on the Future of Journalism announced last week. Even as business models falter, journalism must not, according to the council, one of the Global Agenda Councils, part of the World Economic Forum, which met in Dubai in late November.

The council believes journalism and its relationship with audiences and society in general must be reconstructed in the new media spaces. "Public engagement is transforming journalism, offering an historic opportunity to create unprecedented increased value. The media industry in general, and journalism in particular, have been experiencing drastic changes which call into question their role in mediating information to the benefit of their audience as well as disrupting traditional business models. Yet in an age when information is more important than ever, journalism is vital for building societies. It is a systemic part of the social environment. We need to build a new technical, political and financial ecosystem to support it," read the final statement of the GAC on the Future of Journalism, Wilfried Ruetten, a member of the council, posted on European Journalism Centre's Web site Friday.

Looking ahead: Strategies for 2010

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 22, 2009 at 3:45 PM

Most people in the newspaper industry are not sad to see 2009 come to a close. This year, the global recession hit hard and difficult lessons were learned, but looking ahead to 2010, newspapers are planning ways to hit back.

Shaping the Future of the Newspaper has studied trends and talked to experts, and created a list of important strategies for 2010.

1. Targeted audiences. In addition to the "general purpose" newspaper, the future of the newspaper industry will require newspaper companies to create a portfolio of targeted print and digital products for a variety of audiences based on age, gender, location, socio-economic status, ethnicity and interest group.

BBC Trust approves venture into Internet on TV

Posted by Alisa Zykova on December 22, 2009 at 12:33 PM

The BBC Trust announced its decision to go forth with Project Canvas. The venture will include set-top boxes providing access to on-demand TV services such as BBC iPlayer and ITV Player on their television sets as well as the chance to shop, download music and go on sites like Facebook, YouTube and Flickr, BBC News reported today.

Project Canvas is collaboration between the BBC, ITV, BT, Five, Channel 4 and TalkTalk that aims to develop an Internet Protocol Television Standard, according to BBC News. The set-top boxes are predicted to be priced at about £200.

Dow Jones newspaper groups to launch paywalls in January

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 22, 2009 at 12:23 PM

Two U.S. newspaper publishers in the Dow Jones Local Media Group will begin charging for online content in January, paidContent reported yesterday. The San Joaquin Media Group and SouthCoast Media Group will roll out at least partial paywalls.

Registered members to SouthCoast sites will be able to view 10 free articles and videos each month, while unregistered users will be able to view three free items a month. San Joaquin Media Group publishes Recordnet.com, which reported that some content, such as blogs, weather, classified advertising, calendars, puzzles and national and international news, will remain free for all visitors, as well as three visits per month for local news content.

New circulation research system to be launched in Russia

Posted by Alisa Zykova on December 22, 2009 at 12:01 PM

Russia's Guild of Press Publishers (GIPP) announced Tuesday that it will set up a new system to monitor newspaper circulation, Vedomosti reported. The organisation, called the Circulation Audit Bureau (BTA) may be an alternative to the National Circulation Services (NCS) and will be launched sometime in 2010, according to Director of Distribution of Publishing House Komsomolskaya Pravda Alexander Chekshin.

Major news outlets like Kommersant, Argumenti I Fakti, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Rossiyskaya Gazeta and Hachette Filipacchi Shkluev/InterMediaGroup have already announced their resignation as members of the NCS. GIPP President Alexander Strahov said the holding company in charge of BTA would not be the afore-mentioned outlets, but rather "non-commercial" entities.

Google ordered to stop digitising French books

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 18, 2009 at 4:44 PM

Google has been fined €300,000 in damages and ordered to stop digitising books in France, MediaGuardian reported today. The online giant was found to have violated copyright law by scanning books and putting excerpts online, after French publishers challenged the practice.

The La Martiniere group, which publishes Editions du Seuil SAS, asked the Paris court to fine Google €15 million. Joining them in the lawsuit was authors' group SGDL and French publishers' association SNE. Google has said it will appeal the ruling.

Russian tycoon closing in on The Independent

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 18, 2009 at 1:19 PM

Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev is in advanced talks with Independent News and Media plc to buy both The Independent and The Independent on Sunday, the company announced in a statement today. The exclusive talks "are still preliminary," and "there is no certainty that these discussions will lead to the finalization of a transaction of any kind," the statement from the Dublin-based Independent said.

A former KGB agent, Lebedev bought a controlling stake in London's afternoon paper, the Evening Standard, in January, and it began being distributed for free in October. Lebedev, who made his money in banking and insurance, also owns Novaya Gazeta in Russia, and is part-owner of Aeroflot, a national carrier, according to BusinessWeek.

Photo: Lebedev, PressGazette.co.uk

SFN report: Google most popular mobile Web site in Q4 '08

Posted by Erina Lin on December 18, 2009 at 12:50 PM

During the last quarter of 2008, Google was the most popular mobile Web site in Italy, Spain, Germany and France, according to the Nielsen Company.

It had a unique audience of more than three million in Italy, or 6.9 percent of total mobile subscribers, SFN's World Digital Media Trends 2009 reported.

Huffington Post estimated to earn $12 - 16 million this year

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 18, 2009 at 12:27 PM

Los Angeles Times writer James Rainey asks "Will the Huffington Post strategy pay off?" following an interview with founder Arianna Huffington. The company does not provide figures, he specified, but "three people who work in the field estimated that it would take in [US]$12 million to $16 million this year."

Greg Coleman, Huffington's chief revenue officer, aims to double the site's revenue in one year and build it six-fold in three, Rainey said. The site is looking at expanding its advertising space.

For more on this story, visit our sister site, editorsweblog.org.

GMG may sell regional division

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 17, 2009 at 5:01 PM

The Guardian Media Group today confirmed it is considering selling its regional newspapers, which include the Manchester Evening News. The "exploratory talks" are in a "very early stage," but GMG would not comment on which companies it has talked to, MediaGuardian reported. However, according to a Telegraph.co.uk report, GMG is considering selling GMG Regional Media to rival Trinity Mirror.

The possible sale of the regional division is being done in an attempt to save more than 100 jobs at GMG's two national titles, as GMG is obligated by owner The Scott Trust to safeguard The Guardian newspaper "in perpetuity," but does not have the same obligation for its regionals.

Photo: Air Adam's flickr photostream

Sony e-reader to offer exclusive News Corp. content

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 17, 2009 at 4:19 PM

Sony Corp.'s e-reader will begin offering an exclusive digital version of two News Corp.-owned properties, the financial news service Marketwatch.com and the New York Post, a tabloid, the Japanese company announced today.

A digital version of the Wall Street Journal, also owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., is already available on Amazon's Kindle; however, Sony will offer an exclusive daily news update after the markets close, called Wall Street Journal Plus, Agence France Presse reported.

Photo: The New York Times blogs

SFN report: SMS ads, photos/videos sharing and music most popular mobile activities

Posted by Erina Lin on December 17, 2009 at 12:36 PM

According to comScore's Mobile Benchmark Study, during the three month period ending November 2008, the most popular activities in the five countries surveyed were receiving SMS ads, sending/receiving photos or videos and listening to music, SFN's World Digital Media Trends 2009 reported.

More than half of the mobile subscribers in Spain, France and Italy received SMS ads.

2010 outlook on ad revenue and strategic initiatives

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 17, 2009 at 11:58 AM

Kubas Consultants have released the results of their survey of over 530 U.S. and Canadian newspaper executives' and managers' expectations for advertising revenues in 2010 and what strategies they have planned to meet the New Year's challenges.

'Preview 2010' found that next year is widely held to be a year of improvement in all categories of newspaper advertising revenue. It is important to note that 'improvement' here means 'declining less quickly' rather than positive growth. This is approximately the same perception expected of 2009, except that this optimism was misplaced as 2009 saw newspapers' online sales decrease.

For more on this story, visit our partner site, editorsweblog.org.

Miami Herald asking readers for donations

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 16, 2009 at 3:35 PM

The Miami Herald yesterday began trying a new way to make money from online content: by asking nicely. The McClatchy-owned Florida newspaper now accepts voluntary payments on its Web site at the end of each story, where readers are presented with an option to make a payment to support the coverage.

After clicking on the option, readers are directed to a page where they can pay any amount they like, via credit card.

DMGT to launch 15 new iPhone apps

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 16, 2009 at 12:34 PM

Daily Mail & General Trust is setting its sights on being "the leading mobile publisher of applications in Europe," and to that end, will launch at least 15 new Apple iTunes applications over the next six months, Richard Titus, chief executive of Associates Northcliffe Digital (DMGT's digital division) announced.

The first half of the applications are expected to be launched early in 2010, including apps for Metro.co.uk, Mail Online, Motors.co.uk, Jobsite, Teletext Holidays, Findaproperty.com, This is and Local people, The Financial Times reported today.

Report: U.S. newspaper jobs to drop 25% by 2018

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 16, 2009 at 12:09 PM

Nearly 25 percent of the U.S. newspaper industry's jobs will no longer exist in 2018, according to a new report from the federal Bureau of Labor and Statistics, Editor & Publisher reported today. Of the top 10 industries by job loss, newspapers rank seventh.

As of the end of 2008, there were about 326,000 jobs in newspapers, but by 2018, that number will drop to 245,000, according to the Employment Projections Summary.

Revenue up at French news Web sites

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 16, 2009 at 11:59 AM

Le Groupe Figaro, which owns French daily newspaper Le Figaro, has recorded good results in 2009, Tarif Media reports.

The group's Web sites include news site Lefigaro.fr, culture and entertainment site Evene.fr, sports Web site Sport24.fr and others. These sites posted total revenue up by 11 percent at the end of October, but the print daily will still post a loss this year. This is compensated by the stronger performance of other areas including digital, magazines, and cultural publications.

For more on this story, visit our sister site, editorsweblog.org.

WaPo newsroom redesign: No room for reporters?

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 15, 2009 at 4:57 PM

The famed Washington Post newsroom of Woodward and Bernstein is no more, and in its place is a redesigned one. However, if the famed Watergate reporters found themselves trying to type up a story there today, they may have to borrow an editor's desk to do so.

After months of renovation in the Washington Post's newsroom, reporters are returning to find that two-thirds of the floor space is devoted to editors, while reporters' desks are barely large enough to hold a "notebook, phone and a few files," The Washingtonian's Harry Jaffe reported yesterday.

The gutted newsroom, before the redesign. Photo: Ian Shapira

Still hope for Editor & Publisher?

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 15, 2009 at 4:37 PM

Editor & Publisher will publish its January 2010 edition as planned, despite plans by Nielsen Co. to close the 125-year-old U.S. newspaper trade magazine, Editor Greg Mitchell announced yesterday.

However, despite the parent company's previous unsuccessful attempts to sell the publication, E&P announced that "a number of outside companies and individuals have expressed interest in possibly keeping E&P going, so stay tuned for updates."

Sarkozy gives French youth free subscriptions

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 15, 2009 at 1:27 PM

As part of a €600 million aid package, the French government is buying newspaper subscriptions for young readers, the Christian Science Monitor reported today.

Readers between ages 18 and 24 will receive a one-year subscription to the paper of their choice as part of the bailout. The offer is open to the first 200,000 who sign up for "Mon Journal Offer," and they can choose from 60 newspapers.

BBC to aggregate headlines from commercial outlets

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 15, 2009 at 10:16 AM

The BBC, which yesterday announced a new initiative to grant the general public access to professional media training resources, has also revealed it will expand the content available on its news website by linking to rival sources via an aggregation-like system, reports The Independent.

The move comes after accusations headed by News Corp's chairman and CEO for Europe and Asia, James Murdoch, that the corporation, in choosing to remain free, is flooding the market and preventing competitors from expanding online and charging for their content. The new plan would reportedly see links to commercial Web sites added at the end of BBC stories.

For more on this story, visit our sister site, editorsweblog.org.

WSJ 2 years after Murdoch: 'Newsier, less analytical,' 'increasingly successful,' or both?

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 14, 2009 at 12:43 PM

Rupert Murdoch bought Dow Jones & Co. and its flagship newspaper the Wall Street Journal two years ago on Sunday in a US$5.16 billion takeover bid, which ended more than 100 years of ownership by the Bancroft family. At the time, Murdoch stood atop four boxes of copy paper to reassure journalists that their "tremendous values" would be preserved under new ownership. "If anything, you will find us trying to set a higher bar."

Since then, Murdoch has considered making the WSJ's Web site free, and did lift some pay barriers, but ended up sticking to its pay wall, continuing its reign as a top example of a newspaper making money from paid online content. The WSJ has also taken some cost cutting measures, such as closing bureaux, as well as launching new money-makers, such as a new specialty product to provide subscribers more specialised news in niche areas.

Photo: The Associated Press

Gannett shares up, thanks to strategic plans

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 14, 2009 at 12:01 PM

Gannett Co. shares were up 5.4 percent (71 cents) today, after a Benchmark Co. analyst upgraded the stock, noting the U.S. newspaper publisher's stronger management strategy, The Associated Press reported.

"With solid franchises in small local newspaper markets in the U.S. and UK, and ongoing efforts to expand content through new print and new media products, we believe Gannett is well positioned to weather the prolonged downturn in the newspaper publishing industry," wrote analyst Edward Atorino. He raised his rating from "Hold" to "Buy," and increased his price target from US$16 to $18.

Google advertises Chrome in newspapers

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 14, 2009 at 11:38 AM

Google is pushing its Chrome Web browser in the United Kingdom, surprisingly, with print ads. Today's edition of free daily Metro hit newsstands this morning in a wraparound Chrome ad, WebProNews reported.

Metro, which has a circulation of 1.3 million each day, is a perfect platform for Google to reach people, a majority of which use Internet Explorer and Firefox - a captive audience on their Monday morning commute, the next Web's Martin Bryant pointed out.

Google is also pushing Chrome on billboards, and seems set on pushing the new browser while ad rates are still low, according to paidContent.

'Journicide': Will the industry's financial woes turn off students?

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 14, 2009 at 11:16 AM

A recent post on Alan Mutter's Reflections of a Newsosaur blog has rasied concerns over the potentially devasting impact the current financial crisis in the newspaper industry could have on the willingness of students to choose journalism as a profession.

Mutter argues that in a time where employment opportunities are shrinking and those who do manage to secure jobs are paid a pittance, a 'substantial percentage of the next generation of professional journalists' could be wiped out in a movement he dubs 'journicide.'

"Journicide has been under way since newspapers and other mainstream media began losing their formidable revenue-generating juju in 2006. The elimination of full-time professional journalism jobs since then has been so relentless that it has become remarkably, depressingly commonplace," he writes.

For more on this story, visit our sister site, editorsweblog.org.

Guardian launches paid iPhone app

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 14, 2009 at 10:54 AM

The Guardian has launched a paid-for iPhone application, the paper reported, hoping to develop "the world's best content-based iPhone experience."

Key themes in the development were "speed, customisation, a great design aesthetic and ease of navigation through the full breadth of Guardian content," according to a blog post by mobile product manager Jonathon Moore. The app will refresh content every 15 minutes, and offline browsing will be possible. Content is organised by keyword, and users can customise their home page. As yet there is no video and no option to comment or read comments of others.

For more on this story, visit our sister site, editorsweblog.org.

English lawmakers consider rewriting libel laws

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 11, 2009 at 4:40 PM

English law is notorious for making it easy for complainants to sue for libel and win, thanks to the burden of proof resting on the defendant, leading British lawmakers to consider rewriting the country's outdated libel laws, The New York Times reported yesterday.

Libel laws are so relaxed that the term "libel tourism," is used to describe what goes on in English courts - people filing libel suits outside their home country. In fact, it's not surprising that The New York Times is reporting on the issue, since it has an interest in seeing the law changed, according to Wall Street Journal blogs.

Gruppo Espresso chairman speaks out on Google's relationship with press

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 11, 2009 at 4:04 PM

Italian media group Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso's chairman has announced his support for daily business newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, which last week ran an article by Google CEO Eric Schmidt. The argument between the press and Google on how much control should be leveraged over content has escalated throughout 2009, and Carlo De Benedetti wrote in an editorial Wednesday that "the problem is that in today's media world there's an obvious imbalance in Google's favour."

Il Sole 24 Ore was right to offer readers Schmidt's point of view, because much of the future of the news depends on the relationship between news content providers and Google, he stated, calling the launch of Google's First Click Free policy "more a diversion than a change of strategy."

SFN report: Communication top online activity in March '08

Posted by Erina Lin on December 11, 2009 at 12:21 PM

Communications accounted for 22 percent of the total time spent online worldwide, beating other online activity categories in March 2008, according to comScore's study, Digital World - State of the Internet.

Social connections made up 16 percent, which did not even exist in 2005. Entertainment and leisure contributed 14 percent, while shopping and travel, and work, business and education represented less than 10 percent each, SFN's World Digital Media Trends 2009 reported.

Google now shows tweets in search

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 10, 2009 at 5:27 PM

Google Search Appliance, the search hardware used by the online giant, is now able to show tweets along with internal search results, Google announced today.

This real-time information comes thanks to partnerships with Twitter, as well as Facebook, MySpace, FriendFeed, Jaiku and Identi.ca. Yahoo Search, meanwhile, has also expanded space for tweets within its search results, InformationWeek reported today.

CNN invests in local news aggregation site

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 10, 2009 at 3:57 PM

CNN will invest in local news aggregator Outside.in as part of a US$7 million series B funding round, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. And beginning next year, the Time Warner-owned news network will feature the start-up's feeds on its Web site.

Dow Jones and the New York Post have also signed on, and will receive an ad-free version of the feeds. However, they can also get feeds for free if they include ads, paidContent reported yesterday.

For more on this story, visit our sister site, editorsweblog.org.

Editor & Publisher to close

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 10, 2009 at 12:18 PM

After searching for a buyer for the past year, Nielsen Business Media will shut down Editor & Publisher, NBM President Greg Farrar announced today.

The group has sold eight brands - Adweek, Brandweek, Mediaweek, The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, The Clio Awards, Film Journal International and Backstage - to e5 Global Media Holdings, and has also decided to shutter its Kirkus Reviews, founded in 1933 to review school books, along with E&P. e5 Global Media Holdings was formed by Pluribus Capital Management and Guggenheim Partners.

NYT Co.'s print ad declines ease; online ads grow

Posted by Erina Lin on December 10, 2009 at 11:27 AM

The New York Times Co.'s decline in ad revenue has been eased this quarter and Web ad sales are up again, according to the publisher's statement released Tuesday, The Associated Press reported.

The projection brought in hopes that the company will be back on the financial track in 2010, and lifted its shares up slightly.

Gannett's 4Q losses signal turnaround

Posted by Lisette García on December 9, 2009 at 4:07 PM

The publisher of USA Today, as well as 80 other U.S. print newspapers, yesterday claimed to have gained ground in the losing economic battle faced by many western dailies worldwide, The Associated Press yesterday reported.

The optimistic pronouncement was delivered by Gannett Chief Financial Officer Gracia Martore at the UBS Media and Communications Conference, according to the company's press release. The preliminary report indicated that, while revenues were down 17 percent as compared with the same period last year, the company overall expects to show a profit for the most recent fiscal quarter.

Facebook users in U.S. reach 100 million

Posted by Erina Lin on December 9, 2009 at 12:00 PM

Facebook has surpassed the 100 million user mark in the U.S., after the announcement of reaching 350 million members worldwide last week, Media Post reported.

The social network users in the U.S. hit 100.5 million on Monday. It has a few million additional domestic users over most of the previous year, according to Inside Facebook.

Google, NYT & WashPost launch Living Stories project

Posted by Lisette García on December 9, 2009 at 10:40 AM

Google yesterday launched a project updating articles by The New York Times and the Washington Post as the stories unfold, The Associated Press reported. The project, titled Living Stories, aims to maximise the use of Web technology in the delivery of news by traditional media organisations, according to a Google press release.

"We believe it's just as important to experiment with how news organizations can take advantage of the web to tell stories in new ways -- ways that simply aren't possible offline," said Google engineer Neha Singh on the search engine's official blog, credited to product manager Josh Cohen. Cohen, through Google spokesman Chris Gaither, declined further comment on the project.

Ad revenue up for McClatchy

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 8, 2009 at 4:18 PM

McClatchy Co. has been watching advertising revenue trends rise since the third quarter, and expects the trend to continue through the end of this year, the Wall Street Journal reported today.

The U.S. newspaper publisher also expects "cash expenses to be down in the high-20 percent range in the fourth quarter as we continue our focus on permanently reducing our costs, said Chairman and CEO Gary Pruitt.

NYT Co. pulls Worcester Telegraph from auction block

Posted by Lisette García on December 8, 2009 at 2:52 PM

The New York Times Co. yesterday announced that it has abandoned plans to sell a Massachusetts newspaper due to a transformation of its "journalistic and business operations," Agence France-Presse reported yesterday.

Times Co. chairman Arthur Sulzberger and chief executive Janet Robinson were quoted by AFP as saying the following in a memo to employees of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette: "We are convinced that in partnership with the Boston Globe you are now prepared to move forward to a brighter future."

Australia job ads grew strongly in Nov.

Posted by Erina Lin on December 8, 2009 at 2:51 PM

Australian job advertisements, including print and online, were up strongly in November, according to a survey by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group released Monday, Reuters reported.

The study showed total job ad market increased 5.2 percent in November, much healthier than the 1.7 percent dip in October, and the 34.2 percent decline one year ago.

German media mogul wants Google partnership

Posted by Lisette García on December 8, 2009 at 2:09 PM

German publisher Axel Springer has joined the chorus of publishers seeking to abandon the free-for-all Internet news business model, The New York Times reported yesterday. To achieve this goal, though, Springer plans to enlist the help of Google, the most powerful search engine, paidContent said today.

Springer's proposed partnership deviates from the emerging pack of traditional media, which has generally cast Google as the villain in this unfolding story, according to Wednesday's report in The Telegraph.

Google wants to manage your paywall

Posted by Lisette García on December 8, 2009 at 8:42 AM

In the category of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em," the world's most powerful search engine has retooled its approach to content aggregation, possibly avoiding future copyright infringement liability.

Google on Tuesday announced in a blog post by Senior Business Product Manager Josh Cohen that it had adjusted its First Click Free programme, The Associated Press reported Wednesday. The technology change makes it possible for publishers to limit readers to five unpaid page views per day before redirecting them to a subscription form, Google spokesman Chris Gaither told sfnblog Wednesday via e-mail.

SFN report: TV beat newspapers and Internet as the top national and International news source in U.S.

Posted by Erina Lin on December 7, 2009 at 2:42 PM

According to Pew Research Center for the People & the Press December 2008 Political & Economic Survey, most respondents (70 percent) said they get most of their national and International news from TV, compared with 40 percent from the Internet and 35 percent from newspapers.

Scores for TV and newspapers slipped from 2001 to 2008, from 74 percent to 70 percent, and from 45 percent to 35 percent, respectively. The Internet, however, surged from 13 percent to 40 percent in that time. The year 2008 was the first time the Internet exceeded newspapers in the survey, SFN's World Digital Media Trends 2009 reported.

No privacy for foul poster

Posted by Lisette García on December 4, 2009 at 3:00 PM

A state trial court judge Thursday ordered The Myrtle Beach Sun in South Carolina, U.S., to disclose the true identity of "Elmer Fudd," who posted potentially libelous remarks about the area's chamber of commerce on the newspaper's Web site, The Myrtle Beach Sun Thursday reported. The newspaper announced Friday that the poster's email is noadtax@gmail.com but did not know the individual's actual name, The Sun reported Friday.

On the editorial side, the compelled disclosure runs up against the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protection of freedom of press and expression as well as the Fourth and Fifth Amendments' protection of privacy and self-incrimination. For business purposes, though, the ruling signals that publishers may incur significant legal costs in defending suits prompted by readers' alleged abuse of interactive media.

Hearst opts out by developing its own news platform for handheld devices

Posted by Lisette García on December 4, 2009 at 2:53 PM

Hearst Corp. apparently tired of waiting for the tech world to produce an electronic delivery software suitable for its many publications. So, it spent the last two years developing Skiff, a platform of its own which is set to start selling in mid-2010, The Wall Street Journal today reported.

"The platforms and devices that other people are building are not really appropriate for newspapers and magazines," Kenneth A. Bronfin, president of Hearst Interactive Media was quoted Thursday by Apple Insider as saying. "We are going to create an entity by publishers for publishers."

Boston union boss out

Posted by Lisette García on December 4, 2009 at 2:49 PM

The former president of the Boston Newspaper Guild was impeached in absentia for misfeasance when he signed unauthorized checks as well as using a credit card for personal expenses, Editor & Publisher Thursday reported.

SFN report: TV still the top news source consumed yesterday in the U.S.

Posted by Erina Lin on December 4, 2009 at 2:44 PM

TV still ranked on top as the news source people surveyed said they consumed the day before in the United States, although the percentage of consumption declined from 68 percent in 1991 to 57 percent in 2008, according to Pew Research Center's Biennial News Consumption Survey.

Radio and newspapers were ranked second and third in the survey behind TV, although the scores also dropped throughout the years, from 56 percent to 34 percent for newspapers, and from 54 percent to 35 percent for radio, SFN's World Digital Media Trends 2009 reported.

Google vs. publishers: How to best protect online copyright

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 3, 2009 at 6:46 PM

The senior vice president and chief legal council of Google, Inc. and the CEO of Independent News & Media, plc, today agreed to disagree on the best way to protect content owners' copyrights on the Internet. However, INM's Gavin O'Reilly and Google's David Drummond did tell the audience of the World Newspaper Congress in Hyderabad they would continue meeting in the future to try and solve the issue.

O'Reilly argued that the current Robots Exclusion Protocol, or robots.txt, is outdated, saying publishers "need something more than essentially a binary 'yes/no' for the management and commercial exploitation of our valuable content." The answer, he said, is an updated standard like the Automated Content Access Protocol, an effort backed by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers that seeks to give publishers a better way to control their copyrighted content online.

Drummond, left, discusses copyright protection on the Web with O'Reilly, left. Photo: Brian Powers, Western Integrated Media

Reuters' Stella Dawson on dedicated outsourcing solutions

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 3, 2009 at 2:45 AM

Stella Dawson, Reuters global editor for treasury, told the World Editors Forum about how Reuters both provides newspapers with outsourcing solutions and runs its own off-shore operation.

"Outsourcing is not anything new" in the news industry, she said. For years, newspapers have been outsourcing production of some news to wires such as Reuters. What Reuters has been doing recently, however, is trying to find "customised solutions," rather than just giving all newspapers the same selection of articles to choose from.

For more on this article, visit our sister publication, editorsweblog.org.

Senor: Internet will not kill newspapers

Posted by Sara Taylor on December 3, 2009 at 1:53 AM

"In an age of scrappy messages and information saturation - people want editorial criteria. We need to go from journalist to journANALYST," said Juan Senor, vice president of the International Media Consulting Group. He discussed the 2009 Global Report on Innovations in Newspapers. He then answered three main questions: What do people want from a newspaper in the 21st century, where is the money, and how do we get there?

Senor predicted that paper will always be around. Although it will never die, the business models and the content propositions have changed. "Complacency is the biggest threat to newspapers," said Senor. "What we're putting in these front pages is not relevant." Publications are repeating the same headlines on front pages and it is redundant. We need to have different ideas, he said.

PwC: Consumers willing to pay for online news

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 3, 2009 at 12:00 AM

People are willing to pay for online news, according to a recent study of 11 countries in North America, Europe and Australia, a senior manager from PricewaterhouseCoopers in the Netherlands told the World Newspaper Congress in Hyderabad today. When asked the question, "If there are no free alternatives, are you willing to pay for an online newspaper?" consumers said they are willing to pay 62 percent of the price of a traditional paper.

"This means there must be a possibility for newspaper companies to develop a proposition for your audience that is economically viable. Of course, if there are still free alternatives, it will be quite hard to do so. But if you have a good proposition, it certainly is possible to get paid for an online proposition," said Marieke van der Donk, senior manager of entertainment and media.

Marieke van der Donk, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Photo: Brian Powers, Western Integrated Media

Yahoo! and Facebook expand partnership

Posted by Erina Lin on December 2, 2009 at 3:11 PM

Yahoo! and Facebook announced Wednesday they will expand their partnership, to enable users to share activity and content with each other more easily, Media Post reported.

Through the Facebook Connect programme, members can log into other sites using their Facebook IDs. They can also share content, including photos or comments, with their Facebook friends.

Print investments create successes for Times of India, i, PANPA

Posted by Sara Taylor on December 2, 2009 at 5:37 AM

Creating a good brand is done through leadership, Ravi Dhariwal, CEO of Bennet, Coleman & Co., which publishes The Times of India told this afternoon's session of the World Newspaper Congress in Hyderabad. Speakers discussed how their businesses make money, while remaining credible and effective and still incredibly popular - through print.

Dhariwal and his company have made The Times of India a brand rather than just a newspaper through extensive marketing and interactivity. Establishing The Times as a cheerleader for the country was a key part of this branding strategy, along with keeping it "virtually free" for everyone.

Newspapers: A multimedia growth business

Posted by Sara Taylor on December 2, 2009 at 5:02 AM

Snowballing multimedia trends are being harnessed by different companies in different ways to grow new revenue streams and better serve audiences, speakers told the third session of the World Newspaper Congress today.

Bharat Gupta, chairman, managing director and managing editor of Jagran Prakashan in India told the congress about "the making of the world's highest read newspaper." Sandy Prieto-Romualdez, president and CEO of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, told about her newspaper's mobile-centric publishing strategy that capitaizes on the fact that Filipinos are among the most prolific phone texters in the world.

Paton: Internet is good for newspapers

Posted by Sara Taylor on December 2, 2009 at 4:40 AM

John Paton, impreMedia Chairman and CEO, spoke about re-inventing newspaper companies for the new news ecology at the Newspapers: A Multi-Media, Growth Business session this morning at the 62nd World Newspaper Congress in Hyderabad.

The Spanish-language newspaper audience in the United States is booming - it is the country's fastest growing demographic and would be the world's third largest Spanish speaking country if it stood alone.

John Paton, impreMedia Chairman and CEO. Photo: Brian Powers, Western Integrated Media

SFN: Reports and 'Future and Change' survey analysis

Posted by Sara Taylor on December 2, 2009 at 12:00 AM

More than a dozen reports from 2008-2009 were presented and analyzed by Indian freelance journalist Sridala Swami from WAN-IFRA's Shaping the Future of the Newspaper project.

She detailed the relationship between growing technologies and monetization. Editorial content management systems can enhance quality, reduce costs, ease the use of blogging, social networking, and sharing. Newspapers by their nature already have print, and they also have access to online, so the real opportunity is to intergrate and "get a lot more bang for your buck."

François Nel, director of Journalism Leadership Programmes at the University of Central Lancashire in the United Kingdom. Photo: Brian Powers, Western Integrated Media

Daily Mirror editor, Matt Kelly puts SEO second, audience first

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 2, 2009 at 12:00 AM

A UK Tabloid is not focusing on search engine optimisation for their Web site, but rather on human interests.

During the WAN-IFRA 2009 World Newspaper Congress - World Editors Forum, Associate Editor of the Daily Mirror, Matt Kelly, said by seeking big audiences, we have devalued the content in the minds of users. Users, not readers, customers or viewers, find content in a search engine and devour it and repeat the process like locusts, he said.

For more on this story, visit our partner site, the Editors Weblog.

Dow Jones CEO: 'Free costs too much'

Posted by Shakia Harris on December 1, 2009 at 4:25 PM

The first session of the World Newspaper Congress kicked off today with talk of perhaps the biggest ongoing conversation amongst the media around the world: how to pay for the digital content the news industry creates.

Les Hinton, CEO of Dow Jones & Co., told the Congress that charging for online news is a must, and companies need to find more ways to improve their ad sales to survive. Paul Jansen, CEO of SPH search at Singapore Press Holdings, said his biggest mistake was initially going free in the infancy of the Web. Andreas Wiele, of Axel Springer AG in Germany, said the industry must come up with models to allow print to measure efficiency, or advertisers will "go away."

Les Hinton, CEO of Dow Jones & Co. Photo: Brian Powers, Western Integrated Media

Murdoch: Readers, aggregators need to pay for online news

Posted by Erina Lin on December 1, 2009 at 4:06 PM

News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch stated in a workshop on journalism in the Internet age hosted by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Tuesday that the newspaper industry needs to convince readers to pay for online content, instead of hoping government to help, AFP reported.

"Warning that "government using its heavy hand to overregulate or to subsidise us," he said that publishers "need to a better job of persuading consumers that high quality reliable news and information does not come free," according to the AFP article posted on Google News.

Balding: 'We must solve the digital payment issue'

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 1, 2009 at 2:46 AM

The newspaper business model is powerless to compensate for falling print ad revenues, and the problem is not going to go away. The print model cannot and will not migrate to the Internet, where there is a "revenue black hole," in which 76 percent of all online revenues go to Google and Yahoo!, Timothy Balding, co-CEO of WAN-IFRA, told the 62nd World Newspaper Congress today.

"To compete, you will need to retain control of your content. In 2013, combined print and digital revenues will be less than print revenues in 2008," he said, citing data from ZenithOptimedia and PricewaterhouseCoopers. "Should we allow aggregators to build their business on the back of our content?"

Timothy Balding, co-CEO of WAN-IFRA. Photo: Brian Powers, Western Integrated Media

Pakistan editor-in-chief Najam Sethi accepts Golden Pen Award

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 1, 2009 at 2:34 AM

The editor-in-chief of two Pakistani newspapers received the Golden Pen award today at the WAN-IFRA 2009 World Newspaper Congress - World Editor's Forum.

Najam Sethi, editor-in-chief of Pakistan's Daily Times and Friday Times accepted his award Tuesday, December 1, in Hyderabad, India at the opening ceremony of the conference.

For more on this story, visit our partner site, the Editors Weblog.

Sethi, second from left, receives congratulations. Photo: Brian Powers, Western Integrated Media

UK's Sun celebrates 40 years by spoofing Apple tablet

Posted by Lisette García on December 1, 2009 at 2:28 AM

Poking a little fun at some late-coming high technology, The Sun newspaper today marked its 40th anniversary in continuous publication by posting several videos to its Web site highlighting the pioneering nature of its paper edition, Media Blog reported today.

One video demonstrates the high-tech nature of its pen-to-paper interface crossword puzzles, as well as its easy-to-disseminate pullout pages, a.k.a. file sharing, TechCrunch Europe today reported.

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