Shaping the Future of the Newspaper Blog: February 2010 Archives

Lebedev: Deal on The Independent to close soon

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 26, 2010 at 5:20 PM

Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev told the Wall Street Journal today he believes UK newspaper The Independent will be in his hands soon. The former KGB agent-turned-banker bought London freesheet the Evening Standard last year.

"As far as I understand most of the problems have been resolved," Lebedev told the WSJ. Independent News and Media PLC is the paper's current owner. He added that both parties are ready for the deal, but that "We haven't yet exchange contracts."

AP launches new units set to charge for iPad

Posted by Erina Lin on February 26, 2010 at 4:12 PM

The Associated Press announced Friday it will launch a new unit to identify and develop new products for mobile devices and other multimedia platforms, Editor & Publisher reported.

The unit, called AP Gateway, will focus on softwares and products that will "enable newspapers as well as the news cooperative to display content on such devices as Apple Computer Inc.'s iPad," said Tom Curley, AP's president and CEO, at the annual meeting of the Colorado Press Association.

Financial Times moves magazine printing operations to UK

Posted by Savita Sauvin on February 26, 2010 at 2:19 PM

St Ives Web, the magazine printing division of St Ives plc, has secured a contract to print the Financial Times lifestyle magazine, How to Spend It, along with several others to be announced later in the year, Print Week reported.

The printing operations of the fortnightly title, which has a with a print run of 450,000, will be moved from Eastern Europe to the company's Peterborough site in the United Kingdom. The site also prints The Economist and Time Out magazines.

UK television series moves into print

Posted by Savita Sauvin on February 26, 2010 at 1:18 PM

Future Publishing Group has teamed up with British broadcaster Channel Five and producer North One Television to launch a print edition of television programme The Gadget Show, World Screen reported.

The UK publisher will launch The Gadget Show Magazine in April, according to a press relase. The 132-page title will feature a retrospective on the ultimate gear from 2009, and developments of the future, with editorials from The Gadget Show's on-air team.

Google announces DoubleClick for Publishers

Posted by Savita Sauvin on February 26, 2010 at 12:29 PM

In an effort to maximise revenue on display ads for online publishers, Google this week announced the launch of an upgraded and rebranded ad-serving platform, DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP), TechCrunch reported.

Google plans to consolidate all its ad serving products for display ads under the DoubleClick banner, by transforming the former Google Ad Manager into a "feeder system" for DoubleClick for Publishers (formerly called DART). Along with rebranding, the DoubleClick platform also has features, including a new dashboard to manage the ads served on a publisher's Web site, improved ad-serving algorithms, and a new set of APIs.

Washington Post Co.'s newspaper division sees Q4 profit

Posted by Erina Lin on February 25, 2010 at 4:40 PM

The Washington Post Co. announced Wednesday that its fourth-quarter profit increased to $82.2 million, or $8.71 a share, more than quadruple year-over-year. This gain is mostly due to a big reduction in accounting charges and the strong growth of its education division and the cable television business. The newspaper division was profitable after cutting employees, according to the Associated Press article posted on The New York Times.

Overall 4Q revenue increased 6 percent to $1.63 billion, up from $1.24 billion one year previous, Editor and Publisher reported.

Bloomberg moves into government sector

Posted by Savita Sauvin on February 25, 2010 at 4:07 PM

Following last week's acquisition of government data and analysis firm Eagle Eye Publishers by Bloomberg LP, rumours that the financial news giant wants to create a Bloomberg Government business to be named "Bgov" seem to be supported, Washington Technology reported.

Bgov would likely focus on the impact of government actions on publicly traded companies. The enterprise is expected to compete with the likes of Congressional Quarterly and would also potentially compete with similar data service providers, like research firms Input and Fedsources.

Google News tests 'trending topics' concept

Posted by Savita Sauvin on February 25, 2010 at 3:18 PM

Google News trending topics appears to be the latest in the online giant's series of recent roll outs, following its launch of the Living Stories open-source project developed in association with The New York Times and the Washington Post, the inclusion of "stars" in Google News to tune into favoured topics and the introduction of the "recrawl" feature to check for news updates. Trending topics is much like Twitter's trends, which identify popular topics.

Trending topics will determine the most commonly searched keywords by users, which will appear under "Trending Topics" in the sidebar or on Twitter search, TechCrunch reported. Google Trends shows the relative popularity of news topics, but inclusion of this feature in Google News will probably prove more helpful, according to a statement.

Image: rustybrick's Flickr photostream

Study: Newspaper Web sites 'most valued' for local news and information

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 25, 2010 at 3:12 PM

Newspapers are still the most used and valued local news destinations, and online is no exception, according to a new study from comScore and the Newspaper Association of America. Newspaper Web sites are the "most used and valued sites for consumers seeking credible and trustworthy local content and advertising online," the survey found.

About 57 percent of the more than 3,000 respondents said local newspaper sites are their top online sources for local information - more than the totals for all other media. The percentage is higher for those with a college education (60 percent) and households with higher incomes (63 percent).

Reuters.com to add 'paid services'

Posted by Savita Sauvin on February 25, 2010 at 3:03 PM

Reuters.com will add "paid services" to its web offerings this year Thomson Reuters Markets CEO Devin Wenig said in a conversation with WSJ.com managing editor Kevin Delaney, paidContent reported.

Wenig also revealed that in regards to cannibalisation of its other businesses, "the company would rather have cannibalisation come from within its company than from others."

SFN report: Global newspaper advertising loses share; Internet gains

Posted by Erina Lin on February 24, 2010 at 2:39 PM

Global newspaper advertising revenues totalled $105.8 billion in 2003, or 28.3 percent of the total advertising spending, according to PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP. Internet, including wired and mobile, only accounted for $12.6 billion, or 3.4 percent in that year, SFN's World Digital Media Trends 2009 reported.

Newspaper advertising dollars have grown slowly throughout the years, and are projected to reach $136.8 billion in 2012. However, newspapers are projected to lose share to other media, most notably digital, to 21.6 percent.

Australian online employment site aims for newspapers' market share

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 24, 2010 at 8:11 AM

Australian online employment advertiser Seek is planning to make acquisitions in the eduction and training sectors and therefore steal more classified market share from newspapers, The Australian reported.

Seek reported a 13 percent net profit rise, to A$36.6 million for the six months leading to December, beating market expectations by more than 20 percent.

South African women's magazine to close

Posted by Savita Sauvin on February 24, 2010 at 8:02 AM

Femina, South Africa's oldest magazine for women, is closing, its publisher, Liezi de Swardt announced Feb. 12, Media Update reported. However, John Relihan, CEO of the Media24 magazine division, which owns Femina, told Bizcommunity.com that the date of the "possible" closure will be decided only after consulting with staff and considering all options.

Relihan did not state whether the February issue on the shelves is the last, but insiders told Bizcomunity.com, that the end of the magazine will take place in a "matter of weeks."

Polish publisher Agora back to quarterly profit

Posted by Erina Lin on February 23, 2010 at 1:52 PM

Net income totaled 14.9 million zloty, or US$5.1 million, up from a net loss of 30.7 million zloty a year earlier, the company statement said.

SEC: Gannett can keep 2011 digital revenues goal secret

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 23, 2010 at 8:15 AM

A notice filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last week gives Gannett Co. Inc. permission to withhold its revenue target through the end of 2011. The permission was given on a retroactive basis, and was given because that target has been deemed confidential commercial or financial information under the Freedom of Information Act, Jim Hopkins reported in his Gannett Blog.

The U.S. publisher likely wants to keep this information out of the competitions' hands.

Photo: Chris Saridakis, chief digital officer, Gannett

Small magazine publications to forgo ABC audits

Posted by Savita Sauvin on February 23, 2010 at 8:07 AM

With drops in national ad spending, many magazine publishers have chosen to drop their memberships from the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), or instead prefer to be audited by other firms or skip the process completely, MediaWeek reported.

ABC, considered to be a standard body for media audits, lost about 100 magazine publications in the last couple of years, of which some titles have folded. However, many 75,000 circulation and smaller titles have chosen less expensive audit firms or have completely forgone the process. The most common reason for this drop was the cost of an ABC audit, which includes related services and can reach US$10,000 a year for a small title.

SFN report: Journalism and sales skills; convergence of multimedia operations top possible developments for publishers

Posted by Erina Lin on February 22, 2010 at 2:12 PM

The first annual World Newspaper Future & Change Study is a global research study about newspaper publishers' business strategies moving forward for the next five years, with the key objective to inspire newspaper executives to invest and innovate their business units and business practices, the latest SFN's report, Charting the Course for Newspapers, reported.

The purpose of the study is to pinpoint the business and strategic challenges of the world's newspapers, and then to identify the publishers' strategies moving forward to turn the challenges into opportunities.

UK Publishers criticise upcoming BBC mobile app

Posted by Alisa Zykova on February 22, 2010 at 10:41 AM

UK-based Newspaper Publishers Association (NPA) expressed its concern over the BBC's upcoming mobile ventures, reported The Independent on Friday. According to the Press Gazette, the BBC will be launching an iPhone application in April and applications for BBC Sport and its iPlayer afterwards.

"At a time when the BBC is facing unprecedented levels of criticism over its expansion, and when the wider industry is investing in new models, it is extremely disappointing that the corporation plans to launch services that would throw into serious doubt the commercial sector's ability to make a return on its investment, and therefore its ability to support quality journalism," said NPA Chief David Newell.

Financial Times launches conferences around Winter Olympics

Posted by Savita Sauvin on February 22, 2010 at 8:13 AM

The Financial Times was hired by the Canadian Government to produce conferences aimed at top global business executives. The FT plans to produce four events between February 13 and 27, BtoBonline reported.

The Global Business Leaders Day event focuses on the global economic outlook, and is scheduled to be held today. The conference attendees include Peter Van Loan, minister of international trade for the Canadian government, Mohamed El-Erian, CEO and Co-CIO of PIMCO, and Dame Clara Furse, former CEO of the London Stock Exchange Group.

Google donates US$ 2 million to Wikipedia

Posted by Alisa Zykova on February 22, 2010 at 6:14 AM

Search engine corporation Google has donated over US$ 2 million to the Wikimedia Foundation, a move that may reinforce the "symbiotic relationship" between Google and Wikipedia, according to Business Week. The total donations the free online encyclopaedia raised added up to US$10.6 million for its fiscal year ending in June, a 20 percent spike since the same time the previous year, wrote the Inquirer on Thursday.

There is speculation regarding why Google prefers Wikipedia to other sites, according to Business Week. One proposed explanation is that Google is Wikipedia's advertising partner.

Microsoft and Yahoo! get approval for search deal from U.S. and E.U.

Posted by Erina Lin on February 19, 2010 at 11:30 AM

Microsoft and Yahoo! have received approval for their search agreement from both the U.S. Department of Justice and the European Union. This will push the search deal aimed at taking share from Google moving forward, Media Post reported.

In a joint announcement Thursday, Microsoft and Yahoo said they will now focus on implementing the deal, which should start in the coming days. Yahoo! will transit its algorithmic and paid search platforms to Microsoft, and become the exclusive relationship sales force for both companies' premium search advertisers worldwide.

BBC to launch free iPhone apps

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 19, 2010 at 10:36 AM

The BBC will launch a trio of iPhone applications in April, aiming to replicate users' online experience on the mobile platform, Times Online reported. The app will be free of charge.

The mobile apps will be based on the broadcaster's news, sport and iPlayer video services. Because the BBC app will be free, analysts say it will "increase tension with companies looking to offer paid-for content," according to the Times Online.

Google's Living Stories to go open source

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 19, 2010 at 8:20 AM

Google is open sourcing its news experiment Living Stories, the online news format the search giant announced in December. The opening up is a "next step towards better relations with news publishers," Media Guardian's Mercedes Bunz wrote Wednesday.

Living Stories was developed with the Washington Post and The New York Times. The format shows a summary of recent developments relating to the topic, together with a timeline on a single page.

SFN report: RSS, video and contextual ads top online features of top 100 U.S. newspapers

Posted by Erina Lin on February 18, 2010 at 4:24 PM

In the United States, the top online features of the top 100 newspapers in 2008 include RSS, video and contextual ads - each with 100 percent penetration, according to the Bivings Group report, The Use of the Internet by American's Newspapers.

Other popular features included photos, local weather, section RSS, reporter blogs, social bookmarks and reporter blog comments, with more than nine out of 10 sites adopting these features, SFN's World Digital Media Trends 2009 reported.

Public radio partners with local ad network

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 18, 2010 at 8:52 AM

Capital Public Radio, Northern California's local National Public Radio affiliate, has joined the Sacramento Local Online Ad Network, The Sacramento Press announced yesterday. SLOAN now has more than 30 premier sites that give national and local brands a platform to buy digital media in the Sacramento region.

SLOAN was launched in January to give local, independent online publishers a place to buy digital ads for the Sacramento area.

Publishers may be reluctant to launch iPad versions

Posted by Alisa Zykova on February 18, 2010 at 8:15 AM

Newspaper and magazine publishers may be reluctant to jump on the iPad bandwagon, suggests ArsTechnica. Possible reasons include the 30 percent commission that Apple takes as well as the firm's policy of not sharing customer data.

Publishers view information about their subscribers as valuable since it may affect marketing plans and an outlet's content, the Financial Times (FT) reported.

West Australian Newspapers post net profit down but outlook positive

Posted by Erina Lin on February 17, 2010 at 3:34 PM

West Australian Newspapers (WAN) Monday announced a A$49.5 million net profit for the six months to December 31, 2009. It went down 15.4 percent compared to the previous period, mostly due to advertising downturn at its flagship title, The Australian reported.

Chris Wharton, chief executive of WAN, however, said the final two months of the first half was strong due to "improvement in all major ad categories and a strong local economy."

Facebook to launch text-only mobile service Zero

Posted by Alisa Zykova on February 17, 2010 at 1:10 PM

Facebook will launch Zero, its text-only version that may be offered by mobile phone carriers for free, according to TechCrunch. The low-bandwidth service that doesn't offer access to photos will be launched "in the coming weeks", Hexus today reported.

"We are discussing it... as an option to make Facebook on the mobile web available to everyone, anywhere and allow operators to encourage more mobile Internet usage," said a Facebook spokesperson, according to BBC News.

Study: Print media staying strong in India

Posted by Savita Sauvin on February 17, 2010 at 1:03 PM

While the rest of the world is combating challenges to grab maximum reach through online media and social networking tools, India, with a population of more than one billion but less than 80 million Internet users, has seen a continued growth in traditional print and electronic media over the decade, Rajeev Mantri wrote for Wall Street Journal Blogs.

Indian print media continues to grow, and foreign publishers are also cashing in on the opportunity, launching Indian editions of titles such as Forbes, Harper's Bazaar, Technology Review, Entrepreneur, and even celebrity gossip magazines like People and Hello!.

Photo: m4r00n3d's flickr photostream

Morris Publishing to emerge from bankruptcy in March

Posted by Alisa Zykova on February 17, 2010 at 11:51 AM

Morris Publishing Group announced today its "pre-packaged" reorganisation plan has been confirmed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, based in Atlanta, Georgia, Editor & Publisher reported today. After its disclosure statement was approved, the U.S. publisher was predicted to begin debt recovery as early as March 1, according to PR Newswire.

PR Newswire suggested that Morris Publishing and its 13 daily newspapers would be reducing debt from around US$418 million to almost $107 million. Affiliates owned and operated by the Morris family will be offering $85 million in financial aid, Reuters reported today.

Social media use growing at firms in Thailand, New Zealand

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 16, 2010 at 4:24 PM

Public relations professionals and advertisers are meeting consumers on social media, where younger consumers and professionals spend an increasing amount of time, the Bangkok Post reported. According to January figures, Thailand is Facebook's second-highest growing market, with more than 150,000 new accounts set up weekly.

In New Zealand, a new survey found that 70 percent of respondents feel social media is a good way to communicate with customers, TVNZ reported. However, the Communication Agencies Association of New Zealand study also found that firms are reluctant to spend money on social media marketing budgets, with 85 percent of businesses saying they plan to invest 5 percent or less of their marketing budgets on social media in 2010.

Nielsen: Will consumers pay for online content? Maybe

Posted by Erina Lin on February 16, 2010 at 4:02 PM

Will consumers pay for online news and entertainment contents that are now free?

According to a recent Nielsen survey which covered more than 27,000 consumers across 52 countries, 85 percent said they would like free content remain free. However, when asked based on specific types of content, survey participants are more likely to at least consider paying for particular categories, especially if they have ever done so, the research company said in a blog post.

Dow Jones relaunches Financial News

Posted by Savita Sauvin on February 16, 2010 at 2:50 PM

Dow Jones Media Group's subscription site, Financial News, has relaunched with a new look, and will maintain its place in the WSJ Digital Network as a standalone site, paidContent reported. While subsidiaries of Rupert Murdoch's newspapers continue to expand and charge consumers for business content, such as WSJ.com, Dow Jones seems to have resisted "what may have been a temptation to roll Financial News in with WSJ more widely."

Financial News, which covers the London securities market and has more than 47,000 subscribers, has 1,100 paying site license holders. However, specific licensing costs weren't disclosed by the group, which told paidContent that "pricing is based on the particular needs of the customer."

iPad deals with publishers face obstacles

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 16, 2010 at 2:10 PM

The arrival of the iPad has generated much optimism in media circles that hope it will revitalize a struggling industry, but so far, there has been much talk over what the device could do, but little evidence that shows newspapers will actually benefit from the device.

In fact, newspaper and magazine publishers have not yet agreed upon the key issue of sharing subscription revenue, as they consider deals to offer digital versions of their publications on Apple's newly released tablet, the Financial Times reports. This vital piece of the puzzle will decide whether publishers will succeed in cashing in on the iPad.

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

Newspaper Works: Online strategies paying off with readers

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 15, 2010 at 5:49 PM

Newspapers today are multimedia brands that have positioned themselves strategically in the digital landscape, where news is currency and newspapers have a lot of it, according to new research from industry marketing body The Newspaper Works.

"Newspapers have become stronger and more relevant in the digital age with newspaper Web sites complementing print editions and enhancing the relationship between newspaper brands and their readers," the report states. Newspapers Today Part 2 is a follow-up to a previous report, released in 2007 by the industry body for Australian newspaper publishers.

Evening Standard to launch mobile app, may charge for print again

Posted by Savita Sauvin on February 15, 2010 at 5:26 PM

The London Evening Standard will launch a mobile application later this month, aiming to connect its content with social media, Media Guardian reported today. The newspaper's print version is also now being sold again, after dropping its cover price in October.

The new mobile app will be available later this month across all major smartphone platforms, according to a press release from Handmark, the company that built the app. However, no detail was provided as to whether the app will be paid, or supported by advertising. It will deliver the newspaper in a simple, easy-to-navigate format and the "content within the mobile application will be refreshed automatically and available for offline reading."

Edmonds: Printed inserts 'under siege'

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 15, 2010 at 4:48 PM

Throughout the advertising downturn over the past couple years, preprinted inserts, which often contain coupons along with ads, held up reasonably well. However, inserts are increasingly facing digital competition, and because they make up half of retail advertising, newspapers need to address this issue, the Newspaper Association of America stated in a white paper published in late October.

The report was little-noticed, Poynter's Rick Edmonds wrote today, but newspapers are beginning to put strategies in place.

The Observer to relaunch with more news analysis, fewer supplements

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 15, 2010 at 4:07 PM

Sunday newspaper The Observer is set to relaunch this week with a greater focus on news analysis as well as culture and lifestyle.

The slimmed-down four-section paper will drop its separate Escape, Cash and Business sections. Instead, it will contain four sections: an expanded main newspaper, a Berliner-size New Review supplement, Sport, and Observer Magazine. The New Review will continue to focus on arts and culture with increased coverage of film, music, architecture and books. A new Discover section within the review will be devoted to science, nature and technology. Observer Magazine will cover food, fashion, relationships, gardening, ethical living and travel.

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

SFN report: Senior decision-makers most ready for change; operational-level staff less confident

Posted by Erina Lin on February 15, 2010 at 3:35 PM

The first annual World Newspaper Future & Change Study is a global research study about newspaper publishers' business strategies moving forward for the next five years, with the key objective to inspire newspaper executives to invest and innovate their business units and business practices, according to the latest SFN's report, Charting the Course for Newspapers.

The purpose of the study is to pinpoint the business and strategic challenges of the world's newspapers, and then to identify the publishers' strategies moving forward to turn the challenges into opportunities.

Google to expand ad targeting to a few hours

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 12, 2010 at 5:19 PM

Google will no longer target ads on a query-by-query basis, and will instead use hours of search history to target ads to users when they use search keywords, the search giant announced in a blog post Wednesday. This means Google will store each query in order to display targeted ads related to that keyword hours later, on the search page or a site that uses Google ads.

"We've recently started to expand the use of the query words in referral URLs to a few hours so we can so we can continue to deliver more relevant ads," the blog post stated. "After a short period of time (a few hours) the query words are no longer used for the purposes of matching ads. Of course, users can continue to opt out of our advertising cookie at any time here."

UK quality dailies see circulation declines

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 12, 2010 at 4:42 PM

The Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Times and Independent all reported year-on-year circulation percentage declines in the double digits for January, Media Guardian reported today. The declines come as most have ended bulk distribution.

Last month, the Daily Telegraph's year-on-year circulation fell 11.76 percent (to 691,128), the first time it has dipped below 700,000 since the Audit Bureau of Circulations began its record in 1962. The Times saw a year-on-year circulation drop of 17.69 percent (to 508,250), the Guardian saw a year-on-year decline of 15.76 percent (to 302,285), and the Independent's year-on-year sales were down 13.78 percent (to 185,815).

USA Today to enforce leave and extend freeze on pay increase

Posted by Erina Lin on February 12, 2010 at 4:39 PM

Gannett Co.'s USA Today will impose an unpaid leave for about 1,500 employees before July, in order to reduce cost and counter advertising and circulation sales downturn, according to a memo to staff, Bloomberg reported.

According to the publisher, David Hunke, in the memo, a pay halt started in February 2009 will be extended by at least 90 days.

CoveritLive to launch content-monetizing live-blogging kit

Posted by Savita Sauvin on February 12, 2010 at 2:31 PM

Live-blogging technology company CoveritLive on Tuesday will launch a new version of its software that will allow publishers to monetize live-blogging content. The provider's software is already used by many UK news organisations, and the new version, CiL Premium, will target larger news organisations, Journalism.co.uk reported.

Earlier this month, the Northampton Chronicle and Echo used CoveritLive to run a day-long reader discussion, and regularly uses it to cover sporting events, such as away games of local teams.

Update: MediaNews gives details on paywall plan

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 12, 2010 at 8:48 AM

More details have been released about the MediaNews paywall plans, which will charge for investigations and analysis but not for breaking news, Poynter Online reports.

Vice president for content development Howard Saltz said that investigations, enterprise, analysis, columns and reviews will be behind the paywall. "The kind of content that goes behind a wall is the kind of content that paid, professional journalists do," he told Poynter, "the kinds of things that you really couldn't count on bloggers and Web enthusiasts to do." Articles will be free if it's necessary to remain competitive with other news sources, including breaking news and multimedia, he said.

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

Google to become Internet service provider?

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 11, 2010 at 6:07 PM

Google announced it will build "ultra" high-speed broadband networks across the United States, paidContent reported.

The online search giant said it will offer Internet speeds of one gigabit per second, about 100 times faster than what most Americans are used to. However, the service will only be offered to very few customers, 50,000 and 500,000 people.

Newspapers developing hyperlocal revenue streams

Posted by Savita Sauvin on February 11, 2010 at 4:31 PM

Newspapers have always been the go-to destinations for most in-depth local coverage, but with the digital revolution many fell behind in organising that hyperlocal content online. Other sources have picked up the slack, and today hyperlocal content is more valuable than ever before.

One new source is Outside.in, which is partnering with publishers to better aggregate hyperlocal content through monitoring news, blogs, Web discussions, maps and more, and to also serve targeted advertising to readers, MediaBuyerPlanner reported Tuesday. Publishers include Dow Jones Media Group, the New York Post, The Miami Herald, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and properties of the Tribune Company.

SFN report: U.S. to lead with most media expenditures through '11

Posted by Erina Lin on February 11, 2010 at 3:38 PM

The United States topped others as the country with the most media expenditures throughout the years, with more than $112 billion in 1997 and $179 billion in 2007, though it is expected to recess to $169.8 billion in 2011, SFN's World Digital Media Trends 2009 reported.

It leads Japan, in the second spot, with a wide gap more than threefold, while Germany and the United Kingdom come next, according to ZenithOptimedia.

SFN to publish Going Green report

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 11, 2010 at 3:27 PM

The Shaping the Future of the Newspaper project will publish a report in early spring on how newspapers can become more environmentally friendly, a step that publishers are finding cuts costs in the long run, gives them a competitive edge for the future and is increasingly demanded by readers. The report will discuss steps both large and small that newspaper companies can take to go green, as well as offer case studies and research to better inform green decision-making across the value chain.

SFN today launched a three question survey, and we invite you to take it, so we can better detail newspapers' green strategies both current and future. To show our thanks, we will send you a free copy of this valuable report when it is published - just fill in your contact details after completing the survey.

Click here to take the survey.

Le Figaro announces subscription plan details

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 11, 2010 at 3:04 PM

French daily newspaper Le Figaro has announced details of its plans to charge for online content, offering three different tiers of subscriptions.

The three levels will be called Connect, Select and Business. Connect is a free subscription that allows access to free email newsletters with general, cultural and financial news. It also enables users to comment on articles and create a personalised front page.

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

AP content back on Google News

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 10, 2010 at 5:57 PM

Google News stopped hosting new Associated Press articles in late December, but quietly began hosting them again yesterday. The Wall Street Journal's Russell Adams was the first to notice.

A Google spokesman told Adams: "We have a licensing agreement with the Associated Press that permits us to host its content on Google properties such as Google News. The licensing agreement is the subject of ongoing discussion so we won't be commenting further at this time."

New York Times' metered system will take time

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 10, 2010 at 5:25 PM

Building a great system takes time, which is why The New York Times isn't in a hurry to launch its metered paywall this year, President and CEO Janet Robinson said in an earnings call today, paidContent reported.

The new system will "keep us connected to search driven Web" by being flexible between paid and free content, she said.

Two groups may bid for CanWest's newspaper division

Posted by Erina Lin on February 10, 2010 at 4:39 PM

Two groups may bid for CanWest's chain of 46 newspapers, the largest auction of media assets undertaken in Canada. The transaction may be worth as much as C$1 billion, or US$940 million, according to Bloomberg.

Paul Godfrey, president of CanWest's National Post and former chief executive officer of the Sun Media group, is leading one group.

DMGT properties see revenues slide; Metro building online money-makers

Posted by Savita Sauvin on February 10, 2010 at 3:53 PM

UK national newspaper business Associated Newspapers Ltd. this morning reported a 12 percent fall in overall revenue in the last three months of 2009 to £208 million for the period. Meanwhile, Associated's owner, Daily Mail and General Trust, recorded a year-on-year revenue decline of 15 percent in the last three months of 2009, to £482m for the period, Press Gazette reported.

Meanwhile, the company is looking to build new revenue streams, as evidenced by free daily Metro's plans to launch new revenue streams online, MediaWeek reported. Metro is looking to overhaul the commercial aspect of the site, while also launching new audio and video tools. The reworked site is expected to go live from its test phase next month.

McClatchy dismisses paywalls

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 9, 2010 at 4:30 PM

McClatchy Co. will not put up paywalls, and is instead "comfortable" with an ad-supported online model, CEO Gary Pruitt announced today, MediaPost reported.

However, the U.S. newspaper publisher will continue experimenting, offering paid content relating to state government news (which will target wealthy lobbyists) at its newspaper in Raleigh, North Carolina, for example.

Google Buzz aims to compete with Facebook

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 9, 2010 at 4:07 PM

Google unveiled Google Buzz today, a feature that will allow Gmail users to create status updates, and also read and comment on friends' updates, The Associated Press reported.

The feature is aimed at helping Google compete with social networking site Facebook, which now has more than 400 million users around the world.

Guardian sells regional business to Trinity Mirror

Posted by Erina Lin on February 9, 2010 at 4:01 PM

Guardian Media Group (GMG) will cut its historic link to Manchester, announcing it will sell its regional media business to Trinity Mirror, MediaGuardian reported.

The £44.8 million deal, with £7.4 million in cash and £37.4 million Trinity Mirror is releasing GMC from a print contract, is due to be completed by March 28, SFN's sister publication, editorsweblog.org reported earlier today.

The National launches Middle East's first Kindle version

Posted by Savita Sauvin on February 9, 2010 at 2:35 PM

As part of its digital expansion strategy, Abu Dhabi Media Company last week announced the launch of its newspaper The National on Amazon Kindle. This makes ADMC the first Middle East publisher to digitise and distribute content to Amazon.

The Kindle subscription to the English-language daily costs US$9.99 in the United States and $13.99 outside the U.S., and includes a 14-day free trial.

Dumenco: Who will fund media if billionaires bail?

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 9, 2010 at 2:10 PM

Rupert Murdoch owns News Corp., the Sulzberger family controls The New York Times and Sam Zell bought the Tribune Co. Much of the media industry is owned by billionaires, but what will happen if financial woes push them out of media?

"Nobody likes to admit this, but much of the best of contemporary journalism has been produced, and continues to get produced, simply because of the largess - and the emotional needs - of a small group of rich people," Simon Dumenco wrote for AdAge yesterday.

Google to challenge Facebook with 'social' Gmail

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 8, 2010 at 5:53 PM

Google is preparing to announce new Gmail features that would extend its reach into the social networking realm, the Financial Times reported today, dubbing the plans a "Facebook assault." This following last week's news that Facebook is planning to launch an e-mail service.

The search giant is looking to give Gmail users a way to aggregate contacts' updates, which can currently be viewed in Google's Chat service, within Gmail's inbox. This would create a "stream of notifications that would echo the similar real-time streams from Facebook and Twitter."

News International ads showcase power of print

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 8, 2010 at 4:58 PM

News International Commercial has launched outdoor and print advertisements that aim to show the power of newspapers and magazines, MediaWeek.co.uk reported today.

The ads are based on research from Microsoft Advertising, which in December stated that for large retailers, print advertising is more effective than online ads, and more than twice as effective as television ads. Each £1 spent on print ads garner £5 in revenue, while TV and Internet ads bring in £2.15 and £3.44, respectively.

SFN report: Most publishers enthusiastic for change

Posted by Erina Lin on February 8, 2010 at 4:22 PM

The first annual World Newspaper Future & Change Study is a global research study about newspaper publishers' business strategies moving forward for the next five years, with the key objective to inspire newspaper executives to invest and innovate their business units and business practices, according to the latest SFN's report, Charting the Course for Newspapers.

The purpose of the study is to pinpoint the business and strategic challenges of the world's newspapers, and then to identify the publishers' strategies moving forward to turn the challenges into opportunities.

Globe and Mail to publish special Sunday editions for Olympics

Posted by Savita Sauvin on February 8, 2010 at 3:27 PM

The Globe and Mail will publish three special Sunday editions for the British Columbia market to provide more coverage of the Vancouver Winter Olympics, making it the only seven-day newspaper in the region, MarketingMag reported Friday.

The special editions will be published Feb. 14, 21 and 28. They will be delivered to subscribers, sold at more than 1,000 retail outlets in Vancouver, Whistler and Victoria, and be available to the rest of Canada as an online e-edition.

MediaNews Group to put up paywalls

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 8, 2010 at 3:16 PM

MediaNews Group will begin charging for online content in May, adopting a metered paywall system similar to the one The New York Times announced it will put up, Bloomberg reported Friday. The U.S. newspaper publisher will use Journalism Online LLC to handle processing of payments for its Web sites.

The test will begin at the company's Enterprise-Record in Chico, California, and Daily Record in York, Pennsylvania. If it's successful, the paywall may be instituted at more than 50 dailies owned by MediaNews, including The Denver Post and San Jose Mercurcy News, the Denver Business Journal reported Saturday.

Image: Superchou's Flickr photostream

Jobs to go at Swedish daily

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 8, 2010 at 12:26 PM

Swedish daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter has announced that it will cut between 100 and 120 jobs after sustaining multi-million euro losses, The Local reports. This amounts to almost one sixth of the newspaper's workforce.

The company employs 580 people, with half of these in the newsroom. Most of the cuts are expected to affect editorial staff, with more than a third of these set to go. The newspaper reported losses of 97 million kronor, or around €10 million, last year. Despite this, union official Hans Arbman said that the cuts were unexpected.

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

Will Facebook e-mail bring down Gmail, Yahoo Mail, others?

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 5, 2010 at 4:28 PM

Facebook is working on an e-mail product, and may have Gmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL Mail and others in its cross hairs.

The social networking site is planning to launch a completely new e-mail product in the place of its current message product, internally known as Project Titan, TechCrunch reported today. "Tacking a real webmail product on top of those vanity URLs and Facebook connect is something even Google may shudder at," Michael Arrington wrote, adding that he doesn't think the new service will be a "Gmail killer."

Image: castortroy520's flickr photostream

Axel Springer launches paywalls on two German paper sites

Posted by Erina Lin on February 5, 2010 at 3:13 PM

Axel Springer has decided to add online paywalls on two of its German papers, the Berliner Morgenpost and the Hamburger Abendblatt, right after French newspaper Le Figaro and NYTimes.com, paidContent reported.

Monthly access to all content on morgenpost.de now costs €4.95 (£4.32/$6.79), while a premium monthly subscription to abendblatt.de is €7.95 (£6.93/$10.90).

Rival magazine publishers join forces to promote medium

Posted by Savita Sauvin on February 5, 2010 at 7:59 AM

Five magazine publishers will put competition aside to create a marketing campaign promoting their medium, MediaWeek reported Thursday. Condé Nast, Hearst, Meredith, Time Inc. and Wenner Media will fund the promotional campaign, to be launched in April. More details will be announced in March.

Young & Rubicam will create the campaign, which will be published in magazine ads in titles owned by the companies. The campaign may have digital offerings as well.

Metro Intl announces profits for Q4

Posted by Alisa Zykova on February 4, 2010 at 5:05 PM

Metro International, the largest free newspaper group in the world, reported a profit in the fourth quarter of last year following minimised operations and a growing share in "most of its markets," said Reuters today.

Total operating profit amounted to €5.9 (US$8.1) million for the period, compared to a loss of €9.8 (US$13.5) million the same time in 2008, wrote the Sydney Morning Herald. However, for the duration of 2009, Metro saw a loss of €21.7 (US$ 29.8) million after a €4.1 (US$ 5.6) million profit in 2008.

Monster's HotJobs buy may move 200 newspapers out of Yahoo's consortium

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 4, 2010 at 4:57 PM

MonsterWorldwide has made a deal to acquire Yahoo's HotJobs, a competing recruiting site, which could mean up to 200 of the 800 newspapers Yahoo works with will be cut out of Yahoo's Newspaper Consortium, Editor & Publisher reported today. Yahoo is receiving US$225 million in cash for the purchase.

When members join the consortium, they can choose one of two contracts - one for the display side, which includes search and display advertising, content distribution and its APT ad platform, or the other, which includes recruitment ads through HotJobs, according to paidContent. Six-hundred of the 800 consortium members have the HotJobs contract, while about 200 smaller newspapers rely on the group's recruitment services for job ads revenue.

SFN report: Netherlands and Sweden led in broadband revenue per capita in '07

Posted by Erina Lin on February 4, 2010 at 4:17 PM

According to IDATE and Ofcom, in 2002, Sweden and Canada led in broadband revenue per capita, with £27 and £26, respectively. The Netherlands and the United States came next with £19 and £14, respectively, SFN's World Digital Media Trends 2009 reported.

In 2007, Netherlands rose to the first place with £75 in revenue per capita, beating Sweden's £65, Canada's £61, and the United States'53 percent.

Pearson buys macroeconomic intelligence firm Medley Global Advisors

Posted by Savita Sauvin on February 4, 2010 at 3:59 PM

UK publisher Pearson PLC announced Wednesday it has bought Medley Global Advisors, which advises hedge funds, investment banks and asset managers, as it aims to focus on subscriptions over advertising, Reuters reported.

Pearson, which publishes the Financial Times, is looking to diversify its business model. In 2008, it bought an online news and discussion service aimed at fund managers called Money-Media, for example. It has also bought several data providers, such as MergerMarket, to cut down on reliance on print and advertising for revenues, according to the Daily Mail.

Free Russian papers partner on advertising venture

Posted by Alisa Zykova on February 4, 2010 at 3:03 PM

F

ree Russian-language newspapers Moi Rayion, distributed in Moscow and St. Petersburg on weekends, as well as Moscow's daily Metro, announced a joint advertising venture titled "Seven Days a Week," Slon.ru reported today. The publications claim that fusing two separate distribution systems (the subway for Metro and large supermarket chains for Moi Rayion) would provide advertisers with maximum access to a desired audience on any day of the week.

According to Lenta.ru, the combined audience of the two outlets amounts to 1.2 million. Moi Rayion has 557,000 readers in Moscow while Metro has 775, 300. The average cost per thousand (CPT) adds up to RUB 595 (US$ 19.7). Metro has a CPT of RUB 603 (US$20.0) while Moi Rayion of RUB 480 ($15.9).

Kindle acquires touchscreen technology maker Touchco

Posted by Alisa Zykova on February 4, 2010 at 8:31 AM

InformationWeek divulged Thursday that Amazon may have acquired Touchco, a touchscreen technology manufacturer. According to a New York Times (NYT) article from Wednesday "a person briefed on the deal" revealed that Amazon would be combining the manufacturer's technology and staff members into its California-based hardware division Lab126.

The acquisition was reportedly a step to boost Kindle's touch screen mechanism in light of the launch of Apple's new device iPad, said the Wall Street Journal. The iPad is thought to be better than Kindle because it has a more colourful screen and is easier to navigate.

Study: Teens blog and use Twitter less than young adults

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 3, 2010 at 5:01 PM

Teens and young adults blog less today than they did in 2006, while older adults are blogging more than ever, according to a Pew Internet Project survey, out today. Teens are also not using Twitter in large numbers, with just 8 percent of Internet users ages 12-17 using the micro-blogging service.

Currently, 14 percent of online teens say they have a blog, while 28 percent said so in 2006. Comments on blogs are down too, with 76 percent of teen social network users saying they commented on friends' blogs in 2006. Today, that number is 52 percent. For adults, 24 percent of those ages 18 to 29 said they blogged in December 2007, while just 7 percent of those age 30 and older did so. By 2009, less users age 18 to 29 blogged - just 15 percent of Internet users - while 11 percent of those age 30 and older have a personal blog.

Telegraph.co.uk tightens focus: Content, commerce, clubs

Posted by Savita Sauvin on February 3, 2010 at 1:26 PM

Like most content creators, the Telegraph Media Group has always focused on increasing Web traffic by directing a maximum number of users to its Web site, Telegraph.co.uk, thereby increasing digital revenues through advertising. But times are changing, online ad revenue isn't enough, and TMG has come up with a new plan.

TMG's digital editor, Edward Roussel, told MediaGuardian today that the publisher will stop chasing everyone and instead focus on the "three Cs": content, commerce and clubs, with the hope of building a more sustainable business model.

Belarus further jeopardises press freedom, restricts foreign publications' distribution

Posted by Alisa Zykova on February 3, 2010 at 12:39 PM

The Republic of Belarus would have tighter rules regarding the distribution of foreign publications, Ejednevnik reported Monday. Officials met to bring about alterations in the decree governing the availability of foreign media.

Modifications were made to the types of "foreign sources of mass information" that were to be imported. Banned will be content that may harm national safety with war propaganda as well as mention of rape, cruelty, extremism, and drug use. In addition, material that isn't available in Belarus or that doesn't correspond to the state's laws is to be prohibited.

Russian-language publisher Kommersant launches blog section

Posted by Alisa Zykova on February 3, 2010 at 12:16 PM

Russian publishing house Kommersant has announced the launch of a blog section, Lenta.ru reported today. The blog is still working in trial mode, but already has three full-time bloggers: Oleg Kashin, Andrei Kolesnikov and Olga Allenova.

Kolesnikov and Allenova are currently in Ukraine, offering coverage on electoral campaigns. Other Kommersant journalists have blogs but that they haven't started publishing yet. According to Chief Editor Pavel Chernikov, the outlet would be adding blogs dedicated to culture, international politics and others.

U.S. newspaper sites receive 72 million uniques in Q4

Posted by Alisa Zykova on February 3, 2010 at 11:44 AM

Newspaper Web sites in the United States received an average monthly unique audience of 72 million visitors during the fourth quarter of last year, which represents 37 percent of all Internet users, reported WebProNews today. The data was obtained through Nielsen Online research that the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) published.

Newspaper Web sites stopped attracting new users, according to Editor & Publisher. According to the Nielsen figures, the number of unique users dropped from 73.2 million to 72.3 between November and October 2009, and plunged to 70.3 million in December.

News Corp. announces big profits and plans for pay walls

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 3, 2010 at 11:20 AM

As News Corp. announced profits of US$254 million over the three months up to December, Rupert Murdoch said his company is close to implementing online subscription models for all of its newspapers like the Times, the News of the World, and the Sun.

The company is also in "advanced negotiations" with handheld-device manufacturers about possible paywalls that would allow customers access to News Corp. content "whenever and wherever they want it," said Murdoch.

According to Murdoch, "ingenious and fabulous devices" like the iPad and the Kindle "would be unloved and unsold" without the creative content supplied by newspapers. "Content is not just king, it is the emperor of all things digital. We're on the cusp of a digital revolution from which our shareholders will profit handsomely," said Murdoch.

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

Chicago Tribune, LA Times cut print size

Posted by Savita Sauvin on February 2, 2010 at 5:55 PM

To save on print production costs and to streamline operations, Tribune Co. papers the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune are rolling out changes this week and next. The LA Times today launched LATExtra, a new section that includes local and California coverage, as well as late-breaking news. It has also trimmed an inch off its print version, and is now 11 inches wide, LA Times Blogs reported today.

The Chicago Tribune, meanwhile, will also trim an inch from the width of its newspaper beginning Monday, according to MediaPost.

WPP chief executive: Governments might prop up media

Posted by Erina Lin on February 2, 2010 at 4:58 PM

Sir Martin Sorrell, the chief executive of marketing group WPP, said governments might need to subsidise newspapers such as the Guardian, if they continue losing money and reach a point that could terminate their businesses, Media Guardian reported.

Sorrell said in an interview with Arabian Business that "governments probably have to decide whether consolidation and media titles going out of business is the right thing from an editorial point of view... The electorate is going to say whether they believe there should be more subsidies for traditional media."

Facebook, Twitter, lend new ad revenue streams

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 2, 2010 at 4:33 PM

Social networking sites, especially Facebook and micro-blogging service Twitter, have seen enormous growth over the past few years, and news outlets are using the two to attract a wider audience, keep dedicated readers close and distribute stories to a wider audience.

The Austin American-Statesman, The New York Times and The Huffington Post are all experimenting with new ways to generate ad revenue using both social networking sites, and are discovering that benefits can be two-fold: news outlets gain new social networking audiences, while advertisers gain a new way to engage consumers, Poynter Online reported. Meanwhile, smaller businesses that have less advertising dollars to spend are able to reach consumers in a newer, more cost-effective way.

Gannett sees profits and circulation increase in 4Q

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 2, 2010 at 4:22 PM

In a time where newspapers seem to be losing more and more revenue, figures from Gannett Co. Inc.'s fourth quarter, released today, showed potential positive results for the months ahead.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Gannett swung to a profit in the fourth quarter following US$5.6 billion in prior-year write-downs. Lower declines in advertising sales combined with much lower expenses helped the newspaper publisher show improvement. Lower expenses seem to stem from Gannett's aggressive job cuts. In the summer of 2009, Gannett slashed over 1,000 jobs, adding to the 4,600 jobs cut in 2008. USA Today's newsroom was reduced by about 20% in only two years. Last December, Gannett executives remained pessimistic about the state of the company, citing a drop in travel and a decrease in circulation as the two biggest problems.

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

AP, Yahoo! make a deal

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on February 1, 2010 at 10:26 PM

The Associated Press has made a licensing agreement with Yahoo! Inc. that will give the search engine news content and the news service a steady revenue stream, Editor& Publisher reported today. Terms of the deal or its duration were not disclosed.

Yahoo! has been using AP content since 1998; the search engine has the largest online U.S. audience for news, finance and sports, according to comScore. AP articles, videos an photos will continue to appear on the Yahoo! News site.

Chicago Tribune to digitise photo archive, market originals

Posted by Savita Sauvin on February 1, 2010 at 10:03 PM

The Chicago Tribune will digitise its vast photo archive so it may sell original prints and also retain the rights to the more than seven million images, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The newspaper struck a deal with Image Fortress, a digital archiving service that works with organisations like NASA and the World Bank, to digitise the photos and to also market them through a collectible dealer, Jay Parrino's The Mint. Tribune expects the sales to more than cover the cost incurred to digitise the images, a process expected to take more than five years.

SFN report: Materials, printing, administration, distribution and content generation most expensive costs to newspapers

Posted by Erina Lin on February 1, 2010 at 9:42 PM

The first annual World Newspaper Future & Change Study is a global research study about newspaper publishers' business strategies moving forward for the next five years, with the key objective to inspire newspaper executives to invest and innovate their business units and business practices, the latest SFN's report, Charting the Course for Newspapers, reported.

The purpose of the study is to pinpoint the business and strategic challenges of the world's newspapers, and then to identify the publishers' strategies moving forward to turn the challenges into opportunities.

February 2010 Archives

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