Today the European Journalism Centre has published an article about how the new tax, which came into effect at the beginning of this year, has affected Finnish newspapers. 

In a nutshell, it's been tough for journalists. The EJC magazine reports that 100 media workers have already been laid off as a direct consequence of the new tax. 200 more jobs are on the line. 

The tax has been controversial, partly because of the way Finnish politician Kimmo Sasi, who argued for the imposition of the new tax, spoke out against the media: "The members of the press tend to be a bit arrogant. They think: "We can write whatever we want about politicians, and they will have to dance to our music. Luckily the majority of the Parliament is not going to accept this," quotes the EJC. 

Are international editions a luxury that newspapers with declining circulation can't afford? 

In this digital age, increasingly it looks like international print editions are under threat. An article in The Guardian last Sunday speculated that the International Herald Tribune, the global edition of the New York Times, might be about to shut up shop. Author Peter Preston writes that after selling its stake in the Boston Red Sox and its regional newspaper group, getting rid of the Tribune might be the logical next step for the New York Times. 

Preston calls the Tribune "very vulnerable" as senior editors are being called back from the IHT headquarters in Paris to other jobs in New York. He notes that the paper "doesn't make money. It struggles to keep circulation over 200,000 worldwide. And, crucially, it doesn't have a website of its own". 

The article is based on conjecture (and it should be pointed out, The Guardian's own circulation was 230,108 in December and it has been losing money for some time) but perhaps Preston raises an important point about the cost of printing international editions. When print production everywhere is under threat, it's no surprise that they're the first to go. 

In July last year, Lord Chris Patten, Chairman of the BBC Trust said that high senior management pay was "one of the most toxic reasons for the public's lack of sympathy for the BBC". 

Today it's clear that his concerns have been taken head on, as The Guardian reports that the BBC actually exceeded its 2009 target to cut its top management bill by 25% and its number of managers by 20%. 

The BBC has slashed the amount it pays for senior managers by 27%, and the actual number of those managers by 24%. 

The deadline for the savings was originally set for 2013, but it was later brought forward to the end of 2011. 

When AOL bought the Patch network of hyperlocal news sites in 2009, it made a gamble. Towards the end of 2011, it looked like that gamble was not paying off, or at least not as quickly as the internet giant had hoped.

However, according to a press release published today, the number of unique visitors to Patch sites has more than tripled between December 2010 and December 2011.

Business Insider reported last month that it estimated the hyperlocal network had lost about $100 million over the last year. This was despite Patch's target for its first sites to reach profitability by the end of 2011. While a Patch spokeswoman flatly denied Business Insider's figure, reductions to Patch sites' freelance budget last October and the fact that the company was encouraging its editors to work more closely with sales people could be see as a sign that the hyperlocal network was coming under financial pressure, even though Patch President Warren Webster insisted that the changes were not driven by financial conditions.  

The holiday's over. After being available for free for the past 3 months thanks to a sponsorship deal from Channel 4, The Guardian is set to start charging for its iPad app. 

Starting this Friday, current users will be asked to pay £9.99 a month for the app. Not everyone will have to pay right away: new users will be given a seven day trial period before they face any fees, and print subscribers will get the app at no extra cost. But even with these offers, the charge is The Guardian's highest fee for any digital product. The paper's mobile app, by comparison, costs £2.99 for six months, £4.99 for a year and is free in the US.

Newspapers are still looking for the right model for their online paywalls. 

News of The World, the latest News International papers to go behind a paywall (the others two being the Times and the Sunday Times, which became paid-only websites in July) has seen a 59 per cent decrease in unique users to its website in November, after the first full month behind a paywall, the Beehive reported, citing comScore data. 

"In November 2010, Notw.co.uk attracted just 643,000 unique users, decreasing from 960,000 in October, half of which was spent behind the paywall which went live on October 14th. In September 2010, the website recorded 1.562 million unique users", the article said.

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