by Tatiana Repkova

New research has shown baby boomers in Canada continue to embrace print newspapers. According to a new study from the Newspaper Audience Databank (NADbank), daily newspapers in Canada reach 56 percentpercent of adults 40 plus on the average weekday and 78 percentpercent each week.

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by Tatiana Repkova

Advertising expenditures for newspaper Web sites increased 22.3%, to $750 million, in the first quarter compared with the first quarter of 2006, according to preliminary estimates from the Newspaper Association of America. The increase is the 12th consecutive quarter of double-digit growth for online newspaper advertising since NAA started reporting online ad spending in 2004, the NAA said. Advertising on newspaper sites made up 7.1% of total newspaper ad spending in the first quarter, compared with 5.5% for the same period a year earlier. Overall, advertising expenditures at newspapers and their Web sites totaled $10.6 billion for the first quarter of 2007, a 4.8% decrease from the year-earlier period.

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by Tatiana Repkova

Custom book publishing continues to be a strong new revenue source for newspapers. Few papers know this better than the Dubuque Telegraph Herald in Dubuque, Iowa, which has netted over $500,000 in recent years from community-generated books.

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by Tatiana Repkova

One of Mexico's leading regional newspapers has said it is shutting down temporarily amid continuing attacks and threats from suspected drug gangs. The offices of Cambio Sonora have come under grenade attack twice since April. The newspaper is based in Sonora state, on the U.S. border, which last week saw a battle between drug gangs and security forces that left 22 people dead.

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by Tatiana Repkova

A consortium led by Ireland's Independent News and Media PLC has failed in its attempt to gain 100 percentpercent ownership of Australia's third largest media group, APN News&Media Ltd, with shareholders voting against the deal, APN said.

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by Tatiana Repkova

Cofina SGPS plans to invest about 2 million euro to launch a free daily newspaper which will begin publication June 6, according to an official source at the media group. The paper, to be called Meia Hora, will print 100,000 copies and will have between 24-32 pages in full colour. It will compete with paid reference Portuguese dailies such as Publico, owned by Sonaecom SGPS, and Diario de Noticias.

AFX News Limited; http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2007/05/24/afx3754595.html; May 24, 2007

by Tatiana Repkova

The media houses Tamedia (Tages Anzeiger, 20 Minuten among others) and Espace Media Groupe (Berner Zeitung, der Bund) have agreed to merge their businesses. For those purposes, Tamedia will acquire the majority of shares of Espace Media Groupe. In return, the existing majority owners of Espace Media, first and foremost the families of Erwin Reinhardt-Scherz and Charles von Graffenried, will acquire an interest in Tamedia.

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by Tatiana Repkova

New Zimbabwe Limited, publishers of New Zimbabwe.com, has announced the imminent arrival of a print edition of the Web site to be published weekly, starting in early July. In a statement this week, the company also announced the formation of a separate company, New Zimbabwe Media Limited, which will publish the print newspaper, The New Zimbabwe. A limited distribution dummy edition of the newspaper was published in early May.

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by Tatiana Repkova

"In the online video syndication space, the largest video owners will not be the broadcasters. It's going to be the newspapers." That prediction came from Critical Mention CEO Sean Morgan at this morning's NYMIEG (New York Media Info Exchange Group) breakfast.

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by Tatiana Repkova

The immediate future of Le Monde, the influential but loss-making French newspaper, has been plunged into uncertainty after its journalists voted to oust Jean-Marie Colombani, its editorial figurehead and the chief executive of its parent company. Colombani, a leading figure in French public life during his 13 years in charge of the title, needed the backing of his reporters and editors in order to secure a third mandate that would keep him in the post for the next six years.

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by Tatiana Repkova

Woyram Boakye-Danquah, District Chief Executive for South-Dayi has called on Ewe parents to encourage their children to learn and speak the Ewe language even if they must learn other languages. Boakye-Danquah made the call at the May 20 launch of an Ewe language newspaper, Nutifafa, in Ho.

Boakye-Danquah observed that many Ewe children who live outside the Volta Region become aliens when they visit home because they can not communicate with family and friends in their native language. She said although it is important that children born to Ewe parents are able to speak other Ghanaian languages, it is regrettable they do so at the neglect of their mother tongue, noting that her own children speak Ewe, even though her husband is Akan.

Mamaga Kofi Bra the first, Paramount Queen mother of the Peki traditional area who chaired the launching ceremony is optimistic Nutifafa will attract a mass patronage. She said the newspaper represented a bold initiative by Esther Malwine Edu-Yao, its publisher and editor, and reflects the growing influence of women to assert themselves in every sector of the country. Edu-Yao said she decided to publish the paper to make news and vital information available to many people who were not literate in the English language but could read and write in Ewe. The tabloid size quarterly featured stories mainly on religious and social issues with a cover price of ¢5,000. GNA; http://www.thestatesmanonline.com/pages/news_detail.php?newsid=3541&section=1; May 22, 2007

by Tatiana Repkova

Paying users a share of ad revenues for submitting content to Web sites is becoming a popular practice. Andrew Davies, Marketing Director at idio, looks at the impact this emerging business model could have on the advertising industry at large.

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by Tatiana Repkova

Although German media giant Bertelsmann said it was planning a buying spree after its net profit soared in 2006, the company now says it will wait until 2008 to make new acquisitions in order to give itself time to absorb the cost of a share buy-back that pushed up its debt.

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by Tatiana Repkova

Google UK has denied forming secret deals with several UK publishers to supply content to its Google News service. A report in the Sunday Herald claimed that Google was understood to have reached deals with several large UK news groups over carrying their content on Google News.

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by Tatiana Repkova

With a number of free dailies in North America now past the half-century mark and counting, it may be time for them to organize their own association, some publishers have said. Free daily executives will be testing the waters for an association at a seminar hosted by the St. Petersburg Times, publisher of tbt*/Tampa Bay Times. Organizers are billing the seminar, set for June 18 and 19, as the first ever dedicated to free dailies in the United States or Canada.

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by Tatiana Repkova

PCM Media has launched a new Web site, nrccarriere.nl, reporting all jobs which have appeared in the past three weeks in the daily newspapers NRC Handelsblad and NRC.Next. The Web site also offers professional recommendations and career coaching, a complete overview to postgraduate training and the best companies for jobs. PCM Media; 18 May 2007; http://www.publicitas.com/display.asp?id=6.8&chp=6.6&foot=6.9&cpny=*&LIB2=PPNRequestNews(3)&initlib=no&PARAM1=18665&navig=no&statinfo=news

by Tatiana Repkova

The independent newspaper Al-Sudani has been shut down by Sudanese authorities, after the Sudanese justice minister complained of defamation, an executive of the daily said. The plates for the latest edition were confiscated on Wednesday night, Al-Sudani’s Deputy Chief Editor Underdone Medani said.

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by Tatiana Repkova

A Dutch citizen photojournalism service is to bring the participatory reporting model to Africa this year.

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by Tatiana Repkova

The Times and The Sunday Times, two of the most respected and influential newspapers in the world, will publish their international editions in the Middle East beginning May 21. The move marks the first time a leading international daily is printed and distributed widely in the region on the day of publication, and the arrival of the UK papers is expected to have a significant impact on the Middle East media market.

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by Tatiana Repkova

Thelondonpaper, the free newspaper from News International, is launching its first mobile drive to encourage reader interactivity and stir debate among Londoners. Mobile marketing solutions provider Sponge has been appointed to supply and run the platform, which will enable readers to share their views and make it easier for them to respond to content in the paper.

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by Tatiana Repkova

Axel Springer AG may launch a new daily newspaper in France to take advantage of the sales potential of new publications abroad, chief executive Mathias Doepfner told Sueddeutsche Zeitung in an interview. The company, which has launched 60 new publications in the past five years, will decide this summer whether to start a newspaper in France, he said.

“We have noticed that it is possible to found new things faster and more successfully amid this supposed newspaper and magazine crisis,' Doepfner told the newspaper. http://www.finanznachrichten.de/nachrichten-2007-05/artikel-8250626.asp; May 16, 2007

by Tatiana Repkova

Journalists of the Journal du Dimanche addressed an open letter to Arnaud Lagardère, head of the group that owns the newspaper, in which they denounce the “unacceptable censorship” after the non-publication of an article on Cécilia Sarkozy.

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by Tatiana Repkova

Roularta Media Group (Knack, Le Vif, Trends-Tendences ) and the ROSSEL Group (vlan, Le Soir ) have announced that they will partner to create a national, bilingual classified ads Web site, vlan.be, beginning May 12. The Dutch language classified ads site, easy.be, will be part of this new site.

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by Tatiana Repkova

The Financial Times is looking to double its distribution in the Gulf region to 10,000, and will stop circulating the Asian edition in favour of the European version of the newspaper. With a current distribution of just 5,000, the newspaper - which is perhaps the most prestigious financial journal in the world, after the Wall Street Journal - is taking the step because the European edition would better reflect “market demand.”

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by Tatiana Repkova

An NSK survey on consumer behaviour by Internet users has found that the use of the Internet, combined with newspapers, raises the level of recognition and interest, thereby promoting purchasing behaviour.

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by Tatiana Repkova

It started at the beginning of the Iraq war. The Tribune-Review of Pittsburgh, Pa., had two reporters in the Middle East filing daily reports. One was embedded with the Marines, while the other worked in northern Iraq with the Kurds. Due to the time difference, some dispatches often would get filed too late to make the morning edition. The paper decided to produce an "extra" edition distributed on weekday afternoons, for 25 cents. It was, according to Ralph Martin, president and CEO of Tribune-Review Publishing, a success, selling 7,000 copies a day.

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by Tatiana Repkova

Wayne Burton, circulation director of the 20,000-circulation Decatur (Ala.) Daily, knows that newspapers can maximize their circulation revenues if they tap into the power of their core subscribers - those who have subscribed for over one year.

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by Tatiana Repkova

Free London business daily City AM is to launch an Edinburgh edition later this year in the first stage of a roll-out to eight cities around the UK. The tabloid title, which is handed out in London's financial Square Mile and has been an unexpected hit since it launched nearly two years ago, aims to distribute between 10,000 and 15,000 copies in the Scottish capital. Scots-born managing director Lawson Muncaster said: "Edinburgh excites me. With local copy and local advertising, we can do something nice there." The company plans to hire about four staff for a new Scottish office, comprising two journalists and two advertising sales executives, which would mean that the majority of content would come from its sister London paper. Asked why City AM was prioritising Edinburgh, Muncaster said: "Outside of London, the Edinburgh market probably has the most companies associated with business and finance in the country. But that's not to say we are not looking at Manchester, Glasgow and Leeds." Unlike the main edition, City AM's Edinburgh edition will mostly be delivered to offices and only handed out in a few key transport "hotspots". City AM now distributes 97,000 copies in London a day, compared to 59,000 at its September 2005 launch. http://www.sundayherald.com/business/businessnews/display.var.1346552.0.londons_city_am_targets_edinburgh.php

by Tatiana Repkova

On May 2, the seventh free daily was launched in Seoul: The City, a free afternoon daily with a circulation of 400,000. Total circulation in Seoul is now 3.4 million. Market leaders are Daily Focus with 662,000 copies and Metro with a circulation of 485,000 copies, although other titles also claim a circulation of around 500,000.

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by Tatiana Repkova

The Sankei Shimbun has launched new services for clients to designate specific page placements for their advertisements. The first such ads came out in its May 8 issue. The service, called Newspace, is intended to boost ad revenues by soliciting orders from smaller local businesses and enterprises.

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by Tatiana Repkova

Automotive grew to a $31 billion advertising category this year on compound annual growth of 3.7 percent in the past five years. Over the next five, however, we are projecting compound growth of just 1.7 percent. Meanwhile, the online portion of automotive advertising will reach $2.8 billion this year – 7.6 percent of all automotive advertising – with a 13 percent CAGR. By 2010 online will hit $4 billion and become the second-largest medium for automotive advertisers, surpassing newspapers, cable, radio, direct mail – everything but broadcast TV. At the local level things get more interesting. Next year online media will become the No. 1 expenditure for used-car marketers, surpassing newspapers for the first time. Used-car dealers have pinto online than the manufacturers – 19.6 percent in 2006. Private-party auto advertising has migrated online even faster with 27 percent of that segment now going to online media. Borrell Associates, May 2007

by Tatiana Repkova

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. is in talks with India's Sun group, which operates the Sun TV Network Ltd., to launch a tabloid newspaper, the Business Standard reported, quoting unnamed sources. The English tabloid is likely to be titled Sun and launched in south India before being introduced to other markets, the paper said, quoting sources close to the development. The sources did not detail a time frame for the launch. Officials at Sun TV could not be immediately reached for comment. The sources told the paper the newspaper was part of Sun TV's expansion and diversification plans. Sun group is owned by Kalanithi Maran, the brother of India's Communications and Information Technology minister. http://in.news.yahoo.com/070509/137/6fivy.html; May 9, 2007

by Tatiana Repkova

Dag, the Netherlands' fourth free daily, was launched May 8, with a circulation of 300,000 copies.

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by Tatiana Repkova

Acquisitive newspaper group Mecom has reached agreement to buy Wegener, the Netherlands' largest regional newspaper group, for €805.7 million, to take its spending over the past year to well over £1 billion.

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by Tatiana Repkova

With a starting capital of 50m Swiss Francs (€30m), a new door-to-door-delivered free daily is planned to be launched in Switzerland in September. There are also contacts with the Direct Mail Company (Swiss Post subsidiairy) for distribution. With five free titles in Switzerland already (20 Minuten/20Minutes, Heute, Le Matin Blue, Baslerstab, CashDaily), the market share of free papers is around 33 percentpercent. http://www.newspaperinnovation.com/index.php/2007/05/04/swiss-door-to-door-free-daily-planned/; May 4, 2007

by Tatiana Repkova

Pakistan International Airlines spent 157 million rupees ($2.6 million, €2 million) on newspapers and magazines during the last three years, according to a government written reply to a Parliamentarian’s question. In 2004 it spent 42 million rupees ($700,000, €535,000), in 2005 it spent 45 million rupees ($760,000, €580,000) but in 2006 the figure jumped to 70 million rupees ($1.1 million, €845,000). That kind of money bought the national flag carrier 30 national and regional newspapers -- English and Urdu – in 2004 plus seven local and international magazines; 33 dailies and 20 magazines in 2005; and 34 dailies and 19 magazines in 2006. http://www.followthemedia.com/tickle/ticklefile30042007.htm#13; May 4, 2007

by Tatiana Repkova

The market share of visits to the top 10 US News and Media Web sites declined by 3.8 percent from March 2006 to March 2007, indicating that news consumption is beginning to fragment as users expand their range of news sources to non-traditional news Web sites, according to Hitwise, an online competitive intelligence service.

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by Tatiana Repkova

From May 2, the Caribbean island of Martinique has a new free daily newspaper, L’Infos. The newspaper team consists of five individuals who have been also financing the project with their personal funds. L’Infos covers news in Martinique and also in the Carribean, South America, Polynesia and Europe. The daily is financed entirely by advertising. The circulation of 3,000 copies will be distributed on the island, an overseas department of France, for free Monday through Thursday, and 15,000 on weekends. The Friday edition includes a TV program. The managers of L’Infos also expect to launch the paper in Guadeloupe, also an overseas department of France in the Caribbean.

Grioo.com; May 3, 2007