Shaping the Future of the Newspaper Blog - Launches and Closures

Sun-Times tech upgrade could mean job cuts

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:01:44 -0600

Sun-Times Media Holdings LLC is planning to invest more than US$5 million in technology upgrades for print and online content, as well as back-office upgrades, Crain's Chicago Business reported yesterday.

A new centralised editing system could mean some employees will lose their job, CEO Jeremy Halbreich told Crain's. The project is expected to be finished at the end of the year, he said.

Newsweek Pakistan expected to launch in September

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:53:35 -0600

Newsweek magazine is planning to launch an English-language edition in Pakistan in September, MediaBistro.com reported. Newsweek Pakistan will be the first licensed international news magazine for the country and the eighth local edition under the Washington Post Co.-owned Newsweek brand.

Pakistan has a population of 180 million and only about 100,000 copies of English-language publications sold in a day. Newsweek's Pakistan edition will offer both local and international content, and is expected to start off with a print run of 30,000 copies, according to the Financial Times.

Newsquest titles launch subscription-only e-editions

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:11:00 -0600

The latest addition to paid online content in the United Kingdom comes from Newsquest Media Group. Two northwest dailies of the group, The Bolton News and Lancashire Telegraph, launched subscription-only electronic editions of their titles last week, HoldtheFrontPage.co.uk reported.

While the print editions of the newspapers are sold at 40p per copy, the online editions are available at a fraction of the cost, 10p per copy; thereby allowing readers a chance to save money and get news on time. The e-editions use "page-turning" software by PageSuite, used by many local newspapers.

USA Today partners with local paper to launch Trinidad and Tobago edition

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:24:00 -0600

USA Today and Trinidad & Tobago's Newsday have entered into partnership and together launched the Trinidad and Tobago edition of USA Today, T&T's Newsday reported.

The first Trinidad and Tobago edition of the USA Today was printed yesterday in the El Socorro Pressroom and distributed to attendees at an event created around the new partnership. The new edition will be distributed directly to subscribers from Monday to Friday and also be made available at airports, airlines, hotels and several other sales outlets throughout the country, said Therese Mills, CEO and editor in-chief of T&T's Newsday.

iPad on sale April 3: Will newspapers be ready?

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:58:59 -0600

Apple's iPad will go on sale in the United States April 3, and will be available for pre-order beginning March 12, TechCrunch reported early this morning. The "magical and revolutionary product at an unbelievable price" will start at US$499, Apple's Web site states.

The Wi-Fi models will be available April 3, but Wi-Fi + 3G will be available in late April in the United States, according to Apple's press release. All models will be available in late April in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

NY Times launches weekly supplements in Bosnia and El Salvador

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:45:20 -0600

The New York Times has begun publishing two weekly international news supplements in Bosnia's Dnevni Avaz newspaper and El Salvador's La Prensa Gráfica, Editor & Publisher reported. The newspapers began publishing the supplement Monday.

The Dnevni Avaz supplement is being published in English, while the La Prensa Gráfica supplement is in Spanish. Newspapers in 29 other countries also carry The New York Times international weekly supplement, according to Thaindian News.

Will Journal's New York section hurt NY Times?

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:34:38 -0600

The Wall Street Journal's New York section, set to launch in April, will compete against The New York Times for local readers and major advertisers, a cause for concern at The Times. Although capturing maximum readership, attracting advertisers and creating a solid customer base will not be easy for the Journal, it also means that The Times has something to lose, while the Journal is looking at a tremendous opportunity, AdvertisingAge reported.

Sources "close to the situation" told Ad Age that The Journal's New York section is expected to include coverage of New York's sports teams, as well as reports on culture, news from City Hall and even state government coverage from Albany, according to AdAge. The Journal is expected to chase advertisers and the paper might eventually hire sales staff for the metro edition.

Dow Jones buys out SmartMoney, launches 'Reprint Portal'

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:22:38 -0600

Dow Jones & Co. has acquired the 50 percent of SmartMoney it didn't already own, gaining complete control of the franchise from U.S. publisher Hearst Corp, BtoB Media Business reported yesterday. The brand includes SmartMoney magazine, Smartmoney.com and SmartMoney Custom Solutions, a custom publishing business. Hearst and Dow Jones first partnered on SmartMoney in 1991.

The news and business information group has also launched a new site, called Reprint Portal (reprintportal.com). The new site will take reprint orders for Dow Jones Factivia's content partners. In its beta period, the site offered content from The Associated Press, SourceMedia (a b-to-b publisher) and Dow Jones, according to BtoB.

Murdoch: WSJ to launch New York section in April

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:56:59 -0600

News Corp.'s Wall Street Journal will have a new section focusing on New York area news in April, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rupert Murdoch said in a speech before the Real Estate Board of New York, Bloomberg reported.

The move is aimed to compete against The New York Times on local readers and major advertisers, according to paidContent. Even though Murdoch did not mention by name, he said "a certain other New York daily has essentially stopped covering the city the way it once did and instead has focused on being more of a national newspaper interested mostly in prizes."

The Star publishes its first Malay weekly

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:59:33 -0600

Malaysia's largest English-language daily, The Star, on Sunday published its first Malay weekly pullout, called Mingguan mStar, the New Statesman reported. The weekly issue is a print version of the online publication, which will be distributed along with the Sunday Star.

About 170,000 copies of the 40-page weekly will be available every Sunday in certain areas of Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Shah Alam and Putrajaya, according to The Star. The inaugural issue received an overwhelming response on Sunday, with 500 copies of the weekly being snapped up within hours of its launch. Mingguan mStar readers told the Star that the English publication's Malay weekly was a welcome addition to give readers another dimension of content in the country's official language.

UK television series moves into print

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:18:36 -0600

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

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 12:29:44 -0600

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.

Bloomberg moves into government sector

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:07:02 -0600

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

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:18:27 -0600

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

South African women's magazine to close

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:02:13 -0600

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."