Shaping the Future of the Newspaper Blog

NYTimes Co.'s Sulzberger discusses metered model, iPad version

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:09:15 -0600

The New York Times is still planning to launch its metered paywall early next year, because that model is right for now; but in the future, it may not be, Times Co. Chairman and Publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. said at Bloomberg BusinessWeek's Media Summit 2010, paidContent reported today.

"We believe going to a metered model now is the right thing. But 10 years from now? Who knows?" he said.

Reuters adds social media rules to its handbook

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:33:34 -0600

The surge in social media has benefited journalists globally by offering them a world of information at their fingertips with powerful social networking tools and news aggregator sites. But this opportunity comes along with some risks as well. To lessen these risks, Reuters has added social media guidelines and principles to its handbook, Dean Wright, global editor for ethics, innovation and news standards at Reuters, announced yesterday in the Reuters Blog.

While Reuters embraces social media as a powerful informative tool and encourages its usage among journalists, they must ask permission from managers to use social media in conjunction with their professional lives, MediaGuardian reported.

Asper family bids for Canwest Newspapers

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:04:56 -0600

The Asper family, former controller of Canwest Global Communications Corp., is trying to regain control of the newspaper assets, Bloomberg reported.

The family one of six bidders. Others include B.C. newspaper magnate David Black, Vancouver-based community newspaper publisher Glacier Media Inc. and National Post executive Paul Godfrey, the Globe and Mail reported.

News Corp: Other revenue streams can coexist with paywall

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:02:57 -0600

The "Year of the Paywall" is upon us and in a time where most newspapers seem to be gearing up to build one around their Web sites - The New York Times and the News Corporation Wapping publications are just a couple of examples - some executives believe there is still room for other revenue models to coexist with paid content.

The head of digital media at News Corporation, Jonathan Miller, told delegates at the Abu Dhabi Media Summit that "dual revenue streams" are likely to co-exist as media organizations try ways of making money online, according to Guardian.

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

Virginia paper outsources page production to Chicago Tribune

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:41:44 -0600

As a part of the Tribune Co.'s efforts to reduce costs and direct resources to focus on local coverage, the Daily Press of Newport News, Virginia will outsource page design, formatting and editing pages to the company's flagship paper, the Chicago Tribune. This announcement came to the staff at both the newspapers on Monday, the Tribune reported.

The transfer of responsibilities from the Daily Press suggests elimination of copy editors and designers, Hampton Roads reported. The newsroom staff will likely be reduced by 15 percent, Digby Solomon, president and chief executive of the Daily Press, told the Tribune.

3D newspaper published in Belgium

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:40:03 -0600

Belgium's La Derniere Heure released an edition Tuesday in which all photos and advertisements are in 3D, and readers are given cardboard 3D glasses with every copy, ABC News reported today. Text is not three-dimensional.

It took two months to create the 3D edition, which had a print run of 115,000, higher than usual. Editor Hubert Leclercq told ABC News that the paper was following the trend of the recent rise in popularity of 3D films, television and video games.

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.

Google: Newspapers need to 'engage' online readers

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:22:24 -0600

Aggregators such a Google are often accused of making life more than a little difficult for newspapers - yet the company has spoken out once again, offering advice for newspapers struggling against the ubiquity of online news:

In an article by Mercedes Bunz from The Guardian's Digital Content Blog, Google stated that the "key" to newspaper's survival online is "engagement". The statement, issued by Google's Hal Varian, places emphasis on the importance of offering readers interactive experiences but provided little information on specific steps publications should take to go about doing this.

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

SFN report: Entertainment top online category with highest reach

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:47:46 -0600

In January 2009, entertainment was the online category with the highest reach in the six countries surveyed, reaching more than eight out of 10 people, except in Australia, SFN's World Digital Media Trends 2009 reported.

Other than in Switzerland, the entertainment audience grew in all countries. The increase was in double digits in Spain, Brazil and the United Kingdom, according to the Nielsen Company.

Report: MENA region to see jump in online media revenue

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:06:49 -0600

Online media revenue in the Middle East and North Africa is expected to spike to US$600 million by 2015, from less than $100 million last year, research from global consulting firm Booz and Company shows, The National reported today. Mobile revenues are also increasing, expected to reach $2.7 billion.

According to the report, 70 percent of audiences in MENA countries said they spend two hours or more on the Internet each day, while 36 percent said they spend two or more hours watching TV.

Publicis CEO: Newspapers over-dependent on advertising

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:32:03 -0600

Newspapers must find new revenue streams outside advertising in order to survive, the CEO of Publicis told the inaugural Abud Dhabi media summit today, MediaGuardian reported.

"It is not and/or but and/and. We need to have advertising and paid content. Some part of the content could be open and others available on subscription or pay per view," said Maurice Lévy, head of the French advertising group, the third largest in the world by revenue.

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.

Northcliffe's titles announce merger plan

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:19:41 -0600

Two UK regional papers, Bristol's Western Daily Press and Plymouth's Western Morning News, announced they will merge editors and senior editorial roles, BBC News reported.

The two papers will remain unique, but have only one editor-in-chief. Production will be shared between Plymouth and Bristol, but the reporting teams will remain independent, The Herald reported.

India's HT Media Surges on unit's IPO plans

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:45:47 -0600

HT Media Ltd., publisher of Hindustan Times in India, peaked in almost two years in Mumbai trading as its unit planned to raise 3 billion rupees ($66 million) through an initial public offer, Bloomberg reported.

Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd., a subsidiary of HT Media, filed a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) on Friday with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on March 5, according to Indian Television.

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.