Jennifer Preston's appointment as social media editor at the New York Times attracted considerable attention when it was announced last year: mainly, because the concept of the role was still new, but also because she wasn't what one might expect in what is often seen as a young, techy position. As she told the World Editors Forum study tour participants today, she had no presence in social media before she took the job, didn't have a smart phone and barely even texted.

There is a clear logic to appointing somebody with a similar profile, however. By learning everything from scratch themselves they will have more of an understanding about what difficulties people may encounter, and they are arguably likely to have more success persuading other non-social media users to change their habits.

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

Shares of New York Times Co. was up more than 9 percent Monday, one of the biggest gainers on the New York Stock Exchange, after UBS released a note citing advertising growth at the publication, the Global and Mail reported.

The stock boosted to $8.77, a two-month high, before trading up 63 cents, or 7.9 percent, at $8.65.

According to UBS analyst John Janedis, who gave a "sell" recommendation on the stock, said that the number of ads in the paper is 4 percent ahead of last year so far in October, Editor and Publisher reported.

There was no comment available yet from the New York Times Co.

The New York Times Co. will pay back a US$250 million loan from Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim three years ahead of schedule, Bloomberg reported Sunday.

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, New York Times CEO Janet Robinson said the company is focused "on bringing debt down as quickly as we can," citing as a priority the repayment of the Slim's loan. "We have the option to pay that down in early 2012...We have every intention of paying it all by then," she said.

Photo source: Associated Press via The Huffington Post

Once debt levels decline, The New York Times Co. will consider acquisitions "in the digital space," Robison said.

The publishing company borrowed the money in January of 2009 to refinance its 1.1 billion debt. Since then, it has reduced it to $670 million, Editor & Publisher reported. With this repayment, the group will save $100 millions.

The New York Times Co. is testing out its paywall strategy, but not on its flagship newspaper's website. Rather, the company has set up a metered paywall on the website of its Worcester, Massachusetts newspaper, the Telegram & Gazette, The Times announced yesterday.

Beginning today, the daily will allow readers to view 10 local news articles each month for free. After that threshold has been reached, they will be offered several different online subscription options, from a US$14.95 monthly pass, to a $1 day pass.

Flagship newspaper The Times will launch its own metered paywall early in 2011; however, it "has not yet set a pricing schedule or said how many articles it will allow online readers to view before they are charged," the article stated.

For a previous article on this topic, visit our sister publication, editorsweblog.org.