Pew Survey of Online Journalsits: "Stubborn Optimism"?

Written for Editors Weblog

A Pew survey, which reviewed 300 Online News Association members, showed that most online journalists are feeling more optimistic than traditional media journalists. The majority said they had not experienced as many cutbacks as print journalism, and some even reported a growth in staff. In addition, they seem confident that they will find "a profitable business model online" (chiefly in advertising) with 39% very confident and 43% somewhat confident.

Despite the optimism, there is a sense of worry among them as the majority reported uncertainty in relation to journalism values online. 54 per cent said journalism is "headed on the wrong track" and 57 per cent said journalism values are changing with Internet. The top three include: "loosening standards and/or less carefulness, 45 per cent," "Allowing others to have a voice (good & bad), 31 per cent," and an increased "emphasis on speed (good & bad), 25 per cent."

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Source: PoynterOnline, State of the News Media

Website facilitates access to information in Brazil

Written for Editors Weblog

On March 3, Article 19, global campaign promoting freedom of expression and freedom of information, launched a Portuguese-language Website called Marco do Acesso. The Website "seeks to empower users to take advantage of existing legal mechanisms to demand information from public bodies and to raise citizen awareness about their right to information" said Paula Martins, coordinator of Article 19 Brasil.

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Source: Observatório da Imprensa , IJNet

Lickable newspapers, could they save print journalism?

Written for Editors Weblog

An American company, U.S. Ink, a Sun Chemical Corp subsidiary, is coming out with a product called "Taste-It Note." The "taste-it-note" would most likely be an advertisement printed with lickable ink.

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Source: Business Insider

Some people still believe in print: investor floods millions into acquiring newspapers

Written for Editors Weblog

An investor has put in millions of dollars into buying newspapers, even with the prospects looking down. Asking to be quoted as anonymous, he told Silicon Alley Insider, "I'm not sold on the death of print quite yet," and he talked about why he thinks newspapers are worth investing in. He compiled a list of 10 newspapers worth buying and explained why.

The papers are as follows: Star-Tribune, Pioneer Press, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Roanoke Times, The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Palm Beach Post, Abilene Reporter News, San Angelo Standard-Times. Wichita Falls Times Record News, Corpus Christi Caller-Times and the Orlando Sentinal.

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Source: BusinessInsider.com

Shaping the future journalist

Written for Editors Weblog

Earlier this week there was a feed by a Brazilian journalism student on Twitter that said, "Twitter tutorial at the SATC journalism school next Monday". Rather than following the times, Journalism schools around the world are trying to run ahead of the times as they find themselves forced to adapt to a rapidly changing news world.

Maurreen Skowran, copy editor at The News & Observer, lead a live chat on Poynter this Monday, about changing journalism schools. The chat originated from an article she wrote earlier in the month, "Reimagining J-School Programs in Midst of Changing News Industry" where she presented a hypothetical curriculum and talked about how schools need to anticipate and prepare students "for newsrooms and jobs that don't yet exist".

Many journalism schools are increasing courses in the digital media realm and are preparing students for the Internet. Yet Skowran hopes that in addition to multimedia education, "schools will work toward giving students the skills they need to create their own jobs and newsrooms."

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Source: PoynterOnline, Nieman Reports

E-commerce: possibility for monetizing online papers?

Written for Editors Weblog

Since the internet overtook print, the ongoing discussion has been how to monetize online

publications. One idea that has taken off for French media groups is e-commerce.

The New York Times recently updated their e-commerce website www.nytsyn.com, where they sell content like photos and articles. However, several French media companies are looking at marketing all kinds of products for target audiences.

Elle magazine already sells products through Elle Passions, an "online boutique". "We look at our magazines like brands" said Fabrice Plaquevent, in charge of licensing at Lagardère (owns Elle).

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Source: Le Monde

WSJ reporters to open investigative reporting company

Written for Editors Weblog

While newspapers cut back on investigative reporting and turn to less costly short articles, two Wall Street Journal reporters, Sue Schmidt and Glenn Simpson, will leave to start an investigative reporting company. Schmidt and Simpson will also be working with the International Assessment and Strategy Center (IASC), which focuses research on security issues

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Source: POLITICO

Saved by a super-hero

The ladies of the Editors Weblog welled up today after reading a BBC article about an autistic boy in Thailand who was saved by a firefighter in a different costume than usually expected.

According to Thai police, the eight-year-old boy climbed out of a third-floor classroom-window after getting upset on his first day at his new school. Teachers were not able to convince him to come back inside so they called the fire department.

A firefighter, Somchai Yoosabai, somehow heard from the mother that he loved cartoon super-heroes, prompting him to dress up as Spider-Man in an effort to coax the boy. As soon as the he saw Somchai in the costume holding a cup of juice, he lit up with happiness and allowed his super-hero to save him.

Read the BBC article here

Gay publications also struggling

Written for the Editors Weblog

Last week, gay publication Genre magazine closed after more than 15 years as a monthly lifestyle magazine. Queerty recently published an article about what direction "gay media" is going in. There is a tone of concern as many gay publications closed within the last year and continue to face financial problems.

Other papers that have closed are The New England Blade and Windy City Times. Others have reduced staff and cut back on publication frequency. The Advocate is shifting from twice a month to once a month.

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Source: Queerty

Nostalgia: Citizens talk about newspapers on iReport

Written for Editors Weblog on March 24, 2009 at 2:25 PM

CNN's iReport.com recently put up a new assignment topic called "are you a newspaper person". They're asking people to report on how the changes in the newspaper industry affect them, whether they read print or online, or if their local paper still exists. So far, 50 videos have been uploaded and 13 are on CNN.

There is a general feeling of nostalgia on the site with videos of dedication to favorite papers, raised glasses to the Seattle P-I, and questions about where they would be without that morning news and coffee. One user, davidjw, talked about the lost pleasure of cutting out coupons and photos. Another user JimMorrison1 talked about the magic of doing a crossword puzzle pen to paper.

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Source: iReport.com

Twitter on Business Week, is Twitter a problem or a benefit for news outlets?

Written for Editors Weblog on March 24, 2009 at 10:38 AM

Soon, users of the Business Week community website, Business Exchange, will be able to send comments directly to a Twitter feed. They will be able to link their Twitter account through their profile or in the comment box and type a 120-character response that will be shared on Twitter as well as on Business Exchange. Business Week is one of the first media companies to incorporate a Twitter API into its Web site.

According to a Nielson study, Twitter is the fastest growing social-networking site around, experiencing a 1382% growth in the last year. Just in February 7 million unique visitors accessed the site.

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Source: WSJ Blogs, The New York Observer

Johnston Press to create online editions of regional titles

Written for Editors Weblog on March 24, 2009 at 9:40 AM

Johnston Press made a two-year deal with PageSuit, a software development company that creates digital editions of publications, to establish e-editions of all their regional titles.

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Source: journalism.co.uk

UK: Future of regional media to be discussed by government

Written for Editors Weblog on March 23, 2009 at 4:24 PM

After a meeting with the National Union of Journalists, the government plans on a summit about the future of regional media in the UK.

In the last year, regional newspapers suffered drastic cuts with 11 Newsquest papers closing in the northwest, 1,110 job cuts for Johnston Press and 245 future job cuts for Guardian Media Group.

Junior culture minister Barbara Follett said that the government has an "important role in ensuring a vital service is maintained for the public".

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Source: Guardian

Changing Media Summit 2009: Partnerships

Written for Editors Weblog on March 20, 2009 at 4:04 PM

A commonly used word at the 2009 Guardian Changing Media Summit was "partnerships", according to Guardian.co.uk. If news organizations are going to survive, they need to work together. Both BBC and Google heads spoke about their roles in bringing the media community together.

BBC director Mark Thompson general said in an interview with the Guardian: "if we can share technologies, if we can share services and ideas like the iPlayer with the rest of the sector, I think there's a chance that the whole of British media can continue to invest in and work on the digital future."

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Source: Guardian

NPR to cancel newspaper subscriptions: discussions raised about the cost of news

Written for Editors Weblog on March 20, 2009 at 2:34 PM

The discussion on losing print news heated up with NPR's decision to stop all of the company's newspaper subscriptions as of April 1. A memo sent out on March 12 states:

"As of April 1 NPR is canceling all newspaper subscriptions. We are making some arrangements to get the Wall Street Journal either on line or hard copy. You have until tomorrow to appeal this if there is a solid reason why you should be exempt. This is a cost-saving measure company wide."

NPR struggled due to the recession, they had to cut 7% of their workforce and cancel two shows last year. In addition, John Dankosky states in an article for CPBN that they need to raise "$225,000 just to pay our bills this fiscal year."

In reaction to the memo, Hartford Courant columnist, Rick Green (right) called this move "sleazy" and does not think NPR has the right to not pay for the news it gets online.

Dankosky makes a point when he says, "but back to the main question posed by Rick Green's blog: If NPR says it's okay not to pay for news they can get online, how can we ask people to pay for the news they get on the radio?"

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Source: CPBN

Twinterview with a professional tweeter: Sky News's Twitter correspondent Ruth Barnett

Written for Editors Weblog on March 20, 2009 at 11:15 AM

"I think most people do (understand what I'm doing). It's about being part of the conversation - listening and responding," said Ruth Barnett, Sky News's new Twitter correspondent in a "twinterview" today with journalism.co.uk.

Earlier this month, Sky News decided that the Twitter revolution was so large and useful to news that they appointed Barnett as "Twitter correspondent," someone designated to checking updates on twitter and feeding back.

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Source: Twitter interview conducted by journalism.co.uk

Diário de Notícias succumbs to modern online journalism

Written for Editors Weblog on March 19, 2009 at 4:45 PM

Today the Diário de Notícias, starred its redesigned website. Media journalist, Alexandre Gamela said the website was 7 years antiquated, and now they are finally up to par with other electronic newspapers. "From a dull, zero-interactivity page, they went to a complex, colorful, multimedia website. They have video, photo galleries and a new Specials section..." wrote Gamela on his blog, O Lago, yet he still thinks they have a lot of work to do.

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Source: O Lago

NewsDay and Formosa Post: promoting freedom of speech

Written for Editors Weblog on March 19, 2009 at 3:32 PM

Even though newspapers are closing in some parts of the world, new ones are opening in others. Both Zimbabwe and Taiwan are expecting new papers to open in 2009 hoping to promote freedom of speech, spread the news as it is and also generate new jobs.

Zimbabwe plans to "shortly" start an independent daily called NewsDay, the first independent Zimbabwean paper in six years. Trevor Ncube, the chairman of the Zimbabwe Independent and the Standard newspapers said NewsDay's goal is to deliver accurate, non-partisan news to the people and the government so that informed decisions can be made.

"Strong and competitive nations are those that create a market place for ideas where ultimately the best ideas win. Right now such a market place does not exist and Zimbabwe is poorer for it", Ncube said. It was also stated that the NewsDay and other related projects will generate an estimated 300 jobs.

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Source: ZimbabweJournalists, AsiaMedia

Citizen photojournalism: professionals and amateurs on the same page

Written for Editors Weblog

Following the trend of the growing citizen photojournalism websites, Katharina Borchert, WAZ's new media managing director plans on launching an online pro-am photography service in which professionals and amateurs can pitch their photos to be used by WAZ and other regional media groups looking for local coverage. Other websites that work similarly are Citizenside, Demotix The Observers, and WeSay, although The Observer and WeSay function more as blogs than as an agency service.

"It's an interesting experiment and a great opportunity to tie the community closer to you paper online," said Borchert to Journalism.co.uk.

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Source: Journalism.co.uk, PDN, Citizenside, Demotix

The Patriot-News turns to citizens for ideas

Written for Editors Weblog

Citizen journalism continues to pop up in different places around the Internet; websites like the BBC World Service "Your Story" project, Spot.Us and blogging in general have all contributed to the fast growth of the concept. Recently Daniel Victor, a reporter with The Patriot-News in Pennsylvania, has turned to his readers for story ideas, reported Journalism.co.uk.

The project is called Central PA NewsVote and is similar to Spot.Us in that citizens are invited to pitch story ideas online. Readers can post their ideas on the blog, which will later be voted on and ranked. Predictably, the story with the most votes is the one that runs.

Continue reading »


Source: journalism.co.uk

"Horror - woman abandons Metro on train": DMGT's new recycling campaign

Written for Editors Weblog

Have you ever tried to sit down on the subway and found that a newspaper had already taken your seat? Daily Mail and General Trust launched a campaign asking readers of the free newspaper, Metro, to recycle their copies instead of leaving them around. Advertisements around the UK show pictures of a neglected Metro on a bus-seat with headlines such as, 'Horror - woman abandons Metro on train' followed by, 'leaving your Metro behind is littering. Please take it away and recycle it.'

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Source: printweek.com

Editors Weblog

La Petite Rousse recently started working at Editors Weblog. Follow the articles here or go to www.editorsweblog.org . I posted some articles already below and will post others in the days to come.

Princeton study shows the effects of newspapers on democracy

Written for Editors Weblog on March 18, 2009 at 10:22 AM

After the Cincinnati Post shut down on December 31, 2007, economists Sam Schulhofer-Wohl and Miguel Garrido ran a study on how voting patterns are directly affected by news coverage. The study found that political involvement in the northern Kentucky counties, where the Post dominated circulation, decreased since the paper stopped the presses at the end of 2007.

"This paper offers a case study of the consequences of closing a newspaper," wrote the economists in the discussion paper of the research project, "its absence appears to have made local elections less competitive along several dimensions: incumbent advantage, voter turnout and the number of candidates for office."

The study on the Cincinnati Post helps to prove what other editors have been saying about newspapers being essential to the existence of democracy. As the Tucson Citizen faces its closing this month, editor Jennifer Boice calls the situation a failure for democracy, "It's a loss because what we do makes the Star better, the Star makes us better, and because of that, the community gets better information." Media Activism says the same in relation to ethnic papers shutting down. Ethnic communities will be losing primary access to news and therefore democracy is hindered by the decrease in dissemination of information.

Source: Reflections of a Newsosaur

Do ethnic papers have an advantage over mainstream papers?

Written for Editors Weblog on March 17, 2009 at 3:47 PM

While papers all over the United States disintegrated in the last year, ethnic papers are said to be thriving, unlike what was reported on March 6, 2009.

Although the ethnic papers have also felt pressure during rough financial times, according to the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism, ethnic papers find themselves better off than mainstream American papers. El Diario la Prensa is the oldest Spanish language paper in the US and has seen a better year than many other papers. According to the executive editor, Alberto Vourvoulias in an interview by Brooke Gladstone for "On the media", NPR, El Diario owes its success to its audience, which consists of immigrants from every country in Latin America.

"Many of our readers don't have desk jobs, which means they don't spend all day in front of a monitor checking up on websites to see what the latest news is. And, therefore, they take the paper into the office, share it with the people they work with, take it home at night and share it with their families," said Vourvoulias.

Ethnic papers in the US have found that the survival of print journalism boils down to having a very specific target audience. They publish stories that are meaningful to their audiences, which mainstream papers often overlook.

Vourvoulias says that other papers can learn from El Diario, "most English language newspapers have tried to reach out to a very broad suburban middle-class audience, and as a result of that, working-class Americans have been left out of the coverage equation."

Source: On The Media

Metro US will host Arianna Huffington as guest editor

Written for the Editors Weblog on March 17, 2009 at 10:44 AM:

On Wednesday Metro US will have Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor in chief of the Huffington Post, as a guest editor for the day. She will attend news meetings, as well as mediate and contribute to the news of the day.

"Arianna Huffington's unique insight, knowledge and contacts will be a superb addition to Metro," said Tony Metcalf, the editor-in-chief of Metro US.

This is not the first time Metro pulls something like this, in October 2008 they had James Blunt editing from their Rome desk for Metro International.

Other papers have invited celebrities to partake in their publications. U2 singer Bono is writing six to ten columns in 2009 for the New York Times, and Tribune Newspapers has invited Quincy Jones and other renowned musicians as guest writers. During the difficult times print faces against the Internet and the financial crisis, papers have found that these popular figures can help lure readers in.

Source: Metro

Downsizing: The Washington Post cuts its daily business section

Written for the Editors Weblog:

As newspapers lose advertising revenue to the Internet, papers like The Washington Post find themselves forced to reorganize their layouts to save money on printing. Just in the last year, The Post has cut the Sunday Source section and Book World in addition to combining the Sunday Arts and Styles sections. Now, the paper plans on eliminating its business section six days out of the week and moving the important business stories to the "A" section.

"The A section gets more readers than the Business section, so we'll have more readers for our business coverage. We aren't changing the size of the staff" Marcus Brauchli, executive editor of The Post and former top editor of The Wall Street Journal, told Reuters.

Starting on March 30th, The Post will stop running the daily business section and start running a new Sunday Business section with a more complete summary of the week's business news, including personal stories and enhanced graphics. On Tuesdays through Saturday, The Post will offer a half-page spread with statistics on the standing of major stocks, rather than running full listings. The Style section will also undergo several changes such as moving some comics online, and eliminating one crossword puzzle and the chess and poker columns.

It may seem ironic that The Post is cutting its business section in the midst of a financial crisis, just when readers are looking for guidance from the media, however it is the financial crisis that has contributed to this decision, along with plummeting ad revenues. The Post is certainly not the only paper reducing its size, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution will also cut its stand-alone business section while the Los Angeles Times has merged its California section into the main news section.

Source: Reuters, Huffington Post