CounterValue: Online news industry must end obsession with unique users

ReJurno: ‘The New Metros’ – local journalism or ‘nichification on steroids?’

January 28th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted by Judith Townend in Editors' pick, Newspapers, Online Journalism

Jane Stevens on the bleak future for local news – she reckons newspapers could face shut-down with just one or two days notice. So, ‘what’s to take the place of that one large metro news organization?’ she asks. “Many small ones. Mini-metros. Nichification on steroids,” she begins… Full story… (also picked up at the Knight Digital Media Center blog).

Tags: jane stevens, Knight Digital Media Center, Local newspapers, new metros

Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – seek out online altruism

January 28th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted by Judith Townend in Top tips for journalists

Technical hitch? Make the most of online altruism by posting technical questions on forums and visiting individual web developers’ sites whenever you get stuck. Subscribe to the responses and you’ll be amazed at the help you receive. Tipster: Judith Townend.

To submit a tip to Journalism.co.uk, use this link – we will pay a fiver for the best ones published.

Tags: individual web developers, Journalism.co.uk, Judith Townend, online altruism, tips

Followthemedia.com: Rupert needs to think about his mortality after News Corp shares fall

January 28th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted by Judith Townend in Editors' pick, Journalism

In a brief aside on its site, FollowtheMedia comments that News Corps shares are down 20 per cent since New Years Eve, and then remarks that Rupert Murdoch should probably think about his mortality:

“There’s a big family celebration in Australia next month to honor his mother’s 100th birthday and all the talk now is that the 77 year-old former Australian now needs to get his corporate house in order and name a successor.”

Full story…

Tags: Australia, Followthemedia.com, News Corp, News Corps, Rupert Murdoch

FT.com: BBC pay freeze for 400 most senior employees

January 28th, 2009 | 1 Comment | Posted by Judith Townend in Broadcasting, Editors' pick

“The BBC froze the pay of its 400 most senior employees – from the director-general to the heads of production divisions – for 18 months and suspended its bonus scheme as it sought to fill a £450m ($639m) funding shortfall by 2013,” the Financial Times reports. Full story…

Tags: BBC, Director General, effect, GBP, The Financial Times, USD

Nielsen Online release: Web traffic to top 10 US newspapers grew 16 per cent last year

January 28th, 2009 | 1 Comment | Posted by John Thompson in Media releases

Nielsen Online, a service of The Nielsen Company, today reported a 16 per cent year-on-year increase in unique visitors to the top 10 newspaper Web sites, growing from 34.6 million unique visitors in December 2007 to 40.1 million in December 2008.

NYTimes.com was the number one online newspaper destination in December 2008, with 18.2 million unique visitors. USATODAY.com and washingtonpost.com took the second and third spots, with 11.4 million and 9.5 million unique visitors, respectively. Download PDF release

Tags: Nielsen Online, NYTimes.com, online newspaper destination, PDF, The Nielsen Company, unique visitors, United States, usatoday.com, washingtonpost.com, web, web traffic

Rebekah Wade’s first public speech in full

January 27th, 2009 | 2 Comments | Posted by Judith Townend in Events, Journalism, Newspapers

If the Wordle and other coverage isn’t enough, here’s the Hugh Cudlipp speech by the editor of the Sun, Rebekah Wade, in full [note: may have differed very slightly in actual delivery]:

The challenging future of national and regional newspapers is now the staple diet of media commentators.

If you have been reading the press writing about the press you’d all be forgiven for questioning your choice of career.

I’m not denying we’re in a tough place – we are.

But I don’t want to use this speech to make grand statements on the future of our industry.

I want to talk to you about journalism.

Tags: advertising revenue, Afghanistan, associated newspapers, Barak Obama, BBC, Becky, camp Bastian, car crash, case law, Charles, Daily Star, deputy editor, digital cameras, distinguished chair, Ed Balls, Eddie Shah, editor, executive, Family Liaison officer, farmer, GBP, Geoff Hurst, George Pascoe, George Pascoe Watson, Germany, Helmut Haller, Help, High Court, Hugh Cudlipp, Inexplicably Mike, Iraq, ITN, ITV, journalist, kabul, Major, Matt Drudge, Max Mosley, media commentariat, media commentators, media outlet, Mike Payne, Moon pub, Munchausen syndrome, News International, News of the World, newspaper advertising revenues, newspaper editor, pence, Perez Hilton, political editor, Portsmouth, Press Complaints Commission, Prime Minister, Prince, privacy law, Professor, Rebekah Wade, Rome, Roy Whiting, Royal Military, Sara Payne, Sarah Payne, Secretary, Sergeant, short haul travel, Sky News, Spain, Sundance, Sunday Times, Sunny Blackpool, Taliban, Terry Leahy, Tesco, The Daily Mail, the Daily Star, The Guardian, The Mirror, the News of the World, the Press Complaints Commission, The Prime Minister, The Sun, The Sun. Sky News, the Sunday Times, the Telegraph, The Telegraph Group, The Times, the World Cup, Twogood, United Kingdom, Victor Burnett, Wayne Rooney, world cup, Yasser Arafat

Eat Sleep Publish: Why the future of news brands hinges on net neutrality

January 27th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted by admin in Editors' pick, Online Journalism

Jason Preston compares online and print publishing models and concludes that the only way the old model will work online is if the cost structure of online publishing is changed, so that technology no longer allows free or cheap means for publishing to all.

“There are two ways to adapt to the situation: you can accept the new economics, or you can try to re-work the technology so that it conforms to the old rules of economics: scarcity… Fighting progress is a fool’s game,” Preston writes. Full story…

See also NiemanJournalismLab: “Why it’s so hard to move print revenue online: The loss of scarcity“

Tags: Jason Preston, Online publishing

Guest bloggers for FT’s Davos coverage

January 27th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted by Laura Oliver in Events

The Financial Times has signed up a host of guest bloggers for it’s coverage of this week’s World Economics Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, which starts tomorrow.

Sir Martin Sorrell, Kofi Annan and British foreign secretary David Miliband will all be posting alongside FT editors and correspondents – you can read Sorrell’s first post at this link.

The site has set-up an ‘in depth’ microsite to host its coverage, which will also feature video reports and can be followed on Twitter @FTDavos.

Elsewhere YouTube got its users to pose video questions to the forum via its Davos channel – the most voted submission was from Pablo Camacho, a student and independent writer from Bogotá, Colombia, who will now attend the event on behalf of the site as a citizen reporter.

Tags: Bogotá, Colombia, David Miliband, Davos, foreign secretary, Kofi Annan, Martin Sorrell, Pablo Camacho, reporter, student and independent writer, Switzerland, The Financial Times, United Kingdom, YouTube, YouTube Inc

Birmingham Post: Eady throws out comments libel case

January 27th, 2009 | 1 Comment | Posted by Laura Oliver in Editors' pick, Legal

Mr Justice Eady was called in to rule on a libel case involving the great grandson of author JRR Tolkien.

Royd Tolkien had allegedly left defamatory comments on the website of Christopher Carrie, who claims he was abused by the son of JRR Tolkien.

The case was thrown out after Eady pointed out that Carrie could have removed the allegedly defamatory comments as they were left on his website.

Full story at this link…

Tags: author, Birmingham Post, Christopher Carrie, libel, Tolkien