So here’s the story, from a range of open-to-all sources:

[as told by the AFP]: “Three veteran US media executives teamed up and launched a company designed to help ailing US newspapers and other publications make money on the web by charging readers for news.”

[as told by the AP]: “Three media veterans plan to bundle the internet content of newspaper and magazine publishers into a subscription package that will test web surfers’ willingness to pay for material that has been given away for years.”

[as told by Jeff Jarvis]: “…[F]ormer online publisher Steven Brill, former Wall Street Journal online exec Gordon Crovitz, and former cable exec Leo Hindery had teamed up to to create a company to enable news companies to huddle behind a wall and charge for their content.”

[as told by its founders]: “Citing ‘the urgent need’ for a comprehensive, immediate plan to address the downward spiral in the business of publishing original, quality journalism, experienced journalism and media industry executives Steven Brill, Gordon Crovitz, and Leo Hindery today announced the formation of Journalism Online, a company that will quickly facilitate the ability of newspaper, magazine and online publishers to realize revenue from the digital distribution of the original journalism they produce.”

[as told by Gawker]: “Now he’s [Steven Brill] launched Journalism Online Inc, whose goal is to make it easy for technologically-challenged newspaper companies to sell online subscriptions and individual stories.”

A sample of what else is available outside the wall on the launch:

• The first part of an interview with paidContent – Staci D. Kramer reports: “The biggest surprise so far? Brill says that every publisher they’ve met with has asked about picking up an equity stake.”

• Mark Potts’ blog post titled ‘Herding Cats’: “I think the whole online subscription idea is harebrained and doomed to failure, and I’ve ranted about that more than enough,” he writes.
  

• Media Release: News Corp invests in newspaper paywall business Journalism Online
• Journalism Online paid content venture to take 20 per cent commission
• Journalism Online paid content system gets first user with obits paywall
• paidContent 2010 conference livestream
• AP: Journalism Online says 10 per cent will pay for news

Reed Business Information (RBI) won four of the 16 awards handed out at last night’s Association of Online Publishers (AOP) Digital Publishing Awards.

The publisher was named best online publisher in the business field for the second year running, as well as picking up prizes for best business website, best B2B online community for Farmers Weekly Interactive, and best online advertising sales team in the business category.

Sky News’ website was awarded the gong for best consumer website, while parent company BSkyB was named best consumer publisher online.

The Guardian picked up an accolade for its Katine project and FT.com for use of video online.

The full list of winners (courtesy of a release from the AOP):

Launch 2008 award – Guardian News and Media for www.guardian.co.uk/katine

Editorial team (business) – Accountancy Age, Incisive Media

Editorial team (consumer) – NME.com, IPC Media

Research & insights project – The Origin Panel – Women’s Space, IPC Media

Online advertising sales team (consumer) – Future Publishing – digital agency team

Online advertising sales team (business) – RBI e-newsletters

Innovation 2008 award – Financial Times, Mockingbird Model

Cross-media project – WKD Nuts Football Awards, IPC Media

Commercial partnership – Ford Bite, Channel 4

Use of video – FT.com

Mobile site – Sun Mobile, News Group Newspapers

Online community – Farmers Weekly Interactive, RBI

Best website (business) – XpertHR.co.uk, RBI

Best website (consumer) – Sky News, BSkyB

Best online publisher 2008 (business) – RBI

Best online publisher 2008 (consumer) – BSkyB

• Full shortlist of Association of Online Publishers award nominees
• Postscript to Advertising and Digital Media Awards
• PPA Magazines 2008: Grazia scoops PPA magazine of the year award
• Empire and Nursing Times take online prizes at BSME Awards
• Robert Niles: ‘Communities are key in building websites’ advertiser support’

The full list of nominees for this year’s AOP awards, which span 16 categories (courtesy of the AOP):

Launch 2008
Guardian News and Media – guardian.co.uk/katine
Hearst digital – allaboutyou.com
IPC Media – Goodtoknow
James Publishing Ltd – World Reviewer
Redwood – www.yourfamily.org.uk
Channel 4/Zone – Channel 4 Food

Editorial Team – Business
Building – Building.co.uk
Centaur Media – thelawyer.com
CNET Networks UK – silicon.com
Dow Jones & Company – eFN.com
Incisive Media – Accountancy Age
Incisive Media – Legalweek.com
Reed Business Information – PersonnelToday.com
Reed Business Information – XpertHR.co.uk

Editorial Team – Consumer 2008
BBC Worldwide – bbcgoodfood.com
Financial Times – FT.com
Guardian News and Media – guardian.co.uk/sport
IPC MEDIA – nme.com
IPC Media – Nuts.co.uk
Sky News – Sky News Online
Trinity Mirror – Gazette Communities

Research & Insights Project 2008
Guardian News & Media – GNM Total Audience
IPC Media – IPC Media for The Origin Panel – Women’s Space
ITV Online – Ad Innovations-Itv.com
Orange UK – Exposure – Orange UK
Reed Business Information – Travolution
Trinity Mirror – ARRON 2007/2008 Digital Audience Research

Online Advertising Sales Team – Consumer 2008
Bauer Media – Bauer Media Digital Sales Team
Channel 4 – Channel 4
Financial Times – FT.com
Future Publishing PLC – Future Publishing – Digital Agency Team
Guardian News and Media – guardian.co.uk Ad Sales Team
Haymarket Consumer Media – whatcar.com
ITV Online – www.itv.com

Online Advertising Sales Team – Business 2008
CMPi – Building Magazine Online Commercial Team
Incisive Media – Accountancy Age Integrated Sales Team
Redactive Media Group – People Management online sales
Reed Business Information – RBI Job Sites
Reed Business Information – RBI e-Newsletters
UBM – BD & Building Virtual Careers

Innovation 2008
Financial Times – Mockingbird Model
Guardian News and Media – Guardian Publisher Network
ITV Online – Interactive Vouchering – Coronation Street and Harveys Furniture Store
Lonely Planet Publications – Lonely Planet Audio Phrasebooks for iPhone (and iPod Touch)
Jobsite (Assoc Northcliffe Digital) – BeMyInterviewer.co.uk
Lulu Enterprises UK – Lulu.com
TSL Education – TES Resource Bank

Cross-Media Project 2008
CMPI – www.thepublican.com/proudofpubs
Guardian News and Media – British Gas Greener Living Partnership
Incisive Media – Young Professional from Accountancy Age
IPC Media – The WKD Nuts Football Awards
Reuters Media – Bearing Witness: Five Years of Reporting War in Iraq
Seven Squared – ASOS ON FACEBOOK
TelecomTV – Mobile Planet
Times Online – Times Archive

Commercial Partnership
Bauer Media – Bauer Media Zoo Royal Marines 2008
Bauer Media – FHM / Nivea for Men Really Useful Guide
Channel 4 New Media – Ford Bite
Financial Times – Financial Times SST Commercial Partnership 2008
Incisive Media – Adviser Academy – IFAonline and JPMorgan
Reed Business Information – New Scientist Visions of the Future with UniversalMcCann for Microsoft
Telegraph Media Group – Telegraph Media Group and Cisco
VideoJug – Microsoft Office 2007 “It’s a new day, It’s a new office” VideoJug Series

Use of Video 2008
BBC – BBC News website
Channel 4 – Embarrassing Bodies
Financial Times – FT.com
Guardian News and Media – Zimbabwe election: The stolen ballots
IPC Media – NME.COM Video
News Group Newspapers – Sun TV
TelecomTV – TelecomTV
Telegraph Media Group – Telegraph TV

Mobile Site 2008
Brownbook Limited – Brownbook.net
Channel 4 – Big Art Mob
CondéNet UK – Glamour Mobile
CondéNet UK – GQ Mobile
Lonely Planet Publications – Lonely Planet m-site
News Group Newspapers – Sun Mobile

Online Community 2008
National Magazine Company – www.runnersworld.co.uk
News Group Newspapers – My Sun
Reed Business Information – Farmers Weekly Interactive
The National Magazine Co – www.babyexpert.com

Website 2008 – Business
Dow Jones & Company – eFN.com
Faversham House Group Ltd – www.edie.net
MarketClusters Ltd – StrategyEye
Reed Business Information – Hairdressers Journal Interactive
Reed Business Information – XpertHR.co.uk
Reed Business Information – Bankersalmanac.com
Reed Business Information – Farmers Weekly Interactive
TSL Education – www.tes.co.uk

Website 2008 – Consumer
Associated Newspapers Ltd – Mail Online
BSkyB – Sky News
Guardian News and Media – guardian.co.uk
IPC Media – marieclaire.co.uk
IPC Media – nme.com
National Magazines Company – youandyourwedding.co.uk
News Group Newspapers – Sun Online
VideoJug – www.videojug.com

Online Publisher 2008 – Business
Dow Jones & Company – eFN.com
E-consultancy.com – E-consultancy.com
Reed Business Information – Reed Business Information
RICS – RICS
TSL Education – TSL Education
Wildfire Communications – Wildfire Communications Ltd

Online Publisher 2008 – Consumer
Associated Newspapers Ltd – Associated Northcliffe Digital
BSkyB – BSkyB
Hearst digital – Hearst digital
IPC Media – IPC Media
Microsoft – MSN UK
News Group Newspapers – Sun Online
Telegraph Media Group – Telegraph Media Group

• AOP: RBI takes four prizes at Digital Publishing Awards 2008
• Makeover for the Telegraph business pages
• Inaugural British Media Awards winners announced
• PPA Magazines 2008: Grazia scoops PPA magazine of the year award
• Brand Republic: Mirror to merge print and online ad sales teams

Niche online publisher LOUD3R is to launch a series of new sites, as part of its plans to create 10 new websites a month on its network.

The new additions include: PREGG3R, for pregnancy; SHUTT3R, for photography; and SUMM3R, for the Olympics.

The semantic engine automatically aggregates and filters multimedia content from a ’source list’ of websites selected by editors. A glossary of terms is created to teach the engine how to identify that content.

The existing network of 25 sites recorded 200,000 unique users over 30 days, according to a press release from the publisher.

• Network of niche websites launched with semantic publishing technology
• Stand-upper? Wild-track? Wrap? New BBC glossary tackles journo lingo
• Newsquest attracts 4.8m unique users in 2007
• paidContent:UK: How BBC News and Drudge send UK newspapers traffic
• Paywall results in for Newsday as US newspapers see dip in traffic

Belgian newspaper group Copiepresse – yes, the one that’s in that legal wrangle with Google – is about to re-enter a copyright battle with a second online publisher – this time it’s the European Commission.

Copiepresse will attempt to sue the EC for a second time after it had its copyright infringement case against the EC’s news aggregation services NewsBrief and NewsExplorer thrown out by a Belgian court.

The group took the case on the same grounds as its Google case, that the use of the material without newspapers’ permission was an infringement of their copyright.

According to Out-Law.com, Belgian press reports said the case was thrown out of the Court of Seizures in Belgium after a report produced for the court backed the Commission and because there was a jurisdictional problem with the case. Iy added that the group would not appeal against the throwing out of the case but would re-submit it to Belgium’s civil court.

• Belgian newspapers seeking £39m damages from Google
• The Bookseller: Supreme Court resurrects $18m settlement between publishers and freelancers
• Out-law.com: German court rules that Google image search results do not infringe copyright
• Google Ads round-up – the changes explained in links
• NTY: Belgium papers could sue EU for linking to stories

Entry is now open to online publisher CNET UK‘s Business Technology Awards.

The 17 award categories include IT team of the year, technology marketing campaign of the year and technology innovation of the year

Entrants can register online – the deadline for entries is May 30.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony in London on September 23.

• 2012 Online Journalism Awards now open for entries
• The Guardian Awards for Digital Innovation open for entries
• Entries now open for 2012 Online Media Awards
• Inaugural British Media Awards winners announced
• Awards round-up: Index on Censorship winners; Mind Journalism Awards; Paul Foot nominations call

Google’s tool can help online publishers tweak their content to maximize traffic from search engine users, says OJR.

‘Google Trends allows you to select up to five words or phrases, then shows you how those search terms rate relative to one another in both the volume of search queries handled by Google, as well as news references tracked by the search engine. It’s an addictive site for a data geek, like me, and essential for any online publisher who wants to optimize his or her publication to attract more visitors from search engines, such as Google.’

• Three tools to analyse Google searches: Correlate, Trends and Insights
• New Google patent could spoil Demand Media’s party
• Nieman Journalism Lab: Gawker’s new traffic metric measures ‘reader affection’
• Reuters: Google+ gets 25m users in four weeks
• Google closes Print Ads scheme

Leading English football clubs are in competition as web publishers with local and regional newspapers.

Footballing giants, like Manchester United or Liverpool Football Club, have huge online and TV publishing arms which they use as revenue streams and to control the flow of news coming from the club.

But it’s not just the big clubs that have got in on the act.

Journalism.co.uk spoke to William Watt, digital sports reporter with the Lancashire Evening Post, about how he sees the changing landscape of online news now that smaller football clubs, like his local club Preston North End, are publishing their own stories on the web.

For the club hitting a good balance with the local media is the key.

“It’s a tricky job trying to be both press officer and web publisher,” Matt Morris, Preston North End’s media manager, told Journalism.co.uk.

“It throws up a conflict of interest at times as there are elements of competition between the club and the press.”

While there is an onus to feed good stories to the clubs website, he added, the club still needed to be promoted locally as it was in competition with several other local clubs for revenue, that necessitated having a good working relationship with the media and striking a balance between the needs of the club as an online publisher and feeding the local media.

• When Saturday Comes: How Twitter has changed football reporting
• Preston hyperlocal site bids for funding for 2012 community project
• Northern Echo invests £10,000 in bid to ‘save’ Darlington Football Club
• @FootyTweets saga: The ‘cease and desist’ emails in full
• Scotland on Sunday: Rangers bans BBC from press conference

Widgety Goodness 2007 was right on our doorstep today in Brighton, so I popped down to check out if there was anything new and interesting from an online publisher’s point of view.

We heard about widgets that automatically deliver content tailored to you and your friends’ Facebook profile, and we heard about widgets that overlay full-screen internet TV, to provide additional information about the video you are watching or just so that you can chat to your friends online.

We even heard the burgeoning widget universe being described as a Darwinian disco (© Steve Bowbrick), which conjured up for me a vision of a lot of middle-aged publishing execs trying to get on down with the young things on the dancefloor and dancing out of time like deranged orangutans.

Naturally, we heard a lot of pitches. But also a helpful dose of scepticism, as the following video sample from Russell Davies of the Open Intelligence Agency, shows:

Not good news for glossy magazine publishers then. Those perfume ads help pay for a lot of people’s wages.

Laura will update with more tomorrow, but bottom line, widgets will be getting smarter, cheaper and more ubiquitous in 2008. As long as publishers and marketeers don’t forget to put the user in control, they can be a good method of delivering personalised content across a number of social and local platforms.

• Round-up: Widgety Goodness 2007
• Washington Post Facebook app attracts 350,000 downloads
• Online video: FT’s Stephen Pinches on opportunities for publishers with connected TV
• StumbleUpon releases new widget for news sites
• News prediction game Hubdub launches widgets

STORY ABOUT AWARDS AND FULL LIST OF WINNERS HERE:

Daily Telegraph should be celebrating, as blogger Shane Richmond, reports that the Telegraph Media Group was named online publisher of the year at last night’s Association of Online Publishers awards ceremony.

Elsewhere MediaGuardian celebrates scooping three awards, including best podcast, eventually confirming TMG’s victory (albeit in the seventh par as Richmond points out):

Telegraph.co.uk, which was nominated in 12 categories, took one award, scooping the best consumer publisher prize for “the biggest, boldest attempt yet to re-engineer its complete organisation”.

Success also for The Sun, Trinity Mirror’s Gazette Live and Channel 4, who, according to these reports, also went away with prizes.

• Newspaper Awards winners – Timesonline.co.uk named eNews Site of the Year
• AOP: RBI takes four prizes at Digital Publishing Awards 2008
• AFP photographer wins political photography award
• Awards round-up: Index on Censorship winners; Mind Journalism Awards; Paul Foot nominations call
• Heather Brooke and Telegraph named in PSA Awards