“Perhaps the surest sign that newspapers are doomed is that politicians, so often their targets, are beginning to feel sorry for them,” opens this analytical feature in The Economist.
Yes, the news industry is struggling, but ‘the plight of the news business does not presage the end of news,’ it says. “As large branches of the industry wither, new shoots are rising. The result is a business that is smaller and less profitable, but also more efficient and innovative…”
If you haven’t spotted this already it’s definitely worth a read: Andy Baio looks at a very unusual online collaboration project.
A group of fans are translating each weekly issue of the Economist magazine into Chinese and distributing it via PDFs to a Chinese audience. They call themselves ‘The Eco Team’. Full story at this link…
Ethan Zuckerman’s post is another look at what’s happening.
Helen Alexander CBE, former chief executive of the Economist and former PPA chair, will receive the Marcus Morris Award for her ‘outstanding contribution’ to magazine publishing on Monday.
The award recognises ‘significant and longstanding contributions to the magazine publishing industry in the UK,’ a release from the PPA said.
Alexander was chief executive of the Economist Group from 1997-2008. According to the release, she was ‘pivotal’ in the growth and development of the company: in her last five years profits grew by 75 per cent.
She chaired the PPA from 2006-8 and was awarded a CBE in 2004.