31 March
US: Yahoo! News Recruits Journalists to Create Original Content
The Internet search engine Yahoo ! recently hired a dozen of professional journalists hoping to produce more original news content to increase the popularity of its online search site Yahoo! News. According to the company, it aims to create more original news articles and videos on various topics following its success for original sport coverage launched three years ago.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/technology/31yahoo.html?ref=technology
30 March
US: Sports are Laboratory for Automated "Journalism"
StatSheet, a US-based sport news site is embracing the idea of " virtual news " by introducing automated sport news content to its website. According to the founder of the site, automated news content will play a big part in the future of journalism as it offers a cheaper and faster alternative for start-up news organisations, as well as mainstream media. InfoLab, an academic institute based in the US, is also developing its virtual news project ‘News at Seven’ (see MCJ 17 December 09) and hoping news orgainsations will gradually embrace the idea of virtual news. According to the spokeman of the InfoLab, virtual news has " many advantages " over news written and reported by real journalists and reporters , not the least because it is much cheaper, round the clock and without complaining, he claimed.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2010/mar/30/digital-media-algorithms-reporting-journalism
http://statsheet.com/blog/automated-sports-content-the-future-of-sports-journalism
29 March
UK: Guardian Offers ‘Random’ News to Readers
Inspired by the online video chat room ‘Chatroulette’, the Guardian online is introducing the same idea to present its news to readers by offering them ‘random’ news. The idea of ‘random’ news item is to attract readers with interesting news content that is not promoted on the Guardian front page by offering them randomly picked news stories. Each time readers visit the web page http://random-guardian.appspot.com,they will be shown a randomly picked news.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/insideguardian/2010/mar/26/random-guardian
Belgium: VRT to lay-off 279 Members of Staff
The Flemish public broadcaster VRT announced its intention to lay-off 279 members of staff "in a socially accountable way", according to management. The plan is part of a broader cost-cutting series of measures including a reduction in numbers of in-house production staff, the scaling down of online activities and the suppression of some programmes. One quarter of the staff jobs is at stake and the Flemish journalists' union VVJ already warned that this plan was "unacceptable".
http://www.agjpb.be/vvj/nieuws.php?nieuwsid=633
26 March
UK: Twitter Won New Media Award
Twitter has won the New Media Award by Index on Censorship for enhancing online freedom through the use of new technologies.
25 March
US: Newspapers Ad Revenue Fell by 27% in 2009
Recent figures released by the Newspaper Association of America show that newspapers’ advertising revenue plunged by 27% in 2009 to its lowest point since 1986. Advertising revenue decreased from $37.8 billion in 2008 to $27.6 billion in 2009. The figures also show that all media organisations in the US including magazines, broadcast television and online media experience a slowdown in their revenue growth.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jST82Ofm0irwAxT-0T0-83DmhsgwD9EL8S501
UK: New Business Model Offers News Footage ‘A La Carte’
A new business model that offers news footage ‘a la carte’ for media organisations has achieved success in signing international deals with major news agencies in China and Turkey. Beamups is an online platform based in the UK for news organisations, producers and freelance journalists to sell unused, raw or archived film and video footages without paying any subscription. Content providers can upload their video footages on the website and package and price their content. In return, Beamups will get 35% of the revenue from content sold to media organisations.
http://www.beamups.com/BeamupsWeb/portal/HelpSupport.aspx?Goto=ContentProviders
24 March
US/Canada: ContradictorySurveys on Popularity of Internet and Traditional TV
The fear that traditional TV will be replaced by the growing popularity of the Internet and online TV may be wrong, according to a recent study which shows that traditional TV audience in the US isgrowing at the same time as the use of Internet. The findings of a Nielsen survey show that the amount of time Americans spend on watching the TV increases along with the amount of time they use their Internet simultaneously. In Canada, an Ipsos-Reid survey showed the same trend. However, for the first time, the Internet is actually becoming more popular than TV, with respectively 18 and 16,9 hours a week.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62L4UB20100323?type=technologyNews
http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/societe/2010/03/22/003-sondage-tele-internet.shtml
Europe: 3D Media on the Move
After the launch of the ‘3D’Belgium newspaper La Dernière Heure, a fashion magazine Grazia published in the UK by Bauer Media Group, has introduced its ‘3D’ edition claiming to give readers a 'special' experience. The ‘3D’ effect will make magazine pages ‘come to life’ when readers place the augmented reality codes that come with the magazine in front of a webcam or an iPhone. Readers can then view the images on their computer screen or iPhone in ‘3D’. At the same time, the first 3D television sets are expected on the French market in April. A set will cost between 1500€ and 5000€, including of course the special glasses.
http://www.graziadaily.co.uk/3D
http://www.lemonde.fr/depeches/?seq_id=3208&cont_dep_id=58&dep_id=42032109#top
22 March
US:
- New York Times Webcasts its own Newsroom Meeting,
On 22 March the NYT launched "TimesCast", the webcast of the daily editor's meeting. TimesCast allows anyone online to have "unprecedented access to the news process. They will see reporters and editors discussing the stories they are working on as they are reporting them before they appear in the paper and online, " according to the NYT press statement.
- News Co-operative Could be the Future of Journalism
As the media industry searches for new business models a group of retired and redundant journalists from major US newspapers led by James O'Shea, former editor of the Los Angeles Times, has created the Chicago News Cooperative (CNC) with the mission to restore public service journalism.
Having already published some of its investigative stories in major US newspapers such as the New York Times, the CNC is beginning to demonstrate its capacity to provide public service journalism. However, its reliance on foundations and grants for funding makes the business model less convincing. Its first year profits allowed editor O’Shea take a annual salary of an underwhelming $1. Although members contribute a considerable amount of money to the Co-operative, no one actually owns the business. Money from members is invested into newsgathering and creating networks. Any surplus revenue is re-invested into hiring more reporters, photographers and expanding the news network.
http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4857
19 March
Belgium/EU: Number of Foreign Correspondents Shrank in Five Years
An ‘extraordinary general meeting’ held by the Brussels-based Association de la Presse Internationale - International Press Association (API-IPA) revealed that the number of foreign correspondents in Brussels has shrunk from 1,150 journalists in 2005 to less than 900 in 2010. In the meeting, the API initiated the debate on the dire situation of foreign correspondents addressing concerns over the impact of the crisis on the media industry and also over the communication policies of the European institutions.
http://www.api-ipa.eu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=146&Itemid=35
http://bruxelles.blogs.liberation.fr/coulisses/2010/03/les-m%C3%A9dias-d%C3%A9sertent-bruxelles.html
18 March
Japan: Business Daily Nikkei to Launch Paid Digital Edition
Following many American and European newspapers, Nikkei Inc. one of the largest Japanese newspaper publishers with over 3,000,000 daily copies, is to launch a paid digital edition for its business daily Nikkei. The newspaper industry in Japan has been particularly hit by the lack of fixed revenues in a changing media landscape and the management of the paper considered the paying model as ‘indispensable’.
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201002250447.html
17 March
UK: Self-publishing Service Allows Users to Print Personalised Newspaper on Demand
The Newspaper Club, a self-publishing service based in London and founded by a group of bloggers, allows users to print small runs of their personalised newspapers for £1.10 a copy. The venture has so far been success as major media organisations and publishers such as the BBC, Wired UK, Last.fm and Penguin were among its first clients. However, the success of the on-demand newspapers remains far from certain as most newspapers are struggling to find a coherent business model.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8559813.stm
US: The State of the News Media Report Says 'Traditional Media Content Prevails'
The State of the News Media, an annual report on American journalism, shows that traditional media content still prevails when compared to online media content from other sources. The report warns that recent cutbacks in old media could heavily impact on what the public is learning through the new media. The report also points out that both “new” and “old” media face the same dilemma searching for revenues and new business models. There is also a growing trend of niche operations in most news organisations as news consumers are becoming more segmented and seeking news topics from different sources.
Access to the full report: http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2010/overview_intro.php
16 March
France: Audience of Written Press Declined in 2009
According to a survey by the AudiPresse company, the audience of daily printed press has declined by 6.9% in 2009 compared to 2008. The authors of the survey point out that 2008 was a particularly good year for media audience because of the Olympic Games and elections in France and in the US. However some dailies clearly lost a major part of audience in 2009, such as La Tribune (business, - 16,4 %), La Croix (christian, - 15,3 %) and L'Humanité (communist, - 15,1 %).The most popular daily in France remains the sports newspaper, L'Equipe, with 7.8 millions readers a week, followed by Le Monde and Le Figaro.
UK: 'Creative Cannibalisation' is Replacing Original Journalism, Inquiry Says
An independent inquiry looking into the Future of Civil Society in UK and Ireland shows that original journalism is gradually replaced by what it calls 'creative cannibalisation', as the newspaper industry is facing increasing economic pressures in a changing landscape. The inquiry explains that job insecurity and commercial priorities pose increasing limitations on journalists' ability to function ethically. It points out that people depend more than ever on secondary sources of information. Thus, the inquiry suggests that levies on news aggregators like Google could 'generate significant revenue to support the production of new public service and local content'. The inquiry also proposed other measures such as government subsidy and tax relief to safeguard journalism.
Access to the inquiry: http://democracy.carnegieuktrust.org.uk/files/Makinggoodsociety.pdf#media
15 March
Global:
- Bloggers on Wordpress.org Can Charge Online Content
Bloggers of Wordpress.org can now charge readers for their online content through a new micropayment system launched last week. Bloggers can use the plug-in feature on Wordpress to customise the way they charge for an article at as low as $1.50. Readers can view part of the article before they choose to buy it. They can also buy bundles of credits which can be used on different sites. However, the newspapers industry is still skeptical about adopting the micropayment system to charge for their online content.
http://www.journalism.co.uk/2/articles/537885.php
- Only 11% Google News is Original, Study Says
A study conducted by the Nieman Journalism Lab found that only 11% of news on Google is real reporting and the rest is just repeating the original stories. The study shows that only 13 out of 121 stories reporting on Chinese hacking on Google contained some original reporting and just 7 of these stories were produced independently based on primary sources.
12 March
Global: Live Television Gets Second Life thanks to Social Networks
The winter Olympic Games had the best TV rate in the US since 1994. This and other sports or culture events show a new trend: with the development of social networks, the Internet can become the friend of television, with people watching a public event and chatting at the same time. The Nielsen media institute found that "simultaneous TV-and-Web viewing signaled the growing importance of interactivity to the television experience".
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/24/business/media/24cooler.html
US: Reuters Adds Social Media Guidelines to its Handbook
Reuters announced plans to add social media guidelines to its Journalism Handbooks. Dean Wright, the global editor for ethics, innovation and news standards at Reuters said that the social media guidelines aim to offer some basic principles and recommendations to journalists who are navigating in a seemingly ‘chaotic landscape’ on the internet. Other media organisations like BBC and the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) in the US have already issued social media guidelines to its journalists (see MCJ 4 February).
http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/03/10/social-media-some-principles-and-guidelines/
11 March
US:
- Saving the Future of Journalism: Citizenship News Voucher or Readership Engagement?
In the second series of the Future of Journalism workshop organised by the US Federal Trade Commission, a group of the industry’s players including Google, newspaper publishers, journalists, lawyers and academics gathered to discuss innovative ways to respond to the changing media landscape and how to save the future of journalism in the digital age. The workshop explored different business models including government subsidies and paid-online content models. It also discussed the issues of copyright law in protecting journalistic work online. While the media giant Google is blaming newspapers for failing to engage readership in the digital age (see bellow), many scholars proposed to the US Government to take a more active role by giving media organisations direct subsidies or tax credits/exemptions. Robert McChesney proposed a 'citizen news voucher' system which will give financial support to local and non-profit news organisations while avoiding government intervention or influence. Under the proposed scheme, every US citizen will be given $200 worth voucher to donate to any non-profit news medium.
http://www.ftc.gov/opp/workshops/news/index.shtml
- Google Wants Newspapers to Engage Readers
Often accused of exploiting the media content, Google told newspapers to engage readers in order to survive and to present their news differently. According to Google, 'The average amount of time (of reader) spent looking at online news is about 70 seconds a day, while the average amount of time (of reader) spent reading the print newspaper is about 25 minutes a day.' Google stressed that they are keen on working with newspapers but denied any responsibility for the problems facing newspapers and journalists if Google News offers free access to articles.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2010/mar/10/digital-media-google
9 March
UK: - ASA to Regulate Twitter and Facebook Ads
The Advertising Standard Agency (ASA) is to regulate digital advertising practices on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. The Advertising Association, representing the UK advertising and media industry, agreed a proposal to put digital advertising on Facebook and Twitter under the regulation of the ASA in the same way as TV, press, poster and radio ads to protect editorial content. It is expected that the new regime will come into force in autumn this year if the proposal goes through the Committee for Advertising Practice.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/mar/08/ad-rules-twitter-facebook
- Northcliffe
to Axe 31 Editorial Jobs for Creation of 'centralised' Newsroom
Around 31 editorial jobs will go at Northcliffe's West Country titles as the
company is merging its subbing operations in Plymouth
and Bristol to
create a centralised hub. The restructuring plan is a result of the continuous
decline of its papers' circulation since 2009. It is reported that the
circulation of the Plymouth-based Western Morning News and Bristol-based
Western Daily Press have dropped 6.5% and 10.7% respectively in the past six
months in 2009.
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=45152&c=1
5 March
Spain: El Mundo to Charge for Premium Content
AFP reports that 'the most visited Spanish-language news site’, El Mundo will launch a paid service for its online content. Internet and smartphone users can have access to its premium online content (including archives, video content, commentary, etc.) at a price of €14.99 per month or 60cents per day. However, the standard online version will still remain free to the public.
http://www.editorsweblog.org/multimedia/2010/03/el_mundo_is_to_launch.php
US: Publishers Join Web Portal in Crackdown on Copyright Infringement
Following some news agencies (AP) and publishers (Hachette), a broad "coalition of publishers" is to join the 'Attributor' web service to crackdown on copyright infringement over the internet. Attributor helps identifying copyright violators by searching the web to find copyrighted content on unauthorised sites. Once the unauthorised content is found, the web portal will ask hosting services to take down the content. Failure to do so and the major search engines will be approached to remove the relevant pages from their search results. According to the management, several major book publishers have used their services and recorded a 99% success rate in getting unlicensed eBooks off unauthorised sites.
http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2010/03/first-web-copyright-crackdown-coming.html
4 March
Haiti , Chile & Italy: Breaking News and Press Freedom Campaigns Through Social Networks
Since the tragical
earthquake happened in Haiti
in January, the world has seen how social networks like Twitters, Facebook and
blogs have affected the flow of information. Soon after the earthquake struck
in Chile,
information regarding the disaster (including geo-mapping on affected
areas, death tolls, pictures, etc.) blasted out on the internet ,
sometimes also spreading rumours. Social Networking sites have
mobilised people to contribute to an internet portal 'Person Finder' (created
by Google) to collect information on people who are affected by the earthquake.
Several Chilean journalists also created a web site uploading latest earthquake
news.
Recently, a group called 'the dignity of journalists and the
respect of citizens' was created on Facebook to defend journalism in Italy .
The Group, supported also by the journalists’ union (Federazione Nazionale
della Stampa Italiana) has attracted over 140,000 members
protesting against political interference in the running of
public television RAI and for the defence of independent journalism in Italy.
http://knightcenter.utexas.edu/blog/?q=en/node/6572
http://www.fnsi.it/Esterne/Pag_vedinews.asp?AKey=11109
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=info&ref=nf&gid=380461210040
UK : New Media Are Reinforcing Old Habits, Says BBC Political Editor
When most people are celebrating and embracing "new" media, Nick Robinson, the BBC political editor believes that new forms of media are 'reinforcing the old habits' when it comes to political coverage. Robinson said that new media can be 'self-important, narcissistic tosh' as it did not help the public widen the political debate but reinforce their existing political opinions. Robinson warned that people should check the information on social media rigorously as it can sometimes be misleading.
http://www.journalism.co.uk/2/articles/537759.php
2 March
US: 'Magazines are allowing their Web sites to erode journalistic standards', Says CJR Report
· Speed over Journalistic Standards
A report conducted by the Columbia Journalism Review shows that US magazine web sites have much lower journalistic standards than print magazines. A majority (59%) of the surveyed magazines and their web sites have less copy-editing and fact-checking. When errors were pointed out on the web sites, 54% said that errors were corrected without notifying readers of such mistakes being made in the first place. This, as suggested in the report, is the consequence of speed over standards in online magazines as the pressure to be the first to break the news is much higher than in print press.
· Cultural 'Chasm'
The report also reflects the cultural 'chasm' in online magazines as some respondents said that online magazine tends to offer what the audience asks for rather than offering what is of public interest.
· Print Magazines as Supplements
Instead of developing stories for print and then republishing them online, the report shows that an overwhelming majority (96%) of print magazines use content from the magazine online. Print magazines, as suggested in the report, become the supplements to online content. Online magazines are no longer considered as competitors to print magazines but as an 'inferior product' compared to what is run in the print magazines.
· Integration of Social Networking Sites
A majority (64%) of the online magazines feature social media such as Facebook, Twitters and blogs and 60% of them found Facebook and Twitter as 'effective' or 'very effective' for driving traffic on the sites.
· Mixed Business Models
Online magazines adopt various business models: 52% of print magazines provide all of their print content free online; 31% provide some print-edition content online; and the rest adopted both free and paid-content models
· Web Editors over Print Editors
The use of 'web editors' and 'content-strategy consultants' is also increasingly prominent among online magazines. The report suggests that an online magazines would be more profitable if a web editors/content-strategy consultant is in charge of the content instead of the print editor.
Full report: http://cjrarchive.org/img/posts/CJR_Mag_Web_Report.pdf
1st March 2010
US:
- Internet and Smartphones Change News Consumption, Research Says
A recent survey conducted in the US with over 2200 people shows that news consumption on the Internet has overtaken over print media. Although national and local TV stations remain the most popular sources for news, the Internet has now become the third most popular source for news consumption, ahead of national newspapers and radio in the US. The survey also found that an overwhelming majority of Americans (92%) use multiple platforms to get news and that 69% of people consider it a social or civic obligation to follow news. However, when was asked about the quality of news, only two-thirds (63%) of respondents think that news organisations have been doing a good job covering subjects that matter, and 72% of them believe that most news sources today are biased in their coverage.
Access to the report: http://www.journalism.org/analysis_report/understanding_participatory_news_consumer
- Media Awards for the Year's Best " Journalist " on Twitter
eMediaWorld, a US-based new wire agency is to name the year's best journalist on Twitter with the launch of the second Annual Shorty Awards. According to eMediaWorld, “The definition of journalism and the reporting function are changing every day. Compelling stories can be told on Twitter in 140 characters at a time”. There are 26 categories awarding people (including both professional journalists and organisations) twitting topics ranging from "weird" things to politics and local governance.
http://www.emediaworld.com/press_release/release_detail.php?id=860671
AP to Launch 'Gateway' Offering News Services for
Multimedia Platforms
The Associated Press (AP) announces the launch of a new 'strategic
business unit' called AP Gateway to develop news services
for multimedia platforms such as smartphones, e-readers, tablet
computers (i.e. iPad). According to AP management, Gateway will serve as 'the
launching pad for new products and services from AP and other interested news
publishers', and will allow the news industry to deliver the news directly to
the consumer 'in a variety of exciting new ways'. The management also said
that the AP Gateway will develop news content to be delivered through the newly
launched tablet computer iPad.
http://www.ap.org/pages/about/pressreleases/pr_022610a.html