Monitoring Change in Journalism - July 2010 Archive

[Summer Break]

14 July


Australia: Online Marketplace Launched for Freelancers Creates Loopholes for Authors' Rights
Freelance journalists, photographers and cartoonists can now trade their content online in a new online market place founded  in Australia . Freelancers can upload their work to Globizzle.com free of charge and sell the content at a price they set. The site will take a 10% of the sale proceeds. Authors can also set the terms and conditions, including the option for an exclusive licence, for the use of their work. However, purchasers are not obliged to credit authors for their work : they can alter the content under the terms and conditions of the website, and the "non-exclusive licence" can allow purchasers to legally alter 20% of the content.
http://www.journalism.co.uk/2/articles/539602.php
http://www.globizzle.com/index.php


13 July

Contradictory Studies on Citizen and Social Media:

UK: Online and Social Media Enhanced Networked Journalism 
A study of the UK 2010 general election and the roles of traditional and new media shows that online and social media enhanced the development of "networked journalism" by complementing and enriching mainstream election coverage. The study looked at how social and digital media affected the business of politics and journalism and shows during the 2010 election period in the UK. According to the study, "facebook generation" (young people aged 18 to 24) became more engaged during the election because of social media. Online news sites became the most important source of election news for the "facebook generation", ahead of television and printed newspapers.
To obtain a copy of the study, please visit:
http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/fileadmin/user_upload/filelist/Publications/Working_Papers/Social_Media_and_the_Election.pdf

US: Citizen Journalists Aren't Filling News Gap
A study conducted by the University of Missouri School of Journalism shows that citizen journalists are not filling the news gap caused by cutbacks in the newsrooms of traditional news organisations. The study looked at the top 60 citizen journalism websites and showed that many citizen journalism sites are "not even close to providing the level of coverage" that financially stressed news orgainisations offer.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/study-citizen-journalism-isn%E2%80%99t-filling-news-gap-left-by-shrunken-newsrooms-61946-.aspx

9 July

UK: Mirror to Replace Casual Staff with Part-timers Working from Home
It is reported that one of the biggest news groups, Mirror Group Newspapers, is planning to cut its currently employed sports sub-editors and replace them with a team of part-timers who will work from home. Some full-time news sub-editors are also expected to be made redundant as the Mirror is considering outsourcing most of its news production.
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=45682&c=1


8 July


Europe
 New Survey Suggests that Journalists   are Adopting   Social Media
A recent digital journalism study on the changing nature of news-gathering shows that European journalists   have adopted social media and see it as an important tool for their work. The study, covering 750 journalists in 15 countries, shows that nearly half of journalists said social media has improved their work, but almost half respondents declared that they are expected to produce more content than ever before. Another study on social media shows that around 75% of Spain's online media sites have an official account on Facebook and Twitter.
http://www.journalism.co.uk/2/articles/539509.php

http://www.sfnblog.com/circulation_and_readership/2010/07/75_percent_of_spanish_media_uses_faceboo.php

To obtain a copy of the study, please visit:
http://www.orielladigitaljournalism.com/download-report.php

7 July


US: 
 Is Yahoo! Right to "Give Readers What they Want"? 
Yahoo! introduced its "search-generated news" blog called "Upshot" claiming that it will democratise the news agenda from the bottom to the top by giving readers what they want to read. Two editors and six bloggers are being employed to update daily news on the blog. They will report and write news that is frequently searched   for by internet users on its search engine.  According to Yahoo!, this model will attract more advertisers by targeting specific audiences and advertisers, but it also raises concerns about the journalistic value of such an approach. 
http://news.yahoo.com/upshot


6 July

US: The Future of Newspapers May Lie in Community Crowdsourcing and Free Online Publishing
A group of 18 daily newspapers have joined together to utilise community crowdsourcing and free online publishing tools to sustain their business. The group has been using free social media and publishing tools to crowdsource stories since last April. The group recently started publishing   their print dailies and website content using only free web-based softwares proving that their "new business model" can be sustainable outside the traditional   publishing systems.
Survey results: http://www.sfnblog.com/industry_trends/2010/07/sfn_report_more_than_166_us_newspapers_h.php
http://www.sfnblog.com/printing_and_production/2010/07/journal_register_company_publishes_18_ne.php

5 July

UK: BBC Trust Approves 25% Budget Cut in Online Services 
A proposed 25% cut in the BBC's online service was approved today by the BBC Trust after a report showed that the international website of the BBC made a loss of £1m year on year.  The Trust concluded that the corporation's online service needs "more active" editorial, strategic and financial management.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/our_work/strategy_review/index.shtml

http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=45663&c=1

2 July


Brazil
: Reference Newspaper may Abandon Print Version
The newspaper Jornal do Brasil published for 119 years in Rio de Janeiro, is consulting its readers over proposals to stop the printed version and concentrate all resources on the online edition only. On June 30, the newspaper published an announcementr inviting its readers to comment on the proposal. If the public agrees, the Jornal do Brasil will be the first major Brazilian daily to be available onlineonly. 
http://knightcenter.utexas.edu/blog/?q=en/node/7704

UK
: Readers Prefer to Buy Newspapers Rather Than Pay for Online News
"UK readers prefer to buy newspapers rather than pay for online news," concluded the YouGov SixthSense report which surveyed 2,160 UK adults. 60% of respondents said they are willing to pay for "quality" newspapers whilst 83% of them refuse to pay for online news. Only 4% said they would pay for news and content online if the material was not available anywhere else. Around 44% of respondents said that they are willing to pay for a newspaper rather than read freesheets which have "not much real content". However, a considerable number (38%) of UK readers believe that the current price of newspapers is too high.
http://www.journalism.co.uk/2/articles/539408.php
 
http://www.sfnblog.com/circulation_and_readership/2010/07/britons_prefer_to_buy_newspapers_rather.php

The Netherlands: Three Dutch Public Broadcasters to Merge into One
Three Dutch public broadcasters, NPS, RVU and Teleac, announced plans to merge into a single organisation, NTR, which will be officially launched on 1 September this year. The new broadcaster will employ around 300 people working on existing programmes on information, education and culture. However, it is not known if there will be any redundancies taking place among the three public broadcasters.

 http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/three-dutch-public-broadcasters-announce-merger
http://nos.nl/artikel/168867-nps-teleac-en-rvu-verder-als-ntr.html


1st July

Google Introduces "News for You" Service
Google introduced its personalised news service called "News for You" on Google News website at the end of June. The new service will deliver "a stream of headlines automatically tailored" to readers' interests. Readers can customise the type and source of news they want to read and get it delivered to their Google homepage everyday. Readers can also share their favourite stories with friends on social networking websites.
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/extra-extra-google-news-redesigned-to.html


China
: State-owned Broadcaster Launches 24-hour English News to Reach Global Audience
The state-owned broadcaster, China Xinhua News Network Corporation, (CNC) launched its 24-hour English news network "CNC World" to expand its reach to the global audience. International audiences will be able to watch CNC World through satellite and cable TVs, smartphones and the Internet from 1 October this year. Last year, the state broadcaster CCTV began a 24-hour channel airing in 22 Arabic-speaking countries, reaching a total population of nearly 300 million people.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iAIlpuQm8TLEyn-6OC1QBcMAiDoQD9GM4AMG3