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A conference called "Will newspapers survive?" was held last week in Chicago, featuring prominent journalists who brought to surface the arguable future of the newspaper industry, the Chicago Reader's Michael Miner reported.

Monroe Anderson from EbonyJet discussed the newspaper industry as it was around three decades ago, saying that with time it became "very corporate, very structured' and "they're looking to the bottom line."

Anderson reminisced about a Tribune editor with an eight-grade education, something that today seems "unthinkable", Miner reports. This was "before the suits took over", Anderson said.

The Tribune's Bill Adee mentioned that the "business model is broken" and the Herald's Eileen Brown said that she has to convince "the business side" to look for new things so as to save the print newsroom.

The Hindalaen is a weekly hyperlocal paper from Illinois and its publisher, Jim Slonoff, said that "the old way still does work."

Miner pointed out that Brown thinks one of the problems of newspapers today is the "middle ground," those stories about national and international topics that can be read online for free.

Miner mentioned the Tribune and how "just that morning almost every story" he read there was valuable because he said he would never think of looking for it online and because it would never had been written had it not been for the paper's commission.

Brown said that print journalism continues to offer more revenue than online journalism. Advertisers are not comfortable selling ads online and "are in the ice age", according to Brown.

"So it's this weird transitional phase where you'd love to say 'OK we'll move everybody over here,' but you can't because you still have to feed the mother ship," she said.

Adee mentioned online success such as sites like YouTube, who are user-generated, and the Tribune will not get "anywhere close" to that, Miner reports, because its aim is to provide professional "house-generated" journalism.

RedEye is the "fastest growing paper in the country", according to Adee, since it provides the news to an audience that does not think about paying for them.

"People want what journalists do more than ever. They want it in different forms. They can accept it in amateur form, semipro form, or professional journalism," Adee said.

Soource: ChicagoReader.com

Video:

YouTube (part 1)
YouTube (part 2)

Gannett Co. and New York Times (NYT) Co. both announced this week that their total revenues have dropped in May 2007, by about 10 percent and 6.6 percent respectively. Yahoo reports that ad revenues decreased in both cases and could not be compensated.

Gannett, operating some 85 US newspapers and 23 TV stations, said its advertising revenues fell by 14 percent from $404.9 million to $347.1 million since last year. Classified ad revenue dropped by 10 percent, retail ad revenue by 19 percent and real estate ad revenue by 31 percent.

Over the same period, the same trend occurs with the NYT and ad revenues cannot be counteracted by an increase in circulation revenue. Meanwhile, Internet revenue grew by 9 percent and Internet ad revenue augmented by 14 percent.

While Internet may be providing a new portal for ad revenues for newspaper and media, a PricewaterhouseCoopers report said that the "oft-reported death of traditional media remains greatly exaggerated."

Source: Yahoo

Figures released on April 28 by the Audit Bureau of Circulations show a 3.6% drop in U.S. newspaper circulation over a six-month period from October 2007 to March 2008, reports Reuters.

Reflecting the readers' move to online news, most of the top 25 American papers experienced circulation reduction, although Gannett Co. and the Wall Street Journal reported gains of less than one percent. 

According to blogger Alan Mutter, the figure represents sales of around 50 million, the lowest level since 1949 when newspapers moved 50.9 million copies. The latest report also shows that Sunday papers, which have thus far been fairly resistant to circulation drops, were more affected than weekday papers, experiencing a decline of 4.5%. 

Why the circulation fall? In addition to online migration, the lower figure is also partially the fault of newspapers, who have tried to cut costs by no longer shipping to far away locations.

Mutter also brings up PR-related issue: "Will the tailspin in circulation and ad sales be accelerated by the growing accumulation of bad press about the press?" It is a legitimate concern given the publication of doom and gloom stories like Advertising Age's latest cover story, "The Newspaper Death Watch."

Sources: Reuters, Reflections of a Newsosaur

Marcus Brauchli, top editor of the Wall Street Journal is stepping down after less than five months since Rupert Murdoch took control of the paper.

Brauchli had been in the job for a year, Last month, he said in an interview that Murdoch was "very engaged" but "set broad objectives" to maintain the paper's independence.

Part of the agreement that allowed Murdoch to buy the WSJ stated that Murdoch could not remove three top-ranking editors, including Brauchli. With Brauchli's resignation, Murdoch can now choose a successor, but a special committee must approve of that person first, according to the agreement.

Some Journal staffers say that "Brauchli felt overshadowed by the paper's new publisher, Robert Thomson, a former editor of another Murdoch property, the Times of London."

Thomson said Murdoch is "clearly interested in challenging the journalistic establishment" by broadening the Journal's coverage. Washingtonpost.com's Howard Kurtz wonders if "the sense of anxiety [of Murdoch's political interference] could return if Murdoch names an editor, whether Thomson or someone else, from outside the Journal culture."

Source: WashingtonPost.com

UPDATE:
Brauchli wrote a memo to his staff that stated his reason as "now that the ownership transition has taken place, I have come to believe the new owners should have a managing editor of their choosing."

He acknowledges that "change was necessary" in the newspaper industry, but also when News Corp. bought Dow Jones, an editorial agreement was made to "block commercial or political interference in our journalism," read the memo.

Though Brauchli concedes that the new management has adhered to the agreement and that the "journalistic integrity remains intact," WSJ.com reports that Brauchli had difficulties being a mediator between the paper's traditions and News Corp's new vision. He had complained that "he wasn't always in the loop about new ideas" in the past few weeks, according to WSJ.com.

Reuters reports that the resignation could "reignite worries about editorial independence that were voiced during Murdoch's takeover bid when some staffers feared the Journal's reputation as the top U.S. business newspaper would be threatened if Murdoch became proprietor."

With Brauchli's resignation, current WSJ publisher Robert Thomson may take on a more active role in the newsroom, but isn't expected to be the interim managing editor, according to WSJ.com. There already is a search for the next managing editor. Brauchli, however, is likely to stay in the company, possibly as a consultant, says WSJ.com, guiding senior management, including "whether News Corp.'s Star-TV service in Asia should launch a business-news channel."

Murdoch said he believed Brauchli's experience "will be a great asset, especially in Asia -- a region where we see significant growth potential and where he has particular expertise."

Dean Starkman of CJR writes that "with Brauchli gone, the Journal newsroom loses not just a topflight editor and bureau chief, a great Asia hand, and someone who was a real, live reporter, [but also] loses a surprisingly savvy internal diplomat who, I thought, might just have been adroit enough to manage the inevitable tensions that would arise from the takeover, at least enough to preserve some of the Journal's great journalistic heritage."

Sources: Poynter Online, Wall Street Journal, Columbia Journalism Review, Reuters
through Poynter Romenesko

In the past, reporters used to follow US presidential candidates by car or bus, but today with candidates flying from city to city, coverage of the presidential election becoming too expensive for newspapers, with fares up to $2,000 a trip or $30,000 per person a month.

Papers such as USA Today and the Boston Globe used to cover candidates on a day to day basis, but with newspapers already in financial troubles, they are covering the campaign from television or using wire service reports from AP or Reuters.

"We'd all like to be able to be out there, but given the reality of the costs and other priorities, it just isn't realistic," said Senior Political Editor of USA Today Lee Horwich.

This year the only papers that have full-time correspondents following the candidates are The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, and the NY Times. Newsweek is the only publication with a full-time reporter on both Clinton's and Obama's trails.

Traveling campaign reporters say that anyone can watch speeches on YouTube, so instead of repeating raw information, reporters try to track the evolution and growth of candidates by identifying inconsistencies or dishonesty. Bloggers are also taking the reins by posting their thoughts on candidates' speeches and adding information from conference calls with the candidates' press aides.

Los Angeles Times's Mark Z. Barabak, who has been riding political buses since 1984 observed, "What you have lost is the benefit of getting 6, 12, 15 different perspectives. Now you may get three or four. They may be very good."

On one hand, US newspapers are diminishing election coverage. On the other, AP has recently hired 21 additional staff to bolster entertainment news. They say that they will provide what sells and as of now, celebrities are what the people want.
 
US consumer magazines increased ad revenues by 7% last year with those focusing on entertainment and sports personalities did particularly well.

Philip Stone from Follow the Media wrote, "People Magazine and OK! publish first pictures of Jennifer Lopez and twins and pay millions for the privilege while most US newspapers while most US newspapers cannot afford the $1,000 - $2,000 a day to send a reporter on presidential candidate planes."  

Richard Desmond who publishes both OK! and the Daily Express newspaper, noted that advertisers are already "vying for space" in OK!'s special issue on England footballer Wayne Rooney's wedding, which they paid a record $6.4 million for the rights.

Daniel Becker, newly appointed director of Entertainment Content, wrote a memo declaring that AP photographers will not become paparazzi, but instead use their "journalistic talent and unmatched network of  resources to produce high quality, multimedia coverage in an area of growing interest," thus becoming the "trusted authoritative voice on entertainment."

Is the future of quality journalism celebrity gossip?

Sources: The New York Times, Press Gazette, Follow the Media (picture)
 

New media proponent Jeff Jarvis claims that camera phones are not only a useful device for papers to get user-generated photos, but are in fact “the new tool of the journalist’s trade.”

Among the traditional media organizations to use camera phones, Reuters’ mobile journalist project is to equip reporters with Nokia N82 phones.

The devices are kitted with a wireless keyboard, a miniature tripod, a solar battery and a small microphone – along with all the relevant software to edit and publish multimedia content.

The portability and discreet look of all-in-one devices, apart from their practicality, also change the relationship between journalists and interviewees:

“And there is the first fundamental change brought on by the mojo phone: It's small, unobtrusive, unthreatening. You don't feel as if you're talking to a camera and, in turn, to thousands or millions online,” wrote Jarvis.

Secondly, these new generation mobile devices change the entire approach to a journalistic story: many formerly written articles and bits of information can now be uploaded as video clips in a few clicks, whether to complement a story or stand-alone.

“The other significant effect the mojo camera has had on journalism is a difference in how video is used in telling stories. I felt no need to produce a piece or write a story to surround the Davos clips. The snippet was sufficient. I can also see using such video clips as part of larger stories.”

For newspapers with limited budgets, Jarvis recommends the $110 Flip Video, which can records 30min of video and upload it straight to YouTube via a PC.

Source: Guardian

The Guardian boasts UK’s most popular newspaper site, yet its newsroom has been traditionally non-integrated – till the paper moves to its new premises next fall. In Part 2, several Guardian editors described the paper’s somewhat atypical approach toward its online redesign, video, blogs and user interaction.

Reuters' reporters have been experimenting for a few months now with mobile journalism toolkit, using a Nokia N95. They have mostly used it for TV reporters to shoot video for the Web, but now a text reporter will use a handset and a Bluetooth keyboard to file to the wire from L.A. and Las Vegas.

Leading news agencies have come together to announce that they suspended coverage of the rugby World Cup, which is to start tomorrow in France. Faced with pressure from sponsors, it’s hard to imagine the International Rugby Board (IRB) will let this happen.

Africans need to help themselves to achieve transparent, comprehensive reporting, was the conclusion of “Reporting Africa for Africans and the world”, a debate at the 14th World Editors Forum today.

Canadian business-to-business information company Thomson and financial information and news agency Reuters have agreed on a deal after about two weeks of negotiations, creating the world's largest financial information company with 34% of the market, beating out Bloomberg's 33%. Rupert Murdoch, however, continues to struggle to persuade the Bancroft family to sell him Dow Jones, including the coveted Wall Street Journal.

After receiving a takeover bid last week, Reuters confirmed yesterday that it was to merge with one of the world's largest information company, Canada's Thomson Corporation. Present Reuters CEO, Tom Glocer, will reportedly hold the reins of the enlarged group which will be known as Thomson-Reuters.

In this section, John Zogby, CEO of Zogby International, and Jeff Jarvis, new media proponent and founder of Buzzmachine, comment on the results of the Newsroom Barometer. Both found that editors’ optimism and open-mindedness to new media was a clear indication that newspapers were embracing the digital revolution, yet Jarvis fears that may not be enough…

Challenges for old media in the digital age – what Reuters has to say.

Ever wanted to fly? Dance like a pro? Be teleported to your next destination? Simple. Sign up for the virtual world of Second Life, a growing phenomenon that has birthed a dynamic online economy. International news agency Reuters decided to embed its own reporter to follow its developments.