August 2004 Archives

From Publicitas: "Effective January 8, 2005, Basler Zeitung, Berner Zeitung and Solothurner Tagblatt will include Das Magazin in their subscription copies on Saturdays. As a result, the print circulation of the supplement, which is aimed at urban readers and which has accompanied the Tages-Anzeiger for years, will increase from about 280,000 to more than 530,000 copies... In view of its broader geographic distribution, «Das Magazin» will have a national orientation under the leadership of Res Strehle, Editor-in-Chief.

Source: Publicitas

"Meximerica Media, a U.S.-based publishing company, announced that Rumbo de Houston, its second Spanish-language daily newspaper, has started publication on August 30. After the successful launch of Rumbo de San Antonio, Meximerica Media continues its efforts towards establishing a new chain of Spanish-language dailies in Texas with the launch of Rumbo de Houston, to be followed by subsequent launches in the Lower Rio Grande Valley and Austin in September and October. Rumbo (pronounced room-bo), comes from the Spanish word often associated with the Latin American phrase meaning "heading north" and, by implication, heading to move up in life. Rumbo de Houston is a complete full-color, tabloid-size, Spanish-language newspaper, primarily aimed at Hispanic men and women between the ages of 21 and 54.

I just like this information: "BIGresearch conducted the largest online Presidential poll this month as a part of the Consumer Intentions and Actions Study. The report finds that a higher percentage Bush loyalists (23,5%) and Undecided voters shop at WalMart than those supporting Kerry (16%)."

Source: Center for Media Research / Mediapost

Sometimes, we can regret not to have a Prime Minister like Abdullah Badawi (I joke). According to The Straits Times, "the Malaysian Prime Minister is sad that competition has prompted the local media to sensationalise some sex or crime stories. He said that this could raise false public alarm and give other countries a wrong and distorted impression of Malaysia. Commercial considerations must not kill the noble values media practitioners must practise, he told his audience at the launching of KOSMO!, a tabloid published by the Utusan Group... The Malaysian PM stressed that if independence of the media was used irresponsibly, this would lead to destruction of society and eventually the nation."

Source: The Straits Times

Day One at the Republican National Convention and first funny story related by the Washington Post: "Michael Moore -- filmmaker, rabble-rouser, citizen -- wandered into a dangerous neighborhood on Monday. As a guest columnist for USA Today at the Republican National Convention (today and the three next days), he only wanted to take some notes, he said, to observe. But from the moment he entered Madison Square Garden, Moore was the one being observed... For more than two hours, he created a comet's tail of commotion. Holding a rolling news conference as he dragged a clot of some 70 reporters past a growing wave of security officials and hostile conventioneers, Moore came close to disrupting the entire convention.

Source: Washington Post and the Michael Moore's column in USA Today

It's a press release, but it can be useful for some editors: SageMetrics, a leading provider of web analytics and behavioral targeting solutions, today announced that Legacy.com, the nation’s leading provider of online obituary solutions for the newspaper industry, has chosen SageAnalyst for reporting on its entire network of affiliates, consisting of 170 newspapers nationwide. Legacy.com will use SageAnalyst to monitor all aspects of site traffic and activity on hosted obituary pages for each of its individual newspaper affiliates, which in total, equates to almost 50 million page views and 2.5 million unique visitors per month. Legacy.com replaced its existing solution with SageAnalyst because its multi-dimensional reporting capabilities allowed more sophisticated reporting and easier dissemination of data to the individual newspaper affiliates."

Source: Scotsman.com

It happens near "Big Apple" between the New York state and Pennsylvania: "This morning history is being made in the Valley. Since 1891, readers have been stopping by their newsstand or heading to their paper box in the afternoon to pick up a copy of their local newspaper -- The Evening Times. Today, the name The Evening Times becomes a mere historical reference. Today, a new name emerges as the leader in Valley and Twin Tiers news. That name is Morning Times." The newspaper's Web address has also changed to www.morning-times.com.

Source: Morning Times

It happens near "Big Apple" between the New York state and Pennsylvania: "This morning history is being made in the Valley. Since 1891, readers have been stopping by their newsstand or heading to their paper box in the afternoon to pick up a copy of their local newspaper -- The Evening Times. Today, the name The Evening Times becomes a mere historical reference. Today, a new name emerges as the leader in Valley and Twin Tiers news. That name is Morning Times." The newspaper's Web address has also changed to www.morning-times.com.

Source: Morning Times

From Poynteronline: "Readers equipped with picture phones can turn into reporters instantly, anywhere and anytime. Yet another example came from the Danish regional newspaper Aarhus Stiftstidende, which recently published a picture of two bank robbers waiting for a bank to open. The picture was taken by a witness who passed the bank minutes before the robbery. In this case, the picture probably won't help solve the crime, but it certainly makes the story come alive both on paper and on the Web. Getting such scoops doesn't come without hard work. Editors who constantly "train" readers to interact will no doubt get more tips, scoops, and good leads from readers, as readers learn there is a demand for their ability to turn into reporters on the spot."

Source: Poynteronline / E-media tidbits

From a Reuters correspondent: "Amsterdam's Web surfers could soon be liberated from their home computers and Internet cafes, with plans by a start-up firm to make their city the first European capital where laptops can hook up anywhere to the Web. HotSpot Amsterdam launched a wireless computer network on Monday with a supercharged version of the WiFi technology that is used to turn homes, airports, hotels and cafes into Web-connected "hot spots"... If everyone can walk with his laptop and access any website in any city in the future, that's good for the online and the mobile industries but I'm not sure it will be excellent for the guy who sells newspapers in a booth...

From a Reuters correspondent: "Amsterdam's Web surfers could soon be liberated from their home computers and Internet cafes, with plans by a start-up firm to make their city the first European capital where laptops can hook up anywhere to the Web. HotSpot Amsterdam launched a wireless computer network on Monday with a supercharged version of the WiFi technology that is used to turn homes, airports, hotels and cafes into Web-connected "hot spots"... If everyone can walk with his laptop and access any website in any city in the future, that's good for the online and the mobile industries but I'm not sure it will be excellent for the guy who sells newspapers in a booth...

The New York Times announced that it has launched a weekly Times supplement with Taiwan's United Daily News. The supplement, which will be published each Monday, joins a list of leading newspapers around the world that offer their readers The Times supplement. The New York Times International Weekly supplement retains the layout and typography of The New York Times. It includes news coverage, commentary, color photos and graphics about the United States, world affairs, business, culture and social trends. The supplement is prepared in New York by a team of editors and designers from The New York Times News Service in consultation with editors from the partner newspapers... United Daily News was founded in 1951 and is now led by Duncan Wang, its president. The newspaper is the flagship of the United Daily News Group, which publishes four other local newspapers (Economic Daily News, Min Sheng Daily, United Evening News and The Star) in Taiwan and four overseas newspapers, namely World Journal in the United States, Europe Journal in France and Universal Daily News in Thailand and Indonesia.

Source: New York Times through Business Wire

I missed that during my trip in Switzerland: "Steve Coll, the managing editor of The Washington Post for the last six years and the apparent front-runner to succeed the newspaper's top editor, announced abruptly yesterday that he would step down at the end of the year to divide his time between writing books and writing articles for The Post. While Mr. Coll, 45, had informed the executive editor, Leonard Downie Jr., of his intentions over lunch on June 16, his decision was announced to the newsroom in an e-mail message that caught many off guard... Mr. Downie, who is 62 and has been executive editor since 1991, said he faced no mandatory retirement age and had no plans to retire. He said that the choice of Mr. Coll's successor would be his alone, but that he would consult with Donald E. Graham, the chairman and chief executive at the Washington Post Company, and with Boisfeuillet Jones Jr., the paper's publisher and chief executive, among others." Morale of this story: when your boss is 62 and you are only 45, sometimes you don't want to wait too long! it is also true that the Wapo is loosing readers - a drop of around 3% in one year -, more than its main competitor, the New York Times.

Source: New York Times

From Mediapost: "As if the US newspaper industry weren't experiencing enough troubles these days trying to regain advertiser confidence following a series of circulation audit scandals, on Thursday a top Wall Street securities firm downgraded its outlook for newspapers for 2004. Merrill Lynch has expressed concern over the recent slow growth in the newspaper business, calling it "unsatisfying," in the company's annual "Newspaper Primer" report."

Source: Mediapost

According to Publicitas, The South African "Competitions Commission" approved the agreement for Johnnic Communications (Johncom) (Sunday Times,  Business Day,  Financial Mail...)   to acquire a controlling 90,5% stake in New Africa Publications, the owner of the Sowetan Newspaper and 50% of its sister publication, Sunday World, on Friday 02 July 2004. Johncom already owns the remaining 50% of Sunday World... Mike Robertson, CEO of the Johncom Media Division, becomes in addition Managing Director of New Africa Publications. The new editor-in-chief of both the Sowetan and Sunday World has been appointed with immediate effect. He is Thabo Leshilo, former editor of the Pretoria News, from where he moved to edit the Sunday World.

Source: Publicitas