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Several paper manufacturers have reported to Media Bistro that they will not be raising their rates in 2009, giving the financially strapped industry a break in costs.

The high rates of newsprint have contributed to "a wave of downsizing in the beleaguered newspaper industry." 

LinkedIn, a business networking website, launched editions in 41 languages due to user demand.  The move is designed to offer more support to the 40% of its audience based outside of English-speaking countries.

According to Kevin Eyres, LinkedIn European managing director, there are 31 million members and one new member joins every second, thus it is critical to provide the service in other languages as the site continues to grow.

Eyres also noted that they have "completely re-architected the site and have many more new features coming out that will make the site more responsive from a user standpoint."

Source: The Guardian

Following on from yesterday's article about newspaper integration and aggregation, the Editors Weblog continues its interview with Ian Fernandes, head of the Digital Division at Nation Media Group (NMG). Today, we look at its new social media platform, mobile classifieds and cross-promotion.

Social media and the Daily Nation - Who wants to be famous?

The NMG has been looking at how to get their readers more involved with the company's activities. Fernandes says, "We are taking a lot of knowledge from what we see happening abroad and from being in the entertainment industry with radio and television. From this, we are noticing that the younger generation are spending more time on Facebook or MySpace than watching television. So we are starting our own social website which will be launched before the end of the year." The name of the site has been under wraps, but Fernandes exclusively revealed to the Editors Weblog that it will be called Zuqka, and the style of the site will be a mixture of Facebook and citizen journalism.

NMG receive pictures, video clips, and songs from readers, listeners and viewers from across its various platforms and it is unable to use it all as there is only so much content they can carry. Users of this new site will be able to share this content with other subscribers and who will then be able to vote on how good or bad it is. The best of this content will be used on NMG's mainstream media platforms. Fernandes says, "We are killing two birds with one stone. Firstly, we are using content that we couldn't use before and, secondly, we are giving people the chance to be famous. A lot of Kenyans want to be famous but there is no chance to be. For example, you can send in a song and if the site users vote for it and it gets in the Top Ten of songs on the site, it will then be played on NMG's Easy FM radio station. In the same way, the top ten blogs on the site will be put in the Saturday newspaper. Whatever topics are being discussed on the blogs and pictures being sent in and so forth, will be shown on a TV magazine programme."

NMG are also going to introduce a platform called Events whereby you can see what is happening in terms of concerts and so forth in Kenya. Through this portal your network of friends on the site can see what you are attending and you can send details of the, for example, concert, to your circle of friends and invite them to come along.

NMG are in the final stages of putting the site together, with the design template scheduled to be completed by the end of this month. Once Broadband is introduced to Kenya (scheduled for next year, please see yesterday's article) sites such as this will have a real opportunity to take off. Fernandes reports, "We want to inform people that there is a lot more you can do with the Internet."  The site is set to be launched at the end of November, and a newspaper pullout also will be unveiled at the same time under the same Zuqka brand name. This pullout will be driven by content from the site.

Fernandes say, "We are at an advantage in terms of tapping into social media as we have all the other platforms within the NMG to drive it. Just telling a user that they can send a video or audio and share it with their friends is not good enough. With the NMG site, the user could get in the newspaper or on TV, this will be the selling factor."

Fernandes goes on to say, "Media has changed. The editor used to select what we saw and so forth whereas today it is the subscriber who chooses. By allowing subscribers to contribute to your product you can also test to see what is the big story... Getting your readership involved by sending in content to you is so important."

Mobile news ahead of online site

With Internet connectivity being so slow, mobile usage in Kenya is significantly higher than internet usae, with four out of every five Kenyans having a mobile phone. To explot this usage, the Daily Nation website also has a Wapsite, providing readers with a mobile web version of the newspaper. Customers who are looking for Daily Nation content on their phone are directed to the Mobile version of the news site.

The Daily Nation mobile site sends breaking news alerts, sports alerts, religious phrases, and horoscopes to subscribers. Furthermore, in the coming months, NMG is looking to introduce video news alerts for mobile phones via MMS or video content.

Classifieds through mobile

The company is also looking at the classified platform whereby if, for example, you are looking for a red BMW and you are willing to pay 200,000 shillings you will be able to punch the details into your phone and this data then links to the newspaper classified database. The relevant seller details will then be sent to your mobile phone. Once again, the slow Internet connection has resulted in the online classified section being underused, this should change next year. Fernandes predicts that once broadband hits Kenya, "we will see an explosion in Internet usage and we want to be ready for that."

Who wants to be a millionaire?

A key target of the newly established digital division is the monetisation of the various platforms within NMG, it seeks to pursue this by linking its platforms and cross promoting. Fernandes told the Weblog that every Tuesday on NTV (NMG's TV channel) there is a quiz show and viewers send in their answers by SMS, the winner is the person who sends in the most correct answers fastest. The winner of the show wins 1,000 shillings. This show is being cross-promoted across all of NMG's brands and has proved a hit with Kenyans. Fernandes explains the popularity of the show, "Kenya is probably one of the few countries where the "Who wants to be a millionaire" format did not work, not because people did not find the show interesting but because they were too shy to go on TV and look stupid if they did not know the answer. With this format Kenyans can play along from the comfort of their own home and no one knows if you get an answer right or wrong or what you look like."

Secret of NMG's success

Looking at all the various changes and innovations that the NMG has introduced, and is looking to introduce, it is clearly at the cutting edge of innovation within the newspaper and media industry. The cross-promotion across its platforms and the integration of not just the newsrooms but also the content is particularly notable. The Zuqka site looks set to be a success and the vision behind it is exciting, it should generate a real buzz in Kenya and around the NMG brand. Furthermore, it will also attract the key youth readership and create loyalty. Fernandes says, "Our philosophy is that the world is changing and we need to give our customers what they want when they want it and in the way they want it." This seems to be why NMG is so successful, the company knows and understands its readers, and anticipates what they want before they even want it

See also:

Kenyan Media Part 1: Is newsroom integration possible for media conglomerates

View From Publishing, a small community newspaper publisher in the UK, announces increased year-on-year circulation and advertising revenues. Since September 2008, the company's titles have surged to over £1 million in ad revenues.

National Public Radio has ended its eight-month search for a full-time CEO with Vivian Schiller, the current senior vice president and general manager of NYTimes.com.

Beginning January 5, Schiller will succeed Dennis L. Haarsager, interim CEO, to work with NPR's independently operated member stations.

Calling NPR "among the nation's most vital and trusted news organizations, unique in its original programming and distinctive voice," Schiller continues what has been an extensive career.

Former senior vice president and general manager of the Discovery Times Channel, and former senior vice president of CNN Productions, Schiller, 47, began her career as a Russian interpreter and produced documentaries for Turner Broadcasting.

Source:  Editor and Publisher

PaidContent covered the second annual Future of Business conference, which focused on the business and trade media industry, and the changes brought along by consolidation and digital media.

Here are some highlights from the conference:

Lunchtime Q&A with Neil Cavuto: 'Content Still is King'

The Business of TV and Video News; Still Trying To Find Online Video's 'Sweet Spot'

WSJ.com's Subscribers Reach 1 Million Mark; How Much Longer?

Dow Jones Editor-In-Chief Robert Thomson Says Premium Content Continues To Play A Role

Reporters Deny Talking World Into Recession, Say They Learned Dot.com Lessons

Bloomberg's Norman Pearlstine: Acquisitions Won't Grab Headlines

Source: PaidContent

A few weeks ago the Los Angeles Times announced plans to launch a new design.  The new design was launched Tuesday, October 21.

According to Tribune Co. the goal of the new design is to make the paper easier to read and navigate while maintaining the image of the Times. 

LA Observed recently published an article with a caption from Lee Abrams, chief innovation officer at the Tribune Co., discussing the redesign of the LA Times.  According to Abrams,  "it will be quite a bit less dramatic than our other newspapers, but has some wonderful new elements."

Which US-based newspaper website has become so popular that it received over 140,000 user comments on one day this week? One would naturally assume, The New York Times or USA Today, but no, the distinction goes to Topix.net. Topix is a publication that does not have a newsroom, has never printed a paper version, and claims more web visitors than the Washington Post.

Topix, like YahooNews or GoogleNews, serves as an online news aggregator, collecting news from over 50,000 sources. But unlike its larger web colleagues, Topix is also a news community, bringing forums and discussion groups to every US town and city. Topix is the very definition of hyper-local; users simply enter their zip code and the news relevant to them is only a click away. The site also works with national and local news publishers in the US to help them engage their communities while simultaneously improving their revenue streams through classified publishing platforms.

This amalgamation of news aggregator, online newspaper and community website has taken American by storm, and Topix is now a hit. In July 2008, comScore Media Metrix ranked Topix.net the third largest newspaper site in the United States, right behind the New York Times and USA Today. With success like this, it seems that Topix and other news aggregators are here to stay. But what do sites like Topix mean for traditional publishers?

The Editors Weblog spoke to Chris Tolles, CEO of Topix, to find out his view on the relationship between newspapers and news aggregators and what newspapers can learn from aggregator methodology.

Different value propositions

Whereas some newspaper companies have been critical of news aggregators, which the newspapers accuse of "stealing" content, Tolles is positive about the relationship between newspapers and sites such as his. He views them as "different value propositions", which in this case means that newspapers provide the news while Topix provides the platform on which readers discuss the news. Because of this added value, Topix, according to Tolles, "work with, not against local journalistic efforts." He continues, "Topix harnesses the power of the population in places that newspapers can't realistically cover", keenly pointing out that by browsing Topix-hosted forums, journalists at many papers find new stories and new sources they would not have discovered otherwise.

Tolles describes Topix as "a place to engage and participate around local news and events." It's main innovation, impossible before the emergence of the Internet, is that it furnishes newspapers with a space where their readers can congregate around general subject matter and individual articles. In this sense, Tolles views Topix as a "great partner to newspapers"; not only does it provide the discussion platform, but it opens up a newspaper's content to a new audience which may have not previously considered reading the online or print edition.  

Targeted content = targeted advertising

One of the areas in which Topix has blazed a trail and surprised many in the media industry is in monetising local content, the $50,000 question in today's newspaper market. Topix's targeted, local content has proved very attractive to advertisers, both local and national.  Tolles reveals, "We are able to sell advertising against local audiences for national advertisers as well as being able to use our own targeting algorithms for Google's Ad Sense. We get a large uplift on the CPM rates, about ten times what newspapers not using Topix are able to get." To grow its targeted advertising success even more, Topix is increasing its direct sales staff.  

Another interesting feature of the Topix business model is that all the technology is done in-house. "We have built everything used on Topix at Topix," says Tolles. Therefore, everything that is built and designed for the site is done solely with Topix in mind; there is no content management or publishing system that has to be bolted on and squeezed to fit the site's working practises or production needs. Tolles reports that "The localization and categorization technology is patent pending and ours, as is the forum platform, search technology and everything down to the open source web components like our web server and OS."

Topix is an interesting player in the news provider market and there are clearly lessons to be learnt from its scalable model and innovation. Furthermore, the success that Topix enjoys is a stark lesson to the whole industry. But still, everything hasn't been perfect. Looking back, Tolles says he "would have hired sales people earlier, and I would have focused on local (over general categories) from the get go. I would also have worked with others in the industry to give advertisers a clearer value proposition around connecting to local earlier."

As for succeeding in the crowded media space, Tolles suggests the Topix strategy for others, concluding, "I would urge any news organization starting today to figure out what they provide their audience, and then focus on that relentlessly. We did that with participation, but there are other ways to succeed..."

Bertrand Pecquerie wrote in an article in Le Monde yesterday that the French newspaper industry is in crisis and, worryingly, turning to the State for help. Newspapers have been subsidized in France for the past ten years and, in those ten years, the situation has not improved, it has actually worsened.

Pecquerie believes that there are four core problems facing the industry and these are not being addressed. The four core issues are method, diagnosis, objective and means.

A study by Kerala's library council discovered that even though cable television is increasing in popularity, the Indian state continues to have a high readership of newspapers, books and periodicals, which regularly attract nearly 90% of citizens above the age of 15.

The state-led Literacy Mission found that Kerala is "cent per cent literate" since nearly 90% of the population has basic reading and writing skills, reports ChennaiOnline.com. UNESCO declared complete literacy in the state in 1991.

Source: ChennaiOnline.com

Even as technology becomes more and more available in India, the oldest handwritten Urdu-language newspaper Musalman preserves its "old-school look" and continues to employ an Islamic calligraphy style, reports WSJ.com. The paper's four-page issues include coverage of local and international news, editorials and a weekly Urdu poetry feature.  

As the autopsy continues into the United Airlines story, it is looking like the error was due to both human error and automation.

The seven-year-old story that caused United Airlines Stock to plummet on Monday was apparently picked up after being posted on the Florida Sun Sentinel's website's "most viewed".

The story, hosted in the papers archive, reportedly received enough Internet traffic to push it into the "Popular Business Stories" section.  Automated Google software then picked up the link, and it went straight to Google News. Three minutes and two seconds later it was posted.

The Florida investment firm, Income Securities Advisors, then saw the link on Google News and posted a summary on the Bloomberg financial information service. Due to the popularity of Bloomberg's financial news, the story was then seen by thousands of traders sparking the sell-off of UAL shares.

"It has been widely reported that many readers were unable to determine the original date of publication of this article, and our (automated computer) crawling was similarly unable to recognize that the article was old," Google stated.

Within a matter of minutes the financial mayhem caused amounted to about $1 billion as shares plunged from $12.30 to $3. Approximately 15 million shares were traded during the 13 minutes until trading was halted.  The news not only affected UAL but other airline companies as well.  

Sources:  AP, Follow the Media

Hurricane Gustav in the US may have prevented some newspapers from publishing their print edition for two days, but not from having 24-hour online coverage on their websites.

New Orleans' The Times-Picayune and Louisiana papers The Courier and the Daily Comet all continued to report on their respective sites, reports The Guardian's Roy
Greenslade.


Source: The Guardian