2009 might well be remembered as a year of cutbacks and closures, but also a year when newspapers started to fight back, make changes and began to reassess unsatisfactory aspects of their business models. The world of journalism has indeed suffered some sad losses but there has also been much innovative thinking and progress in the way that news is gathered, reported and presented. Here are a few of the top trends that the Editors Weblog has noted this year.
Cuts, cuts, cuts: what are the consequences?
And even those whose survival is assured have been cutting staff - the
New York Times just lost 100 newsroom staff - or closing bureaux - the
Washington Post now has no domestic bureaux outside the capital. Others have cut down on international reporting. Newspapers have got thinner, some losing sections or even cutting printing days.
Start-ups can help to fill the gaps in reporting, but without proper funding they too will languish. It is essential that outlets must focus on efficiencies and how to make the best of their resources, and endeavour not to sacrifice quality.
To charge or not to charge (online)?
Murdoch, undoubtedly one of paid online content's most vocal supporters, is insistent that news is a valuable product and should not just be given away. This might seem hard to argue with, but some publishers are resolute that charging online is not the answer to solving financial difficulties, and remain committed to high traffic and other schemes such as highly targeted advertising to sustain cash flow. The Guardian, for example, is one of these. A multitude of surveys carried out have suggested that, unsurprisingly,
charging online will not be too popular among consumers.
Will Murdoch fulfil his promises? Could charging online be the norm by the end of 2010? And what has happened to Journalism Online: will 'bundled' charging be an option?
The TWITTER explosion
By now, the idea of a journalist not using
Twitter is verging on inconceivable. After
CNN and
Ashton Kutcher first crossed the one million followers mark in April in a highly-publicised battle, multi-million follower accounts are now not uncommon.
HYPERLOCAL: just hype or the future for news?
The ubiquity of free online news has, quite understandably, led news outlets to contemplate what they can offer that is unique, and going very very local has appealed to many, particularly as regional papers have been suffering particularly badly and hyperlocal news has potential to offer highly-targeted local advertising.
One noteworthy initiative is the
Futuroom/Nase adresa project launched by PPF Media in the Czech Republic (
disclosure: the World Editors Forum has been involved in the project in the role of consultant) which has taken news reporting directly into the community and constructed an unusual alternative revenue stream. 'News cafes,' which place the newsroom in a cafe in the centre of town, are at the centre of PPF's strategy: these both provide income (enough to cover overheads) and offer the public direct access to journalists, allowing the newsroom
to become a real part of the community. Led from the Futuroom base in Prague,
Nasa adresa weeklies and websites are produced, and it seems as if the papers are selling.
It is too early to say whether the project, launched in June, represents a solution that could be used more widely, but looks it promising. Hyperlocal undoubtedly has potential, but an innovative business model needs to be found.
i for innovation
The paper has willingly abandoned traditional topic sections to allow more freedom of coverage, and focuses on opinion and daily in-depth analysis on key issues, taking into account the fact that its readers are likely to already be well-informed via other platforms.
New ideas and experimentation are encouraged, and enthusiasm is high. And, the paper does not put all its print content online: the website aims to be kind of a social news portal rather than a digital reproduction of the news in the paper.
As a new paper, it has been easier for i to break the mould, but are there useful lessons that established newspapers could learn from what i is doing differently?
Does a nonprofit business model have a significant place in the media landscape?
Whether or not going nonprofit is an option for newspapers is a question that has been discussed at length by media commentators and
even by the US Senate. The main advantage: protection from market forces, the main disadvantage: no freedom to endorse political candidates. And, of course, there is the challenge of finding a rich enough donor.
The idea that an entire newspaper could be funded by a foundation seems unlikely, but investigative public interest journalism has been relatively successful at attracting nonprofit support.
All these launches are good news for news in these areas, but are they sustainable? It has been argued that the nonprofit concept is merely propping up a flawed business model and limiting potential innovation. Time will tell which are successful.
Is there money in mobile?
Smart phones are becoming more and more common and could start to become the norm in 2010. Many news applications that enable a better reading experience have been built for
Apple's iPhone, and some for
Google's Android operating system - those created by the
New York Times, the
Guardian, and the
Associated Press seem to be generally considered to be among the best. The Guardian's paid for app
sold more than 9000 in its first two days.
But can they actually be a significant stream of revenue?
Many are free, and those like the Guardian's which have a one-off download fee
(something consumers are likely to be willing to pay for?) might be able to recoup the costs of development with this income, but it does not constitute regular revenue. Advertising is limited so far - there is not much space on the small screen, for a start. Briefly covering the whole screen seems to be the preferred method of some papers on the iPhone:
Le Monde's app opens with a full-page ad, for example.
It is possible to make content available via subscription. The Financial Times iPhone app only allows full access to online subscribers, and the Wall Street Journal has implemented a specific application subscription charge: $1.50 per week.
Will more do this? Can consumers be persuaded to pay on their phones for what they can get free online?
E-readers: not all they promised, but could that change in 2010?
Google: friend or foe?
Conflict over copyright reached new heights this year. Attacks on Google and other 'copyright thieves' who have built a business model off newspaper content have come from many corners: with News Corp
leading the fight in the US but
Spanish and
German publishers too. Google consistently responds that it is fact a friend to publishers, citing the 1 billion clicks that it sends to news websites each month via Google News, and pointing out that publishers can easily opt-out of Google's indexing. Publishers retort that Google's current quasi-monopoly on search would make that difficult.
Cooperation
One of the consequences of extreme financial difficulties has been unexpected cooperation between former rivals: it has become harder and less desirable to stand entirely alone. A few examples:
Between different platforms: at many papers, print and web are competing no longer, but are part of the one team. The
Washington Post is the latest major paper
to undergo integration.
For a list of top publishing strategies for 2010 please see our sister publication www.sfnblog.com
![Digg](http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&&url=http://www.editorsweblog.org/newspaper/2010/02/uk_council_newspaper_costs_revealed.php&bodytext= <form mt:asset-id="5607" class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;" contenteditable="false"><a href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/salfordstar.png"><img alt="salfordstar.png" src="http://www.editorsweblog.org/assets_c/2010/02/salfordstar-thumb-200x258-5607.png" class="mt-image-left" style="margin: 0pt 20px 20px 0pt; float: left;" height="258" width="200" /></a></form>There's more fuel for the debate over council-run newspapers in the UK today, with <a href="http://www.salfordstar.com/article.asp?id=454">one local newspaper revealing</a> that its council-supported rival costs taxpayers almost £28,000 a month.
<br /><br />In the town of Salford, near Manchester, the council magazine <i>Life in Salford</i> competes with newspapers the<i> Salford Star</i> and <i>Salford Advertiser</i>. The Salford Star filed a freedom of information request to determine the cost of producing the council magazine. It determined that the council spends £27,797 per month, or an average of £333,564 per year.
<br /><br />By contrast, outside advertising income for the paper totaled just over £19,000 for eight issues.
<br />&title=UK: Council newspaper costs revealed){kind=link}
![Digg](http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&&url=http://www.editorsweblog.org/web_20/2010/01/twitter_trending_topics_go_local.php&bodytext=<form mt:asset-id="5551" class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;" contenteditable="false"><a href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/twitter-bird.jpg"><img alt="twitter-bird.jpg" src="http://www.editorsweblog.org/assets_c/2010/01/twitter-bird-thumb-200x200-5551.jpg" class="mt-image-left" style="margin: 0pt 20px 20px 0pt; float: left;" height="200" width="200" /></a></form>Twitter has introduced a '<b>Local Trends</b>' filter, which allows users to see what others are posting about on the site in their area.
<br /><br /><a href="http://blog.twitter.com/2010/01/now-trending-local-trends.html">The official Twitter blog explained</a> that the trends function began as a way to see what was popular on a global scale in real-time, but this would create another way for members to discover relevant topics to them.
<br /><br />"The big events that come up around the world will always become a global conversation," a spokesperson writes, "but what about the big events that only happen in your world that only matter to those around you? Or the slight differences in the way Californians perceive an event, like Obama's election victory, versus those (in) São Paulo, Brazil?"
<br />&title=Twitter trending topics go local){kind=link}
![Digg](http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&&url=http://www.editorsweblog.org/newspaper/2010/01/us_study_shows_government_subsidies_to_m.php&bodytext=<form mt:asset-id="5525" class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;" contenteditable="false"><a href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/unclesammoney.gif"><img alt="unclesammoney.gif" src="http://www.editorsweblog.org/assets_c/2010/01/unclesammoney-thumb-200x275-5525.gif" class="mt-image-left" style="margin: 0pt 20px 20px 0pt; float: left;" width="200" height="275" /></a></form>Newspapers have not only lost significant advertising revenue in the last couple of years, they have also been losing government support in the form of subsidies in the last forty years, concludes a new study by the <b>University of Southern California</b>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=131&aid=176774">According to <i>Poynter</i></a>, a new study of historic subsidies and emerging trends tracks various tax breaks, reductions in postal subsidies first enacted in 1792, and upcoming cutbacks in public notices that government regulations have traditionally forced into American newspapers. The study provides valuable insight, if not clear-cut recommendations for print media to follow, about the thorny issue of government funding for media.<br /><br /> &title=US: Study shows government subsidies to media have declined){kind=link}
![Digg](http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&&url=http://www.editorsweblog.org/newsrooms_and_journalism/2010/01/ap_president_speaks_out_on_freedom_of_in.php&bodytext= <form mt:asset-id="5448" class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;" contenteditable="false"><a href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/tom-curley-o.jpg"><img alt="tom-curley-o.jpg" src="http://www.editorsweblog.org/assets_c/2010/01/tom-curley-o-thumb-175x272-5448.jpg" class="mt-image-left" style="margin: 0pt 20px 20px 0pt; float: left;" height="272" width="175" /></a></form>Journalists should be willing to fight for strong freedom of information and open records laws, said the president of the <b>Associated Press</b> <a href="http://www.ap.org/pages/about/pressreleases/pr_012210b.html">in a speech</a> on Friday.
<br /><br />Speaking at the <b>Kentucky Press Association</b>, AP president <b>Tom Curley</b> stressed the importance of these laws as part of the "journalistic tool kit" to help reporters access information in the public interest.
<br /><br />"It's vital," he said. "A strong FOIA in the hands of strong journalists with strong legal support breaks news."
<br />&title=<b>AP</b> president speaks out on Freedom of Information Act){kind=link}
![Digg](http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&&url=http://www.editorsweblog.org/multimedia/2010/01/jeff_jarvis_take_on_news_corps_latest_mo.php&bodytext=<a href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/newspaper/2009/10/jeff_jarvis_optimistic_about_the_future.php"><b>Jeff Jarvis,</b></a> author of <i>What would Google do </i>and media columnist at <i>the Guardian</i>, has spoken out against <a href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/multimedia/2010/01/newsnow_blocked_from_all_news_internatio.php"><b>News Corp's</b> recent decision to block <b>NewsNow</b> from linking to its content</a>, condemning <b>Murdoch's</b> as empire "foolish". <br /><br /><form contenteditable="false" mt:asset-id="5367" class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><a href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/J%20Jarvis%20.jpeg"><img alt="J Jarvis .jpeg" src="http://www.editorsweblog.org/assets_c/2010/01/J%20Jarvis%20-thumb-200x210-5367.jpeg" class="mt-image-left" style="margin: 0pt 20px 20px 0pt; float: left;" height="151" width="143" /></a></form>
<br />In his column, Jarvis argues that permitting linking is not only in News Corp's interests - as (previously) it directed traffic to the likes of <i>Times Online, Sun Online</i> and <i>NotW.co.uk</i> - but is also in the interests of democracy, allowing the public access to public information. "What's public is public - that is, we, the public, have a right to observe, point to, share, and comment on it. And the internet is public," writes Jarvis. Denying NewsNow the right to link, by disabling its crawler using the <b>robots.txt file</b>, impedes free comment and therefore freedom of speech, he adds. &title=<b>Jeff Jarvis'</b> take on <b>News Corp's</b> latest move){kind=link}
![Digg](http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&&url=http://www.editorsweblog.org/newspaper/2010/01/new_newspaper_opening_in_pakistan.php&bodytext=<form contenteditable="false" mt:asset-id="5334" class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><a href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/internationalheraldtribune.jpg"><img alt="internationalheraldtribune.jpg" src="http://www.editorsweblog.org/assets_c/2010/01/internationalheraldtribune-thumb-175x105-5334.jpg" class="mt-image-left" style="margin: 0pt 20px 20px 0pt; float: left;" height="105" width="175" /></a></form>Pakistan is set to get a new English-language newspaper focusing on Pakistani news and business, under an alliance between the <i>International Herald Tribune</i> and <b>Century Publications</b>. The launch date is tentatively set for March of this year, and the paper will be distributed inside the IHT.<br /><br />Publisher of the yet-unnamed newspaper <b>Bilal Lakhani</b> <a href="http://www.mediamughals.com/News/1/2/Article/4478/International_Herald_Tribune_in_publishing_alliance_with_Century_Publications_in_Pakistan.htm">told <i>Media Mughals</i></a> that Pakistan needs "a credible and authoritative news source" because of the social and political turmoil the country faces.<a href="http://www.mediamughals.com/News/1/2/Article/4478/International_Herald_Tribune_in_publishing_alliance_with_Century_Publications_in_Pakistan.htm"></a><br /> &title=New newspaper opening in Pakistan){kind=link}
![Digg](http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&&url=http://www.editorsweblog.org/newspaper/2010/01/norway_controversial_mohammed_cartoons_r.php&bodytext=<form contenteditable="false" mt:asset-id="5305" class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><a href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/Kurt-Westergaard-001.jpg"><img alt="Kurt-Westergaard-001.jpg" src="http://www.editorsweblog.org/assets_c/2010/01/Kurt-Westergaard-001-thumb-200x120-5305.jpg" class="mt-image-left" style="margin: 0pt 20px 20px 0pt; float: left;" height="120" width="200" /></a></form>A Norwegian newspaper has republished the controversial cartoons of the <b>Prophet Mohammed</b>, after an axe attack on a Danish cartoonist in his own home, <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/norway/6952568/Norwegian-newspaper-reprints-Prophet-Mohammed-cartoons.html"><i>The Telegraph</i> reported</a>.<br /><br />The newspaper <i>Aftenposten</i>, in an article about cartoonist <b>Kurt Westergaard</b>, last week printed six out of the 12 controversial images that ignited global debate and protest after their initial publication by Danish newspaper <i>Jyllands-Posten</i> in 2005. Westergaard's drawing depicted the prophet wearing a turban in the shape of a bomb. <br /><br />Editor of Aftenposten <b>Hilde Haugsgjerd</b> said that it seemed "natural and justified to republish the artistic and journalistic body of work that is likely the cause of this violence".<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60A2CI20100111"></a><br /> &title=Norway: Controversial Mohammed cartoons reprinted){kind=link}
![Digg](http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&&url=http://www.editorsweblog.org/newsrooms_and_journalism/2010/01/iran_contact_with_international_organisa.php&bodytext=<form contenteditable="false" mt:asset-id="5227" class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><a href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/bbc1.jpg"><img alt="bbc1.jpg" src="http://www.editorsweblog.org/assets_c/2010/01/bbc1-thumb-175x102-5227.jpg" class="mt-image-left" style="margin: 0pt 20px 20px 0pt; float: left;" height="102" width="175" /></a></form>Iranians have been forbidden to talk to or receive aid from more than 60 international organisations, including thinktanks, universities and broadcasters, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/05/iran-bans-contacts-foreign-organisations"><i><b>The Guardian</b></i></a> has reported.<br /><br />The <b>BBC</b>, which last year launched a Farsi television channel, and <b>Wilton Park</b>, a British group that organises foreign policy conferences, are among those blacklisted. Two U.S. government-funded Farsi-language outlets, <i><b>Voice of America</b></i> and <i><b>Radio Farda</b></i>, have also been banned, as have <b>Yale University</b> and American thinktanks the <b>Brookings Institution</b> and the <b>George Soros Open Society Foundation</b>.<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/05/iran-bans-contacts-foreign-organisations"></a><br /> &title=Iran: Contact with international organisations banned){kind=link}
![Digg](http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&&url=http://www.editorsweblog.org/newsrooms_and_journalism/2010/01/canada_supreme_court_strengthens_press_f.php&bodytext=<form contenteditable="false" mt:asset-id="5213" class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><a href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/canada17.gif"><img alt="canada17.gif" src="http://www.editorsweblog.org/assets_c/2010/01/canada17-thumb-175x141-5213.gif" class="mt-image-left" style="margin: 0pt 20px 20px 0pt; float: left;" height="141" width="175" /></a></form>A new ruling by the Supreme Court in Canada will allow journalists and bloggers greater protection from defamation lawsuits, establishing the new defence of responsible journalism. <br /><br />If sued for defamation, journalists will be able to defend themselves by proving that they acted in the public interest and that they acted in a responsible way to gather the information. This rule will still apply even if particular facts are found to be false.<br /> &title=Canada: Supreme Court strengthens press freedom){kind=link}
![Digg](http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&&url=http://www.editorsweblog.org/multimedia/2010/01/google_promotes_freedom_of_expression.php&bodytext=<form contenteditable="false" mt:asset-id="5206" class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><a href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/breakingborders.jpg"><img alt="breakingborders.jpg" src="http://www.editorsweblog.org/assets_c/2010/01/breakingborders-thumb-300x69-5206.jpg" class="mt-image-left" style="margin: 0pt 20px 20px 0pt; float: left;" height="69" width="300" /></a></form>Amidst all the <a href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/newsrooms_and_journalism/2010/01/2009_a_dangerous_year_for_journalists.php">threats to press freedom</a>, here's some good news: the <b>Breaking Borders Award</b>, jointly organized
by <b>Google</b> and international citizen journalism website <a href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/"><i>Global Voices</i></a> and supported by <b>Thomson Reuters</b>.
The award is presented to outstanding online projects that show
courage, energy and resourcefulness in using the internet to promote
freedom of expression and stand up to those who censor information.<br /><br />
Three categories of the prize are awarded: tools that promote freedom
of expression, outstanding work on policy, and activism or journalism
that contributed an important voice or argument. The winner of each
category receives $10,000. <br />&title=<b>Google</b>, <b>Global Voices</b> and <b>Thomson Reuters</b> promote freedom of expression ){kind=link}
![Digg](http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&&url=http://www.editorsweblog.org/newspaper/2010/01/chinese_editor_makes_comeback.php&bodytext=<form contenteditable="false" mt:asset-id="5188" class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><a href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/hu%20shuli%202.jpg"><img alt="hu shuli 2.jpg" src="http://www.editorsweblog.org/assets_c/2010/01/hu%20shuli%202-thumb-200x150-5188.jpg" class="mt-image-left" style="margin: 0pt 20px 20px 0pt; float: left;" height="150" width="200" /></a></form>
Two months after resigning from financial news magazine <i><b>Caijing,</b></i> following a fall out with management regarding budget control and self-censorship, <a href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/newspaper/2006/05/worlds_most_influential_commen.php"><b>Hu Shuli,</b> one of China's most revered editors, </a>has filled the position of executive editor at <i><b>New Century News.</b></i><br /><br />Hu Shuli, who won praise for pushing the boundaries of media freedom in <b>China</b> by <a href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/analysis/2009/10/investigative_journalism_gone_global.php">chasing stories that exposed governmental corruption</a>, left the publication after the owner attempted to cut back the budget and tiptoe around sensitive stories. &title=Chinese editor makes comeback){kind=link}
![Digg](http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&&url=http://www.editorsweblog.org/newspaper/2009/12/murdoch_sends_staff_seasonal_greetings_a.php&bodytext=<form contenteditable="false" mt:asset-id="5037" class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><a href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/s-RUPERT-CHRISTMAS-large.jpg"><img alt="s-RUPERT-CHRISTMAS-large.jpg" src="http://www.editorsweblog.org/assets_c/2009/12/s-RUPERT-CHRISTMAS-large-thumb-200x146-5037.jpg" class="mt-image-left" style="margin: 0pt 20px 20px 0pt; float: left;" height="146" width="200" /></a></form>In a seasonal greetings email sent to <b>US</b> and <b>UK</b> branches of <b>News Corp International, Rupert Murdoch</b> has praised his staff for weathering a difficult financial year and pointed to the "steps" the company is taking today which will "define the character of our company for many years to come." - Namely Murdoch's intentions to protect all News Corp produced content behind paywalls, as well as removing these articles from <b>Google's</b> search index. Both the <i><b>Huffington Post</b></i> and the<i><b> Guardian</b></i> have published the full email, the contents of which is posted below: &title=<b>Murdoch</b> sends staff seasonal greetings and looks to the year ahead){kind=link}
![Digg](http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&&url=http://www.editorsweblog.org/newsrooms_and_journalism/2009/12/eric_newton_of_the_knight_foundation_at.php&bodytext=<b><form mt:asset-id="5032" class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><a href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/ericnewton.jpg"><img alt="ericnewton.jpg" src="http://www.editorsweblog.org/assets_c/2009/12/ericnewton-thumb-250x348-5032.jpg" width="200" height="298" class="mt-image-left" style="float: left; margin: 0 20px 20px 0;" /></a></form>Eric Newton</b>, Vice President of the Journalism Program at the<b> John S. and James L. Knight Foundation</b>, spoke at the FTC journalism workshop on December 2nd about ways the government could help journalism. <div><br /></div><div>Boldly opening with an account of how Cicero was disappointed with his 'commercial news packets coming from Rome' when he was sent to the provinces, Newton explained that a lot of people today have similar problems; they don't get the news they want from the places they feel are important.
</div><div><br /></div>He asserts that many governments at the regional or local level are held unaccountable because there is no local reporting; of the 3,248 counties and 30,000 towns and villages in the U.S. as of 2007, the <b>Newspaper Association of America</b> reported only 1,422 daily papers.&title=<b>Eric Newton</b> of the <b>Knight Foundation</b> at the FTC hearing){kind=link}
![Digg](http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&&url=http://www.editorsweblog.org/newsrooms_and_journalism/2009/12/european_court_of_human_rights_recognise.php&bodytext=<form mt:asset-id="5034" class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;" contenteditable="false"><a href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/european%20court.jpg.jpg"><img alt="european court.jpg.jpg" src="http://www.editorsweblog.org/assets_c/2009/12/european%20court.jpg-thumb-250x157-5034.jpg" class="mt-image-left" style="margin: 0pt 20px 20px 0pt; float: left;" height="157" width="250" /></a></form>The <b>European Court of Human Rights</b> in Strasbourg <a href="http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/viewhbkm.asp?sessionId=40018225&skin=hudoc-en&action=html&table=F69A27FD8FB86142BF01C1166DEA398649&key=78726&highlight=">ruled in the favour of five media companies yesterday</a>, recognising a journalistic right to protect anonymous sources, <a href="http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/britain-rights.1yv">reports <b>AFP</b></a>. <br /><br />The <i><b>Financial Times</b></i>, the <i><b>Independent</b></i>, the <b><i>Guardian</i></b>, the <i><b>Times</b></i> and <i><b>Reuters</b></i> news agency won an appeal against British courts who had ordered them to hand over documents relating to a Belgian brewing firm, <b>Interbrew</b>. <br /> <div><br /></div>&title=<b>European Court of Human Rights</b> recognises right to protect sources){kind=link}
![Digg](http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&&url=http://www.editorsweblog.org/newsrooms_and_journalism/2009/12/survey_finds_crisis_has_eroded_independe.php&bodytext=<form mt:asset-id="5005" class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;" contenteditable="false"><a href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/periodistas.jpg"><img alt="periodistas.jpg" src="http://www.editorsweblog.org/assets_c/2009/12/periodistas-thumb-290x145-5005.jpg" class="mt-image-left" style="margin: 0pt 20px 20px 0pt; float: left;" height="145" width="290" /></a></form>The economic crisis is eroding the independence of Spanish journalists,<a href="http://www.periodistadigital.com/periodismo/prensa/2009/12/13/libertad-crisis-economico-erosiona-independencia-diario-medios-online-comunicacion-espanoles.shtml"> reports <i><b>Periodismo Digital</b></i></a>, with some 57.5 per cent of directors in national media positions claiming they have less freedom now than in previous years. <br /><br />Results from a survey carried out by the <b>Press Association of Madrid</b> (APM) as part of its <b>Annual Report 2009</b> found that directors in Spanish print, radio and television media believed that they now have to play more favourably to the interests of advertisers and institutions as a direct consequence of the financial strain the industry is currently experiencing following the recession. <br /><br /><div><br /></div>&title=Survey finds crisis has eroded independence for Spanish journalists){kind=link}
![Digg](http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&&url=http://www.editorsweblog.org/newsrooms_and_journalism/2009/12/a_lesson_for_newspapers_in_the_history_o.php&bodytext=<form mt:asset-id="4862" class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;" contenteditable="false"><a href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/enquirer.jpg"><img alt="enquirer.jpg" src="http://www.editorsweblog.org/assets_c/2009/12/enquirer-thumb-200x236-4862.jpg" class="mt-image-left" style="margin: 0pt 20px 20px 0pt; float: left;" height="236" width="200" /></a></form><br />In a <a href="http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=101&aid=174431">recent post on <i><b>Poynter Online</b></i></a>, <b>Paula Morton</b> has looked at the lesson that newspapers could take from the history of their generally trashier, less respected cousin, the tabloid. <br /><br />"A tabloid story sells," she writes, "I admit: when I am caught behind a long line at the Publix checkout, I read the headlines of the <b>National Enquirer</b>. "Senator Caught with Hooker!" "Stars with Cellulite!"... shouting from specially designed pedestal racks positioned exactly at eye-level on the checkout counter."<br /><br /><br /> <div><br /></div>&title=A lesson for newspapers in the history of tabloids? ){kind=link}
![Digg](http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&&url=http://www.editorsweblog.org/newsrooms_and_journalism/2009/12/the_netherlands_government_to_finance_60.php&bodytext=<form contenteditable="false" mt:asset-id="4856" class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><a href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/plasterk.jpg"><img alt="plasterk.jpg" src="http://www.editorsweblog.org/assets_c/2009/12/plasterk-thumb-200x276-4856.jpg" class="mt-image-left" style="margin: 0pt 20px 20px 0pt; float: left;" height="276" width="200" /></a></form>In an innovative project from the Netherlands, the Dutch Minister for Education, Culture and Science has managed to gain support from the Parliament for more funding for journalism.<br /><br />It's not in the form of government subsidies for newspapers, though, which have been criticised by various industry insiders <a href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/newspaper/2009/12/us_federal_trade_commission_will_conside.php">including media mogul <b>Rupert Murdoch</b></a> and <a href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/newspaper/2009/11/subsidising_the_french_press_is_it_worki.php">editor <b>Frédéric Filloux</b></a>. Instead, the Dutch government will finance two-year contracts for 60 young journalists across 30 titles in the country's press, reports <a href="http://www.themediatrend.com/wordpress/?p=2237">Media Trend</a>.<br /><br /><br /><br /> &title=The Netherlands: Government to finance 60 new jobs for young journalists){kind=link}