Results matching “germany every d”

Germany's Deutsche Telekom is developing a portable e-reader that could be competition for Amazon's Kindle.

They are currently planning a test run with a few dozen of prototypes in Berlin. Pictures of the product, whose code name is "News4me", have not been revealed yet.

Peter Möckel, head of Deutsche Telekom's R&D department, said the "company sees a market in the gap between mobile phones and laptops."

However, Deutsche Telecom won't manufacture the devices, nor will they offer any kind of content, according to CrunchGear. Unlike with Kindle, the users will just have to download content from print media onto their e-readers (no RSS, online news, and so forth).

The researchers are trying to keep the "form" as similar as possible to articles in the printed format. According to one of the engineers, Kindle is in the right direction but DT's News4me will have a larger (and possibly flexible) display, and it will be easier to operate.

France Telecom's Orange is also working on a similar project called "Read&Go". Kindle is not in either the French or the German market.

Source: CrunchGear

The German market at first appearance would seem the perfect place to start up a free daily newspaper, but the market remains untapped, report Newspaper Innovations. German publishers seem determinedly anti-free dailies, overlooking the chance they represent.

Metro and Schibsted wanted to go to Germany while Dagsbrun also (Iceland) made plans. These incumbents have met with difficulty in the home market. Springer reportedly has a 'war fund' of EUR300 million ready and could launch competitor Gratissimo 'within days', and WAZ - the second largest German publisher - also wants to fight a free daily launch.

FTD cites 'informed sources' who report that it would take at least six years for a German project to break even, and that it would cost at least EUR400 million. Newspaper Innovation ask how this figure is calculated as launching costs are between EUR10 and EUR20 million in Spain, France, UK and the Netherlands.

The article even states that the actions of some players in the market could be for the attention of the Bundeskartellambt, the German anti-competition agency.

Source: Newspaper Innovation via IFRA Executive News Search
 

Germans above the age of 14 regularly read an average of four print publications, according to a study by Media-Analyse, reported Gipp.ru. The study showed that not only were Germans interested in daily and monthly publications, but also in less frequent ones.

Publications that gained popularity include those focused on economics, children's magazines as well as those themed around animals. Meanwhile, music magazines and those for the younger audience were less popular.

Source: Gipp.ru

The growing market for e-paper technology will soon welcome a device with a foldable, flexible display screen, to be released this fall. The Readius' foldable format is predicted to prompt developments in mobile reader screens, the New York Times reported.

"Flexible displays are the crucial enabling technology for a new generation of portable devices that are mobile, but also have compelling user interfaces," said Jennifer Colegrove, analyst for iSuppli Corporation, a Californian market research company.



The Readius is geared towards reading books, newspapers, magazines and e-mail on a 5-inch diagonal screen that can be folded and reduced to a pocket size.

Karl McGoldrick, CEO of Polymer Vision, the Dutch company that developed the Readius, said that although it displays only shades of gray, its "active matrix" technology might be developed to include colour and videos.

The Readius will come out in this fall in England, Italy and Germany, and in early 2009 in the United States. According to many analysts, the market for e-paper will really begin to boom in 2009.

(For more information about the functions of the Readius, see more about Polymer Vision)

Source: The New York Times through IFRA Executive News Service

See also:
Are we headed for all-electronic papers?
A paperless world?
BusinessWeek review: The Kindle an "imperfect subsititute" for the newspaper
Electronic newspapers nealy ready for release,Kuwata says

German publishing company Axel Springer set an objective for 2007: "steadfast expansion with a focus on the digital business", according to CEO Michael Doepfner. In 2008, the company is planning to further its advance towards digitalization by making acquisitions or establishing new online units.

The company's leap towards digital media might feature making acquisitions or establishing new units to expand sports coverage, job sites and regional contribution.

Source: FinanzNachrichten through IFRA Executive News Service

Staff at leading German newspaper Berliner Zeitung have placed an advertisement in a rival publication seeking a new owner. Berliner Zeitung is owned by Mecom, a leading European newspaper and content company.

The advertisement appears to be a reaction to the announcement last week that a quarter (130) of the editorial staff at Berliner Zeitung will be made redundant.

In a recent interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel the Chief Executive of Mecom, David Montgomery, played down the problems that his company is having in Berlin.

Montgomery said that the issues have been caused by, "isolated rabble rousers who are trying to stop time". He went on to say that times have changed for newspapers.

Under the title, "Publish Wanted", the advertisement stated the journalists were looking for a "serious buyer who doesn't just produce a paper to make money".

The Berliner Zeitung's editor-in-chef Josef Depenbrock has been a controversial figure at the newspaper ever since Montgomery gave him the dual role of managing editor and editor-in-chief.

The paper's editorial department failed in an attempt to bring proceedings against Mecom and Josef Depenbrock on Wednesday. They argued that his dual role at the paper went against the paper's statutes. The case was thrown out of court.

Sources reported to MediaGuardian.co.uk that a strike by Berliner Zeitung is likely later in the month.

Mecom announced last week that it will cut up to 465 jobs at its Dutch regional business Wegener.

Source: Guardian

See also:

Netherlands: editors-in-chief complain to Mecom, concerned over editorial quality

Germany: Montgomery continues to incite anger at Berliner Zeitung

Part 1 discussed how the planned changes at The New York Times and International Herald Tribune will help the NYT's continuous news offerings, and how these changes could affect the organization and interaction between both newsrooms.

Part 2 examines how The New York Times intends to:
- Further compete against the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal internationally, and ways in which newspapers can reinforce their international reach.
- Use the strength of its online brand while safeguarding the IHT's popular print brand name.

The Weblog spoke to Jim Roberts, Digital Editor at The New York Times, and Martin Gottlieb, who was appointed to the newly created position of Editor, Global Edition.

How newspapers can become international brands, the NYT joins the race

Until now, the Times hasn't specifically catered to overseas advertisers and readers.

"We need to be agile," said IHT publisher Stephen Dunbar-Johnson, "to compete much more aggressively, nose to nose, with The Financial Times, Wall Street Journal and anybody else who is competing for our readers and advertisers."

No doubt that the Times actually borrowed the continuous news outpost idea from the aforementioned competitors, which have been relying on their foreign bureaus to provide round the clock coverage.

The staff memo reaffirmed the NYT's "ambitious plans to expand in the region (Asia), particularly in India." In June, the IHT announced a partnership with the India-based Deccan Chronicle to print the Tribune's world business section in the Financial Chronicle.

With the rise of digital publishing, many news organizations are seeking to grow a previously inaccessible international readership by:

- launching a print edition abroad: several papers have rolled out editions away from home this past year, such as the FT's recently launched Middle East edition in Abu Dhabi, WSJ's partnership with business paper Mint in India, the Daily Mail's partnership with India Today to publish the Mail Today, or The Times of London's Polish edition.

- investing in an online international section: In Germany, referential weekly Der Spiegel launched an English-language International edition on its website in 2004. Five fulltime staffers are dedicated to translating Der Spiegel's content and rewriting it with an international perspective, as well as doing their own international-minded original reporting (the full case study is featured in Trends in Newsrooms 2008). The Guardian adopted a different approach, by launching a separate, foreign-based, US website, Guardian America. The Guardian is reportedly considering similar ventures in other regions.

- simply reinforcing their focus on international news in their regular coverage: the Daily Telegraph's website in the UK, which was neck to neck with the Guardian in terms of traffic in April, claims nearly two thirds of its visitors are from overseas. A well-indexed website helps to brings in a significant number of 'light' international users through search engines.

Merging "co-branded" websites but not print: a branding issue

The NYT's approach is a combination of the first two strategies: the print IHT now serves as The Times' 'global edition' (see picture), while maintaining its trademark brand name. With the proposed online merger, the NYT could also follow the second route, by hosting an international edition online, without having to extensively change its workflows (see Part 1).

The rationale to merge the websites is clearly explained in the memo: according to WebTrends, NYT's website boasts a strong international audience and 58 million global users, compared to iht.com's seven million.

"The global landscape for online news is highly competitive, making scale, speed and resources essential to success. Therefore we have determined that the best future online for the IHT and the NYT globally is through a joint international presence," said the memo.

However, the memo doesn't explicitly say why this won't be the case in print:

"The IHT should become the international print edition of the NYT, whether it is formally branded that way or not."

The main issue at stake is one of branding. "In print, there have been at least a couple of studies that show that among Tribune newspaper readers there is a great identification with the brand, that the brand means something to readers," said Gottlieb.

"More than the name, what accompanies the name, an international perspective, a sense of calling the best stories from The Times and augmenting them with unique reporting," was a combination that many readers liked.

As news organizations seek to grow their international reach, this consideration probably holds true for many that have established a reputable brand name on a local or national scale. However strong the brand name, its association with a particular place or country can potentially play against that news outlet on the international scene.

Source: New York Times - Media Bistro - Jim Roberts, Digital Editor The New York Times - Martin Gottlieb, Editor, Global Edition

A "furious letter" was written to Mecom chairman David Montgomery by seven editors-in-chief from the Netherland's biggest regional newspaper publisher, Wegener, describing how worried they were about the future of their newspapers.

Wegener's editors are worried that job cuts will take place in their titles as well and hinder the editorial quality of their papers. Last year, Mecom took an 87% stake in the group.

"The employees are under extreme pressure. There are not enough people, resources and incentives to achieve product differentiation quickly in order to achieve the necessary large-scale success in the multimedia field," the editors stated in the letter.

"As the editors-in-chief, we would like to stress that our papers are not just an economic product.

The concerns of the Dutch editors echo similar situations in many countries where newspapers have been faced with declining ad revenues. Their letter serves as an important reminder that cutting costs and stripping newspapers of their resources can be more detrimental than helpful - editorially and commercially.

"We are also a cultural element, and this is the key factor in the core value of our product. The newspapers are more than an information provider for the inhabitants of the relevant regions - they are a bearer of historical and cultural awareness and social cohesion."

Mecom owns many titles in Europe, such as in Norway, Germany, Poland and Germany, including the "prestigious" Berliner Zeitung, where some 30 journalists positions were cut.

Although Mecom refused to comment on the letter, a senior official mentioned that the situation has improved since it was written and that issues like "local responsibility for publishing" will be resolved soon, the Guardian reported.

Source: Guardian Online

See also:
Mecom grows European assets
Montgomery buys Dutch shares

 

According to the European Journalism Centre (EJC), UK journalists are more likely to be blogging and producing videos as part of their job, a European Digital Journalism Study about the effects of the digital age revealed.

The study surveyed 347 journalists from 9 European countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, the UK) from regional, national, broadcast and trade media. It was conducted by PR firm Brands2Life and Oriella PR Network, their European partners.

61 % of UK journalists said their publication provided TV or video features, as opposed to 41 % from other European countries.

Over 75 % of UK journalists said the most challenging part about their job was producing "additional multimedia content for the web", EJC reports.

UK journalists are the premier bloggers, since 85 % said their websites had a blogging feature. Only 10 % out of the total and 14 % from the UK said that they had professional media production training.

Source: European Journalism Centre

The World Editors Forum has asked five prominent newspaper designers to pick their Top 10 newspaper designs and Top 5 newspaper website designs to illustrate the evolution of newspaper design and how it is beginning to relate more to the Web.

Here are the newspapers most often cited by the designers: The Guardian (United Kingdom), Poklitiken (Denmark), Bergens Tidende (Norway), St Petersburg Times (United States), Eleftheros Typos (Greece), De Morgen (Belgium), elEconomista (Spain), Excelsior (Mexico), Expreso (Portugal) and Äripäev (Estonia).

The newspaper websites most often cited were elpais.com (Spain), guardian.co.uk (United Kingdom), globeandmail.com (Canada), 24sata.hr (Croatia), and Times Online (United Kingdom).

The results are included in a chapter on the 'fusion" of print and web design, one of the key trends examined in the just-released Trends in Newsroom 2008.

The examples chosen by the designers are those they consider the best newspaper and online newspaper designs of 2006 and 2007. The five are Jördis Guzmán Bulla of Welt am Sonntag in Germany, Lucie Lacava, one of the most notable and prolific print designers working internationally, Robb Montgomery, CEO of Visual Editors and former visual editor for the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune, Peter Ong, an Australian-based designer with clients throughout Asia and the Pacific, and Ally Palmer, a founding director of Canada-based Palmer Watson, which has created internationally acclaimed designs for newspapers around the world.

Source: WEF

Six newspaper groups needing a new content management system (CMS) have become one multimedia group with one integrated newroom: Welt Online. Oliver Michalski, Deputy Editor in Chief of Die Welt, talked about the advantages and disadvantages of their choice, EScenic, at the 15th World Editors Forum.

Welt Online is now the fastest growing online newspaper in Germany. All decisions are made in their newsroom, with the editors working hand in hand. The online editors are free to decide when to publish material on the site, a power that allows news to appear online days before it is printed.

Welt online needed a CMS that allowed them to publish video pods, photo galleries etc. in a fast and easy way. They chose EScenic, and now have 15 months of experience with it. These are the advantages and disadvantages of ESenic according to Welt Online:

Advantages:
High performance
Easy and flexible development and backend
Fast publishing
Separate content and design
Support for every type of media

Disadvantages:
Problem with archive
Weak social media
Easy I/O

Werner Eggert, Editor in Chief of Tide in Germany, spoke about the advantages of citizen journalism and how to train the 'untrainables' at the 15th World Editors Forum.


 Eggert said that there are many benefits that come with citizen journalism.

• It is mostly free
• Citizen journalists see trends that professional reporters don't see
• Producers/contributors are amateurs and love their topic
  
• It is a way to reach a new audience

But of course there are also disadvantages of citizen journalism.

• They are not professional and not trained
  
• They go on holiday and don't tell you when they will come back or if they come back, which makes it very difficult to plan a program.
• They are obsessed with their area of interest and have problems with producing balanced stories.
• They overestimate their capacity
• It's not really journalism

Eggert and Tides solution is to train the citizens in how to handle professional equipment, how to manage their products, maintain ethical standards, deadlines etc. One problem is that producers often don't want to be trained and often think the content is more important than the quality. Tide therefore decided to set up their own academy for citizen journalists with extremely short courses (mostly they are only four hours). The courses are very basic and focus on practical examples. At the Tide academy they always use professional equipment, Eggert believs that this way the citizen journalists will perform more professional. His impression is that after the course professional quality matters more for the participants.

The courses costs 45 euro or 100 euro depending on the length. From January to May 2008 Tide produced 33 courses with 194 participants and the citizens are now producing 1,5 hours of new video programs per day. According to Eggert citizen journalism is little investment with huge returns.

Welt Online, website of referential daily Die Welt in Germany, has chosen eScenic for its content management. Oliver Michalsky, deputy editor of Welt Online, will explain this choice at the upcoming World Editors Forum, to be held in Gothenburg, June 1-4.

"We thing that eScenic is a high performance content management system," he said.

The CMS is very fast compared to Welt Online's previous system: sometimes reporters had to wait for five minutes or more before a news item was published. "It was terrible for us," said Michalsky.

With eScenic, it is now both easy and quick to publish text stories, but also multimedia content such as videos and picture galleries, or interactive features like polls, said Michalsky.

Recent upgrades in eScenic also make it easy to manage Welt Online's community platform, where users can set up profiles and upload their own content; Welt Online began this project a year and a half ago with CMS Drupal, which offered better functionalities at the time, but will soon go through the process of adapting its community platform to eScenic.

According to Michalsky, staffers at Die Welt comfortably adopted the new CMS. It took about two weeks for all editors to learn how to use it. Not all reporters need to learn how to use it, but it has been very handy for reporters outside of Die Welt's Berlin headquarters.

Michalsky will discuss these issues at the upcoming World Editors Forum.

Read other preview interviews here.

Source: Oliver Michalsky, deputy editor, Welt Online