Results matching “the new york ti”

Abu Dhabi-based The National, launched in April, has a circulation between 70,000 and 90,000 copies but pertains to "grand ambitions" and "leaders who are bullish on print journalism," writes The Los Angeles Times. A seven-section Saturday issue is scheduled to be launched in the future.

With the World's financial markets nose-diving and talk of an imminent deep recession, people are turning to newspapers to cut through the jargon and market turmoil and to tell them the truth. However, some newspapers stand accused of sensationalising the crisis in the pursuit of a dramatic front page and of being ill informed on the subject matter. General sentiment in the City of London, for instance, ranged from financial workers accusing the press of creating "complete hysteria" to "fanning the flames of the crisis". These severe reactions in the City, combined with an utterly confused public, sparks the question: how should a newspaper cover a global financial crisis?

The Financial Times has proved to be a port in the storm of screamer headlines and misinformed commentary. The Editors Weblog spoke to the Managing Editor of the FT, Daniel Bogler (left), about his views on the coverage and how his newspaper reacted as the crisis unfolded.

Firstly, Bogler agreed with the City's negative view on some of the mainstream media's coverage, saying, "It's unfortunate that the financial literacy and understanding of how things work in the City and of basic accounting and so on, is actually very thin in financial journalism. The FT, because we are a financial newspaper, take the stuff a lot more seriously. We hire people from the City... and also spend a lot of time, effort and money on training our people."

Rethinking the layout

Bogler reported that one of the key things the FT did when the magnitude of the story unfolding became clear was rethink the entire layout of the paper. To ensure that the FT provided enough space to deliver comprehensive coverage, it cleared the first four pages of previously planned stories and bumped them further inside. This shift in focus did result in other key news getting squeezed, but this highlights the newspapers keen news judgement on the significance of what was unfolding on trading screens throughout the world. The bar for a story to get onto the front page was suddenly raised.

Bogler said that not only did the FT clear the first four pages, but it also redesigned the front page to emphasise and reflect the newspaper's focused coverage. The FT's template for its front page is usually three or four stories and a taster section (long column down the side) for stories within (left). However, with its decision to provide focused coverage on the rapidly changing story, it now featured two stories on the financial meltdown and leads to the rest of its coverage.

To further provide space for reporting the story, it reorganised the letters page and also largely cleared its flagship Markets pages at the back.

Since the story broke, half of the Financial Times coverage in print and online has been entirely focused on the credit crisis. The paper is not only featuring pieces to assist and inform investment bankers, but also pieces that will be useful for the average individual. The Personal Finance section last Saturday did a special on how to manage your finances during the credit crash, with practical advice for everyone, from savers to those seeking information on their mortgage.
 
This flexibility in terms of layout is another key reason for its success in its treatment of the story; templates and layout do not dictate to the newspaper when a big story breaks.

Refocusing the team

Layout flexibility followed into the newsroom itself. From what Bogler reports, it appears that three key teams spearheaded the newspapers response to the global financial crisis. The teams were the Crisis Counsel (Chief Editors and senior editors), The Leader Conference (meeting for in-depth coverage) and, specifically, the Hit Team (the financial services (banks) reporters).

Crisis Counsel
As the story hit, a Crisis Counsel was called at around 10am with the Editor Lionel Barber, News Editor Robert Shrimsley and other senior editorial staff. It was here that the decision to clear the first four pages of the newspaper to focus on the meltdown was taken and a senior news editor was appointed to manage the pages. Furthermore, the decision to make this story the focal point for the newspaper was made, with the senior team then notifying the rest of the staffers.

Leader Conference
The team then moved on to the Leader Conference to inform them that in depth and "Leader" stories would now be on the market meltdown. Previously planned articles on the UK's Conservative political party were shelved and resources shifted for optimal reporting.

The Hit Team
The Hit Team strategy had previously been utilised by the FT during the Iraq War. The Hit Team - which consists of reporters and editors from the relevant beat for a story - co-ordinate the entire newsroom: deploying reporters, co-ordinating news flow, writing the front-page splash and managing the opening pages. The Team can also pull reporters off their beat to boost coverage of a topic, ie, an autos journalist can be drafted in to aid coverage of a banks story. The core of this unit for the crisis was, and still is - as this rapidly developing story still has legs - made up of ten financial services reporters in London and six or seven in New York. Staffers around the world also called in with their regions' story and any new angles developing. Bogler reported that the news editor and reporters around the world "shaped these pages relatively quickly."

The highly respected "Lex Column" was also given priority. It is a column that features widely read analysis and commentary from a group of reporters who previously worked in hedge funds and investment banks.

The payoff

As a result of its dedicated focus and clear and comprehensible content, FT.com's traffic has exploded. Page views have risen 300 per cent. Unique users are also up by 250 per cent.

When asked about the FT's competition, Bogler said, "Its unfortunate perhaps for the Wall Street Journal, having just been bought by Murdoch, that they have switched their interest to general news, political news and focusing on US politics at a time when US politics is just not the story. We have looked a bit more nimble."

Responsibility and ethics

Reflecting on this fast-changing story, the media coverage it has received, and the perceived "sensationalist" angle taken by other papers, Bogler said he is aware of the added pressure on the FT, "We do have an extra responsibility and we take it very seriously.  We do not 'fan the flames' of the crisis."

He went on to say, "It is in the nature of newspapers to write the most dramatic headline, the most dramatic copy and have the most dramatic picture, so you have impact on your readers.... this irresponsibility is kind of bred into the industry. You have to be very careful, you have to take a step back. A picture of someone with their head in their hands in front of a trading screen, is that the right picture?"
 

Mario Garcia recently published an article discussing the future model of the newspaper.  He referenced Philip Meyers recent article in American Journalism Review, which also presented some ideas on where newspapers and journalism are headed.

Garcia uses a few examples to illustrate his view of the future.  First, The Economist, with its unique "information architecture and navigation", creative visuals, distinct personality, in-depth analysis and interpretation, and focused content is an example of what many people desire to read and enjoy reading today.

Yesterday, Forbes announced that The New York Times was planning to shut down the website of its sister paper, International Herald Tribune. According to Paid Content, the sight will not be shut down. Instead, it will be co-branded as a global edition of The New York Times.  

Vivian Schiller, SVP and GM of NYTimes.com told Paid Content that the idea is to have one global brand. According to Schiller, users will be able to choose between a US and a Global edition of the website.

Staff changes are also planned, but the editorial team will remain in Paris while the production will be based in New York, since the two will share a single platform.

Sources: Paid Content

The Chicago Tribune announced this week that it will no longer have its stand-alone book review section.  The Tribune's book review section was one of the few remaining in the United States.

It will now combine books and media into a section in the Saturday paper.  The "books and media" section will include comics, movie theater ads and the weather page.  The book section was moved out of the Sunday paper and into the Saturday edition last year.  

Other recently eliminated sections include The New York Times' stand-alone Metro section.  Metro stories are now included in the paper's first section, just after international and national news.  The Los Angeles Times eliminated its stand-alone book review section in 2007.

Source: Media Post, Editor & Publisher

The New York Times announced plans to shut down the Web site of its sister paper the International Herald Tribune, according to Forbes.  Content from the IHT website will now be hosted by nytimes.com.

According to General Manager, Vivian Schiller the decision is "absolutely, positively not about cost savings.  Rather, it's about growth."

Schiller believes that the move will increase the times traffic and give it more content allowing them to sell more ads.  

Sources: European Journalism Centre, Editor & Publisher, Forbes

A DVD has been circulated in many Midwest regional newspapers sparking controversy and some protests in their communities. The DVD - which has been called anti-Muslim propoganda - feat?ures scenes of Muslim children being urged to become suicide bombers, 9/11 carnage and interviews with critics of Islam.

The DVD is an hour-long film, "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West" by the non-profit New York-based Clarion Fund. The newspapers have distributed the film as an insert in their newspapers for advertising revenue.

About 70 protesters gathered outside The Oregonian regional newspaper on Monday morning after the DVD was circulated within it, to protest against the distribution of the film.

"It is a moral obligation of a newspaper in a community to inform, not misinform," said the Rev. Chuck Cooper, director of ministries of Micah's Village, a progressive Christian community near Clackamas.

However, Publisher Fred Stickel said The Oregonian distributed the DVD because it has an obligation to make its advertising as open as possible under the principle of free speech.

Approximately 70 newspapers distributed the DVD and about 500 people called The Oregonian about the DVD, most of them voiced their opposition.

Source: Associated Press, The Oregonian, Willamette Week

A recent special report by Editor & Publisher discussed the declining numbers of ombudsmen working for newspapers.  In an effort to cut costs, many newspapers in the United States have been laying off ombudsmen.  

Newspaper ombudsmen are public editors and reader representatives; they deal with readers' concerns and feedback.  

Around ten newspapers have dropped their ombudsmen in the last twelve months.  Since January the following papers have dropped their ombudsmen: The Sacramento Bee, the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, The Sun of Baltimore, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Orlando Sentinel, The Hartford Courant, and The Palm Beach Post.

Following on from its announcements regarding its expanded Business section and the launch of a new social network, TimesPeople, The New York Times also reports that it has launched a weekly news supplement in three major international newspapers; Columbia's El Espectador, Kosovo's Koha Ditore and Kenya's Sunday Nation.

According to The New York Times Co., since its launch in 2002 the supplement has been distributed in 24 newspapers around the world. The supplement, entitled International Weekly includes news coverage, commentary, colour photos and graphics about the United States, world affairs, business, culture and social trends. It is prepared in New York by a team from The New York Times News Service.

Following in the footsteps of its rival, Wall Street Journal online, The New York Times has launched a new social network entitled, TimesPeople. According to The New York Times Company , the new network will provide "readers with a way to share their thoughts and recommendations about content with other readers, making their public activities on the site more open."

Members can share comments, recommendations and reviews with other users. Members will also have profile pages, be able to sign up for RSS feeds and sync their updates to Facebook.  

According to Marc Frons, chief technology officer, digital operations, TimesPeople was created "as a community built around sharing news and information, giving our readers a way to connect with other like-minded readers. It is a great way for our readers to discover content on the site they might not have otherwise."

The launch of TimesPeople follows the announcement of a redesigned Business section with added content.

Sources: The New York Times Company

The New York Times has announced plans to expand its online business coverage. This will be done through the redesign of its Technology section, a new Economy section and a new blog on energy and the environment, entitled Green Inc.

The Technology section will feature expanded coverage, new journalists, more spotlight on the Bits blog, and new content providers including, GigaOm, Venture Beat and ReadWriteWeb.

NYTimes.com also plans to introduce more changes in the coming months. Some of these changes include expanding the Small Business, Personal Technology and Your Money sections. NYTimes.com will also bring on board more journalists and continue to add new tools and multimedia features.

Politico announced plans to expand and increase print production.  Politico was launched in 2007 and is now one of the most popular online sources for political news in the United States.  The print version is distributed free to offices on Capitol Hill with a circulation of 26,000 on Tuesday through Thursday when Congress is in Session.

The news comes as somewhat of a surprise considering that after the elections popular interest in politics is bound to drop.  Politico plans to increase to four print editions per week.  The new launch will coincide with a website redesign.  Plans to hire additional staff members, including reporters, editors, and Web engineers are also in the works

Politico's plans to increasing print production has sparked interest because of daily announcements by other news organizations of their plans to reduce print in an effort to cut costs. 

The newspaper accounts for most of Politico's revenue, however, according to The New York Times, the web site is closing in.  Politico's site draws over three million unique visitors a month.

Sources: paidContent, The New York Times