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The World Association of Newspapers and IFRA, the leading international associations for print and digital news publishing, have merged into a new organisation, the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA). The combined new organisation will represent more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3000 companies in more than 120 countries. WAN-IFRA is dedicated "to be the indispensable partner of newspapers and the entire news publishing industry worldwide, particularly our members, in the defense and promotion of press freedom, quality journalism and editorial integrity, and the development of prosperous businesses and technology."

The drastic measures employed by the Associated Press to stanch the flow of deserters to its service, along with DPA's recent loss of a 2-million-euro subscriber, demonstrate that news agencies have some serious soul-searching to do in terms of what they offer their customers and at what cost. Writing for followthemedia.com, Philip Stone asserts that wire services need to significantly cut their content and thus their prices in order to retain clients.

Stone, a former managing director at Reuters Europe, Middle East, and Africa media division, uses DPA as an example. Each day the agency sends out 800 stories through its main service and 100 stories from each of its 12 state services, along with 700 news photos. Clearly, there is no way any one newspaper would use all or even a quarter of those articles.

German publishers have united behind demands that the government pass legislation
shielding their intellectual property from "ongoing theft" over the Internet.  The principle publishing houses aligned themselves with trade unions of the music, film and advertising industries at the "International Media Dialogue" in Hamburg earlier this month to discuss to question "No Future for Paid Content? Media Industry Under Pressure".  

A statement warned about the greatly damaging financial repercussions of intellectual property theft by providers and demanded legal protection for online content. The signatories of the statement were: the German Producers Alliance, the German Association of Communications Agencies, and the big publishing houses Springer, Bauer, Ganske, Gruner & Jahr, Spiegel and Zeit.  

How is one news source, totally funded by subscriptions, to compete with another that receives government subsidies? Such is dilemma that arose when WAZ, Germany's second-largest newspaper group, dropped its subscription to the independently-run German press agency DPA in favor of government-subsidized Agence France-Presse.

As Isabelle de Pommereau points out in the Christian Science Monitor, the decision has consequences for both WAZ and DPA. Since the WAZ group started relying on AFP for all its wire coverage, "the papers' depth of German-based coverage has become undeniably more shallow." Pommereau adds that the loss of such a major client also puts financial pressure on DPA as it struggles against cutting coverage or raising the cost for its other clients.

Will people voluntarily pay to read news that they could easily read for free? Cynthia Typaldos, founder of Kachingle is convinced that they will. Kachingle proposes a novel solution to the news industry's revenue problems: encourage people to donate money to their favourite sites, whether these are major news outlets or small-time blogs. The Editors Weblog spoke to Typaldos to find out more about the scheme, which is due to launch in late July or early August.

How it works

Kachingle users, who the company are calling Kachinglers, need to sign up once to set up their subscription, which, via PayPal, will charge them $5 a month. When they go to a news site that is participating in the venture, it will display a Kachingle 'medallion', which the user can click on to indicate their support for that site. The reader can choose to highlight as many or as few news sites as it wishes, and Kachingle will track the number of times that they visit that site in a month. At the end of a month their $5 will be divided and distributed proportionally between the sites which they have flagged, according to the amount of times visited (with a 15% cut going to Kachingle and 5% to PayPal.) "The algorithm is meant to be a proxy for value received the consumer," Typaldos explained.

Why will people pay?

The main reason Typaldos thinks people will be prepared to offer this $5 is not because they have a strong desire to help save newspapers but because of the social advantages of using Kachingle. Contributors create a profile that shows which sites they are supporting, which they can post to their Facebook profiles or send on Twitter, Typaldos suggested. There will even be a Facebook application. "It becomes a very real view of the things I value, part of my online persona," she explained: something which she believes is "very important" to people as their online existence becomes more and more complex. Essentially, "there's a very powerful peer pressure recognition element to Kachingle" which is what she thinks will drive people to become involved, she feels that users will be "getting something back" in the form of social recognition. The more altruistic wish to help support news would come second to this, she believes.

Another reason Typaldos gave for why Kachingle will work is simply how easy it is: a crucial factor for such a venture. Registering involves providing just basic details, and thereafter, a Kachingler's job is straightforward, marking the sites, without having to consider how much they would like to contribute to it. "There just can't be any mental transaction costs," as Typaldos put it. And the system still allows people to move freely around different publications without encountering pay walls, which Typaldos is firmly against. "Pay walls are just the kiss of death for newspapers," she claims, "we just think it's the wrong economic approach." Those who are trying to implement them "are trying to take the old business model and stick it on the Internet," which she believes is a doomed approach.

To start with, anyone who registers as a Kachingler will make a $5 a month payment. It is fixed thus because Typaldos did not want the decision of how much to contribute to be a barrier for users. The company plans, however, to allow people to give larger amounts in the future, and to encourage them to do so by suggesting amounts based on how many sites they have chosen to support. Typaldos hopes that the typical amount given will rise to about $20 a month. Unsurprisingly, content providers would like people to contribute more money, she said.

The start-up has been in contact with many major news publishers, Typaldos clarified, and these have been by no means only US based: publishers in Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Brazil, Hungary and across Scandinavia, for example, have been in touch. "We are not country specific," she confirmed. For news organisations, the benefits are clear, and the medallion button is extremely easy to install: a simple Java script widget which "you can put on your site in three minutes."

Will it work?

So how much could Kachingle actually raise for newspapers? Could it make a difference? "I think that we will bring enough revenue to sites that are very high quality with original content," Typaldos asserted. She is not under any illusions that such an effort could save a major newspaper that has "debt, so many overheads, print, a huge staff," but she is confident that Kachingle could have a highly significant impact on smaller publications such as MinnPost, which has low overheads but respected journalists. "We will be very powerful for them," she added.

The idea is a good one in the sense that it manages to combine the notion that people should and can pay for news, without putting up paywalls that would block off sections of newspapers and seem incompatible with the idea that news readers should be able to jump around as they please online. It is also compatible with an advertising model. Typaldos described it as "not like tipping, not like micropayments, but we have taken the best elements of both." The fact that readers can choose what they think its worth paying for is likely to appeal to many, and the cost is sufficiently low to not be a deterrent. It does seem that quite a substantial marketing campaign will have to be carried out to spread the word and persuade people that it is worth making the effort to sign up: social pressure alone might not be enough. Once they do so, however, they will probably appreciate the service.

The future of printed media has become a major political issue in countries like the United States or France, even being debated in ad-hoc committees set up by the legislative or the executive powers. Discussions along the Potomac or the Seine rivers have been focusing on the impact of Internet and new technologies, or on the need for state subsidies.

Meanwhile, on the Vltava in Prague, a group of editors and reporters working for PPF Media, the recently created division of insurance and consumer banking group PPF, is already opening new ways of covering a whole country in what may be a newsroom of the future. With other journalists for the moment based in four provincial towns from the Czech Republic, they are launching the so-called "hyperlocal weekly" Nase adresa ("our address"), which combines print and online journalism with particular efforts to sustain high professional standards and get closer to the readers.

"It can only work with well prepared journalists who will be trained in the Futuroom, our central newsroom," explains Roman Gallo, 44, director for PPF's media strategies and conceiver of the project. "We are also opening newscafés in our local bureaus, which will facilitate the contact between Nase adresa's journalists and the public, to enrich the content of our newspaper and of its webpages," adds Matej Husek, 33, director of news operations.
 
The newspoints, combining local newsrooms and Internet cafés in often small, rural towns, may be the most visible originality of this new undertaking. A few weeks before Nase adresa's launch, for instance, PPF Media's already hired staff had the chance to taste two products, the first print prototype of the weekly, and a cake likely to be served in the cafés. "The project represents a special challenge in terms of logistics, of room for storage, as we will be managing dozens of bistrot-Starbucks-like coffee shops in local newsrooms," comments Tomas Chejn, 41, the manager of PPF Media's branded cafés, a food specialist hired for his long time experience in quality catering. Petr Vitasek, 38, the director and chief editor for the Moravia region, based in the eastern Czech city of Olomouc, thinks this effort is worth the investment, because these "well located newspoints will be critical in getting Nase adresa's journalists to work closer to their readers."
 

 
But the whole project is innovative at other, multiple levels. To start with, for the first time a newspaper's birth is tightly associated to the creation of a multi-media training center - with several international partners including Google, Atex and the World Association of Newspapers/ World Editors Forum. The Futuroom will be a newsroom in charge of assisting and training in-house editors, some having no previous reporting experience, as much as a real life teaching field for future journalists. These will include a group of students within another partnership with Brno's Masaryk University, in the second largest Czech town.

Nase adresa's approach could also become a school case due to the organization of the newsroom. "I like how the Futuroom is shaped. Journalists are not confined to one theme, like health or education, but to a way of reporting, and I enjoy changing topics," says Vendula Krizova, reporter in the "Human approach team" and young (25) like many of her new colleagues. Adds Radim Klekner, 50, who joined the "Institutional team" - after working for 10 different newsrooms - to do researches on European Union institutions in particular: "Vertical structures dominate in traditional newspapers, while in Nase adresa it is more horizontal. In my case, for instance, I will be covering many European issues based on the Czech reality."


Klekner had some doubts initially, however, because he has been covering foreign news in the past 15 years.  Why would he join a hyperlocal news project as an international editor, then? "There is a need for benchmarking with other European countries in all aspects of the Czech society, and with Nase adresa I will be able to give a EU presence in the remotest Czech villages", he believes. "Our role is to assess general issues like the lack of general practitioners in the country, compared to others, and connect them to specific cases brought up by the local newsrooms."
 

 
Local journalists with long intensive experience covering their community are also convinced they are working for an innovative project. Vitasek, in Olomouc, even tried a hyperlocal news concept on his own five years ago, called Olomoucky Tydenik. "It was a weekly published on Mondays and strong on local sports, like Nase adresa. We had to stop it after one year, but this time I have with me a 10-people team supported by PPF and by the Futuroom managers and trainers. Our office, in a central strategic area of Olomouc, will be a space for constant direct contact with readers and potential contributors."

Based on her 30 year experience in local journalism, Hana Vojtova, 52, the chief editor of the Teplice newspoint, in the north Bohemian city near the border with east Germany, also believes Nase adresa is a new improvement for community journalism: "We will get nearer to the people from the region, who are tired of politics and want to be informed on human interest stories," explains Vojtova, whose district is dramatically affected by problems like crime and unemployment. "We are going to cover better our readers's activities and their dreams!"
 

 
The project has attracted several other seasoned editors from all backgrounds, including Jiri Zavozda, 50, Nase adresa's head of the copy editing team. He just finished a seven year experience in major private television "Prima", as news editor-in-chief, after working more than a decade for national newspapers. "The TV experience was good because it teaches you how to write short, but I prefer print because it is less superficial," says Zavozda. There are other reasons why he joined the Futuroom. "I see my in-laws, who live in a little village in Moravia and who have only access to media not specifically targeted to them, national daily Mlada Fronta, newsweekly Tyden and the television. Only Nase adresa will inform them well on the Sunday afternoon firemen team's competitions, which are particularly popular in the Czech republic. We will get spectacular photos of fires being extinguished!"

Adds Peter Sabata, 48, the editor-in-chief responsible for the local newsroom: "I strongly believe in the hyperlocal level of information, with the combination of newspoints, and print, online journalism. The weekly will be a bridge from now to the near future, when everybody in the regions will be connected." Sabata just moved back to the Czech republic after eight years at the head of national Slovak paper Pravda's newsroom.

 
Other Nase adresa team members are particularly enthusiastic because of the new challenges specific to a project combining teaching and praxis, online and print journalism, so far never achieved at such a level. Ondrej Besperat, 31, who manages the photo-video team in a duo with veteran photojournalist Jan Silpoch, is well aware of the differences between shooting for a newspaper or for a website. Before joining the Futuroom, he was a photographer for national daily Hospodarske Noviny and then worked for Aktualne.cz, the successful, Internet-only Czech media outlet. "In printed media, you have to do one or two pictures a day, and you invest all your energy in the best one, while in Internet, you try more different perspectives as you know that several pictures are likely to be released for each story."

Besperat anticipates he is likely to spend two third of his time training reporters from the local newsrooms, at the beginning at least. "One of the main challenges will be to shoot sport with our standard high-end amateur cameras," he says. "The idea is not to have journalists who do everything all the time, but reporters who are multifunctional, able to provide good texts and images."

 
Nase adresa will also represent new challenges beyond the expertise usually expected from  journalists, especially for the local chief editors who will have to look after a coffee shop part of their time. "Ten years ago I had a short experience working for Coca Cola, but this will be new because I am not at all a food and beverage specialist," laughs Vitasek, in Moravia. Krizova, who is glad to cover very diverse topics, is also ready for another type of special assignment as a young reporter. She will be asked to take care of children visiting the Futuroom - turned into a "Junioroom" or "media camp" - to learn how to write an article or produce a video footage.


PPF Media's project will be preparing new generations of journalists and not just showing new forms of getting and providing the news.
 

BACKGROUND
The Czech Republic is a country of 10 million people living in 14 regions subdivided in 75 districts in total. Until 20 years ago, only the government and Communist Party related entities could publish newspapers. This was also the case for the regional dailies, and for more local publications at district or town levels. German group Verlagsgruppe Passau took over most of them in 1990 and after, under its Czech branch Vltava-Labe-Press which currently controls over 10 weeklies and over 70 dailies called Denik ("daily", followed by the name of the concerned locality). Nase adresa will have no direct competitors except in a few cases, because its editions will typically cover areas of 20-30,000 people while Denik and its affiliates are designed for larger groups, of over 100,000 inhabitants on average.

Journalists who use Wikipedia as a source for their articles have been "exposed" after a 22-year-old student in Ireland revealed that he had inserted a fake quote into a Wikipedia entry which was then used by multiple newspapers. Shane Fitzgerald, studying sociology at University College Dublin, decided to perform an experiment when he heard that French composer Maurice Jarre had died on March 30. He went swiftly to the Wikipedia page, entered his invented quote, and then watched to see who used it.

"I did not think it would have a major impact. I was wrong," Fitzgerald wrote in the Irish Times, after his words were used in obituaries in newspapers in the UK, India, the US and Australia. The Guardian issued a correction, having used the quotation to open its piece on the composer. In February, a similar hoax occurred in Germany, reported the Columbia Journalism Review.

The issue here is clear: journalists should not use Wikipedia as a primary source, as there is absolutely no guarantee that it is accurate. The site is an extremely useful resource for background information and for gathering more authoritative sources as most entries contain many links, but anything on it must be verified. The quote written by Fitzgerald was uncontroversial and the incident has only caused embarrassment, but deliberate misinformation could have more serious consequences if it is used in generally trustworthy sources.

Source: Irish Times, CJR

Various ideas to overhaul the business model of newspapers have been debated in recent weeks, such as the possibility of a return to paid online content, or a non-profit endowment scheme. Both have potential, but both are long term solutions that would take some time to implement, and for the immediate crisis at hand, could government help be the answer? At the end of January French President Nicolas Sarkozy approved a 600 million euro package of measures to save the beleaguered French press. Ideas for some kind of bailout plan have been floated in the US for several months now, following those for banks and the car industry, and similar discussion has taken place in the UK. Is a similar bailout likely to happen anywhere else? Could it save the struggling industry, or is such government involvement in the media too dangerous?

The French way

The French measures announced came largely from recommendations in a three-month study into the industry's health that was released in early January. The proposals were largely based on reducing productions costs, but the study also recommended that newspapers restructure their finances and that journalists be better trained for multiple forms of media, including online. Sarkozy's speech instructed newspapers to improve the content of their articles, bring in younger readers and transform business models

Arguably the most controversial measure was the decision to give 18 year olds a year-long subscription to a newspaper of their choice. This is clearly a direct subsidy, and one which many people do not think will work. It does seem optimistic to imagine that thousands of teenagers are going to find the time in their day to sit down and read a broadsheet rather than scan news online, and then be inspired to continue such a subscription. The package also included a major increase in state expenditure to support newspaper and magazine deliveries: 70 million euro from 8 million last year. The government will double its spending on advertisements in print publications. The state will also defer some fees the publications face, and Sarkozy announced a freeze on the cost of postal distribution and a reduction in payroll taxes for newsagents. He also extended tax breaks for investors in online journalism.

France's press is among the least profitable in Europe, with circulation figures of around half those of the UK and Germany, and national newspapers suffering particularly. According to the Guardian, it is "stifled by rigid communist press unions, a lack of kiosks selling papers and a declining readership far below that of the UK or Germany." Sarkozy has promised to increase points of sale, and work to improve newspaper delivery to both kiosks and homes. Another major problem is high printing costs, as presses are controlled by communist union Le Livre. Sarkozy announced that the state is aiming to reduce printing costs by 30-40 per cent by negotiating with the union.  

Sarkozy insisted that the aid package was not an attack on press freedom, the Guardian reported. "I don't understand how anyone could doubt the legitimacy of the state in this process," he claimed, comparing the press to any other industry in need of aid, such as the automobile sector. Incidentally, the French car industry just received a 6.5 billion euro loan from the government. And the French state already gives 1.5 billion euro in direct and indirect aid to the press each year. The Guardian asserted in January that "the public's trust in the media is at an all-time low in a climate where politicians rewrite their own interviews for publication and the president's powerful business friends, from construction to arms manufacturing, own several major papers or TV stations." Which does not really sound like ideal circumstances for the government to get further involved in the media. It is too early to assess the effects of the bailout on newspapers, though it seems to have been received favourably by editors.

UK's regional focus

Another country where public trust in the media is at an all time low is the UK. Research by the Media Standards Trust revealed on 9 February that only 7% of the public trust national newspapers to behave responsibly. "Without urgent reform we believe that self-regulation of the press will become increasingly ineffective at both protecting the public and promoting good journalism and, without prompt action, there is real danger that it will become increasingly irrelevant," said Martin Moore, director of the Trust. The report calls for government intervention to ensure press accuracy and to limit intrusion on people's private lives. But would such government intervention be accompanied by financial aid?

In response to Sarkozy's announcement of the French plan, a spokesman for publisher Trinity Mirror said: "We don't believe that direct subsidies are a safe or sensible way forward. There are two easy things for the government to do. The first is to indicate that they will intervene and allow consolidation of regional newspapers on public interest grounds. The second is to return to using local newspapers for public notices and public sector job advertising." Many papers have called for changes to competition regulations in the local and regional sectors to more easily facilitate mergers, and the UK's Office of Fair Trading has confirmed it is to launch a full consultation on the local media ownership regime next month. Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger went a step further and raised the question of public subsidies for newspapers in November 2008, arguing that as broadcasters compete for government funding, why shouldn't local newspapers too? "There has never been less certainty about the future of local news in this country," he said. Roy Greenslade, amongst others, criticised this view, saying that information should not all be funded "through the mechanism of the state."

American opposition

Across the pond in the US, Connecticut legislators sparked debate at the end of 2008 by petitioning the state government to help local papers whose publisher Journal Register said it could not afford to keep them open any more. Journal Register has been forced to close 'dozens' of newspapers in recent months. Connecticut's Department of Economic and Community Development is offering tax breaks, training funds, financing opportunities and other incentives for publishers, but not cash. According to economic development commissioner Joan McDonald, Connecticut does not see trying to find a buyer and offering tax breaks as exerting influence on the press. In January, the publisher of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News were in discussions with Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell about getting the two largest state employee pension funds to help bail out the papers.

But there has been considerable opposition to any such notion, as could be expected in a country which prides itself on its free market attitude. The Wall Street Journal asserted that a newspaper bailout was "the worst bailout idea so far," and stressed that "independent journalism is valuable, but only if it is truly independent."  Editor & Publisher editors warned that although it could be tempting to seek government assistance, "Uncle Sam's purse comes with lots of strings attached." Paul Janensch, a journalism professor at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, and a former reporter and editor, commented "you can't expect a watchdog to bite the hand that feeds it."

There is already some unobtrusive government assistance to American newspapers, for example the US Postal Service has offered discounted postage rates. Also, several cities have papers running under Joint Operating Agreements, created following the congressional Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970 to keep competing urban dailies viable despite circulation declines.

Can a bailout be justified?

It is possible that other European countries will follow the French example, but an American bailout seems to be extremely unlikely. The British people are used to the idea of public funding for news, given the prevalence of the BBC, so maybe they would be more open to the idea of more government subsidies. But it could also be argued that given the major presence of the BBC, there is enough government involvement in news already.

It is undeniable that as one of the main roles of the press in a democracy is to criticise the government, it must remain entirely free of any government influence, and there is always the risk that government support could lead to influence. The idea of the press relying on the government to any extent is extremely unappealing to many people. But another valid point is that given the importance to any democracy of an active press, it is the government's duty to support the press in time of need.

Making sure that press friendly laws are in place, rather than offering a cash injection, is probably as far as the government should go, in 'normal' circumstances. But perhaps given the current problems plaguing the industry, some limited, short-term government assistance could be justified, to help papers make the necessary adjustments to working online, until an appropriate business model can be found, or until the economy starts to recover. In any kind of bailout, help should be given in such a way where there would be no risk that it could be considered as an attempt to influence. It would be essential to ensure that any help offered to newspapers was offered country-wide, and that it did not give any papers advantages over others. And government support should not be a substitute for innovation, and should not stifle entrepreneurship.

After banks and cars, is the press the next candidate for a government bailout?  Among a 600 million euro package of measures designed to help France's struggling newspaper industry, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced on Friday that the government will be offering all 18 year-olds a free newspaper of their choice once a week. Newspapers themselves will provide free copies and the state will cover the cost of delivering them to the thousands of homes, Sarkozy clarified.

The measures announced came largely from recommendations in a three-month study into the industry's health that was released on 8 January. The proposals were largely based on reducing productions costs, but the study also recommends that newspapers restructure their finances and that journalists be better trained for multiple forms of media, including online.

For their eighteenth birthdays, teenagers will receive a yearlong subscription to their favourite general news daily. In a speech to industry leaders, Sarkozy stressed that "The habit of reading a daily paper takes hold at a very young age." The plan is presumably an attempt to introduce teenagers, who frequently only get their news online, to the delights of the printed word. A similar idea has been tested by Ouest-France and 41 regional newspapers over the past few years, offering some 18-24 year-olds a free paper once a week for a year. Ouest France reported that 15 per cent of young people wanted to continue with a paid subscription after the year was over.

So far, the national scheme has been met with significant criticism. The free subscription idea was among 10 ideas recommended to the government by a sub-committee charged with considering the specific problem of youth readership, but was far from the top of the list. Two different strategies were most highly recommended: assuring that a youth voice was in newsrooms themselves to begin to address core content and platform issues via a cadre of young "ambassadors," and creating a habit of regular newspaper reading by assuring a short but daily newspaper reading period in school.

"French papers are made for 50 or 60 year-olds, not for teenagers."

Francois Dufour, who headed the youth advisory committee, is disappointed with the government's decision and has little faith in the scheme's potential for success. He told the Editors Weblog that "teens only read what they are interested in:" just because they are given a free paper does not mean that they are likely to read it. It is the newspapers that need to change if they are going to appeal to young people; at the moment "French papers are made for 50 or 60 year-olds, not for teenagers." He also questioned whether 19 year-olds, even those who might have enjoyed having a free newspaper every day, would be subsequently sufficiently enthused to start spending over 200 euros a year on their own subscription.

"It's a shame because this solution is a mere band-aid, when radical surgery is needed," commented Aralynn McMane, World Association of Newspapers Director of young readership development, who advised at one of the committee's meetings. "If the content is not compelling, free subscriptions are a waste."  

Frederic Filloux, Editor of the international divison of the Schibsted group and former Editor in Chief of 20 minutes also maintains that newspapers need to tackle content issues and that the plan is unlikely to work.  "If young people are not reading newspapers, it is not because of the price but because what they offer is inadequate.  The press must improve its quality and provide more pertinent content to seduce new generations," he told Le Monde.  He believes that the scheme is merely "a gadget to please editors," as it achievable at marginal cost to the papers themselves.

"If young people are not reading newspapers, it is not because of the price but because what they offer is inadequate."

The package also includes an increase in state expenditure to support newspaper and magazine deliveries to 70 million euro from 8 million last year, and the government will double its spending on advertisements in print publications. The state will also defer some fees the publications face, and Sarkozy announced a freeze on the cost of postal distribution and a reduction in payroll taxes for newsagents.

France's press is among the least profitable in Europe and according to the Guardian, is "stifled by rigid communist press unions, a lack of kiosks selling papers and a declining readership far below that of the UK or Germany." Sarkozy has promised to increase points of sale, and work to improve newspaper delivery to both kiosks and homes. Another major problem is high printing costs, as presses are controlled by communist union Le Livre. Sarkozy announced that the state is aiming to reduce printing costs by 30-40 per cent by negotiating with the union.  

State-funding of the press has been an issue in France for quite some time, and the Guardian asserted on Friday that "the public's trust in the media is at an all-time low in a climate where politicians rewrite their own interviews for publication and the president's powerful business friends, from construction to arms manufacturing, own several major papers or TV stations." So state aid at such a time might not be the wisest choice.

It remains to be seen how many 18 year-olds take up the offer of a free paper, and any concrete benefits to the industry will not be measurable for some years.  World Editors Forum Director Bertrand Pecquerie believes that the programme would be more "cost-effective and helpful if it were linked to some paid-for online content becoming free," as young people today are unlikely to become dedicated print fans. Without tackling the root cause of the problem - the content of the newspapers themselves - it seems foolish to hope that more easily accessible, even free, papers are going to up circulation numbers enough to save the suffering industry.  And the idea that thousands of teenagers are going to find the time in their day to sit down and read a broadsheet rather than scan news online is somewhat optimistic, to say the least.  
 
 

Germany's largest newspaper, Bild, is looking to recruit citizen journalists, and it is doing so on a grand scale. The Springer title is working with supermarket chain Lidl to sell a basic digital camera to the new recruits who will help Bild expand its coverage.

Managing Editor, Michael Paustian, says, "We can't cover everything. We think it is an advance for journalism." The German newspaper is the most dominant player in the market, achieving circulation of 3.3 million copies from Monday to Saturday.

German market research company, Mindline Media, have released a survey indicating that the German public would like free papers.

Germany is one of the few markets in Europe which has not seen the launch of free dailies.

A thousand people between the age of 14 and 49 were questioned and 46% thought free papers would make newspapers in general more attractive. The survey also revealed that 40% wanted smaller (tabloid) newspapers. Mindline reported that Germans would like more local news (36%) and more flexible subscriptions - for instance weekend-only - (30%).

More pictures and comics were only favoured by a small minority.

Source: EJC Media, Newspaper Innovation and Horizant

The Editors Weblog reported some sad news for the newspaper industry this morning: the closure of the Commonwealth Press Union (CPU) and its magazine CPQ.

For a lot of editors and journalists trained by the CPU, receiving its newsletter, or participating in its Editors Forum or the regular CPU conferences, this is painful news. It is painful not just because they have lost a partner (and frequently a sponsor), but also because the CPU was the oldest international press association in the world. The CPU would have celebrated its hundredth anniversary in 2009 - the Empire Press Union was founded in 1909 - but the board has scheduled the closure of almost all its activities on 31 December 2008.

What does the closure this historical institution mean and what will the consequences be for the current CPU members in almost fifty countries?

Who will take care of small newspapers and small organizations?

In the obituary of CPU, it is said that, very soon, a Commonwealth Press Training & Education Trust (CPTET), will take over some CPU activities, mainly focused on training. The CPU Foundation, which funds training, will be maintained, but at the moment the financing behind this structure is not yet set. But the basic idea of the CPU - through the unique and common language of English - was to create links and to network between publishers, editors and journalists from the 49 countries belonging to the CPU. The new trust will loose this ambition, even if the contrary is said on paper.

The most important challenge will be to ensure the balance between big countries/small countries, big newspapers/small organizations. Rationalization will focus on larger countries and newspapers. The real risk is if we forget the Salomon Islands, Fiji, the small African states and the Caribbean countries. Australia will take over for the Pacific, South Africa would like to support African English-speaking countries and the US and the British Foreign Office will certainly take care of the Caribbean, but the global picture will disappear.

It is true that a press association based on the Commonwealth souvenir and the thirties was maybe not the most up-to-date organization, but its death will break a worldwide community unified by common ideals and ethical views. I'm sure regional organizations will do their best for small organizations, but with very specific geopolitical interests. And for this reason, the disappearance of CPU and a global point of view on journalism is bad news.

What will be the future of international press organisations?

The death of a 100 year old association is a symbol and a signal for all other newspapers organisations. Two years ago, the IPI (International Press Institute), encountered significant problems but found a way to maintain its activities. But are IFRA in Germany or WAN in France (the World Association of Newspapers, including the World Editors Forum) not threatened by the evolution of the newspapers business model? Regional organizations are also potentially in trouble, such as the IAPA in the Americas, TAEF in Africa (organization for editors-in-chief) or Panpa in Oceania, and so on.

The closure of CPU and the difficulties faced by the IPI clearly demonstrate that the existing business model for these organizations is under threat: how long will they rely on state funds, sponsors' money, conference fees and memberships? For instance, more and more members want to consume business information as they consume music on their iPods: by just paying for the specific item they want, and no more.

The subscription business model is under attack and press organizations must anticipate this shift.

Another problem is the development of webinars and online conferences as competitors to the current "face-to-face conferences". Either traditional organizations grasp these new ideas and the opportunity they represent, or the new pure online players will. It will take time to define standards and to build up customers and partners, but it will happen.

See also:

End of the Commonwealth Press Union on December 31, 2008

The Editors Weblog interviewed Martin M. Simecka, the author of an article that appeared in Czech magazine, Respekt on October 13, 2008.  

The article claims that an authentic police report, over 50 years old, has resurfaced from the Communist security agency's archive.  The report implicates Czech author Milan Kundera.  Kundera is accused of denouncing Miroslav Dvoracek, who was a university student in Prague. The denunciation led to his imprisonment for over 14 years.  

Part of the document reads:
"Today at around 1600 hours a student, Milan Kundera, born 1.4.1929 in Brno, resident at the student hall of residence on George VI Avenue in Prague VII, presented himself at this department and reported that a student, Iva Militká, resident at that residence, had told a student by the name of Dlask, also of that residence, that she had met a certain acquaintance of hers, Miroslav Dvořáček, at Klárov in Prague the same day. The said Dvořáček apparently left 1 case in her care, saying he would come to fetch it in the afternoon. (...) Dvořáček had apparently deserted from military service and since the spring of the previous year had possibly been in Germany, where he had gone illegally"

Editors Weblog asked Mr. Simecka a few questions about how Respekt has handled the issue from a journalistic and editorial point of view:

EW: How did you determine the authenticity of the police report?  Is this the only document you have?

MS: The experts from the Military History Institute confirmed the authenticity of the document. We also interviewed Ms. Militka for the story.  Other newspapers have interviewed her as well.

EW: How and why did you decide to publish the document?  Did you have any doubts or hesitations before you published the article? Did Milan Kundera answer you when you contacted him before publication?

MS:  Adam Hradilek, the historian who found the original document, tried to contact Milan Kundera by fax on September 11, 2008 (one month before the article was published), however, Kundera did not respond.  We also know that he had received the fax.  Of course we had some long debates about publishing the article, but we have no doubts about the version we have published.

EW:  How was the article written and presented in the Czech Republic? As purely factual or as accusatory?

MS:  Our article did not accuse Mr. Kundera, we simply were following the facts.

EW: Kundera has denounced the document and article as "pure lies", how do you plan on approaching the situation now?  What will be the magazine's response?

MS: In the Czech Republic it is a very heated debate, and sometimes very irrational. We have asked Czech writers, such as Vaclav Havel, to write short essays about the case.

EW: In hindsight, because Kundera has denounced the accusations, do you feel that you should have taken more precautions before publishing the article?  Or are you confident that it will hold up?

MS: Our biggest problem was how to talk to Mr. Kundera - we knew very well that he has not communicated with the media for over 25 years. On the other hand, until now Mr. Kundera has not said anything else about the case - other than claiming that it is a lie. There are many questions that need to be answered, but Mr. Kundera is not communicating to the media.

EW: You are comparing Kundera to Günter Grass.  Does this mean that you are expecting Kundera to admit?

MS:  Originally, I hoped for it but now I do not expect that Kundera will admit.

EW: Where do you see this debate going?  Will it continue to grow?

MS: Yes, especially in the Czech Republic, the debate is going to be huge.  I am afraid the result may be that politicians will close the Military History Institute.

EW:  What does it change if Kundera is guilty or not?  Who will be affected the most?

MS: This case could open the debate of the past, but it seems that it can also close it for years and years. That would be the saddest story.

EW:  What do you expect from Vaclav Havel?
 
MS:  Vaclav Havel has written for us - more or less defending Mr. Kundera.

EW: Do you think other cases of velvet revolution heroes will appear? Have you opened Pandora's box?

MS:  Some other cases may come up, but I do not think they will ever be as big as this one.

Source: Respekt

The 'Secret Weapon' of Newspapers in the Digital Age? Paper!
William Powers, Media Columnist, The Nation, USA

Paper is an island of peace in the digital 'chaos' and an 'emerging strength' for media which demands much more examination, William Powers said in his keynote address to the annual Readership Conference.

"The world needs - desperately needs - what newspapers do," said Mr Powers, the media columnist for The Nation magazine in the United States and author of "Hamlet's Blackberry," an essay on the enduring power of paper.

The World Association of Newspapers presented its annual World Young Reader
Newspaper of the Year award Thursday (16 October) to the Polish daily Gazeta
Wyborcza for its successful initiatives to attract younger readers in a
country where half the population in under 35.

The newspaper, which received the award at the WAN Readership Conference in
Amsterdam, also won Jury Commendations for two projects: a tie-in for young
readers with the Euro 2008 football matches, and for a campaign that helped
readers protest against Chinese policies in Tibet.

"This is a total 'youth think' newspaper. They do everything right for young
people," said Aralynn McMane, Director of Young Reader Programmes at WAN, in
presenting the award.

Success of the Web? Try Newspaper Values With a New Twist
Caroline Little, Adviser to Guardian News & Media and former CEO and publisher of Washington Post/Newsweek Interactives, United States:

"Keep one foot rooted in the core journalism values of the core product, and one that happens to be delivering the most revenue, and with the other, stretch as far as possible to try new things in this new medium."

"The news websites share the same journalistic values as the newspapers, but the web folks also are working in a medium that's indisputably different, one that requires trying new things and sometimes going down in flames," she said. "Fear of failure can be debilitating. All we have to lose by being too conservative is everything."

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.

France's newspaper industry is in crises and President Nicholas Sarkozy is launching talks to look into alleviating the situation. There will be a two month industry consultation period led by a one of Sarkozy's former Elysee advisers.

However, unions are reportedly concerned Sarkozy could loosen ownership laws, allowing his television baron friends to buy into the national press. Sarkozy, is known as the "télé-président" due to his media fixation and his close relationship with key figures within the media.

The French press is one of the least profitable in Europe, the daily circulation of all French national papers is just 8 million, which is half that of the UK and one third of Germany. French newspapers' combined turnover fell from €1.145bn (£905 million) in 2000 to €848 million last year.

It also costs more to print a national newspaper in France than in most of its European neighbours due to the Union Le Livre's importance in this sector, it insists on strict working hours and conditions for its members. It is also difficult to buy a newspaper in France because Labyrinthine state controls newspaper kiosks. The press already receive €1.5bn in direct and indirect state each year

Le Monde's editor, Eric Fottorino, has called for Sarkozy to make it easier for the public to buy a copy of a newspaper.

Sarkozy reportedly favours loosening French laws to allow media organisation to own a TV station, a major radio network and a major daily newspaper.

Source: Guardian.co.uk

Pskov-City, a new free weekly regional paper was launched last Friday in Russia's Pskov area. The paper, published entirely in color, has an initial circulation of 20,000 copies, although it intends to increase the figure to 50,000.

According to gipp.ru, Pskov citizens from the age group 25-55 years who are educated, well paid and have active lifestyles are looking for a paper that focuses on their region.

Pskov-City is divided into sections like news, lifestyle, health, business, weekly TV program guides, celebrities and also features sections that are gender-specific.

Source: gipp.ru  

See also:

Germany: Axel Springer reverses strategy, to launch free weekly
The Netherlands: Free weekly to launch this month in Rotterdam
Columbia: New free daily to debut with circulation of 300,000

Axel Springer announced plans to launch a free weekly, Berliner Morgenpost Wochenend-Extra on 20 September.  

Springer has been one of the most outspoken adversaries of free newspapers so this comes as a surprise shift in strategy.   

The paper will be distributed in the Berlin area by Deutsche Post and will have a circulation of one million.  It will contain articles from the previous week's Berliner Morgenpost, the paid Berlin paper.

Springer has been loosing young readers with their paid papers which is probably a main reason for the launch of a new free weekly.  Springer's director Mathias Döpfner sees the free paper as an "appetizer" to buy the paid one.

Germany has been a paid-for newspaper only market up until now; could Springer's move spark a change in the overall German market? Springer's move could certainly cause other players to move into this field, other newspaper groups, such as WAZ, reportedly have funds available to launch free newspapers in the event of a move such as Springer's launch of Berliner Morgenpost Wochenend-Extra.

Sources: Newspaper Innovation

See also:

Germany: Why the lack of free dailies?
Germany: Axel Springer plans online expansion through acquisitions and new units

France Telecom is testing a new electronic newspaper with the French newspaper industry called Read & Go.

Seven French publications have joined France Télécom for the test, which is intended to provide a convincing facsimile of its traditional counterpart. 120 people in France are testing the device, which allows them to download the participating newspapers contents over France Télécom's wireless network.

France Télécom is not the first company to experiment with electronic "paper" versions of newspapers. The Kindle, sold by Amazon.com, already allows customers to subscribe to e-paper versions of 19 newspapers. However, Read & Go is different as it can run adverts.

If successful, France Télécom plans to introduce the product in other markets, like Britain, where the company has mobile networks.

This product is being watched closely in the French market, as there are hopes that it could aid the flagging industry. Only 42 percent of adults regularly read newspapers in France, compared with 48 percent in the United States and 73 percent in Germany, according to the World Association of Newspapers.

The seven French publications participating in Read & Go include: Le Monde, Le Figaro, Le Parisien and Libération, which is being added to the test this month; a sports daily, L'Équipe; a business newspaper, Les Échos; and a weekly entertainment and culture magazine called Télérama.

Pascal Laroche, director of digital editions at Libération, said his paper viewed the project as a supplement for its existing products.

Source: The New York Times

Online video platform Brightcove Inc. announces a deal with OMS, Germany's Web-based sales and marketing network for regional newspaper titles, which will permit the latter to establish an online video network for member titles. Video content would be taken from international and national media outlets as well as from which is produced by local newspapers.

UK papers The Times and The Financial Times have joined the increasing list of publications that are offering their services on Amazon's Kindle reader, even if the technology is not available in the UK.

The Times, owned by News International, and The Financial Times, owned by FT Group, are offering the e-paper editions at a monthly fee of US$ 14.99 and US$ 9.99, respectively.

Other papers that have Kindle versions include China's Shanghai Daily, Frence's Le Monde, The Irish Times and Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine.

Germany's Deutsche Telecom announced that it plans to develop a portable e-reader that could be in competition with Amazon's Kindle.

Source: Paid Content UK through IFRA Executive News Service

See also:
New folding screen e-reader, Readius, to be released
Business Week review: The Kindle "an imperfect substitute" for the newspaper
A paperless world?
Are we headed for all-electronic papers?
US: L.A. Times launches Kindle edition

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
 

Max Mosley has launched a libel action against News of the World, following on from his victory last week at the high court.

Mosley won £60,000 in damages from the paper for invasion of privacy after the newspaper alledged that he took part in a "Nazi orgy". Mr Justice Eady ruled there was no public interest in the story, and that there were no Nazi connotations in what Mosley was doing.

Mosley, the president of FIA, motor racing's governing body, issued a writ for defamation against the newspaper on Friday, the Guardian reported.

Mosley has also begun criminal and civil actions against media organisations across Europe, including a £1.2m lawsuit against the publisher of Germany's largest newspaper, Bild, which wrongly alleged that Mosley's sadomasochistic sex session with five dominatrices had "Nazi connotations".

The action against Bild's publisher, Axel Springer AG, is for breach of trust, violations of copyright and fraud. Mosley is claiming Bild spent money for "illegal purposes" by paying for the video and photos of the orgy.

Jennifer McDermott, media partner at the law firm Withers, media outlets which repeated the Nazi allegation would find it difficult to defend the action because of Mr Justice Eady's ruling, but that damages were unlikely to be huge because of Mosley's damaged reputation.

Source: Guardian.co.uk