January 2007 Archives

A camera man from WSJ.com shot a video of a meeting of The Wall Street Street Journal’s (WSJ) editorial board. The video is now available on wsj.com, posing as a singular example of newspaper mise en abyme.

Yahoo News generated 50% more ad revenue last year than it did in 2005. Apart from increased reliance on online news, this is explained by the inclusion of new video content. Something for newspapers to think about.

Poynter Institute writer Monique Van Dusseldorp reports on the words of John Naisbitt, author of the 1988 bestseller Megatrends. At the Digital Life Design conference, Naisbitt insisted that newspapers aren’t visual enough for the standards of modern day culture.

A reader’s letter to the U.S. Times Argus gives some advice to editors who tend to privilege incision over context, edge over content, and in the end, misleading information rather than valuable insight.

E-paper has long been in the mouths of newspaper industry analysts and editors. It has failed to materialize and be produced efficiently so far, but now it’s just around the corner.

The Sacramento Bee just released an online feature meant for political junkies – with deep pockets. Capitol Alert provides an in-depth resource about California’s governor and legislature, for a mere $499 a year.

Editor of the London Evening Standard Veronica Wadley says that readers are returning to the paid paper, after a period during which they read and evaluated London’s other freesheets.

The New York Times announced that Dean Baquet has been named chief of its Washington bureau. Baquet left his position as editor of the Los Angeles Times last year, after disputes over job cuts with management.

On Jan. 31 Russian President Vladimir Putin will stand in front of hundreds of journalists for an annual face-off, one of the rare occasions during which reporters can pose direct questions and interview him.

Malaysian media tycoon Tiong Hiew King is making a bid to merge his three Chinese-language publishing groups in Malaysia and Hong Kong, to form one of the world’s largest Chinese media groups.

Slate writer Daniel Gross hatched up a general outline that would allow for publicly held The New York Times Co. to go private, while remaining in the hands of the Sulzberger family, who won’t let go of it.

The Canadian Community Newspapers Association has released its report, Snapshot 2007, which provides a quick glance at the latest figures and statistics of Canada’s community papers.

Tribune Co. and news aggregator Topix.net are partnering to co-brand merchandise classified pages on Tribune’s newspaper websites. This is already the case for baltimoresun.com, and should extend to 11 others by May.

Stephen G. Smith, former head of the Houston Chronicle’s Washington Bureau, is leaving in order to become editor for the Washington Examiner, a two-year-old freesheet. Just why?

The Editor-in-Chief, Online, Mike van Niekerk, splits his time between Sydney and Melbourne. Here he writes about a day in the life of an integrated newsroom and what it can achieve, but first a little more background.

Sud Ouest, France’s third regional press title, is revamping its whole arsenal and focusing on digital, in an attempt to cope with the current challenges of the press industry.

A study revealed that newspapers are losing ground in schools and education - even their online editions - as teachers prefer to study using international online news sites.

Trinity Mirror has launched five citizen journalism micro-sites, as a test launch of what could become a widespread feature on the group’s newspaper websites.

The Bangladeshi government has warned that anyone who breaks restrictions on new media or political rallies – imposed during a state of emergency – risks up to five years in jail. Earlier this month, the government had restricted freedoms of speech and assembly.