February 2007 Archives

At the Magazine Publishers of America’s annual digital conference, much talk pointed towards magazines’ websites evolving towards user-driven content and video. As newspapers become magazine-ish, perhaps there’s something in it for them.

Publico, launched in 1990, is one of Portugals leading newspapers. Two weeks ago they redesigned and reorganised the newspaper, both internally and externally. So what have been the main transitions to come to terms with and what has been the impact on readership and why will this redesign be more successful than in 2000? Editor Jose Manuel Fernandes tells Editors Weblog a little more about the all new Publico.

Newspaper Next (project by the American Press Institute) attempts to transplant the winning strategies of an industry leader to the newspaper industry. As different as the two markets may be, here is what Toyota ‘does’ that newspapers should be doing.

MSNBC.com’s FirstPerson might be one of the most complete citizen journalism projects conducted by mainstream media so far. It combines user submissions with editorial support and filtering, as well as a user voting and ranking system.

The Greeley Tribune has apparently been stealing stories from its competing Colorado newspapers for years, and crediting them to the Associated Press (AP). The Tribune apologized, but Follow the Media (FTM) examines what seems to be a widespread – and tolerated - practice.

According to leading paparazzo Hans Paul, the value of celebrity pictures has been seriously undermined due to the multitude of amateur pictures snapped through portable devices and mobile phones. What happens when user-generated content competes with journalism, for the better or for the worse?

The Times-Picayune and several other newspapers were denied access to a high school basketball championship, after they refused to sign a waver limiting their rights to sell to the public  only photos published in print. 

Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport is a healthy newspaper. January 2007 official data show that Gazzetta is the leading newspaper in the Italian market in terms of readership figures, with 3,603,000 daily readers. The general interest daily La Repubblica ranks second with a public of 3,015,000. Surveys also show that Gazzetta is the most read newspaper among Italians younger than 34. Since 1st February director Carlo Verdelli has scored a new record: his newspaper is the first sports daily to provide its readers with a selection of non-sport news.

US magazines, newspapers and other periodicals distributed via mail are likely to face higher costs as a result of the new postal rate increases. The Postal Regulatory Commission decided to increase rates by as much as 18.3%.

Publishing group Pearson, owner of the Financial Times (FT), registered a strong 19% growth in annual profits, up to £502 million, for 2006. Pearson chief executive Marjorie Scardino also seemed to indicate that FT.com would keep its paywall, after discussions over its possible removal.

The Blair administration has called for an investigation into News Corporation’s media interests. The investigation will focus on BskyB’s satellite TV monopoly and 17.9% stake in UK’s main commercial broadcaster ITV. Chances are justice will also probe News Corp.’s press interests.

Kompas Gramedia Group, Indonesia’s leading media group, launched a new business daily, Kontan, on Feb. 26. The paper’s initial circulation, of about 75,000 copies, will hope to compete with the two other national business dailies.

As many newspapers in the US complain about Craiglist and online portals ‘stealing’ their jobs classifieds, two French newspapers have partnered and are about to launch a whole print supplement of job classifieds. Le Figaro and l’Express will distribute over 800,000 copies of the supplement, starting March 12.

In a memo to employees, Executive Vice President and Editor of the San Antonio Express-News, Bob Rivard, announces the launch of 210SA on Feb. 28. 210SA will be a “new weekly publication aimed at the 18-35 year-old reader,” read the memo.

Paid-for newspaper revenues have been declining, due in part to the significant decrease in single-copy sales. Editor & Publisher considers how to boost the sales of a still-important aspect for newspaper revenue.

People’s representatives have raised the issue in the Danish parliament that the country’s inhabitants are paying the costs of the freesheet war and free home-delivered dailies. A law could even be voted in April.

As newspapers already competed with Google and Yahoo in the online ad business – then partnered with these to get a share of profits – a new rival has appeared on the market. Quigo, though still a small adversary, is rapidly conquering shares.

Following recent comments on the death of the newspaper industry, investment tycoon Steven Rattner defends the need for new business models, in an interview with the Financial Times. Are newspapers headed towards not-for-profit or a public service status?