March 2007 Archives

The American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) convention in Washington DC, held from Tuesday to today, brought together editors of new and old media to discuss the hybrid future of newspapers.

According to the Newspaper Association of America, in 2006, newspaper websites on average boosted their readership by 22 percent, showing that perhaps today’s newsrooms are making the transition to the online world.

St Bride’s Church, in the heart of London’s Fleet Street, has been the spiritual home of the press for the last 500 years. To celebrate the 50th anniversary since its rededication (following its restoration after World War 2), St Bride’s is holding a series of special events about the press, including a special Harvest Festival Service, on Oct. 14. The Church is asking editors from around the world to send in their newspaper to be displayed on this occasion.

Last night, two Los Angeles billionaires put in a last-minute bid for the Tribune Company, outbidding real-estate tycoon Sam Zell and most likely pushing back even further a decision on the company’s fate.

The Australian government announced yesterday that they will relax ownership laws April 4, months earlier than expected.

A Poynter Institute study released yesterday at the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) conference in Washington found that perhaps American newsreaders’ attention spans aren’t so short; online readers read an average of 77% of a story, compared to 62% in broadsheets and 57% in tabloids.

Rafat Ali, founder, publisher, and editor of ContentNext, the parent company of his popular PaidContent.org blog, recently talked to Media Bistro’s Greg Lindsay about making the transition from journalist to entrepreneur.

McClatchy Co., the third largest newspaper publisher in the US, has announced that later this year it will begin providing international news coverage and commentary to Yahoo Inc.

British media group Daily Mail & General Trust has entered into a partnership with the India Today Group to publish English-language newspapers in India.

Twitter was created in March 2006 by Evan Williams as a project for Obvious Corporation, San Francisco. Twitter enables any user to publish for free mini-postings or comments from their mobile, instant messenger or online. This new feature could not only change personal communications but could also be used by newspapers online, to increase feedback and interactivity.

Outgoing American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) president Dave Zeeck told fellow society members Tuesday that newspapers need to stand up to efforts by bloggers, talk radio pundits, and politicians to devalue the “mainstream media.”

Ariana Huffington of HuffingtonPost.com is planning to recruit large groups of citizen journalists from around the US to cover individual presidential campaigns for the 2008 election.

In this era of reader interactivity, user-generated content, self-regulated news and exponential bloggerism, everybody – including newspapers – seems to have fallen for the craze. So what about the negatives of this revolution?

World Editor’s Forum (WEF) President George Brock recently said that thus far, mobile companies have been “extraordinarily inept” at forming partnerships with established media brands, but hopes that the next few years will change this relationship.

Here’s a new idea from Amy Gahran of Poynter Online: local papers offering “news cards” akin to grocery store discount cards to provide customized content and advertising to readers.

The Parisian counsel has recently expressed its desire to establish a ‘code of good conduct’ between mobile freesheet distributors and Parisian news kiosks. The code could eventually prohibit distribution of free papers within a zone surrounding the kiosks.

Last night, French newspaper Le Dauphiné Libéré held a presidential debate on foreign policy in the virtual world of Second Life.

The American Journalism Review recently took a look at the Examiner free daily’s editorial model as the paper tries to hone itself as a solid journalistic endeavor while remaining a quick read.