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.

In light of its recent launch of Web-based political news section, the Washington Post Co. announces that it has acquired Foreign Policy magazine to "expand" the company's online journalism, said CEO Donald Graham. 

Dutch daily newspapers experienced lower circulation in the second quarter this year, according to the European Journalism Centre (EJC). Publisher PCM titles were "hit particularly hard."

The first issue of Buren (Neighbours) was launched around Enschede, on the Dutch-German border.  The paper has an initial circulation of 400,000 and was launched to celebrate fifty years of collaboration between the border communities.  According to NRC, it demonstrates a changing attitude, the "European spirit is really taking hold..." 

Buren is a combined effort by the Dutch regional newspaper Twentsche Courant Tubantia, and the German titles Westfälische Nachrichten and Grafschafter Nachrichten.  Journalists that work for the three newspapers will also translate for each other's articles in Buren. 

The Valley Irrigator, Belle Fourche Post and Belle Fourche Bee will merge to become the Butte County Post from 22 October.

The new weekly newspaper will be published every Wednesday. This new newspaper will be published countywide and is part of an effort to cut costs and make the most of its resources.

Brad Slater, publisher of the Rapid City Journal which owns and operates the Newell and Belle Fourche newspapers said, "As economic conditions continue to deteriorate resulting in reduced advertising spending and coupled with unprecedented increases in fuel and newsprint costs, it is critical that we reorganize the publishing processes of our weekly newspapers in the Northern Hills communities."

Source: bellefourchepostandbee.com via IFRA Executive News

Blogs of the past were considered a tool for amateurs and were casually dismissed by the media industry.  Today, everything has changed;  blogging has significantly altered the landscape of the news industry.  According to the survey, blogs have become a "global phenomenon that has hit the mainstream".

An astounding 95% of the top 100 US newspapers have reporter blogs.  They have become a vital part of reporting, "The lines between what is a blog and what is a mainstream media site become less clear."

The shift in the attitude towards blogging has been explored in the first part of an annual report published by Technorati, entitled, "State of the Blogosphere."  Part I, "Who are the Bloggers?" attempts to unearth and analyze the trends and themes of blogging and bloggers.

On Thursday the Indian government announced plans to allow Indian editions of foreign news and current affairs magazines to be published.   The move will allow the foreign media access to India.  Forbes and Fortune have already announced plans to launch Indian editions.

According to the Government, this will also allow Indians to have access to foreign magazines at cheaper rates.  

Several regulations have been laid out by the Indian government, one of which is that there must be an immediate circulation of figure of 10,000 paid copies in the country of origin and a five-year record of continuous publication.  In addition all key executives and editorial staff must be Indian.

There is speculation that this could be a move to allow foreign editions of newspapers in India.  

Sources: The Hindu Business Line, Silicon India

The Star-Ledger of Newark, New Jersey, was published on Wednesday without any Associated Press copy.  At this stage, it is still unclear as to why the paper chose to run without AP.  Sources close to the newspaper have pointed towards either a protest over AP's controversial new rates that began in January, or that it is a test to see if the paper can run without AP copy, the world's largest newsgathering source, as a means to cut-costs.  


Other dailies, such as The Bakersfield Californian, The Star Tribune of Minneapolis, The Post Register of Idaho Falls, the Yakima Herald-Republic and Wenatchee World of Washington have notified AP of their plans to discontinue the news service.

Paul Colford, AP spokesman, released a statement to Editor and Publisher, "We understand that The Star-Ledger and the media industry as a whole are facing difficult financial challenges and that in this environment many newspapers are experimenting with news priorities and with their presentation of news. The Associated Press has been working with all members of the cooperative, including The Star-Ledger, to determine their needs and to ensure that the AP news report retains its value to them and their readers. Member Choice, the content and pricing initiative rolled out this summer, was in fact developed as a response to member requests for simpler content and pricing options."


Sources:  Editor and Publisher, Poynter, Buzz Machine

See Also:
US regionals turn away from AP to focus on local reporting
US: In-depth news service to enter the market in 2009
AP offers members free access to Outsell Inc.
US: Cancellation notices and disagreements weight on AP

91.4% of the Swiss population read a newspaper on a regular basis according to an annual survey recently published, and newspapers remain the favored news source.

The survey also indicated that there has been an increasing interest in free dailies.

There are three main languages in Switzerland, German (64%), French (20%) and Italian (6,5%), so there are no "national" newspapers.


Sources:  Follow the Media, Newspaper Innovation

See Also:
Switzerland: Free daily newspapers move ahead 

Kidsville News, a free national newspaper geared towards children, is scheduled for launching on Long Island this autumn. The paper will be published locally and will circulate at schools, in restaurants and amusement parks, reports the European Journalism Centre.

Publisher Alyssa Nightingale says that while the Web, newspapers and younger people might be an "unusual" blend, Kidsville News hopes to encourage an interest in current events and educational subjects. The paper also has sports content, puzzles, cartoons and games.  

Long Island companies would pay a fee for sponsorship, letting them get their name published in the paper and having some educational stories written about their respective industries.

Kidsville News Inc was established 10 years ago and in 2005, the company started to license the paper to local publishers who offered to pay a fee for rights.

The paper's circulation has grown with time, and nearly 1.3 million copies are distributed in 148 counties across the US.

Source: European Journalism Centre

FollowTheMedia.com's Philip Stone suggests that it media outlets may benefit from holding back web content either by waiting until after it is published or broadcast in traditional media or making people pay for "the really 'good' stuff". In response, The Guardian's Roy Greenslade thinks that Stone has "fallen into the that trap of seeing journalism only in business terms", assuming that unless news get advertising revenue and make a profit, there is no "commercial sense" to diffuse them.

 

A new free broadsheet, Briefing, launched in Dallas in the USA yesterday.

This new addition beings the number of free newspapers in the city to three. Al Día  is a free Spanish language paper and Quick is youth oriented newspaper.

All three newspapers are published by the A.H. Belo Corporation, the parent company of leading Dallas paid paper, The Dallas Morning News.

The Dallas Morning News will supply much of the content for the new daily, which will be distributed to high-income households that don't subscribe to the Dallas Morning News.

This new addition to the market is unusual in two respects, in that it is in a broadsheet format and that it will be home-delivered.

The rumoured change at Quick from a daily to a weekly has not occurred, and the newspapers website is still running and does not mention any such move.

Briefing will have an initial circulation of 200,000 and will be distributed four days a week, from Wednesday to Saturday.

Source: Newspaper Innovation

Saudi bloggers launched a campaign complaining about the publication of "gruesome" images portraying a decapitated 15-month-old boy in some of the country's newspapers. Although the letters that were sent out to the editors and columnists weren't answered, the event put into question privacy issues and called for the need to have a standard when it comes to publishing photographs.

Dr. Samir Arar, a psychologist from Jeddah's family-counselling Maharat Centre and a psychology professor at King Abdulaziz University, pointed out that whether or not violent images should be printed must be a matter of adding "relevance to the news story" and not to "appeal to voyeurism", reported Arab News.

According to Arar, reporters publish crime stories in order to "elicit strong reactions" that might help boost paper sales.

However, he said that the problem is that the stories may affect children and those who are sensitive to such content, including the people linked to a particular event.

Newspapers in Dubai do not disappear but reinvent themselves, thus boosting "staying power", according to Mario R. Garcia. However, an anonymous newspaperwoman mentioned that most of the papers have articles that are "simply too long".  

The newspaperwoman went on to say that Arabic daily Alittihad is "the most boring" but continues to be published since it is state-subsidized. Albayan's makeover made the paper more appealing to readers, whereas Alkhaleej isn't "neatly designed" or "organized". Garcia pointed out that because Albayan (see left) uses photos that are over three times as big as in other titles, it is visually more interesting to young readers who favor to "look" and not "read".

The Arabic paper that is most attractive to younger readers is Emarat al youm (see left), "with its compact tabloid format, the nice illustrations, and content that has appeal", said the newspaperwoman.

The newest addition to Dubai's English-language dailies is The National (see below left), whose design Garcia praises, mentioning that it is for the "elite reader" who wants his paper to be "perfectly organized."

"White space that travels up and down the broadsheet pages to remind everyone that there is room to grow here.  Overall, it is a sort of The Guardian of London, before it redesigned to the Berliner format. If one word describes the look of a newspaper, gravitas comes to mind here;" said Garcia.

Source: Garcia Media through IFRA Executive News Service

Social channels like Facebook, Digg, Flickr, Twitter and Youtube could help newspapers like the Chicago Tribune become "more approachable", according to The Huffington Post. After its entry into social media, the Tribune saw an instantaneous surge in traffic and an 8% growth in pageviews.

"Essentially, social media gives us a year-round, real-time focus group to monitor conversations and keep us in tune with what consumers are thinking," said Bill Adee, associate managing editor for innovation who also leads the Tribune's social media team

The Tribune came up with Colonel Tribune, a "web ambassador" whose purpose is to allow the social media team to "reach out and interact with online communities that congregate around similar interests", wrote the Post.

The Colonel was recently informed through Twitter about a bomb threat and building evacuation in Chicago's Daley Center. The paper's Metro writers looked into the story and it was soon published on the site. The story was then printed on the third page of the Metro section the next day.  

Source: The Huffington Post

See also:
Facebook: a modern tool for accessing news

Mike Leary, Philadephia Inquirer's managing editor, announced last week that the paper would be publishing certain stories online only after they have been published in print, apart from breaking news stories.

Even though the new policy provoked some criticism from Steve Outing and Jeff Jarvis, it is meant to be a strategic leap towards formulating "complementary differentiation between the roles of the print and online operations", according to Poynter.org's Amy Gahran.

Differentiating betw