Editors Weblog: April 2007 Archives

A little break...

Posted by John Burke on April 30, 2007 at 5:50 PM

Well, it's May again, a month scattered with numerous vacation days, tomorrow, May 1st, being one of them. We'll be back online on Wednesday giving you the most pertinent developments in the newspaper industry. Stay tuned...

UK: Guardian Weekly to switch to smaller format

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 30, 2007 at 2:33 PM

Starting May 4, the Guardian Weekly will follow the Guardian’s lead and shrink from tabloid to half-Berliner format.

India: New look for Hindustan Times site

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 30, 2007 at 1:35 PM

The Hindustan Times (HT), a leading English-language daily, has relaunched its website to provide around-the-clock breaking news and more interactive features.

US: Positive forecast for newspaper industry

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 27, 2007 at 2:37 PM

At an EconSM conference, newspaper industry insiders sounded pleased with how newspapers are responding to the rise of online news.

Keyword ads for newspapers online

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 27, 2007 at 1:59 PM

Many news organizations regularly buy keyword ads to put their online coverage into the top spot on a search engine. Rob Garner of SearchInsider says this could be “the most effective and relevant form of news advertising” and that doing so for tragic events, as many papers did after the Virginia Tech shooting, is a necessary part of the business of online news.

Possible new ownership models for newspapers

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 27, 2007 at 12:09 PM

As newspapers battle with falling print circulation and ad revenues, Boston Globe reporter Dan Kennedy says that the solution for the Globe and others could be in finding a new business model to escape the profit demands of Wall Street – perhaps going non-profit.

Is stealing content ever okay?

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 27, 2007 at 10:59 AM

Jason Hirschhorn, president of Sling Media Entertainment, recently said that traditional media need to stop worrying about sites stealing their content and instead “track and monetize” what’s being stolen.

UK: News International titles to use new web content management system

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 27, 2007 at 9:55 AM

News International’s (NI) Times Online has implemented a new web content management system that allows for reader-contributed features and multimedia integration. Other NI titles, including the Sun, will follow.

Countdown to Cape Town: Fairfax's integrated newsroom, "Adapt or Die"

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on April 27, 2007 at 9:53 AM

In the run-up to the 14th World Editors Forum, to be held in Cape Town between June 2 and June 7, the Editors Weblog is providing snapshots onto some of the ideas to be developed by the main speakers. Starting first: Mike van Niekerk, Online editor-in-chief of the Australian group Fairfax Media, who will speak about his experience with integrated newsrooms. He describes the necessity of cultural change among the staff, of going through the process slowly but surely, and how Fairfax – once mindsets were changed – equipped its reporters with multi-functional devices.

Australia: Sydney Morning Herald to reduce width as part of Fairfax restructure

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 26, 2007 at 1:01 PM

Publisher Fairfax Media will introduce a narrower broadsheet format for the Sydney Morning Herald and its sister publication The Age as part of a company-wide restructure.

Spain: paid-for dailies imitating free papers?

Posted by Manuel Mantilla on April 26, 2007 at 12:45 PM

The online edition of 20 Minutos claimed a few days ago that Spanish paid-for dailies are imitating free papers, in an effort to reproduce the great success of the freebies since they have appeared.

Canada: Locked out journalists start free daily

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 26, 2007 at 12:07 PM

Prevented from working by a lockout, union employees of Journal de Québec have launched their own free daily newspaper, MédiaMatin Québec. The new paper will publish Monday to Friday with a focus on local news.

Google: Following the consumer

Posted by John Burke on April 26, 2007 at 11:59 AM

Director at Google’s offices in New York, Tom Phillips, joined a wide array of speakers at the 77th annual International Newspaper Marketing Association’s (INMA) World Congress taking place in Paris, April 25 to 27, to talk about one of the projects he heads, Google Print Ads.

Fujitsu debuts color e-paper electronic book

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 26, 2007 at 11:05 AM

Another step toward the paperless paper: Fujitsu is set to debut the FLEPia e-book, the first e-book with color e-ink capability. It will also have WiFi connectivity and the ability to store up to a year’s subscription to a digital daily newspaper.

Pro-am publishing: Getty Images to sell reduced-price photos to self-publishing site

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 26, 2007 at 10:36 AM

Getty Images has entered a deal with Lulu.com, a site on which amateur publishers can create and sell books, calendars, photo albums, and ebooks. Under the deal, Lulu users will be able to add images from Getty’s library to their content; this brings a professional aspect to an amateur site.

Newspapers need to advertise like Google

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 26, 2007 at 10:12 AM

David Evans of Forbes says that newspapers’ advertising revenue woes lie in the paper-advertising format, where papers can’t get feedback on who looks at their ads and thus can’t target them accordingly. The answer, he thinks, is in creating a paperless paper wherein news organizations can employ better-targeted advertising.

The Vanishing Copy Editor

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on April 25, 2007 at 5:18 PM

Poynter writer Leann Frola reports on the annual American Copy Editors Society convention. Among the main issues, what is happening to the role of copy editors, whose numbers seem to be thinning out of the newsroom – at a time when they are even more important?

Austria: Daily blurs line between newspapers and magazines

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 25, 2007 at 3:38 PM

Österreich, an Austrian daily launched in late 2006, mixes newspaper and magazine in both content and style.

Egypt: Al Dustur, from weekly to (also) daily

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on April 25, 2007 at 1:04 PM

The Arab Press Network presents an interview with Ehab Zelaky, editor of the daily Al-Dustur, which was launched by its eponymous, weekly, sister paper at the end of March. Zelaky describes how the staff was able to combine the production of a daily and weekly newspaper.

UK: Newspaper websites should promote their print edition

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 25, 2007 at 12:53 PM

Multimedia journalism students at Bournemouth University recently completed a study of newspaper and paper website cross-promotion; the found massive promotion of websites in print editions, but next to none encouraging online readers to buy print. Why, in this difficult time for print, not use the website to attract new print readers?

Canada: Globe and Mail relaunch

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 25, 2007 at 12:07 PM

Canada’s Globe and Mail debuted a redesigned edition Monday, featuring narrower pages and a new Globe Life magazine-style section; at the same time, the paper launched a new business and finance website.

The power of citizen journalists to produce ultralocal news

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 25, 2007 at 11:28 AM

Keith Harrison, deputy editor of the UK's second biggest regional newspaper, the Wolverhampton Express & Star, thinks that the future of regional papers lies in ultralocal content – for which, he says, his paper will need 500 new citizen reporters.

US: Newspaper website readership up

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 24, 2007 at 4:43 PM

According to a new Nielsen/NetRatings study, the number of people visiting US newspaper websites rose 5.3 percent during the first quarter of this year. Fifty-nine million people, or 37.6 percent of active Internet users, visited the sites.

Newspapers' struggle is internal - mostly

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on April 24, 2007 at 4:26 PM

While struggling newspapers may not want to hear this, Media Life brings straightforward wisdom: the biggest challenge for newspapers is to reinvent themselves within. They can do this by ending resistance to change, fighting denial and putting aside their arrogance.

US: publishers delve into environmental ventures

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on April 24, 2007 at 12:45 PM

As Earth Day approaches, several US newspapers and publications have launched environmentally-friendly websites and features. As Green increasingly becomes an issue for investors and companies, newspapers seem to be tapping into the market.

US: Tribune's Sam Zell to turn against Google?

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on April 24, 2007 at 11:28 AM

“If all of the newspapers in America did not allow Google to steal their content for nothing, what would Google do?” Sam Zell asked in a speech at Stanford University on April 5. Is Tribune Co.’s new owner preparing the grounds for a ‘newspapers versus Google’ showdown?

US: Huffington Post, Yahoo and Slate will host online debates for elections

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on April 24, 2007 at 10:51 AM

The Huffington Post has struck a deal with Yahoo and Slate (owned by the WaPo), to host two online debates between candidates along the way to the presidential election. US voters will submit questions to the candidates, and the footage will be streamed on all three websites.

El Pais promotes citizen journalism

Posted by Manuel Mantilla on April 24, 2007 at 10:24 AM

The Spanish online news site, ELPAIS.com, has launched a new section for citizen journalism. “Yo periodista” is an interactive section in which citizens can publish news at any time.

UK: London freebies still clash

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on April 24, 2007 at 9:47 AM

The fierce war between the London Lite and London Paper freesheets carries on, as the London Lite just launched another virulent ad campaign after releasing video footage of the London Paper being trashed.

US: Did reporters have the right to solicit info from VA Tech students' blogs?

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 23, 2007 at 2:09 PM

Last week’s tragic shooting at Virginia Tech produced many online personal accounts; the best-known of these came from a LiveJournal blogger, Paul, who wrote about his girlfriend Kate’s injuries in the shooting. Soon, his comment wall was filled with interview requests from worldwide news outlets prompting a new type of ethics debate on whether “big media” journalists should be allowed to approach web 2.0 users for content.

Is USA Today's orientation toward social networking detrimental to its journalistic purpose?

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on April 23, 2007 at 12:50 PM

At the beginning of March, USA Today, US’ largest newspaper, launched its redesigned website with much emphasis on reader interactivity, user-generated content, and providing social networking tools such as reader and reporter profiles. Executive editor Kinsey Wilson, who has led USAToday.com’s development, explains how the online edition is embracing social trends while sticking to the paper’s journalistic heritage.

Newsroom integration: changing mindsets, training staff

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on April 23, 2007 at 12:46 PM

More from the IFRA’s 6th Digital Summit: Jonathan Halls, Managing Director of Talkshow Communications (UK), and Sarah Schantin-Williams, consultant for N-able Media (Austria), described the necessary changes in newsroom culture for editors to implement their integrated newsroom. Both emphasized the necessity of involved management, increased communication with staff and proper training.

UK: Financial Times debuts redesign

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 23, 2007 at 12:10 PM

The Financial Times print edition today debuts its most dramatic revamp in a generation, featuring a new typeface, bolder design, and new labeling.

Craigslist founder says his site is not a threat to papers

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 23, 2007 at 11:08 AM

In a recent talk with a New York University digital journalism class, Craig Newmark, founder of free online classified advertising site Craigslist, revealed that he doesn’t think his site is hurting newspaper ad revenue.

US: Online ad revenues up, projections down for NYT

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 23, 2007 at 10:15 AM

Though three of the biggest US newspaper companies, Gannett, Tribune, and New York Times Co., reported overall first-quarter advertising revenue declines, all three also reported increases in online ad revenue. However, the Times Co. reduced its expectations for online ad revenue this year.

How to sell your newsroom strategy to advertisers

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on April 20, 2007 at 3:44 PM

At the 6th annual Ifra International Newsroom Summit, Pieter Kok, publisher of the Dutch De Volkskrant, explained how his paper developed its multimedia convergence initiatives and sold them to advertisers. By using the same strategies advertisers use: rewards, flashy shows and simply educating them about the Volkskrant.

Spain: El Periodico uses cartoon on front page

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 20, 2007 at 3:26 PM

Spain's El Periodico found a new way to present front page news: a comic strip. The move is a nod to a comic expo taking place in Barcelona.

MySpace News: Roots in NewRoo, future in advertising

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 20, 2007 at 3:06 PM

Launched yesterday, MySpace News, the aggregation and news-ranking service of MySpace, came out of parent company News Corp.’s 2006 purchase of NewRoo. MySpace News is expected to increase advertising revenue by allowing for focused ad content in a more controlled environment than MySpace’s user-controlled personal profiles.

2006’s best examples of newsroom integration

Posted by John Burke on April 20, 2007 at 1:24 PM

At the 6th annual Ifra International Newsroom Summit, representatives from two of 2006’s most closely watched news organizations presented the conference with the trials and tribulations of their respective newsroom integration processes. Will Lewis gave the anxious audience a peek into the Daily Telegraph’s new newsroom and Michael Maness from Gannett detailed his organization’s dive into hyper-local "Information Centers."

Part 3: The paperless paper - Interview with Roger Fidler

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on April 20, 2007 at 1:02 PM

Roger Fidler, presently Director of Technology Initiatives at the Reynolds Journalism Institute (Columbia, Missouri), has been exploring and engineering the electronic tablet newspaper for over a decade. After years of cautious experimentation and limited interest from the industry, he now sees the breakthrough years approaching. “With the arrival of new generations of eReaders and improved, dedicated software, new ways of journalistic newshandling and distribution are becoming imperative”, he assesses.
This time, that quest should have sufficient critical mass.

Importance of production skills in online news

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 20, 2007 at 12:22 PM

MediaGuardian’s Roy Greenslade recently wrote that as news moves onto the web, reporting skills will remain important but highly valued newspaper production skills will fall away. In response, Matt Wells disagrees, saying that newspapers will soon be searching for more imaginative ways to produce online content, perhaps even turning to tech-savvy non-journalists to do so.

Ideas from the Ifra International Newsroom Summit

Posted by John Burke on April 20, 2007 at 11:42 AM

The 6th annual Ifra International Newsroom Summit held in Paris on April 19 and 20 brought some of the newspaper industry’s top thinkers together to share with the crowd their experiences in the digital age, what works, and what needs to be worked on. Presentations ranged from talks of integrated newsrooms to local coverage as well as studies of changing media consumption by the audience.

South Africa: Editor of new multimedia paper blogging "inside" setup info

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 20, 2007 at 11:23 AM

Ray Hartley, editor of the soon-to-be-launched daily The Times, South Africa, is taking an interesting new approach to transparency; he is blogging about the entire setup, featuring “inside” newsroom info and sneak previews of the paper. Check out the blog here.

US: San Francisco Chronicle runs front-page ad

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 20, 2007 at 10:27 AM

Following a national trend in attempts to increase newspaper revenue, on Wednesday the San Francisco Chronicle ran its first front-page ad. It broke the mold, however, in choosing a chunky box in the lower right corner rather than a stealthier strip along the page bottom.

US: Politico to share content with USA Today, others

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 20, 2007 at 9:52 AM

Washington D.C.’s multimedia political news publication Politico announced yesterday that it will share content with the nation’s largest national newspaper USA Today, mainly on the paper’s website USAToday.com and occasionally in print.

MySpace launches Digg-style news service

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 19, 2007 at 4:39 PM

Later today, MySpace will launch MySpace News, a service which will aggregate and organize news content from the Internet, then allow users to rank stories based on relevance and interest level.

US: Chicago Tribune launches hyperlocal citizen journalism site

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 19, 2007 at 4:26 PM

The Chicago Tribune today launched Triblocal.com, allowing readers in far western and northern suburbs to post stories and photos and write blogs in a mostly unedited forum. The Tribune will also publish the best content from the site in a weekly tabloid.

South Africa: Kids get their own free version of top news stories

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 19, 2007 at 3:05 PM

Duncan Guy, a reporter for the South Africa Press Association, has started a free email newspaper of top news stories written in easy-to-understand language for children. The paper now goes out to 700 addresses twice a week.

US: Dow Jones to further reduce reliance on print

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 19, 2007 at 2:36 PM

Dow Jones & Co. Inc., publisher of the Wall Street Journal, aims to have less than half its revenue come from print operations by 2009.

Australia: Rural and Fairfax merge OK'd

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 19, 2007 at 2:13 PM

Shareholders of Australia’s Rural Press have approved the regional publisher’s merger with Fairfax Media, Australia’s largest newspaper publishing group.

Mainstream media: to worry or not to worry about user-generated content?

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 19, 2007 at 11:18 AM

A new Accenture survey reveals that 57% of media executives see user-generated content as a challenge, however, a Hitwise survey showed that, judging by the still-low percentages of users creating content, traditional media should be able to catch up.

Journalists should use blogs as complement to stories

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 19, 2007 at 10:09 AM

As more newspapers ask or require journalists to blog in order to embrace new media, some journalists have begun to feel like blogging is extra work weighing them down. Amy Gahran of Poynter Online says that journalists should not use blogs as another platform for stories, but as a place for complementary commentary to them.

Ideas from the European Business Press seminar

Posted by John Burke on April 18, 2007 at 6:43 PM

Representatives of Europe’s top business papers gathered on April 16 and 17 in Paris for one of their tri-annual meetings at which they discuss the latest innovations and the future of their industry. It has been about a year now, commented one editor, that the presentations at the seminar have focused on nothing but digital concerns. The Paris meeting was no different.

Associated Press launches blog on multimedia news service

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 18, 2007 at 4:59 PM

Yesterday asap, the multimedia news service of the Associated Press, launched an interactive blog focused on the global AP wire.

The Netherlands: De Pers to follow home delivery model

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 18, 2007 at 3:54 PM

Beginning next month, Dutch free daily De Pers will distribute 200,000 additional copies door-to-door in 45 selected neighborhoods.

France: regional paper launches online televised news report

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on April 18, 2007 at 3:49 PM

The French regional Le Télégramme launched a daily, miniature, televised news report on its website on April 17. The report consists of local and regional news compiled by the newsroom staff, and is an unprecedented venture in the daily regional press.

Editors Weblog technical difficulties

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on April 18, 2007 at 3:16 PM

The Editors Weblog is going through a redesign and some of you may have experienced difficulties accessing it recently. We apologize for the inconvenience. The Editors Weblog should now be up and working.

Newspapers better off in search engine deals than alone

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 18, 2007 at 2:54 PM

Though Yahoo could benefit greatly from its recent deal with 12 large newspaper companies, media analysts and newspaper executives alike agree that papers will be better off, and may even save falling ad revenues, with this partnership.

US: Virginia Tech tragedy breeds blog-style, citizen journalism from mainstream media

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 18, 2007 at 2:46 PM

In covering Monday’s devastating events at US university Virginia Tech, even the New York Times online relied on blog updates, and CNN found a temporary reporter in a student citizen journalist.

Part 2: The paperless paper, 5 Dutch papers partner

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on April 18, 2007 at 10:17 AM

Now that the e-ink technology is maturing, the newspaper industry has decided that the time has come for serious testing and application. Most experimentation took and takes place using the trusted print content, converted for electronic reading. That will never do the job. What is mostly needed in this phase are newly developed editorial formats especially designed for the generations of e-reader hardware which now are coming to the market.

US: New online auto research and shopping

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 18, 2007 at 9:54 AM

The Publishing Group of America (PGA) is introducing an online auto shopping feature to the web sites of more than 2,000 local US newspapers that carry its magazine publications, which include the popular American Profile.

Should journalists in developing countries accept gifts?

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 17, 2007 at 4:55 PM

A recent poll conducted by Insight and Media Source revealed that forty percent of Arabic-language journalists are more likely to use a press release in a story if it is accompanied by a gift. The finding led Ijet net to conduct an informal poll on whether journalists in developing countries should be allowed to accept gifts because they are underpaid.

US: Two Pulitzers for WSJ

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 17, 2007 at 3:41 PM

The Columbia School of Journalism awarded its 91st annual Pulitzer Prizes for excellence in journalism yesterday, with the Wall Street Journal taking home the top honor, the gold medal for public service.

UK: Free newspapers face ban if they don't recycle

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 17, 2007 at 3:15 PM

If London’s free afternoon dailies London Lite and thelondonpaper don’t pay for a sufficient recycling service for discarded copies of their papers, the two could face a surprise end to their circulation war: distribution bans.

Spain: the freesheet war moves online

Posted by Manuel Mantilla on April 17, 2007 at 11:42 AM

The competition between free papers in Spain is leaving the streets to take place on the internet, as free papers are developing their online editions.

Is a blogger code of conduct necessary?

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 17, 2007 at 10:46 AM

Blogger Jeff Jarvis of buzzmachine “despises” the blogger code of conduct recently drafted by publisher Tim O’Reilly and other bloggers, and feels that the “well-intentioned but misguided effort is ultimately dangerous” to the nature of the blogosphere.

US: Virginia Tech tragedy reveals growth of CitJ

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on April 17, 2007 at 10:33 AM

This may not be the main issue in the wake of the most devastating tragedy ever on a US campus, but Follow the Media remarks that the coverage of the massacre gave a clear indication of the growth of citizen journalism – and its effect on traditional media coverage.

US: Inquirer sponsored column jeopardizes editorial independence?

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on April 17, 2007 at 10:03 AM

Poynter reports on The Philadelphia Inquirer’s latest risk-taking with advertising money and editorial independence. The paper’s writers and editors are producing a new column to run in green-colored box carrying a Citizens Bank (green-colored) label.

Niche websites in, general interest papers out

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 17, 2007 at 10:01 AM

Politico founder Jim VandeHei says that the future of journalism lies in niche content, not large general interest papers. He does not, however, reject print: Politico itself makes almost all its revenue from its print edition.

US: Reader-oriented approaches to redesign from local papers

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 16, 2007 at 3:38 PM

Several small, local daily US newspapers have used reader opinion to guide their succesful reinventions, from catering to single-copy readers to using focus groups to determine what readers want.

UK: Compact sales steady, print not necessarily losing

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 16, 2007 at 12:56 PM

Peter Cole of the Independent points to the steady success of compact newspapers in the UK as a defense against talk of the “death of the newspaper.”

US: Papers paranoid about Google, Yahoo partnerships

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on April 16, 2007 at 11:57 AM

While a dozen US newspaper companies gear up for an alliance with Yahoo, the Associated Press (AP) questions its own partnership with big-name search engines.