Editors Weblog: Search Results

Google's split from China: Taking a stand or harming journalists?

Posted by Alexandra Jaffe on March 19, 2010 at 5:05 PM

No Google search: It's an unthinkable scenario for much of the world, but one that China is likely to face next month as the business shuts down its search engine in the notoriously conservative nation. Although Google has not confirmed the pullout, China Business News reported today that the company is likely to announce its decision to remove its search capacities from the nation on Monday.

The decision comes as a response to increasing conflict between the Chinese government and the Internet business. Google suffered an attack on their technological interface in December that has been attributed to hackers based in China, and the search site has been subject to mandatory censorship from the Chinese government.

Embracing technology: how CNN and the NYT are fighting back

Posted by Maria Conde on March 18, 2010 at 5:09 PM

With all the recent developments in media consumption on mobile devices, from state of the art e-readers and the sleek iPad to the advent of countless newspaper iPhone apps, it is no wonder technology has taken center stage among news companies.

Mercedes Bunz from Media Guardian spoke to executives from The New York Times and CNN, companies who have built remarkable online presences, about how to keep up with technology companies who usually figure among the biggest sources for news on the Internet.

France-Soir set for revamp by billionaire's son Alexander Pugachyov

Posted by Alexandra Jaffe on March 18, 2010 at 1:23 PM

France-Soir, once one of France's most widely read dailies but now an influential blip in the French media landscape, was recently purchased by the 25-year-old son of a Russian billionaire Alexander Pugachyov. Pugachyov has put a 50 million euro bet on the newpaper in hopes to return it to its former glory.

The paper, launched in 1944, once reigned as France's fourth most popular daily with a circulation of more than 1 million copies at its peak. It has since fallen into obscurity, and before Pugachyov's investment it employed only 40 reporters with a much-diminished daily circulation of 23,000 copies.

Pugachyov has since expanded the newsroom to 100 reporters and is beginning a 20 million euro advertising campaign in the hopes of improving France-Soir's circulation to a robust 150,000 to 200,000 copies. The paper will spare no expense to improve its standing, as Pugachyov plans to emphasize original photography, despite the costs that may incur.

The Independent a step closer to purchase by Lebedev

Posted by Alexandra Jaffe on March 17, 2010 at 6:09 PM

After much delay, a deal is said to be on the horizon for the sale of The Independent and The Independent on Sunday to Alexander Lebedev. Although The Times claimed on March 5th that its sources said a sale would happen that day, a finalized contract has yet to be seen.

Today, the UK's Office of Fair Trading declared that it would not be necessary to investigate the deal for competition issues, offering another green light to a deal that has been in the works for months.

Though The Guardian claims talks between Independent News and Media (INM) and Russian billionaire Lebedev have been going on since March of last year, The Independent only admitted to these talks in December. Since then, the deal has hit many roadblocks, partly because, as Steve Busfield of The Guardian has said, "Lebedev drives a hard bargain."

ABC planning to initiate paywall for online content by June

Posted by Alexandra Jaffe on March 16, 2010 at 3:41 PM

ABC recently announced plans to initiate a paywall for some of its online content starting this June, hoping to alleviate some of its financial troubles and increase revenue. The announcement comes in the wake of ABC's restructuring plans and its decision to eliminate 300 to 400 jobs through buyout propositions.

ABC's initiation of a paywall should come as no surprise to those watching media news over the past year. Beginning with the success of the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal's moves to paid content, NewsCorporation, MediaNews and the New York Times followed in their path with plans to erect paywalls by 2011. Just this week, the Washington Post announced its launch of Capital Business, a business weekly for subscribers only.

These changes result from a steep decline in ad revenue for online newspapers over the past year, with American newspapers earning 17% less from advertising on the web than they had a year earlier, according to the Economist. The Washington Post alone lost four percent of its revenue in the fourth quarter of 2009, and new paid content plans hope to alleviate some of the financial stress of the past year.

Twitter misinformation leads to false report of marital issues between Sarkozy and Bruni

Posted by Alexandra Jaffe on March 15, 2010 at 6:29 PM

Although checking sources is a fundamental rule of journalism, with the increasing pervasiveness of social media sites like Twitter, the temptation to discard this old rule can become too strong for some journalists to resist.

As the Press Gazette's Dominick Ponsford posted on The Wire, reporters for various newpapers in the UK used Twitter as a source for an article covering rumors of marital difficulties between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni. The Independent's Steven Glover reprimanded the reporters for their failure to fact-check.

"A Twitter rumour alleging adultery on the part of a home-grown politician would not be taken up so eagerly by British newspapers," he said. "We apply more stringent standards to rumours about our own politicians."

News Corp exec: other revenue streams can coexist with paywall

Posted by Maria Conde on March 11, 2010 at 4:50 PM

The "Year of the Paywall" is upon us and in a time where most newspapers seem to be gearing up to build one around their websites - the New York Times and the News Corporation Wapping publications are just a couple of examples - some executives believe there is still room for other revenue models to coexist with paid content.

The head of digital media at News Corporation, Jonathan Miller, told delegates at the Abu Dhabi Media Summit that "dual revenue streams" are likely to co-exist as media organizations try ways of making money online, according to Guardian.

CNN more concerned with competition from Facebook than rival FOX News

Posted by Robert Eisenhart on March 11, 2010 at 11:55 AM

During a recent media summit held by Bloomberg BusinessWeek, David Kaplan of The Guardian reported on a surprising announcement CNN made concerning Facebook. Contrary to what many believe, CNN views Facebook as a bigger competitor than rival Fox News.

CNN's president Jon Klien was quoted as saying, "I'm more worried about the 500 million or so people on Facebook versus the 2 million on Fox."

Cancelled regional newspaper awards "not viable"

Posted by Helena Humphrey on March 10, 2010 at 5:40 PM

Despite news that Sir Ray Tindle launched four new local papers last week, it appears that regional press is still not out of the financial woods just yet.

The Guardian has reported that neither the Regional Press Awards nor the Circulation, Editorial and Promotions awards will be going ahead this year.

The reasoning behind such a move is said to be due to the fact that the awards are not considered "viable" in such an economic climate, with several newspaper publishers declaring themselves unable to participate, despite the fact that the Wilmington Group (the name behind the Regional Press Awards awards) had offered to reduce entry fees and ticket prices.

The Guardian reported an entry price of £39 and ticket price of £130, which regional papers find themselves without the funds to pay.

Source: Guardian

Google offers advice: newspapers need to "engage" online readers

Posted by Robert Eisenhart on March 10, 2010 at 4:33 PM

Aggregators such a Google are often accused of making life more than a little difficult for newspapers - yet the company has spoken out once again, offering advice for newspapers struggling against the ubiquity of online news:

In an article by Mercedes Bunz from The Guardian's Digital Content Blog, Google stated that the "key" to newspaper's survival online is "engagement". The statement, issued by Google's Hal Varian, places emphasis on the importance of offering readers interactive experiences but provided little information on specific steps publications should take to go about doing this.

Tindle looks local to bring in new revenue streams, with launch of four new titles

Posted by Helena Humphrey on March 8, 2010 at 11:44 AM

The Tindle Newspapers Group, publisher of around 230 local and regional papers in the UK, is to launch four weekly local newspapers in London, the Guardian has reported.

Three of the four weekly titles were available from last Friday and have been identified as the Edmonton Herald, East Barnet Advertiser and Winchmore Hill Herald. The print runs are very small at 3,000 copies of each paper, and the first issues were distributed door-to-door. Specific details regarding the fourth paper, set to launch in a couple of weeks, are as yet unknown.

Sly Bailey: Trinity Mirror against paywall strategy

Posted by Trafton Kenney on March 4, 2010 at 1:56 PM

The Trinity Mirror will not implement a broad paywall strategy on its websites, according to Sly Bailey, chief executive of the newspaper group.

Bailey discussed the group's stance on charging for online access to content with MediaGuardian, confirming there are no plans to install a broad paywall. The group favors charging for more specific online services and products instead.

"We certainly don't believe throwing up a paywall is the right strategy," said Bailey. "It won't be possible for general content, I can't see why people would pay for high quality content when it's free elsewhere...the BBC is an obvious one here."

Greg Dyke in running for new Independent editor?

Posted by Trafton Kenney on March 4, 2010 at 11:42 AM

Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev is stepping up his search for a new editor at the Independent after talks with Rod Liddle collapsed early last week, MediaGuardian reported Wednesday.

With a deal for the daily newspaper expected to be reached with Independent News & Media by the end of the week, Lebedev, who also owns the London Evening Standard, has now set his sights on some of the heavyweights in the industry, including Greg Dyke, former director general of the BBC.

FT to use PayPal for daily, weekly online access

Posted by Trafton Kenney on March 3, 2010 at 1:46 PM

The Financial Times confirmed yesterday that payment for its day and weekly passes for its online content will go through PayPal, the e-commerce business owned by eBay. The FT first announced plans of its online subscription model last August before announcing the option of a day pass last month.

Despite previous reports, the FT will not be going ahead with a "micropayment" option, a model which would allow readers to pay a small fee to access a single article online. "Micropayments simply isn't going to work if you go to an article and you spend quarter of an hour filling out forms and ticking boxes," John Ridding, CEO of the FT, told the newspaper's Digital Media & Broadcasting conference in London.

WaPo launches paid iPhone app

Posted by Helena Humphrey on March 3, 2010 at 11:27 AM

Unlike many other newspapers with partner websites, the Washington Post isn't building paywalls around its online offering. Indeed, so set against the principle, CEO of Washington Post Co, Don Graham, confirmed the promise of free online news in a public appearance on Tuesday.

It's not a sentiment that extends to its newly developed iPhone application however. PaidContent has reported that WaPo is to charge $1.99 for a year of customised access and offline reading. If the price appears minimal, then bear in mind that it may increase after the first year.

Danish newspaper apologizes to Muslim organizations for printing Muhammad cartoons

Posted by Maria Conde on February 26, 2010 at 6:00 PM

In another development in the case of the controversial Muhammad cartoons, the Danish newspaper Politiken apologized today to eight Muslim organizations for the offense it caused them by reprinting the cartoons. The Muslim organizations have promised to drop legal action against the newspaper if it printed an apology, according to the Guardian.

The newspaper's apology was condemned by a wide range of Danish figures that believe the apology compromises Denmark's freedom of the press.

January's ABCes: Mail Online surpasses Guardian.co.uk in average visitors per day

Posted by Maria Conde on February 26, 2010 at 2:30 PM

The Audit Bureau of Circulations Electronic released figures for the number of unique visitors to UK national and regional newspaper websites this week.

While some national newspapers continue to attract new readers every month, some regional newspapers are struggling to keep their online readership up.

ABCes: Top UK national newspaper websites

Mail Online, part of the Daily Mail and General Trust website network, takes the top spot as most popular UK newspaper website for January with 2.16 million unique browsers per day on average, says Guardian.

UK: Highlights from the CMS report on libel, privacy, and press standards

Posted by Maria Conde on February 26, 2010 at 2:20 PM

After a long year of looking into the state of the press, the UK Culture, Media, Sports Select Committee has finally released its report on libel, privacy, and press standards, according to journalism.co.uk

The 167-page report completed by a committee appointed by the House of Commons offers recommendations on journalism ethnics to guarantee "a constructive way forward for a free and healthy UK press in the years to come."

According to the report's summary, this inquiry is the "product of the longest, most complex, and wide-ranging inquiry" the Committee has ever undertaken.

BBC to shrink web offering to appease rival publishers

Posted by Emma Heald on February 26, 2010 at 12:57 PM

The BBC is to halve its number of web pages, as well as closing two radio stations and cutting spending on imported TV shows, the Times reported. The changes will be announced next month by director-general Mark Thompson, according to the Times, and Thompson will admit that the corporation has become too large and must shrink to allow its commercial rivals more room to operate.

The halving of the number of pages on the BBC website will be accompanied by a 25% cut in staff numbers and a 25% cut of its £112m budget. To appease rival publishers, it will pledge to include more links to articles from other news outlets, and not to produce news services at a more local level than it does currently. These latter elements do not signify a dramatic change in policy: last month, the BBC's director of news Helen Boaden asserted that the organisation was not looking to go more local, and the corporation's news website already provides a "from other news sites" section alongside each story where it displays links to similar articles on newspaper websites.

MPs announce findings in NOTW phone-hacking report

Posted by Trafton Kenney on February 24, 2010 at 11:55 AM

A British parliamentary committee issued their much-anticipated report on The News of the World today, accusing top executives at the newspaper of covering up the scale of the phone-hacking scandal.

In the 167-page report, MPs claimed it was "inconceivable" that Clive Goodman, the journalist convicted of hacking into the voicemails of royal aides in 2007, acted alone as a "rogue reporter" as the newspaper has previously argued.

Two months and 100,000 downloads of Guardian iPhone app

Posted by Helena Humphrey on February 24, 2010 at 11:32 AM

The Guardian iPhone app has been downloaded more than 100,000 times since its launch in December, the Guardian has proudly reported. The app is currently topping the paid-for app charts, and has also been nominated for a British Press Award for Digital Innovation.

For £2.39, users have access to news, comment, photo galleries and podcasts, all of which are available either on or offline.

Rod Liddle no longer candidate for Independent editor

Posted by Trafton Kenney on February 22, 2010 at 11:30 AM

Sunday Times columnist Rod Liddle will not be the new editor of the Independent after its acquisition by Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev, the Guardian reported last Friday.

The decision to look elsewhere for new leadership was taken by Lebedev and Simon Kelner, editor-in-chief and managing director of the Independent, last Thursday after more than nine months of negotiations with Liddle.

Google's Living Stories to become open source

Posted by Elizabeth Redman on February 19, 2010 at 11:37 AM

Google has announced plans to take its Living Stories project open source, meaning that it will available to news outlets globally, The Guardian reported.

The project was originally developed with The New York Times and the Washington Post. It collects all the coverage of an ongoing story on a single URL. Articles on the story are listed in date order starting with the newest at the top. Topics include, for example, the politics of global warming or battling swine flu. Readers can view the story through text, graphics, timelines or quotes.

Google will now allow publishers to implement their experiment through its open source API. It also wants to work with web developers and journalists.

Redundancy terms for Independent staff to be halved?

Posted by Elizabeth Redman on February 17, 2010 at 11:33 AM

Redundancy terms for staff at The Independent may have to be cut to ensure the newspaper's sale to Russian businessman Alexander Lebedev goes through, The Guardian reported.

Terms are currently considered generous at four weeks' pay for every year of service but their legal status is unclear as the terms were never placed in writing.

The packages appear to be an obstacle to Lebedev's purchase of The Independent and Independent on Sunday. "We have had a gun held to our heads - if we don't agree to reduce our terms from four weeks to two weeks per year of service the deal with Lebedev is off," an unnamed journalist told The Guardian.

iPad deals with publishers face obstacles

Posted by Maria Conde on February 16, 2010 at 6:20 PM

The arrival of the iPad has generated much optimism in media circles that hope it will revitalize a struggling industry, but so far, there has been much talk over what the device could do, but little evidence that shows newspapers will actually benefit from the device.

In fact, newspaper and magazine publishers have not yet agreed upon the key issue of sharing subscription revenue, as they consider deals to offer digital versions of their publications on Apple's newly released tablet, the Financial Times reports.

This vital piece of the puzzle will decide whether publishers will succeed in cashing in on the iPad.

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