Recently by Andrea Steinberg

The International Herald Tribune reports that advertising strategies have clearly become less predictable, as consumers are constantly being courted by rival brands in very creative manners. In the early stages of the digital trends that have changed the media industry, advertising agencies turned a blind eye to the corresponding changes in advertising strategies they should have undertaken. But now, the advertising industry is trying to revolutionize the way in which it works. Namely, agencies have adopted “integrated” advertising, which incorporates adds into television, print media, the Internet, mobile phones, or DVD giveaways. On the subject, chief executive of Mediacom, Alexander Schmidt-Vogel said, “New consumers control when and where they will accept advertising.” Previously understood distinctions between media formats and between advertising and content seem to be blurring. To cope with the changes advertising agencies are starting to hire media experts. For their part, media agencies are getting more creative, setting up departments that specialize in digital advertising.

On a similar note, BusinessWeek published an article discussing product placement within magazine and editorial pages. Important companies, such as Hearst Magazines, Meredith, and the parent of Condé Nast Advance Publications, have not shown signs of breaching the traditional wall between articles and advertising units. Though some may think that advertisements do not always need the “advertorial” note on the top. This year the New York Post used Vibrant Media Inc.’s IntelliTXT technology to briefly run “keyword” ads. Through such adds, paid advertising links were attached to highlighted words in articles. A Post spokesman said that the advertisements were a mistake. Forbes.com ran similar ads for five months last year, but stopped after the staff complained.

Source: The International Herald Tribune and BusinessWeek

According to Cascfen , government over-regulation and content censorship pose a serious danger to new media in the growing Internet scene in Central Asian countries. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) representative on Freedom of the Media spoke this week at the Third Amsterdam Internet Conference. The representative, Miklos Haraszti, said that online information comprises the most important source of pluralistic information in Central Asia. At the conference, the OSCE and Reporters Without Borders issued a joint declaration to guarantee media freedom on the Internet. Freedom of the Internet will be discussed more in depth at the media conference in the South Caucasus and in Central Asia later his fall.

Source: Cascfen

The New York Times reports that the editor of the Egyptian state-owned weekly newspaper Akhbar El Yawm announced his resignation this week. His resignation fueled rumors that a major reshuffling is about to occur within Egypt’s state-run news media. Ibrahim Seada had been the editor of the paper for more than 15 years and had served as speaker of Egypt’s upper house of Parliament, which oversees the state-run media. Probably referencing speculation that the President is about to reorganize the country’s editors, Mr. Seada cited the “chaos” surrounding state newspapers as a reason for his departure. Some fear that new editors in place of those that could be removed by the President may not be better than those that are departing. There is even talk that the large papers may be released from state control. Egypt’s media still has a long way to go, but at least changes in the media are being discussed publicly.

Source: The New York Times

According to Digital Media Europe , Scottish newspaper The Scotsman has announced plans to charge users for access to premium content on its website. The paper’s opinion pages, analysis, columnists, and games will only be accessible through the Premium Program, while the majority of the content will still be open to free access. Given that the New York Times recently announced similar plans, it seems that the newest trend is to try and escape from the online “free model.”

Source: Digital Media Europe

Netimperative reports on Simon Waldman’s, Director of digital publishing at The Guardian, UK, thoughts on consumers’ desires to create news. Consumers also want to control and challenge traditional media owners online. Speaking at Internet World UK, Waldman shed some light on the Guardian’s vision for online publishing and media in the future. Citing the websites Wikipedia and OhMyNews as examples, Waldman said that readers want media owners to provide the necessary tools to interact with content. He also referenced the power of sites that are managing communities, such as Craigslist. Furthermore, RSS and distribution networks such as Google News are gaining great momentum amongst consumers. In response, Waldman said that the Guardian is about to reveal a new and improved search engine for the site. The Guardian will also work with Consenda to create dedicated RSS reader software. Waldman concluded by confirming that the underlying trends resulting from tools like Flickr (see former posting) and podcasting (see former posting) are here to stay.

Source: Netimperative

The Economist published an interesting article touching on the increasing competition between newspapers and Britain’s popular public-service broadcast, the BBC. BBC’s great success can largely be attributed to its former director-general John Birt, who understood the power of the Internet long before others in the British media caught on.

Today, BBC has over 525 sites, spends $27 million a year on its news website, and receives over $5 billion in public subsidy. It spends almost another $100 million a year on covering other topics ranging from society and culture to science, nature and entertainment. Over 5,000 journalists work behind the scenes. The number of BBC online weekly readers has increased from 1.6 million in 2000 to 7.8 million in 2005.

Essentially, newspapers are having a difficult time matching the breadth and depth of content found on the BBC sites. While many newspapers are trying to make up for lost readership in their print copies by attracting readers online, most visitors only view a few pages of a particular newspaper before moving on. Consequently, newspapers are having trouble forming a subscription model for special content and most of the crucial advertisements end up on larger sites, such as Google and Yahoo. With reduced traffic due to the BBC sites, newspapers are less successful in attracting readers to their personal finance and classified pages.

The Guardian and the Financial Times are starting to make some profits online, but most newspapers are still struggling in the Internet domain. One problem may be that newspapers underestimate the importance of moving pictures and graphics. The BBC is starting to link its pages to other news organizations. But newspapers can now clearly identify the competition presented by the strong finances, technological advancements, and personnel enjoyed by the BBC.

Source: The Economist

According to Internetnews.com , the online Yahoo-owned photo service called Flickr is about to launch a new print-on-demand service. The Editorsweblog is interested in companies such as Flickr because amateur photos will increasingly appear in newspapers and on websites. Through a partnership with Qoop, Flickr will offer a service that allows users to select photos and formats to be printing in bound books. Ofoto, another online company, already offers a similar photo-oriented printing service. Flickr lets users upload digital photos, arrange them in online photo albums, add comments, and share them by publishing them in blogs or by inviting others to view them. With 775,000 registered users, Flickr is rapidly growing at a rate of about 30% per month. Newspapers should start thinking about forming partnerships with these kinds of services.

Source: Internetnews.com

The Los Angeles Times’ experiment with wikitorials continues to develop, as LA Observed reports that the paper has taken down its first wikitorial entry from its website. The Times explained, “Unfortunately, we had to remove this feature, at least temporarily, because a few readers were flooding the site with inappropriate material. Thanks and apologies to the thousands of people who logged on in the right spirit.” It is rumored that someone kept posting child porn on the website. Instead of functioning efficiently like a true wiki, a website on which the facts posted by readers are then refined, the wikitorial experiment unraveled into a war over its existence. On another note, in Sunday’s opinion section, one LA Times editor promised that the new design would soon be reveled.

Source: LA Observed

The Swedish state consumer agency is suing Swedish group Metro International for publishing advertisements under the disguise of news, according to Agence France-Presse. The consumer agency claims that Metro created front pages that looked like news spreads, while the pages were in fact advertisements.  In one example, Metro’s Swedish edition published a front page with what looked like a news article about a new computer game under the headline: “The world will never be the same.”  The consumer agency thinks that all advertising should be presented so it can be clearly identified as advertising a product. 

Source: Agence France-Presse.

The Swedish state consumer agency is suing Swedish group Metro International for publishing advertisements under the disguise of news, according to Agence France-Presse. The consumer agency claims that Metro created front pages that looked like news spreads, while the pages were in fact advertisements.  In one example, Metro’s Swedish edition published a front page with what looked like a news article about a new computer game under the headline: “The world will never be the same.”  The consumer agency thinks that all advertising should be presented so it can be clearly identified as advertising a product. 

Source: Agence France-Presse.

Agence France-Presse. reports that the Indian government will now allow foreign funding to purchase shares in listed domestic newspaper companies. The government also said that it will allow foreign groups to print limited versions of their newspapers within India. Through its decision the Indian government will ease foreign investment in the country’s newspaper industry, but to ensure local ownership foreign companies will be restricted to the maximum of a 26 % stake in newspapers. A leading Indian media executive said this decision may lead to the government opening up other news outlets to foreign investment.

Source: Agence France-Presse

Reporters Without Borders has published the results of the competition for the blogs that best defend freedom of expression. The organization first chose a selection of 60 blogs and then asked Internet-users to vote for prize winners in different geographical categories.  Reporters Without Borders wanted to draw attention to the significant role that weblogs play in countries where traditional press is under tight control of the authorities.  To see the detailed results you can visit the organizations website, but here’s a quick summary:  In Asia, the Malaysian blog in English that discusses Malaysian politics and society, “Screenshot,” won.    From Africa and the Middle East, the blog in farsi that comments on Afghanistan’s political and social life called “Shared Pains” and the french blog from Morocco called “Al Jinane.” In Europre, the Italian blog “ICT lex.”  For the Americas, the American blog “Press Think” won. In Iran, the winning blog, “Mojtaba Saminejad”, just had its editor given a two year prison sentence. (see former posting) And in the international category, online readers voted for the German blog “Netzpolitik”.

Source: Reporters Without Borders

M & C News reports that the opposition party in South Korea will make efforts to the revise legislation set to take effect next month concerning the newspaper industry. The party will try to specifically change the laws that violate free trade principles.  The controversial clauses, set to be instated at the end of July, include the requirement that no one newspaper company have more than a 30% market share, and that no three companies can have a total market share of 60%.  Another part of the new legislation will force newspapers to make financial information public, including revenues earned from subscriptions and advertising sales.  Opposition lawmakers claim that other parts of the legislation, including the establishment of government subsidies for smaller newspapers, will result in increased government control over newspapers.  The legislation will also limit the proportion of advertising space relative to editorial content.  Many analysts think the new legislation is meant for Korea’s three major newspapers, the Choson Ilbo, the Chungang Ilbo and the Tong-a Ilbo, whose editorial pages have recently critiqued the government.

Source: M & C News

The Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships (AFPF) has announced its 2006 competition of mid-career print journalists from developing countries.  For twenty one years AFPF has given print journalists in developing countries professional training opportunities in American newsrooms.  Around 10 journalists will be chosen to spend five months reporting for an American news organization. By doing so, the competition winners will hopefully learn practices, standards, and values of U.S. journalism to adapt and apply in their home countries. For details about the application process visit the fellowship’s website.  The application deadline is September 1^st, 2005.

Source: The Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships