Recently by Dominique Lewis Tuohy

It is no secret that online journalism has made any information available to anyone at any time and has been cutting into the audience and business models of traditional newspapers. So how are conventional publications going to compete and persist? Steve Yelvington, Vice President of Content and Strategy at Morris Digital Works tried to answer these questions at the 13th World Editors Forum in Moscow.

The fact that “Generation Y” is not picking up the newspaper reading habit is not a “problem with ink on paper,” said Yelvington. “It’s a problem of content and its relationship with the market,” and therefore, repurposing print material for the Web is an insufficient strategy.

The BBC is argued by some to be the “Mainstream Media” organization most advanced in its adoption of Internet innovations, especially in including the audience in its newsgathering. Steve Herrmann, (position) at the BBC traveled to Moscow to explain to the delegates at the 13th World Editors Forum how the interactivity of the digital age is affecting journalism and editors around the globe.

Herrmann set the tone for his speech by urging editors and news organizations to tear down the walls around themselves; the first thing news organizations have to do in the rapidly transforming media landscape where everyone is a potential journalists and publisher is “Listen to the audience.”

Columbia University’s Eli Noam stirred up some curiosity in the media industry in 2005 prophesizing that newspapers will evolve into “news integrators.” That curiosity was sated at the 13th World Editors forum where Noam made the keynote speech.

In keeping with the theme of the “free generation”, the bearded academic reflected on Rupert Murdoch’s now famous speech at the American Society of Newspaper Editors in April 2005, saying that “Young people are not abandoning print. They are abandoning news.” In this respect, newspapers must undergo a “structural transformation” if they are to thrive in the digital age. 

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has asked newspaper editors to cease publishing pictures of women because such photos could 'lead men astray'. He said: "The youth are driven by emotion ... and sometimes they can be lead astray," and then asked the editors to "please cut down on" printing images of women. The king appealed to editors' feelings about the representation of women close to them, asking how they would feel about their wife, daughter or sister 'appearing in this way.'

Peter Bale, editor of Times Online, the online portal belonging to the UK's number two quality daily, criticised the idea of over-personalising newspapers when speaking at the 'Tomorrow's Web' conference on May 3rd. His main criticism of personalising newspapers is that it makes for a "dull" newspaper. For Bale one of the main objectives of the newspaper is to "give people journeys that surprise them," in his view this is hampered by personalisation.

Cyberjournalist reports that USA Today has launched, in beta, a personalised news site, which is essentailly RSS for dummies. It is a branded RSS reader which allows users to subscribe to their favourite USA Today feeds or indeed any other feeds.

Sourec: Cyberjournalist (through the Ifra Executive News Service) 

The Economist has launched a new advertising campaign in the UK which is aimed at humorously highlighting the benefits of reading the magazine. The campaign also targets give away initiatives run by many newspapers by using a spoof of offering free seeds to readers. Jacqui Kean, brand marketing manager for the Economist, explained this concept in the following way: "The strategy behind the seeds ad is that we offer seeds of thought and ideas and is a spoof of many of our competitors that are focusing on tactical initiatives." Other examples of ads in the campaign include: "Do not fold, Now with bigger pictures", "Makes white collars brighter" and "Avoid typecasting".

Source: Media Guardian  

The Yemen Observer, a newspaper whose printing license was revoked for reprinting the infamous Mohammed cartoons, has been told it may begin printing again. At the time of the Mohammed cartoon debacle the editor-in-chief of the Yemen Observer, Mohammad al-Asaadi, and two journalists from al-Hurriya (the Managing Editor, Abd al-Karim Sabra and a reporter, Yehiya al-Abed) were jailed. In addition to The Yemen Observer, the printing licenses of weeklies Al-Hurriya and al-Rai al-Aam were suspended. These two papers have reportedly been told they can also begin printing again. However, Mohammed al-Asaadi is on trial for defaming Islam and has still not been cleared of this charge, which he denies.

Source: BBC News, The Editors Weblog and here 

Media Guardian reports that the Financial Times has seen a 13% increase in advertising revenue; the paper's circulation is also up by 4%. Pearson, owner of the FT, asserts that "at least 80%" of these advertising gains are being converted into profit. The FT has truly come out of a rut; in 2005 it reported a 2 million pound sterling profit. The paper had not been profitable since 2002, and in fact lost 32 million pounds sterling in 2003.

Pearson chairman Glen Moreno made the following statement: "We are encouraged by our sustained momentum in the early part of 2006, and we are in good shape to deliver positive results for customers and shareholders year after year." 

Source: Media Guardian  

Russia's state controlled gas giant Gazprom is set to increase its control over the country's media through the potential purchase of Komsomolskaya Pravda, the paper with the largest circulation; 817 000 copies daily in 2004 (statistic from World Press Trends 2005). Gazprom, however, would not confirm this report. The company is also rumoured to be considering buying the broadsheet Kommersant. The Russian government has been criticised for using Gazprom as a means to tighten its control over the media. For example, last June it bought a large percentage of shares of the independent newspaper Izvestia (see previous posting). This past weekend Russia saw protests precisely against state interference in the media sector (see previous posting).

Source: AFP (Registration required) 

US paper the The Denver Post (Colorado) has announced it plan to cut 25 of a total of 300 newsroom positions; this will be accomplished through early retirement and voluntary separation. The jobs to be lost represent 8% of the newsroom workforce. The paper's editor Gary Moore explained the cut backs are the result of "The failure of the economy to bounce back for newspapers."

Source: Chron.com (through the Ifra Executive News Service) 

Anna Smirnova, the editor of Russian weekly Nash Region, has been found guilty of "deliberately stirring up religious hatred and intolerance" and of "abusing her position", she has also been fined approximately 3,000 euros, all of this for publishing the infamous Mohammed cartoons 2 months ago. Smirnova's husband, and owner of the now defunct weekly, explained that contrary to the court ruling the publication of the cartoons was "aimed against stirring up religious hatred" he also asserted that his wife would be appealing the court decision.

The Russian paper Gorodskiye Vesti was closed down by Volgograd's mayor after it published an original cartoon commenting on the Mohammed cartoons row, which included an image of Mohammed (see previous posting).

Russian President Vladimir Putin has condemned publication of the cartoons in line with his concern that such acts may 'destabilise' Russia, since it has 20 million Muslim inhabitants. 

Source: Irish Examiner, For full coverage of the Mohammed cartoons row, see Editors Weblog previous postings and here and here and here 

An Italian Catholic magazine called Studi Cattolici has published a cartoon, inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy, which depicts the Prophet Mohammed in hell cut in two as punishment for spreading division. The cartoon's caption also uses a play on words to suggest Italy's attitude towards Muslims is too soft. The cartoon has been criticised by the Vatican, whose expert on Islam, Father Justo Lacunza Balda, made the following statement: "This really doesn't seem to me like the way towards dialogue and mutual understanding.", and by the Italian section of the World Muslim League, which denounced the cartoon as "in extremely bad taste."

Source: Media Guardian (registration required) For full coverage of the Mohammed Cartoons Row see The Editors Weblog previous postings and here and here and here

The Estonian newspaper KesKus has reprinted the infamous Mohammed cartoons, originally published in September 2005 by Danish paper Jyllands Posten, that sparked outrage amongst Muslims worldwide. Editor in chief Juku-Kalle Raid explained the decision to print the cartoons as follows: "We published the cartoons so that people can see what they are criticising. My decision was immediate but we took our time because we did not want to add to the already high tensions."

The Estonian Prime Minister has stated that any adverse reaction to the publication of the cartoons will be the responsibility of the newspaper, he additionally warned that freedom of expression must be exercised with caution: "Freedom of the press must be accompanied with responsibility ... All of us have seen the reaction to these cartoons. If anything happens, KesKus executives will be responsible."

It remains to be seen what kind of reaction will result from the re-printing of the cartoons. However, one has to wonder whether KesKus has waited to long to re-print and therefore risks re-igniting the cartoons row, which of late had seemed to have somewhat subsided, and thus directly contravening the objective behind the decision to re-print.

Source: Interfax For full coverage of the cartoon controversy see Editors Weblog previous postings and here and here

A Turkish cartoon row that began with the publication of a caricature, authored by cartoonist Musa Kart, depicting the country's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan "as a cat entangled in a ball of wool" was reignited yesterday. Musa Kart was found guilty, a number of months ago, of insulting the Turkish premier and was ordered to pay a fine of approximately $3,700. In solidarity with Musa Kart's predicament the Turkish magazine Penguen then published a set of cartoons showing Erdogan's head atop the bodies of a number of animals.