• November 21.2008

Editors Weblog site will be closed on Saturday, 22 November

Posted by Katherine Thompson on November 21, 2008 at 3:59 PM
The Editors Weblog site will be closed on Saturday, 22 September for site maintenance.

The website will be working as normal on Sunday and thereafter.
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BlackBerry application proof "information access more important than ever"

Posted by Rosemary D'Amour on November 21, 2008 at 2:10 PM
A new BlackBerry application for MySpace hosted more downloads for the product's first week than any other of its applications.

RIM's co-CEO Jim Balsillie found the fact proof of "an evolving consumer lifestyle where social connectivity and information access are more important than ever."  The spike could also be due in part to "a more concerted marketing push" or a wider consumer base.

The 400,000 downloads for BlackBerry is not the highest in history, as Mozilla Firefox set the record with 1 million downloads in 24 hours.

Source:  News.cnet
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Google launches feature to customize search results

Posted by Rosemary D'Amour on November 21, 2008 at 12:57 PM
Search Wiki is the newest feature to Google, allowing users to customize search results, and is available only to users with Google accounts.

The feature will allow users to rearrange search results, tailored to what they frequently use, according to Brand Republic.  

Users will also be able to add and remove URLs relevant to their own searches.  They can make notes on sites that will be "available for future searches."

Search Wiki allows users to "share insights with other searchers," said an engineer behind the project.

Source:  Brand Republic
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Europe: New data reports that 55% of internet users go online every day

Posted by Lauren Drablier on November 21, 2008 at 12:57 PM
The European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA) released a study showing that Europeans are increasingly turning to the Internet.  Usage is increasing both for leisure pursuits and a means to manage their daily lifestyles.

55% of the 178 million European Internet users go online everyday and 51% go online on the weekends.  In addition, it is the 25-34 year -olds that are driving recent growth.  The study also highlights the top ten activities people do online; here are the top five:
Continue reading »
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UK: Book on news standards sparks debate among journalists

Posted by Rosemary D'Amour on November 21, 2008 at 12:06 PM
An event hosted by Goldsmiths Media Research Centre sparked a "provocative" discussion on a new book exploring the impact of digital technology on modern news practice and operations, which will influence the final draft.

Colleagues of the Guardian were "divided" during the discussion of "New Media, Old News:  Journalism and Democracy in a Digital Age," with some journalists agreeing with the Guardian's Nick Davies' belief that "modern news involves plagiarism." 
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Pakistan: Circulation ban lifted from Daily Islam

Posted by Rosemary D'Amour on November 21, 2008 at 11:06 AM
The ban imposed on the circulation of daily newspaper the Daily Islam has been lifted by the Sindh government, provided that the newspaper not publish material that could "inspire terrorism," according to AsiaMedia.

The government withdrew the ban on several conditions: that the paper not contain material to "inspire Jihadi outfits and youths to carry out terrorist attacks," any material that may "hurt sentiments of people belonging to any sect, religion or country," or "harm national integration."

The paper must also submit three copies to the "home department" of the government each day for review, according to the report.

Source:  AsiaMedia
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New Zealand: Countries biggest newspapers barred from cricket coverage

Posted by Lauren Drablier on November 21, 2008 at 10:37 AM
Following the announcement that Reuters, AP and AFP were suspending cricket coverage due to unacceptable accreditation terms from Australia's governing body, Cricket Australia, New Zealand's largest newspapers remained barred from covering cricket matches.

cricket events.jpgAccording to Cricket Australia spokesman, Peter Young, "The New Zealand Herald, Fairfax Media-owned titles and the New Zealand Press Association have not received accreditation after failing to join a scheduled teleconference." 

Continue reading »
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EU: Online library crashes on first day due to popularity

Posted by Katherine Thompson on November 21, 2008 at 10:36 AM
The EU's new online digest of Europe's cultural heritage - the Europeana digital library - was forced to close temporarily on its launch day due to the site being overwhelmed by Internet users, according to a spokesman.
 
The site features over 2 Million digital objects, such as films, paintings, photographs, sound recordings, maps, manuscripts, newspapers, documents and books had only been open a short time.

Spokesman Martin Selmayr reported that they are now using six computer servers, instead of three. "It is now up and running again," he said. "We hope we will be able to survive the next storm of interest."

Europeana is due to be fully operational by 2010 and it aims to have 10 million works available.

Source: EU Business via EJC
 
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World: AP could cut staff by 10% due to economic fallout

Posted by Rosemary D'Amour on November 21, 2008 at 10:15 AM
Staff reductions at the Associated Press in 2009 could total more than 400 positions globally, or 10% of its workforce, according to the EJC.

AP CEO Tom Curley said the cutbacks are the result of a cut in fees paid by member newspapers and the declining economy.

A $30 million reduction in fees paid by newspapers is anticipated to reduce the "cash flow" of the AP from $95 million to $66 million in 2009, Curley said.  The staff reduction is expected to save $25 million a year.

Most of the cuts, Curley said, are hoped to be buyouts, however, in a meeting webcast to AP offices that announced the news to staff, he did not rule out layoffs.

The "reductions" will include some of the company's 3,000 journalists.  The global staff of the AP is currently at 4,100.

Source:  European Journalism Centre
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Netherlands: Free daily, Splits, sells editorial space

Posted by Lauren Drablier on November 21, 2008 at 10:00 AM
The Dutch free daily, Spits, allows people to purchase editorial space. According to Newspaper Innovation, this method "caused some disturbance among most audience members" at the World Free Press Conference in Barcelona.

A recent example was when the paper made a deal with a local bank, Rabobank, to cover their cycling team throughout the Tour de France.  The bank covered all of the costs, however, coverage was probably less objective.

According to Newspaper Innovation, readers of free dailies are more likely to accept this model than readers of paid dailies.

Source: Newspaper Innovation
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