Results matching “launches video only website”

PV Media Group has launched a news aggregation website, BreakingNews.com in partnership with the wire service Breaking News Network Inc.

The group is an online marketing company that is headed by Steve Rosenberg, former Universal TV executive.

Today the Times Online launched the Times Mobile website designed for mobile devices.  The site will allow cell phones and other mobile devices to access text, pictures and multimedia content on the website.  According to Bizcommunity, The Times is the first South African news site to launch a service for mobile content.  

Several features of the new service include a weather service, which picks up the user's location automatically in order to provide relevant weather data.  Furthermore, users can download audio and video clips for free and browse the career section of the site.

The Bradenton Herald announced plans to relaunch its website this week.  The new design is set to aid in the integration of news, advertising and information-sharing between print and online editions.

The Herald will expand multimedia capabilities and include original video content throughout the site.

The new site will be simplified, more interactive and personalized.  Users will be able to build their own blogs, forms and even a personal profile like those of MySpace or Facebook.  In addition they will be able to comment on stories posted on the site. 

Citizen journalism may receive a boost as prominent interactive video streaming website Stickam.com reports the launch of Stickam Mobile. The service will allow users to upload live video to Stickam players though mobile devices, to see the number of live viewers at a given moment as well as get a glimpse of chat room content on their mobile phone screens.

In the latest stage of reinvigorating the Wall Street Journal brand, its online edition - WSJ.com - has undergone a huge makeover, relaunching on Tuesday.

The parent company, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., appears determined to put its mark on its latest acquisition; the President of the Wall Street Journal Digital Network, Gordon McLeod, reportedly said that the investment into the website revamp is a "big financial commitment."

The Editors Weblog spoke with the Deputy Editor of the Wall Street Journal, Alan Murray, about the shake up occurring at the newspaper. Murray was bullish about the changes, saying, "The new owners have made it clear that they no longer want people to look at the Wall Street Journal as a second read. It should be their primary read, it should suit all their information needs. We want it to be the ultimate news source for our engaged, affluent and educated readers."

Murray went on to speak about the redesign of WSJ.com, the recent changes in newsroom layout and management, and the ambitious plans for the future of the Wall Street Journal brand. He made it clear that, "(The website relaunch) is not a finishing point. This is the launching pad." 

Murray was particularly excited about the relaunch occuring at the same time as the Lehman Brothers story breaking, saying "We are delighted that the biggest financial news story since 1929 happens to coincide with the launch of our revamped site!"

"Newsreel" revolutionizes site navigation
For the new, sleek look of WSJ.com, News Corp's primary design motivation was to take advantage of users who "come in through the side door". Individual article pages mostly found through search engines, have been equipped with multiple navigation tools, to keep readers on the WSJ site.

Arguably the most interesting navigation feature is "Newsreel", essentially a news ticker placed at the top of the article. As the reader browses an article page, Newsreel scrolls through the days most important stories from the section the user is in. For example, if a user is in the business section, the Newsreel displays the top business stories of the day.    

In addition to the new layout and navigation functions, the Journal's newsroom is upping its content production to help keep readers on the site. The redesign also aims to be more colourful with more photos and includes an enhanced video player, an increasingly prevalent aspect of all news websites. Further features are set to roll out over the coming months. 

Social network for the business community
Perhaps most important for the WSJ's new owners is maintaining WSJ.com's impressive online subscription base, which has reached over 1 million paying members. Apart from increasing content, News Corp hopes to hold on to these subscribers with exclusive features such as WSJ Community, a social network for WSJ subscribers.

The key feature of this new social networking tool is that members must use their real names, which is aimed at cutting out any random, anonymous comments or useless noise found on other Internet news sites. Murray believes the quality of the site's subscriber base will create "a higher quality conversation". He acknowledges WSJ.com will not achieve the numbers of a chat on Yahoo Finance but, "we think the usefulness and quality is going to be key". The Journal is considering opening up the Community to non-subscribers in the future, who, just like subscribers, would only be able to join and interact with their real name.

WSJ.com has been the world's most successful subscription newssite for years and its membership keeps growing. According to Murray, online subscriptions have increased 26% in the past two years. And the number of unique user is skyrocketing too: "By our numbers, we now have 17 million visitors to WSJ.com" - 8 million more than two years ago - "and in September it is going to be even bigger than that. Therefore, Murray doesn't see any conflict in bringing more people in and letting them sample WSJ content.


Integrated Newsroom

Murray revealed that the Wall Street Journal is not only undergoing a radical change on its website, but is also changing in its newsroom, "The relaunch coincides with a complete integration and reorganisation of the reporting and editing staff."

Managing Editor, Robert Thomson, has spearheaded the integration programme, which has brought together the online and print staff. Last week, Thomson debuted a news hub in the newsroom where the senior editors from print, online, Dow Jones Newswires and MarketWatch all sit together and co-ordinate the coverage throughout the day.

The morning news meeting has been "totally turned upside down," according to Murray. It now begins with a report from the online team, then from Dow Jones Newswires, then MarketWatch and, only after discussing the coverage for real-time news, do they look at coverage for the day's paper.

The substantial Dow Jones Newswire team is also being moved to make the integration process physical, with the whole team being brought across the river to sit alongside their New York print colleagues. This move will happen, "sometime next Spring" Murray said.

The Wall Street Journal team has been undergoing training to prepare for the integration process. Murray reported, "A simple example is headlines. You have to write a different kind of headline in the online world and in the print world. We will continue to do that kind of training."

The future of the Wall Street Journal

The Editors Weblog asked if this process was the beginning of a long term-reinvigoration process for the Wall Street Journal brand, Murray said: "You bet! We have very ambitious plans for international, we have very ambitious plans for premium products on top of this online platform and we have a whole schedule of online innovations that we are planning over the course of the next 18 months. This is just the beginning"

"Look for us forming closer links with all the social networks because we are not trying to compete with social networks, we want to make it as easy as possible for our users to share our content over social networks and to bring their friends and connection into our community"

Murray also added that News Corp is confident about the future of print, stating, "The Wall Street Journal under its new management is investing in both print and online, so I would say we are very optimistic about the future of newspapers. We may be the only people who are optimistic! We are dedicated to delivering our news on all platforms"

Source: Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch, paidcontent.org

See also:

US: Murdoch on the future of newspapers
US: Wall Street Journal to launch new website on Tuesday
Wall Street Journal unveils magazine supplement, WSJ
US: Wall Street Journal launches new mobile application
Murdoch: Newspapers willing to invest in new forms of delivery will prosper

The International News Safety Institute, which began five years ago to provide timely informed advice and guidance to journalists in potential danger, re-launched its website today.

The changes are designed to make the safety resources easier to access by those reporting from hostile environments or those who plan to visit such an environment on assignment.  The new site also includes video and audio content and aims to be more visually attractive.  The website also switched from a '.com' to a '.org', benefiting from its status as a charity.  

It aims to provide more clear and concise guidance for those journalists and contains news and feature articles related to risk awareness, safety, health and training.  Furthermore, it has easy access advisories for world trouble spots and contains links to other sites and safety resources.

Source:  INSI

When it launches in 2009,  Global News will "provide the broadest global coverage of any U.S.-based news organization, second only to the Associated Press Consortium", according to its press release. The service is billing itself as the first fully web-based news organization.

It is positioning itself to plug the gap left by the cuts made to foreign and in-depth reporting. Global News will not be a wire service, it will offer, "the "who-what-when-where" of a breaking story"

It will offer clients customized, co-branded coverage from GNE correspondents, in-depth Sunday/weekend pieces, multimedia context for major stories and regional events, a private daybook of international story planning, and a co-branded "foreign desk" 24/7 box with links on client's website. It will be focused on the America market, providing news and analysis from what it calls, "an unashamedly American perspective."

Global News reports that its pricing structure will be competitive, but no set figures are as yet available.

The service will also take advantage of the latest video technology to offer a broad array of video reports from its correspondents, as well as from other international journalists with whom Global News will contract.

Source: Global News Enterprises

The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) backed a complaint that was made against video footage that is on The Sun's website. The footage was obtained through the use of a hidden camera, which defies clause 10 of the PCC code, reported Journalism.co.uk.

The video clip showed a man, who was convicted of being in possession of pornographic imagery, at his job in a supermarket. The video was meant to be a feature of a story about a delivery to a nursery school kitchen, even though it had only showed the man in the supermarket.

The PCC said that the "public element of the story" wasn't present in the Sun footage. According to the PCC, there has to be a strong public interest in a story in order to validate the use of undercover cameras.

Source: Journalism.co.uk

See also:
UK: Commentators split on whether Mosley verdict will stifle journalism
UK: Mosley now launches libel action against News of The World

Singapore newspaper The Straits Times (ST) revealed its print and digital makeover last Friday. The revamped print version features some changes in fonts and colors as well as an increased amount of top news on the front page. The redesigned website features a division of www.straitstimes.com into a paid service ST Digital and the free ST Breaking News.   

This week, the print edition will change the days that the sections "Digital Life", "Mind Your Body" and "Urban" are printed to Wednesday, Thursday and Friday respectively.

Like the US paper the Philadephia Inquirer, the ST is putting more focus on covering breaking news online. ST Breaking News will include breaking news coverage and news blogs, and the readers would have the ability to comment and interact with the reporters. The paid subscription service ST Digital will provide users with e-papers.

ST also announced the launch of the ST Razor TV, a free interactive online TV feature that offers live news programs, video on demand and a space for users to interact and communicate.

The paper plans to raise circulation until the end of August by providing 10,000 additional copies daily to unsubscribed households and coffeeshops.

Source: Publicitas

See also:
Singapore: The Straits Times should focus on "sponge" readers
US: Philadelphia Inquirer managng editor takes "backward" step?
US: Response to Philadelphia Inquirer's new online policy

Sina.com, a Chinese news website with around 800 million page views per day, has launched an English version to meet the demand for news on last week's earthquake in Sichuan.

English.sina.com is virtually identical to the flagship Sina site, offering photo and video content, financial market information, and news on the upcoming Olympic Games. Both of Sina's sites are also sponsoring a fund raising drive for victims, and contain information on various NGOs assisting in the region.

At the moment the new site is primarily focused on coverage of the earthquake tragedy. However, Sina English is also making plans for the long terrm.

"We intend to make this site a window for international communities to have an easy access to China related information and to have better understanding about modern China," said Sina president and chief executive Charles Chao.


Source: Guardian

Pearson is launching a Middle Eastern edition of its business newspaper the Financial Times to meet "increasing reader and advertiser demand for global business news in the Gulf following its emergence as a major international finance and business center," according to Brand Republic. It will be available tomorrow.

"This edition is a further step in our successful global strategy, reflecting the rapidly deepening interface between the region and the international economy," said John Ridding, chief executive of the Financial Times. ""It will provide a further boost to our global circulation and a quality advertising vehicle for businesses seeking to reach senior decision makers in the Middle East."

The staff will consist of Roula Khalaf, Middle East editor in London, and three full-time journalists in Abu Dhabi: Andrew England, Middle East correspondent, James Drummond, Gulf News editor, and Simeon Kerr, Gulf business correspondent. Other journalists will be recruited in Qatar and Saudi Arabia. 

FT already has a network of offices in Cairo, Tehran, Jerusalem and Beirut, and they hope to expand with Kerr based in Dubai.

FT also hopes to gain more coverage on the Middle East on its website, as well as revamp the webpage so that is has more video and audio content.

Former Daily Telegraph editor Martin Newland launched UAE newspaper The National about two weeks ago, thus making the FT's Middle East edition the second national title to launch in the area this month.

Source: Brand Republic

CBS has launched a citizen journalism website where users can upload video and images of news events with a brief text description from their mobile phones by sending an MMS to the short code "85888" or by email. Citizen journalism is becoming more popular, with some papers such as the Chi-Town Daily, singing its praises.

CBS also has some of its own content on the site, hoping to attract more uploads. They are looking for content covering breaking news, weather, sports and politics.

Others have experimented with multimedia citizen journalism: CNN with iReport, The New York Times for the election, and The Sacramento Bee with the Olympics.

CBS has also recently updated its mobile news, making it easier for its readers to find relevant stories.

Source: WebProNews

Hulu.com, a website created by NBC Universal and Fox that legally hosts TV shows and feature films, launches to the public tomorrow. It is predicted to rival other video sharing websites, especially Google's YouTube. The difference with Hulu, reportedly, is its user-friendliness and professional quality material.

Warner Brothers, Sony Pictures, MGM, and other big name media companies have already signed on to add content onto the libraries. According to the New York Times, the only major non-participants are ABC and CBS. Additionally, sports fans will be able to find highlights from N.B.A. and N.H.L. games as well as full length N.C.A.A. men's  basketball games from the past 25 years.

Viewers will be given a choice, depending on the show, with which commercials they want to see. Some viewers will even have the opportunity to watch a 2 minute film before the show which eliminates all commercials for the rest of the show.

The main disadvantage of Hulu is their obligation to protect DVD and Web download sales, meaning TV shows and films will only be available for a limited amount of time. Whereas viewers can constantly share videos from Youtube for instance, they will not be able to go back on Hulu and recommend shows to their friends and family, according to Bobby Tulsiani, an analyst at JupiterResearch.

People are also able to view these videos on popular online hangouts. Over 5,000 websites have embedded Hulu's videos such as AOL, Yahoo, and Myspace.

Source: New York Times through Media Bistro, International Business Times through I Want Media