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Three major Caribbean newspapers are teaming up for in order to cover this year's Beijing Olympic Games. The Jamaica Gleaner, Barbados' The Nation and The Trinidad Express are launching www.sportscaribe.com to offer collective reporting on the Games.

The "joint-effort" site will offer news, feature articles, blogs, photos and videos from The Caribbean Media Corporation with reporting on Caribbean athletes in Beijing, wrote NationNews.com.

The Gleaner's Web division came up with the concept of the deal, which is "the first collaboration of its kind between regional newspapers in sports coverage", reported NationNews.com.

Initially, the idea was focused solely on the Gleaner but Online project manager Hope McMillan said that it would be "much more dynamic" if the rest of the Caribbean participated.

McMillan also mentioned that it would be "lovely" if the papers would find other platforms to collaborate on.

Source: NationNews.com

The Times-News website www.blueridgenow.com is the 13th website to be redesigned in the New York Times Regional Media Group (NYTRMG) revamp project. The new-look website was relaunched on Tuesday.

Times-News online director Matt Rehm said, "the primary benefit of the new site is that it loads faster, also, it was built on a more flexible platform that will allow us to present content like videos and photo galleries in new ways".

The redesign of the website comes with the standardization project called I15. The NYTRMG is composed of 16 newspapers with 16 differently designed websites in 16 different structures.

This harmonization gives them more efficiency with new features and updates. 14 websites have been redesigned in 21 weeks according to Michael Schlein, director of product and technology for NYTRMG.

The I15 redesign provides the group with a new platform which can be updated and improved at any time.

Source: Blueridgenow.com

An interesting and growing market has opened up for newspapers with online editions in Africa: the expat reader looking for news about home from a familiar news source. The print version of newspapers remains paramount in Africa in terms of readership and revenue, but newspaper organizations are waking up to this new medium's potential.

When Kenya's Daily Nation launched its website a decade ago, it had a clear vision. The country's leading newspaper recognised that the 1.8 million Kenyans living abroad had little access to news from home, and that an online edition would have mass appeal to the increasing number of ex-pats who hungered for news. This is something that editors and publishers across Africa should bare in mind: the International Labour Organisation estimates there are some 7.1 million Africans living outside their home country. The number is rising rapidly and by 2025 could climb to one in ten, the IOM predicts.

The Editors Weblog spoke with the Daily Nation's managing editor of special projects, Macharia Gaitho, about his newspapers online edition and he said: "We wanted to extend the paper's audience beyond Kenya's geographic borders to deepen the paper's voice and authority, while also offering a service to the growing Kenyan diaspora." The website was launched formally in October 1998 with a dedicated team, following trials the previous year just before the Kenyan general election.

This service goes back to the very foundation of what newspapers are all about, they are not only providing a news service, they are also serving their communities, even the members of it who have moved away.

The fact that the online edition is very reflective of the print edition is a pull to the expat community who will immediately have the emotional response of recognition and thus feel "familiar" with the web version from their first visit, this familiarity will likely encourage return visitors. As one of the most trusted news organization on the African continent, it would already be a first port of call for expats looking for news from home, but with its easily navigable site, clear graphics, photographs, video footage and with a style that echoes the print version, they have cleverly tapped into the expat market.

Gaitho, who describes the Daily Nation website as the "recognized go-to place online for news on Kenya" said it was important that the web edition reflected the "Nation's look and feel."

The Daily Nation site has recently undergone a revamp and the new-look site achieved 50,000 unique visitors daily in its first week after the launch. The previous version averaged 80,000 unique visitors daily. Explaining this disparity in visitors, Gaitho said: "Because of faster download speeds and improved features, we project the new one will surpass 80k".
 
However, some news organisations in Kenya have been slow to see the potential of this new market and only have a web version as a nod to this evolving technology without fully engaging with the medium. Dr George Ogola at the University of Lancashire says that in Kenya, "The element of interactivity, the very essence of 'experiencing' news online remains unexploited." He believes that news organisations need to recognise that with the advent of online news, the relationship between the reader and the newspaper has been altered.

The appeal of ex-pat readers is therefore another attraction for African newspapers to consider when they lead the charge to online editions, not only for editors looking to boost their news organizations readership and to keep their media house relevant, but also to appeal to advertisers such as Western Union who wish to reach the expat audience. It is as a result now mandatory for any newspaper in Africa to have an online edition.

The Editors Weblog spoke to the Directeur de Publications at Le Jour in Cameroon, Haman Mana, about his thoughts on this issue. Recently launched newspaper Le Jour is a particularly interesting case, as they chose to launch the print and online version at the same time on the 17 September 2007. This decision underscores how online media is growing in importance in Africa, even though print still creates more revenue and attracts a larger readership. When I asked Mana about his thinking behind this decision, he said bluntly, "It is inconceivable for any Cameroonian newspaper that wants to be taken seriously not to have an online edition."



Mana agreed with Gaitho on how it is important that the online edition mirror the newspaper, saying, "The design was an important step for us, because we wanted to keep the spirit of the print edition." Mana reports that a significant portion of Le Jour's online readership is also made up of the Cameroon disapora. He also highlighted how having an online edition is simply good publicity for a newspapers brand, he said the web version has opened up a world of markets to Le Jour and, "it permits us to have a global presence and visibility."

It is therefore clear that the expat reader opens up a whole new market of readers and revenue to Africa's newspapers. For those organisations that are reticent about connecting with the web, they need to be aware they are ignoring a growing market waiting to be exploited. The African web news market is already jostling with competitors, so if they do not leap now, they could miss out completely.

Sources: AllAfrica.com, Business Daily, International Labour Organisation, Daily Nation, Le Jour

Al-Akhbar, a daily newspaper that "refuses to be a collection of political statements without any clear criteria of value," according to its business editor Mohammed Zebib, stands out on the newstands in Lebanon. While the majority of newspapers have political photgraphs on the front page and a traditional format, Al-Akhbar's innovative design makes it eye catching.



Al-Akhbar, which started as a thin 24 pages daily in 2006, has now taken the format of an attractive 40 page tabloid newspaper. However, its main differentiation with other Arab publications is its content. Instead of focusing exclusively on political issues, it deals with social, cultural and economical matters.

There are other fundamental differences between al-Akhbar and the rest of the Lebanese newspapers, in terms of work structure, content and style, editorial line, and financial issues. Mohammad Zebib says that Al-Akhbar is the only Lebanese newspaper that works according to a strict layout, which requires more work and is similar to the way Western newspapers work.

The newspaper avoids using agency news and instead fills its pages with signed articles, investigations, and features. "It's a new way of doing journalism", says editor-in-chief Khaled Saghieh.

Al-Akhbar also distinguishes itself from the Arab written press with a clear separation between the financial side (advertising, marketing and finance) and the newspaper and editorial aspect.

In two years time, the daily has become the third most read newspaper in Lebanon. However, the Lebanese market is small and their readership does not reach 10,000 readers a day. Al-Akhbar claims that its online edition has over 300,000 unique visitors per month.

The daily's next project is to expand its market to Qatar in order to reach the Gulf countries.

Source: Menassat

What newspapers need to both survive and thrive is "excellent journalism, strong investment to stay on the cutting edge of technology, and aggressive marketing of the product", according to a survey by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

"Anecdotal evidence suggests "Mo Jo's" (note: mobile journalists) are usually deployed to cover geographical rather than themed beats and tend to act as carpet sweepers, reporting and filing a stream of short, quick stories for the paper's website on minor or routine developments during the course of the day," the survey reported.

The study showed that smaller newspapers focusing on their communities are experiencing more stability.

The general trend seems to be declining specialized beats. Some editors assume that letting beat reporters go will not make much of a difference since the same story may be gotten from somewhere else.

"Eventually, you wake up one day and find there is no somewhere else because everyone has done the same thing you've done," said one of the surveyed editors.

Because reporters find themselves focusing on more than one beat, the coverage is "thinner" and the quality of reporting has gone down, according to PJ Net

"The newspapers and their online editions seem to be leaning towards immediacy, local and short. That may be great for many readers, but not for me. I want that short stuff, but I want context, nuance, depth," wrote PJ Net's chief blogger Leonard Witt.

Source: PJ Net

See also:
US: Study shows newsroom cutbacks are hurting coverage Part 3
US: Study shows newsroom cutbacks are hurting coverage Part 2
US: Study shows newsroom cutbacks are hurting coverage Part 1

Although the US newspaper industry may be experiencing declining revenues and plummeting circulation, editors remain positive about their papers futures, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. The focus shifts to the Web, as papers look for a way to deal with the situation.

Newspaper websites may bring hopefulness to some and despair to others. Nearly half of editors said that they see promise in online news sites, as the Web is seen as the "saviour" of newspaper newsrooms, reported Robb Montgomery in his blog.

However, almost half said that they are questioning the speed, depth and interactivity of the Internet. These advantages may affect accuracy and journalistic standards, Montgomery wrote.

Montgomery also mentioned that newspapers who lay off staff do not do such a good job of reporting that information.

Source: Robb Montgomery

US: Study shows newsroom cutbacks are hurting coverage Part 2
US: Study shows newsroom cutbacks are hurting coverage Part 1

US newspaper editors seem to have a positive outlook on their publications' futures, in spite of dropping revenue and job cuts that some papers experienced. As the news reallocates to the Web and other technology is being integrated, newspapers may find a way to balance themselves, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Database journalism and mobile reporting both grew, a survey by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. Staff blogs, micro sites, videography and online-only editing have all become more widespread across newspapers, demonstrating newspapers adaptation to the digital age.

Newspaper readership increased, thanks to the Internet, the survey showed. However, online advertising hasn't been able to bring in as much revenue as print.

The Internet is allowing for stories to be published faster and for updates to be more frequent, which may make the newsroom environment more demanding but also more dynamic.

"The newsroom staff producing the paper is also smaller, younger, more tech-savvy, and more oriented to serving the demands of both print and the web. The staff also is under greater pressure, has less institutional memory, less knowledge of the community, of how to gather news and the history of individual beats. There are fewer editors to catch mistakes," the survey said.

Larger papers consider it vital to preserve investigative journalism, something that distinguishes them from other new media such as blogs, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Database journalism and mobile reporting both grew, the survey found. Staff blogs, micro sites, videography and online-only editing have all become more widespread across newspapers, demonstrating newspapers adaptation to the digital age.

Source: The Los Angeles Times, Yelvignton.com, Knight Digital Media Center

See Also:
US: Study shows newsroom cutbacks are hurting coverage Part 1

A study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, called "The Changing Newsroom: What is Being Gained and What is Being Lost in America's Daily Newspapers", has found that smaller newsrooms are hurting newspaper quality. The recent brutal cuts in newsrooms across America are taking their toll, the Associated Press report.

"America's newspapers are narrowing their reach and their ambitions and becoming niche reads," the study said.

Newspaper paper stories are generally shorter and the coverage tends to focus on local events. The study also showed that papers carry less foreign, national and business, science and arts news, and many have reduced the crossword puzzle and eliminated television and stock listings. Reporters are also having to cover more than one beat, as Editors struggle with less staff.

Despite this, 56 percent of the editors surveyed said their news product is better than it was three years ago because coverage is more targeted. Only 5 percent of the editors surveyed said they were confident they could predict what the newsroom would look like in five years.

The PEJ study surveyed senior newsroom executives at more than 250 newspapers and interviewed editors at papers in 15 cities. The results of the survey, conducted online by Princeton Survey Research Associates International between Jan. 29 and Feb. 29, include responses from over 50 percent of U.S. papers with 100,000 or more in circulation and more than 30 percent of papers with 50,000 to 100,000 in circulation.

Source: Associated Press

Matha Stone, Director, SFN Project, World Association of Newspapers, gave a brief overlook on the Report on Global Impact and Digital Revenues at the Digital Media Round Table at the 61st World Newspaper Congress.

The advertisment market share for printed revenues is going down, and the internet is taking the market share. Internet advertisement is the big winner today and, according to Martha Stone, it will be so in the long run. Internet is much cheaper than print media, which makes it hard to compete with. So print media has to get online! The use of broadband is increasing so newspapers have to take advantage of that.

However, WAN's  Report on Global Impact and Digital Revenues shows that internet revenues are growing. Unfortunately they are not growing fast enough to make up for the loss in printed revenues.

The WAN Report also states that online revenue growth is the fastest and largest in North America.

The largest newspapers are still taking down more revenues, but local papers are increasing their revenues since local ads online are getting bigger.

Atex, provider of mission-critical software solutions and services to the global media industry, has acquired of Polopoly, which develops web publishing and content management systems. With this acquisition, Atex hopes to provide a single global vendor for delivering news and advertising through different mediums.

John Hawkins, Atex Group CEO says, "With our roots firmly established in the print world, Atex recognises the shift from print to online and the market trends driving the shape of the industry. Atex wants to see 50% of its revenues come from web-centric, mobile and video applications by 2011."

Atex DNA is designed to "help create innovative revenue sources, reduce operating costs, and engage both younger and older audiences," according to its website. Based in Stockholm, Sweden, Polopoly AB's platform is designed to maximize efficiency in media utilization by offering tools to easily create and manage websites and providing "highly interactive, collaborative and community-focused experiences for visitors" on a variety of digital devices.  
 
Hawkins adds, "As a business partner with the World Association of Newspapers in the SFN (Shaping the Future of the Newspaper) project, we have developed a roadmap for our customers based on our Atex DNA strategy, and this acquisition of Polopoly continues to demonstrate Atex's engagement and understanding of our customers' needs going forward in bridging the print and digital media worlds."

Four editors in chief will be talking about ATEX and Polopoly in a session on content management systems at the World Editors Forum Conference which will be held in Sweden this year.

For more information on the World Editors Forum Conference, click here.

Source: ATEX through IFRA Executive News Service
 

In an interview with On the Media's Bob Garfield, Project for Excellence in Journalism director Tom Rosenstiel says that news organizations are better positioned than entertainment media, despite an overall stormy outlook for the newspaper economy.

According to Rosenstiel, "entertainment is awash with competitors while the nation's great news outlets still own the field."

Rosenstiel's assessment stands in contrast to that of the Associated Press, which recently announced plans to increase its entertainment coverage. And while entertainment media may be a flooded market, it has experienced growth in the past year.

As for the main causes of newspaper revenue loss (go here for a summary of the latest figures from a Newspaper Association of America report), Rosenstiel pinpoints the virtual irrelevance today of the classifieds, once newspapers' main cash source, as one of the key factors in the revenue losses newspapers are currently experiencing.

According to Rosentiel, advertising in general will not generate enough revenue in the future, fueled partly by online consumers who tend to avoid clicking on ads. Instead he proposes a cable model, where the subscription fee for each major newspaper is embedded in the access fee to the internet company.

"There is a vested interest in the Verizons and the Comcasts of the world having a robust news business because it's such a draw for traffic," Rosentiel said.

Source: On the Media through Romenesko

Last week, the Iraq war hit its five year anniversary, but it appears to garner less attention the longer it lasts. Yesterday, the death toll for U.S. forces in Iraq surpassed 4,000, yet it was not front page news for a lot of newspapers.

An interesting note is that the citations of the number of Iraqis killed are extremely controversial as they range from 50,000 to about 150,000, or higher.

Mark Jurkowitz, Associate Director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, noted that coverage of the war had significantly dropped at the end of last year. A PEJ study found that while last July, 15% of all stories covered the Iraq War, this February that percentage dropped to 3. He attributed this to the success of the surge, which resulted in the decrease of casualties and violence. Coverage of those events dropped accordingly.

Marjorie Miller, Foreign Editor of the Los Angeles Times remarked that there are two major stories that are competing for space in papers that are more immediate: The US election and the mortgage crisis. Iraq stories require more time to unfold and develop. She also notices a weariness from readers, since this is a story they want to go away. Reporters need to discover new ways to constantly keep the stories engaging.

However, Greg Mitchell, Editor of Editor & Publisher, is adamant about keeping Iraq news front page. He does not excuse the weariness of readers are a reason since he believes most people take their cues from the media.

Even though people may be getting weary of Iraq stories, providing them with accessible news is important. They shouldn't have to flip through several pages to read a story that is affecting the whole nation, nor should they try to forget such a devastating event. As Mitchell puts it, people have to say to themselves, "This is the story of our time; this is still the tragedy of our time; this is still the worst episode that the United States has been involved in, in probably my lifetime."

Sources: Chicago Tribune, the Online News Hour (picture) through Poynter Romenesko