Dubai's English-language daily Emirates Business 24/7 plans to shut down its print edition and convert to an electronic-only newspaper in mid-July, GulfNews.com reported.

Publications generally close or reduce the days in which their print product appears due to financial reasons; however, the order to shutter the print version completely and go online-only comes from orders issued by Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, deputy ruler of Dubai and Board Chairman of Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI). Financial reasons were not given.

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The New York Observer has launched a trial incentive programme for reporters, the Awl reported, offering bonuses to staff for web popularity and web traffic. The scheme was announced last Wednesday via a memo at a staff meeting.

In May, June and July, a first place award of $500 and second place of $300 will be offered in each category - pageviews, number of posts, new Twitter followers, number of comments, and external pickups. Each employee can win a total of $2500, the Awl specified.

Tips for winning in each category were offered, including using Google Trends, Twitter and other tools to find out what's popular on the web, using social media to promote stories, writing blog posts to provide extra commentary, and by ending with 'conversation starters.'

Is offering such financial incentives to staff a wise idea? Encouraging reporters to make an effort to promote their work undoubtedly makes sense, but the idea that journalists might feel pressured to write just about subjects that they believe readers will want to read is worrying, as it might lead to more celebrity coverage rather than hard-hitting stories. Pushing them to write multiple posts could also lead to a drop in quality in each story.

Sree Sreenivasan, a contributing editor to NYC's local news site, DNAinfo, recently informed readers about the insights he gleaned from a week of vacation in which he involuntarily went without access to any sort of daily print publications. Sreenivasan's recent bout of "withdrawal," as he labeled it, may come as a surprise to some particularly considering his area of expertise.

Not only does Sreenivasan work as DNAinfo's "technology expert" responsible for "explaining trends and demystifying...technology," and in 2009 he was featured in AdAge as among "one of 25 media people to follow on Twitter." One would think such a highly recognized figure in the digital world might have abandoned newspapers the moment news became widely accessible on smart phones?

It turns out, however that Sreenivasan is somewhat of a contradiction to the digital follower image. In his article, Sreenivasan admits that he still carries a burning torch for print publications. He writes, "I am a newspaper and magazine guy at heart. I believe there's still something magical about print."

While many news websites focus on improving their pageviews and unique users, Gawker Media, producer of nine popular news and gossip sites including Gawker and Jezebel, is banking on the readers that keep coming back for more.

As Gawker Media's head of advertising and marketing operations Erin Pettigrew puts it, the company hopes to strengthen its "core readership."

"This core audience -- borne of a compounding of word of mouth, search referrals, article recommendations, and successive enjoyed visits that result in regular readership -- drives our rich site cultures and premium advertising products," she said.

Pettigrew calls these page views "branded traffic," and Gawker measures its branded traffic by looking at the number of searches and page loads directly using words related to the Gawker brand. The company's loyal readers are a force to be reckoned with, amounting to 360 million visits to various Gawker Media sites in 2009 alone.

And Pettigrew believes that, based upon historical trends, this section of readers could continue to grow.