Considered by some to be the ultimate test of whether or not newspaper websites will be able to charge for content in the future, the New York Times' pay model TimesSelect is receiving harsh criticism from loyal Times readers and of course, the blogosphere. Poynter's Steve Outing has received a number of emails slamming the Times' decision and concluded, "What I picked up from this pile of e-mail is that many people view the Times' columnists as fulfilling an important global public-service role, and that by publishing them freely on the Web for so many years, they spread ideas around the world that need to be read widely. The times is being judged on its mission of serving the public good, not shareholders... Something the times may have damaged here is its global impact." One of Outings' emails came from a devoted Times subscriber who said, "Yes, I can afford to subscribe to TimesSelect, but I will not. I have canceled my delivery of the paper, as well."

According to PCM Uitgevers, "the daily newspaper Trouw will be issued in compact size starting February 3, 2005. Trouw will be the first quality daily newspaper in the Netherlands to move to the tabloid format. A survey has confirmed that readers of the newspaper are enthusiastic about the change.The newspaper will maintain the quality of its editorial content, but it will bring more colour and pictures as well as a better and varied presentation. The articles will be not shorter, but more accessible."

Source: PCM Uitgevers through Publicitas

The two pieces of news broke up the same day and it revealed a lot on today's China. First read this euphoric article by China Daily: "Today's trading debut of Beijing Media on the Hong Kong stock exchange marks the first overseas flotation of a mainland newspaper - a significant step to modernize China's media industry. The ground-breaking listing of the advertising and sales unit of the Beijing Youth Daily, one of China's most popular newspapers, will help lift industry standards while giving international investors an unprecedented opportunity to invest in China's media industry. The retailing portion of this initial public offering has been covered 422 times - a figure which bears full testimony to overseas investors' great interests in the newspaper and the promising Chinese media market it represents. The Beijing Youth Daily reported a 20 per cent increase in revenue last year to 900 million yuan (US$109 million), and after-tax profits of 150 million yuan (US$18 million)." And now have a look on the The Guardian's article...

We have already written about the Korean news website Ohmynews a few times on the Editors' weblog, but until now we didn't know the precise figures concerning this website. "According to Min, director of international development, OhmyNews is generating almost US$500,000 a month in advertising revenue."We broke even last year and since then kept generating a monthly profit of about $27,000," The website is ranked in the top 15 in South Korea. According to a website message from the founder, Oh Yeon-ho, after three years OhmyNews was breaking even, with 2004 anticipated to yield a modest profit. According to OhmyNews sources, only 20% of the site's copy each day is written by staff journalists. The balance is totally dependent on outside contributors, including professors, police officers, students, housewives, business people - everyone. "OhmyNews citizen-reporters are paid from US$20 to as little as $5, depending on the place [each article] is assigned by our editors," Min said. The site was recently recognized at the fifth World Forum on E-Democracy hosted by PoliticsOnline, in a ceremony in France, as one of the global players instrumental in changing the world of the Internet and politics.

Source: Asia Times

The report conducted by media buying group Initiative involving 44 markets around the world brings out both good and bad news: on the one hand it confirms the strength of newspapers, and on the other, it predicts an inevitable breaking point as to advertisment costs. According to the Media Cost and Inflation report, "the cost of buying space in newspapers and magazines will surge 9.2% in the next year, far above the inflation rate." reports The Guardian's Stephen Brook. "The predicted rise in the cost of buying print advertisements comes despite falling newspaper and magazine circulations and a predicted 2.3% rise in inflation. Initiative's 2004 report measured the price of buying advertising on TV, newspapers, cinema, internet and radio by the cost of reaching 1,000 people in 44 different markets around the world. The rise in costs pointed to the strength of traditional media despite a fragmented media market, said Sue Moseley, the managing director of Initiative Futures Worldwide, research arm of Initiative. "It's good news for the media owners and something that the media buying industry has lived with for many years."

IFEX reveals that "Chinese authorities are reportedly about to release dissident and founder of the underground magazine "Tansuo" ("Investigation") Liu Jingsheng, on 27 November. Liu has been imprisoned since 28 May 1992. The surprise commute in his sentence would appear to be a conciliatory gesture towards the international community, Human rights organisations in China, have said."

Source: IFEX through the ejc newsletter.

Congratulations to Maidan, the 4 year old website of the Ukrainian opposition, updated every twenty minutes in these difficult days (and to Mykhaylo Svystovych, one of the network's founder): "Maiidanua.org a leading on-line based non-profit group involves hundreds of thousands of ukrainians into a democratic political process on the eve of the crucial presidential election. Thousands of civic activists, recruited on-line, now work as election committee workers, independent observers and grassroots reporters. maidanua.org was created 4 years ago in Ukraine, where only 5 percent of population has access to Internet. Now Maidan rallies massive participation of its 250,000 monthly audience in organized political protests in Ukraine".

If you are looking for Ukraine coverage, have a look onNeeka's backlog written by Veronica Khokhlova. Euro-correspondent.com also suggests another correspondent in Lviv (ex Lvov) in the western part of the country. Source: euro-correspondent.com

Primezone notes that the Metro International S.A. has reached an agreement with Portuguese Grupo Media Capital to launch a free edition of Metro for Lisbon. Metro International will be the operational manager of the free daily while Media Capital will provide the editorial content. Pelle Tornberg, President and CEO of Metro International, commented: "This agreement with one of Portugal's leading media groups reflects the ever-increasing interest in the free newspaper market and the ability of Metro to deliver a new generation of newspaper readers. Grupo Media Capital has an established track record with broadcasting and free-to-air media in this key Southern European market and we are looking forward to a successful partnership. Portugal is an exciting market and will add further to Metro's unique pan-European footprint."

Source: Primezone through IFRA Executive News

Persoenlich publishes a study by the Swiss Federal Commission for Gender Relations (Eidg. Kommission für Frauenfragen), which accuses the media of unequal treatment of male and female candidates during the 2003 federal elections for the Swiss parliament. The study compares the ratio of female and male candidates to their media coverage in the leading 15 newspapers in Switzerland and comes to the conclusion that the 35% female candidates only received 25% of the publicity. A spokesperson of the Commission commented that the unequal amounts of publicity do not only cause a disadvantage for the female candidates, but that they also show the continuation of male-dominated politics in Switzerland.

Source: Persoenlich

Newsroom remarks that Austria's second largest daily newspaper, Kleine Zeitung, has celebrated its 100th birthday on the 21st of November 2004. According to Horst Pirker, chairman of the executive board of Kleine Zeitung, the newspaper is now at the hight of its success. Austria's chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel, president Heinz Fischer, as well as local politicians, and representatives from business, culture, sports and church were present at the celebrations. Guests commented that the celebration was well-fit, it "was professional, honest and not over-exaggerated, just like Kleine Zeitung itself."

Newsroom through IFRA Executive News

England's cricket tour of Zimbabwe due to begin on Friday will be covered by a lot less journalists than expected. "The Zimbabwe government has denied 13 of 36 applications to cover the tour, including those from the Times, Telegraph, Sun, Mirror and their Sunday versions, reports the BBC. "The others, including Daily Express, the Daily Mail , the Independent and the Guardian and agency reporters from Reuters and the Press Association will all be allowed access." "Zimbabwe does not knowingly admit British journalists and this tour was always going to test the regime's commit ment to supporting its cricket union. The BBC has been banned from operating in Zimbabwe for several years, and Mr Mugabe has described the Daily Telegraph as an agent of MI5", reports Paul Kelso from The Guardian.

Source: The Guardian and BBC Sport