A local UK newspaper is going to increase its team of citizen journalists for its hyperlocal site to 1,000 over the next 12 months.

Trinity Mirror's Teesside Evening Gazette's postcode-based community websites contains content written and posted directly by non-journalists and the Gazette's editorial team. The site currently has about 400 contributors.

The prospective new contributors will be sort out by the Gazette's two community coordinators, who are responsible for moderating and posting additional content to the sites.

The newspaper will increase the number of staffers assigned to enable the expansion. The site attracts 150,000 unique users a month.

The Teesside Evening Gazette is experimenting with Geotagging of content on the TS postcode sites to produce maps of local news and information, such as changes in petrol prices.

Darren Thwaites, editor of the Evening Gazette, said: "We're making money off these sites but the key reason behind this is five print products from the best areas demographically. However, key to these print products is the quality of the content on the websites," he said.

Source: Journalism.co.uk and Press Gazette

Austrian tabloid, Kronen Zeitung, has been the subject of content concerns for quite some time. The paper is currently under fire because publisher and editor in chief, Hans Dichand has been accused of manipulating the public by openly using his paper for pet political issues.

KZ has a daily circulation of three million (42% of the population), which, according to BNET is the highest per capita circulation of any newspaper in the world.

Dichand has now taken on the task of promoting Werner Faymann, the Social Democratic party's leader, to become Austria's next chancellor.

In many cases the paper's campaigns have succeeded which is making some experts nervous. According to the Financial Times, experts fear that Dichand is making other parties too subservient to his wishes.

Sources: Financial Times, Roy Greenslade, The Guardian, BNET

The second part of Technorati's report, "State of the Blogosphere 2008" was released today. The first part, Who Are the Bloggers?, was released yesterday.

The report explores the Active Blogosphere and the trends, stories and behaviors that influence not only other Blogs, but the mainstream media as well. It also seeks to answer the following questions; "Why have blogs become a significant part of the media landscape so quickly? Just what is it that makes the medium of blogging so compelling? What are bloggers blogging about and why?"

In Part II of the survey, The What And Why of Blogging, 1000 bloggers were interviewed about the content of their blogging. Most cover both personal and professional topics and half consider their style to be sincere, conversational, humorous, and expert in nature.

The survey shows that blogging topics are diverse. Three-quarters of bloggers cover three or more topics and the average number of topics covered in about five.

Findings varied around the world. For example, in Asia, music is more popular and politics less. Personal, lifestyle and religious topics are less popular in Europe. Blogging styles are also differ around the world.

Telegraph.co.uk now has an integrated finance channel rather than the previous separate business and personal finance sections.

The newspaper is also moving sections of its website onto Escenic, its new in-house digital publishing and content management system. This new publishing platform enables the newspaper to publish to the web and mobile services simultaneously.

In the latest stage of the newspaper's web development programme, the new finance site will allow telegraph.co.uk readers to create and manage their own portfolios.

A new finance blog called Economic Pulse will be introduced, written by Edmund Conway, and carry regular analysis from breakingviews.com, following the deal announced between the two companies last week.

This latest development follows a process that has been running for months at the news provider, which began with a revamp of the homepage back in July.

TMG has also developed a financial iPhone application, a widget for social media sites to display financial news from its website and TV services, and an online tool called Questor to offer share tips.

Source: Guardian.co.uk

According to the Associated Press, thePlatform, a Seattle-based video technology provider has been selected to launch an enhanced version of AP's Online Video Network.

OVN distributes AP's video content to more than 2,000 newspaper, broadcast and other media Web sites throughout the United States. The network currently reaches 61 million unduplicated unique visitors through its 2,100 affiliate sites.

The original OVN, provided by Microsoft, was launched in 2006. The new platform, to be completed by December, will allow affiliates to showcase their own news videos and offer higher quality.

According to Ian Blaine, CEO of thePlatform, "For perspective, this is easily one of the largest online video initiatives to occur in 2008. In many ways, it's like launching thousands of individual video sites at the same time, and we're very proud to help the AP provide broader video coverage to millions of viewers."

Source: AP

Following in the footsteps of its rival, Wall Street Journal online, The New York Times has launched a new social network entitled, TimesPeople. According to The New York Times Company , the new network will provide "readers with a way to share their thoughts and recommendations about content with other readers, making their public activities on the site more open."

Members can share comments, recommendations and reviews with other users. Members will also have profile pages, be able to sign up for RSS feeds and sync their updates to Facebook.

According to Marc Frons, chief technology officer, digital operations, TimesPeople was created "as a community built around sharing news and information, giving our readers a way to connect with other like-minded readers. It is a great way for our readers to discover content on the site they might not have otherwise."

The launch of TimesPeople follows the announcement of a redesigned Business section with added content.

Google unveiled its new, much anticipated, T-Mobile G1 Android phone that is set to launch in the United States on October 22. The G1 is direct competition for Apple's iPhone, however according to Business Week, the G1 is set to take a very different path than its counterpart.

The phone hosts the Android operating system created by Google. It features a full Web browser and connects to the Internet with Wi-Fi technology. It has a large touch-screen and a full Qwerty keyboard. The GI will also have a music player which allows for downloads from Amazon.

According to Mossblog, the GI is tightly linked to Google's web-based email, contacts and calendar programs. Users must have a Google account to use the phone and it cannot sync with PC-based calendar programs. The G1 also hosts the Google Maps program with photographic street views of some locations.

Fewer people in Ireland are in the habit of reading newspapers according to a survey, with 72 percent of adults saying they read a newspaper on Sunday, a three point drop from the prior survey, The Irish Times reported.

Newspaper readership is highest on Sundays, but on weekdays readership has decreased over the past three years, with 56 percent of adults saying they read a daily, the survey found.

"The newspaper market in Ireland is congested, with not only Irish newspapers but also British titles, many now localised, fighting for attention in the newsagents," The Irish Times article stated. "In the daily market, tabloids have been adding readers while the broadsheets - apart from The Irish Times - are losing out."

The only tabloid that saw a decrease in readers was the Irish Sun, with readership down 7 percent.

Edited by Leah McBride Mensching

Sources: The Irish Times

On September 22, cincodias.com launched a upgraded website with new content, layout and design. Cincodias is the business and financial web site of the daily publication, Cinco Dias.

Some of the new sections include, technology, income taxes and real estate. The site has also enriched its content by adding more coverage on market data, new comparative tools, digital interviews, a flash graph, and blogs. Users will now have personalized pages where they will be able to interact with professionals.

Source: Publicitas

LOK Media Corp., an American South Asian media company, launched LOK News, a free weekly publication for South Asians living in the United States.

LOK will be distributed in grocery stores, restaurants, places of worship and community centers. The paper will focus on Indian, Pakistani, Fijian, Bangladeshi, Afghan and Sri Lankan communities.

The goal of LOK is to be a one stop source for the South Asian communities in the US by covering topics such as news, politics, art, literature, business, finance, religion and more.

According to Parampreet Singh Sandhu, Chief Editor of LOK News, the paper is designed for the next generation of American South Asians to establish their own voice. Sandhu stated in an interview that "the current South Asian media is being operated by people who are out of touch with the needs of the next generation of American South Asians" and that they have divided the South Asian community."

Sources: Ifra, India PR Wire

Ultra-orthodox papers in Israel refuse to publish images of Tzipi Livni, candidate for Prime Minister, for religious reasons, a move which the country's feminists called "laughably ludicrous," according to Mail Online.

"No haredi paper will publish Livni's picture," said Avraham Kroizer, Livni's public relations adviser. "Graphic artists will blur the faces of women that do make their way into pictures that the papers want to use. They will also blur pictures of television sets or other items deemed improper to be seen by the wider haredi public."

Ultra-orthodox paper Hamodia would not be using Livni's first name, Tzipi, since it is short for "bird" or "Tziporah," but would instead address her as 'Mrs. T. Livni' or 'Mrs. Livni.'

"It is not acceptable to address a woman using her first name, especially when she goes by a nickname,' said Hamodia's senior editor. "For us the newspaper is an educational device that not only informs but also teaches people how to behave."

Source: Mail Online