Editors Weblog

Editors Weblog http://www.editorsweblog.org/ en Copyright 2010 Thu, 07 Jan 2010 14:57:54 +0100 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification The New York Times and Fwix partner to further hyperlocal efforts

The New York Times' hyperlocal efforts will soon be supplemented by its new partnership with newswire Fwix.

Created 2 years ago by then-21-year-old Darian Shirazi, Fwix's CEO and founder, the newswire relies on a number of sophisticated search algorithms that pull together news articles and blog posts related to a certain area from across the web. Fwix programmers also select local news sources and blogs to watch for relevant items to aggregate.

This allows for articles on the web to offer readers a series of related links pertaining to news from around that area. A reader of an article about robberies in New York city's Chelsea neighborhood could theoretically be guided to further articles about Chelsea using Fwix's software.
]]> http://www.editorsweblog.org/web_20/2010/03/the_new_york_times_and_fwix_partner_to_f.php http://www.editorsweblog.org/web_20/2010/03/the_new_york_times_and_fwix_partner_to_f.php Web 2.0 hyperlocal New York Times Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:41:07 +0100 Analysis of Google finds only 11% of news content original

Jonathan Stray from the Nieman Journalism Lab recently conducted an analysis of the amount of original news content found in news articles through Google. In conducting the analysis, Stray took a major headlining article in the news and then tracked how many articles pertaining to the subject contained original content. ]]> http://www.editorsweblog.org/web_20/2010/03/analysis_of_google_finds_only_11_of_news.php http://www.editorsweblog.org/web_20/2010/03/analysis_of_google_finds_only_11_of_news.php Newspaper Web 2.0 broadcast copyright editorial quality Google hyperlinking newspapers search Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:08:13 +0100 Times Online blocks Meltwater

Times Online has blocked Meltwater, the Norwegian online media monitor, from indexing its news content in response to the company refusing to compensate the newspaper for crawling its website, PaidContent reported Tuesday.

The Times, owned by Rupert Murdoch, previously blocked news monitor NewsNow from linking to its stories in January using robots.txt protocol, software that prevents web crawlers from accessing a website.

]]> http://www.editorsweblog.org/newspaper/2010/03/times_onlines_blocks_meltwater.php http://www.editorsweblog.org/newspaper/2010/03/times_onlines_blocks_meltwater.php Newspaper Web 2.0 aggregation copyright paid online content Times Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:57:39 +0100 Facebook surpasses Google as most visited site in the US

Remarkably, over this past week search giant Google was surpassed by social networking site Facebook as most visited website online in the US, with only 7.03 percent of all website visits to Facebook's 7.07 percent, according to an analysis done by Hitwise. The difference in visits, albeit small, is telling, as it reflects the growing tendency of internet users to look to their friends rather than search engines for online media.

Facebook does come in as the fourth source for visits to specifically news and media websites, behind the main Google search site, Yahoo, and MSN. But when compared to smaller search sites Google News and Google Reader, which direct 1.39 and .01 percent respectively of all upstream visitors to news and media websites, Facebook has a clear lead in providing 3.52 percent of all visits.
]]> http://www.editorsweblog.org/web_20/2010/03/facebook_surpasses_google_as_most_visite.php http://www.editorsweblog.org/web_20/2010/03/facebook_surpasses_google_as_most_visite.php Web 2.0 CNN Facebook Google Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:12:29 +0100 ABC planning to initiate paywall for online content by June

ABC recently announced plans to initiate a paywall for some of its online content starting this June, hoping to alleviate some of its financial troubles and increase revenue. The announcement comes in the wake of ABC's restructuring plans and its decision to eliminate 300 to 400 jobs through buyout propositions.

ABC's initiation of a paywall should come as no surprise to those watching media news over the past year. Beginning with the success of the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal's moves to paid content, NewsCorporation, MediaNews and the New York Times followed in their path with plans to erect paywalls by 2011. Just this week, the Washington Post announced its launch of Capital Business, a business weekly for subscribers only.

These changes result from a steep decline in ad revenue for online newspapers over the past year, with American newspapers earning 17% less from advertising on the web than they had a year earlier, according to the Economist. The Washington Post alone lost four percent of its revenue in the fourth quarter of 2009, and new paid content plans hope to alleviate some of the financial stress of the past year.
]]> http://www.editorsweblog.org/web_20/2010/03/abc_plans_to_initiate_paywall_by_june.php http://www.editorsweblog.org/web_20/2010/03/abc_plans_to_initiate_paywall_by_june.php Web 2.0 paid online content paywall Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:41:09 +0100 Twitter misinformation leads to false report of marital issues between Sarkozy and Bruni

Although checking sources is a fundamental rule of journalism, with the increasing pervasiveness of social media sites like Twitter, the temptation to discard this old rule can become too strong for some journalists to resist.

As the Press Gazette's Dominick Ponsford posted on The Wire, reporters for various newpapers in the UK used Twitter as a source for an article covering rumors of marital difficulties between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni. The Independent's Steven Glover reprimanded the reporters for their failure to fact-check.

"A Twitter rumour alleging adultery on the part of a home-grown politician would not be taken up so eagerly by British newspapers," he said. "We apply more stringent standards to rumours about our own politicians."

]]> http://www.editorsweblog.org/web_20/2010/03/twitter_misinformation_leads_to_false_re.php http://www.editorsweblog.org/web_20/2010/03/twitter_misinformation_leads_to_false_re.php Web 2.0 Twitter Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:29:36 +0100 California Watch offers free iPods to best commenters

Nonprofit investigative news website California Watch is aiming to boost reader participation by offering a free iPod touch to its best commenters each month over the next six.

California Watch follows in the well-tread footsteps of small blogs across the internet hoping to boost their readership and strengthen their online community.

While some sites, like Scienceblogs.org, require users simply to comment to be entered into their contests, California Watch requires its winning commenters to be "thoughtful, focused, and articulate in making your argument."
]]> http://www.editorsweblog.org/web_20/2010/03/california_watch_offers_free_ipods_to_be.php http://www.editorsweblog.org/web_20/2010/03/california_watch_offers_free_ipods_to_be.php Web 2.0 communities non-profit readership Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:53:25 +0100 PEJ State of the News Media 2010: News readers use 5 sites or less
According to a new study released Monday by the Pew Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism, only 35 percent of people who use the internet to read news have a favorite website, and only 21 percent are "monogamous," or rely on only one site for news. Of the same audience, 57 percent rely on two to five sites for news.
]]> http://www.editorsweblog.org/web_20/2010/03/pej_news_readers_use_5_sites_or_less.php http://www.editorsweblog.org/web_20/2010/03/pej_news_readers_use_5_sites_or_less.php Web 2.0 business models online-only paywall readership Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:25:19 +0100 Huffington Post Investigative Fund has produced 50 stories since September Huffington Post Investigative Fund, the journalism nonprofit launched by Ariana Huffington in September 2009, has produced roughly 50 stories since its inception.

Nick Penniman, executive director of the fund, estimated that his editorial staff of nine publish between three and five stories a week. Some are "deep-dive" pieces, requiring months of reporting, while others are "quick-strike" articles that are less in-depth.

The fund's articles are posted on their website and can be distributed by other news outlets free of charge under a Creative Commons license.

]]> http://www.editorsweblog.org/web_20/2010/03/huffington_post_investigative_fund_has_p.php http://www.editorsweblog.org/web_20/2010/03/huffington_post_investigative_fund_has_p.php Web 2.0 Huffington Post investigative journalism non-profit Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:00:45 +0100 Reuters adds social media rules to its handbook Reuters has added social media guidelines and principles to its handbook, Dean Wright, global editor for ethics, innovation and news standards at Reuters, announced yesterday in the Reuters Blog.

While Reuters embraces social media as a powerful informative tool and encourages its usage among journalists, they must ask permission from managers to use social media in conjunction with their professional lives, MediaGuardian reported.

For more on this story please see our sister publication www.sfnblog.com
]]> http://www.editorsweblog.org/web_20/2010/03/reuters_adds_social_media_rules_to_its_h.php http://www.editorsweblog.org/web_20/2010/03/reuters_adds_social_media_rules_to_its_h.php Web 2.0 Reuters social networks Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:20:29 +0100 CNN more concerned with competition from Facebook than rival FOX News

During a recent media summit held by Bloomberg BusinessWeek, David Kaplan of The Guardian reported on a surprising announcement CNN made concerning Facebook. Contrary to what many believe, CNN views Facebook as a bigger competitor than rival Fox News.

CNN's president Jon Klien was quoted as saying, "I'm more worried about the 500 million or so people on Facebook versus the 2 million on Fox." ]]> http://www.editorsweblog.org/multimedia/2010/03/cnn_more_concerned_with_competition_from.php http://www.editorsweblog.org/multimedia/2010/03/cnn_more_concerned_with_competition_from.php Multimedia Web 2.0 aggregation CNN Facebook Fox News Google lmultimedia news agency social networks user-generated content Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:55:06 +0100 Poland's Edytor: a regional publishing group going "deep in localities"

In Janowo, an 850-person village in north eastern Poland, on a Monday last month, a dozen people - mostly teenagers or over 40s - were gathering in a multi-activity meeting hall. They were listening to Igor Hrywna, a journalist at Gazeta Olsztynska, the dominant newspaper in this "Warmia-Mazury voivodship" (Varmia-Masuria). That day he left his base in the regional capital of Olsztyn to meet this group for the third time in one month. With his assistance, they are learning how to contribute to the recently launched hyperlocal website janowo.wm.pl, covering the 3,000 people "gmina" (commune) centered on Janowo, one of the smallest of the region.

"There are fewer than 120 broadband Internet subscribers today. Our goal by the end of the year is to have at least 6000 unique users", explains Hrywna, who supervises Gazeta Olsztynska's commune portals. "To achieve this, we are organizing two to three hour long training sessions for citizen journalists. I also learn from them!" The training for citizen journalists always begins with the easiest things, like sending pictures with a short description. It includes how to search and browse in the website, how to write, and how to be accurate.

Gazeta Olsztynska's hyperlocal websites like Janowo's are typically 80% filled by local citizens, with user generated content (UGC) mostly on social events. Staff journalists provide the rest, through their assistance and through their own written and edited pieces. "Small communities know what kind of information they need. That is why we base our portals on civil journalism supported by our professional knowledge. The goal is to have the so far marginalized villages really exist in the social cyberspace," comments editor-in-chief Ewa Bartnikowska.

During the Janowo training session, a retired music teacher, Janina Sadowska, who has been a reader of the regional daily for a long time, explained that she was there for two reasons. "First, it is a natural prolongation of my habit of sending readers' comments to the editor. Second, I am at the head of a women's club, and we want to have a presence in our gmina's website."

The young aspiring journalists, between 12 and 18 years old, came from a nearby agricultural school. One of them was filming the reunion with a small camera, planning to post some sequences in the website. Another one, Przemyslaw Ciesielski, 18, explained in clear English: "We don't buy newspapers, but we are interested in news."

For Jarek Tokarczyk, the president of Edytor, Gazeta Olsztynska's publishing house, the involvement of the young in his online projects is critical, because "they already know the Internet, which is accessible at school, even in the most remote villages; through them we can also reach their parents for other publications." Bartnikowska added: "It is very important for us to have roots in print, even though we go at the lowest geographic or smallest community levels only online. This strategy for localism is also only possible if we have social and not only media projects."

Edytor is already managing 35 such hyperlocal websites, as a way to get closer also to small advertisers. In the villages, the biggest companies are often the bakery which employs only eight persons, or the hairdresser with a staff of four. "We want to reach the places where print is not profitable, asking our advertising salespersons to monetize potential markets which have been ignored until now. For this purpose we also train our print representatives to understand the web, setting online revenue goals for each of them," explains Tokarczyk. "We know that the number of Internet users in the country and small towns is going to grow. We have to do it now because tomorrow will be too late." This "deep in localities" strategy is timely with new legislation to be implemented in the coming weeks, for broadband access everywhere in Poland. There are also local governments elections in September, which will boost the interest for hyperlocal news.

Gazeta Olsztynska and its separate edition Dziennik Elblaski, covering an area integrated only ten years ago into the region, have a quasi-monopoly in Varmia-Masuria, one of Poland's 17 voivodships. National daily Gazeta Wyborcza has local editions, but they are read principally in the biggest cities like Olsztyn, where they have a weaker position. In addition to the Internet portals, Edytor controls 21 hyperlocal weekly freesheets, which encompass numerous news areas, social to e-commerce activities. Each has its online version, is available as a supplement of the daily, and corresponds more or less to a county ("powiat").

Janowo, for instance, is attached to the local newsroom based in Nidzica and covering a 35,000 people powiat. Weekly Gazeta Nidzicka's editor-in-chief Jerzy Grala is assisted by four reporters and three sales representatives. The portal nidzica.wm.pl is updated at least twice a day, and links to and sometimes feeds the central newspaper's website gazetaolsztynska.wm.pl. It is enriched by content provided by its communal websites, including janowo.wm.pl, which is updated a few times a week. Grala also posts occasional on his blog grala.wm.pl, which is easily accessible from his newsroom's portal.

There are 25 regional dailies in Poland in total, Edytor being an exception as an independent group. Most others are controlled either by Polskapresse (owned by Germany's Verlagsgruppe Passau) or Media Regionalne (owned by Great Britain's Mecom). The Varmia-Masuria voivodship is one of the less populated, with 1.4 million inhabitants, out of a total population of 38 million in the coutry (plus about 6 millions Poles living abroad). The region has a particularly high unemployment rate, exceeding 19% versus less than 12% on average nationally.

Given this context, Gazeta Olsztynska's intense efforts to develop online activities and "deep localism" are unusual. "We have over 30 equipped multimedia journalists covering the region, who already produce around 600 pieces of different information every month. With the contributions of the mobilized civil journalists, we expect to double within one year the level of 500,000 unique visitors we got last month," explains Bartnikowska.

Edytor is multiplying editorial and marketing projects, both in print and online, including 200 different supplements and freesheets, family service and obituary websites, a schools of excellence campaign (proposing pupils to write about their schools), celebration contests requiring payment via SMS, special publications promoting the natural wonders of the region and its lakes. "The wm.pl suffix that we use online [for "Warmia-Mazury"] is the most important brand here. We want to be a regional Google!" Tokarczyk says.

Another illustration of Edytor's focus on "hyperlocalities" are its Nowe Miasto operations. In this 11000 people town - or large village - about 85 kilometers far from Olsztyn, it publishes weekly Gazeta Nowomiejska, covering a population four times bigger. Its online hyperlocal news endeavours are already one year old, as shown in the "gminas" listed at the bottom of portal nowemiasto.wm.pl. Unlike in Nidzica, the newsroom is not based on a main central square, but its position may be more strategic. Gazeta Nowomiejska is located on a street in front of the church where, for deeply catholic Poland, mass sermons easily hit the headlines and a significant part of social life relates to religious activities. "The priest sometimes promotes our portal during the mass," says chief editor Stanislaw Ulatowski, also a local celebrity as a print journalism veteran.

His deputy, Lukasz Paczkowski, is a young online and multimedia reporter and Internet geek, who manages his blog paczkowski.wm.pl, which is also displayed in the front page of Gazeta Nowomiejska's portal. "We start updating the website before 10 am, when most people open their computer, until 8.30pm", he says. His partnership with Ulatowski also illustrates the complementary cross-promotion between the platforms. "The photo galleries encourage user generated content" comments Paczkowski. "Our online correspondents are very helpful, because our staff cannot be everywhere in the county, and they are more likely to create communes' portals. Then we print the most newsworthy pieces in the weekly."

To extend his team's expertise, Tokarczyk has built a partnership with the promoters of the C3 concept ("Complete Community Connection"), Chuck Peters and Steve Buttry in the United States (the former is the CEO of Iowa's Gazette Communications, and the latter just left this paper to be the director of community engagement at a high-profile, Washington DC based digital start-up). In spite of being based in a remote region of central Europe, Edytor is being very pro-active in looking for ideas directly provided by the world's top experts in its fields of coverage.

Along with the hyperlocal websites, the Gazeta Olsztynska team has also launched numerous thematic portals about students, community centers, and even an "ethnic" group recently. Website ukraincy.wm.pl is dedicated to the 60,000 strong Ukrainian community, made of descendents or survivors of the group displaced by force to this part of Poland in 1947. It is benefitting from and promoting the revival of their language and religion (Greek Orthodox). "Our aim is to have half of the community visit the portal at least once a month by the end of this year. It will be 100% UGC, and fun," says Hrywna, who is also Polish-Ukrainian.
]]> http://www.editorsweblog.org/multimedia/2010/03/a_regional_publishing_group_going_deep_i.php http://www.editorsweblog.org/multimedia/2010/03/a_regional_publishing_group_going_deep_i.php Analysis Multimedia Web 2.0 citizen journalism communities hyperlocal journalism local news niche news user-generated content Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:16:28 +0100 NYT takes out wallpaper ad in Gothamist

Early last month, Gothamist founder Jake Dobkin turned a few heads with some negative comments published on his Facebook page directed at The New York Times.

Dobkin, who had been invited by the Times as a competitor to an internal panel discussion at the paper, lambasted the Times for their "lazy and sleep-inducing" coverage of local news and the paper's "slavish devotion to originality and old-fashioned reporting," among other critiques.

]]> http://www.editorsweblog.org/newspaper/2010/03/nyt_takes_out_wallpaper_ad_in_gothamist.php http://www.editorsweblog.org/newspaper/2010/03/nyt_takes_out_wallpaper_ad_in_gothamist.php Newspaper Web 2.0 advertising New York Times Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:36:19 +0100 Facebook: A place to share articles on the weekend

A recent survey of Facebook user habits by DanZarrella found that users are more likely to share articles with friends over the weekend than the week, even though less news is typically published during this time.
]]> http://www.editorsweblog.org/multimedia/2010/03/facebook_a_place_to_share_articles_on_the_weekend.php http://www.editorsweblog.org/multimedia/2010/03/facebook_a_place_to_share_articles_on_the_weekend.php Multimedia Web 2.0 aggregation broadcast content sharing distribution Facebook Google integration lmultimedia multimedia personalized news social networks user-generated content Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:49:09 +0100 Will Shortz discusses NYT's profitable crossword

In an interview with The Hofstra Chronicle last Thursday, Will Shortz, editor of The New York Times crossword, discussed how the puzzle fits into the transition to digital media.

In the 17 years that he has been at the Times, Shortz has helped the country's most celebrated crossword make a profit during trying times for print media. While a puzzle is printed in every newspaper, the crossword is the only same-day feature in the Times that the website charges for.

Over 50,000 people had paid the $39.95 annual subscription fee to access the day's puzzle as well as the Times' archive of over 5,000 crosswords, according to Shortz. In addition to subscriptions, there is also an 900 number line for people desperate for a hint as well as Times Crossword Books, the best-selling books of its genre.
]]> http://www.editorsweblog.org/newsrooms_and_journalism/2010/03/will_shortz_discusses_nyts_profitable_cr.php http://www.editorsweblog.org/newsrooms_and_journalism/2010/03/will_shortz_discusses_nyts_profitable_cr.php Newsrooms and Journalism Web 2.0 digital editions multimedia New York Times paid online content revenue Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:37:13 +0100