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12 Sep 2011 08:26

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Biz: The Boston Globe starts up its own Web site — wait, didn’t they have one?

  • We’ve never had The Boston Globe have its own front door in the digital space. It’s always been integrated with Boston.com. This was an opportunity to build something brand-new and to have it front and center and really do justice to the brand promise The Boston Globe offers to its readers.
  • Boston Globe publisher Christopher M. Mayer • On the paper’s launch of its own Web site this morning — a paywall-laden one that smartly separates the company’s newspaper content from Boston.com content that might work better on the Web. Boston.com is paywall-free and still serves breaking news, blogs and the whole bit. Bostonglobe.com focuses on the newspaper itself. It’s an interesting separation and we’re curious to see how it works out for them. The Boston Globe’s parent, the New York Times Company, famously started up a successful paywall experiment for the mothership paper. (Quote from a paywall-laden article, but there’s free registration for the next couple weeks; the source article links to the free Boston.com piece.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 May 2011 10:18

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Culture: Comeback of the day: The New York World’s digital makeover

  • Joseph Pulitzer’s baby gets a digital makeover: The New York World, a newspaper that initially published from 1860 to 1931, is an important historical paper. And now, thanks to Columbia University, it’s making a comeback in the form of a digital news project. How so? We’ll let the university explain: “New York World will serve both as a site, where citizens can learn more about how services are allotted and tax dollars are spent, and as a news service, providing stories, data and other information to local news providers.” So in other words, kinda like an East Coast version of the Bay Area News Project. Neat.  source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 May 2011 23:27

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Biz: Newspaper pulse check: Why one paper’s circulation skyrocketed

  • The newspaper is doing OK right now. Not great, just OK. In the past six months, that gray newsprint behemoth did OK, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation, with the top two papers gaining some ground and most of the top five staying roughly in the same order. However, the way that the group analyzed the data changed this time around — deciding, instead of focusing just on paid circulation, to emphasize “average circulation,” which includes separate editions under the umbrella of a certain brand. The numbers caused one paper to rocket into the top five and one to fall out. See if you can guess by the numbers below:
  • 2.1 million daily circulation for the top-ranked Wall Street Journal
  • 1.8 million average daily circulation for the still-second-place USA Today
  • 916,911 average daily circulation for the freshly-paywalled New York Times
  • 605k average daily circulation for the Los Angeles Times
  • 577k average daily circulation for the San Jose Mercury News
  • 550k average daily circulation for the Washington Post source
  • » A few things of note: If you guessed that the San Jose Mercury News benefited greatly from the change in data, you’re correct — MediaNews treats each newspaper on this page as an “edition” of the Mercury News (which seems a little number-inflating). Other notes: This data covers the daily circulation for the past six months — a period which only includes a tiny bit of the New York Times’ post-paywall circulation (so come back in six months to see if it was a success). But e-editions are doing quite well, especially for the Wall Street Journal and Detroit Free Press. One last thing: The numbers only cover paid newspapers, not free ones. (photo by Brent D. Payne)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Jan 2011 21:29

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World: Yay dead trees: Egypt’s newspapers still going strong amid protests

  • If you’re like us, you’re utterly curious about how news outlets in Egypt are covering some downright historic news for them – and with most other outlets out of commission, they’re playing an immensely important role in keeping Egyptian citizens informed. Fortunately for us, The Economist is all over this, with copies of a number of newspapers in the region. Above is Al Masry Al Youm, an independent newpaper known for being critical of the Mubarak regime. Since we’re guessing you don’t read Arabic, that headline says “Conspiracy amid security forces to support chaos.” They have a bunch of others, if you’re curious. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Jan 2011 23:51

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U.S.: How major newspaper editors played Jared Loughner’s mug

  • too hot New York Post editor Col Allen, on blowing the photo out: “We felt his leering grin and wild eyes revealed something of his mental state. The image conveyed a sense of madness.”
  • too coldWashington Post editor Marcus Brauchli, who chose to stay local over giving the mugshot big play: “Our community is one of the communities hard hit by this. The photo reflected that.”
  • just rightNew York Times editor Bill Keller, on playing the pic at an effectively large (for them) three columns: “It felt to me like the obvious right choice. This was the picture of the day.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Dec 2010 20:54

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U.S.: Air Force blocks newspapers that published Wikileaks materials

  • 25 news sites blocked by the Air Force over Wikileaks fears source
  • » What’s the point? Not allowing people to read The New York Times and The Guardian seems a little extreme, and the effect is futile, anyway. Why’s that? Well, see, all they have to do to read the cables is GO HOME AND FIRE UP THEIR LAPTOP. Wow, that’s some effective security there, guys. By the way, the Army, Navy and Marines aren’t doing this, and the Department of Defense is formally distancing itself from the Air Force on this issue.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Nov 2010 21:50

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Offbeat: The L.A. Times can’t get rid of their Bridge column quietly

  • 60 number of phone calls the paper’s reader’s representative got over removing the Bridge column, a stodgy tradition that predates everyone
  • 31 number of e-mails they got; who are these people and why do they actually play Bridge? And how do we get them to stop? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

12 Nov 2010 11:00

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Biz: News Corp. dude complains about mobile “cannibalizing” sales

  • The problem with the apps is that they are much more directly cannibalistic of the print products than the website. People interact with it much more like they do with the traditional product.
  • News Corp. Europe and Asia head (and Rupert’s kid) James Murdoch • Explaining why mobile apps are a danger to his company’s business model. Sorry James, but if you don’t like it, deal with it. The two papers that you’ve put behind paywalls so far have lost most of their readership, so clearly you understand your market. Oh, who are we kidding? You have no clue about the online or mobile spaces. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Nov 2010 10:08

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Biz: Futurist Ross Dawson: Newspapers dead in the U.S. by 2017

  • Leading futurist Ross Dawson has a message for you print jockeys out there: Find another medium that doesn’t involve dead trees. The dude created a handy-dandy chart explaining how we won’t read newspapers in the U.S. in another seven years. But on the plus side, if you’re a member of the Argentinian press, your papers will still be relevant into 2039. Food for thought. Plus this guy is a futurist which means he can see into the futureeeeeeeeeeee. oooh. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Oct 2010 15:54

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Biz: Note: There’s Tribune Corp., and then there’s the Chicago Tribune

  • I told you what the Chicago Tribune is not. Now let me tell you what it is. It’s reporters, photographers and editors, analysts and designers, and others who help us with the work. Our newspaper is just one part of Tribune Co., and what the corporate bosses do is separate from what we do.
  • Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass • Making a spirited defense in favor of the Chicago Tribune, that little newspaper created in that building where a frat environment was reportedly fostered among the corporate wing. This is a really class thing to point out. The problem with Tribune is not the paper itself. The management – which occasionally makes awful decisions that affect the paper’s journalism – is the problem here. They bankrupted the company. They took Col. Robert McCormick’s sacred room and played poker games there. All the investigative journalists and reporters working their beat? They weren’t screwing around. Let’s be sure, when we’re ripping on Tribune Corp. for silly business practices, we’re making the distinction. (Thanks Amber Nettles) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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