Category: News

The latest iPhone has a variety of updates and new features. Perhaps the most significant for the news industry is that content can now be bought from within iPhone applications, allowing news organizations to charge micropayments or subscriptions for mobile access. Another possibility might have newspapers joining together to create a Hulu-like site for newspapers. Despite these developments, the existing diversity of smart phones might slow the progress of charging for mobile content. You can read the Editors' Weblog post here…….Continue Reading iPhone mobile update may aid newspapers

The retired president of Cox, Jay Smith, and the former editor of the Rocky Mountain News discuss their ideas for the newspaper's industry to monetize their content. Smith argues that the newspapers individually lack power, and probably do not produce much that they can charge for. However, he suggests that the AP does have that power. He cites one of countless examples: "How much might, say, the soft drink industry pay for a daily report of EVERY news item of interest printed in every U.S.newspaper?" You can read the Temple Talk blog post here…….Continue Reading The power of the AP might save newspapers

Josh Catone at Mashable looks at the success of NPR and what newspapers can learn from the radio news organization. Catone points to NPR's local coverage (through its member stations), use of social media and "ubiquitous access" as three ways that the station has been able to thrive as the news industry shifts. As he points out, however, NPR is not immune to the suffering economy. Its budget deficit for 2009 is expected to be $8 million. You can read the post from Mashable here…….Continue Reading NPR’s success can be a guide to others

Forbes reports on the increasingly diverse competition among news organizations in San Diego. The Union Tribune remains the city's major newspaper, and its Web site generates over a million unique visitors per month. Yet the Voice of San Diego, the nonprofit website devoted to local news, and the 3-month-old start-up, San Diego News Network (SDNN), supplement the newspaper's reporting in the wake of significant layoffs. The two sites also hope that they will be able to siphon some of the traffic away from the Union Tribune in favor of their innovative ventures. You can read the article from Forbes here…….Continue Reading Diverse news competitors in San Diego

The Internet has empowered users to create content — from video to news stories. This user control has even begun to impact advertising. Google and Digg both reward advertisements (by higher rankings and/or lower costs) that consumers rate highly, click on, etc. In a similar trend, a German newspaper put out a call to its readers to produce advertisements for the news source. You can read the article from the UK's Guardian here…….Continue Reading Advertising becomes user-generated

Rhode Island's Newport Daily News has implemented a pay wall for its online content, one that benefits subscribers of the printed edition. Home delivery of the newspaper costs $145 a year. Those that want both home delivery and online access will have to pay $245, and online-only access will cost a whopping $345 per month. The strategy is clear: print first. It is too soon to tell if the pricing structure will prove effective, though there are some advantages for the publication that may help its success. You can read the Nieman Journalism Lab article here…….Continue Reading Newport Daily News skews its pricing toward print first

Michael Kinsley, in a Washington Post op-ed, writes of his experiences as editor of various news organization. His conclusion is that non-profit news is not the best option, based on his experience at Harper's Magazine, where directors were both resistant to change and meddlesome. His ideal is for an organization "to be a flyspeck on the balance sheet of a large company with other things on its mind," though he admits that this arrangement is increasingly rare. You can read the Washington Post op-ed here…….Continue Reading Non-profit journalism might not be best for news

Just two weeks after the Spanish courts ruled that a press-clipping service could not republish articles from other newspapers without prior permission, the Spanish press is starting up a new lawsuit, this time against online news aggregation. The press is hoping that the courts, which ruled that newspapers have intellectual property rights, will uphold those rights in an online forum as well. You can read the Editors' Weblog post here…….Continue Reading Spanish press to sue news aggregators

A new Indiana law adjusts the terms of the publication of government notices in the newspaper. Such notices typically reveal budget figures and other information about how money is being spent. The new law allows newspapers to raise the rates for these ads by 2.75% per year, whereas before this rate increases had to be legislated. The new law, however, eliminates a requirement that salary ordinances and a few other types of information be published. You can read the Herald Bulletin article here…….Continue Reading Indiana revises rules for government notices

As Tribune Co. restructures under bankcruptcy, a new plan may transfer ownership of the media conglomerate from Sam Zell to the banks and investors that hold $8.6 billion in debt. The plan calls into question whether Zell will continue to head the Tribune's operations, or if the new owners would seek a new leadership team. The proposed debt-for-equity swap is still being negotiated. You can read the article from the Chicago Tribune here…….Continue Reading Tribune restructure may oust Sam Zell