Category: News

The New York Times offers a summary on the difficulties of converting a free service to paid. Coca Cola did it with water, but newspapers are having a harder time convincing consumers to pay for their online content. The debate continues over paid-vs-free online content, with the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times charging for some of their features, while the New York Times and the Los Angeles TImes both reverted to free content after their experimentations with a paywall did not bear fruit. You can read about paywall history in this New York Times article…….Continue Reading The intriguing history of paywalls

Tim Windsor develops some points he would have liked to see Associated Press Chairman Dean Singleton make when the AP head announced that it might seek legal action against news aggregators. On his wish list: making something better than Google News, creating an online locus for news video, sponsoring curated links and additional ideas for how the AP might be able to adapt to the Internet revolution. You can read the Nieman Journalism Lab post…….Continue Reading Advancing some new ideas for AP

Alan Murray, the editor of the Wall Street Journal Online, gave the Nieman Journalism Lab his advice for news media that are trying to find a way to monetize their websites. Murray rejects the idea that the WSJ alone is in a position to charge for content. He suggests a mix between free and paid content. He also argues that the most popular online content should not be put behind pay walls; instead, news outlets should charge for materials that attract niche markets. You can read the article at the Nieman Journalism Lab here…….Continue Reading WSJ editor advises on charging for content

Yesterday, Michael Kinsley wrote Washington Post op-ed rejecting the idea of government subsidies for newspapers, suggesting such a newspaper would be sadly compromised by government involvement. Conor Clarke counters in The Atlantic that newspapers like the St. Petersburg Times exist as nonprofits without apparent difficulties. He suggests that government must close the gap between what individuals determine as the value of newspapers, and the value that society finds in newspapers. You can read about the dispute in this article on the Washington Post website…….Continue Reading The Kinsley debate continues

The Associated Press, in addition to making waves as it tries to protect its content online, has announced that they will be cutting their rates starting January 2010. Users will also be able to cancel their subscription with one years notice, rather than the current two-year requirement. You can read the Editors' Weblog post here…….Continue Reading AP announces rate cuts for subscribers

Alexander Macgillivray, a lawyer for Google, wrote in the company's blog a reply to the Associated Press' recent announcement that it will seek legal action against those that use its content without permission. Macgillivray argued that Google does not misappropriate AP's work, but rather brings additional attention to the wire service as well as other newspapers around the country. Macgillivray also pointed out that since Google posts AP articles as part of a partnership with the company, the threat of lawsuits does not pertain to the search engine. You can read the article about the dispute on Reuters…….Continue Reading Google responds to AP announcement

PaidContent.org interviewed the chairman of the Associated Press, Dean Singleton, after the wire service's announcement that it will seek legal action against sites that link to or reproduce its content without permission. Singleton said the company is forming "rules of engagement," but that the entire industry has heretofore been too reticient about protecting their original content. You can read the interview on PaidContent.org…….Continue Reading Interview with AP Chairman

The Associated Press announced Monday that any website that uses its content must get AP permission and share revenue with the wire service. Any site that did not comply with these arrangements would face a legal challenge. A variety of online sites use AP content, from search engines like Google and Yahoo! News, to news aggregators like the Drudge Report that link to articles, and smaller sites that reproduce the articles in full. You can read about the aggregating issue in the New York Times article found here…….Continue Reading AP threatens aggregators with lawsuit

The Minnesota Newspaper Guild has launched an awareness campaign it hopes will save the Minnestor Star Tribune (MST). Using a Facebook page, YouTube videos, a Web site, and other methods of outreach, the guild hopes to raise awarness that the paper is danger of going under. You can read about the efforts to save the MST on the Editors' Weblog…….Continue Reading A campaign to save the Star Tribune

Cable providers as well as cable networks are increasingly concerned by the threat of free content online. The fear is that their content will soon be available for free, and networks will have to be funded solely by advertising, like newspapers. One idea is to provide the content online only for cable subscribers, while others are worried that any restriction in online viewing may drive people to piracy and illegal downloads. You can read the New York Times article here…….Continue Reading Cable networks debate providing content online