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The European Commission has advised Sweden to reform the subsidies it provides to news media. Unless the country lessens the amount of finanical support, Sweden may face a formal state aid inquiry from the EU. The warning comes after complainants charged that current government policies stifle competition. Sweden has three months to respond to the EU proposals that it place a cap on operatings costs and reduce aid ceilings. You can read the article from the UK's Guardian here…….Continue Reading EU may rebuke Sweden for its aid to media

Planet Money, the NPR podcast and blog, is looking for a way to monetize its popularity. Planet Money's creators hope to create an enduring media brand, and that means considering every option for sustainability. The team is even looking at ways that they might incorporate a for-profit arm to supplement NPR's traditional nonprofit structure. You can read the article in Daily Finance here…….Continue Reading Planet Money seeking a business model

YouTube has started an experiment that allows its users to decide whether to watch a longer pre-roll clip or several, shorter clips within the video they stream. Additionally, if a user chooses the pre-roll advertisment, he then can decide from two ads which he would prefer to watch. The test is only running for some viewers and is limited to YouTube’s longer, premium content, but the trend could produce higher ad buys as well as giving the brands valuable information about the users’ choices.  You can read the post on PaidContent.Org’s website here…….Continue Reading YouTube tries choose-your-own-ads

Time Warner has purchased Patch, a collection of local online news site covering six areas of New Jersey, for $10 million. Patch has also announced that it has plans for additional sites in Connecticut. Patch had begun to generate some revenue through advertising, and its advertising rates are perhaps higher than other online ads — at around $10 per CPM. You can read the post by the Nieman Journalism Lab here…….Continue Reading Time Warner purchases local online news site

In July, the Associated Press will begin providing its members with watchdog and investigative journalism from non-profit organizations, a six-month experiment involving four such institutions. If the project is successful, it will likely be expanded to include additional non-profits. The four organizations are the Center for Investigative Reporting, the Center for Public Integrity, the Investigative Reporting Workshop and ProPublica. The venture will give the organizations additional avenues for distribution as well as provide newspapers with additional content. You can read the Editors' Weblog post here…….Continue Reading AP to include non-profits in its service

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has announced that it will bestow $15 million in grants to develop new economic models for investigative journalism. The Center for Investigative Reporting, ProPublica and the Sunlight Foundation are among the largest recipients. Eric Newton, vice president for journalism, made the announcement, saying, "We're awash in information, yet it seems to be getting harder to find good investigative reporting." You can read the Knight Foundation's press release here…….Continue Reading Knight Foundation gives funds for new models

John Harris, co-founder and editor of POLITICO, has said that the media organization will become profitable by the end of this year. The site makes money through advertisements in its traditional paper and also through its partnership with regional newspapers who exchange advertising for content. Harris also noted that Politico sends more reporters to cover the White House than any other organization. You can read the article from BeetTV here or watch the video below:……Continue Reading Harris: Politico will become profitable

In a move to provide additional benefits for subscribers, BusinessWeek will offer a special online version of the printed magazine available only to paid users. The change is an attempt to differentiate the online content, spurred by breaking news, from magazine articles, which are more analytical and forward-looking. Nonpaying users of the BusinessWeek Web site will still be able to access all of the content, but in a different design. Read the MediaWeek article. — June 15, 2009……Continue Reading BusinessWeek redesigns Web site for subscribers only

The Uptake,/a> which founder Jason Barnett calls Minnesota's "C-SPAN for the common man," provides video coverage of Minnesota politics. The site has recently received much publicity, especially because of the state's Senate recount, when MinnPost and other competitors re-streamed The Uptake's video on their sites. Despite the positive coverage, the Web site is seeing its revenue dwindle. During the 2008 election, the site received funding from political organizations like the Alliance for a Better Minnesota, but since then those major funding sources have dried up. Instead, The Uptake relies solely on small donors, and cash on hand is tight. It……Continue Reading Minnesota The Uptake’s fortune is uncertain