News

When Germany's second largest group of newspapers, WAZ, switched from the German Press Agency (DPA) news service to France's Agence France-Presse, it hoped to cut costs. It saved $2.7 million, but the decision has prompted concern from many in Germany. The Agence France-Presse is subsidized by the French government, while the DPA runs independently. The German news services has said that it is time for its government to assist against the unfair competition from subsizied news sources. You can read the Editors' Weblog Post…….Continue Reading Subsidized news service threatens Germany’s DPA

Adam Reilly at the Boston Phoenix asks what will happen to coverage of the Massachusetts statehouse if the Boston Globe were to close. If the Globe were to close, or if new owners shift priorities, it could take the four journalists currently covering the state house with it. Though there always have been frustrations with getting the media to cover important legislative issues, writes Reilly, today it is even harder to get coverage of anything but a political scandal. You can read the Boston Phoenix article here…….Continue Reading The Globe’s situation could affect statehouse reporting

The Associated Press is set to lower its fees to newspapers again in the coming year. The news agency hopes to supplement its income by renegotiating agreements with websites, including Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft. The AP projects that its revenue will continue to fall next year (last year revenue dropped 5 percent). The AP's chief executive said that gaining new license contracts from Web sites is his top priority. You can read the article by the Associated Press here…….Continue Reading AP to revamp its revenue structure

Jack Shafer at Slate remains skeptical about Twitter's news value, even after this week's events in Iran. He pinpoints several weaknesses with Twitter: One is the threat of disinformation published by authoritarian governments, perhaps for international consumption or even designed to lead to the capture of local dissidents. Shafer also responds to Andrew Sullivan's point that the tweets tell "more about the mood than hard fact." Shafer notes, "My appetite for mood is easily sated while my appetite for hard fact isn't. You can read Shafer's article on Slate here…….Continue Reading Shafer questions the value of newsy Tweets

Larry Kramer at the Daily Beast has some advice for how journalists can take advantage of Twitter's sudden boost as a news source. He notes that traditional media are no longer the single source for filtering information. Legacy media need to embrace these new methods of dissemination: "Form matters as much as substance now. News consumers want news on demand and in formats that work for them." You can read the post on the Daily Beast here…….Continue Reading Twitter is not the enemy of legacy media

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