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As an important conceptual step, Advertising Age reports that the New York Times no longer considers its customers to be readers, but users. More pratically, the paper is trying to make its website and online content more interactive. The paper has opened up its application programming interfaces to allow outside developers the chance to create news ways of viewing and reacting to the data. One example is the NYTExplorer, which offers an alternative search feature to the current search options on the site. You can read the Advertising Age article here…….Continue Reading New York Times offers more to its users

In another hint that a wide variety of online content may soon exist behind a pay wall, Jonathan Miller, News Corp's new chief digital officer, suggested that Hulu will likey switch to a subscription model in the near future. Under his vision, which Miller stresses is his personal prediction, the site would begin to charge users to view some of its TV shows and movies. If the move were to prove successful, perhaps it would encourage other sites to establish a pay wall. You can read the post from Daily Finance here…….Continue Reading Hulu.com may not always be free

Though the Spanish-language media has experience some difficulties due to the economic downturn, these newspapers are faring much better than their English-language counterparts. For one thing, their demographics continue to grow with the continuing immigration of Spanish-speakers. For another, Hispanics continue to suffer from the digital divide, and therefore lack access to the Internet. You can read the article in the Philadelphia Weekly here…….Continue Reading Hispanic media faring better than English-language press

Steve Brill of Journalism Online has made several agreements with newspapers to charge for their online content. Journalism Online is pushing a "common platform" for news websites to charge annual, monthly and per-article fees." Brill argues that by mixing free and paid offerings, newspapers can gain subscription revenue from 5-10% of their users, while preserving a supermajority of their page views and ad revenue. You can read the Nieman Lab post about Brill's proposal here…….Continue Reading Journalism Online outlines paid-news strategy

Gina Chen of Save the Media suggests a new type of newspaper Web site. To work, though, newspapers must recognize two truths: "(1) The mass audience is dead, (2) The product of newspaper Web sites is not news." The new site would let users choose their activities — from reading the latest top story to doing a crossword puzzle to reviewing a new video game. Chen calls this idea a hyperinterest page, which like Twitter would gain popularity through word of mouth. You can read the post by Save the Media here…….Continue Reading Hyperinterest pages may be the future of newspaper sites

Graydon Carter of Vanity Fair has this advice for struggling newspapers: "Get on a big story with widespread public appeal, devote your best resources to it, say a quiet prayer, and swing for the fences." He cites the compelling example of London's Telegraph, which has devoted 120 broadsheet pages to its expose on the expenses of members of Parliament. It led to the resignation of the Speaker of the House of Commons, not to mention the selling out of the Telegraph issue that broke the story, plus an additional 600,000 copies. You can read the Vanity Fair article here as……Continue Reading Telegraph demonstrates power of the press

The Philadelphia Inquirer website may begin charging for its online content by the end of the year. Brian Tierney, the owner of Philly.com, said he would push to get money from Google for their content that appears on the search engine's site. Tierney remains optimistic about the printed newspaper's viability, postulating that the paper would continue to be published for the next 20 years. You can read the article from MyFoxPhilly 29 here…….Continue Reading Philadelphia Inquirer may charge for content

Two rival Russian news agencies have joined together to cover and share national news with about 600 regional media outlets. The partnership between RIA Novostiand Interfax is a conscious, yet temporary, effort to support the struggling regional news organizations. Regional outlets will be able to subscribe to the content, including video and photos, for free. You can read the Editors' Weblog post here…….Continue Reading Russian media partners to cover national news

Hearst Magazines, a company that owns Food Network magazine, Cosmopolitan, Esquire and others, has been performing remarkably well, despite the economic climate. The company has countered conventional wisdom in several ways: by keeping its magazine content only in print, expanding the size of its magazines and raising the price of the printed copy. All of this seems to be paying off for Hearst. You can read the New York Times article here…….Continue Reading Hearst Magazines defies convention, and scores

Starbucks is to become a naming sponsor of MSNBC's "Morning Joe," the morning news show hosted by Joe Scarborough. New graphics and a voiceover will announce, "Morning Joe, brewed by Starbucks." Howard Schultz, the chief executive of Starbucks, notes the partnership demonstrates that "the rules of engagement in marketing and advertising have changed quite significantly." You can read the article in the New York Times here…….Continue Reading Starbucks to brew Morning Joe show