From a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing on the future of journalism to a new tax cut for newspapers signed into law by the governor of Washington state, policymakers nationwide are responding to the crisis facing the news business. "It's … a time of real hardship for the field of journalism ….. But it's also true that your ultimate success as an industry is essential to the success of our democracy," President Obama told members of the White House Correspondents' Association. Thanks to a grant from Carnegie Corporation, the USC Annenberg School for Communication's Center on Communication Leadership and Policy (CCLP)……Continue Reading Carnegie Corporation taps CCLP for examination of government’s response to the crisis in the news industry
News
To The Lucky Class of 2009
Another year, another graduation. But, of course, this is not just another year. For the graduates themselves, it is one of the most important times of their lives. For many of them, their parents and millions of ordinary Americans, it is a very, very tough time. My graduation was last Friday — not as a student, but as a teacher at the University of Southern California. For me it was a great year because I had great students. I hear I'm in a dying business – not education, but my field: The things I teach, journalism and writing, are destined……Continue Reading To The Lucky Class of 2009
Another way that Google can help
Rory Maher on PaidContent has another suggestion for how Google, who is reportedly working with newspapers to improve their websites, might help the publications. He suggests that newspaper Web sites have trouble with search optimization. As an example, he cites how the New York Times ran a cover story on a bombing plot in the Bronx, but a search of "Bronx bombing plot" listed many small blogs and TV sites before the NYT. He suggests that Google could help these sites boost their numbers by better adapting to search features. You can read the post on PaidContent.Org's website…….Continue Reading Another way that Google can help
Google CEO discusses newspapers' business models
Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, shares his views on newspaper business models and how Google can help the publications make money. For instance, though he views the transition from for-profit to non-profit organization is difficult, Schmidt argues that, "news gathering and the profitability model was always an uncomfortable relationship." He also notes that Google is working with the Washington Post and other newspapers to improve their websites and increase their monetization. You can read the Editors' Weblog entry here…….Continue Reading Google CEO discusses newspapers' business models
ProPublica starts citizen-journalism project on stimulus
ProPublica is launching a citizen-journalism venture, asking ordinary people to pick a small part of the stimulus bill and track its progress: "Diving headfirst into databases and wrangling answers out of government officials will get us only so far. Basic information about road and bridge reconstruction projects — like the identity of sub-contractors — requires feet on the ground, and a lot of them." The project is designed to combine all of the information provided by citizens to answer the question: Is the stimulus working? You can read the ProPublica post here…….Continue Reading ProPublica starts citizen-journalism project on stimulus
Twitter aggregator improves its features
Muck Rack, a service that aggregates the Twitter feeds of journalists, has added several new features in its recent redesigns that significantly improve the site. First, new users can organize those tweets into broad beats, ranging from technology to arts journalism. This allows people to focus on the more interesting content. Second, Muck Rack has added a list of trending topics, so viewers can tell at a glance what the world's journalists are tweeting about. You can read the Nieman Journalism Lab review here…….Continue Reading Twitter aggregator improves its features
Partnership to provide multimedia coverage of local events
POLITICO, ABC,and Google are partnering to offer mulitmedia coverage of local political events, beginning with a debate between the candidates for governor in Virginia. ABC will broadcast the event live, and beforehand viewers will have a chance to submit video questions and text comments. The questions will be chosen using Google Moderator, which lets users rate the questions. The most popular questions will go to the candidates. You can read the journalism.co.uk blog post here…….Continue Reading Partnership to provide multimedia coverage of local events
NY may revise shield law to include bloggers
If a newly proposed bill passes, New York's shield law, which protects journalists from disclosing confidential sources in state court, would be extended to include journalist bloggers. The bill was proposed by State Sen. Thomas Duane and Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal. The proposal would protect journalist bloggers who write for "a Web site or Web page that contains an online journal containing news, comments and offers hyperlinks provided by the writer." You can read the New York Times article here…….Continue Reading NY may revise shield law to include bloggers
TPM ramps up its in-house advertising
Talking Points Memo, the eight-year-old political blog, has hired its first vice president of sales, who will lead its in-house advertising efforts. Diane Rinaldo, formerly director of political advertising at Yahoo!, holds the new position. Until her hire, TPM relied solely on advertising services like Blogads. In March and April, Rinaldo reports, TPM sold more advertisments than it did for all of 2008 (this refers only to in-house sales, rather than total advertising revenue). You can read the Nieman Lab post here…….Continue Reading TPM ramps up its in-house advertising
Local TV news may soon be filled with local ads
The decline in advertising, coupled with a decline in viewership, has hurt local TV news almost as much as newspapers. The Philadelpha Inquirer reports that, in response to this trend, local TV channels are attempting to gain advertising from companies and products that do not normally buy many spots. This means that local advertisements, from Empire Carpeting to the Snuggie, are more likely to show up in places they didn't before. You can read the Philadelphia Inquirer article here…….Continue Reading Local TV news may soon be filled with local ads