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Next month, Martha Stewart will begin to charge for online videos from the archives, which are not currently available on the web. Users can purchase the videos and download them to their computer, mobile phone, or iPod. A price has not yet been determined. The Web site will continue to rely mostly on paid advertising as it experiments with charging for online content. You can read the Women's Wear Daily post here…….Continue Reading Martha Stewart to charge for online video

The New York Times has more information about David Geffen's intent to purchase the newspaper. The paper reports that Geffen remains interested in purchasing a stake in the paper but, wary of antagonizing the Sulzberger-Ochs family, will remain on the sidelines until an opportunity arises. Geffen's friends maintain that he believes the Times should become a nonprofit, and if he were to purchase the paper he would not run that nonprofit himself. Some, however, are skeptical that Geffen could really function as a passive owner. You can read the New York Times story here…….Continue Reading Geffen still interested in NY Times

Newsweek's new website has launched, featuring news aggregation and user-generated content in addition to its original reporting. Some new sections will encourage debate on a selection topic or offer four informational links that might otherwise be lost in the shuffle. Editors will even take the tweets directed at Newsweek and post them on the Web sites like comments. The redesign comes at the weekly is dramatically re-evaluating what the magazine will now look like. You can read the Editors' Weblog article here…….Continue Reading Newsweek launches new Web site

By the end of June, the New York Times will reportedly decide on a way to charge for its online content. Two proposals are currently being considered. The first, which executive editor Bill Keller described as "tricky," is a meter system, which monitors a user's page or word count, and would charge a reader only after a certain threshold is consumed. The second option is a membership, where people would make a donation to become part of the "New York Times community." You can read the Observer article here…….Continue Reading NY Times considers options to charge online

Thomas B. Edsall considers what may happen to the New York Times if the company faces insolvency, as some expect in a year or two. Edsall argues that if the Sulzberger-Ochs family is forced to sell the newspaper to the highest bidder, the results could be disastrous for the quality of the respected publication. As an alternative, though, the family could sell its shares of the Times to whomever they wanted, giving their chosen buyer effective control over the newspaper. You can read the article in the Huffington Post here…….Continue Reading Facing the potential sale of the NY Times

David Geffen's offer to buy a 19% stake in the New York Times never went through, but the speculation as to why Geffen would make the offer, and what he would do with the Times if he had control, continues to be a popular pasttime. Business Week yesterday ran the story that he is likely spurred by a sense of civic duty. Meanwhile, Forbes suggests that the Hollywood billionaire may be looking for a cheap investment, and is motivated by a traditional investor's desire to turn a profit. The Finanical Times concurs, arguing that he's looking for his latest challenge,……Continue Reading What is Geffen really up to with NYT?

The BBC director of future media and technology, Erik Huggers, spoke yesterday at a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch. He argued that newspapers should make their online content look more like it does in print, and emphasized the potential of devices like the Kindle that could mimic the traditional feeling of reading the newspaper. Huggers also discussed the potential of Project Canvas, a venture that would link digital television and the Internet so that viewers can watch online content on the TV screens. He said that the project would bring the best of television and the best of the internet together…….Continue Reading BBC director discusses new media for newspapers, TV

The NIS News Bulletin, a English-language Dutch news service, reports that the Dutch media minister is set to hire 60 journalists. The journalists will work at one of 30 commerical newspapers that cover national or regional news. The Minister explained his decision by saying that younger journalists are frequently the first to be laid off. About 4 million euros have been set aside for this project. The minister has also set up a committee to study other possible initiatives. You can read the NIS News Bulletin here…….Continue Reading Dutch government to fund 60 journalists

 Greg Horowitz at the Digitalists raises an often-overlooked question about the impact of micropayments on the journalists who write the stories. He fears that news companies, armed with data about which articles brought in the most revenue, will increasingly adapt their coverage based on what sells. Journalists themselves may be rewarded or let go based on their ability to spur micropayments, and they may start to couch their pieces in more attention-grabbing styles. All of these developments, Horowitz argues, would be bad for journalism. Read the Digitalist post — May 13, 2009. ……Continue Reading Will micropayments hurt journalists?

Not everyone is convinced the Wall Street Journal's announcement that it will start charging micropayments will prove successful. Mike Mansick at TechDirt argues that charging micropayments actually decreases the value of the content for its users: These days, many people value content for the ability to engage with it, comment on it and share it with others. Micropayments take away that ability, and thus decrease the value of the content, Mansick says. You can read Mansick's argument at TechDirt here…….Continue Reading Skepticism over micropayments as a business model