The Los Angeles Times noted that CCLP Director Geoffrey Cowan headed the independent citizens commission that drafted the original charter amendment for the Los Angeles Ethics Commission, which is facing possible budget cuts. Rigorous ethics standards should be regarded as a tool of economic efficiency, Cowan said. "If the ethics code works as it should and is adequately enforced, it saves the city money by reducing the hidden costs of corruption," he explained…….Continue Reading L.A. must not skimp on ethics
News
Blogger’s response to the Senate hearings
Ryan Tate at Gawker weighs in on yesterday's Senate hearing, offering a defense of the bloggers that some in the mainstream media criticized. Specifically, he takes issue with the claim, voiced by former Baltimore Sun reporter David Simon, that bloggers do not cover the mundane, everyday issues like public meetings. Tate also highlights Arianna Huffington's argument that bloggers "chomp down on a story and stay with it, refusing to move off it until they've gotten down to the marrow." You can read the post on Gawker here…….Continue Reading Blogger’s response to the Senate hearings
Aggregators defend themselves at Senate hearing
At Wednesday's Senate hearing on the future of journalism, traditional journalists sounded alarms about their struggling industy. Yet two of the witnesses, Marissa Mayer of Google and Arianna Huffington of the eponymous Huffington Post, represented the new-media aggregators that rely on others' original content. Mayer and Huffington both had to respond to senators who highlighted their role in killing newspapers. Sen. Kerry lamented: "I see cacophony without standards. I see more and more people operating in public life with snippets, and I think that's dangerous." You can read the Washington Post column here…….Continue Reading Aggregators defend themselves at Senate hearing
Murdoch rejects the Kindle model
Earlier this week, Amazon announced its new, larger format Kindle designed for newspapers and other larger publications. The New York Times, the Boston Globe and the Washington Post have said they will deliver newspapers on the device. News Corp's owner, Rubert Murdoch, is unconvinced. He stated that his company is not interested in handing over its content to the people who made the Kindle. Instead, he expects that one of his general newspapers will start charging for online content within the year. At yesterday's Senate hearing, Dallas Morning News exec James Moroney mirrored Murdoch's sentiment, complaining that Amazon wants 70%……Continue Reading Murdoch rejects the Kindle model
Analysts debate options for journalism
In yesterday's broadcast, NPR's Diane Rehm interviewed four media experts about the fate of the newspaper industry: American University professor Jane Hall, blogger Alan Mutter, editor of the American Journalism Review Rem Reider, and editor of the Milkwaukee Journal-Sentiel Martin Kaiser. They discussed various options for finding a new revenue model — newspapers going nonprofit, publishing on the Web only, changing antitrust laws and initiating new mergers. You can hear the NPR interview here…….Continue Reading Analysts debate options for journalism
Newspapers inching toward online pay walls
Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation and the New York Times Company are both moving closer toward charging for online content. Murdoch says his company is considering establishing a pay wall for all or part of its content within a year. The NYT is less committed; the company is still evaluating subscription and micropayment models. You can read the Editors' Weblog post here…….Continue Reading Newspapers inching toward online pay walls
Kerry hears conflicting views on government role
A hearing called by Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry produced conflicting views over whether the federal government might play a productive role in supporting the beleaguered news industry. The publisher of the Dallas Morning News said yes. But new media representatives said a federal role would be counterproductive. You can read the testimony on the Senate's site……Continue Reading Kerry hears conflicting views on government role
Potential salvation in new device?
Amazon and Plastic Logic are both banking on the idea that creating a larger, Kindle-like electronic device will prove popular as the new way of consuming news. Each company is racing to complete its version of the gadget, which may prove to be the saving grace for newspapers looking for a way to charge for their content. With the devices, publishers conceivably might be able to revert to long-established business model of selling subscriptions and supporting articles with ads. You can read the New York Times article here. UPDATE (7/16/10): You can browse the features of Plastic Logic's on their……Continue Reading Potential salvation in new device?
Online advertising slumps
TechCrunch reports that online advertising revenues dropped significantly over the last quarter, suggesting that the recession has come to online ad sales. With Google, Yahoo!, AOL and Microsoft reporting on their finances for the quarter, Web revenue dropped 2 percent from last year and 7 percent from the fourth quarter. You can read the TechCrunch report here…….Continue Reading Online advertising slumps
Users’ comments boost revenue
Allowing comments on news stories is increasingly common, despite the potential pitfalls. One of the benefits of comments section can actually be increased pageviews which translate into increased online advertising dollars. It keeps readers at the site longer, can create a community of users, and increases the interaction between producers and consumers of news. All of this may result in added revenue. You can read the article from the San Francisco Chronicle here…….Continue Reading Users’ comments boost revenue