More brilliance from The Onion.
Breaking News: Some Bullshit Happening Somewhere
Anatomy of a cable news story
14 03 2010Comments : Leave a Comment »
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Report: Advertisers to spend more on digital media than print
8 03 2010Forbes.com reports landmark findings from the annual Outsell advertising and marketing study today:
Of the $368 billion marketers plan to spend this year, 32.5% will go toward digital; 30.3% to print. Digital spending includes e-mail, video advertising, display ads and search marketing. “It’s a watershed moment,” says the study’s lead author, Outsell vice president Chuck Richard.
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Tags: advertisers, digital, Outsell, print, spending
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New Pew study looks at ‘participatory news consumer’
1 03 2010A study released today by Pew Internet examines “how internet and cell phone users have turned news into a social experience.”
Interestingly, while another report from Pew three months ago found that newspapers still drove the local news “ecosystem” in one city (Baltimore) it studied intensely, today’s report concludes:
The internet has surpassed newspapers and radio in popularity as a news platform on a typical day and now ranks just behind TV.
Among the other major points of the study:
- The average online consumer regularly turns to only a few websites.
- Internet users use the web for a range of news, but local is not near the top of the
list.- News is pocket-sized. Some 80% of American adults have cell phones today, and 37% of them go online from their phones.
- News is personalized: The “Daily Me” takes shape.
- News is easier to follow now, but overwhelming. And most topics get plenty of coverage, in Americans’ eyes. [The topic on which Americans most want more coverage: Scientific news and discoveries.]
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Tags: cell phones, Internet, news, Pew
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Former CEO of Village Voice: A World without Newspapers
28 02 2010Feeling curmudgeonly today. I agree with every point David Schneiderman makes here, but I don’t like it one bit.
His conclusions prove that revolutions do not equal progress, and technological advances are separate from quality improvements.
In the case of the Internet spelling the death of newspapers, technology is accelerating the arrival of the lowest common denominator in news and information: tabloid-style “journalism” and opinion undifferentiated from news, delivered not by institutions with time-tested credibility but by news celebrities with personal brands who can gain prominence virtually overnight, particularly if they are edgy and sensational.
It’s a good read, though, and a useful primer on the information revolution.
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Tags: Internet, journalism, newspapers
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Deep cost-cutting, online revenue, help Times Co. stay in black
11 02 2010But for how long?
The owner of The New York Times reported modest profits from the fourth quarter. But its stock fell 9 percent Wednesday with the announcement. The profits were based mostly on severe cuts, moderate earnings in online operations, and a moderation in advertising losses.
But the market knows that the cuts can’t go much deeper, and the outlook for the Times Co. depends on ad revenue increases this year. For last year, ad revenue in the Times Co.’s News Media Group, which includes the New York Times newspaper, the Boston Globe and the International Herald Tribune, declined 27 percent.
The company also is looking to unload its stake in the Boston Red Sox, which might improve the 1Q bottom line. But like its cuts in news operations, that’s a one-time gain that cannot be sustained.
The much discussed online fees won’t kick in until next year, so look for other drastic measures till then.
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Tags: online, profit, revenue, The New York Times Company
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Searching for promising news sites
2 02 2010Congratulations to the St. Louis Beacon for gaining mention in the Reynolds Journalism Institute‘s search for promising online news sites.
The Beacon is getting better all the time and is playing an increasing community role offline, as its principals organize and appear in panel discussions, events, and local broadcasts. That is indeed promising.
It succeeds by most of the RJI’s measures of online news sites. However, the most promising new media will be those that are revenue-positive. The Beacon, established by a grant, is attempting to support itself through membership donations. If that works, it will be a promising prospect indeed.
RJI Fellow Michele McLellan is soliciting suggesting for other promising sites. Your thoughts?
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Tags: journalism, new media, online, revenue, Reynolds Journalism Institute, RJI, St. Louis Beacon
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