American Journalism Review
The ability of newspaper Web sites to measure which stories are drawing the most readers could change the way coverage decisions are made at the nation's newspapers, writes Jube Shiver in the American Journalism Review. "Television-like ratings are coming to print journalism as newspapers move to the Internet and harness technology that, for the first time, shows which stories attract readers and which do not," Shiver writes. And, says Leonard Downie, executive editor of the Washington Post, "What I use it for, personally, is to see what is interesting to the public. We don't rely on it exclusively.... but it's …
Women's Wear Daily
Condé Nast has finally decided on a name for its new business magazine, reports Women's Wear Daily. While a formal announcement should come Monday, the short list has narrowed to four: Quote, Portfolio, File or Currency--and Conde Nast has copyrights on them all. And unnamed sources say that recent internal discussions had narrowed that list to just Quote and Portfolio, with the majority of staffers favoring the former. Among other rejected titles: The Ticker, Tally, Bonfire and Scoop. A Web site will go up next week with the new logo and some indication of what the magazine will contain.
Associated Press / Yahoo
The rapid consolidation in the newspaper business, including the sell-off and break-up of Knight Ridder, is a response to the Internet and other big changes in media. That's according to one top analyst. The Associated Press reports that Lauren Fine of Merrill Lynch told a business group in Akron, Ohio--a community where the daily newspaper is on the block--that papers are trying to find ways to turn a buck as their advertisers follow their readers online and to cable television. Before those two arrived, Fine says most media coexisted without taking away ad money from each other. But now advertisers …
Yahoo News
At a gathering of traditional print journalists, Internet commentators, Web company pros and "Rick's Cafe-style foreign correspondents," one finds "a great deal of internalized anger" writes Georgie Anne Geyer. "Newspaper people are sincerely worried about their beloved craft today--and about how helter-skelter the Internet mavens seem to be about what they're doing to newspapering." But Dan Gillmor, founder of the Center for Citizen Media, says, "for journalists, this is a profound change from the lecture model of the past to something more like a conversation.... The citizen media is not trying to replace the current media, God forbid. It is …
Boston Globe
Local television news stations are starting to distribute their programs via mobile devices and the Web as they try to hold onto their audience, reports the Boston Globe. The stations are following the lead of their national brethren, although locally it's the news instead of dramas that is migrating to new devices. In Boston, TV executives say the strategy is in response to a viewer shift, even though they don’t expect much short-term return, “Do I expect to make a ton of extra advertising money the day we launch it? No,” says Steve Safran, director of digital media at …
New York Times
BBC World starts an ad campaign to introduce Americans to a 24-hour cable news network ready to rumble with CNN and Fox News Channel, The New York Times reports. The $1 million effort promotes the Beeb's arrival on cable and "is aimed not only at potential viewers but also at Madison Avenue, to stimulate demand for commercial time, and at other cable system operators," according to the Times story. "We hope very much this is the start of a series of deals," says Richard Sambrook, chief executive at BBC World. Ads carry themes like "News beyond your borders," and push …
New York Observer
Joe Conason of the New York Observer tears into recent in-depth “coverage” of the marriage of Bill and Hillary Clinton: “Of all possible explanations for the mainstream media’s preoccupation with the Clinton marriage, the most innocuous is nostalgia for a better time, when we were able to worry less about war, corruption, catastrophe and incompetence, and more about sex,” he writes. “Bad news only intensifies the urge to ignore reality and focus on triviality--a predilection seemingly shared by several of America’s most important journalists, as well as a legion of mindless tabloid hacks.” Conason refers to recent …
American Journalism Review
“The newspaper business has changed irrevocably,” laments Rem Rieder in the American Journalism Review. “The combination of the Internet (and the ensuing change in the habits of news consumers) and Wall Street profit pressures means that there's no going back. Life simply will be different.” While Rieder says that the medium will endure at least in the near-term, its role will change dramatically. Newspapers will “have to be open to new ideas and to reaching consumers in unconventional ways. They'll be the ‘engine’ that drives a panoply of products including an array of Web sites, podcasts, vodcasts, niche publications …
Associated Press / Yahoo
The Dixie Chicks, vilified in some quarters a while back after lead singer Natalie Maines said she was ashamed to be from the same state (and presumably, country) as George W. Bush, have hit No. 1--again-- reports the Associated Press. The group’s newest album, “Taking the Long Way,” was tops on both the country and Billboard 200 overall charts Wednesday--with 526,000 units sold in its first week. Wade Jessen, director of Billboard‘s country charts, said that may mean country fans jest weren’t so het up about Maines’ comments as some might have thought. In addition, "there also might be …
HuffingtonPost
When it comes to pushing for more media consolidation, “at the moment, the villains in the process are the Republicans [but] the Democrats are just as susceptible to being compromised when they have the power,” writes Norman Horowitz at HuffingtonPost. “This administration, (like so many in the past), would like us to have as little diversity in our media as possible, and be able to control access for such content into our homes.” Further, he wonders whether the government will become less bashful about determining what Americans watch, listen to or view on the Internet: “the greater the consolidation, …
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