iTunes for print? Selling the story instead of the magazineOnline aggregator Maggwire.com is planning “to do for magazines what iTunes did for music”, by selling “premium” magazine articles for a few bucks online. It may save the companies, but could it kill off the printed versions in the process?
Online news
Web ads: a watcher’s guide
Push-downs, troll ads, blogger endorsements and the Hulk — they’re all new and different ways advertisers and webmasters are trying to catch your eye (and clicks) online, to generate more (or any) money from the web.
Newsday columnist quits over paywall
Newsday columnist Saul Friedman has quit after the company erected a paywall on its website. In an open letter explaining the move, he says even he can’t access his own columns now.
Imagining life behind the pay-wall
The year is 2012 and the news is no longer free: Michael Wolff is in prison, Fox has renamed itself The Glenn Beck Channel, a NYT sub costs $7000-per-year, and a cultural divide has formed between the news-haves and news-have-nots…
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Politico and Wash Post to engage in DC territorial pissing
Online political news site Politico is going to launch a local Washington DC edition of the site, headed up by the former editor of WashingtonPost.com. It’s a pretty direct attack on The Washington Post’s DC supremacy, and HuffPo has its hands on an internal memo that outlines the plans.
Future of the ABC: less broadcaster, more webmaster
The shift in the ABC’s Arts programming from TV and radio to the web heralds a much larger metamorphosis for the broadcaster, in which the web is its primary form and other mediums just exist to feed it content, writes Karl Quinn.
When online journalists moonlight as copy-writers
The (Dis)Information Age: how the internet is making us stupider
Despite the rhetoric of “openness”, the internet is actually making us more narrow-minded by allowing us to filter what we read to suit our own viewpoints, says a new book by academic Cass Sunstein. How else can you explain the absurd ideas of the “birthers” gaining a foothold?
Would you pay Murdoch for articles like this…?
“Drunkest man ever tries to buy booze” is apparently what News Ltd’s Adelaide Now believes is news. Is this what Rupert Murdoch means when he talks about his engaging, original content? asks Ben Shepherd.
Mark Day: News does have content worth paying for — we just haven’t figured out what it is yet
Mark Dayleaps into the The Oz’s “Stacks-on ABC’s Mark Day” Day: Scott is wrong to dismiss paywalls on the grounds that much of News Corp’s content isn’t worth paying for: it is, and when Rupert works out what and why, he’ll let you know.
Your ABC and their News Limited: the media’s empire games
A speech last night by ABC chief Mark Scott was a pre-emptive strike in what will be the main media battle of the first quarter of this century — between paid content and public broadcasting.
Has Politico turned tabloid?
It’s generally regarded to be one of the best and most successful political news sites on the web, but lately Politico has slipped into sensationalism, says Splice Today, with headlines like “Roman Polanski backers gave $34k to Barack Obama”.
Google CEO: We have a “moral responsibility” to help newspapers
Regardless of what newspaper publishers may think, Google isn’t out to get them. In fact, it wants to to help, says the search giant’s CEO Eric Schmidt — just don’t expect any handouts.
Wolff: Murdoch declares war on the internet
Rupert Murdoch’s decision to paywall all of News Corp’s online content is a call to arms against the internet, says Michael Wolff. It’s a war he can’t win, but that doesn’t mean business blood won’t be shed.
Shafer: Non-profit journalism still comes at a price
The rise of non-profit new organisations like ProPublica, and NPR seems like a win-win for journalism and the public. But while they may not be looking for revenue, the people providing the financial backing for these operations still have issues and agendas to push, says Jack Shafer.
Let newspapers die their natural death
Newspapers are dying: and we should just let it happen already, says Daniel Lyons. Online news sites like Politico and The Daily Beast are already faster, better, and more profitable. Why delay the inevitable?
The Beast gets bigger and bookier
Online news site The Daily Beast is bringing its “speedy and smart” news philosophy to the literary world, launching a book-publishing arm that will turn around timely and topical tomes in a fraction of the time it takes regular publishers.
Atlantic Wire: the new kid on the news aggregator block
It seems everyone is getting into the news aggregation game now: The Atlantic has just launched The Atlantic Wire, pulling together the best and most influential op-eds from around the media. Nicely done.
Shock! A quarter of newspapers don’t use Twitter or Facebook!
“24% of newspapers still in the internet dark ages” exclaims Silicon Alley Insider in response to news that 24% of US newspapers don’t provide access to their information via social media. Quelle horreur!
Why old media can still beat Web 2.0
For all the hype about the death of traditional media outlets, most new media business models are far worse-off, relying on unstable venture capital and cheap ads for funding. Old media orgs should be able to out-compete the new kids — if they dare.
Has Google flipped out?
Google has released a new content browser called Fast Flip that allows readers to “flip” through online news articles as they would a magazine — and they’re even going to share some of the revenue with the contents’ actual publishers. Genius or gimmick?
What’s online news worth? About five bucks
How much are consumers willing to pay for online news? About $4.64 a month, according to a new study — though almost half the respondents said they wouldn’t pay at all.
Fairfax launches new website under an old masthead
Fairfax Digital has launched a new website under a resurrected masthead that hasn’t been published since the mid ’80s: The National Times. So what is it? Pure Poison investigates.
MTV recruits Twitter correspondent
Remember when MTV was counter-culture? Ah well, this is a post-Newlyweds world, and the music channel is desperately chasing the zeitgeist by adding blogger iJustine as a “Twitter correspondent” for this year’s Video Music Awards. “OMGZ!! WATCH ME ON THE 2009 VMAs!!!!” she vlogs.
Google: “‘Open’ need not mean free”
Google — the bane of newspaper companies everywhere for its free aggregation of their news — is now developing a micropayment platform for media outlets to charge for their online content. A foot in both camps? Read their pitch to the Newspaper Association of America here (PDF).
