AAN News
Publishers Take Issue With Boston Globe Reportnew
The Globe's thesis is that "falling advertising revenue" is forcing weekly papers to "scale back dramatically." But Phoenix Media/Communications Group president Bradley Mindich says his publications don't fit that mold. "We are not cutting back," he tells reporter Johnny Diaz, who nevertheless intimates that the Boston Phoenix is using less color and sharing film reviews with its newly-acquired Spanish-language weekly to save money. "We actually have more color now" and cutting expenses is not the primary reason his papers are sharing content, Mindich tells AAN News. Weekly Dig publisher Jeff Lawrence says the story was mostly accurate but that it suffered from faulty framing: "Our business model is intentionally evolving -- not reacting to the economy," he tells AAN News.
The Boston Globe |
03-04-2009 3:26 pm |
Industry News
Creative Loafing Cuts Executive Compensationnew
Starting in April, the six-paper chain will cut executive compensation by five to 15 percent, Washington City Paper's Erik Wemple reports. On a conference call today, COO Kirk MacDonald said that he and CEO Ben Eason will take the 15 percent cut and that others -- including publishers, sales executives, and top editors -- will get more moderate slices. Wemple is glad he didn't have to implement another round of layoffs. "This approach makes way more sense," he writes. "No depressing discussions with the staff today!" MORE: The Chicago Reader and Creative Loafing (Tampa) weigh in.
Washington City Paper |
03-04-2009 12:43 pm |
Industry News
How the Santa Barbara Independent Beats the Local Daily Onlinenew
Alan Mutter says newspapers shouldn't charge for access to their websites unless they provide content that is "unique and valuable." As an example, he says the pay wall erected by the daily Santa Barbara News-Press has left the paper with less than half of the traffic generated by the much smaller Independent. When wildfires threatened Santa Barbara in November, Mutter says, "scant information" was available for non-subscribers on the daily's site, while the alt-weekly's site -- which won a 2008 EPpy Award for best weekly newspaper-affiliated website -- "brimmed with up-to-the-minute bulletins, first-person reports" and fire photos.
Reflections of a Newsosaur |
03-04-2009 10:34 am |
Industry News
Google Rep: Publishers Should Focus on Bounce Rate, Not Hitsnew
Online Media Daily |
03-04-2009 9:05 am |
Industry News
Copyright Holders Challenge Sites That Excerpt Contentnew
Some media executives are growing concerned that web curators like the Huffington Post are taking away potential readers and profiting from content paid for by others. The New York Times reports that lawsuits in this area are on the rise, and interested parties say the government hasn't clearly delineated how copyright law applies. "New modes of creation, reuse, mixing and mash-ups made possible by digital technologies and the internet have made it even more clear that Congress's attempt to define fair use is woefully inadequate," the director of the Citizen Media Law Project tells the Times.
The New York Times |
03-02-2009 10:26 am |
Industry News
Prediction: Mobile Ad Revenues To Hit $3.1 Billion By 2013new
According to the Kelsey Group, revenues from mobile advertising will jump to $3.1 billion in five years. Currently, mobile advertising sits at $160 million in 2008. The group also says expected revenues from local search will increase more than 130 percent per year to $1.3 billion by 2013.
Media Daily News |
02-25-2009 10:59 am |
Industry News
City Pages Will Run Daily Webcast from Local Radio Legendnew
Last week, City Pages announced that it was bringing longtime local radio host TD Mischke on to host a webcast streaming live on its website for two hours every weekday. Along with the daily web broadcast, Mischke -- who brought his own advertisers into the deal -- will screen original videos on citypages.com and publish a weekly column in the paper. MinnPost's David Brauer says the deal "show[s] how old and new media can be woven together."
City Pages |
02-24-2009 1:16 pm |
Industry News
Consultant: For Local Media to Succeed, It Must Embrace Local Economynew
"In the new economic paradigm local economies will thrive and prosper based upon the vitality and engagement of local citizens, local businesses and local media," writes Terry Garrett in response to a Business Week story that claims "'local' doesn't mean much online." While Garrett concedes that local ad buying is down (along with just about all ad buying), he argues that in the future, media companies will do more than just sell ads. "If local media are to advance the prospects of a local economy, the definition of service has to include being the instigator, coordinator and (one of the) resource providers for local first initiatives," he writes. "It's a collaborative model that extends beyond ownership and control, and that I believe, is the biggest challenge for local media companies who are accustomed to owning media to extract ad value."
Don't Panic |
02-23-2009 2:23 pm |
Industry News
AAN's Executive Director Defends Ad-Only Revenue Modelnew
In a recent TIME cover story on the crisis facing journalism, former CNN CEO Walter Isaacson argued that newspapers that relied only on advertising for revenue were somehow more beholden to advertisers than readers. "It is telling that on the subject of the advertising-only revenue model, which Isaacson says is 'completely beholden' to advertisers, he turns to the opinions of Henry Luce, who has been dead for more than 40 years," Richard Karpel writes in a letter to the editor. He goes on to say that AAN's members "have generally written more critically of business -- and sometimes their own clients -- than most paid publications."
TIME |
02-23-2009 1:50 pm |
Industry News
Chicago Reader Reprints 1972 'Manifesto'new
Someone at the Reader office recently found an old manifesto written by the alt-weekly's founders in 1972, and the paper published it last week on its blog. Responding to the question "Why do we continue with this crazy project?," the manifesto reads: "1) We are convinced it will be successful eventually. 2) We really enjoy our work. 3) The paper seems to be fulfilling a definite need for 'alternative' publications which are nonetheless not 'radical.' 4) We are bringing exposure to some (potentially) great writers." MORE: "[The document is] a brash artifact of an era where, all across the country, small groups of news innovators took a flyer on an untested business model and editorial format," CJR's Clint Hendler writes. "And what they birthed, the alt-weekly, became the home to some of the country's best writers and best journalism."
Chicago Reader |
02-23-2009 8:50 am |
Industry News
Isthmus Presents The Big Eat -- A Feast to Benefit Families in Need
Isthmus Press Release |
02-23-2009 9:20 am |
Press Releases
Survey: Fewer Than Half Of Marketers Use Online Metricsnew
Marketing Daily |
02-23-2009 8:57 am |
Industry News
Metro Pulse Parent Company Implements Pay Cutsnew
E.W. Scripps Co. exempt employees will see a 5 percent pay cut and the salaries of nonexempt employees will decline by 3 percent. The cuts also include a suspension of the company's 401(k) match and a freeze of the Scripps pension plan. The pay freezes are expected to last for at least a year.
The Knoxville News-Sentinel |
02-20-2009 8:28 am |
Industry News
Study: Search Engines Edge Out Print Phone Books for Local Searchnew
Online Media Daily |
02-20-2009 8:32 am |
Industry News
Yelp Responds to East Bay Express Storynew
"Today the East Bay Express ran a lengthy story that accuses Yelp of manipulating review order for money," the user-generated review site's CEO Jeremy Stoppelman writes. "As we've said many-a-time we do not do this." He criticizes the story for relying heavily on anonymous sources and adds that the piece essentially overturns its "accusatory thrust" at the end.
Yelp.com |
02-19-2009 11:35 am |
Industry News
