WAN: Traditional media has five years growth left - Press Gazette October 20, 2008
Posted by Jonathan Hewett in : delicious links , add a commentHave predictions of the death of traditional media been exaggerated? From the World Association of Newspapers conference:
"…Marcel Fenez [of PWC] said that although digital advertising will continue to soar over the next five years it will still only globally represent 10 per cent of total advertising for newspapers by 2012.
He forecast that global print advertising will grow 1.8 percent to $123.3 billion in 2012, while global digital advertising will grow 19.3 percent to $13.4 billion.
He said: "One of the things we need to get into context here is that traditional media isn't dead yet and won't be for the next five years."
"It's very important to think why. The over-50s are helping to sustain traditional media, and also in many of the emerging markets there is still plenty of room for traditional media. The death of traditional media is exaggerated, at least in a five-year context." "
‘Google will not replace shoe leather’ October 20, 2008
Posted by Jonathan Hewett in : delicious links , add a commentVeteran investigative reporter Andrew Jennings interviewed:
“Google has its uses. But let’s get serious. It is a fine research tool, but it doesn’t do what a journalist is supposed to do… Shoe leather is cheap. That’s how I get the story. If you walk down any suburban street, there is a story behind every door. There are people who work in factories, good people, that bad things happened to, and they are waiting for a knock on the door… […]
Many journalists think you get it from the Presidents or press releases. You get it from the janitor, the concierge, the guy who is a driver to Mr. Enron. It’s ordinary people who want to talk about it because they have to earn a living, but it’s shoe leather. Google can help, but you have to go out to get the story, and get people to trust you. Whether it is in any type of journalism: economy, sports, etc, people have stories. You have to persuade them.”
How to boost your paper's web traffic by 928% … October 20, 2008
Posted by Jonathan Hewett in : delicious links , add a comment… if you're in Anchorage, Alaska: the Palin effect (Nielsen figures reported by E&P):
"The Web site of the Anchorage Daily News zoomed up to make it in the list of top 30 online newspapers. The Web site enjoyed a 928% spike to 2.1 million monthly uniques in September, no doubt due to the paper's excellent coverage of Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin."
Martin Moore Blog: Newspaper closures October 20, 2008
Posted by Jonathan Hewett in : delicious links , add a commentMartin Moore offers some historical context to Emily Bell's scenario of potential newspaper closures:
"The last major period of contraction occurred between the two World Wars when, as the first Royal Commission on the Press found, just under 25% of daily and Sunday papers closed:
‘Between 31st December 1921, and 31st December 1948, the number of general daily and Sunday newspapers published in England, Wales, and Scotland fell from 169 to 128’ (1st Royal Commission on the Press, p.73).
The Commission decided this was not a serious cause for concern, nor was the 25% reduction in the national daily press. Only if it was part of a long term trend did they feel we should be worried:
‘We do not therefore see cause for alarm in the decrease of the number of national morning newspapers from 12 in 1921 to 9 in 1948 – [although any further decrease could be worrying]' (Royal Commission, p.88)."
How to: write for the web (part 2) — Journalism.co.uk October 20, 2008
Posted by Jonathan Hewett in : delicious links , add a commentChristian Dunn, digital editor of NWN Media (N Wales and Chester), offers some solid advice on writing for the web, including the following reminders about headlines online:
"Firstly, don't use puns, metaphors or wordplay. Use your keywords in the title instead - in may not be as exciting, but it works.
Secondly, keep headlines short: evidence suggests that Google pays greatest attention to the first 60 characters of any headline and many RSS feeds cut the headline off after this too.
Google likes place names and people search for places a lot online. Google News will find it easier to pick the stories up, categorise and send out as news alerts if there is a clear location.
Finally, make sure you try different phrases to see what gets a response on your site."
Good writing makes the difference — Opinion: The top 10 best-written blogs October 19, 2008
Posted by Jonathan Hewett in : delicious links , 1 comment so farOn the importance of good writing in blogs, from Computer World's 'top ten' list:
" 'People get bored pretty quickly with sloppy writing and sloppy thinking, and that's true whether you're publishing online or in print,' [Nicholas] Carr told me by e-mail and, as always, he makes a good point.
Stringing together a sentence with a strong noun and verb combination might not seem all that difficult, but many bloggers write like they are on the school bus using a crayon."
Blog your way through college in the US October 18, 2008
Posted by Jonathan Hewett in : delicious links , add a commentA great opportunity — if you're a US citizen or resident. As Alfred Hermida notes, how about an international contest or other national version? How about it WordPress. Blogger, Typepad, Live Journal etc?
"The scheme offers students who blog the chance to win a $10,000 scholarship. The contest has just started accepting submissions, but you only have until the end of the month to apply."
Newspaper bosses blast BBC over local websites - Times Online October 17, 2008
Posted by Jonathan Hewett in : delicious links , add a commentMore on this continuing turf war, which touches on competition, private vs public, newspapers vs broadcaster(s) — not to mention who's got the money (and will?) for such investment. NB The BBC Trust has yet to formally approve the plans. More arguments to follow, no doubt.
"Two of Britain's newspaper bosses lined up to attack Sir Michael Lyons, the chairman of the BBC Trust, for saying that "nobody can be satisfied" with the quality of the country's local and regional press.
Sly Bailey, the chief executive of Trinity Mirror, owner of the Liverpool Echo, and Tim Bowdler, the chief executive of Johnston Press, owner of the Yorkshire Post, said that his remarks implied that he had prejudged a review of BBC plans to expand its local websites."
Universities' millions in Iceland — BBC NEWS | Education October 17, 2008
Posted by Jonathan Hewett in : delicious links , add a commentDemise of Icelandic banks hits some UK universities. Any more to follow? Best not to think about their pension funds at the moment…
"Universities' secretary John Denham said a total of 12 English universities had £77m at stake though none of the institutions was in jeopardy.
Oxford University and its colleges have £30m - or 5% of their overall cash deposits - invested in three of the troubled banks or subsidiaries. Cambridge faces losses of £11m…
On Wednesday it emerged that three Welsh universities had £8.1m at risk…
Manchester Metropolitan University said it was hopeful it would get back the £10m it had invested…
The University of Manchester said it had £5m of its general investments in the banks…
The Open University said it had invested £6.5m in UK subsidiaries with the Icelandic banks."
Economic woe could end inequality in the education system | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk October 17, 2008
Posted by Jonathan Hewett in : delicious links , add a commentFrancis Beckett's take on how, in the long term, "Britain's economic woes could be good news for our schools". Wonder what he makes of business/industry links with universities. Or maybe we can guess:
"First, they will decouple business from academies…
Second, they will weaken the stranglehold business has over education. It is essentially to appease business that the government seeks to divide children at 11 or 14 into successes and failures, expanding the number of schools that are allowed to select some or all of their pupils. It damages the children, but it is convenient for their future employers.
Top business people will have less time to spend dictating how schools are run. And if they have any shame, they will be less inclined to consider themselves qualified to lecture to schools. Just possibly, Gordon Brown and his ministers will be less inclined to suppose that anything the public sector does, the private sector is bound to do better."