Sorry about the text encoding problems in some entries. I'm (still...) trying to fix it.
It looks like the RJICollab Ning site was recently hacked or taken over by spammers for a short period of time, so watch out for weird entries from them.

paidcontent.org: Bloomberg BusinessWeek Cuts 25; Moves A Dozen To The Wire Service

About 25 staffers were let go from Bloomberg BusinessWeek as the title prepares for its major redesign late next month. Among the 25 who were cut were senior reporters Tom Lowry and Michelle Conlin, FishbowlNY reported. The layoffs were attributed to “redundancies,” a Bloomberg rep told Mediaweek. Separate from the job cuts, Bloomberg plans to move a dozen BW reporters to the wire service.

Roughly 100 staffers lost their jobs at BW a few days ahead of the official transfer... Read more.

03/11/2010 12:33 PM PDT

paidcontent.org: Video: Murdoch: Newspaper Ad Model Isn't Dead

News Corp.. (NYSE: NWS) Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch celebrates his 79th birthday with a cameo on his own Fox Business Network. Among the topics ... the newspaper ad model not dead yet (if we were Gawker we’d have to follow that with “neither am I”); iPad will attract more media and eventually a video-ad delivery system; his belief that you can’t “really promote” a brand on the internet or search. And, drum roll, the money quote on search:

“Search... Read more.

03/11/2010 10:47 AM PDT

themediamanager.com: Twitter: Social network or news service?

03/11/2010 04:42 PM PDT

niemanlab.org: Links on Twitter: Latte analytics, hypergrowth, the economics of abundance

What Buzz should have been? Aol launches Lifestream as a standalone product http://j.mp/aWYzxa »

Latte analytics: Foursquare and Starbucks join forces http://j.mp/aQB7Uq »

Startups and hypergrowth: How much success is too much success? http://j.mp/9AgWco (via @nytimesbits) »

“Google obviously thinks that providing the best local results possible is the future for a large number of its services” http://j.mp/aUWmuS »

The latest episode of “Breaking the... Read more.

03/11/2010 03:00 PM PDT

readwriteweb.com: SXSW 2010 for Publishers

A ReadWriteWeb Guide

Ever since its inception, the Internet has blurred the boundaries between author and audience. Whether you're a blogger, a pillar of the printed word, a podcast coinnaseur or a developer dealing with the latest CMS, navigating the next step in Internet publishing can be a feat.

So, hit up these 10 events at SXSW Interactive 2010 to say goodbye to Gutenberg and hello to the interactive, multimedia, real-time, crowdsourced and community-funded future of online publishing... Read more.

03/11/2010 03:00 PM PDT

paidcontent.org: @ Media Summit: Sulzberger: Metered Model Is Right Today—But 10 Years From Now, Who Knows?

Just a few weeks after NYTCo (NYSE: NYT) chairman and publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. and president and CEO Janet Robinson discussed the company’s new metering pay model at our conference, the pair continued to tease out the idea.
at Bloomberg BusinessWeek’s Media Summit 2010.

In a conversation with James Ellis, Bloomberg BW’s assistant managing editor, they also spoke about the role of cost cutting, the lessons of Times Select, and the relationship between... Read more.

03/11/2010 06:19 AM PDT

publish2.com: Evolving Platforms for Collaboration

What qualifies as “collaboration” these days?

In the context of the evolving news industry, one way to define collaboration is as something that happens among a group of people in a newsroom, or a group of news organizations pulling stories together around a topic or a geographic area.

Getting that job done efficiently requires a platform.

It takes a system that provides journalists with the means to work together, even if we’re only talking about the print publishing... Read more.

03/11/2010 10:26 AM PDT

niemanlab.org: The Newsonomics of new news syndication

[Each week, our friend Ken Doctor — author of Newsonomics and longtime watcher of the business side of digital news — writes about the economics of the news business for the Lab.]

It’s tough to get the printer’s ink out of news people’s veins. For many, journalism = printing, and in printing, each copy costs extra. It’s an analog, manufacturing mindset, and one to finally bid goodbye.

Of course, we all know how freely we can fling stories about on the web, but second copy value — and... Read more.

03/11/2010 09:00 AM PDT

niemanlab.org: What makes a nonprofit news org legit? Three other questions to separate journalism from advocacy

Last week, Jim Barnett raised a question about nonprofit journalism: What makes it legit? How do we know if a nonprofit news outlet shares the ideals and culture of traditional journalism, and how can we make sure we don’t get fooled by advocacy groups disguised as objective journalists?

It’s a difficult question — the Internet makes publishing wide open to everyone — and at the end of his post, Barnett lays out a list of what he thinks we should use as a starting point when... Read more.

03/11/2010 07:00 AM PDT

newsosaur.blogspot.com: Andreessen’s not-so-hot idea for publishers

03/10/2010 10:00 PM PDT

onlinejournalismblog.com: The BBC and linking part 2: a call to become curators of context

A highlight of my recent visit with MA Online Journalism students to the BBC’s user generated content hub was the opportunity to ask this question posed by Andy Mabbett via Twitter: ‘Why don’t you link back to people if they send a picture in?’ (audio embedded above and here).

The UGC Hub’s head, Matthew Eltringham, gave this response:

“We credit their picture … we absolutely embrace the principle of linking on and through.

03/11/2010 12:00 AM PDT

paidcontent.org: @ Media Summit: The Medium Isn't The Message; The Brand Is

One of the favorite sports of most media conferences these days involves trotting out Wired editor Chris Anderson’s “freemium” idea—which is predicated on balancing free online and paid premium content—and kicking it to the ground. The topic served as a introduction to discussing the problems associated with paywalls and display advertising for major media brands at one of the afternoon sessions at the Media Summit 2010 conference at the McGraw Hill Building.... Read more.

03/10/2010 11:12 AM PDT

rjicollab.ning.com: Conference for Independent Journalists

03/10/2010 08:54 AM PDT

niemanlab.org: Links on Twitter: Facebook users like stories with digits, Reuters looks to citizen journos for video, Google adds ads to YouTube mobile

Twitter doesn’t make top 10 list of social media search terms (loses to variations of Facebook, YouTube) http://j.mp/asyhxw »

Google is serious about making money off YouTube, it just added ads to the mobile sitehttp://j.mp/cpUp2B »

Greg Beitchman, global editor of Reuters says tapping into citizen journalism video is a “priority” http://j.mp/bW12Hj »

The #1 reason to include digits in your headlines: they get shared more on Facebookhttp://j.mp/9Ona7w »... Read more.

03/10/2010 04:15 PM PDT

themediamanager.com: OJR's Robert Niles: News managers need to lead in technology

03/10/2010 02:45 PM PDT

steveouting.com:Overpriced 14-year-old book (mine) on eBay?!

Queue up the “eBay Song” by Weird Al Yankovic. … An eBay oddity landed in my inbox today in the form of a Google Alert e-mail that I have set to watch for when my name turns up in articles, blogs, etc. Included was a link to this page on eBay where an online bookseller has two copies of my 1996 trade book, “Newspapers and New Media,” for sale with a Buy-It-Now price of $118.64.

The amusing thing to me (well, actually, it’s just sad) is that... Read more.

03/10/2010 01:43 PM PDT

themediamanager.com: News Corp. digital executive: Dual revenue streams necessary

03/10/2010 10:28 AM PDT

klickimediablog:Social networking: Is it quantity or quality?

You get them all the time on your Twitter and Facebook accounts: “Increase your followers by thousands.”  On Linkedin, so-called experts tell you the more connections, the better. Actor Ashton Kutcher made a big thing last year of being the man with the most followers on Twitter.

But is social networking really all about the numbers?

Well, yes, but in a sense. You need followers/friends/connections to make your social networking strategy work, and you should strive to build... Read more.

03/10/2010 09:07 AM PDT

reinventingthenewsroom.wordpress.com: To Burn the Boats, or Not?

Over the weekend, Marc Andreessen lit up the Twitterverse with his advice for established media companies: “Burn the boats.”

The comment, made to Erick Schonfeld of TechCrunch, refers to the legend that when Cortés’s expedition landed in Mexico in 1519, he told his men to burn the boats, ensuring that they would have to push forward into the unknown instead of thinking about going back. In Andreessen’s view, that’s what “old media” need to do: see the... Read more.

03/10/2010 07:49 AM PDT

niemanlab.org: The rise of open source: Thoughts on TEDxNYED

The first article mentioning the phrase “open source journalism” was apparently published in Salon magazine in 1999, describing an experiment that had been run by Jane’s Intelligence Review, a U.K. military journal. The journal asked readers of Slashdot to provide feedback on an article about cyber-terrorism, and they responded so enthusiastically — “slicing and dicing” the story “into tiny little pieces,” Salon had it — that “the editor, Johan... Read more.

03/10/2010 07:00 AM PDT

journalism20.com: Calling all journalists at SXSW: Meetup Sunday

I’m heading to Austin this week for the South by Southwest Interactive conference and couldn’t be more stoked. I’ve wanted to attend for years. This year, I’m not only attending, I’m speaking. I’ll be doing a “book reading” on the Day Stage on Tuesday, March 16 at 10 a.m. But I won’t be reading from my book (since that would be boring.) I’ll be giving a short presentation on the future of journalism and it would be great to see... Read more.

03/10/2010 06:57 AM PDT

onlinejournalismblog.com: The Human Journalism project in Spain

The journalist and photographer Javier Bauluz is the only Spanish winner of the Pullitzer. He has published a preview of his next project, focused on journalism and human rights, at periodismohumano.com.

“The responsibility of the crisis: the greed of a few and the lack of controls from whom should control them, the representatives of the people and the toxic journalism that reports the reality only in terms of the media corporations’ political and economic interest&#

03/10/2010 03:07 AM PDT

onlinejournalismblog.com: Video journalism in Africa – guest post

Ruud Elmendorp, a video journalist in Africa, writes about his experiences in the job

“Monsieur le journaliste? Votre interview avec le ministre est a deux heure.”

Mister journalist? Your interview with the minister is at two. Thank you, I say to the lady on the phone. Finally I managed to arrange an interview with a minister in Rwanda.

Some hours later I set up my tripod and camera, and start asking my questions. There I am with a small digital camera – and myself only... Read more.

03/10/2010 12:00 AM PDT

knightdigitalmediacenter.org: Apps for Inclusion: New Knight contest to build the digital public square

On Tuesday the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced a new contest to develop online and mobile applications that will help people improve their lives through better access to government/community info and services.

The Apps for Inclusion Challenge “encourages technology innovators to review government and community services and develop tools that will improve lives by making it easier for citizens to receive these services through mobile and online applications.”

This... Read more.

03/09/2010 04:14 PM PDT

themediamanager.com: Google chief economist to newspapers: Experiment

03/09/2010 03:16 PM PDT

niemanlab.org: Links on Twitter: Facebook’s location-sharing, video paywalls, link ghettos

Blogs as link ghettos? We’re enjoying the convo going on between @palafo, @felixsalmon http://j.mp/c872OK »

FT digital strategist hints at paywall for video: “It’s certainly not a given that video should be free” http://j.mp/bM8tqm »

Stories published on the weekend are more likely to be shared on Facebook than those from the week http://j.mp/9k8AHq »

Look out, Foursquare! Facebook will allow location-sharing starting next month, @nickbilton reports... Read more.

03/09/2010 03:00 PM PDT

onlinejournalismblog.com: The BBC and linking part 1: users are not an audience

Ben Goldacre is experiencing understandable frustration with the BBC’s policy on linking to science papers:

Jane Ashley of the website’s health team, says that when they write an article based on scientific research:

“It is our policy to link to the journal rather than the article itself. This is because sometimes links to articles don’t work or change, and sometimes the journals need people to register or pay.”

In email correspondence defending their policy... Read more.

03/09/2010 12:01 PM PDT

newspaperdeathwatch.com: Not Yet Time To Burn the Boats

TechCrunch has an interview with Marc Andreessen in which the Internet boy wonder advises media companies to “burn the boats,” an analogy to the instructions Cortés supposedly gave his army upon landing in Mexico nearly 500 years ago in order to insure that the soldiers pressed on.

Print newspapers and magazines will never get [to new online business models], he argues, until they burn the boats and shut down their print operations. Yes, there are still a lot of people

03/09/2010 10:32 AM PDT

reinventingthenewsroom.wordpress.com: Sports, Linking and the New Competitive Advantage

In my latest column for the National Sports Journalism Center, I look at the diminishing value of scoops in the era of links and retweets. Sports fans now get information not just from destination sites, but from emails, Facebook status updates and Twitter feeds. Meanwhile, at least on Twitter, sportswriters now routinely acknowledge news broken by their rivals. (And increasingly by athletes, agents and leagues that don’t need middlemen in the first place.)

The result is that scoops &#... Read more.

03/09/2010 10:06 AM PDT

niemanlab.org: Google’s Hal Varian to newspapers at FTC confab: “Experiment, experiment, experiment!”

Google’s economist-in-chief, Hal Varian, was the keynote speaker this morning at the Federal Trade Commission’s second round of hearings on the future of journalism. (The study is entitled “How will journalism survive the internet age?” Round 1 was held in December; transcripts and other material are linked here — scroll down. Not to be outdone, the Federal Communications Commission also has a project studying pretty much the same thing.)

Here’s the slide... Read more.

03/09/2010 09:37 AM PDT

niemanlab.org: How Ars Technica’s “experiment” with ad-blocking readers built on its community’s affection for the site

Even on the web, sometimes actions really do speak louder than words.

The technology site Ars Technica has a tech-savvy group of readers, of which about 40 percent have installed ad-blocking software in their web browsers. That’s a plugin that allows you to avoid seeing most ads on a site. The financial consequence for Ars is “devastating”, editor-in-chief Ken Fisher explained in a post. Ars sells ads based on impressions, not clickthroughs — which means it takes a big... Read more.

03/09/2010 07:00 AM PDT

newsosaur.blogspot.com: Publisher profits dive 1.7x faster than sales

03/08/2010 11:00 PM PDT

paidcontent.org: NYT Book Review Spins Off For E-Readers; Sony First

The search for revenue by deconstructing the New York Times (NYSE: NYT) into its most valuable pieces for various platforms continues. Up next: the New York Times Book Review for e-reader. NYT marketing exec James Dunn mentioned the new subscription effort during a session of the Digital Publishing Alliance (DPA) and E-Reader Symposium, according to Poynter’s Bill Mitchell. After the session, he told Mitchell the standalone subscription should be available on Sony (NYSE: SNE) Digital... Read more.

03/08/2010 06:57 PM PDT

onlinejournalismblog.com: Print’s advertising problem – tying one hand behind its back

Last week Karl Schneider, Reed Business Information’s Editorial Director, spent an hour chatting with students in my Online Journalism class. Most of it is available on video here, but of particular interest to me was a point Karl made about how Reed separated its online advertising into a separate company very early on, and are now reaping the benefits (embedded above).

“Because we had print businesses to protect we spent at least as much time worrying about not doing

03/09/2010 02:09 AM PDT

onlinejournalismblog.com: RSS feeds, advertising and selling attention

Media organisations who only offer partial RSS feeds might be interested to look at a couple of posts from 2 websites with different experiences of monetising their feeds. First, Jason Snell of MacWorld:

“RSS doesn’t generate revenue directly. There are ads in RSS, sure, but they’re cheap and lousy and don’t have remotely the return as ads on web pages.”

Then, John Gruber of Daring Fireball (cached here if you find it as slow as I do):

“The ads in most sponsored

03/09/2010 01:36 AM PDT

paidcontent.org: Variety Follows Oscars With Cuts, Including Chief Film Critic

Variety followed up Sunday’s Academy Awards with a different batch of envelopes, handing out pink slips to eight editorial staffers—including chief film critic Todd McCarthy and theater critic David Rooney—in its latest reorg. Reed Business Information has sold or plans to sell most of its U.S. titles that rely heavily on advertising but has said it will keep the Hollywood trade. As explained by Editor Tim Gray in a detailed internal memo (via Romenesko) stressing that Variety... Read more.

03/08/2010 05:15 PM PDT

hyperlocalblogger.com: Do Bloggers Deserve Press Credentials?

Following quickly on the heels of the UK episode in which a blogger was kicked out of court comes the case of Jay Liner and his Baltimore Organ local blog/site. As the Maryland Daily Record reports, Liner is suing the state governor’s office for denying him a press credential to report on state government news.

Liner has no desire to become a trailblazer in the blogosphere, but he acknowledges the lawsuit reflects how the Internet has forever changed the way people consume news.

03/08/2010 11:03 PM PDT

paidcontent.org: Barnes & Noble Adds Time Inc. Vet Shar As GM, Digital Newsstand & Emerging Content

The Nook is only part of Barnes & Noble’s digital strategy. Now that the e-reader is launched and its production problems appear to be resolved, B&N is heightening its focus on another major area: selling digital content through its own site and device, and through other devices like the upcoming Que. Jonathan Shar is leaving Time Inc. (NYSE: TWX) after 14 years to head the effort as GM-digital newsstand and emerging content for BN.com (NYSE: BKS). The move is none too soon for... Read more.

03/08/2010 09:11 AM PDT

niemanlab.org: Links on Twitter: Tumblr goes for revenue, devastating ad blockers, meet Mediagazer

Now that it’s passed the billion-pageviews-a-month benchmark, Tumblr sets its sights on revenue generation http://j.mp/ct94iv »

Media exec on the problem with online video: “It’s hard to justify $75 CPMs on Hulu and other big properties” http://j.mp/dz4zEK »

“Be ready to shift gears often”: Our @martinlangeveld’s white paper on publishers’ iPad strategies http://j.mp/djfrb4 »

Meet Mediagazer, Techmeme’s new aggregator of &#... Read more.

03/08/2010 03:00 PM PDT

themediamanager.com: Marc Andreessen to old media: Burn the boats

03/08/2010 12:31 PM PDT

onlinejournalismblog.com: The first Birmingham #data Coffee

On Thursday I’ll be hosting Birmingham’s first ‘Data Coffee’. Guests include The Times’ Jonny Richards, Talis’ Zach Beauvais and a whole bunch of MA Online Journalism students.

There’s no agenda for the day – just turn up with questions and we’ll pick each other’s brains. I’m bringing my Mac and an intense desire to get to grips with Python.

It’s at Coffee Lounge on Navigation Street (free wifi). We’ll start to... Read more.

03/08/2010 08:57 AM PDT

niemanlab.org: Zooming the news: Is Seadragon a new news interface?

Frédéric Filloux has an interesting piece in this week’s Monday Note (which, if you’re not already reading, you should be). It’s on Microsoft’s work on Seadragon, which is a piece of tech that allows “infinite zooming”:

This is what Seadragon is about: it lets you dive in an image down to the smallest detail. All done seamlessly using the internet. The Seadragon deep-zooming system achieves such fluidity by sending requests to a database of “tiles”,

03/08/2010 08:12 AM PDT

paidcontent.org: CBS Adds Live 3G Streaming To March Madness App; Charges $9.99

No need to duck out of work early, now you can watch March Madness games live over your iPhone, and for the first time—anywhere over AT&T’s 3G network.

The application, which is expected to be available Monday on iTunes, will cost $9.99—twice as much as last year’s version that was limited WiFi networks. Rob Gelick, the SVP and GM of CBS (NYSE: CBS) Mobile, expects the demand to be there for live streaming video: “Last year, we were the first to do a live... Read more.

03/07/2010 09:01 PM PDT

themediamanager.com: Chris Dixon: Hard news is bad business for Google

03/07/2010 09:57 PM PDT

thescoop.org: 2010 CAR Conference

The 2010 CAR Conference begins on Thursday, and here are some of the sessions I’m trying not to miss:

Thursday, March 11

• Big Data: Analyzing legislation with machine learning. Always good to hear what Chase Davis has been up to.
• Open Source GIS. Now that mapping is more and more accessible, it pays to stay on top of what people are using.
• Juice up your stories with advanced methods. After a few months in the academy, Sarah Cohen should have some good stuff to share.

03/07/2010 05:24 PM PDT

hyperlocalblogger.com: Go Hyperlocal Maps US & UK Blogs

Here’s a new site that offers both inspiration and exposure for hyperlocal bloggers: Go Hyperlocal. It’s a hyperlocal blog directory that bills itself as “Ideas and Examples from the Best Hyperlocal News Sites.” And even on a super quick glance, I see a couple familiar HLB commenters already have their blogs listed: Kyle from Yellowknife Online and Mike from Go Burley.

The site offers a US map and a UK map of hyperlocal blogs, both of which are obviously far... Read more.

03/07/2010 02:26 PM PDT

themediamanager.com: Adding context to Twitter: SuperTweets emerge

03/07/2010 11:14 AM PDT

themediamanager.com: Steve Rosenblaum: Journalism's emerging accidental curator

03/07/2010 10:47 AM PDT

ojr.org: Writing skill is no longer enough to sustain journalists

What's the value of journalism?

The short answer is, of course, "whatever someone will pay for it." But a more thoughtful response gets at why people are willing to exchange something of value for news information.

Economics 101 teaches that if more people... Read more.

03/11/2010 07:21 PM PDT

ojr.org: Wanted: Required Web journalism skills

Also, a continuing reminder: We're taking applications for the 2010 News Entrepreneur Boot Camp. Please consider applying if you're looking for better training on how to make your online news publishing efforts an income-producing business.]

With our industry in such turmoil, the constant technological changes, the evolution of news consumers and the uncertainty... Read more.

03/11/2010 07:21 PM PDT

ojr.org: How the Vancouver Winter Olympics (and other big stories) can help a hyperlocal news website grow

The reality for most communities is that their neighborhoods either never received coverage from local media... Read more.

03/11/2010 07:21 PM PDT

ojr.org: The need for a 'digital media pyramid'

The advent of the Internet and digital age of communications has brought forth the expected decline of newspapers at a faster pace than many business journalism experts predicted. A major part of the decline results... Read more.

03/11/2010 07:21 PM PDT

ojr.org: Top 10 reasons why you ought to apply for the News Entrepreneur Boot Camp

Why should you apply? Because we'll be bringing 20 journalists to Los Angeles in May for an intense, one-week camp in entrepreneurial thinking, and showing you how that applies to publishing a news website. By the end of the camp, you'll not only have been trained in the right mindset to run a successful publishing business, you'll have materials in hand with which... Read more.

03/11/2010 07:21 PM PDT

ojr.org: Why I love NBC for blacking out the Olympics: A cautionary tale for all publishers

Huh? I hear folks asking. People have been roasting NBC's decision. Do I actually support it?

Heck, no! But... Read more.

03/11/2010 07:21 PM PDT

ojr.org: The pros and cons of newspapers partnering with 'citizen journalism' networks

The company announced it was beginning a partnership with Hearst to introduce local online editions in the newspaper publisher's four largest markets, including San Francisco Chronicle's SFGate, the Houston's Chronicle's Chron.com, the San Antonio Express-News' MySan Antonio.com, and Seattlepi... Read more.

03/11/2010 07:21 PM PDT

ojr.org: Creation or aggregation: What is the real added value of today’s journalism?

Generating original content, or aggregating someone else's? If you're running (or starting up) a news website, which model should you choose?

Actually, this is a trick question... because they're the same thing. In journalism, our "original" content always has been the product of aggregation.

Let's take a look at the newspapers where... Read more.

03/11/2010 07:21 PM PDT

ojr.org: DIY and passion give birth to a new journalists' weekly on Twitter

Apparently that tweet touched a nerve and prompted Web journalists to come out of the Twitterverse to express agreement.

Before I continue, let me define two things:

• #journchat is a Twitter chat that is “an ongoing conversation between journalists, bloggers and PR folks” held weekly on Twitter. Created by @PRsarahevans, the first Twitter chat was held Monday, November 24, 2008. While it has “journalism

03/11/2010 07:21 PM PDT

ojr.org: How to avoid what's happened to American newspapers: Part one

This advice applies not just to newspaper publishers outside the United States, but to all news publishers, including online start-ups and still-profitable U.S. papers, who haven't yet had to resort to crippling... Read more.

03/11/2010 07:21 PM PDT