News

A tale of three paywalls: why boosting content is the way to go for news orgs

This week the fluctuating fortunes of three newspapers’ paywall plans seem to prove – if proof were needed – that the news industry is far from solving the problem of monetising online content. As the Toronto Star announced its plan to place its website behind a paywall, the San Francisco Chronicle reportedly shut down its premium subscriber-only offering. Meanwhile in the UK tabloid The Sun has seen a drop in its online audience after introducing a paywall at the beginning of August.

Sun-Times’ outsourcing of some content production raises issues

The parent company of the Sun-Times newspaper group, Wrapports LLC, is now outsourcing some reporting to Aggrego, a “Journatic-like unit.” While exactly how Aggrego operates is unclear — an interview request went unanswered at our time of publication — its association with Journatic, which has run into controversy in the past, is likely to raise some questions.

LinkedIn connects with business news publishing

LinkedIn, the social networking site aimed at building professional ties and contacts, is increasingly attracting the attention of news media players as a result of its bold forays into the world of publishing. By ramping up the amount of original content it features, the business tool is in a unique position to combine social networking and specialised economic news reporting. But while other media outlets lack LinkedIn’s social clout, the business news model more generally is one that continues to offer publications healthy circulation figures and a pathway to profitability.

How can editors revive public trust in media?

Rebuilding trust in journalism and the media emerged as one of the most pressing industry challenges at a brainstorming session held by WAN-IFRA during the Tech Open Air festival in Berlin earlier this month.

The video games that are rewiring journalism

The Internet provides a wealth of information about current events, but the sea of headlines makes true depth and understanding hard to come by, especially with complex topics such as the federal budget. But journalistic-minded video games or “newsgames” are beginning to reprogram the news industry and facilitate greater understanding.

Publishers launch sponsored content factories, but ethics are unclear

A number of news organizations, including The Huffington Post and Wired, have recently launched in-house creative agencies to amp up lucrative sponsored content offerings. But the ethics in this new territory are unclear, with some journalists even relaying between editorial departments and these sponsored content generators. WAN-IFRA takes a look at several of these initiatives and explores their ethical backbones.

analytics big data story metrics tabloidization editorial quality editorial standards

The ambitions of several U.S newspaper publishers to branch out into television has already been well documented by the Editor’s Weblog, but one Russian newspaper is going a step further than its American counterparts. Instead of simply buying a television channel, the Russian daily Izvestia is becoming one.

Research: Story metrics creating a ‘culture of the click’

Journalists have celebrated editorial analytics as an opportunity to learn more about their audiences, but could this knowledge denigrate journalism to focus on clicks rather than impact? Two academic studies suggest story metrics are, indeed, controlling editorial content, and the effects are not universally positive.

Italian press signs agreement with government to revitalise ailing industry

The Italian government and representatives from throughout Italy’s news media industry signed an agreement on Tuesday 6 August as part of an initiative to revitalise the country’s crisis-hit news publications. Posted online by Giovanni Legnini, under secretary to the Prime Minister’s office, the accord makes provisions for greater financial support for the news industry, not only with regards to funding innovation and new startups, but also in terms of distribution costs and pensions.

NowThisNews attempts to use Instagram Video as social news platform

Mobile video news service NowThisNews is attempting to make information sharing even more social with a first of its kind 24/7 news channel on Instagram. Harnessing the Facebook-owned social media site’s new 15-second video offering, rolled out in June to compete with Twitter’s Vine, NTN aims to tap into Instagram’s 130 million-strong user base by delivering “breaking videos and news content ranging from the latest fashion show to the political statement dominating the news cycle”. Yet while the experiment is certainly interesting, questions nonetheless remain as to the value that seconds-long video footage can add to news reporting.