The Riveter and Bustle: Two new publications targeting female audiences

As the number of women in newsrooms flatlines and female journalists continue to be overlooked for prestigious awards, two new publications aim to produce content by and for women. Yet while Bustle and The Riveter share similar goals, their founders differ both in terms of the budget at their disposal and in the presentation of their products.

It is time to enshrine press freedom as an immutable right in the UK

Illegal detention and government threats to a free press, just the latest headlines to emerge from the UK in a summer of revelations connected to NSA surveillance. Both revolve around the Guardian newspaper, and both require legal precedent to change in order to prevent Britain further lurching towards the unpleasant label of 21st Century totalitarian democracy.

Pay-per-gaze advertising could solve non-appearing ads dilemma

Brands have been demanding promises of ad viewability from publishers after learning that 54 percent of ads do not appear mostly due to technical glitches, according to a recent comScore study. However, publishers have been unable to adequately respond without technology to track viewability. But a recently-granted patent by Google suggests there may soon be an app for that.

Content-producing machines: friend or foe for news media outlets?

The words “automated journalism” are often greeted with expressions of trepidation or mistrust in journalism circles. And when Wired writes that “[t]he new reporter on the US media scene takes no coffee breaks, churns out articles at lightning speed, and has no pension plan” who can blame them? Nonetheless, the use of computer-generated content is becoming increasingly widespread, to the point where titles such as The Washington Post have contemplated the use of automated writing.

Why Twitter’s mix of personal and professional can be an uncomfortable blend for news outlets

‘Tweet in haste, repent at leisure’ could serve as a useful adage for Twitter-happy journalists. After posting a controversial tweet about Julian Assange over the weekend, journalist Michael Grunwald attracted widespread criticism. Condemnation flooded in from around the globe, but didn’t only focus on Grunwald himself. TIME magazine, Grunwald’s employer, was also drawn into the debate. The publication sprang into action, distancing itself from Grunwald’s tweets. In doing so the magazine demonstrated that even when transmitted in an apparently personal setting, journalists’ tweets aren’t always their own.

Why are newspapers silent in this lucrative podcasting boom?

Podcasts are booming, with podcast app Stitcher expecting to stream 20,000 by the end of the summer, up from 5,000 when it began two years ago, according to USA Today. But in the deluge of podcasts providers, newspapers are conspicuously absent. Of the top 10 most-read newspapers in the world, only The New York Times, the Guardian, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal have regular podcasts on iTunes.

New York Times’ Gmail use raises concerns over protection of sources

“In the wake of this year’s disclosures, it should be clear that unencrypted journalist-source communication is unforgivably reckless”. So said Edward Snowden, NSA whistleblower, when quizzed by Peter Maass on the issue of safe interaction between journalists and informants. Though he describes himself as “famously paranoid”, Snowden would find many of his fears over email security substantiated by tech journalist Steve Henn’s article on Google’s Gmail. Writing for NPR, Henn reports on the threat posed by Google’s email service to the privacy of journalists and, crucially, their sources.

Troc de presse: a step towards collaborative subscriptions?

When the Editors Weblog first reported on the launch of Troc de presse, the social network that allows neighbours to swap their magazines and newspapers, the usefulness of the French startup had already been called into question. Free to use, its attempts to marry print consumption with social media concepts were seen by many as a recipe for failure. Although similar objections continue to be raised, the support of some of France’s most prestigious newspapers could see the pioneering service develop new subscription models for the French press.

Reinventing the banner: NYT, NPR incorporate custom-built ads

You’ve heard the scary display advertising stats: Banner ads have a .04 percent click-through rate; 34 percent of people don’t trust banners; you’re more likely to birth twins than click a banner. The New York Times and National Public Radio are betting that more smoothly incorporated, custom-built ads can buck this trend.

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.