Paid content strategies

Digital paid content strategies will surely be discussed and debated in Bangkok this week as Monday’s afternoon session will be completely dedicated to the topic. Shortly after Congress, WAN-IFRA will publish a Shaping the Future of News Publishing (SFN) report entitled, “Digital paid content: the journey just begins.”

Journalists in Myanmar Finally Get Their Awards

Thirteen years after being named as Golden Pen of Freedom laureates, Myanmar journalists San San Nweh and U Win Tin finally get their awards.

How is L’Opinion faring after its first two weeks?

Two weeks on from the launch of his new “liberal, pro-business” daily newspaper, Nicolas Beytout describes his state of mind as “satisfied and realistic,” while sales figures have shown that the newspaper is slowly picking up speed.

The Financial Times launches rapid-fire news service, fastFT

The Financial Times has launched a digital breaking-news platform to facilitate the rapid delivery of “market-moving news and views 24 hours a day” in the form of 150-300 word stories. By providing up-to-the-minute reporting, it is hoped that this new application will encourage the “active news consumer” to stay loyal to the FT for their daily fix of financial news.

Circa appoints Reuters’ Anthony De Rosa as new editor-in-chief

Circa, a San Francisco news startup that aims to transform the way that news is accessed on mobile phones, has announced that Anthony de Rosa, currently social media editor at Reuters, will be joining its team of 12 editors as editor-in-chief.

Ekstra Bladet launches digital paid subscription model

Denmark’s largest news website, ekstrabladet.dk launched EKSTRA, a paid subscription system based on the “freemium” model, on 13 May. Content that was previously accessible on the site for free remains so, whilst EKSTRA will offer extra “quality journalism” in the form of in-depth reports and analyses on complex current affairs issues for 29 DKK (3.90 €) per month, with a 30 day free trial.

Newsroom safety in Mexico: reporting on violence while seeking to avoid retribution

Javier Garza Ramos is deputy editorial director of El Siglo de Torreón and is newsroom safety advisor to the World Editors Forum. As he explains below, his paper suffers from frequent attacks on its premises and its journalists are under constant threat of kidnapping.

He will speak at the World Editors Forum in Bangkok next week on newsroom protocols to protect staff.

The Guardian launches its Australian digital edition

The Guardian has today unveiled a free online edition to cater particularly for its Australian audience, which comprises a considerable 1.1 million regular readers. Katherine Viner, new editor-in-chief of Guardian Australia, has promised a “fresh and independent view” on Australian and international news, and a “digital storytelling” approach to “engage readers in new ways.”

The loneliness of the profit-making broadsheet

Besides the FT, the Daily Telegraph and its now full integrated stablemate, the Sunday Telegraph, remain the only profitable ‘quality’ or broadsheet paper in the UK. On a recent WAN-IFRA visit we asked how the newsroom supports this (and how come so many people still wear ties?)

Worldcrunch Impact bets on Kickstarter to launch ‘solutions journalism’ initiative

Worldcrunch, an English-language global news startup launched two years ago in Paris, is embarking on a new project, ‘Worldcrunch Impact’, with the ambitious aim of healing the ills of journalism as it currently stands – that is, changing the fact that digital media covers news in a manner that is “too fast, too thin, too loud.” The project’s launch depends entirely on the success of its Kickstarter funding campaign.