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.

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.

Australia: Outrage over front page might overstate Murdoch press’s political influence

Newspapers owned by the Australian branch of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp publishing company have found themselves embroiled in a row over their coverage of the forth-coming federal elections. A series of front pages produced by Sydney’s Daily Telegraph have led members of the governing Labor party to claim that Murdoch is using his considerable media clout to sway voter opinion in favour of the opposing Liberal and National Coalition. For some Australian media analysts however, Labor’s accusations severely overestimate Murdoch’s capabilities.

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.

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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.