Lessons from Facebook’s redesign: Newspapers should tailor homepages to subscriber interest

When Facebook announced its aim to become “the best personalized newspaper,” news publishers rolled their eyes. “The reality is that Facebook is still not that great for news,” writes Jeff Sonderman of Poynter. But even if Facebook isn’t an ideal news disseminator, other news outlets provide little competition for “best personalized newspaper” as few tailor user experiences for subscribers.

Local newspaper sports pages ranked No. 1

A new study of sports media consumption in the USA reveals that local newspaper sports pages beat their print and digital media competitors as the top source of sports news, information and analysis for male sports fans between the ages of 18 and 54. The medium also scores as the most valued for in-depth local team coverage and a place where advertisements drive consumer action.

SXSW: David Carr on business models

“Content has always been subsidized,” said David Carr, media reporter at The New York Times, in a SXSW session on paid digital content called Gates of Heaven, Gates of Hell.

Thayer, Williams plagiarism scandals highlight undefined standards for online attribution

Plagiarism allegations against Nate Thayer and Fox News pundit Juan Williams this week might suggest “a plague of online plagiarism,” but more importantly they underscore the need for the industry to establish standards for online attributions so that such errors are not repeated. Sure, Thayer said that “every reference in the story was properly cited,” but in this new territory, who’s to say what is proper? The scandals highlight how much experts disagree.

SXSW: Hacks/Hackers from Africa to Latin America

The founding idea behind Hacks/Hackers was simple: that the future of journalism is intricately tied to technology, explained co-founder Burt Herman, also a co-founder of Storify. The movement, which unites journalists and developers, relies on the fact that “people are keen to get away from their day jobs and experiment and innovate,” Herman said, speaking on a SXSW panel on Hacking the News Around the World.

Spain’s infoLibre offers new independent source of news

infoLibre, a new Spanish site partnered with French company Mediapart, launched last Thursday in an effort to create a free and independent news source in Spain. In addition to the website, a monthly magazine called Tinta Libre will premier this Friday.

‘Dark days for the Fourth Estate’ in Pakistan

These are dangerous times to be a journalist in Pakistan.The country ranks alongside Syria and Somalia in terms of journalists’ deaths. In six bloody weeks of 2013, six media workers died, bringing to 90 those who have lost their lives during the past five years, according to a tally by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists.

Real-time social analytics: how editors become cyborgs

Successful online publishing relies on effective use of web analytics. In order to assess how a story will perform online and where it should be placed, most editors take input from Google Analytics or monitor trends in social media sharing. In many newsrooms there is a dedicated person who monitors statistics and makes recommendations to the editorial team on a frequent basis.

SXSW: Could the future of print be interactive?

“If by 2017 we could connect any piece of print to the internet at a low cost, with recycled material, what would that mean for journalism?” asked Tom Metcalfe, lead designer on Interactive Newsprint, during a panel at SXSW entitled Pitchforks and Printed Electronics.

SXSW: Survival techniques for nonprofit news organisations

As the traditional business model for news flounders, nonprofits have played an increasingly more significant role in maintaining news coverage, particularly in the US. A panel at South by South West Interactive on Nonprofit Journalism: Survival of the Scrappiest gave nonprofits concrete advice on how to tackle some of their key challenges.