”The future of news is a future of conferences about the future of news”
With the “woe is me” attitude we all have toward the current state of flux journalism finds itself in, it’s no wonder all we want to talk about is our own profession. Journalists have been criticized lately for writing too much about journalism, but I say if it’s news, it should be covered. (Although my […]
The time is now! Wait, maybe not.
As industry vet D.B. Scott recently blogged, magazine advertisers have long eclipsed readers when it comes to influence over magazines. A new report by management consulting firm A. T. Kearney suggests that magazines shift their focus from courting advertisers to securing lifetime subscriptions. It’s an interesting perspective. Yet in the campaign for “a focus beyond circulation management to […]
HST exemption for some!
Looks like the dailies’ kid sisters are getting kicked in the mouth again. Funny … we barely have any teeth left. The Ontario government announced Thursday that newspaper subscriptions would be exempt from the new 13 percent harmonized sales tax. That means by June 2010, magazines will stand alone with an eight percent taxation increase. […]
Friday Funny: Party in the Print Box
So this is where all those jobless journalists go at night! Street artists Jason Eppink and Posterchild are throwing the print after-party, setting up abandoned newspaper boxes with disco balls, LED lights, handheld radios and cut-out silhouettes. As Eppink wrote, “When the last vestiges of a collapsed empire litter the landscape, there’s only one thing […]
Drown your sorrows at the RRJ’s Pink Slip Party
You’ve probably heard these words one too many times in recent past: layoffs, recession, collapse, destruction and maybe even apocalypse. Unfortunately, these are commonly used terms among folks in the journalism industry lately. While we’re conscious of how serious and troubling the times have become, there’s a part of us that can’t help but take […]
Bring back the (pay) wall
Last month, The New York Times announced cutbacks, buyouts and possible layoffs, proving that even it isn’t immune to the collapse of journalism as we know it. Most shocking was the reader outcry after executive editor Bill Keller broke the news. “There is a solution to layoffs – start charging for on-line content, I’d pay…seriously. […]
Let’s hope no one notices this pay wall here
Given the state of the news industry, what with print on the brink of death and all, we should probably figure out how to make money online. An article appeared on poynter.org last Friday, saying that between five and 15 publishers will soon start restricting website access to customers, integrating Journalism Online‘s paid content model. […]
Investigative news project to launch in Colorado
Denver television station KBDI is launching a non-profit investigative news unit due to the reduction of significant investigative journalism. The operation, called Colorado Public News, will launch online (a beta version is already up) and later expand to a weekly half-hour program. KBDI hasn’t set a target launch date, but it hopes to raise $400,000 to […]
”Weasel words. Pin down your source on this”
The Toronto Star has more than layoff issues these days. This morning an unknown Star editor sent Torontoist a copy edited version of publisher John Cruickshank’s memo, headlined, “Why the Star needs its own editors.” The red pen is merciless, but that the memo fails to follow the Star‘s own style guide—well, maybe the paper […]
Nature of the (media) beast
An RCMP officer’s libel lawsuit against CBC is just one of the unfortunate consequences that come with running a breaking story. Const. Kwesi Millington, the officer whose Taser use led to Robert Dziekanski’s death, claims CBC “defamed him” and caused him “serious embarrassment and distress” with its coverage of the event, according to a story […]
