March 2009

Aggregation Forces Journalistic Evolution

Most of the many, many sites aggregating other people's content can't deliver much traffic, and some don't even try. What's more, a vast swath of readers couldn't care less about anything deeper than a headline [are you calling headlines shallow?], which is a problem for the nation's beleaguered journalistic institutions as they try to find a sustainable model for newsgathering on the web. The old model was supported by the newspaper's near-monopoly on local advertising and its ability to package all of its stories in a print product -- whether they were wanted or not. On the web, readers won't even "pay" for the content by clicking through to a free, theoretically ad-supported site. And the slump in online display advertising isn't helping.

Online Journalists Optimistic About Revenue and Technology, Concerned About Changing Values

Journalists who work online are more optimistic about the future of their profession than are news people tied to more traditional media platforms, but at best their optimism is an uneasy one. These online news people also believe that the Internet is changing the fundamental values of journalism—and more often than not for the worse. They are worried about declining accuracy, in part due to the emphasis online that news organizations are putting on speed and breaking news. But not all of the changes were considered worrisome. Some journalists praised the growing diversity of voices, the potential of technology, and in some cases, even the move toward more overtly ideological points of view at news sites.

A philanthropic push to rescue San Francisco Chronicle

Amid growing community concern over the future of The Chronicle, San Francisco financier Warren Hellman gathered a group of local powerbrokers this week, including Mayor Gavin Newsom, to discuss the idea of restructuring the newspaper as a primarily philanthropic venture. Any changes to the paper would require the involvement of the owner, Hearst Corp, which hasn't indicated any interest. Among ideas floated at the meeting were converting the newspaper into a nonprofit or into what's known as an L3C, a low-profit limited liability company whose main role is helping society rather than making money, according to several attendees. There also was some talk of using existing newsroom staff and resources to form a separate, nonprofit online media operation covering the area.

Ethnic press stung by recession, advertising drop

The sinking economy is threatening the ethnic publications that immigrant communities rely upon to stay informed and navigate American life. Although the ethnic press once seemed immune to the forces hurting mainstream newspapers across the country, a growing number of publications that serve immigrant and minority communities are laying off staff, closing print editions or shutting down altogether. Unlike mainstream newspapers, which have seen circulation decline over the decades, most ethnic publications have been retaining or expanding their print readership base, thanks to the growth of immigrant populations with strong newspaper reading habits. But a severe recession has led to a steep drop in advertising from small businesses, including many owned by immigrants, that have come to rely on the ethnic press to reach these communities. As a result, ethnic or racial groups in some communities might lose the only media organizations that cover issues important to them, and businesses and government agencies will have more trouble reaching groups that speak little or no English.

Tribune merges Hartford paper, TV stations

Tribune Co., the newspaper publisher and television station owner operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, said Monday that it has combined a newspaper and two TV operations in Hartford, Connecticut in a bid to become more efficient and cut costs. The move puts the operations of The Hartford Courant and WTIC-TV and WTXX-TV in Hartford under one roof, an unusual pairing, and places a TV executive in charge of both. The company said Monday that Richard Graziano, the general manager of the two TV stations, will become the publisher of Courant. He replaces Steve Carver who has been publisher of the Pulitzer Prize-winning paper since November 2006. The Courant is the nation's oldest continuously published newspaper with a weekday circulation of about 165,000 and Sundays at 235,000. The TV stations, the only two local stations in Hartford, will broadcast news from a new studio to be constructed in the paper's newsroom.

Dialing Down Faith in Wireless

Stocks of both AT&T and Verizon have outperformed the broader market in recent months. Investors are betting that growth in wireless offsets the continuing secular decline of the wireline businesses. That's always been a risky play, given near-saturation of the wireless market combined with the recession-time appeal of cut-price deals introduced by rivals like Sprint. Now comes a sign that the downturn may be biting. A mostly positive report from J.P. Morgan Thursday, based on investor meetings with AT&T management, noted that AT&T had "seen some subscribers pricing down plans" in wireless. The report also added that "data growth has more than offset macro pressures." Data revenue increases have long offset weakness in wireless voice. (3/26)

Credit crunch impairs theaters' digital vision

Even as the recession has caused a spike in theater attendance, a fear that more moviegoers are passing on $5 tubs of popcorn and sodas is just one of several concerns on exhibitors' minds as they flock to their annual ShoWest confab in Las Vegas this week. Overall, the exhibition business, despite years of predictions of doom, is doing just fine. Ticket sales rose 13.1% in January and February compared with last year, and North American box office receipts hit a record $9.8 billion last year, up 1.5% from 2007, according to the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO). But these bullish numbers obscure some ominous signs. Admissions -- the number of tickets sold -- declined 2.5% in 2008, and ticket prices last year shot up from $6.88 in 2007 to $7.18. At the same time, conversions of theaters to digital and 3-D projection -- which many believe represents the future of the exhibition business -- have slowed due to the recession.

Report says online crime surging in recession

The Internet Fraud Complaint Center, run by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National White Collar Crime Center, reports that fraud on the Internet reported to US authorities increased by 33 percent last year, rising for the first time in three years, and is surging this year as the recession deepens. Internet fraud losses reported in the United States reached a record high $264.6 million in 2008. Online scams originating from across the globe -- mostly from the United States, Canada, Britain, Nigeria and China -- are gathering steam this year with a nearly 50 percent increase in complaints reported to U.S. authorities in March alone.

Groups say stimulus lobbying rules are too strict

Two prominent watchdog groups are joining with a lobbyists trade association in asking the Obama administration to rescind lobbying restrictions surrounding stimulus funds. On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and the American League of Lobbyists will release a letter they are sending to White House Counsel Gregory Craig asking him to rewrite new rules for the stimulus package. The Administration's rules, adopted March 20, say "An executive department or agency official shall not consider the view of a lobbyist ... concerning particular projects, applications, or applicants for funding under the Recovery Act unless such views are in writing." Lobbyists contends the new rules are far too restrictive and may impinge on their First Amendment right to petition their government.

'ER' calls its time of death

After 15 seasons, "ER" will leave behind a splintered prime-time landscape as the networks struggle to compete in a digital world. "ER's" life span has coincided with a deep commercial and cultural decline for the broadcast networks. Cable outlets stole market share and media attention with gritty dramas such as "The Sopranos" and "The Shield." Increasing numbers of viewers are watching programming on the Internet or on a time-delayed basis using digital video recorders. Pressured by low ratings and rising production costs, broadcasters are turning to relatively inexpensive reality series and talk shows. Next season, in a dramatic symbol of the networks' ebbing fortunes, "ER's" slot -- where it had the longest reign in the same one-hour time period of any scripted drama in network history -- will be occupied by Jay Leno's Monday-to-Friday talk show. Leno's program is reportedly expected to cost less than $2 million for a week's worth of shows; for this season, NBC has paid Warner Bros. Television, the studio that produces "ER," an estimated license fee that is nearly twice that figure for each episode of the hospital drama.

Benton

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