News

Reuters today launched a new video service that features an "advertising-based revenue share model."

Working with News Distribution Network, Reuters will use its editorial assets to produce video content in a lot of different areas -- from news and business to sports and entertainment. The video content will then be distributed to newspapers, magazines and radio outlets, who will also get access to NDN's new distribution model. Explains Reuters:

"NDN's state-of-the-art content distribution platform goes beyond the traditional licensing agreement to offer flexible advertising capabilities, which enable participants to share in and contribute to network revenues. The network also provides sophisticated video metric capabilities to support audience and advertising performance analytics."

So, in using Reuters' video content, news outlets are getting more than just videos -- they'll be making some money off of it, too. "We believe this strategic relationship is a critical step toward bringing online publishers, the content and services needed to revolutionize their product offering," said Greg Peters, NDN's CEO.

How long until other news outlets start launching similar content sharing models?

Full release after the jump

continued...

Stars and Stripes, the official newspaper of the United States Army, has finally reached Haiti almost two weeks after American troop deployment to the country.

With basic necessities such as food and water scarce in the region, information networks are even harder to come by, as editorial director Terry Leonard told The New York Times yesterday, "part of what complicates this is there's no advanced planning." By sending a small dispatch to the island nation (800 to 1,000 copies to start), the paper understands both the importance of the armed forces' reliance on news, as well as the reality that they will never get priority delivery on the flights going into the country.

"We recognize that in the opening days of a crisis of this magnitude, they're not going to substitute blood plasma and food and water with newspapers," said Leonard.

Though Stars and Stripes falls under the umbrella of the Department of Defense, it is editorially independent.

Read More: Haiti Added to 'Most Dangerous Paper Routes in the World' --New York Times

Yesterday we reported that a Delaware court had ruled that Tribune Co. would be allowed to dole out $45 million in executive bonuses during a year when the company was mired in bankruptcy.

Obviously this has ruffled the feathers of not only Tribune employees, many of whom took the brunt of the revenue shortage, but of the Newspaper Guild-Communications Workers of America, which represents the company's staffers. The union put out a statement about the court's decision yesterday, saying they were "disappointed."

"Although Tribune says its executives wouldn't be motivated to work hard without bonuses, we think more highly of our bosses," the guild said.

After the jump, the guild's full statement.

continued...

Two weeks ago, Rupert Murdoch's The Times and The Sun threatened legal action against U.K. aggregator NewsNow.co.uk for ripping off its content for its scrolling chyrons. Then again, Murdoch is going after everyone these days to take down feeds from his papers (see: Google).

But now The Mirror, a British paper not owned by News International, is following suit and demanding that their content be taken down from the British site, which voluntarily switches on and off from several major newspapers, reprinting their content. Says Mirror digital director Matt Kelly, "We're not big fans of their business model."

First pay walls, and now going after aggregators...as much as media critics love to decry Murdoch's methods, they very often fall into line with them eventually.

Read More: Mirror.co.uk Follows News Int. In Blocking NewsNow --PaidContent

Previously: Murdoch Pulls British Papers From Aggregator

The New York Times announcement yesterday about plans to launch a pay wall model on its Web site next year, wasn't just a big story for the media -- it was also a big story for New York City.

Appropriately enough, New York's media was on the case, with NY1 and others reporting the breaking news.

"The New York Times will make you pay," started Keith Kelly's story in The New York Post today, "Times online pinch". "The Times announced yesterday that it will end its free-for-all online service and start charging to read complete articles."

New York-based Henry Blodget, CEO and editor-in-chief of The Business Insider even sounded off, calling it "the right move."

And New York magazine's Daily Intel blog, which first published word of the Times metered pay wall plans, said the announcement had nothing to do with Apple's expected announcement of its new tablet device next week, as rumored. "[D]espite the fevered speculation of just what the Apple device might be, publishers like the Times are taking a revised view about the tablet's potential to reinvent their digital businesses," reporter Gabriel Sherman said.

Sherman also quizzed Rob Grimshaw, of the Financial Times to see what the Times metering system might look like.

Read more: Times online pinch --New York Post

Why the Times Is Wary of an Apple Tablet Deal -- New York magazine

So Blodget, What Do You Think Of This Paywall Decision By The New York Times? --Business Insider

Previously: NYTimes.com Pay Wall: Media CEOs, Editors And Bloggers Weigh In

We've previously discussed the recent proposal that Cablevision has offered Newsday's editorial guild, which includes a 10 percent pay cut across the board, longer work weeks and a number of other unsavory concessions. And while the union has been vocal about its discontent, calling the proposal "horrible and unprecedented," it looked like the staff was being backed into a corner: in March, 250 editorial positions will be up for review, which Cablevision could substantially cut or eliminate altogether if the terms are not met.

Taking an interest in staff plight at Newsday, The International Brotherhood of Teamsters general president James Hoffa told the editorial union, in a memo sent earlier this month, to not give in to the proposal, and that the Long Island paper's staff would have "the full support of the 1.4 million member Teamsters organization in [their] fight."

Newsday's owner's long history with battling driver unions have not made them friends with many Teamsters, and the threat of a larger-scale protest (lead by Jimmy Hoffa's son) may bring Cablevision back to the negotiation table.

Full memo from James Hoffa after the jump.

Update Newsday released a statement to FishbowlNY regarding the union negotiations:

"We worked closely with our union partners to reach an agreement that would help maintain Newsday as a strong and viable company. Newsday is part of an industry that continues to experience significant challenges, which is why this is an important decision to both the union and the future of our business. We are hopeful that this agreement will be ratified in the days ahead."

Previously: Cablevision Proposes Tough Concessions For Newsday Employees

Photo via Teamsters.org

continued...

With all the rescue and relief efforts going towards Haiti over the past week, it's natural to feel a little post-disaster fatigue even without turning on the television to hear the phrase "bottlenecking at Port au Prince" every two seconds.

Luckily, Paste magazine has used its considerable musical resources to gather over 200 recording artists on its "Songs For Haiti" collection, a relief project that is giving 100 percent of its earnings to three different Haiti charities. While bands like Of Montreal, Andrew Bird, and Hanson (Hanson!) contributed unreleased tracks to "Songs For Haiti," you can help by donating your money and receiving the plethora of MP3s. Charity has never sounded so good!

We caught up with Paste publisher Nick Purdy yesterday, and asked him if these musicians were the same ones who donated tracks to Paste last year to help the magazine stay afloat.

"It's the same platform, and a lot of the same artists...but going towards a different goal," Purdy explained. "Like a lot of people, we're just trying to think what we can do, how we can mobilize...Haiti's going to be an issue for awhile."

With that in mind, Purdy and Paste have no definitive end date for their "Songs" project, but hope to raise a couple hundred thousand dollars for the relief effort, which will go to Doctors Without Borders, The Red Cross and Wyclef Jean's Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund.

Full press release below.

Read More: Songs For Haiti --Paste

Previously: Paste Magazine Thrives Through Belt-Tightening

continued...

It would be impossible to touch upon the many ways in which different media outlets are covering the tragedy unfolding in Haiti after this week's earthquake. But while some outlets, like The New York Post, are back to business as usual as the situation in the Caribbean continues to unfold, other outlets are doing excellent, around the clock work and adding innovative social media projects as well.

As the quake rocked Haiti earlier this week, networks and news nets packed up reporters and shipped them to the tiny island nation as quickly as they could. CNN's Anderson Cooper, NBC's Ann Curry and Brian Williams, ABC's Diane Sawyer, CBS's Katie Couric and Fox News' Steve Harrigan and Bill Hemmer were among the reporters on the ground. But not all coverage was equal. Today, James Rainey praised CNN in the Los Angeles Times, while criticizing Fox News for not giving the breaking news more air time:

"CNN's determination to stick with the news stands in stark contrast to its competitors, particularly Fox News, that in prime time have increasingly been committed to building their brands with political commentary over straight reporting."

In newspapers, we've seen some superb coverage from The New York Times, including a large, gut-wrenching photo on today's front page. The paper's Web site is filled with photos and videos from the epicenter of the destruction, and its staff has established a site where people can submit photos of missing loved ones. The Times has also created a Facebook page dedicated to news and information of the earthquake and its recovery.

continued...

According to a December 21 blog post by Talking Biz News, Reuters killed a story last month investigating hedge fund executive Steven Cohen after Cohen complained to top brass at the newswire.

Reuters editor-in-chief David Schlesinger addressed this issue, among others, in a phone call to employees yesterday, the business journalism blog reported:

"It's absolutely true that the fact that someone called [Reuters exec] Devin [Wenig] is why I got involved...Editors make judgments. You might not always agree with those judgments, and that's fine. If you disagree with those judgments, then come to me. Keep it within editorial, and don't go running to a blog."

Employees evidently did not heed Schlesinger's advice as the call was immediately reported back to Talking Biz News, which in turn ran two items on the employees-only phone call.

Read More: Reuters kills hedge fund story after pressure --Talking Biz News

Reuters editor in chief's regular staff call focuses on killed story --Talking Biz News

Reuters editor in chief: We take all complaints seriously --Talking Biz News

Will 2009 be remembered as the year that new media companies, under less duress than traditional print organizations, stopped Scrooging around and started giving back -- or at least encouraged their readers to?

Two months ago, The Huffington Post launched its first charity-oriented vertical site, HuffPost Impact, which celebrated Christmas with its socially-conscious 12 days of Giving. And Tina Brown's Daily Beast heralded its own vertical, Giving Beast, just one week later.

continued...