Media News

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The Daily Mail's Online Miracle: Or How To Get Paid Without A Paywall (Guardian)
There is no rule that says online papers must play print's little brother. On the contrary, the most successful ones are more like inspired riffs on a print theme. Nor is there a rule that says big print sellers carry the same clout when they transfer to screen. The online market, like the print market, is beginning to set different rules for itself, to insist that quality and redtop and celeb can define different pitches (and appeals to advertisers) just as they do in the land of dead forests. Beehive City: How's The Times/Sunday Times paywall doing? Here's the sign-up data: Number of people registering for The Times and Sunday Times websites during the free trial period: 150,000. Number of people actually agreeing to pay money: 15,000

In A World Of Online News, Burnout Starts Younger (NYT)
Young journalists who once dreamed of trotting the globe in pursuit of a story are instead shackled to their computers, where they try to eke out a fresh thought or be first to report even the smallest nugget of news -- anything that will impress Google algorithms and draw readers their way. Tracking how many people view articles, and then rewarding -- or shaming -- writers based on those results has become increasingly common in old and new media newsrooms.

Why Web Host Shut Down 73,000 Blogs A Mystery (CNET)
Blogetery.com, a little-known WordPress platform used by more than 70,000 blogs, was shut down by its Web hosting company more than a week ago, and nobody seems willing to say why or who is responsible. BurstNet, the Web-hosting company, informed Blogetery's operator that service was terminated at the request of some law enforcement agency but wouldn't say which one. In an email to Blogetery's operator, BurstNet managers did say that they had little choice but to terminate service.

E! Co-founder Launches Celebrity Website (THR)
The co-founder of E! is launching a celebrity-focused online network complete with several programs in the hope of establishing a new brand in the entertainment programming space. Alan Mruvka created E! (then called Movietime) 23 years ago with Larry Namer. Last week, he returned to his roots with the launch of the Look, a new site at thelooktv.com that aims to blend fashion and celebrity programming with an e-commerce sales site.

Online, A Journalist Adds A Business Role (NYT / Media Decoder)
Kelly Wallace's move from television to the Internet embodies the lingering differences between the forms. Wallace spent a decade in front of the camera as a reporter and anchor at CBS and CNN. Then she got the online itch, and this month she joined iVillage with a fancy title, "chief digital correspondent," but a mandate to do much more than that. The dual appointments reflect the fact that some journalists, especially at Internet properties, are creeping closer to the business side.

Nielsen: This Isn't Your Grandfather's Baby Boomer (AdAge)
Get ready: Nielsen is once again trying to challenge one of the industry's oldest chestnuts -- that consumers over 50 aren't worth the expense to target. The measurement-and-data giant is out to prove that it is advertisers' continued focus on younger customers that's out of date, thanks to a massive and aging population of baby boomers as well as changes in consumers' lifestyle sparked by new technology.

Gannett Does Ad Deal With Yahoo (Mediaweek)
Gannett has agreed to sell Yahoo advertising inventory and provide content as part of a partnership between the two companies. The deal covers all of Gannett's 81 local publishing organizations and several of its broadcast TV websites. With Yahoo, Gannett, which plans to use the targeting and ad ordering capabilities of the APT platform from Yahoo for local sales, said its local market digital reach would be as high as 80 percent.

AASFE Announces Top 15 Best Section Contest Winners (AASFE)
Here are the "Best Sections" winners as determined by The American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors: Division 3 (more than 200,000 circulation): Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News, LA Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer, and Washington Post. Division 2 (90,001-199,999 circulation): Austin American-Statesman, Baltimore Sun, Charlotte Observer, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Raleigh News & Observer. Division 1 (Up to 90,000 circulation): Maine Sunday Telegram, (Springdale, Arkansas) Morning News, (Appleton, Wisconsin) Post-Crescent, (Wilmington, North Carolina) Star News, Albany Times Union.

Las Vegas Papers Take Sides On Harry Reid-Sharron Angle Race (LA Times)
Las Vegas has been known for decades for its bare-knuckle, partisan press wars. But even longtime Nevadans have been chagrined by the inchoate fury that the local newspapers, particularly the Review-Journal, have focused on campaign 2010. While the conservative R-J crusades to take down its bete noire, its rival, the liberal Las Vegas Sun persistently finds bright spots for Harry Reid, a Senate leader who has long since worn out his welcome with most of the state's voters.

CBS Radio Launches New Online Player (Mediaweek)
CBS Radio launched a new online radio player, a central website that consolidates all the company's 130 radio station streams, Last.fm, and hundreds of additional streams from CBS' partners, all in one place. The site, located at www.radio.com, offers users more features and advertisers more placement opportunities. Among the features on the site are: currently playing information, song history, station and genre searches, presets, blogs, news feeds and social media tools.

Former CBS Newsman David Dick Dies At 80 (TVNewser)
Former CBS News correspondent and bureau chief David Dick died last week of cancer at his home in his native Kentucky. He was 80. Dick worked at CBS from 1966 to 1985, winning an Emmy for his coverage of the assassination attempt on then-presidential candidate George Wallace. Dick also served as South American bureau chief from 1978-1979. After his years at CBS, Dick went on to become director of the University of Kentucky's school of journalism.

Up-And-Coming Conservative Candidates Shy Away From Media Analysis (WaPo)
Some Republicans running for various offices, such as Senate candidates Sharron Angle and Rand Paul, are convinced that the media "have it in for them." These candidates, notes Howard Kurtz, "seem to regard it as an affront when reporters challenge them on their past statements and inconsistencies, which is a basic function of journalism." As a result, they are avoiding or limiting interviews with all but the friendliest faces as a way of circumventing the press.

Zero Tolerance For Latency (Monday Note)
The big battle of the coming years will be a battle for time. For media-related software or for Web design, the fight will be for customers' or readers' attention, the challenge will be to prevent them from fleeing elsewhere and to give them more in less time. Consumers' tolerance to latency is closing down to zero. They want ultra-fast boot time, quick network access, fast pages display or download. Sadly, this issue that has yet to percolate to the surface of news media industry consciousness.

Gene Weingarten Column Mentions Lady Gaga (And SEO-Friendliness) (WaPo)
"Newspapers still have headlines, of course," writes Gene Weingarten, "but they don't seem to strive for greatness or to risk flopping anymore, because editors know that when the stories arrive on the Web, even the best headlines will be changed to something dull but utilitarian. That's because, on the web, headlines aren't designed to catch readers' eyes." He adds that, when his article is published, its headline will likely be edited to "Gene Weingarten Column Mentions Lady Gaga."

News Analysis: The Instant Recipe For A Magazine's Success (TMM)
Pepsi, Kraft, and American Express are all publishers of sorts these days. But that's not really what they do. So professional publishers like Hearst and Meredith are thinking of ways to sell their services to them, making them two companies out there that are currently hot on the trail of merging media and marketing.