Americans Less Willing to Pay for Online News
An article in today’s New York Times shows that Americans are less likely to pay for their online news, as opposed to other countries in the world.
A study done by the Boston Consulting Group showed that less than half (48 percent) of people in the country would pay for their online news, with many said the most they would pay a month is $3.
America was tied with England for the lowest percentage. Some Western European countries got as high as 60 percent of people wiling to pay for their online news, with Italians saying they would pay as much as $7 a month.
This isn’t a good sign for the industry. People have to start being willing to pay for the online content they receive. It is essential for the industry to survive. News is moving solely online, and people have to be willing to shell some cash out to make it work.
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/16/business/media/16paywall.html?ref=media
Where Do I Fit Into Journalism?
Although I’m not graduating this May (I’ll be out next December), the thought of venturing out into the unknown job market is a bit scary for me. At this point in time, finding a job anywhere is a difficult task, but finding one in the journalism industry is even more frightening.
For some reason, I still hope to find a job at a daily print newspaper. There is something about working for a print paper that has for whatever reason always appealed to me.
I hope to find a position writing in the sports section. I still feel that there is a place for a sports section in any paper. Although it is not as important as the rest of the sections, I feel that it has the largest amounts of readers. People still love to sit down and read about the game from the night before, or what the team plans on doing in the days that follow.
Farnham and Rosenblum Points
Listening to Michael Rosenblum was by far the most entertaining guest speaker I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to. Although I personally thought that the idea of newspapers being completely dead 2-5 years from now. Although I do see no newspapers years from now, that is too small of a time period for me.
The other point I really liked was him telling us that we can’t just be employees anymore. Rather, we should be the employer. We need to go out and create our own product, and market it ourselves, and then sell it for a lot of money, and move onto the next venture.
Although not as entertaining, Brian Farnham was extremely informative. He broke down the goals Patch.com has in moving forward, such as hiring more writers and expanding into more towns.
I personally think a site like that is great. I believe very hyper-local journalism is the future. People in small towns want to know what is going on in there town, aside from larger papers covering the murder or other crime.
GE and Comcast have agreed on a price
GE and Comcast have finally reached a sale price for GE’s stake in NBC. That price is $30B, and would give Comcast a 51 percent majority ownership of NBC.
There is still one problem standing in Comcast’s way: Vivendi. The French entertainment company owns 20 percent of NBC Universal, and they have still not given Comcast a price for them to purchase it.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/innovationNews/idUSTRE5A801F20091109
New Paper Starts in Portugal
A new paper has just formed in Portugal, and it’s called ‘i,’ for information.
The unique aspect of this paper is that it is designed like a magazine. Instead of boring front pages filled with stories and text, the paper has a cover resembling a magazine cover. Furthermore, each issue is the size of a magazine, with the pages stapled in the middle like a magazine.
Also unlike other more traditional papers, each issue starts with op-ed pieces, which are usually saved for the end of the paper. They are followed by a mix of all types of news stories, not really in any order.
The final section is called ‘more,’ which groups entertainment, sports and the arts all together.
It’s circulation numbers are some of the highest in the country.
I think this is a great idea. If people aren’t buying newspaper, why not disguise it as a magazine? It catches the eye more than a black and white newspaper, and that is what the consumer is looking for.
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/business/media/09iht-paper.html?_r=1&ref=media
Questions for Brian Farnham
1. What was your inspiration for creating a site like Patch.com?
2. How do you choose what towns get covered?
3. Was there any doubt from other people about your idea?
Michael Rosenblum Questions
1. With the state of journalism the way it is today, had you been born in our generation, would you have thought twice about getting into this industry?
2. Do you think there is any hope that the industry will ever go back to the days of being prosperous?
3. What do you think television can do to save themselves from going down the same path that print journalism has gone down?
4. Why do you feel the answer to a new business model will come from people not really associated with major publications?
Bloomberg Website May Charge for Content
In a meeting yesterday at Bloomberg News, employees learned that plans for charging to access Bloomberg.com are in the works. The price is said to be around $1000/year for certain stories.
The Web site is currently free, but only gives certain access to non-paid subscribers. This is an attempt to expand the companies business. The charges would begin sometime next year.
Bloomberg is following a growing trend of news organizations that have begun to charge for their online content, with most recently, Newsday charging for Web site access.
Part of me is happy to see these Web sites charging for their content, because hopefully people start to pay and it can save the industry. On the other hand, this is just another Web site that many people who cannot afford those fees (myself included) have lost access to.
Link: http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748703294004574514140239380158-lMyQjAxMDA5MDAwNDEwNDQyWj.html
Comcast Close to Buying NBC Universal
In an article in today’s New York Times, Comcast is very close to buying G.E.’s stock in NBC Universal, with an announcement being made as early as next week.
G.E. would be left with 49 percent of the company, but would sell it later on. The only problem standing in Comcast’s way is French entertainment group Vivendi, which owns about 20 percent. They are in talks now trying to determine the value of their ownership.
News Corp. was said to be in the hunt to buy NBC, but it is believed that at this stage in the negotiations, Comcast is the only player.
I’m not really sure what I think of this move. I don’t like seeing a company as big as Comcast buy up another large entity like NBC, but at the same time, I would hate to see Murdoch and News Corp. buy the company, and destroy it.
Washington Post Sees Profit Rise
The Washington Post saw their profit rise 69 per cent from quarter three of 2008. They earned $17.1M on $1.14 B in revenue from July to September.
Unfortunately, the Post’s newspaper division lost $23.6M, for a total of $166M thus far in 2009.
This is more bad news for the newspaper industry. Although it is positive that the Post company was able to turn a profit, to learn that the newspaper department lost money is very disheartening. It just shows that a new business model has to be created to keep papers alive.
