tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9604174Sat, 04 Apr 2026 09:27:20 +0000Musings (and occasional urgent warnings) of a veteran media executive, who fears our news-gathering companies are stumbling to extinctionhttp://newsosaur.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Newsosaur)Blogger906125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9604174.post-1596881868945017166Fri, 04 Mar 2016 13:00:00 +00002016-03-04T05:00:25.796-08:00 On March 4, 1978, the presses fell silent for the last time at the Chicago Daily News, an iconic and crusading newspaper that was unable to adapt to changing times. The following article, which originally appeared here in 2005, is reprinted as a reminder of what happens when a paper runs out of readers, revenues and ideas. "It's fun being the publisher when things are going well," squeaked the http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2016/03/so-long-again-chicago-daily-news.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Newsosaur)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9604174.post-3285375416355692882Tue, 16 Feb 2016 12:00:00 +00002016-02-16T04:00:02.467-08:00 Publishers and advertisers have only themselves to blame for the revenue erosion caused by the rise of ad-blocking software. Now, it is up to them to solve the problem.  That’s the bracing conclusion of a new white paper from the International News Media Association that is being released today.  The paper was written by Johnny Ryan of Page Fair, an Irish company that advises http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2016/02/how-publishers-can-fight-ad-blocking.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Newsosaur)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9604174.post-6112847305131606624Thu, 10 Dec 2015 13:00:00 +00002015-12-10T07:50:47.842-08:00 The newspaper publishers who put paywalls on their websites in the last few years should declare victory and tear them down before the barriers become more trouble than they are worth.  It’s true that paywalls slightly ameliorated the 40% dive in the industry’s aggregate revenues in the last decade. But the continued use of pay systems is bound to limit audience growth at a time when fullyhttp://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2015/12/tear-down-those-paywalls.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Newsosaur)9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9604174.post-8336556436298885424Thu, 12 Nov 2015 13:00:00 +00002015-11-12T09:38:35.142-08:00 The number of consumers actively blocking digital advertising has grown dramatically in the last five years, posing a difficult and daunting challenge to publishers across the web. Now, new developments may accelerate the troublesome trend.  Between 2010 and the first half of this year, the number of global consumers installing ad-blocking technology on their browsers grew by nearly http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2015/11/ad-block-surge-challenges-digital.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Newsosaur)7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9604174.post-7483664469507161215Wed, 14 Oct 2015 12:00:00 +00002015-10-15T06:19:28.969-07:00 Newspapers are so bad at digital publishing that they should just give up and focus on print.  That’s the bracing thesis of a recently published mini-book from journalism professor H. Iris Chyi of the University of Texas, who likens what she calls the “inferior quality” of online newspaper offerings to the desiccated ramen noodles that constitute the primary food group for many a starving http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2015/10/should-newspapers-abandon-digital.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Newsosaur)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9604174.post-4118799111210400964Thu, 10 Sep 2015 12:00:00 +00002015-09-10T06:56:43.970-07:00 With Apple, Facebook and Google promoting powerful news-delivery platforms, the best days may be in the rearview mirror for the dedicated news apps produced by media companies and a host of independent players.  Leveraging their enormous audiences, vast troves of user data and state-of-the-art targeting algorithms, the Silicon Valley behemoths have created master applications to deliver http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2015/09/apple-google-and-facebook-zero-in-on.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Newsosaur)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9604174.post-8686661683101843908Wed, 12 Aug 2015 12:00:00 +00002015-08-13T06:50:52.433-07:00 There are few industries where mobile is having as big an impact as the disruption it is bringing to retailing. This should make publishers nervous. Very nervous.  Though the rising popularity of mobile commerce may be great for consumers and could be pretty good for merchants, the phenomenon poses a sharp challenge to newspaper publishers, who rely on retailers to generate half of the http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2015/08/retail-ad-spending-is-speeding-to-mobile.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Newsosaur)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9604174.post-7405929906387385443Tue, 14 Jul 2015 12:00:00 +00002015-07-14T05:00:02.661-07:00The smartwatch market is so small that it only took a day or two for the Apple Watch to emerge as the biggest selling techno-timepiece in history.  Now that it has been a while since the world’s most expensive Mickey Mouse watch has been glitzing the wrists of a few million early adopters (Apple coyly won't say how many), it’s time to ask what the thing is good for, anyway.  The http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2015/07/what-good-is-apple-watch-anyway.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Newsosaur)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9604174.post-4197061596329484813Thu, 11 Jun 2015 17:02:00 +00002015-06-11T15:07:22.755-07:00Any day now, we will cross another technological tipping point, as the majority of digital advertising purchases moves to mobile devices from desktops and laptops.  The shift could happen before the end of this year or early in 2016, according to a variety of industry prognosticators. Either way, the move will be profound in the coming years, with eMarketer forecasting that mobile http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2015/06/mobile-moves-to-digital-ad-domination.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Newsosaur)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9604174.post-7168282419433604585Thu, 04 Jun 2015 21:29:00 +00002015-06-04T14:29:06.159-07:00 In 2009, David Boraks wrote an inspiring guest post here about the launch of his hyper-local news site in Davidson County, NC. Last week, he reluctantly shut it down, saying, “Alas, we haven’t turned it into a sustainable business.” He is far from alone. One of every four news startups has failed, according to a survey I conducted of the 141 ventures listed in an online directory published by http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2015/06/1-of-4-news-start-ups-flamed-out.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Newsosaur)10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9604174.post-6277922275839593406Thu, 14 May 2015 11:00:00 +00002015-05-14T12:52:05.596-07:00 The natural order of the universe was disrupted yesterday when BuzzFeed, NBC News, the New York Times and a number of other prominent media companies shockingly ceded to Facebook the marketing and monetization of portions of their valuable content.  The move, which represents a further step in the transfer of power from the media tribe to the technology tribe, means that some of the http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2015/05/why-publishers-had-to-partner-with.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Newsosaur)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9604174.post-1277130674090393370Wed, 13 May 2015 12:00:00 +00002015-05-14T00:27:09.914-07:00 The pending purchase of the San Diego U-T by the Los Angeles Times represents a synergy not of strength but of tsoris.   Tsoris, for the uninitiated, is the Yiddish word for trouble. And woe – unlike readership and revenues – has been plentiful at both of these newspapers in the last decade.   As illustrated in the graphic below, the upcoming merger combines a faltering pair of http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-lat-and-u-t-merger-double-trouble.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Newsosaur)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9604174.post-7376663455918109818Tue, 12 May 2015 11:10:00 +00002015-05-12T04:10:49.462-07:00 As if the web, mobile and social media were not enough to worry about, four new digital platforms are emerging to challenge the legacy publishers and broadcasters struggling to preserve the audiences and ad dollars that made them mighty.  To dispense with any further suspense, the emerging technologies are Next-Gen Messaging Platforms, Wearable Technology, the Internet of Things and http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2015/05/4-new-media-platforms-demanding.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Newsosaur)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9604174.post-4290747113430151623Mon, 11 May 2015 11:00:00 +00002015-05-11T05:33:06.043-07:00 Tattoos, tight jeans and three-day beards are “in,” while meaningless page clicks, paywalls and backfill banner ads are “out.”  That's the state of the art among the hustling, bustling start-up companies who are innovating the new business models for digital publishing in New York.  In a two-day tour that I organized last week for 50 senior global media executives on http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2015/05/made-in-nyc-new-business-models-for-new.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Newsosaur)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9604174.post-5558655366937397636Tue, 14 Apr 2015 12:00:00 +00002015-04-29T12:26:38.129-07:00 Ever since legacy publishers and broadcasters got serious about selling interactive advertising, they have struggled with how to do it.  Should veteran ad representatives be cross-trained to sell portfolios of traditional and digital advertising? This came to be known as the two-leg sales call. Should specially trained digital ad specialists accompany legacy reps on four-leg sales http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2015/04/no-hands-ad-sales-challenge-legacy-media.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Newsosaur)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9604174.post-7725633686253441666Wed, 11 Mar 2015 12:00:00 +00002015-05-13T14:54:44.540-07:00 Now that most newspapers have been in the digital publishing business for the better part of two decades, it’s time for editors and publishers to pay attention to where their wired readers actually come from. And it’s not the front pages that editors lovingly tend on their websites and mobile apps.   While research over the years consistently shows that about a third of the visitors at http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2015/03/how-to-capture-fly-by-digital-visitors.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Newsosaur)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9604174.post-9057174063042040645Wed, 04 Mar 2015 13:00:00 +00002015-03-05T12:22:45.298-08:00 On March 4, 1978, the presses fell silent for the last time at the Chicago Daily News, an iconic and crusading newspaper that was unable to adapt to changing times. The following article, which originally appeared here in 2005, is reprinted as a reminder of what happens when a paper runs out of readers, revenues and ideas. "It's fun being the publisher when things are going well," squeaked http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2015/03/so-long-again-chicago-daily-news.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Newsosaur)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9604174.post-3883288833953644170Fri, 13 Feb 2015 07:10:00 +00002015-02-13T00:38:40.604-08:00 With the rules of journalism and the media business evolving at Internet speed, David Carr was a savvy, centered and sensitive commentator who teased the facts from the frenzy with warmth, wit and faultless prose.  He departed the madcap media beat prematurely when he died tonight at the tender age of 58, collapsing in the newsroom of New York Times. I am sure he was in no hurry to leavehttp://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2015/02/well-miss-david-carr-more-than-we-know.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Newsosaur)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9604174.post-6894779105335919177Thu, 12 Feb 2015 13:00:00 +00002015-02-12T10:55:21.719-08:00Our imaginative friends in the technology industry intend to make computing simpler and arguably more satisfying by making it more intuitive than ever. Here’s how:  They will saturate our environment with vast arrays of computers and Internet-enabled sensors that will put all but the most technologically isolated individuals in a crossfire of constant monitoring, constant profiling, http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2015/02/welcome-to-everyware-computing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Newsosaur)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9604174.post-8983799329867620001Tue, 13 Jan 2015 13:00:00 +00002015-01-13T09:01:15.528-08:00If you compare the modest amount of time that consumers read newspapers with the billions in advertising dollars spent on the medium, you will see that newspapers long have captured far more than their fair share of the advertising pie. But this could begin unraveling with a vengeance in 2015, as mobile advertising surges to record levels.  As discussed in a moment, mobile advertising http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2015/01/historic-mobile-ad-surge-threatens-print.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Newsosaur)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9604174.post-5910022636420016352Wed, 07 Jan 2015 19:10:00 +00002015-01-07T11:11:19.693-08:00 There are no words... http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2015/01/jesuischarlie.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Newsosaur)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9604174.post-5788045147606733911Mon, 15 Dec 2014 13:00:00 +00002014-12-15T05:00:07.340-08:00Applications are being accepted through Jan. 5 for a unique program providing mid-career journalists from outside the U.S. with an opportunity to pursue advanced professional training and academic study at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley. In the non-degree Visiting Scholar program, participants can audit courses offered at the journalism school and http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2014/12/uc-berkeley-seeks-international.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Newsosaur)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9604174.post-925265311049011948Thu, 11 Dec 2014 13:00:00 +00002015-03-05T12:23:15.261-08:00 American publishers and editors have only themselves to blame for failing to connect with the Millennial generation that they – and most of their advertisers – covet the most.  The inability of newspapers to resonate with digital natives has left them with a daunting demographic challenge. Two-thirds of the audience at the typical newspaper is composed of people over the age of 55, http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2014/12/how-newspapers-lost-millenials.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Newsosaur)11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9604174.post-4672181757991377389Fri, 05 Dec 2014 15:30:00 +00002014-12-10T10:05:55.596-08:00 USA Weekend, the second-largest Sunday newspaper magazine in the United States, will print its final edition on Dec. 28, succumbing to soaring distribution costs and plunging advertising.   The circulation of the Sunday supplement, which was stuffed into newspapers delivered to as many as 70 million homes a few years back, has fallen today to about 18 million, according to a knowledgeable http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2014/12/usa-weekend-shuts-as-costs-spike-and.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Newsosaur)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9604174.post-2137825882344303714Thu, 20 Nov 2014 14:30:00 +00002014-11-20T06:38:17.624-08:00 More than three-quarters of the global classified marketplace formerly dominated by print has moved to the digital media, according to an ambitious new study from a consulting firm.  In the first known effort to produce a bottoms-up estimate of the scope of the global classified business, the Advanced Interactive Media Group said the digital media are capturing $56.8 billion of the $92.1 http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2014/11/digital-nabs-77-of-classified-sales.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Newsosaur)1