Blathnaid Healy’s Blog

Boomtown has reported that Guardian News & Media is to announce it has bought Content Next, which owns paidContent.org, later on this morning. As Kara Swisher notes this is quite the new media coup for GNM.

The New York Times’ has reported that The Washington Post has picked Marcus Brauchli, a former top editor at the Wall Street Journal, as its new Executive Editor.

For the NYT article click here

The Washington Post’s press release (including Brauchli’s biog) click here

Yesterday it was announced the LA Times is to cut 250, the majority of these are editorial positions.

Today, AFP reported that the newspaper’s editor, Russ Stanton said the cuts reflected the paradox of the Internet revolution.

AFP reported that the Stanton memo said:

Thanks to the Internet, we have more readers for our great journalism than at any time in our history. But also thanks to the Internet, our advertisers have more choices, and we have less money.

Read the full story here

Via journalism.co.uk

Hyperlocal news mapping website Everyblock has announced that it is launching in Charlotte, North Carolina and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Charlotte map will include library information, updating listings with new titles available locally and chart all local 911 calls to the police and ‘significant police events’ in the city.

The location of series crimes will charted on the Philadelphia map along with areas mentioned by the local authority’s Streets and Services agenda bodies.

Everyblock also has maps for Chicago, San Francisco and New York.

I wish this service had existed when I spent my first summer in Chicago back in 2000! I hope the current crop of J1 students heading stateside this year have found it.

And you can see it here.

As I said, thoughts on this will follow later.

From Monday The Irish Times’ website will be free to access, according to an article on page three of today’s newspaper written by the Editor Geraldine Kennedy.

The site is moving to irishtimes.com and ireland.com will become a separate, commercial site.

The new site will offer ‘richer content in the form of pictures, graphics, audio and video’. The article also talks about developing many multimedia features.

People who are paid-up subscribers to the site will get a full refund, or as Ms Kennedy notes could instead become members of the new Irish Times Crossword Club. In fact they can try out the new club before making a decision. Although with this economic downturn upon us I can imagine what most will do…cash is king after all!

You can read the story online here, I’d have put it up earlier but couldn’t find it free-to-view at first.

Going to digest this story a little this morning and write more on what they plan for their new website later on.

Publishing its new pricing structure this week, the Associated Press has been criticised by some of its newspaper members, David Kaplan writes over on paidContent.org.

Having concluded a drawn-out battle between the AP and member papers over next year’s change in fee structure, a handful of newspapers are expressing betrayal at the AP’s increased interest in cultivating Yahoo and Google —for an entity that was started 162 years ago by a band of New York newspapers—some members are acting like they’ve suddenly been disowned by the family patriarch.

Newspapers used to make up half of the AP’s members, but now they’re at 27% and by next year will drop 2% to a quarter.

The question is how do they keep the old guard happy while pushing ahead with online, which they need to do to survive?

I’ll have to ponder that one over the weekend!

Here’s the beta version of the website

The site offers users a ’story tracker’ and ‘chose your own news’ function!

It is already an improvement from the current site, but the heavy use of black, red and yellow is still too brash.

I think in general news website design is a bit more difficult for broadcasters. After all website design isn’t exactly a million miles ways away from newspaper design. But I do think broadcasters are in a better position when it comes to content.

The BBC has announced plans today to spend £68m on its network of local video news websites. The corporation already has a network of local news sites, but the new proposal would allow for an expansion to 65 websites and a broader range of content. The news sites would provide up to ten video stories each day.

More on this from paidContent.org

However there may be a hiccup or two along the way. According to telegraph.co.uk Britain’s telecoms regulator Ofcom will be looking over the plan after complaints from local newspapers that licence-fee payers’ money would be used to duplicate a service already provided by local newspapers.

Here’s what the Guardian printed on the front page of today’s newspaper about Dunnes Stores:

The Guardian and Observer are no longer available for sale in Dunnes Stores following a dispute over commercial terms. Dunnes Store are refusing to stock both titles after Guardian News & Media rejected demands for new commercial terms over and above those agreed with all other retailers in Ireland. The Guardian and Observer will continue to be available at all other outlets.