Newspapers
Reg Chua: 3 Interesting News Sites to Watch
Speaking at the WAN/IFRA Editor’s Forum in Singapore today, along with Reg Chua, editor of Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post.
In his speech Reg highlighted three interesting sites worth checking out for the way they relate to the future of news gathering:
Living Stories: An experimental Google site that aggregates articles around news as it develops, taking in all news from the Washington Post and The New York Times.
Muckety: A site that shows relationships between people and organizations graphically and dynamically
Politifact: A site that fact checks statements by politicians against their performance; what is unique the information is structured in such a way that you can see aggregation of statements and findings over time. A sort report card for politicians. Check out the Obameter!
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Campaign Trail: Airplane Wheel Roulette
Just came across this photo from the 2004 US presidential campaign. I followed Kerry, Cheney and Edwards. In order to inject some fun into the extreme level of travel (sometimes 3 cities in a day) we started a game of Airplane Wheel Roulette.
Here’s how it works: You chalk off the wheel into numbered sections and place your bets. When you land at the next destination, the person who placed their money on the section closest to the wheel shaft wins!
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Marissa Mayer on Google and the Future of Newspapers
While at Le Web last month, I met up with Marissa Mayer backstage, where we chatted about the future of newspapers in the era of Google
Newspapers need to become more “webby” to keep up in an increasingly disrupted news industry, Marissa said.
Consumers demand hyper personalised news streams and digital portability, so newspapers need to change their overall digital strategy. One medium does not transfer directly to another, Marissa said, so the idea of putting traditional articles on the web is simply wrong.
Newspapers should learn from a site like Wikipedia to develop living stories which will allow continuous updating while avoiding repetition and internal search competition. Newspapers have handled the transition fairly well so far, but they still have a long way to go, Marissa said.
Directly addressing the critics of Google who work in newspaper, Marissa said they should not see Google as the enemy but as part of the solution.
True or just Google’s take?
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Lindbergh Flies Alone
Although I now spend my time living and writing about Social Media, when cut my veins still bleed ink. Newspaper ink.
Newspapers are often called the first draft of history, but they also occasionally rise to the quality of poetry.
This is The New York Sun’s editorial on Lindbergh’s remarkable, courageous and foolhardy solo flight across the Atlantic. (This is The Guardian’s coverage at the time, nice article)
Keep in mind that this editorial was written on deadline with the kind of materials that allow for little revision once the hot type is laid down.
My excuse for posting this? I relate to it on a number of levels, not the least of which that I have twice crossed the Atlantic in small vessels. I sailed a boat from North America to Europe with five other people when I was 19. A few years ago two friends and I flew a small aircraft from Paris to North America. (We had only a few hours flying range, which makes for a challenging hop between Iceland and Greenland.)
LINDBERGH FLIES ALONE
Alone?
Is he alone at whose right side rides Courage, with Skill within the cockpit and faith upon the left?
Does solitude surround the brave when Adventure leads the way and Ambition reads the dials? Is there no company with him, for whom the air is cleft by Daring and the darkness made light by Emprise?
True, the fragile bodies of his fellows do not weigh down his plane; true, the fretful minds of weaker men are missing from his crowded cabin; but as his airship keeps its course he holds communion with those rare spirits that inspire to intrepidity and by their sustaining potency give strength to arm, resource to mind, content to soul.
Alone?
With what other companions would man fly to whom the choice were given?
The New York SUN, May 22, 1927
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Asia’s Most Newspaper Loving Nations
This chart is taken from the fascinating WAN IFRA research report on the state of newspapers in China, India and Southeast Asia.
Not surprising to see Hong Kong off the charts, with a combined paid-for and free daily circulation of 590 copies per thousand adults.
What is interesting about Hong Kong is that a huge portion of newspapers (probably 95 percent or more) in the territory are sold off of the newsstands (not via subscription). This creates a fierce tabloid culture where publishers must literally grab readers each day.
Some other highlights:
(more…)
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10 Career Options for Foreign Correspondents
Eric Weiner, a friend, bestselling author of Geography of Bliss and fellow former foreign correspondent lists the options for our breed.
This list was originally composed thinking in terms of a 40-something foreign correspondent who had spent enough years living rough out in the field. Now, with the slashing of newsrooms and foreign budgets, some younger correspondents still in the flush of youth may want to listen to Eric’s sage advice.
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Social Media and the Future of Newspapers
Len Apcar, Asia editor of The International Herald Tribune, invited the Asia advertising director of the IHT, Dominic Ciafardini, and myself to join his class at Hong Kong University for a discussion about social media and the future of newspapers. Great discussion! Thanks to all who took part.
This is a video taken of the event.
New Media, MSM and the Business and Journalism Behind Them: A Round-table Discussion from JMSC HKU on Vimeo.
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Paul Krugman’s Twitter Bubble
The Social Media space for Economists on Twitter reveals an interesting Bubble around Paul Krugman. (Please note: There is an important - and amusing - update at the bottom of this posting.)
1- Many followers
Among the top 20 economists on Twitter, it appears that Paul Krugman is the most important, by rank of followers.
2- Tweets infrequently
When you look more closely, Krugman’s account really only Tweets his columns.
3- Follows few others
His account is hardly following anyone.
4- Almost never engages in conversation
Krugman has almost no conversations with those whom he is following
5- Very few people retweet
Perhaps because of the infrequency and predictable nature of his Tweets (always about his column), Krugman gets very few re-Tweets.
5- The Krugman Bubble
If you add up the number of people who read the Tweets and re-Tweets of the top economists, it turns out that Krugman is NOT the top economist on Twitter. In fact, measured by reach, he was the 5th largest.
Please note: This data is a couple months old, so may not present a current picture of Twittering economists.
I don’t think Krugman needs to worry very much. He does have a column in The New York Times that is read by more than a few people. The main point of this exercise is to show that just looking at raw numbers of followers can be misleading with Twitter.
UPDATE: Krugman recently wrote in his blog that someone had stolen his Twitter identity. That would explain why someone who enjoys interacting so much in one Social Media (his blog) did nothing on his Twitter account. It is also interesting to see how big a simple repeater account of a well-known person can grow in Twitter.
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List of e-reader newspaper projects in Asia
There’s a number of interesting e-reader experiments going on in Asia:
1. Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun teamed up with Fujitsu to experiment at a Tokyo Cafe earlier this year.
According to TechOn, customers of “Termina Kinshicho Fujiya Restaurant” could pick up one of four Fujitsu Frontech “FLEPias” (pictured here) for free between Feb 4 and 13, 2009.
Content included: “Mainichi Shogakusei Shimbun” (Mainichi Newspaper for Elementary School Students), advertisements for Fujiya Restaurant and the “Termina” shopping mall, timetables of JR (Japan Railways) trains and weather forecasts.
No word how the test went.
2. Bridgestone erected an e-paper of sorts in a bus stop. Interesting video of it posted on Digital World Tokyo in April last year. Not clear if this is an experiment or something that ran longer. There’s a few more e-readers presented here on Digital World Tokyo.
3. The intriguingly named Nuutbook (left) from Korea is produced by e-ink company Neoluxiim. Their latest product is a solar-powered e-book, arguably the most environmentally friendly way to read a newspaper: It does not cut down trees or use excess amounts of electricity.
According to Rick Kim, they have reach agreements with Chosun Daily, Maeil Economic Daily, Kookmin Daily, Munhwa Daily, Seoul Daily, Digital Times, Yonhap News Agency, and Mainichi (Japan).
Wireless subscription service is said to begin sometime this summer. Interesting that they are working with both Korean and Japanese newspapers. More (in Korean) here.
4. Recently on display at Computex in Taiwan (Text from MIS Asia):
- Netronix showed off several e-readers at the show, ranging from its EB-500 with a 5-inch screen to its EB-600 and EB-600 Cookie, both with 6-inch screens, a prototype for a new 8-inch screen e-reader and its EB-900 with a 9.7-inch screen. The company also offered its Mentor model, which also boasts a 6-inch screen but comes in a variety of colors, including yellow, pink and baby blue. The company says its Mentor e-readers can last for 8,000 page turns on one battery charge, compared to 7,500 for Sony’s PRS-505/SC. Amazon doesn’t break down its battery life into the number of page views. A contract manufacturer, Netronix is looking for big companies to order its e-readers then put their own brand on and sell them.
- Taiwan’s Unihan, a subsidiary of Asustek Computer that develops non-PC products, also displayed an e-reader with a 6-inch screen at Freescale’s office. Unihan is also a contract manufacturer, so it won’t market the device itself. It will sell the design to a customer and then make money on the manufacturing.
- Mary Lou Jepsen’s company, Pixel Qi, has released a netbook-sized 10.1-inch color screen with an e-reader setting that displays everything in black and white while conserving power, which could lead netbook developers to offer the function as an add-on later this year. The screens will be in netbooks before the holidays, Jepsen has said. She was formerly the chief technology officer at One Laptop Per Child.
5. Not an e-reader in the strictest sense, but Kanchoo is an interesting iPhone app from Hong Kong allowing newspapers to reconfigure their publications easily. (Soon to launch, apparently)
6. It is outside of Asia, but IFRA has a few interesting articles on e-readers (mainly in Europe and US).
Much thanks to Jeb Buffinton, Rick Kim, @Kankiknight and @Hedirman for the links!
Any other noteworthy projects out there?
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New editor-in-chief for The South China Morning Post
The South China Morning Post just announced a long rumored shift in editorial lineup. Below is the internal memo released a short while ago. Congrats to Reg and David! (Both are friends and David a former IHT colleague.)
To: All Staff
From: Kuok Hui Kwong
Date: 2 July 2009
To all my colleagues,
It is with regret that I announce Mr. C.K. Lau’s decision to resign from his position as Editor of the South China Morning Post, after a long and distinguished career with us. C.K. discussed with me a couple of months ago regarding his plan to pursue his personal interests. We have mutually agreed that his last day with us will be 10 July 2009. During his tenure at the Post, C.K. has played a key role in strengthening and improving our editorial operations. A committed and well-respected professional, he has contributed significantly to the Post and to the overall media community in Hong Kong.
Effective from 13 July 2009, Mr. Reginald Chua will join us as Editor-in-Chief. On top of managing the day-to-day editorial operations of the Post, Reg will work with me on the long-term strategies for our editorial coverage. Reg has enjoyed a successful career at the Wall Street Journal spanning the past 16 years. He was most recently Deputy Managing Editor at The Wall Street Journal based in New York, where he led, amongst other responsibilities, the development of the Journal’s computer-assisted reporting capabilities and oversaw the paper’s graphics. Prior to moving to New York, he was the Editor of the Journal’s Hong Kong-based Asian edition. Reg graduated with a Master’s Degree in Journalism from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics from the University of Chicago.
Effective the same date, Mr. David Lague will be appointed as Managing Editor. As a member of the newsroom’s senior management team, David will oversee editorial quality and standards, training and projects. He will also be involved in daily news operations. A news and features writer with the South China Morning Post in 1987-88, David returns to the paper after more than two decades as a reporter and editor in the Asia-Pacific region. Most recently, he was a correspondent for the International Herald Tribune and the New York Times in Beijing. Before joining New York Times Company, he was managing editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review. David was also China correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian. David graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in science from Murdoch University.
David will work closely with Wang Xiangwei and Cliff Buddle, the Post’s deputies, to help manage the newsroom, steer its coverage, and continue to build on the paper’s strong position. Xiangwei, Cliff and David will report to Reg.
On behalf of the Board of Directors and the Management of SCMP Group, we express our deep appreciation to C.K. for his contribution and persevering dedication, and wish him the very best in his new endeavours. Please also join me in welcoming Reg and extending your full support to him, and in welcoming David back to Post.
Hui Kuok
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
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My Life: Journalism to Digital Strategy
I was asked to address an OECD gathering in Paris about my transition from journalism to digital strategy, focusing on my experiences within a traditional media company and the way it dealt with the transition to digital. I could not make the trip, so will share this video with them when they meet later this week.
Comments and thoughts very welcome!
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4 Reasons Why The World Assn of Newspapers Will Not Like My Speech
This Wednesday morning I have the honor of addressing WAN-IFRA’s Newsroom Summit in Kuala Lumpur in a keynote speech on Social Media. WAN-IFRA is the newly merged entity gathering the world’s publishers and editors of newspapers.
Raju Narisetti, a friend and managing editor of the Washington Post, precedes me in opening the conference, so pressure is on for me to deliver something noteworthy and relevant to the audience.
I fear they will not like much of what I will say:
1- In the two years since leaving my job as a newspaper correspondent I have come to see news as something I can get for free on the Internet. Newspapers are a pleasurable thing to pick up in a coffee shop or airplane that provides them for added service. Almost a luxury item to be savored like a good cigar. (Except that I don’t smoke cigars)
2- In my job as Asia-Pacific director of Digital Influence 360 at Ogilvy, I spend my time speaking with companies about how they no longer need to go through media. By interacting directly with consumers they build a direct bond in a way that was not possible before the Internet. Why pay the “Publisher’s Tax” in going through the media when you can own the relationship yourself?
3- The downward slide of newspapers due to the Internet got steeper due to the economic crisis, but I think it will get steeper still. The capital and maintenance costs of printing presses and distribution systems that once served as barriers to new entrants, now tie down newspapers against more nimble online competitors.
4- In the era of environmental concern, could you imagine inventing a business based on chewing up dead trees, spraying them with ink and then distributing them - on a daily basis - with a fleet of pollution spewing vehicles?
@PB: I totally agree about the value that newspapers and reliable news organizations provide. My concern is how they will finance newsgathering operations. I lament the pain that media now faces and see a real threat to democracy and open society. What I do not see is how to bring in income from news now that the monopoly provided by ownership of a printing press provided.
Some reactions being sent to me by email:
FORMER COLLEAGUE: “Provocative and attention getting. But does make me wonder why you fought so hard to rescue your IHT bylines from the archives of newspapers that you dismiss as “a business based on chewing up dead trees, spraying them with ink and then distributing them - on a daily basis - with a fleet of pollution spewing vehicles?”"
ME: Why did I fight to rescue my bylines? For the blood, sweat and tears. Also, mainstream media has the highest credibility! That is why we need to find a ways to rescue it. I didn’t dismiss the value of journalism, I raised the issue of the environmental impact of newspapers. I remember an amazing chart that showed the number of trees that went into a single copy of the NYT. Incredible number.
ME: Yes, of course a “brand building exercise” could be hurt badly by a great investigative piece by a traditional media (or non-traditional media) outlet. But I am not clear how that point affects my arguments. You still need to find a way to pay for quality journalism. That is the problem I see. It is about business models, not credibility.
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Thomas Crampton was a correspondent for the International Herald Tribune and The New York Times for more than a decade, reporting from five continents, writing a column on Asia and covering Asian politics, economics and culture. Currently based in Hong Kong, he writes here about China, the Internet and New Media seen from Asia, while also advising companies on digital communication strategies. For more information click here...
