Report: Hollywood Reporter to kill print edition, Variety to go behind pay wall – Deadline Hollywood Daily
Nikki Finke hears that Variety will put up its pay wall next year, and the Hollywood Reporter will become an online-only publication before the end of 2009. [Poynter Romenesko]
Category Archives: Publishing
‘Tampa Tribune’ Editor Thinks Charging for Online News is ‘Delusional’
From Romenesko:
Tampa Tribune editor Janet Coats believes there needs to be a more aggressive approach to getting online ad revenue. "We have spent 15 years in this industry getting newsrooms to change. By God, they have changed. How much have things changed on the ad side?"
Open Book Alliance Posts Google Books Hearing Videos
The Open Book Alliance has posted videos of last week’s House Judiciary Committee hearing on the Google Books settlement.
Is Fast Flip a Fast Flop?
Alan Warms thinks it’s a giant step backward in online news distribution. It’s also nothing really new. For years, traditional media have devised and developed and partnered with technology companies to "digitize" their print content in print layout form. Thus far, none have been as successful as news content delivered via plain old vanilla web browser. (hat tip: @freddieoconnell)
From a consumer standpoint, I don’t get this at all. I’ve spent from late 2005 to the end of last year almost exclusively on online news — seeing what’s worked and what doesn’t — and this feels like those “magazine readers” that appeared regularly through the last ten years.
Ingram’s POD Service Plans Expansion to France
Lightning Source, the print-on-demand brand of Ingram Content Group, and trade book publisher Hachette Livre are planning a joint venture that will create a print-on-demand hub in France. Lightning Source already offers print-on-demand services in both the United States and the UK.
Phase 1 of the joint venture will enable Hachette to vastly extend the range of services it makes available to both Hachette-controlled publishing houses and to third party customers of its distribution facility. With the successful completion of Phase 1, Phase 2 of the joint venture will be launched giving independent publishers the option to participate in the POD program, regardless of ownership or distribution contracts.
Newspaper Bankruptcy at a Glance
Ever wonder whatever happened to all those media companies that recently filed Chapter 11? Yahoo News has a breakdown.
All the Rants Fit to Print
In light of Kanye West’s recent outburst during Taylor Swift’s award acceptance speech at the MTV Music Awards, and U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson’s famous shouting out "You lie" during President Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress, Reuters has compiled a slide show of headline-making rants.
Philadelphia Shuts Down Library System
Cory Doctorow laments the closing of Philadelphia’s library system. Apparently the government could not find enough money in its budget to fund the system. The city’s neighborhood and branch libraries, as well as their community outreach programs, will close effective Oct. 2, 2009.
Picture an entire city, a modern, wealthy place, in the richest country in the world, in which the vital services provided by libraries are withdrawn due to political brinksmanship and an unwillingness to spare one banker’s bonus worth of tax-dollars to sustain an entire region’s connection with human culture and knowledge and community. Think of it and ask yourself what the hell has happened to us.
AdAge: Newspaper Culture Could Have Survived Mistakes If Technology Hadn’t Changed
Advertising Age’s David Klein says the newspaper isn’t going away, but its future isn’t exactly the same, either.
Of course newspapers will continue to advance, improve, innovate and grow. But nothing in the foreseeable future (other than the internet being dismantled) is going to enable papers to return to their old standard of living.
Trust in News Media Reaches All-Time Low
Via Romenesko:
In Pew Research Center’s survey, 63% of respondents say news articles are often inaccurate and only 29% believe the media generally "get the facts straight." Republicans continue to take the dimmest view of news organizations, but discontent among Democrats is catching up.