As more sites focus on longform content, Fast Company disclosed some statistics on how its longer pieces have been doing — but the data shows that the real secret isn’t length but ongoing engagement with readers. Read more at paidContent »
New owner Jay Penske is shutting down Variety magazine’s daily print edition and removing the paywall around the century-old tabloid’s online content. But will these radical moves help the paper survive against more nimble rivals? Read more at paidContent »
Research by the Pew Center has turned up several examples of newspapers that seem to have reversed the declining revenue most of the industry is suffering from, although the methods they have chosen to do this are very different. Read more at paidContent »
Until now, the Atlantic has been the poster child for traditional media entities that have succeeded online, but the New Yorker looks to be planning some major moves of its own to boost its online presence. Read more at paidContent »
Hammered by declining print advertising revenue in much the same way newspapers have been, Time Inc. announced that it is laying off about 500 of its staff. But are the cuts the end, or just the beginning? Read more at paidContent »
In a recent “Ask Me Anything” interview with Reddit users, the Washington bureau chief for the New York Times had some refreshingly reasonable things to say about how the web has helped improve journalism, and how the practice of journalism will survive even if newspapers don’t. Read more »
As the traditional media industry continues to struggle with the disruption caused by the web, some sceptics argue that a “digital first” approach isn’t the answer — but the reality is that focusing on digital is the only hope the industry has. Read more »
According to a new report from research firm eMarketer, Google is expected to lead the US display ad market in 2012, after losing the top spot to Facebook last year. The search giant also dominates in mobile and search advertising. Read more »
Gannett Co., the media giant behind USA Today and other properties, is reportedly buying social-media marketing company BLiNQ Media, which helps brands execute and manage advertising campaigns on Facebook and other social platforms. Read more »
Facebook Stories, a new original content site that will focus on a different theme each month, is intended to highlight Facebook users’ stories. But with a former Time magazine reporter overseeing an editorial team, does the company have something bigger in mind for Facebook Stories? Read more at paidContent »
There has been a lot of criticism of Advance Publications for shutting down printing of newspapers like the New Orleans Times-Picayune, but Digital First Media CEO John Paton says the chain should be defended for trying whatever it takes to save its business from certain disaster. Read more »
Huffington Post now looks less like a blog network and more like a traditional media entity, having launched its own weekly digital magazine for the iPad — but is launching a subscription app a smart way of branching out, or a sign of old-media thinking? Read more »
That newspaper owners like Advance Publications need to make a transition from print to digital is not in doubt, but so far all we have seen from the company is massive layoffs and anemic websites. Is this what the future looks like? Read more »
As painful as the decision to stop printing daily may be for the New Orleans Times-Picayune and its staff, it grappling with a reality that almost every newspaper will have to face sooner or later, whether they want to or not. Read more »
Is the web run by large corporations, or is it powered primarily by peer-to-peer networks? That’s the question behind one of the longest-running wagers of the modern web era — a six-year-old bet between author and web sceptic Nick Carr and Harvard professor Yochai Benkler. Read more »
The Huffington Post is facing new accusations that its writers “steal” content from other media outlets by aggregating it. Not only are these charges argubly untrue, but content companies that complain about this kind of “over-aggregation” are missing the point about how news works now. Read more »
Amazon has launched a program that allows Kindle users to borrow e-books from 11,000 libraries across the U.S. This and the recent news that it plans to launch a “Netflix for books” service make it clear Amazon is stepping up its disruption of the book industry. Read more »
DC Comics recently started selling digital versions of its new comics on the same day that print editions show up in local comic book shops. It’s a move that helps promote their “New 52″ all-title relaunch, but it has much wider-reaching implications. Read more »
John Paton has been pushing an aggressive “digital first” strategy at the Journal-Register Co., and now he has been named the chief executive of Media News, the second-largest newspaper chain in the U.S. Is he the savior that the newspaper business has been waiting for? Read more »
If you are or have ever been a college student, then you probably know that textbooks are the biggest racket going. Amazon Student, a new official iPhone app put out by Amazon.com, should help you find better prices than you would at your school bookstore. Read more »
The Guardian newspaper in Britain has made its clearest declaration yet that the future of the organization is online by saying it is going “digital first.” Now all it has to do is prove that this strategy can be a success financially as well as philosophically. Read more »
Condé Nast began offering in-app subscriptions for iPad versions of Allure, Glamour, Golf Digest and Vanity Fair on Monday. The publisher began offering The New Yorker iPad subscriptions just last week, marking the first time it has used Apple’s new in-app subscription system. Read more »
Keepsy, the Menlo Park, Calif.-based startup, has launched its first product, “Instant Album,” a way to order physical scrapbooks made from Instagram photo albums. Keepsy’s just the latest in a spate of new startups focused on preserving what people publish online in a more tangible format. Read more »
Amazon is launching a Kindle lending program for libraries, and while there are some interesting features included, the plan raises questions about who controls the content in these books, and what happens if Amazon or its publishers change their minds about the terms of the deal. Read more »
Just when you thought the iPad might be able to breathe some life back into the failing print industry, the industry itself seems dead set on making sure that doesn’t happen. Well, certain parties within the industry at least, like maybe News Corp. for instance, if […] Read more »
One of the strongest pieces of evidence in support of the existence of an Apple tablet has come into question today. Reports that Condé Nast, publisher of many magazine titles, including The New Yorker and Vogue, was preparing a digital format specifically for the Apple tablet […] Read more »
Like many of you, most recorded footage of my youth was on those archaic black plastic things called VHS tapes. As the rest of society moves into the digital age, I’m facing a battle of preserving my childhood memories on something a little more robust and […] Read more »
When I’d originally written about the introduction of the new 15″ MacBook Pro on Monday, I was curious as to if the newly featured SD card slot would support even newer SDHC cards. A little research later, I learned that the MacBook Pro does support this standard and has a few more tricks up its sleeve. So what’s all the buzz about the SD card slot? Read more »
Comics being sold via iTunes is not, in itself, new. You can currently pick up versions of “The Watchmen” and the excellent Image title “Invincible,” but this marks comic book powerhouse Marvel’s entry into the fray, and it’s bringing something special to the table, in pre-releasing […] Read more »
Mogreet Signs Fox Searchlight; mobile greeting company will allow users to send video messages featuring clips from Juno and Napoleon Dynamite. (VentureBeat) Confusion in the Digital TV Air; Consumers Union survey finds 90 percent of the country is aware of the upcoming switch, but 25 percent […] Read more »
