Media industry executives love to talk about the “original sin” that newspapers supposedly committed, by not charging for content when the web was young — but this theory misses the point that the media game as a whole is being played according to fundamentally different rules. Read More »
Tech
Britain’s Daily Mail has eclipsed rivals including the New York Times to become the web’s biggest newspaper. But other media companies hoping to emulate its success will have their work cut out — unless they’re prepared to play fast and loose with the normal rules of… Read More »
Paywalls are all the rage for media companies, but they have the unfortunate effect of penalizing an outlet’s most loyal readers. Why not try to come up with ways to reward those users for their engagement, instead of hitting them with a cash grab? Read More »
New York Times CEO Janet Robinson recently stepped down from her post, and industry sources say she was asked to resign because she didn’t do enough on the digital side. Here are five suggested areas that a new CEO of the newspaper should focus on. Read More »
A new commenting system at the New York Times has drawn fire from readers, but the motivation for the move is sound. If media companies want to behave like communities (which they should), they need to encourage their readers to “level up” and become more engaged. Read More »
In testimony on new anti-piracy legislation, Google’s policy counsel argued the payment blockade against WikiLeaks was a good example of how copyright infringement could be handled. But that blockade is a disturbing attack on freedom of the press — is that really something Google wants to… Read More »
A New York Times piece argues WikiLeaks is on life support, but the reality is that it and Julian Assange have been the targets of a sustained attack by the U.S. government, and that is a freedom of speech issue we should all be concerned about. Read More »
The Guardian’s latest attempt to become a serious player in the American market is gearing up, with the launch of a new homepage for US readers. But after many failed attempts, can it ever succeed – or could its American dream turn into a nightmare? Read More »
Lots of companies have tried to soften up their image by adopting a friendly tone of voice, but social media has cranked the volume up. But when even banks and faceless corporations are adopting this facile approach, is it time hypercasual was killed off? Read More »
Plenty of people seem convinced the New York Times paywall is working. But what does that mean? Is the NYT getting readers to pay? Yes. But the long-term value of that is still an open question — and a paywall remains a fundamentally defensive strategy. Read More »
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