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media
Would You Pay $5 a Month to Read the New York Times Online?
At long last, the New York Times may have figured out how to make money off its website: by charging for it. More » -
youtube
Newspaper Argues the Internet is Even Killing the Internet
The Independent has a massive piece today on YouTube and how, despite having close to 350 million users worldwide per month, it's set to lose almost half a billion dollars this year. And it's all your fault, naturally. More » -
bright ideas
Let's Screw Up the Entire Internet to Save Newspapers
The hot new idea among people who think about "journalism," and the sanctity thereof: let's ban linking, on the internet! Let's also ban wheels, in order to save the horse industry. Let's also ban talking about things!
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judgments
The Persistent Failure of Steven Brill
Steven Brill has a reputation for being a media wise man—a deep-thinking mogul who's always spotting the opportunities of The Future. Which is kind of strange, since the majority of his projects have been ostentatious failures. More » -
media
Newser Secures Millions in Funding
Newser, the news aggregator co-founded by intern-shagging media blowhard Michael Wolff, has secured $2.5 million in first-round funding. The source is reported to be numerous individual investors, who must have been unfazed by the Wolff goat-molestation rumors. [Paid Content] -
mediaite
Unlaunched Media Blog Has Facebook Sibling Intern. (Plus: A Preview!)
An addition to the Celebrity Media Intern Class of '09: Arielle Zuckerberg, the kid sister of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. She's indentured herself to Dan Abrams-affiliated media blog Mediaite.com. It hasn't launched yet, but we have an exclusive preview! More » -
reporters in peril
North Korea Sentences American Reporters to 12 Years Hard Labor
Laura Ling, the sister of former The View co-host Lisa Ling, and fellow Current TV journalist Euna Lee have been sentenced to twelve years in a labor camp by a North Korean court for crossing that country's border.
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advertising
Bing Will Annoy You Into Submission
Microsoft's new search-dealie "Bing" is going up against The Google, which is hard! Fortunately, Bing's marketing wizards have devised the world's most annoying ways to promote it. (*Bing* sound)! More » -
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the future
New York Times 'Social Media Editor' Playing Out Exactly As Suspected
Today the New York Times named Jennifer Preston its first-ever "Social Media Editor." We speculated she would do comical stuffy-NYT-meets-freewheeling-internet activities like cracking down on newsroom Twitterers (and maybe trying out this "Twitter" herself?). We were correct: More » -
media
New York Times Hiring 'Social Media Editor' To...Do Something
The New York Times is charging face-first into the digital age! They're appointing a "Social Media Editor." It's Jennifer Preston, former editor of the recently-folded Regional Sections! Could this be the beginning of the end of the Golden Age of NYT Twittery? [UPDATED below]: More » -
media
Newspaper Twitterers Will Ruin Everything!
If all you newspaper reporters don't stop Twittering every goddamn thing you see, Bill Keller is seriously going to lose his shit. Can you put down the iPhone so we can have a meeting here? More » -
print is dead
Google Planning to Rob Bloggers to Pay New York Times
Give the newspaper bosses this much: In their desperation to fix their dying businesses, they are going after logical targets. Google's rise has exactly nothing to do with their fall — but Google has money. More » -
nerdfight
New Yorkerers in Scandalous Twitter Brawl
Our dreams have come true! New Yorker contributor and Twitterati regular Susan Orlean is whaling away on whiny, blogorrheic ex-staff writer Dan Baum on Twitter. Grab some popcorn, follow @susanorlean and @danielsbaum, and enjoy! More » -
death of print
Will David Geffen Gay Up the New York Times?
Hello, Pink Lady! David Geffen, the wealthy friend of Dorothy, wants to buy the New York Times. Fantastic news for the paper's gay mafia. More » -
print is dead
How to Pry Money Out of Google
The New York Times and Washington Post are in informal talks about the online news business. The obvious subtext: The newspapers want Google to pay for their headlines. They're going about it all wrong. More » -
media
New York Times Leaning Towards Paid Online Access (Of a Sort—Updated)
Twitter has now replaced press releases at the New York Times. The paper is just wrapping up a "strategy" presentation to the newsroom, which is helpfully being live-twitted. Let's listen in! [UPDATED below]: More » -
print is dead
A Bigger Kindle Makes Jeff Bezos Richer and Newspapers Poorer
Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos unveiled the Kindle DX, a large-screen e-reader, today at the site of the New York Times's former headquarters in Lower Manhattan. The message: He's the future and newspapers are the past. More » -
the internet
How Long Before the NYT Shuts Down Its Scandalous Twitterers?!
In January, the New York Times' standards editor issued guidelines about how editorial staffers are allowed to use Facebook and other scary online tools. Is reporter Twittering making a mockery of those guidelines? Let's explore! More » -
breakups
PaidContent Blog Impresario Divorcing Long-Suffering Wife
Money changes everything. Rafat Ali, the founder of PaidContent, ought to be relaxing on the beach after selling his blog business to the Guardian last year. Instead, he's working harder than ever. And getting divorced. More » -
the internet
YouTube's Sad Studio Deal Just Highlights Hulu's Superiority
In the war between video sites, Hulu might have the Daily Show, 30 Rock and 24, but YouTube just signed big studio deals to bring you... Harper's Island and The Addams Family. Oh, Google. More » -
print is dead
Maureen Dowd Gapes at the Horror of Google
What happens when the prim self-satisfaction of New York's media elite meets the smug hubris of Silicon Valley's unblinking technocrats? Why, a Maureen Dowd profile of Google CEO Eric Schmidt, that's what happens. More » -
print is dead
Why Newspapers Shouldn't Buy What Steven Brill Is Selling
Steven Brill launched American Lawyer magazine, Court TV, Brill's Content and those airport security fast-passes. Now he wants to help newspapers broker their online content. Clue: Smarter people already offer that. More » -
shut up, internet
The AP's War on the Web Reaches New Heights of Incompetence
The Associated Press wants to be the Internet's content sheriff—as soon as it figures out how it works. It demanded a radio station in Tennessee take down videos embedded from the AP's own YouTube channel. More » -
the chart
Debunking the AP's Aggregation Aggravation
Online aggregators are financial vampires sucking the lifeblood out of the news business! You know — evil digital upstarts like the Wall Street Journal, CNN, and the New York Times. More » -
print is dead
Google CEO: Newspapers Need to Speed Things Up
What's the mysterious plague that's killing newspapers? According to Google CEO Eric Schmidt, it's not search engines, Craigslist, or Monster.com. It's those agonizingly slow-loading websites! More » -
media
Wired.com 'Gutted' in Conde Layoffs
More detail on the layoffs at Conde Nast Digital today (which is not an April Fool's joke, okay): Wired.com was reportedly hit hard. Internal turf war? More » -
media
A Facebook Cofounder's Public Outing
Only a few things will make a chatty entrepreneur stop talking about their next big idea: a lawsuit, an IPO, or a magazine cover story. The last explains Facebook cofounder Chris Hughes's recent quiet period. More » -
recessionomics
Magazine Editor Retrained as 'Google Trends' Watcher
Lois Draegin was an editor at TV Guide before she got laid off—now she has an internship to help her build internet skills. That's admirable! But the internship's kind of awful. We should know! More » -
blogging for dollars
New New York Times Survival Strategy: Become a Fancy Blog-Software Company
Why has the Gray Lady assigned full-time reporters to communities in Brooklyn and New Jersey? Even a Times editor admits the paper will never make money on microjournalism. But they could market software to bloggers. More » -
death of print
The New York Times Battles a Googler for New Jersey
Why is the Gray Lady building websites for the obscure suburbs of South Orange, Maplewood, and Milburn? Perhaps because those are the exact same towns Google executive Tim Armstrong picked for Patch, his local-news startup. More » -
death of print
Here's Hoping Google Does Kill the Newspapers
The news that Google is placing ads on Google News has sent a renewed wave of handwringing through the newspaper industry. How dare those Googlers make online news a profitable business! More » -
death of print
Only a Cable Guy Could Come Up With Newsday's Pay-Only Scheme
Pundits will say Newsday's desperate plan to charge for the Long Island newspaper's website is some kind of bellwether for the industry. What it really means: Newsday and its owner, Cablevision, have nothing to lose. More » -
death of print
San Francisco Chronicle Owner Threatens Shutdown
Hearst Newspapers could shut down San Francisco's dominant daily, the Chronicle, if unions do not agree to major job cuts. The threatened shuttering would leave the city without a real newspaper. Would anyone notice? More » -
trendwatch
Five Print-to-Online Crossovers, And How Many Will Survive. (Maybe None!)
Long-form trend alert: Lots of former print media people are launching websites. There was another one today! It's time for us to rate five of these—and their chances of survival—honestly. This is important: More » -
death of print
How Not to Save Newspapers
Micropayments are the future of content! If I had a nickel for every time I heard that one. Walter Isaacson, a former managing editor of Time, is the latest to pick up this tired banner. More » -
journalismism
TV Networks Prepping Steve Jobs's Obituary
Steve Jobs, currently on medical leave as Apple CEO, is not dead, but the major networks are acting as if he were. Producers from CBS and NBC are scheduling interviews for their Jobs obituaries. More » -
death of print
NYT's Genius Geeks Don't Know How to Save It, Either
Did you know that the New York Times has a crew of "digital renegades" who are reinventing journalism through interactive graphics and databases? It's true! Too bad they're not working on fixing the newspaper's business. More » -
death of print
Google Boss to Newspapers: No Bailout
Everyone wants a sugar daddy to save them. Wall Street has found one in Washington. But the newspaper industry has been batting its eyes in the direction of Mountain View, Calif., home of Google. Ha! More » -
hackers
Fox News Twitter Hacked By Bill O'Reilly
This is currently the lead post on the official Fox News Twitter page. Hackers are cool again. -
death of print
Even Listicles Being Downsized at Fortune
Bad news is still big. It's just the articles that are getting smaller. 2008 was 80 percent less dumb than 2007, according to Fortune! A year ago, Fortune readers were treated to a full 101 moments of dumbness in an end-of-year comic look-back. This year? Only 21 dumb moments to be found.





































