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Media trends digest
– 2008 
Benton headlines 6 November
THE MEDIA-GO-ROUND STOPS
[SOURCE: The Big Money, AUTHOR: Chadwick Matlin]
If politicians really cared about the media's role in our democracy, they'd mandate a never-ending election season. This year has been very kind to the media. Record Internet traffic! Record TV ratings! Record magazine sales at the newsstand! Hillary Clinton's, Barack Obama's, John McCain's, and Sarah Palin's mere existences have essentially bailed out the electronic-media industry. On Nov. 5, that handout expires. The media's election bubble is about to pop.
http://benton.org/node/18541 [41]
SURFING VIOLENT WEBSITES LINKED TO VIOLENT BEHAVIOR
[SOURCE: Reuters]
Young people exposed to violent media are more likely to lash out violently themselves, new research published in Pediatrics shows. "Our findings add to the growing evidence that violence in the media is related to aggressive behavior, including seriously violent behavior among youths," Dr. Michele L. Ybarra of Internet Solutions for Kids in Santa Ana, California and her colleagues report. "Reduction in youths' exposure to violent media should be viewed as an important aspect of violence prevention."
http://benton.org/node/18552 [71]
TRANSITION TO YESTERDAY: SUBSIDIZING THE KILLER APP OF 1952
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Thomas Hazlett]
[Commentary] With the transition from analog broadcasting, policy-makers should seize a blessed moment to move boldly into the future. Opening TV bands to new entrants would inject a potent booster shot into the Information Economy. Consider that some 250 million mobile subscribers in the US paid about $140 billion to make 2 trillion minutes' worth of phone calls in 2007, accessing just 190MHz of radio spectrum. The digital TV band, in contrast, is allocated some 294MHz—and it's more productive bandwidth. Tapping into this mother lode would unleash powerful waves of rivalry and innovation.
http://benton.org/node/18545 [62]
Life after paper 30 October
Guardian: Media mavens are treating the Christian Science Monitor's decision to stop printing a daily paper and move to the web as a big deal. It's not. It's just inevitability playing itself out a bit earlier than some might have expected.
Three years ago, Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger told me that the Berliner presses the company had just installed to much fanfare were likely the last presses they'd ever order. The day is coming. The only question is when.
More
Murdoch to deliver Boyer Lectures
News Corp head Rupert Murdoch will be delivering this year’s Boyer Lectures, which will be available via the ABC
Lecture 1: Aussie rules: bring back the pioneer (2 Nov)
In his first lecture Rupert Murdoch scans the future and beholds a golden era. But will we be part of it? The Australia he sees simply is not prepared for the challenges ahead. A classic Russell Drysdale painting provides inspiration.
Lecture 2: Who's afraid of new technology? (9 Nov)
Technology has helped transform the world. Some say it has turned it upside down. Rupert Murdoch argues that we must not be prisoners of the past - modern day Luddites - if we are to succeed in the golden era.
Lecture 3: The future of newspapers: moving beyond dead trees (16 Nov)
Rupert Murdoch at heart is a traditional newspaperman. But he sees the wood for the trees. Newspapers will thrive in the 21st century if proprietors fully comprehend what it means to be alive in the era of information.
Lecture 4: Fortune favours the smart (23 Nov)
An important theme of the lectures is the pressing need for Australia to develop human capital. But to do this successfully our schools need serious reform, otherwise the global bar will seem set far beyond our reach.
Lecture 5: The global middle class roars (30 Nov)
Rupert Murdoch's recent trips to China and India have convinced him of one thing: there is no alternative to economic growth as a remedy for poverty. Caste and communism have condemned hundreds of millions to wretched lives.
Lecture 6: The 21st century: comforting the afflicted. And afflicting the comfortable (7 Dec)
The Oxford of Rupert Murdoch's youth was one of the most privileged places on earth. But freedom and information have changed the order of things. On a global scale more people than ever are taking advantage of the revolution. And that's how it should be.
The Oxford of Rupert Murdoch's youth was one of the most privileged places on earth. But freedom and information have changed the order of things. On a global scale more people than ever are taking advantage of the revolution. And that's how it should be.
Cheap tricks from Comms Minister
Crikey: Senator Stephen Conroy, the Minister for Child P-rnography is looking increasingly desper… What? Sorry? Conroy is not responsible for child pornography? No? “Cheap rhetorical trick,” you say?
Yes, it’s the very same cheap trick the Minister himself used in Senate Estimates on Monday night when — just as he did in December last year — he accused critics of Labor’s internet censorship policy of supporting kiddie porn.
More
Seven can get WAN
The competition regulator has cleared the Seven Network's purchase of 22.4 per cent of West Australian Newspapers -- and it has no objection to a full takeover.
More
Good time for a weekly?
 ABC Media Report: Conventional wisdom would tell you it's the wrong time to launch a new magazine title, but the editor of the Australian version of The Week doesn't much care for conventional wisdom. He thinks he's on a winner. We'll find out why.
More
Media Alliance headlines
Melbourne FoJ Summit
The Future of Journalism conference will land in Melbourne on Wednesday, November 26 - the day before the Walkley Awards ceremony - at the Telstra Conference Centre. Details of the local and international speakers and all booking information, including special package deals for the conference and the Walkleys, will be available from next week at this link.
Australia's press freedom
Australia's anti terror laws, freedom of information restrictions, and lack of rights for journalists to protect their sources, have all contributed to Australia placing 28th again this year on the annual Press Freedom Index, according to Reporters Without Boarders. More
Afghani journalist jailed
After waiting 10 months for his appeal hearing, young Afghani journalist Parwiz Kambakhsh this week had his death sentence overturned but will still have to serve a 20-year jail sentence for allegedly downloading and distributing material about the rights of women under Islam.
More; Media Alliance
Tough times for Time
Sydney Morning Herald: Time Inc, facing a sharp drop in advertising income, has unveiled a major restructuring that will reportedly involve cuts of 300 to 700 jobs from the US magazine publisher.
More
Online Publishers headlines (USA)
Google, Microsoft earnings impress while Yahoo flails
As pessimism on the global markets hit new highs, the question was whether online bellwethers would suffer. Google and Microsoft both had surprisingly good third quarter earnings, but Yahoo continued to flounder. Google's profit rose 26 per cent to $1.35 billion in the quarter, while sales were up 31 per cent to $5.54 billion, trouncing analyst expectations and sending its stock soaring. Microsoft beat expections on Wall Street by a penny a share, and its online ad sales were up 15 per cent for the quarter (though the Internet division's losses nearly doubled to $480 million). On the negative tip, Yahoo's earnings were down 64 per cent in the quarter to $54 million, and revenues grew just 1 per cent. The company announced across-the-board job cuts of 10 per cent of staffers, helping boost its stock. All three companies lowered future earnings expectations for the next year and planned cost-cutting measures.
While the conventional wisdom is that Google has fended off taking a hit by the recession – and that Yahoo has fallen short – there were signs that analysts were not monolithic in their thinking on the online giants. Mark Kreiger at Seeking Alpha said that Google's earnings showed "chinks in the armor," saying that the company's profits were saved by a reduction in Google's tax rate, which brought in 20 cents more per share. Plus, Google was helped by major belt-tightening, with fewer new hires and a 35 per cent cut in capital expenditures. Fortune's Adam Lashinsky went against the grain with five reasons people should buy Yahoo stock: management will get tossed; Microsoft will return for a buyout; the company could buy back its stock; online ads will grow long-term; and its stock is cheap.
Search ads look recession-proof...for now
"Google executives are not destined to be waiting on bread lines anytime soon," wrote MediaWeek's Mike Shields. Why is that? Because paid search ads have not suffered so far this year in the "flight to quality" that happens during a recession. Just the opposite. SearchIgnite found that search spend was up 27 per cent in the third quarter compared to the year-ago quarter, though retailers only increased their spend by 1.5 per cent in 3Q. Efficient Frontier reported that search ad growth is slowing somewhat this year, but the return on investment is strong. The firm found that for every new dollar spent on search in Q3 '08 vs. Q3 '07, Google got $1.14, while Yahoo and Microsoft lost 7 cents. Google continued to dominate with 76 per cent market share, compared to Yahoo at 19.2 per cent and Microsoft at 4.8 per cent. Why are search ads thriving in a downturn? It's "the perception that search ads are a safer bet than display advertising," analyst Greg Sterling told Forbes.com.
Newspaper web traffic soars, while earnings suffer
Newspaper companies continue to tout one silver lining in their gloomy outlooks: Their websites are racking up record traffic as people turn to sites such as NYTimes.com and WSJ.com for financial news during the crisis. Nielsen Online found that newspaper sites got a record 68.3 million unique visitors in the third quarter, an increase of 15.8 per cent over the third quarter of '07, with average monthly page views going up 25.2 per cent over the year-ago quarter to 10.5 billion. While unique visitor records were being broken, Nielsen also learned that time spent was actually down across many of the top newspaper sites in Sept. 2008 compared to Sept. 2007. "Newspaper websites drew in more people with news of the presidential campaign and the financial meltdown," wrote E&P's Jennifer Saba. "Readers may be dashing in and out of the sites for specific stories rather than lingering." Unfortunately, while online revenues are still growing at many big newspaper companies, that growth isn't enough to lift overall profitability or stock prices. Third-quarter earnings showed a trend of lowered profit margins even as online ads grew somewhat. McClatchy's profit was 5 cents per share instead of 10 cents that analysts expected, as online ad revenues were up 9 per cent (and were up 49.3 per cent if you exclude the hard-hit job ads). Journal Communications had a 16 per cent rise in interactive revenues in the third quarter, while overall revenues were down 5.6 per cent. And NY Times Co. had a 10.2 per cent inrease in online ad sales, while overall ad sales dropped 14.4 per cent in the quarter. AdAge noted the carnage in newspaper stocks, as McClatchy was down 97 per cent from its peak price in 2005, Gannett is down 90 per cent since its '04 peak, and NY Times is off 82 per cent from its '02 high-water mark. McClatchy's market cap is a stunning $200 million.
Video Roundup: More YouTube ads; Hulu upsurge
YouTube wasn't going to let Hulu get all the big-brand video ads, so it simply stole a page from Hulu's playbook. The video-sharing behemoth made a deal with CBS to run full-length TV episodes, making some high-profile exceptions to previous site taboos: The episodes run longer than the 10-minute limit for user-generated content, and include in-stream ads such as pre-rolls, mid-rolls and post-rolls. Reuters notes that the new CBS partnership puts YouTube in direct competition with Hulu, which has a much smaller overall audience but serves up professional content perfect for brand ads. Nielsen Online reported that Hulu was the 6th most watched video site in September, with 142 million streams served, beating out ESPN (128 million), CNN (118 million) and MTV (97 million).
YouTube's push into professional content doesn't mean it's giving up on other formats. YouTube is now touting neuroscience research showing that people remember its overlay ads. Plus, AdAge points out that YouTube could make a mint if its search ads take off. Just as Google makes most of its money with paid search ads that run next to search results, YouTube has started running "promoted videos" that show up next to search results. There is potential for big revenues, as YouTube now has the second most searches of any site, only lagging behind parent Google and topping Yahoo, according to comScore. "It's unclear whether YouTube's video search ads will be as effective as search ads on Google, because video search is a different animal than normal web search," wrote AdAge's Abbey Klaassen. "People are often looking to be entertained when they do a video search, which is a contrast to the more varied ? and often commercial ? nature of searches on Google."
Online Publishers Assn
Future of biz media
PaidContent (USA) covered the second annual Future of Business conference, which focused on the business and trade media industry, and the changes brought along by consolidation and digital media.
Here are some highlights from the conference:
Lunchtime Q&A with Neil Cavuto: 'Content Still is King'
The Business of TV and Video News; Still Trying To Find Online Video's 'Sweet Spot'
WSJ.com's Subscribers Reach 1 Million Mark; How Much Longer?
Dow Jones Editor-In-Chief Robert Thomson Says Premium Content Continues To Play A Role
Reporters Deny Talking World Into Recession, Say They Learned Dot.com Lessons
Bloomberg's Norman Pearlstine: Acquisitions Won't Grab Headlines
Ten to launch 24-hour sport 28 October
Network Ten may be the first local commercial channel to make good use of the additional opportunities offered by digital television, when it opens a 24-hour sports channel in the HD band.
Though the story has yet to be confirmed by the network, industry watchers are convinced it will go ahead.
The network has been buying the rights to a substantial portfolio of international sport, covering golf, tennis, baseball, motor racing (F1 and Nascar), basketball and trans-Tasman netball.
At this stage a formal launch is expected next month, with the station to begin operation early in 2009.
The launch has the potential to hurt pay TV channel Fox, which depends heavily on sport content to hook subscribers.
Packer ends 80-year media run
The resignation of James Packer from the board of PBL Media marks the end of a 80-year family hands-on association with media, which began in the 1920s when Robert Packer managed and then gained a share in Smith’s Weekly.
Kerry Packer, father of James, was probably the most written-about and analysed media proprietor the country has ever had and was arguably the last of the family to show a true passion for the industry.
More reports: Canberra Times; The Australian; Packer company profile
Benton headlines 27 October
TAKE TV OFF THE AIR, SAYS NAF'S CALABRESE
Michael Calabrese, director of the foundation's Wireless Future Program, said policymakers should "Take TV off the air" in a few years because smart radio technology is ready to provide wireless broadband without interference. To open all TV spectrum to wireless broadband, over-the-air broadcasts should be replaced entirely by cable, satellite and Internet viewing, he said. All channels should be available by broadband, with the government possibly subsidizing cable and satellite providers to deliver free Lifeline service, Calabrese said.
More at TV News Day
OTA TV UNDER ATTACK, TIME TO FIGHT BACK
[Commentary] Free, universal, over-the air television: It's an extraordinary service whose roots plunge nine decades deep into American history. Yet, there are folks who believe that this service has absolutely no value. And what's frightening is that they now have the ear of the Federal Communications Commission. Google, Microsoft and other well-heeled high-tech companies are pushing hard to get FCC permission to unleash countless unlicensed wireless devices into the broadcast spectrum that could disrupt the over-the-air service and lead to its eventual demise. And that is apparently what they are trying to do. They don't want to share the broadcast spectrum as they are telling the FCC commissioners. They want it all.
More at TV News Day
FORRESTER: SOCIAL WEB NOW MAINSTREAM
US consumers are flocking to use social networks and other participatory venues to the extent that the activity is now mainstream, according to Forrester Research. The company's polling indicates 2008 has marked significant growth for social media, with a decided majority of users now taking part. A consumer poll done in the second quarter found that 75 percent of Internet users participate in some form of social media, up from 56 percent in 2007. Adoption rates vary by the type of activity. For example, Forrester found large growth in participation among those reading blogs and writing product reviews. "Spectator" rates jumped from 48 percent to 69 percent. Likewise, those identifying themselves as "critics" increased from 25 percent to 37 percent.
More at Ad Week
TECH TEETERS ON THE BRINK OF A RECESSION
The tech sector took another beating Friday as fears of a global recession fed a widespread market selloff. The pervasive selling mood has intensified after a string of third quarter earnings announcements. Citing concerns about the ailing economy and a sudden slump in orders, several big players offered bleak sales outlooks and lowered their financial targets. Tech's recovery hinges on the buying power of consumers and large businesses. Declining home values and rising unemployment have put consumers under pressure. And drooping sales in a tough credit market haven't exactly encouraged businesses to beef up IT spending. It's possible that "2009 could be a trough" where stocks hit a bottom and start to rally ahead of a recovery. But given how hard it is to predict the severity of the downturn, pegging the timing of the recovery could prove even harder to get right.
More at Fortune magazine
SARAH PALIN: FUTURE MEDIA STAR?
As campaign managers for Gov Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) plot last-minute tactics to get her elected, Hollywood bigwigs are convening strategy sessions of their own. Their goal: finding the ideal on-air vehicle for the VP candidate if and when she exits politics. Options range from an Oprah-style syndicated talk show to a Sean Hannity-like perch in cable news or on radio. "Any television person who sees the numbers when she appears on anything would say Sarah Palin would be great," said veteran morning-show producer Steve Friedman, citing the double-digit ratings gains her appearances on "Saturday Night Live" and "CBS Evening News" generated. "The passion she has on each side, love and hate, makes television people say, 'Wow, imagine the viewership.' " Although none of the execs has -- at least as far as anyone is admitting -- made direct overtures to the Alaska governor, they are readying their battle plans if she decides to give up her day job.
More at Hollywood Reporter
DOES POLITICAL TV ADVERTISING WORK?
Armed with an unprecedented $600 million war chest, Sen Barack Obama (D-IL) is flooding the zone with ads in the presidential campaign's home stretch, including a half-hour primetime political infomercial Oct. 29 that will air on multiple networks. Without putting too fine a point on it, if that aerial assault doesn't help the Democratic nominee close the deal, it would seem to be bad news for network sales operations, which have long clung to the pitch that their medium -- beleaguered and battered as it is -- remains the best marketing tool ever devised. The deflating message for television if Sen Obama loses will be that his advertising avalanche didn't yield the intended result -- raising new red flags about TV's ability to move a product, diluted as it is by digital video recorders, ad-skipping and overall fragmentation.
More at Variety
Do we care if print survives? 24 October
PaidContent.org: Will the print version of the New York Times (NYSE: NYT) still be around in 10 years? New York Times Chairman and Publisher Arthur Sulzberger tackled that question following his keynote at the WebbyConnect conference: “The heart of the answer must be that we can’t care. We do care. I care very much, but we must be where people want us to be for their information… Print is going to be here, I believe, for a very long time.” The NYT is more comfortable than ever with experimentation and launching services in beta, he said. “The thought is that we have to get past the thought that it has to be perfect” on day one. “If you’re not prepared to occasionally fail, you’re not trying hard enough.”
More
Video training for print journos now common
Editor’s Weblog: According to Beet TV, the Wall Street Journal is currently training reporters to produce and edit the 25 to 30 videos published on the paper's website. This is part of an effort to integrate online video with reporting.
In addition, The Washington Post has also been training their staff. As of June, 185 print journalists at The Post had been trained to produce online video.
This demonstrates the increasing demand for journalists with multi-platform training.
Editors Weblog
Charge for virtual murder
Herald Sun: A Japanese piano teacher has been arrested on suspicion of killing her "virtual husband" after becoming enraged that he suddenly divorced her in an online game.
More; Maple Story
Gamers adopt user-generated content
The Age: Inspired by the likes of YouTube and Second Life, game developers are letting gamers create their own fun, from customising cars and characters to designing their own levels to share with others.
More; Banjo-Kazooie
E-readers will not replace books 23 October
European Journalism Centre/Reuters: Electronic reading devices are gaining converts but are unlikely to replace the printed book and will have to compete hard with other ways of consuming digital media, exhibitors at the Frankfurt Book Fair said.
More
Snack culture no good for thinking – novelist
Frankfurt Book Fair: Chinese novelist Zhang Jie believes the market for literature has changed significantly in China.
“Thirty years ago, publishing houses would carefully and discretely consider the literary seriousness of a book before they decided to publish it,’ she said at a media event earlier this week. ‘Nowadays, the publishing of books is mainly controlled by booksellers. In the bookseller’s view, literary seriousness should be neglected, the market value is the most important factor, and a group of controllers directs writers and tells them what and how to write … What’s more, with the cooperation of the recreational media, any vulgar book can be publicised as a great one…
“It brings an age of snack culture and pleasure seeking. In such an age, a civilised culture cannot survive … People do not love thinking as deeply as before. Instead, they pursue a comfortable life, yearn for more wealth and fame, and even sell their freedom to enjoyment.”
More
Plus…
Yes, it may be the last thing publisher want to think about at a book fair known for rights deals: Remainders are one of the fastest growing segments of the book business. As publishers put more and more titles into smaller and smaller bookstores, the remainder market represents the last real chance for a book to reach a reader before it gets pulped or tossed into a landfill.
More
China keeps relaxed reporting rules
Editors Weblog: The Chinese Foreign Ministry has announced that relaxed rules pertaining to foreign journalists working in China will remain permanent.
Regulations were loosened as part of a deal to host the Olympic Games. The relaxed rules allowed foreign journalists to travel around the country and interview Chinese citizens without government permission.
They will not apply to Chinese journalists.
More
Bills and weather lead on-line use – ACMA 22 October
ACMA: Email, on-line banking, paying bills and news and weather updates are the most common uses of the internet by Australians this year, according to research released today by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
The report, Telecommunications Today Report 6: Internet Activity and Content, examines consumer adoption of the internet and the impact this is having on the growth of the digital economy in Australia. With 73 per cent of Australian households now having access to the internet, the report found that, overall, household internet users are accessing the internet more frequently, with an increasing number recording ‘heavy’ use (8 or more times per week).
The use of the internet for online purchases is extensive. Just over half (54 per cent) of those accessing the internet in the quarter ending March 2008 bought a product online, an increase of 8 per cent from 2006.
‘One of the main changes to consumer behaviour as a result of the internet is the willingness of consumers to engage in commerce online,’ said Chris Chapman, ACMA Chairman. ‘Paying bills, airline ticket purchases and accommodation bookings have become some of the most popular activities on the internet.
‘The internet has also become a significant social medium with the majority of internet users nominating email and socialising as activities they perform online. Changes to social interaction have been identified with a large number of internet users participating and using social networking sites, instant messaging, blogs and VoIP as communication tools.’
Internet users report a reduction in their use of traditional forms of media for entertainment and information activities - such as watching television, listening to the radio and reading magazines and newspapers. The internet has enabled users to engage in viewing and listening activities online by streaming or downloading videos, podcasts, music and television.
Report (400k PDF)
Faster broadband needed
Australian Industry Group: An Australian Industry Group / Deloitte CEO Survey has highlighted the critical importance of lifting the performance of Australia’s broadband network. The survey, High Speed to Broadband: Measuring industry demand for a world class service, explores the views of Australian business leaders in this important area of public policy.
Ai Group Chief Executive, Heather Ridout said the report focuses on a breakthrough investment that has the potential to transform our economy: the move to faster, high speed broadband.
“This technology will make a critical contribution to lifting productivity at a time when Australia’s productivity performance is lagging. Investment in this technology is not important for its own sake. It is because the technology has the potential to transform the way Australian business works, with all the associated productivity benefits,” Mrs Ridout said.
Among the findings:
Over 93% of companies indicated that the internet has had a positive impact on their efficiency/productivity;
66% of businesses believe their business will benefit greatly from faster broadband;
69.7% of regional firms would see a great benefit from faster broadband;
Faster broadband is expected to lead to large increases in financial activity for 36% of businesses, with a further 45.1% of companies expecting small increases;
29.6% of small firms indicated they have a low degree of skills which would prevent them seizing opportunities arising from the deployment of high speed broadband;
73.5% indicated that they were likely to upgrade to high speed broadband, if available;
Reliability of service was the dominant factor influencing the extent of uptake.
More; Survey link (1.8mb PDF)
Principle and the web wilderness 17 October
Miami Herald (US): Twice in recent weeks big news outfits embarrassed themselves when affiliated Internet operations ignored basic principles of journalistic practice. What's apparent is that although legacy media may regard their Web sites as domesticated showcases for traditional work, heeding the same rules, the Internet is no petting zoo. It's a wilderness, and the wildlife has free-ranging ideas of their own about what they should be doing.
More
Media Report gets the chop
ABC Radio National’s long-running Media Report is to be axed, which will prove a loss to analysts and students of media, given it is the only dedicated national electronic media analysis program. (We don't include ABC TV's Media Watch because it's a relatively narow critical exercise, lacking the depth offered by the radio show.)
The Australian reports: ABC TV stars Andrew Denton and Margaret Pomeranz are among those who have written to the broadcaster's managing director, Mark Scott, expressing their dissatisfaction with cuts to Radio National.
More; ABC announcement; Media Report home
Kids TV deadline extended
ACMA: In response to requests from a number of stakeholders, the Australian Communications and Media Authority has extended the period for public and industry submissions on the draft Children’s Television Standards 2008. The closing date for comments is now Friday, 31 October, 2008.
More
Surfing the web helps the brain
University of California: UCLA scientists have found that for computer-savvy middle-aged and older adults, searching the Internet triggers key centers in the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning. The findings demonstrate that Web search activity may help stimulate and possibly improve brain function.
The study, the first of its kind to assess the impact of Internet searching on brain performance, is currently in press at the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and will appear in an upcoming issue.
"The study results are encouraging, that emerging computerized technologies may have physiological effects and potential benefits for middle-aged and older adults," said principal investigator Dr. Gary Small, a professor at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA who holds UCLA's Parlow-Solomon Chair on Aging. "Internet searching engages complicated brain activity, which may help exercise and improve brain function."
More at UCLA
MEAA rejects call for police suppression powers
MEAA: An inquest finding that WA police should get new powers to silence investigative reporting is an affront to free speech and the public right to know, the media union said today.
“Police are already in serious trouble over the wrongful jailing of Andrew Mallard for 12 years, now authorities want greater secrecy − it’s absurd,” the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance said.
Senior police had every opportunity to ask ABC reporter Sue Short not to name Simon Rochford as a suspect in the murder of Mosman Park jeweller Pamela Lawrence, for which Mallard was wrongfully jailed, Alliance WA Branch Secretary Michael Sinclair-Jones said.
They also had the opportunity to warn prison authorities that Mr Rochford would be named before he committed suicide in his cell soon after.
“Had police taken either step, Mr Rochford might still be alive,” Sinclair-Jones said.
“Giving police extra powers of secrecy is not the answer.
“We’ve seen journalists − including Ms Short − hauled before secret tribunals and threatened with jail if they don’t disclose confidential sources, an armed police raid on the Sunday Times over an alleged government leak and now this.
“WA is in danger of becoming a police state where the public right to know is treated as a crime.
“The new WA Government was elected on a platform of openness and accountability.
“Premier Colin Barnett has a moral obligation to publicly reject the inquest recommendation.”
MEAA; Report on the inquest
Benton headlines
MEDIA RECESSION WILL LAST 18 MONTHS [SOURCE: Portfolio.com, AUTHOR: Jeff Bercovici] Merrill Lynch media analyst Jessica Reif-Cohen thinks the consumer spending recession just getting under way will resemble pre-World War II downturns, which typically lasted 18 months. Media stocks will start to rebound a quarter before the recession ends; ad spending won't recover until a quarter or two after. http://benton.org/node/17866
IN TARGETING ONLINE ADS, CAMPAIGNS ASK: WHO'S SEARCHING FOR WHAT? [SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Peter Whoriskey] Discovering how people search for candidate information -- exactly what words they type into a search box -- is a budding science that is paying big dividends in the presidential race between Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL). As never before, the campaigns are buying ads to run along with the results of specific search queries on Google, Yahoo and Microsoft's Live. Because the ads catch people just as they are searching for information and because they can be tailored to the users' immediate interest -- the phrases they type in -- both campaigns are spending millions on the method, which is relatively new in politics. http://benton.org/node/17887
VODAFONE GIVES NETWORK NEUTRALITY A THUMBS DOWN [SOURCE: InfoWorld, AUTHOR: Mikael Ricknäs] Vodafone doesn't believe Network Neutrality will work as capacity demands increase, forcing operators to build out faster networks. Instead, a second network is needed, according to David Leftley, head of technology economics at Vodafone Group R&D. His idea of how future networks should be financed and built is at odds with the principles of network neutrality. "There are the network neutralists who believe we just build an infinite capacity network, as big as you can. Bandwidth is infinite, the carrier has no differentiation, and all content has infinite value. The application provider, on the whole, ignores the carrier. There is no value exchange, so I don't see how that can work," said Leftley. Instead, what is needed is an alternative, intelligent Internet that can extract and distribute the value of the content it carries, Leftley said. The solution he proposes, IPX (IP Exchange), is already being developed by mobile phone operators. IPX will consist of a number of private, global IP (Internet Protocol) backbones designed to guarantee quality of service when users connected to different mobile operators communicate with one other. The first IPX networks will see the light of day next year, and will make it possible for all involved to receive "a fair commercial return for their work," according to industry organization the GSM Association, which is leading the development. What Leftley sees as a change in the message from network vendors has convinced him that operators are on the right track. http://benton.org/node/17869
BRITAIN CONSIDERS DATABASE FOR TELEPHONE AND E-MAIL TRAFFIC [SOURCE: Associated Press] The British government is considering setting up a database of all phone and e-mail traffic in the country as part of a high-tech strategy to fight terrorism and crime, its senior law enforcement official said Wednesday. The official, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, said Britain's police and security services needed new ways to collect and store records of phone calls, e-mail messages and Internet traffic. Technological changes have created an online world that is complex and fragmented, Ms. Smith said, and important information like telephone billing data is not always retained. New strategies are needed to find "some way or other to collect that data and store it," she said. Opposition politicians and civil liberties groups immediately condemned the idea, and the country's independent reviewer of terrorism laws, Lord Carlile, said the government should not be allowed to set up a vast "data warehouse." http://benton.org/node/17889
BIG MEDIA, BAD IDEA [SOURCE: Portfolio.com, AUTHOR: Sophia Banay] Big media just isn't working. Say what you want about the benefits of synergies and size for big media companies; for their shareholders, the bigger the company, the smaller the gains. How about small media? Or at least smaller media? The supposed "synergies" between the divisions of modern conglomerates have never really blossomed. http://benton.org/node/17867
INTERNET MEANS 'POWER TO THE PEOPLE' IN ELECTION PROCESS [SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Mark Walsh] The Internet has had an undeniable impact on the 2008 election, but news organizations are still wrestling with the mashup of traditional and newer, participatory forms of political coverage. http://benton.org/node/17865
RETHINKING RESEARCH IN THE GOOGLE ERA [SOURCE: eSchool News, AUTHOR: Meris Stansbury] As the Internet replaces library databases as students' primary research option, a new discussion is emerging in academic circles: Is the vast amount of information at students' fingertips changing the way they gather and process information for the better -- or for worse? http://benton.org/node/17862
What print can learn from Google sales
From 2008 World Digital Publishing Conference:
Newspapers must change the way they’re selling advertising in the multimedia world, says Mr Wuttke, whose presentation focused on how newspaper companies can change their sales practices for the multimedia world.
Here are the challenges facing publishers, according to Mr Wuttke: Websites are not sold like newspapers but on audience and on reach; most newspaper websites limit themselves to newspaper content and dismiss search, community content, video, blogs, local directories, shopping, email etc; and newspaper sales staff have difficulties selling online.
Using examples of both good and bad practices, he recommended that newspapers develop their online and ‘bundled’ sales channels, that they adopt dynamic pricing, that they develop new advertising products (local search and hyper-local content, cost-per-action payment models, crossmedia packages) and that they work harder to integrate and develop social and “influencer” media, which are changing the media landscape.
Mr Wuttke pointed to the Google Print Ads system as one good model. Google, which currently offers advertisers nearly 800 US newspapers in which to place ads, has integrated several successful elements worth studying: the system makes the process easy; it tells the advertisers clearly why they should advertise in newspapers; and it allows the advertisers to make their own advertisements, and to set their own price - it’s up to the publisher to accept or reject it.
Here are two of Mr Wuttke’s conclusions:
Social media are having a big impact on media and are fundamentally changing the advertising market. Newspaper must find ways to cooperate with and integrate social networks.
Newspapers should establish their own advertising e-sales channels like Google’s and look for cooperation/ bundling methods with newspaper peers. The target should be 10 percent of revenue and 50 percent of new customers in two years via the online channel.
More from the conference
MEAA seeks new media info
Media Alliance: Attached is a link to an online survey we are conducting of Australian journalists and news media workers about the effect that moving into new media is having on people’s jobs. It is an amalgam of similar surveys done in the US by the Pew Foundation and in the UK by the National Union of Journalists.
We have purposely kept is as short as possible while aiming to maximise the value of the data in building a picture of how change is affecting your work and working conditions.
It should take no more than five minutes to fill out. We intend to incorporate the results in our Future of Journalism report which is under production for release towards the end of the year.
The survey will close 9.00pm, Sunday 21 October. Please take the very short time it will require to complete this as it will be very valuable data in helping us assess the pace and extent of change in Australian journalism.
Link
Are elite papers the future?
American Journalism Review: A smaller, less frequently published version packed with analysis and investigative reporting and aimed at well-educated news junkies that may well be a smart survival strategy for the beleaguered old print product.
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Online Publisher Association headlines
Media hit by downturn
The massive sell-off in global stock markets has hit media and Internet companies hard: Time Warner, News Corp., CBS Corp. and Yahoo all hit lows not seen in years, while analysts downgraded their earnings estimates for bellwether Google. Plus, local advertisers might become skittish if sectors like automotive continue to suffer. "People were more bullish in this economic downturn than they were in 2002," Kelsey Group's Matt Booth told AdAge. "[But] a lot could have changed in the past six weeks." If small businesses are hit by the credit crunch, they may cut back on online advertising as well -- which would hurt Google hard. "We see no business model based on advertising or consumer spending that will be immune to a downturn," UBS analyst Ben Schachter said, as he cut earnings estimates for Google, ValueClick and Yahoo.
But there were signs of hope, even among blog publishers. The L.A. Times noted that GigaOm's publisher just raised $4.5 million in funding, while PaidContent is still hiring people. Others believe that online advertising -- and search, in particular -- will weather the economic storm. "Sites with highly targeted content that attracts endemic advertisers or demographic clusters will be better off than broad reach sites," wrote Jeremy Liew of VC firm Lightspeed Venture Partners. Liew believes that experimental ad forays will be the first to get cut, and that direct response ads will thrive. Mathew Ingram of the Toronto Globe and Mail thought offline media might fare worse than online: "An online-ad apocalypse doesn't seem terribly likely either. If anything, it seems as though traditional media should be the one feeling twitchy at this point.
Google and YouTube revise ad approach
Maybe the solution to a slowdown in advertising online is to simply add more advertising and revenue opportunities. That seems to be what's happening at behemoth Google and its YouTube division. YouTube, in particular, has rolled out e-commerce links below some partner videos, so that you can buy songs you hear on iTunes or buy videogames on Amazon. YouTube hopes to build a "broad, viable e-commerce platform for users and partners on YouTube" with its click-to-buy buttons, according to the Official Google Blog. YouTube also started running post-roll video ads, which will play if you don't click on overlay ads during videos. Though YouTube has resisted running these types of popular ads in the past, times are changing. Google honcho Eric Schmidt had promised more innovative ads on YouTube, but NewTeeVee's Liz Gannes says "for now, at least, the next big thing is hardly new."
As YouTube continues to pile on more video ads and revenue opportunities, Google is reconsidering how it markets its own products to consumers. The Wall Street Journal reports that the company has had intense internal struggles over whether it should make more advertising splashes rather than its traditional reliance on word-of-mouth and partner promotions. The company has hired former Ogilvy & Mather exec Andy Berndt to run the new Google Creative Lab to find new ways to promote products. Plus, Google is making a branding and advertising push with its new G1 cell phone with T-Mobile. But the Journal notes that the company founders haven't been enamored with big ad spends: "Messrs. Brin and Page remain cautious and have pushed back against some ideas they believe are inconsistent with the company's image, say people familiar with the matter."
Do static online ads work best?
In a recent survey of 14,000 media site visitors, iPerceptions found that people were more likely to click on low-tech ads rather than video or rich media ads. The firm found that 25% of people said they were likely to click on text ads, 20% on side banner ads, and 12% on top banners. Video ads did even worse, with only 11% saying they were likely to click on them, with just 7% saying they would click on rich media ads. Plus, the heaviest video-ad clickers also had the lowest annual income: Almost 40% of people who were likely to click made less than $50,000 per year, while 15% of video-ad clickers made more than $150,000 per year. "It's clear that video is not a platform or vehicle that people are likely to engage with, so it calls into question the monetization strategies of channels like YouTube and Hulu," said iPerceptions exec Jonathan Levitt. He told MediaPost the study also called into question the value of gauging ad campaigns on clicks alone, and thought other factors should be taken into account.
Online Publishers Association
First wives club becomes reality 7 October
You may recall the 1996 movie First Wives Club, where three feisty women wreak revenge on wayward ex-husbands, well it seems yet again that reality is becoming stranger than fiction.In a move that arguably could only happen in the internet age, an American web site called FirstWives.com has kicked off and seems to be developing a following.
It promises: “FirstWivesWorld.com offers a world of support, advice, inspiration and new ways to socialize now that they are no longer part of a couple. The site lets members start discussion groups, post blogs, and search out and find one another via a host of details in common in order to start growing a special network of support as well as new social and business opportunities.”
The site is interesting from marketing point of view because it represents some opportunities and challenges for anyone wanting to associate a brand with it. Do you want to reach this group when they are perhaps not in the best of humour, and how transitional is the audience? Nevertheless you’d be buying up advertising if you were a divorce lawyer…
Financial crisis will sting media
The current international financial market woes will inevitably hurt media, and it will be interesting which companies will be able to become predators as a result.Uncertain sentiment and slashed marketing budgets will inevitably hurt ad sales, while the history of the 1987 stockmarket crash shows that non-essential items like leisure magazines can take a serious hit when householders are forced to economise. That was a period when giants such as Women’s Weekly saw their circulation plummet.It could however help free-to-air media maintain audience share, and might do the same for internet – assuming people regard maintenance of a connection as a household essential.While cashflow will no doubt be a concern for many media companies, the rising cost of debt could end up being the real problem for some and it’s likely that we’ll see some changes of ownership.
Product placement drops
Variety, via Benton: According to a report by Nielsen, product placement on primetime programming for the first six months of 2008 was down nearly 15%. But even taking into account that double-digit drop, January-June viewers still experienced 204,919 "brand occurrences." And that decrease represents a mathematical average between broadcast placements, which actually jumped 12% over those six months, and a 20% decline in onscreen cable shout-outs. The report largely attributes the over-the-air increases to just two scheduling tweaks: NBC's The Biggest Loser, broadcast's second most product-populated skein, premiered its fifth season in January rather than in its usual fall perch, while Fox's Hell's Kitchen, which bowed in June 2007, premiered this year in April, placing more of its episodes in the spring.
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How do you like your ads?
Mediamark Research & Intelligence (MRI) has released a consumer segmentation analysis—titled Responsiveness to Ads Across Media—categorising US adults according to the media in which they prefer to receive advertising messages.
Among other findings, the data shows that 9% of US adults belong in the “Ads on Emerging Media Vehicles” segment, the group of consumers who say they are most interested in advertising delivered via such non-traditional media as mobile devices and product placement in video games, movies and in TV shows. The median age of this segment is 35.5—younger than the median age of the other five segments.
Ads delivered via mass media are preferred by 17 per cent of US adults; an additional 17% of consumers belong in the “Ads on Paper” segment and are most interested in ads delivered in print.
The most populous segment, at 32% of US all adults, is labeled “Ad Adverse,” meaning they are either disinterested in advertising delivered by any medium or they have not been exposed to a particular ad platform.
The nine per cent of US adults who comprise the “Ads on Emerging Media Vehicles” segment are far more likely than the average adult to agree with the following statements:
• A celebrity endorsement may influence me to consider or buy a product;
• I’m always one of the first of my friends to try new products or services.;
• I follow the latest trends and fashions;
• Brand name is the best indication of quality.
“Consumers who prefer advertising messages delivered through their mobile devices and through product placement tend to be younger, pro-innovation, pro- celebrity and pro-fashion,” said Anne Marie Kelly of MRI.
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Are they really watching?
It’s the age-old question for TV advertisers, are they really watching? They may be, but perhaps not with their complete attention. According to another MRI study, 20089 MediaDay: when more than one medium is used simultaneously in the home, it is typically TV and another medium. For instance, 19% of at-home magazine reading is done while watching TV; 17.4% of Internet usage is done while watching TV; and 15.3% of at-home newspaper reading is done while watching TV.
Has porn lost its attraction?
Okay, that headline may be hyperbole, but the reality is that pornography has given up its long-held title as the most popular content on the internet to social networking sites.Backing the judgment of the established publishing giants which bought early and often into this segment, usually at huge cost, is Hitwise Australia general manager Bill Tancer.He has published the findings of his study of people’s search engine behaviour in a book titled, Click: What Millions of People are Doing Online and Why It Matters.Tancer argues that we are what we click, and that our behaviour with Google’s ubiquitous screen says a lot about our lives and interests.Searches for porn have dropped from 20 to 10 per cent in the last decade, being overtaken by searches for social networks. Tancer says the shift is being driven by the 18 to 24-year old age group.He also says there is a strong element of predictability, for example interest in anti-depressants spikes each year around the festive season.
Gamer experience is rich & varied
From the Pew Project in the USA: the first national survey of its kind finds that virtually all American teens play computer, console, or cell phone games and that the gaming experience is rich and varied, with a significant amount of social interaction and potential for civic engagement. Game playing is universal, with almost all teens playing games and at least half playing games on a given day. Game playing experiences are diverse, with the most popular games falling into the racing, puzzle, sports, action and adventure categories. Game playing is also social, with most teens playing games with others at least some of the time and can incorporate many aspects of civic and political life. Another major finding is that game playing sometimes involves exposure to mature content, with almost a third of teens playing games that are listed as appropriate only for people older than they are. (See pewinternet.org)
Hyper-local trend grows in UK
Northcliffe Media in the UK has announced the launch of 45 local hyper-local websites in order to expand its Thisis network, which already offers numerous regional and urban areas. The move will be focused on local services for Nottingham areas like Beeston, Hucknall, Sherwod and Long Eaton.
This brings the company’s publication count to 151 daily, weekly and free papers.
"If you rewind the clock to a few years ago, people would describe businesses like Northcliffe as primarily newspaper publishing businesses with a few websites. Now they'd describe us as a multimedia business," Sean Mahon, the firm's marketing director, recently told.
Hyper-local media has become a strong trend in the UK, with the BBC experimenting regional broadcasting down to individual counties.
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