Web — AEJMC Hot Topics

Study finds tablet news junkies prefer web to apps

October 26, 2011 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

Credit: New York Times

A recent Pew Research Center study showed that tablet users are consuming more news than they did before they owned a tablet. Although this is a good thing for news companies, the study also shows that users are getting the news primarily from the web (or a combination of the web and an app) instead of from the mobile apps alone. With many news agencies investing time and money into mobile apps, this report may help direct future mobile decisions for news organizations.

PaidContent had this to say about this study:

According to the report, 30 percent are spending more time with the news than before they had a tablet, and one-third are seeking out new news organizations on their tablets they didn’t frequent on their computers or televisions.

That probably all sounds pretty good to a news industry that is looking for any semblance of a spark from the rise of tablets as an alternative to print. But unfortunately for those who have invested heavily in applications as their news-delivery strategy on tablets, 40 percent of those who read news on their tablets at least once a week are getting that news through their browser. An additional 31 percent say they use a combination of the browser and apps, while just 21 percent said they primarily use apps to get their news.

You can read the full blog post on PaidContent here

Filed Under: News Tagged With: mobile apps, News, NYT, Web

Flipboard CEO Says the Future of the Web Will Look More Like Print

September 13, 2011 By AEJMC 1 Comment

By Matthew Panzarino on TNW, Sept. 12, 2011 – Flipboard CEO Mike McCue is on stage at Techcrunch Disrupt conference right now and he is saying some interesting things about the future of the web and the iPad. “The web will feel a lot different in 5 years. It will feel a lot like print and be monetized differently than it is currently.” Update.

McCue also said, “I think that the iPad is a superior consumption device for content on the web. It is actually the perfect device for content on the web. We’re trying to create a new type of browsing experience that is right for the iPad.”

On The Daily and other products that offer media content directly on the iPad, McCue is optimistic. “I think that there will be an opportunity to create new kinds of content companies on the iPad.”

Read the full post on TNW

Filed Under: News Tagged With: content, iPad, Journalism, Print, Web

Where Will TV Be in 2020?

April 19, 2011 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

From Michael Stroud on The Wrap, April 17 - So where will television be in 2020? Seems an appropriate question with the annual NAB Show winding down. And also the subject of a panel I led last week in Vegas with execs from DreamWorks, Sony Electronics, Starz, Nielsen and Technicolor.

Of course, nobody really knows what TV will look like in two years, let alone most of a decade. But the panel boldly took some educated guesses. Read the article

Filed Under: News Tagged With: TV, Web

The End of TV As We Know It

April 1, 2011 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

From Jim Louderback on AdAdge, April 1 -

It’s the end of the world as we know it
It’s the end of the world as we know it
It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine
–REM

Lots of attention has been lavished on Time Warner Cable’s attempt to stream TV networks over its IP network, and the subsequent backlash from those TV networks. But that’s just one recent development that will lead to the end of the multichannel TV bundle as we know it today. Two other developments — Adobe’s new TV Everywhere authentication scheme and Comcast’s drive towards non-system network licensing — spell the beginning of a scorched-earth phase that will unfold over the next year or so. And when it’s done, the media landscape will look entirely different. Let’s take a look at each of these individually, and then wrap up what it all means. Read full article

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Content and Distribution, New Media, TV, Web

Can Content Paywalls Work?

March 17, 2011 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

Today Arthur Ochs Sulzberer Jr., publisher of the New York Times, sent out a letter to readers about the impending access changes for its online users. The letter says that online users will be able to read 20 articles a month (including slide shows and videos) but after that the wallets need to come out. Mobile users accessing NYT from their smartphone or tablet will be able to read top news stories from the NYT app but will have to pay beyond those stories.

The changes will hit U.S. users later this month. Print subscribers will have access to all of the online content (similar to the Economist’s system). You can find out all the details, costs, etc. on their access FAQ page.

The question is, will it work? Do you think that this is the new way for online content, a big mistake, or a non-issue? Let us know in the comments or take our poll.

View poll results

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Content and Distribution, New Media, Newspaper, poll, Traditional Media, Web

The push for paywalls mischaracterizes the nature of online newspaper readership

July 20, 2010 By AEJMC 1 Comment

As U.S. newspaper publishers increasingly talk of building paywalls around their online content to ward off free-riders cannibalizing their print product, new research suggests that such efforts may backfire because most local users of local newspaper sites already are paying customers—by paying for the print edition.

A study published in the latest issue of Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly found that two-thirds of visitors to local newspaper websites are “hybrid” readers—that is, they regularly read the print edition (and most of them pay for it) as well as the online version—in contrast to the remaining one-third of “online-only” readers. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Research Tagged With: Content and Distribution, Hisang Iris Chyi, International Journal on Media Management, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Media Economics, Mengchieh Jacie Yang, Nan Zheng, Newspaper, Paywalls, Print, Seth C. Lewis, Traditional Media, University of Texas at Austin, Web

CNET: End of gay teen website sparks privacy concerns

July 13, 2010 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

CNET| A now-defunct Web site that catered to gay youth is now ensnared in a federal bankruptcy proceeding that the founder says could result in as many as 1 million profiles being sold to creditors, putting its former subscribers’ privacy at risk.

XY, which billed itself as a young gay men’s magazine and could be found at XY.com, ceased publishing in 2007. Its founder filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year, which could put names, addresses, e-mail addresses, unpublished personal stories, and other information about gay minors into creditors’ hands.

The Federal Trade Commission recently expressed its concerns, saying in a letter to creditors and attorneys involved in the case that “any sale, transfer, or use” of XY’s personal information “raises serious privacy issues and could violate” federal law… READ IT

Filed Under: News Tagged With: CNET, GLBT, Magazine, Privacy, Web, XY

The Future of Local Journalism

July 7, 2010 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

By Stephen Lacy
Professor, Department of Communication and School of Journalism, Michigan State University

Journalists face a crisis. The migration of readers, viewers and advertisers from newspaper and broadcast TV to the Web has combined with the current recession to eliminate jobs and raise concerns about the future of journalism itself. Many observers have addressed these concerns with conflicting conclusions. However, the importance of the discussion is not that someone will be right or wrong but that the conversation might help journalists better understand the trends, and, therefore, help them influence the ways they react to the trends.
Much of the disagreement in the discussions comes from a failure to address the particular type of markets being discussed. National journalism will be affected by the trends, but the number of news outlets addressing national issues insures that citizens will continue to receive national news from a diversity of outlets. Local news markets, however, have smaller consumer and advertising bases, and the news organizations in these markets confront a more uncertain future than do national news organizations.

The following predictions about the future of local journalism (coverage of communities, towns and cities) start with some observations about current conditions and then suggest what these mean for the future of local journalism. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: Advertising, Citizen Media, Hyper-local, Journalism, Print, Stephen Lacy, Web