Three of the largest newspaper groups in the United States are in talks to set up a network to sell advertising jointly on their newspapers’ Web sites.
The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Gannett Co., McClatchy Co. and Tribune Co. are planning to offer advertisers “one-stop shopping” for display ads on Internet sites.
The project, code-named Open Network, is an effort to woo national advertising from big advertisers like car manufacturers and phone companies.
The three publishers already cooperate through the online employment Web site CareerBuilder.
This new project comes as Yahoo Inc. and Monster.com court newspapers in a bid to grow online classified employment revenues.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Morris joining Yahoo group
Morris Communications Co. LLC became the ninth newspaper publisher to join the Yahoo Inc. consortium aimed at growing online recruitment revenues.
Morris’ 27 papers will begin offering Yahoo HotJobs employment and recruitment services to local employers and job seekers.
In addition, Morris’ newspapers will work with Yahoo to provide search, content and local applications across its publications’ Web sites.
The consortium, unveiled in November, now represents more than 200 papers published by backers Belo Corp.; Cox Newspapers Inc.; E.W. Scripps Co.; Hearst Communications Inc.; Journal Register Co.; Lee Enterprises Inc.; Media General Inc. and MediaNews Group Inc.
Morris’ 27 papers will begin offering Yahoo HotJobs employment and recruitment services to local employers and job seekers.
In addition, Morris’ newspapers will work with Yahoo to provide search, content and local applications across its publications’ Web sites.
The consortium, unveiled in November, now represents more than 200 papers published by backers Belo Corp.; Cox Newspapers Inc.; E.W. Scripps Co.; Hearst Communications Inc.; Journal Register Co.; Lee Enterprises Inc.; Media General Inc. and MediaNews Group Inc.
Electronic newspapers find new avenues from technology developments
By Marcelo Duran
Associate Editor
Recent breakthroughs in mobile technology are opening up more possibilities for newspapers seeking to publish electronic editions.
Several vendors are offering newspaper versions that can be read online, offline, on black and white editions printed remotely or viewed via laptops and cell phones.
Case in point: Apple Inc.’s iPhone, which combines the functions of a cell phone, an iPod MP3 player and an e-mail and Web browsing platform.
The latter feature should pique the interest of e-edition vendors such as NewspaperDirect, NewsStand Inc. and Olive Software Inc.
That’s because iPhone users will be able to easily and quickly view and zoom into Web pages by tapping on the device’s multitouch display, the company said.
Apple’s phone, available this summer, is the latest mobile device to allow users to access newspapers’ electronic editions.
In October, NewspaperDirect made its PressDisplay.com app available to PocketPC and smartphone users.
Subscribers can browse and read more than 350 newspapers, NewspaperDirect said. Articles, translated on the fly, are available in up to 12 different languages and users can use the app to listen to stories as well.
Multiple papers available
In addition to the mobile service, NewspaperDirect offers remote printing of more than 450 newspapers from 69 countries and 37 languages via printing kiosks.
One client, The Washington Post, touts the service because it enables readers to access the paper worldwide. Using NewspaperDirect doesn’t require any additional staffing, said John Lipp, market development manager for The Post’s electronic edition.
“Because the same images are used for both the print and electronic product, no additional Washington Post personnel are required to publish the electronic version,” he said.
Publishers are also using e-papers to save on print and delivery costs in areas like the Newspaper In Education Program.
Branching out
Last December, The (Nampa-Caldwell) Idaho Press-Tribune began using Olive Software’s ActivePaper Daily for students participating in NIE. The paper has more than 1,770 subscribers in the program with plans of expanding it to 2,500, said Laura Stewart, circulation director.
Currently, the Press-Tribune is delivering electronic replicas to 14 local schools and an adult learning center. It even made it to myspace.com, with the help of a local student who posted her picture content using Olive’s e-edition article clipping software.
All schools
By the end of 2008, the paper wants to send its replica to all of the area’s middle and high schools, Stewart said.
“We thought it was an effective way for folks who don’t have time to read the traditional morning newspaper to get their news in an online format, updated daily and at half the cost,” Stewart said.
The newspaper received positive feedback from readers who liked having each edition available before the print newspaper is delivered to their doorsteps.
Users also liked the fact that articles and photos are printable and that ads are linked to the advertiser’s home page, Stewart added.
Vendor to build e-reader plant
Flexible display vendor Plastic Logic announced plans last month to build a factory to mass-produce electronic readers.
The Cambridge, England, company secured $100 million of equity finance from a consortium of European lenders to build the plant, to be located near Dresden, Germany.
Plastic Logic said the new facility would produce active-matrix display modules for “take anywhere, read anywhere” electronic reader products.
Plastic Logic unveiled its latest 150 pixels per inch SVGA flexible active-matrix display technology last October.
Associate Editor
Recent breakthroughs in mobile technology are opening up more possibilities for newspapers seeking to publish electronic editions.
Several vendors are offering newspaper versions that can be read online, offline, on black and white editions printed remotely or viewed via laptops and cell phones.
Case in point: Apple Inc.’s iPhone, which combines the functions of a cell phone, an iPod MP3 player and an e-mail and Web browsing platform.
The latter feature should pique the interest of e-edition vendors such as NewspaperDirect, NewsStand Inc. and Olive Software Inc.
That’s because iPhone users will be able to easily and quickly view and zoom into Web pages by tapping on the device’s multitouch display, the company said.
Apple’s phone, available this summer, is the latest mobile device to allow users to access newspapers’ electronic editions.
In October, NewspaperDirect made its PressDisplay.com app available to PocketPC and smartphone users.
Subscribers can browse and read more than 350 newspapers, NewspaperDirect said. Articles, translated on the fly, are available in up to 12 different languages and users can use the app to listen to stories as well.
Multiple papers available
In addition to the mobile service, NewspaperDirect offers remote printing of more than 450 newspapers from 69 countries and 37 languages via printing kiosks.
One client, The Washington Post, touts the service because it enables readers to access the paper worldwide. Using NewspaperDirect doesn’t require any additional staffing, said John Lipp, market development manager for The Post’s electronic edition.
“Because the same images are used for both the print and electronic product, no additional Washington Post personnel are required to publish the electronic version,” he said.
Publishers are also using e-papers to save on print and delivery costs in areas like the Newspaper In Education Program.
Branching out
Last December, The (Nampa-Caldwell) Idaho Press-Tribune began using Olive Software’s ActivePaper Daily for students participating in NIE. The paper has more than 1,770 subscribers in the program with plans of expanding it to 2,500, said Laura Stewart, circulation director.
Currently, the Press-Tribune is delivering electronic replicas to 14 local schools and an adult learning center. It even made it to myspace.com, with the help of a local student who posted her picture content using Olive’s e-edition article clipping software.
All schools
By the end of 2008, the paper wants to send its replica to all of the area’s middle and high schools, Stewart said.
“We thought it was an effective way for folks who don’t have time to read the traditional morning newspaper to get their news in an online format, updated daily and at half the cost,” Stewart said.
The newspaper received positive feedback from readers who liked having each edition available before the print newspaper is delivered to their doorsteps.
Users also liked the fact that articles and photos are printable and that ads are linked to the advertiser’s home page, Stewart added.
Vendor to build e-reader plant
Flexible display vendor Plastic Logic announced plans last month to build a factory to mass-produce electronic readers.
The Cambridge, England, company secured $100 million of equity finance from a consortium of European lenders to build the plant, to be located near Dresden, Germany.
Plastic Logic said the new facility would produce active-matrix display modules for “take anywhere, read anywhere” electronic reader products.
Plastic Logic unveiled its latest 150 pixels per inch SVGA flexible active-matrix display technology last October.
Emprint backer sets alliance
The University of Missouri’s Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute, which pioneered the Emprint electronic format for newspapers, formed an alliance with about 20 newspaper publishers to research and pursue new digital strategies.
“We now have 20 members that include the Los Angeles Times, The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn., and Stars & Stripes,” said Roger Fidler, director of technology initiatives at the Institute.
The Institute in 2005 tested Emprint at the Columbia Missourian, posting a weekly Sunday edition of the paper (see Newspapers & Technology, May 2005.).
Emprint repackages a publication’s content in magazine-size forms that open in full-screen when viewed with Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Although digital newspapers are becoming more popular, Fidler said the technology remains at a very early stage.
“I believe widespread adoption will depend on the emergence of low-cost, lightweight, easy-to-use and mobile reading devices,” he said.
“I predicted that mobile reading devices and digital newspaper editions would become commercially competitive with paper and printed editions around 2010 and I still believe that’s possible.”
The alliance’s members are evaluating Emprint, which Fidler touts as being easier to use because of its navigational capabilities and easy-to-read format.
“Our focus is on digital information products that can be read on mobile reading devices, such as e-Readers, tablet PCs and handheld communicators,” he said.
Fidler said that business publisher The Deal, a founding member of the alliance, plans to launch an Emprint version of its content early this year.
“We now have 20 members that include the Los Angeles Times, The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn., and Stars & Stripes,” said Roger Fidler, director of technology initiatives at the Institute.
The Institute in 2005 tested Emprint at the Columbia Missourian, posting a weekly Sunday edition of the paper (see Newspapers & Technology, May 2005.).
Emprint repackages a publication’s content in magazine-size forms that open in full-screen when viewed with Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Although digital newspapers are becoming more popular, Fidler said the technology remains at a very early stage.
“I believe widespread adoption will depend on the emergence of low-cost, lightweight, easy-to-use and mobile reading devices,” he said.
“I predicted that mobile reading devices and digital newspaper editions would become commercially competitive with paper and printed editions around 2010 and I still believe that’s possible.”
The alliance’s members are evaluating Emprint, which Fidler touts as being easier to use because of its navigational capabilities and easy-to-read format.
“Our focus is on digital information products that can be read on mobile reading devices, such as e-Readers, tablet PCs and handheld communicators,” he said.
Fidler said that business publisher The Deal, a founding member of the alliance, plans to launch an Emprint version of its content early this year.
Cox upgrading Flash support
Coxnet said it would begin using software from On2 Technologies Inc. to enable enhanced video support on its newspapers’ Web sites.
On2’s Flix Engine and Flix Publisher support VP6, the advanced video format used in Adobe Systems Inc.’s Flash Player software.
The On2 apps will allow Cox sites to encode and publish news content that’s created in VP6, the vendor said, as well as reduce the time needed for Cox to encode source material to be posted on the papers’ Web sites.
Coxnet papers using the software will include The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Austin (Texas) American-Statesman and Palm Beach (Fla.) Post.
On2’s Flix Engine and Flix Publisher support VP6, the advanced video format used in Adobe Systems Inc.’s Flash Player software.
The On2 apps will allow Cox sites to encode and publish news content that’s created in VP6, the vendor said, as well as reduce the time needed for Cox to encode source material to be posted on the papers’ Web sites.
Coxnet papers using the software will include The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Austin (Texas) American-Statesman and Palm Beach (Fla.) Post.
CityXpress holiday auctions rack in $2.1 million
CityXpress Corp. said its holiday auction sold 10,000 gift certificates valued at more than $2.1 million.
The Billings (Mont.) Gazette was the top performer, bringing in more than $157,000 and attracting 118 new vendors in its holiday auction.
The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa., earned more than $114,000 in revenue; The News Journal in Wilmington, Del., attracted 152 new vendors and the Globe-Gazette in Mason City, Iowa, sold 85 percent of the certificates it offered, CityXpress said.
The auctions were hosted on 21 media Web sites in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The Billings (Mont.) Gazette was the top performer, bringing in more than $157,000 and attracting 118 new vendors in its holiday auction.
The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa., earned more than $114,000 in revenue; The News Journal in Wilmington, Del., attracted 152 new vendors and the Globe-Gazette in Mason City, Iowa, sold 85 percent of the certificates it offered, CityXpress said.
The auctions were hosted on 21 media Web sites in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
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