Weekly new and digital media story 2

http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/dec/08/government-must-fund-hyperlocal-news-urges-new-report

Government must fund hyper local news, urges new report

The report argues that 

• Ofcom should welcome grassroots hyperlocal media as a positive asset in contributing to media plurality.

• The government should widen existing financial interventions in the local news market to include hyperlocals. For instance, it should permit local authorities to spend some of their statutory advertising budgets through hyperlocal news providers.

• The BBC and other local news organisations should facilitate stronger relationships with hyperlocal news providers.

• The Lottery, and other relevant funders, should consider the potential for establishing a new funding programme dedicated to hyperlocal news sites.

I do think that hyperlocal news should be provided with some sort of financial backing considering the economic decline of the newspaper industry in general. I think that with newspapers likely to move online and onto the pay wall like the Sun, this is likely to be the end of most local newspapers as they will not gain enough subscriptions to survive, therefore they will need financial assistance from the government.

Weekly new and digital media story 1

Google News Spain to be shut down: what does it mean?

Google news has stopped its news service in Spain and removed all links to Spanish media in it's search results due  to the Google tax introduced in Spain to protect Spanish newspaper industries, not allowing Google to provide free news, which causes newspapers to lose money

I think that it highlights the power of Google that it is willing to completely withdraw ts services from an entire country, knowing that it will not be massively influenced due to the large revenues it already creates. I do however think that it probably will help Spanish newspapers to an extent as they will now have to go to newspapers for their news where they will have to pay.

News on the Tweet

1. Why are respected news brands good news for Twitter?

Respected news brands are good for twitter because they bring with them a large following of readers who may then join twitter in order to follow their favourite newspaper online, which benefits both parties.

2. Why in turn is Twitter good for respected news brands?

Twitter is good for respected news brands because twitter users can gain access to their stories using the site. For example if the newspaper posts a link to a post on their page and people re tweet it, more and more people will click on it. It also enables newspapers to interact and adapt to their younger audience who are unlikely to buy broadsheets.

3. The report suggests that old and new media “are not, in fact, in direct competition, but often work extremely well together to enhance both the media eco-system and the consumer experience”. What evidence do they provide to support this idea? Do you agree with it?

The report uses evidence to support new and old media working together such as through twitter, people are able to gain a trusted and respected brand to validate breaking reports, allowing people to gain access to news immediately and gain trusted news. It also uses the example of community in which through following a newspaper on twitter you can interact and debate with people with similar interests and political beliefs. I do think that this shows old media and new media working together, in that old media is the newspaper institution and twitter the new social platform. However this does not solve the problem of old media broadsheets being sold, and in fact only worsens the problem for news institutions to an extent by sharing free content on twitter.

4. On page 24/25 of the report, the focus turns to gossip or banter. What example tweets from journalists are used to illustrate this? 

Tom Newton Dunn @tnewtondunn:

Biggest cheer at the Emirates tonight by 

#AFC? To an announcement for the MUFC 

away fans that no more trains leaving Euston

Lucy Tobin @lucytobin:

Excellent: a University has spent £20,000 

building a mock pub for students to 

investigate why people get drunk. http://t.

co/0iaUkZi1GI.

Neil Ashton @neilashton:

Arsenal are toast: In all seriousness now, what 

are the sales figures like for this kind of stuff

5. Do you think the increasing amount of gossip or banter is harming the reputation of news and journalists?

I think that when using the new media, online platform of twitter that institutions should adapt to the audience on that platform. The main reason institutions are on twitter is to appeal to younger audiences,therefore I think that using gossip and banter especially is a good way in engaging them in the news. In the same way that broadsheets should be professional and well written due to the older audience, institutions should appeal to their audience online by using these techniques.

6. What does the report say about trust in Twitter and journalists (look at pages 34-39)?

The report says that "Almost half of all Twitter users, and almost two thirds of newsbrand users, say it is important that news on Twitter is verified by a respected brand.This helps build trust in the content". This again adds to the point that on twitter newspapers are able to varify breaking news and people are able to gain trusted news quickly.

7. Finally, do you think new and digital media developments such as Twitter have had a positive or negative impact on traditional newspapers?

In terms of the institution as a whole I think that twitter has massively helped newspapers appeal to their younger audiences who otherwise may never see or be aware of many of the stories they are able to access through their twitter feed. These twitter pages are a great way to appeasl to the younger generation and keep them interested and informed with the news.

However giving free content online and posting links to free content on twitter is part of the problem that is causing newspapers to continuously make losses. Younger generations aren't going to pay for content if they can get the content for fee through links on twitter and online. Therefore giving this content on twitter is adding to the problem of broadsheets declining. 

Weekly new and digital media story 1

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/dec/09/tv-dead-long-live-television-format-consuming

The TV is dead, long live television

We might be turning off our sets, but the format is thriving – we’re just consuming it in different ways

• For the first time, the number of UK homes with a television has fallen, with ownership dropping from 26.33 million households to 26.02 million between 2012 and 2013, according to media regulator Ofcom.

• We’re consuming it in different ways: according to Ofcom, nearly 1 million homes have broadband but no telly, while in the past 18 months BBC iPlayer requests from tablets or mobiles have risen from 25% to 47%.

• The rise of the YouTube superstar reflects the way young people are changing how content is produced and consumed

The article discusses the future of the television in households and the possibility of programmes to be completely consumed online in the future online. I do believe that far more programming will begin to move online, proven by BBC Three's recent decision to move online, meaning that far more programmes will be watched over the internet and fewer people will watch content on the TV. However I don't think the television will ever be completely removed from households as in my opinion they are still important and there is certainly still a market for it, going online is unlikely to make any more money from advertising than on TV, the BBC is an exception because it is publicly funded.

Weekly new and digital media story 2

Reading Post bids a print farewell and welcomes an online future

The Reading Post has just published its final issue after its owner, Trinity Mirror, decided to stop publishing its newsprint version.

One of the Post’s articles relates the paper’s 49-year history while another explains the virtues of its online future.

Launched as the Evening Post on 14 September 1965, the Post was then regarded as “the most technologically advanced paper in the country.”

In 1991, it became a tabloid, and three years later it was acquired by the Guardian Media Group (GMG). It turned from a daily into a weekly in May 2009 before GMG sold it on to Trinity Mirror the following year.

Now Trinity Mirror aims, its says, to continue the Post’s legacy of being at the forefront of innovation by focusing on a digital-only approach, a change celebrated by Ed Walker, who has been appointed as publisher of getreading.co.uk. He writes:

“The average adult in the UK who owns a smartphone (such as an iPhone) unlocks their phone more than 100 times a day, and by early 2015 the percentage of adults with a smartphone is set to pass 80%.

We have to ensure getreading is one of those key places people turn to when unlocking their phone, be it for a quick catch-up on the latest news or an in-depth read on the issues affecting our town.”

I think that this move by the Reading Post to move online signals the future of online journalism and newspapers. It is economically unsustainable for the larger newspapers to continue to focus on their print platform let alone smaller papers such as this one. I do however think that the newspaper may struggle online to gain enough revenue from advertising to continue, considering that the Sun is making losses with 225,000 subscribers, it is very difficult for newspapers to make profit. I therefore think that in the future all newspapers will go online and most likely behind a pay wall, and I think that this will mean the end of smaller brands such as this one going bust because people are only going to subscribe to a few popular brands and not lesser known ones, meaning that in the future I think only the major news institutions are likely to be around, unless smaller and local newspapers can gain funding from someone like the BBC.

Weekly new and digital media story 1

http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/dec/17/news-corp-uk-suffers-35m-loss-after-51m-profit-the-year-before

News Corp UK suffers £3.5m loss after £51m profit the year before

Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper and publishing division suffered an operating loss of £3.5m in the year up to June 2014 compared to a £51m profit the year before.

The loss by News Corp UK & Ireland, which owns the Times, Sunday Times, the Sun and the book publisher HarperCollins, is revealed in accounts filed by the company, without fanfare, at Companies House. 

One stand-out feature was the plunge in the profitability of the Sun, where operating profits were down to £35.6m from £62.1m in 2013.

The Sun’s revenues fell 5.5% to £489m, due, says the report, “to continuing market decline in newspaper circulation, particularly for the popular segment”.

Last month, the paper revealed that some 225,000 subscribers had signed up for online packages, which it regarded as a success, but it did not compensate for the continuing decline in print revenues.

Similarly, earlier this month, News UK made much of Times Newspapers having returned an operating profit of £1.7m, but the accounts reveal that it suffered a pre-tax loss.

After a previously positive financial outlook from their pay wall system and released profits it seems as though the pay wall has not been so successful after all. Despite encouraging signs with 225,000 people subscribed to the Sun the profits were not enough to make up for the failing print platform. This perhaps suggests that even a pay wall may not be enough to save newspapers considering that even with that many subscribers it can't make profit. However the article does speak of the heavy fines faced by Newscorp due to their hacking scandal which have significantly contributed to their losses. I therefore feel that the pay wall is the future of newspapers as the print format, as proven by The Sun is no longer economically viable.

Weekly new and digital media story 1 and 2

http://www.ibtimes.com/interview-future-movies-youtube-premiere-sony-comedy-offers-distribution-case-study-1767250
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2015/01/06/the-interview-online-sales-totals/21354589/

Is ‘The Interview’ The Future Of Movies? YouTube Premiere Of Sony Comedy Offers Distribution Case Study For Hollywood

The article explores if the recently released controversial comedy 'The Interview' could represent the future of big budget Hollywood films. The interview was released online on various streaming websites such as YouTube in some areas and made available for download for $5.99. To make back the reported $80 million the studio spent on producing and marketing the North Korean-set comedy, the movie would have to be downloaded more than 13 million times.

However as we can see in the second article, through downloads the film has made over $31 million already and looks set to possibly reach the cost price after DVD release, if not make up most of the money back. The relative success of this film online suggests that perhaps there is a future for Hollywood films online, considering channels such as BBC Three are becoming completely digital far more film and programming looks set to be online in the future.

I however highly doubt that Hollywood films will completely move online, because it would eventually mean the end of the cinema. I feel that to completely abolish the cinema takes away from the movie experience, and paying for the cinema makes far more money for films than online download, for example if the Interview was released in cinemas I am sure it would have exceeded it's production cost in profit. I do however think television programming online is far more likely and already looks set to be taking place with the previously mentioned BBC Three going completely online.