Category Archives: Media & Publishing

Transcontinental Media squeezing freelancers: why this matters to us all

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Source  CMG  •  POSTED ON  February 20, 2013

Transcontinental Media, publisher of magazines such as Elle Canada and The Hockey News as well as dozens of community newspapers across the country, is trying to impose a harsh new contract on freelancers. The conditions Transcontinental is seeking undermine everyone in the sector.

Transcontinental wants the same rights it gets for the work of employees and highly-paid contractors. The catch? It wants to keep paying low editorial freelance rates.

Freelancers are being asked to sign over all rights to the pieces they contribute, on all platforms and all brands the company owns, in all countries, forever. Transcontinental is also seeking the right to change the work in any way it wants and either leave the freelancer’s byline off – or, perhaps worse, leave it on.

Please spread the word about this – especially if you know anyone who freelances for Transcontinental. The Guild is organizing with fed-up freelancers to fix the contract. Write to Keith Maskell (keith@cmg.ca).

There’s more to this story, which you can find on Story Board here.

Newsosaur: Why Digital Natives Hate Newspapers

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Source: editorandpublisher.com

by: Alan D. Mutter

Several years ago, The Washington Post convened a series of focus groups to learn why most people younger than 45 did not subscribe to the newspaper — a problem persisting to this day throughout the overwhelmingly print-centric industry.

It’s not that people didn’t like the Post, reported the American Journalism Review in a 2005 article describing the research project. The problem was that the respondents — many of whom happily consumed news on digital devices — drew the line at piles of old newspapers cluttering up their lives. According to a Post executive quoted by the AJR, more than one respondent declared: “I don’t want that hulking thing in my house.”

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Vancouver Sun and Province get new president, discuss content-sharing

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Source: thetyee.ca

By ROBYN SMITH

A former managing editor of the Vancouver Sun is the new president and publisher of the newspaper, as well as The Province, it was announced today.

Gordon Fisher, most recently the president of the National Post, will now oversee the Pacific Newspaper Group, the company that manages the major B.C. dailies.

“A major focus of this year’s business strategy is to redefine our organization and today we announced changes to the senior management group,” wrote Postmedia CEO Paul Godfrey in a statement. “I have great confidence that Gord will be able to parlay the successes he has had in Eastern Canada and bring his insights and passion to our BC operations.”

Fisher succeeds Kevin Bent, who’s held the job since 2006 but is now leaving to pursue other opportunities, according to Godfrey’s statement.

Postmedia suffered a decrease in its first quarter earnings, the Globe and Mailreported last week. To pay down debt and invest in profitable areas of the business, Godfrey said the company must cut up to $80 million out of its operating budget over the next two years, as well as boost digital revenue.

Today’s announcement follows discussions among senior management about sharing content between the two newspapers. On Jan. 17, The Province’s editor-in-chief Wayne Moriarty sent an email to the paper’s editorial team about some of those discussions, which The Tyee obtained. We reprint some of that email below:

“The Province and The Sun have pooled resources and shared a photo department since January 2010. This eliminated duplication — those occasions when each paper dispatched photographers to the same news events, games, concerts, meetings and other assignments. The move also enabled a rationalization of assignment staffing, with one editor from each paper able to cover the department around the clock.

“The papers centralized the assignment and editing functions for both newsrooms’ production of Travel, Driving, New Homes, At Home, and Recreational Properties. The Specialty Publications department works closely with advertisers to produce copy for both papers, with an office and supervision that is completely separate from the two newsrooms, and more closely allied with Advertising and the Creative departments.

“For special events the two newsrooms have combined staffing in order to eliminate duplication and increase the volume of content online and in the papers, including the 2010 Olympics, and provincial and civic elections.

“On Wednesday [Jan. 16], section heads and senior management from both papers met to discuss the next step in sharing content. The three areas most affected will be city, sports and entertainment. The objective is to eliminate some duplication in areas around commodity news and event coverage. Excluded from the sharing strategy will be all enterprise reporting and reporting that either paper deems necessary to maintain its unique identity.”

Robyn Smith reports for The Tyee.

Scrambling for Profit, Media Slip ‘Custom Content’ into Mix

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Some reporters resent rise of assignments born of deals with advertisers.

Source: thetyee.ca
By Jonathan Sas

“I hate it. I hate doing it… It’s not what I signed up for.” That’s the lament of a former Postmedia reporter assigned all too often to write “custom content.”

Most of us assume that media outlets still go about producing their news the traditional way — a reporter sniffs out a lead or an editor assigns an evolving story or, these days, a columnist storifies a flurry of Twitter activity.

Increasingly, however, stories are put into motion differently. Referred to variously as custom content, custom publishing or directed content, Canada’s major broadsheets and newsmagazines are now speckled with content spun up by marketers and brand sponsors.

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Print’s financial future may last longer than expected, according to new reports

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Source: poynter.org

As this year begins, three notable reports share the same conclusion about the future of news: The path we are on is uncertain and debatable. But two of the three studies now see an extended economic shelf life for print, even as audiences swing digital and the search for viable digital news products continues.

 

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Think newspapers are doomed? Think again

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Source: kamloopsnews.ca

The death of newspapers has been greatly exaggerated, Rotarians heard Monday.

Peter Kvarnstrom, chairman of the Canadian Newspapers Association board, told a luncheon of the Rotary Club of Kamloops that the print medium is far from extinction.

Kvarnstrom also serves as president of B.C. community media for Glacier Media Group, the B.C.-based publisher of The Daily News and 80 other community newspapers across Canada.

“We really have been our worst enemy over the last decade in reporting on our death or impending death,” Kvarnstrom said.

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British Columbians Prefer Established Media to Get News

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Source: angus-reid.com

Most respondents rely on television, print newspapers and radio to make informed choices before an election.

British Columbians express a preference for unbiased journalism from established news organizations, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll conducted in partnership with the Jack Webster Foundation has found.

In the online survey of a representative sample of 800 British Columbians, almost four-in-five respondents (78%) say they prefer getting news from sources that do not have a particular political point of view, while one-in-ten (10%) favour news from sources that they consider closer to their political point of view.

Three-in-four BC residents (74%) say they prefer to get news from established news organizations, such as newspapers, television stations or radio stations. Conversely, 12 per cent of all respondents—but 20 per cent of those aged 18-to-34—like to get news from organizations or people who are not affiliated with a newspaper, television station or radio station.

Three-in-five British Columbians (59%) report having watched a news program on broadcast television the day before, and at least two-in-five read a printed version of a newspaper (47%), watched a news program on cable television (45%), listened to a radio news program (44%) or visited the online portal of an established news organization (40%). Fewer respondents say they visited a blog or other current events online portal that is not affiliated with a newspaper, television station or radio station (22%), used Twitter to get news (10%) or read a current events magazine (10%).

Breaking News

Respondents were presented with three scenarios for breaking news stories, and asked where they would turn to for more information. In the event of a blockbuster trade in the National Hockey League (NHL), almost two-in-five British Colombians (38%) would go on the Internet, while one-in-four (23%) would seek news on television.

If a high-profile Canadian politician were to quit, 43 per cent would go online to find out more, and 40 per cent would watch television. If a terrorist attack outside Canada took place, almost half (49%) would seek more information on television, while 41 per cent would look on the Internet.

Politics and the Media

A majority of respondents in British Columbia say they rely on television (72%), print newspapers (57%), radio (51%) and online portals of established news organizations (50%) to make an informed choice about which candidate, or party, they would support in an election. About a third (32%) say they rely on non-affiliated online portals, while one-in-four (26%) rely on social media.

Full Report, Detailed Tables and Methodology (PDF)

CONTACT:

Mario Canseco, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion
+877 730 3570
mario.canseco@angus-reid.com

Methodology: From October 17 to October 18, 2012, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among 800 randomly selected British Columbia adults who are Angus Reid Forum panellists. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 3.5%. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region Census data to ensure a sample representative of the entire adult population of British Columbia. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.

The Orange County Register is hiring dozens of reporters, focusing on print-first expansion

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Source: niemanlab.org

After being sold over the summer, the newspaper is hiring about 50 editorial staffers and adding new print sections — because print’s where the money is.

Why did the Orange County Register send reporters and photogs to cover 40 — yes, four-zero, 40 — high-school sporting events in one weekend?

No, it’s not another news mob. Nor is it a one-time thing. At a time when many newspaper companies are starting to think digital first, the Register is investing in print.

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Sorry Genius, for Old Media the Sky Is Not Falling

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Newspaper companies are doing just fine, thanks. Journalists, not so much.

Source: thetyee.ca

Toronto journalism nerds are flocking to a sold-out event this evening, provocatively titled “Yes, Genius, the Sky Is Falling. So Now What?” I have thus been provoked to pen… er, pixel this contrarian view.

The event features David Carr, media critic for the New York Times, who was a key figure in last year’s documentary Page One: Inside the New York Times. Here’s why they brought him in, according to the event’s web site:

“It’s clear that between evaporating business models and dispersing audiences that legacy media is on the run. Would it be better to blow it all up and start over or can the dinosaurs dance to a new soundtrack? David Carr, business columnist and culture reporter for the New York Times, examines the value of traditional media in a very cluttered, confusing age. In conversation with Michael Enright, host of CBC Radio One’s The Sunday Edition.”

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