Another Newspaper in a Downward Spiral

It appears that one of the few remaining major newspaper companies that still circulate news in the physical print form is in a downward spiral after a string of firings and resignations, according to The New York Times. One such resignation, that of executive editor John Solomon a couple of weeks ago, has had much more of an impact and is much more telling of the state of The Washington Times today.

Many blame the downturn on Rev. Sun Myung Moon, owner of the company that oversees The Washington Times. In October of this year, Mr. Moon stepped down and turned control over to his four children who began fighting amongst themselves for power. The article states that the feuding was apparent, and caused many to question the company's future after employees began to resign or be fired.

On the positive side, the newspaper did make clear its intentions on transitioning to digital. The article noted that though The Washington Times only circulated about 67,000 printed copies, its website received nearly 2 million "unique visitors" per month, according to Nielson Online.

It's pretty clear that the company needs to address the leadership positions in order to improve their executive structure, no company can succeed without that. After Mr. Moon gets the Times back on its feet, I think it's only a matter of time before the company plays to its digital audience and stops its print circulation to operate fully online.

More Power to the People (Just in Case You Thought YouTube Was Declining)

Yesterday, a New York Times article announced that web video giant YouTube had signed up NPR, Politico, The Huffington Post, and The San Francisco Chronicle for "YouTube Direct", which is a program that uses a new method to manage video submissions from readers.

The article stated that the feature is a new way for users to upload videos and clips directly to news organizations for them to review and possibly highlight on their national broadcasts/publications. According to the web site's head of news and politics, YouTube is trying to "connect media organizations with citizen reporters," which isn't the first time a web site has attempted this, but is the first time a web site as big as YouTube has taken steps to promote amateur/citizen journalism and independent reporting.

The most recent nationally publicized events are the Elections that took place in Iran a few months ago and the protests that surrounded them. The world most likely would not have known what was really going on if it had not been for those who posted videos to YouTube and the news organizations who broadcasted the amateur clips.

I think this is another step in the right direction; it will allow independent journalism to flourish, it will give more power to the average citizen, and it will broaden the perspectives of world events. Certain companies might not like it because it may give the people more power but I think those companies should look at it as an opportunity to work with the very same people they are trying to get to watch their broadcasts.

Too Many Tweeters Tweeting on Twitter

With Twitter having become one of the most popular social networking tools in the world, one has to wonder how many tweeters and tweets are too many? A New York Times article recently reported that the number of tweets per day exploded from 2.4 million to 26 million in a span of just nine months, according to a University of Iowa researcher.

The article explained that the growing number of tweets wasn't a problem to individual users, but had become a problem for corporate giants who invested money in being able to search users' tweets to tap into "the pulse of the world" (Microsoft, Google, etc.). Methods that used to work when using text searching (as used with search engines) have become useless because there is basically too much information out there in the world of twitter to pinpoint the info desired and searches end up with search overloads (i.e. the bing commercials).

Twitter's answer to the problem is geolocation, which basically uses global positioning in cell phones to "include a precise location" with each tweet. This allows those searching through tweets to filter them by location. The article states that this feature could be available in the next few weeks.

I think geolocation could be a great tool, not just for tweets but for the internet in general and all social networking as well. It would make it relative, kind of like going from national news to local news with one click. But, I think other problems will arise in the future with twitter, especially with all of the new tweeters joining the network. With geolocation and whatever other improvements occur in the near future, I think Twitter's most popular days have yet to be seen.

Another Multimillion Dollar Company Makes a Profit in the Recession

It's common to hear about the greed of companies leading to them make profit these days, despite the recession. It's also common to hear about companies having to cut jobs and cut back on expenses just to minimize their losses. But, there is at least one company that by scaling down has actually acheived its short-term goal of turning the recession into a positive, all while ethically following the rules.

According to a New York Times article, Viacom (the company that owns MTV and Paramount Pictures) reported a rise in profits for the third quarter, but it was "a performance acheived through cutting costs and shredding workers."

Though Viacom's two main sources of revenue declined (advertising and feature films), its net earnings for the quarter were still over $60 million more than the third quarter of 2008. The main drivers were the success of the video game "The Beatles: Rock Band", and movies "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen", "G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra" and "Paranormal Activity". The increased profitability is attributed to the costs cut and the decreased amount of movie releases for the year.

I think Viacom was one of the few companies that did it right. America was living beyond its means after the surplus in 2000 turned into a multi-trillion dollar deficit by 2008. It was overdue for the country to scale down everything and Viacom was the perfect example of how companies should deal with the recession; they lost revenue but increased profitability, cut jobs but rose in the stock market, and made fewer movies but the only thing that did was filter out the lower quality movies, which led to more money made per release.

CNN Slips to Last Place During Prime-Time

This New York Times article reported today that the network most of us have become more familiar with over the past year-and-a-half has fallen to an all-time low as far as prime-time cable news ratings go.

The article stated that in its 30 years of existence, CNN has never received primetime ratings this low; three of its four prime time (7pm to 11pm) shows finished last in total viewers, causing CNN to finish last as a network behind Fox News, MSNBC, and HLN for the third month in the last year.

Adding insult to injury, HLN is a sister network of CNN that even has some of CNN's former TV show hosts who transferred over, meaning CNN is losing to a network it helped create and establish.

The article goes on to make a good point pertaining to the reason CNN is slipping. The recent conflict between the White House/MSNBC and Fox News has increased the popularity of the news networks involved. Because CNN is basically a neutral network, it suffers by losing the interest of viewers.

I guess that even though it is news, MSNBC and Fox News are more opinion-based, which means they are more a form of entertainment than CNN. This proves that in TV, just like in music, print, or any form of media, controversy increases sales (or in this case, viewers).

Digital Media Revolution, Continued

We've all heard of how digital is taking over as the dominant form of media, replacing analog. From mp3's replacing CD's and tapes to online movies, TV, and blogs replacing traditional film, TV, and print, the digital revolution isn't exactly new to this generation.

But, just when you thought you'd heard it all, enter the e-book. Short for electronic book, the e-book is re-introducing leisure reading to all generations. According to this article, people like the man featured in the story are reading more than ever thanks to the newest e-book device called the 'Kindle'. The device basically acts as a digital book that is as portable as a cell phone, but physically bigger to accomodate readers.

The article also points out that much like the music and film industries, the publishing industry has also been going through a decline in sales. With the advent of the e-book the industry may have to do just as other industries are doing; adapt, and find ways to turn a decline back around into a rise of profits.

The Magazine Industry's Most Prestigious Awards Go Digital (Just Like Everything Else...)

It appears that in the midst of a worldwide digital revolution, where so far we've seen television, movies, music, radio and print go digital, those involved in mass media have taken another step toward the future. According to this article, The National Magazine Awards will announce tomorrow that 12 new categories will be added strictly for online material.

"Podcasters, rejoice, for you are now eligible for a National Magazine Award."

The article notes that the prestigious National Magazine Awards have been around since 1966. 43 years later, the highest honor for magazine writers will now be available to online magazine writers as well. The new categories will include mobile media, news reporting, podcasting, and more. Though the awards will have their own seperate event a couple weeks before the annual awards show where the older, more distinguished awards are given out, this is still a big step for digital media.

Grim Future for Canada's Largest Media Conglomerate

Just in case anyone thought the economic problems were limited to America, this past Tuesday Canada's largest media company successfully went bankrupt. According to the New York Times article, Canwest Global Communications was granted bankruptcy protection in a Toronto court yesterday.

The main subsidiaries of the conglomerate are its newspaper, The National Post, and its national television network. This ruling will most likely result in a sale of the company, the article states. The focal point in the reason for filing for bankruptcy is the company's debt; 4 billion Canadian dollars owed and counting. The family that owns the business said that they would provide 15 million of the 65 million required to get the company back up and running, but Canadian law states that no one outside of the country can acquire ownership of Canadian media properties and holdings, according to the article.

The article clearly provides a perfect example of how the economic crisis isn't just a U.S. problem, it's an 'us' problem, per say, meaning it's beginning to involve everyone in the world more and more. It went from the housing market, to just plain greed, to just plain bad business owning practices. Are the wrong people in control of the wealth in the world? Opinion reserved, the facts should speak for themselves.

Warner Music Group and YouTube finally come to an agreement

Late last year, Warner Music Group and YouTube failed to come to an agreement regarding the compensation of Warner and its employees. Because of this, Warner decided to pull of its music from YouTube immediately. Basically, it was a classic case of the major label wanting more money for its employees' product.

Up until today, with an agreement finally being made, there was no way for fans to legally see brand new videos from their favorite artists such as Jay-Z, Green Day, Cassie, Eric Clapton, Diddy, Fall Out Boy, Guns n' Roses, etc. According to the article, Warner accounts for one-fifth of the total revenue for the recording industry (Atlantic Records, one of Warner's subsidiaries, is the number one record label in the U.S. according to SoundScan)

The main issue in the dispute was the value of the music videos, which are produced by the label and/or its employees. Warner saw huge value in the videos on YouTube because not only did they attract fans to the website, but they also attracted advertisers who saw potential customers in the viewers and invested money into YouTube. Warner saw it as unfair because they were not being paid any of the money that advertisers paid YouTube to advertise to Warner's customers drawn to YouTube because of the product that Warner provided for free, until today.

With CD sales declining, Warner and YouTube see this as a win-win situation. Warner plans on allowing the music to be put back on YouTube before the year is over. They also plan to attract even more viewers with brand new high definition videos, links to artist websites and new merchandise available to consumers. So, in a sense Warner has become its own YouTube advertiser.

Lawsuit Over Water-Drinking Death, Right or Wrong?

Just over 2 1/2 years ago, Jennifer Strange willingly entered a contest that was to be broadcast live on the radio. The contest simply involved Jennifer consuming large amounts of water, which ultimately would be the cause of her death. She left behind a family of three children and a husband who is suing the radio station for a seven figure amount. The question is, who is at fault?

Looking at the facts, the woman died from overconsumption of water. But, even though she didn't know it would kill her, she overconsumed willingly. From the radio station's perspective, the contest rules were created "on the spot" and the woman participated at her own risk. From the family's perspective, the radio station should've known this was harmful and potentially fatal. Does this isolated incident mean that radio shows like these are unethical? One could definitely make that argument. It's just a shame that it took for someone to lose their life to see that.


-J. Everett Scott

Radio Canada

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