TOPICS: media criticism, television news

SUMMARY: The death of market researcher Frank Magid is an opportunity to examine the profound effect he had on the evolution of local television news.

Magid, 78, was known as one of television's original "news doctors" because of his advice to turn the local newscast into entertainment.

Among his recommendations what is now somewhat derided as "happy talk." He urged the replacement of the lone while male anchor with a team of young, good-looking anchors who bantered with each other.

The newscast, often called "action news" was flashy and fast-paced. Old-fashioned journalists derided these techniques and doubted that they improved journalism.

COMMENTARY: The era of "happy talk" on television may have been a commercial success but many journalists have criticized it for demeaning their field.

The death of Frank Magid, one of the original "news doctors" who came up with the concept, is an opportunity to discuss the evolution of television news and to figure out what that has meant for journalism.

TOPICS: new media, Olympics

SUMMARY: Like all the previous Olympics, NBC plans to televise some of the major events on a tape-delayed basis.

But this time the television network will be competing with a media world that provides instant updates — via Twitter, email alerts or multiple Web site updates — to a world that is now used to finding out results when they happen.

NBC is fortunate in that it will have fewer delayed events than usual because Vancouver is in North America and on the Pacific time zone.

Still, it is difficult to see how NBC will be able to maximize its audience if many members of that audience already know the results before they are televised.

COMMENTARY: The Olympics is one area where new media can have a profound impact since many of those interested in the games can find out the results instantaneously. That could prove problematic for NBC which is counting on a huge audience to justify the amount of money it paid for the Olympic rights.

The question is how NBC will adjust to this new world, particularly in future Olympic games when there is not a favorable time zone situation.

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"Vancouver Feels Heat — Outside and In"
by Geoffrey A. Fowler
Feb. 16, 2010
Online Exclusive

TOPICS: classified advertising, online journalism

SUMMARY: This piece compares and contrasts the workings of Craigslist, the online classified advertising site with that of The New York Times Web site.

A recent article in Wired said that despite its popularity, Craigslist is a mess. It is poorly run and has refused to monetize itself. In contrast, the New York Times has invested heavily in its Web site and it is highly monetized.

The Times even plans to adopt a metered model. Yet the point of this piece is that Craigslist remains incredibly popular, attracting several times the number of users at any news site.

The reason: Craig Newmark created a site that has the users' desires and needs in mind. If newspapers what to succeed online, they should adopt the principles Craigslist uses to attract viewers.

COMMENTARY: This provocative piece compares and contrasts the successes — and failures — of classified advertising site Craigslist with the New York Times site.

The author, a former arts editor for Salon.com, makes the case that newspapers should quit complaining about how Craigslist stole their classified ads and instead adopt the model it uses to attract more readers.

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"New York Times to Charge for Web"
by Russell Adams
Jan. 21, 2010
Online Exclusive

TOPICS: celebrity news, media acquisitions

SUMMARY: Gawker  has made a name for itself in the online journalism world as the go to site for celebrity rumors and gossip as well as tech news.

Now it has made its first acquisition by purchasing Cityfile, an online collection of famous New York media and business personalities. In purchasing Cityfile, Gawker has also ousted its current editor-in-chief, Gabriel Snyder, who had been on the job for 18 months.

Snyder is being replaced by Remy Stern, the founder of Cityfile who is also the former editor of Radar magazine as well as a former writer for some of Gawker's Web sites. It is unclear why  Snyder was pushed out but the founder of Gawker, Nick Denton, said he is satisfied with the editorial direction of Gawker.

COMMENTARY: Gawker has become a prominent online news site for those interested in celebrity gossip as well as tech news. Now it is making news itself by announcing its first acquisition as well as the firing of its current editor-in-chief and hiring of a new one.

As standalone online news sites become more popular and prominent, it will be worth monitoring the changes that they are undergoing with the same vigilance that one use to apply to acquisitions and personnel changes at traditional media companies.

TOPICS: business reporting, plagiarism

SUMMARY: A business reporter for The New York Times has been accused of plagiarizing a number of passages from other publications, including The Wall Street Journal and Reuters.

Zachary Kouwe, whose primary journalism job at the Times is to write for the newspaper's DealBook blog, purportedly used similar language that had previously been reported in a Journal article about a lawsuit filed by the trustee in the Bernard Madoff case.

The incident was brought to light because of a letter from the Journal to the Times. A subsequent investigation indicated that there were other cases of possible plagiarism and the Times said it will take appropriate action.

COMMENTARY: Clearly, plagiarism is one of the greatest journalistic sins there is.

Most news organizations have a zero tolerance for such transgressions. It is particularly troublesome when a well-respected news organization engages in such behavior.

Teachers spend a great deal of time drilling into the heads of our students why plagiarism is bad. Here is a real world example that can show the consequences of such an act.

TOPICS: media cross-ownership, media regulation

SUMMARY: Following in the footsteps of the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission wants to launch an investigation into the current state of the news industry and industry trends in order to see if it should change its rules and regulations.

Among the FCC's regulations are those limiting the number of TV or radio stations one company can own in a market as well as barring one company from owning a major newspaper and television station in the same market.

According to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, the inquiry is designed to examine the fundamental changes that have enveloped the media industry and how those changes should translate into FCC policies.

He said the inquiry will steer clear of recommending any control of editorial content in any industry.

COMMENTARY: Last month the FTC held hearings on the future of journalism. Now the FCC is getting into the act, releasing an 11-page request for information about the state of the news business.

The results of the study may or may not end up with the FCC changing some of its rules or regulations.

Regardless, this inquiry should prove interesting and give an important window into what is currently happening in regards to media ownership as well as other industry trends.

"FTC Not Sure How to Enforce Blogger Disclosure Rules"
by Marisa Taylor
Jan. 15, 2010
Online Exclusive

TOPICS: online journalism, wire services

SUMMARY: Traditional news organizations have for some time been struggling with the issue of how the major Internet portals like Yahoo, Google and Microsoft have been using their content without paying for it.

Now the Associated Press, a cooperative of traditional news organizations, is closing in on a deal with Yahoo that would impose tighter restrictions and a higher price tag on those stories distributed on Yahoo's news site.

At the same time, Google has stopped adding AP stories to its Google News site. For much of the past, traditional news organizations have not minded that the Internet portals used their content because it drove traffic to their sites.

But now that advertising revenue has been declining, those same news organizations want to collect fees when their content is distributed online.

COMMENTARY: A huge debate has been about online journalism and whether traditional news organizations should allow their content to be used for free by the major Internet portals.

Now many news organizations are saying enough is enough and want to be paid for their content, particularly because their advertising revenues have been drying up.

Interestingly, the chart accompanying this article shows just how traffic is directed by the Internet portals to these news sites.

How this issue of paid content is resolved will have tremendous consequences for both traditional news organizations and Internet portals.