Orange County-on-the-Ganges

The Orange County Register confirmed it will outsource copy editing and page layout to an editorial services company based outside New Delhi, India. So much for local knowledge and the sense of place that only local publishers can deliver.

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The news tribe

Jay Rosen has posted his cogent take on “semi-pro journalism” on TechPresident. Provocative metaphor about the news tribe and its survival drama.

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Catch on a string at PdF

At this week’s Personal Democracy Forum, a sponsor distributed a low-tech, but highly effective stress toy to attendees willing to listen to their pitch: a rubber ball on an elastic string that connects to a velcro band. Strap the band to your finger and you can play catch with yourself. Which is what I came […]

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A test of leadership

I’ve suggested, among others, that leadership – or, more accurately, the lack of it — is at the heart of the news industry’s woes. The current generation of CEO’s and publishers blame unforeseen external forces – impending changes in media, economics, technology and society that were clear to others more than a decade ago — […]

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How to do it

An isometric landscape, Web Trend Map 3 pins down nearly 300 of the most successful and influential websites plotted against the metaphor of the greater Tokyo area train map. Different train lines correspond to web trends such as innovation, news, social networks, and so on. Whimsy and inside jokes add intrigue and fun to the […]

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Number Three

The thing about innovation is that you know it when you see it. One version comes from Tribune Co., which has been exuberant about becoming “an oasis of creativity.” Newsies have encouraged us to watch Tribco’s Orlando Sentinel where Sam Zell’s new regime of former broadcasters is touting an innovation model for newspapers. The first […]

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The next big thing comes from, ah, you

Nokia, which is obsessive about consumer research, is showing the world how to innovate from the outside-in by collecting ideas globally for free at or low cost. At Nokia Beta Labs, the Finnish handset maker lets users test the latest smartphone software. Instead of people recording silly Web cam videos for YouTube or inventing frivolous […]

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A fresh spin on news

Check out the News Cube on the redesigned Washington Times site. Click the arrows on the left or right and the Cube flips to the top stories of day, presented magazine-style with strong photos, headlines and links. Click the bottom and the Cube delivers related stories or “Dig Deeper” choices. Click the “Dig Deeper” logo […]

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We’re all in this together

A lot of people have emailed me about my remarks, considered provocative by some, at the Interactive Media Conference in Las Vegas. Here’s what I said: “We trust people to drive moving vehicles at high speeds on our highways. We arm them and ask them to fight wars in the name of democracy. We put […]

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Stage One: Newspapers are a growth business

No need to fret over those troubling layoffs, sinking revenues, tanking valuations, migrating audiences, declining influence, or even that pesky Internet. Newspapers are a growth business. So proclaims World Association of Newspapers CEO Timothy Balding. Inky execs apparently like Tim’s story. They turned out in record numbers for WAN’s annual meet-up in Gothenburg, Sweden. Our […]

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The future is, um, sigh, devoured by the present

Start the week off right and consider the big issues and ideas that will define your future and our shared future. Start with a good laugh, or a good cry. In either case, start here with Charlie Rose. Charlie is a well-known interviewer on US public television. Charlie once said, according to the CharlieRose.com “beta” […]

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The burn

Last week we described the newspaper business as a satellite falling out of orbit. This week it appears to be burning up in the atmosphere. The latest Audit Bureau of Circulations report showed a 3.5 percent drop in circulation – to about 50 million — for the largest U.S. newspapers over the six-month period ending […]

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How to be an editor

Christy Bradford, who taught me how to be an editor, died late last week at her home in Kansas City. She had been teaching journalism at the University of Kansas since 1999. I love the description of Christy by her students at KU: “combination den mother/drill sergeant.” It was the same for us in her […]

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