A la conférence du Guardian, le mur payant est (encore) là. Finding the value in Guardian local ‘experiment’ | Journalism.co.uk Editors' Blog. Yesterday the Guardian announced it was winding down its local blogging “experiment” Guardian Local. The platform, which ran three blogs for Cardiff, Leeds and Edinburgh, was first launched in March 2010, described at the time by Guardian editor in chief Alan Rusbridger as a “tiny toe in local web water”.
But – continuing with the metaphor – it seems the waters may have been too cold, as the Guardian decided to start winding down the sites this week. The decision drew much disappointment from readers, expressed in both the comments section on this Guardian article, and across social media. Editor of the project Sarah Hartley used Storify to bring together some of the reaction on Twitter. And speaking of Twitter there is already a hashtag campaign gathering pace on the site in particular reference to the Cardiff service. On his blog Andy Dickinson contributes his thoughts, turning the debate onto understanding the value of the “beatbloggers” behind each site. Similar posts: Has newspaper/web integration been oversold? | Media | The Observer. Guardian's move to 'digital-first' will involve job cuts, says Alan Rusbridger | Media.
The Guardian will make "significant" job cuts over the next two years in the transition to a "digital-first" strategy, the newspaper's editor-in-chief, Alan Rusbridger, has confirmed. Rusbridger said Guardian News & Media, which publishes the Guardian, Observer and the guardian.co.uk website network, which includes MediaGuardian.co.uk, would have to reduce its headcount as it aims to save £25m before 2016. GNM employs 1,500 staff across all departments, including 630 journalists.
"We need to get more developers in with digital skills and we are losing money so we will need to reduce the cost base," he said, speaking to BBC Radio 4's The Media Show. "Yes, we will need to lose some people and will try to do it in a voluntary way. " He added: "We will need to lose significant numbers but we don't need to do it tomorrow. No plans for job losses were announced in a series of staff briefings on the plans. Regional publisher to axe 10% of staff | Media. The publisher of Britain's biggest-selling regional daily, the Wolverhampton-based Express & Star, is seeking to axe 10% of its workforce.
The Midland News Association (MNA) has begun talks with staff councils to achieve 90 redundancies. These cuts are necessary, it says, because of "difficult trading conditions. " This is further proof, as if any were needed, about the depth of the plight among regional newspaper publishers. It is very grim news. Aside from the Express & Star - which sells 116,000 copies a day in the West Midlands - MNA also owns the Shropshire Star (58,000 sales) and 20 weekly titles.
In a press statement, MNA's managing director Alan Harris said: "Like every other newspaper publisher, the MNA is facing very difficult trading conditions and there seems to be no sign of improvement. "If we are to continue to invest for the future in our publications, both in print and online, then we must make some cost savings. Sources: MNA press release/HoldTheFrontPage/Birmingham Mail.
How proprietors are taking over the biggest media companies in the UK | Media. Compare and contrast. This week, Richard Desmond can reflect on a record £525m turnover at his Daily Express to Channel 5 Northern & Shell empire while sitting in his vast Thameside office, sipping tea from china branded with his company's logo. Meanwhile, over at Sly Bailey's Trinity Mirror in Canary Wharf, the share price is marooned at 42.25p (less than a single copy of the Daily Mirror), valuing the business at £108m – and less than two times expected future profits.
Private media owners are forging ahead, while proprietor-free public companies fight for investor credibility. Proprietors and other private owners have been on the march since the beginning of the century, buying up and consolidating publicly quoted media companies. Excessive debt Like the Premier League, British commercial media is gradually being taken over by a group of plutocrats.
Lorna Tilbian, a veteran media analyst, observes that as a result, investors have fought shy of printed media. Sheer size. The world's top 10 newspaper websites | Media. Turn autoplay off Edition: <span><a href=" Sign in Beta About us Today's paper Subscribe Custom Search The world's top 10 newspaper websites theguardian.com, Featured institutes More from the guardian More from around the web What's this? Featured job Senior HR Adviser c.£40,000 | London House of Commons Today's best video Media Network From Google to Buzzfeed: seven moments that shaped digital media Seven milestones have marked radical change in the digital media in the 20 years since newspapers first began publishing their content online 1 comment Media Network Surviving your first year as an entrepreneur – live Q&A Join us and a panel of experts from 11am on Thurs 17 April to discuss running a startup in its first year 1 comment More from our Media network On Media Last 24 hours Hot topics Close.
Bloggers! Your Guardian wants you... | Media. UPDATE: Our call for entries is now closed. Thanks to all of you who applied – we'll be in touch if we want to go forward with your site. Two futures have emerged in the digital newspaper business. You know where Rupert Murdoch is: with the closed paywall model, in which readers pay and the readership is restricted. That replicates the traditional newspaper model, where editorial control comes from the top down, where the content is produced by a narrow group of professionals and the readership is similarly elitist (it's hard to imagine millions of online newspaper sign-ups).
It'll be no surprise, though, to hear that the Guardian takes a different view. The open approach means there are no barriers for readers, which encourages mass audiences – in the Guardian's case nearly 2.5m uniques a day. Already, the Guardian partners with environmental bloggers and writers, and we're keen to do the same in media and in technology. Nevertheless, this won't be for everybody.