Yahoo has been an ally of U.S. newspapers with an advertising tool that permits multiple buys across markets and platforms --- geographically and demographically. It has unveiled the latest version of its platform. AMP, and there are some 784 newspapers involved. They can sell into Yahoo's local inventory or into newspaper inventory. Agencies and advertisers will soon roll out the new version.

A new study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project has one of those no-kidding conclusions: Workers surf at the office and are therefore more likely to surf for work at home. It increases efficiency and decreases the demands on their time at work.

Every two years the Canadian Internet Project provides another glimpse into online habits. The report released Wednesday indicates unsurprisingly a strong growth in broadband and in social networks (one in four aged 18-29 visit social network sites daily).
But there are a few eyebrow-raisers:
1. More than half of those surveyed over 60 are using social networks. or posting photos.
2. Traditional media is in some decline, but not necessarily because of the rise in new media.
3. English Canadians are using the Internet much more than French Canadians.
The project's full report is available here.
One of the stronger reports on the report comes from Newslab.ca.

Tom Regan, the newspaperman-turned-onliner, provides a sound overview of the direction of print in the latest Christian Science Monitor. His view is that print is going to evolve without dying. He argues that papers will complement Web sites, not the reverse, in the years to come.

Les Moonves, the head of CBS, is not one for verbal restraint. Running a television network in the United States means continually propping up your product with extensive claims.
CBS sat out much of Internet 1.0 and only entered 2.0 in a serious way when it bought CNET for a mere $1.8 billion, a fee many saw as off the charts, But Moonves now opines that he wants the service to become a one-stop for information online. He boasted to a media conference: "One of the advantages of the Internet is that we're taking money away from newspapers."
Of course, that's not always true. Sometimes the Internet takes money away from television. Sometimes it takes it from radio, magazines, and even itself. It depends.

In the category of No Surprises, Business Week has concluded the financial sector meltdown will contribute to a slowdown in online advertising by said companies. In tough times, there are going to be fewer firms taking risks in the digital space. Instead there will be more conservative plays alongside Google AdSense or Yahoo.
Naturally, news like this sends a further set of shivers into the media business, which is counting on the online world to propel growth in the years to come.

The new Washington Post political blog launched Monday and aggregates  content from all over. When I say all over, I mean its competitors and not just its newsroom. Political Browser is the latest effort that stops pretending all of the relevant information is housed with one organization. It acknowledges others' work and links out in order to build a good reputation to encourage people to start there.

Techcrunch is supplying details of the annual State of the Blogosphere report coming any day now from Technorati. It surveyed 1,079 bloggers and extrapolated to determine there have been 122 million blogs indexed since 2002. About 1.5 million bloggers have updated in the last week (nice to know it's still a relatively small club) and 7.5 million have done so in the last four months.
Technorati also examines the economics of blogging. The mean investment is $1,600 and the mean return is $6,000 annually (I think we'd like an audit on that number). Those with more than 100,000 unique visitors earn about $75,000 annually --- a surprisingly high total (reality check, please).
Who are the bloggers? They skew male, high education and high income. So, they're not kids in pajamas in the basement, to use one stereotype.
The vast majority write about personal interests (79 per cent) and nearly half (46 per cent) write about their professional interests (meaning the two overlap). Some 12 per cent call themselves corporate bloggers.
Who reads them? According to comScore, 77.7 million Americans monthly.
Technorati will release data all week on the findings.

There may never have been a Wild West in blogging --- even seemingly anonymous sites have been brought to heel through lawsuits --- but at times it might have felt like there were standards in the mainstream and the freewheeling blogosphere.
A new form of justice has emerged in a new insurance program from the Media Bloggers Association.
The program grants access to legal assistance, including ongoing advice, to deal with issues involving defamation, copyright infringement and privacy, among other things. This is a welcome development for two main reasons: It brings a discipline to the blogosphere and it brings a form of protection from rampant legal threats.

The field is crowding for e-ink readers. The release Monday of the iRex Digital Reader 1000 is seen as particularly important for newspapers because its 10-inch screen has enough surface space to emulate the laydown of the print product. The price point will be about $849 for the best model and $649 for the lower-end reader. The $749 model appears to be the ideal catch.