Category: Apple

media notes 12.31.13

12/31/2013

Today marks a year-long effort in providing six-days-a-week notes on media. These notes have been curated links, with precious little observation and almost no commentary. That will change in the time ahead. For a taste of where I'm going, have a look at my beta site, www.presswatching.com, as I slowly find a voice on media commentary.

I am grateful for the many nice comments over the year. The site went past the 500,000-page-view level, which is a nice-sized community of regular users. I hope that the next year will see some growth in the content and community to help all of us understand the direction of news media. Thank you for being part of a conversation and best in 2014.

Meantime, here are some media stories of note for Tuesday, December 31, 2013:

Gregory Galant, the CEO of MuckRack, has created a nice listing of journalism and Twitter in 2013: the journalists with the largest following, the news organizations with most Tweeps, the newbies on the platform with the largest following, and so on.

There is quite the to-do about an interview on the new technology site, The Information, by founder Jessica Lessin with Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham. In it Graham seems to make a disparaging remark about women and tech. He has complained, though, that his quote was edited. She has had to counter with an explanation. And Michael Arrington has weighed in with judgment.

Mashable notes how magazine ad sales have been bolstered by the presence of tablets, particularly the iPad, but wonders if it's too little, too late to save the business model of the medium across various platforms. Revenue declines more than offset the revenue growth.

media notes 07.18.13

7/18/2013

Here are some media stories of note for Thursday, July 18, 2013:

Thomas Kent, the standards editor and deputy managing editor at Associated Press, takes on the assertion that journalism as we know it is on its last legs. Kent, writing for Huffington Post, does not believe journalists are being usurped or left with only the roles of analysis or commentary. He argues that fact-finding, analyzing and presenting remain integral in professional work, that the audience still depends on these qualities and is not as social media-active as it may seem, and that networked journalism (as opposed to corporate-driven journalism) is highly susceptible to manipulation and authoritarian control.

The judge in the case of U.S. Army Private Bradley Manning (who divulged military secrets to WikilLeaks) today ruled in mid-trial not to drop the charge of aiding the enemy. The New York Times noted the connection to journalists during the trial: that it may give rise to similar prosecutions when there are leaks to media organizations. The Freedom of the Press Foundation today indicated the ruling has possibly profound implications for journalism.

Feminista Jones, the prominent social commentator writing in this instance for Salon.com, chronicles the rise of Twitter as a modern equivalent of the Underground Railroad of African American activism. She identifies the adoption of Twitter as a focal point for African America to mobilize protest and to effect policy change. In recent weeks those efforts have included concerns about comments by television host Paula Deen, the Texas anti-abortion legislation, and the George Zimmerman verdict. "They prove that 140 characters can be all it takes to spark a movement," Jones writes.

In recent days it has been reported that Google is reaching out to television networks to create an Internet-driven delivery system that would rival cable. The effort is Google's latest into this realm, and at the moment the speculation is that it will not succeed. Brian Stetler, writing in The New York Times, looks at rival Apple's latest efforts and contrasts its comparable successes at partnerships with those of Google. While Apple's grand strategy for television remains secret, it is at least holding hands with the existing players as it moves in on them.

media notes 26.03.13

3/26/2013

Media stories of note for Tuesday, March 26, 2013:

An international study commissioned by the BBC examines the use of television and tablets in consuming news. It suggests a TV-first habit remains in the consumption of breaking news but that tablets and the Internet are increasingly the resource to dig deeper. Rather than take away from television, tablets are integrating into an environment of smartphones and laptops, says the study reported in TechCrunch. Indeed, nearly have of the tablet owners say they are watching more television.

The BBC has created a database of "expert women" to increase the proportion of women seen and heard on its news programming. Poynter notes the database is part of an initiative that recently saw BBC train experts in presenting their views at its BBC Academy. A YouTube channel was launched featuring some of these presentations.

Ken Doctor, the news executive who writes for Nieman Journalism Lab, explores the recent State of the News Media report's assertion that most news companies may have missed the opportunity to capitalize on the emerging mobile and local digital advertising market. The strength of the so-called GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook and Apple) in securing the front row may have precluded their significant presence.

Ars Techica: Is there an ethical duty for journalists to "out" tech leaders?

8/28/2011

The prominent Ars Technica blog features a post by Ken Fisher on whether tech journalists have an ethical duty to "out" industry leaders.

Fisher writes as Tim Cook assumes the CEO role of Apple. Cook has not discussed his private life and that has raised speculation. Fisher points to journalists who might know but choose not to write about the matter and questions their ethics, just as he wonders about Cook's ethics for not discussing his personal matters.

The post follows one from Reuters' Felix Salmon chronicling the reaction to his post last week on the topic of Cook. Salmon argues that it is a relevant, important subject not to be ignored, and many of his readers have challenged him on that.

NPD study: How Apple's iPad is being used

10/4/2010

These are still early days, but the Apple iPad is the leading-edge tablet and it's worth understanding the early learning of its use in determining how devices will alter the consumption of media.

NPD has released its second study of iPad users. The main headline --- apart from substantial satisfaction with the iPad --- is that 20 per cent of usage takes place in bed. But the more significant findings indicate that netbooks and laptops are threatened by the tablet's incursion into email, browsing and software use.

The survey indicates, though, that the initial purchasers are more attached to their iPads than those who bought them more recently. It suggests that the core loyalist isn't necessarily indicative of the overall use. Indeed, there remains some criticism --- the lack of a USB port, for instance, or easy printing solutions.

The Economist: Apple's iPad and the challenge for newspapers

9/19/2010

Newspapers are producing new applications for Apple's iPad in the hope they provide more significant per-reader advertising revenue and, perhaps, more significant per-reader subscription revenue.

But The Economist notes it's not yet a match made in heaven. There are several challenges as papers enter the app age. Apple is making it difficult to sell subscriptions (the other day word surfaced that Apple is going to take a 30% cut on such revenue) and is reluctant to say much about buyers (frustrating for publications that want to cross-sell into other services).

Another dilemma is what to do about existing free Web services --- wall them off, curtail their offerings, retire their development?

The Economist suggests that publishers are hoping another device, perhaps with Google's Android operating system, emerges and gives them some leverage over Apple.

Chris Anderson and Michael Wolff in Wired: Web is dead, long live Internet

8/17/2010

The shift of searching to getting is at the heart of the Wired.com pair of pieces that identify the decline of the World Wide Web and the rise of the application in our digital lives.

Chris Anderson and Michael Wolff, one a prominent editor and the other a prominent columnist, have produced companion arguments that the Web is no longer what we use --- that the Internet is a mere conduit for the apps that dominate our time online.

"It’s driven primarily by the rise of the iPhone model of mobile computing, and it’s a world Google can’t crawl, one where HTML doesn’t rule," Anderson writes. "And it’s the world that consumers are increasingly choosing, not because they’re rejecting the idea of the Web but because these dedicated platforms often just work better or fit better into their lives (the screen comes to them, they don’t have to go to the screen)."

That it's also a more optimal environment for monetization only strengthens the situation, he says.

Wolff, meanwhile, examines how the open Web is closing and reestablishing a corporate hierarchy --- the "collectivist utopianism" is disappearing and a top-down theme is reemerging. The alternative to the Web came as some entrepreneurs sought to have the clout of Google, only without the open-source approach.

Wolff's piece is far more critical of the developments --- of the value of advertising, of the value of the audience, because of search engine optimization. He says we flirted briefly with the "transformative effects" of the Web but now are "returning home" to Apple, Facebook, Spotify and Netflix, all systems that are closed and traditional.

Anderson's conclusion: Blame Us. Wolff's: Blame Them.

Study: $3 billion in interactive periodical revenue by 2014

8/16/2010

Next Issue Media released a study today indicating the U.S. periodical business can recognize $3 billion in interactive revenue by 2014. It's a prediction predicated on some challenging assumptions --- lots of devices, lots of familiarity, touchscreens and colour --- but the Oliver Wyman study identifies some major gains ahead for 230 periodicals:

1. Higher renewal rates of subscriptions if an interactive edition is available --- 64% instead of 55%.
2. Greater revenue from bundled print/interactive packages, something consumers so far like.
3. Bill-me-later interactive editions heavily reduce churn rates to 25% from 45%, again yielding greater revenue.
4. Cross-selling advertising through recommendation engines through the editions will drive revenue from other products.
5. Availability of interactive editions will triple uptake from non-subscribers to the print periodical, to 15% from 5%.

The study nevertheless indicates some immense challenges for publishers: devices need to be encouraged, archival material made available, workflows changed, partnerships established, among other things.

Brand trust: Microsoft, Apple, Google higher than Facebook, Twitter

6/22/2010

There are two surveys out that suggest a rearranged pecking order in online media trust.

One, from Harris Associates, suggests consumers are more trusting of branded news organizations that of portals. The trust extends through editorial and advertising content, says the survey for the Online Publishing Association.

The second, from Zogby Interactive, suggests that the technology heavyweights still hold reputational sway over the social networks in terms of consumer trust. Microsoft, Apple and Google have higher trust levels than Facebook and Twitter. John Zogby says the new firms don't have the brand equity yet.

Some random notes from Monday

6/21/2010

Without any really large story online --- yet --- there are several headlines worth discussing:

1. Facebook is going to launch location-based service soon. Loopt is also going to upgrade its location-based offerings to permit multitasking and location updating.The implications are significant for news organizations aiming to use Facebook for crowdsourcing and storytelling.
2. Apple has issued its new operating system for the iPhone, tailored for the iPhone4 but still applicable to iPhone3.
3. Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post and CNN writes on how non-profit organizations are filling some of the gaps left when newsrooms de-emphasize investigative work.
4. The New York Times announced former editor and publisher Arthur Brisbane as its new public editor. He succeeds Clark Hoyt. The implications of his appointment: As goes the Times in identifying standards for the craft, so can go the craft.

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