A journalist’s prayer: bailout

Mark I. Pinsky, a former religion reporter for Tribune Co.’s Orlando Sentinel, makes a modest proposal in TNR.com for a government-funded program to hire out-of-work journalists. The historical precedent is the Federal Writers Project, which hired 6,000 writers from 1935 to 1939 – among whom were some rising American literary superstars, including John Steinbeck, John […]

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Who would you fire?

The Tribune Co. has declared bankruptcy – to no one’s surprise. That’s what makes the demise of one of the great U.S. news companies so tragic, in the Greek sense. The seeds of failure were set a decade ago with a misguided focus on acquisitions and local market monopolies across media. Community interests, journalistic passion […]

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For your kids: Endless stuff

Here’s a new business model for kids entertainment that just might prompt parents to wish for the good old days, when their children were inundated with advertising. Thwoop is an online video network built entirely to persuade kids to purchase licensed products related to their favorite shows. The loop between entertainment for children and marketing […]

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Brian Reich joins iFOCOS

We’re growing and I’m thrilled to introduced the newest member of our team, Brian Reich. Brian has been a participant and online organizer for nearly all of our We Media conferences, going back to the very first one in New York in 2005. He’s also a principal at EchoDitto, a well known web consultancy. Brian […]

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Datapoint: How big is tech’s global bleeding edge?

Economy, shmonomy. Nokia says 200 to 300 million people worldwide will buy high-end tech devices regardless of the economy. At its global customers meeting in Barcelona this week, Nokia (NYSE: NOK) unveiled its next top-of-the-line smartphone, a slider with touch screen and keyboard that won’t hit store shelves until the middle of next year. The […]

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U.S. newspapers down $2 billion last quarter

The 18.1 percent decline spanned all categories of revenue, including a 30.9 percent decline in classifieds and a 3 percent drop in online revenue. More from Advertising Age, the Newspaper Association of America and analysis from Alan Mutter. Andrew NachisonAndrew Nachison is founder of We Media. He lives in Reston, Virginia. www.nach.com

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A newspaper whines about Google. I hear crickets.

Brian spotted an editorial in the Seattle Times published yesterday (Nov. 20, 2008), noting the dominance of Google in online advertising – and celebrating the failure of an advertising deal between Google and Yahoo! For Brian, the curiosity was a media company complaining publicly about Google. For me, the curiosity was that he read a […]

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This Week in the We Media Community

Congo’s war children, a crowd-funded lifestream and Hollywood arrives on your desktop Here’s what members of the We Media Community have bee sharing and discussing: Documentary film maker Dan Baluff joined the community and posted an excerpt from his film about children and their suffering in war-torn Congo. Click here to learn more and watch […]

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Who loves their media? NPRistas

NPR News in the US aims to double its online audience – in part by building a closer relationship with people who already love NPR. Dick Meyer, NPR Digital Media’s editorial director, calls them NPRistas. He says in the American Journalism Review: “Folks who listen to NPR think of themselves as NPR people … The […]

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We Media Mixer: NYC Nov. 13

The U.S. election is over. Next comes the first We Media presidency. What does that mean? Join us for a breakfast mixer and conversation on Nov. 13 at the Samsung Experience in New York to talk about how We Media – not THE media – will cover the Obama presidency. Speakers will include Amanda Michel, […]

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