News of the Week 4/18/08

Is the Mobile Web Dead? Some Mobile Entrepreneurs Say Yes
"Former Yahoo! Mobile evangelist turned startup entrepreneur Russell Beattie announced today that he’s calling it quits for his company Mowser because the market for mobile browsing is taking a fast turn for the worse."

How Social Networking Could Kill Web Search as We Know It
"…there’s a sea change taking place in the way people use the Internet—one that may leave the Web’s biggest players holding all the cards to a game nobody wants to buy in to anymore."

Study: Editor-Reader Gap in News Sites
"The audience has demanded much more… But what that "much more" should look like and how newspapers can stimulate conversations in their communities while maintaining the trust they have established remain unclear…"

Little Relief in Sight for Newspapers
"Newspaper publishers embody Wall Street’s definition of an out of favor industry as ad revenue tanks and readers turn to the Internet for news. To offset slower growth, publishers have cut jobs to slash costs, and none dares to guess when their online business will compensate for print declines."

AOL Rolls Out Technology Network
"AOL says its Technology Network will give users a resource to compile information about technology news and products. For advertisers it will allow them to integrate ad campaigns across the network of sites."

The Reporter’s Audio Gear List
Mindy McAdams shares her advice on the best audio gear for reporters.

Sue Cross on the news industry’s bleak state, bright future
"…in the digital flood of grassroots journalism, traditional-media outlets face an immense challenge in keeping their work afloat online."

Why Paying Bloggers & Editors by Page Views is Wrong
"Paying a blogger or journalist based on page views puts the onus on the writer to get traffic and takes away from their main job of research and writing."

What’s News? Who Knows! Welcome to Print 2.0
"Several reporters and editors say they’re noticing an increasingly changed dynamic where more stories with little fresh news are getting packaged with strong placement."

Rocker Peter Gabriel offers Filter to cut through online clutter
"…it’s still not easy to find material that appeals to you… The Filter’s system sizes up a lot of information before spitting out suggestions. It looks at a person’s past searches, purchases, and browsing and then runs that through a new set of filters that may include the opinions of friends, favorite critics or reviewer…"

Nick Denton "Pruning" Gawker Media, Ditching Three Sites
"You can interpret this two ways. Either Denton is dumping three weak sites to concentrate on his strong ones, or he’s worried about the online ad market in the face of a looming recession. Denton is happy to provide both spins."

The Press Becomes the Press-Sphere
"One problem I’ve had with much discussion about the future of news lately is that it’s too press-centric."

The Adolescence of the Blogosphere
"The blogosphere is changing… These bloggers that are a part of this new era of blogging may not make all the money and neither will most of them become big names but they will be the ones that readers know they will be able to go to for the full story."

Majority Uncomfortable with Websites Customizing Content Based Visitors Personal Profiles
"A majority of U.S. adults are skeptical about the practice of websites using information about a person’s online activity to customize website content."

Advertising for bloggers has to change
"For blogs that try hard to be original thought providers and bring something of value to the table they find themselves increasingly difficult to make a living because they don’t play the link bait game that would otherwise bring the much needed traffic to their blogs."

Should Fractured Feed Reader Comments Raise Blog Owners’ Ire?
"I would not be surprised to see that more comments on my posts might eventually live outside of my blog. It would behoove me and other bloggers to be aware of the other places the conversation will be taking place, and to engage there…"

At a Certain Age, Simplicity Sells in High-Tech Gadgets
"Go to any supermarket and try to sift through the different cereals or juices or teas, and choice often seems more like a burden than an opportunity. It is in technology, however, where the biggest advances are being made and where it is easiest to feel as if I am slipping further and further behind."

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