Conrad Black’s comments fuel speculation about return to Canadian media

Source: theglobeandmail.com

Conrad Black and Warren Buffett have something in common – they both think newspapers are undervalued.

As newspapers across North America frantically build paywalls to charge their online customers and cut back on their publishing schedules and staff to reduce costs, the former publisher says there’s still value in the industry if it’s run the right way.

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Newspapers will remain in demand

Source: thestar.com

Even with the push for new ways of delivering news, publishers of Toronto’s four dailies and three freebies are confident the demand for the newsprint copy won’t disappear, despite dire predictions of its impending death.

“I feel very optimistic about the long term for our news organizations … the best of times are ahead for the best of brands,” said Toronto Star publisher John Cruickshank, during a panel discussion at the Four Seasons hotel on Thursday.

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Godfrey on Postmedia’s executive shakeup

Source: marketingmag.ca Will ‘digital first’ lead to a digital burst? The following appears in the Dec. 12 issue of Marketing In his bio on the Postmedia Network website, one of the responsibilities for executive vice-president of digital media Malcolm Kirk included chairing a special committee undertaking Postmedia Network’s “transformation plan.” Kirk and two fellow Postmedia executives, chief information officer Ed Brouwer and senior vice-president, digital content strategy and managing director of Canada.com Scott Anderson, themselves became part of that transformation last month, dismissed in a management shakeup that came with the standard descriptor in such matters: “organizational changes.” Read entire story here

The glitch in Postmedia’s digital switch

Source: theglobeandmail
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Paul Godfrey escorted directors of Postmedia Network Canada Corp. (PNC.A-T10.00—-%) on a tour of the Calgary Herald earlier this year to showcase the struggling newspaper company’s digital future.

The Postmedia chief executive officer presented a remodelled newsroom where teams juggled written and visual content for the Herald’s websites, social media platforms such as Twitter and its 128-year old newspaper. The Herald has been so much “quicker off the mark” with digital initiatives, Mr. Godfrey said, that it is now one of the company’s most profitable divisions, and a beacon for change at Canada’s largest newspaper publisher.

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The next generation of news consumers relies on social media, TV, Web for information

The Knight Foundation’s latest survey of high schoolers found that 92% of students say it’s important to stay informed about the news (the same percentage says it’s important to vote). The research shows a shift in how teens get their news. In a typical day, they report doing the following to get news:

  • Watch TV for news 1-3+ times: 77%
  • Read an article online 1-3+ times: 54%
  • Watch video news online 1-3+ times: 48%
  • Read an article in print 1-3+ times: 42%

Read entire story here:  poynter.org