Society

Društvo

The future of news

 

Budućnost vijesti

 

Concerns about the power of Apple and Facebook

 

Zabrinutost zbog moći Applea i Facebooka

 

Publishing boost

 

Jačanje nakladništva

 

Transition to digital media

 

Prelazak na digitalne medije

 

Demand for news

 

Potražnja za vijestima

 

Speed is the most important feature

 

Brzina je najvažnija značajka

 

Adding expertise

 

Dodavanje stručnosti

 

Independence of production and distribution

 

Neovisnost proizvodnje i distribucije

 

The future of news

The internet era has not been kind to newspaper publishers. It has almost killed classified advertising, accelerated a decline in circulation and directed eyeballs towards a seemingly infinite supply of blogs, videos and websites.


But after more than a decade of struggling to keep up with disruptive technology, a glimmer of hope has brightened the pervading gloom in the industry. And with that hope comes the very source of so many of its woes: Silicon Valley.

Apple and Facebook have announced news services that could potentially create an important revenue stream for publishers, broaden their readership and — eventually — offer them a direct path to paying subscribers...  Search for more... 

The internet era has not been kind to newspaper publishers. It has almost killed classified advertising, accelerated a decline in circulation and directed eyeballs towards a seemingly infinite supply of blogs, videos and websites.

But after more than a decade of struggling to keep up with disruptive technology, a glimmer of hope has brightened the pervading gloom in the industry. And with that hope comes the very source of so many of its woes: Silicon Valley.

Apple and Facebook have announced news services that could potentially create an important revenue stream for publishers, broaden their readership and — eventually — offer them a direct path to paying subscribers.

Facebook has enlisted nine publishers for its Instant Articles services, which has already launched in limited form in the US with content from BuzzFeed, The Atlantic and The New York Times. It plans to start the service in Europe soon. Apple, meanwhile, has signed up dozens of publishers for Apple News, which launches in the autumn — including The New York Times, The Guardian, The Economist and the Financial Times.

Given the industry's bruising experiences, it is perhaps natural that publishers have greeted the new services with a mixture of fear and optimism. Mark Thompson, chief executive of The New York Times, points to the benefits of being able to provide its news content to a vast new audience. "We're talking about an opportunity to distribute your content at no charge at all to well over 1bn people", he says. "Facebook has a larger population than the People's Republic of China".  » Search for more... 

Budućnost vijesti

Internetsko doba nije blagonaklono prema novinskim nakladnicima. Gotovo da je uništilo reklamno oglašavanje, ubrzalo smanjenje naklade i usmjerilo pogled na naizgled beskrajnu ponudu blogova, video zapisa i mrežnih stranica.

No nakon više od desetljeća pokušaja hvatanja koraka s ometajućom tehnologijom, tračak nade obasjao je sve sumorniju izdavačku industriju. A s tom nadom dolazi i sam izvor tolikih njezinih nevolja: Silicijska dolina.

Apple i Facebook najavili su servise s vijestima koji bi mogli postati važan izvor prihoda za nakladnike, povećati njihovo čitateljstvo i — s vremenom — omogućiti izravan put ka pretplatnicima...  Potraži više... 

Internetsko doba nije blagonaklono prema novinskim nakladnicima. Gotovo da je uništilo reklamno oglašavanje, ubrzalo smanjenje naklade i usmjerilo pogled na naizgled beskrajnu ponudu blogova, video zapisa i mrežnih stranica.

No nakon više od desetljeća pokušaja hvatanja koraka s ometajućom tehnologijom, tračak nade obasjao je sve sumorniju izdavačku industriju. A s tom nadom dolazi i sam izvor tolikih njezinih nevolja: Silicijska dolina.

Apple i Facebook najavili su servise s vijestima koji bi mogli postati važan izvor prihoda za nakladnike, povećati njihovo čitateljstvo i — s vremenom — omogućiti izravan put ka pretplatnicima.

Facebook je sklopio dogovor s devet nakladnika za svoj servis Instant Articles, koji je već pokrenut u SAD-u u ograničenom obliku sa sadržajem s BuzzFeeda, The Atlantica i New York Timesa. Uskoro planira početi pružati tu uslugu i u Europi. U međuvremenu, Apple je angažirao desetke nakladnika za Apple News, koji kreće najesen — uključujući The New York Times, The Guardian, The Economist i Financial Times.

S obzirom na teška iskustva izdavačke industrije, možda je prirodno što su ti nakladnici pozdravili nove servise s mješavinom straha i optimizma. Mark Thompson, izvršni direktor The New York Timesa, ukazuje na prednosti pružanja svojih vijesti velikom broju novih čitatelja. "Govorimo o mogućnosti distribuiranja potpuno besplatnog sadržaja više nego milijardi ljudi", rekao je. "Facebook ima više korisnika nego što Narodna Republika Kina ima stanovnika".  » Potraži više... 

Concerns about the power of Apple and Facebook

But there are concerns that Apple News and Facebook Instant Articles — which are not paying for the content — will chip away at the notion of a newspaper or magazine website as a standalone brand to be digested whole, rather than broken up into individual stories and scattered across different apps. The services could "dilute publisher brands as destination sites and boost the platform brand", says Gordon Crovitz, a media adviser and former publisher of the Wall Street Journal.

Publishers have also privately voiced concerns about the power Apple and Facebook will wield and the potential harm the new aggregation services could cause to paid subscription models...  Search for more... 

Zabrinutost zbog moći Applea i Facebooka

No postoji i zabrinutost da će Apple News i Facebook Instant Articles — koji ne plaćaju sadržaj — ugroziti pojam internetskih novina ili časopisa kao samostalnog brenda koji treba čitati kao cjelinu, a ne razlomljenog na pojedinačne priče i razbacanog na različitim aplikacijama. Takvi bi servisi mogli "oslabiti brend nakladnika kao ciljanog internetskog odredišta i ojačati brend platforme", kaže Gordon Crovitz, medijski savjetnik i nekadašnji nakladnik The Wall Street Journala.

Nakladnici su također privatno izrazili zabrinutost oko moći koju će Apple i Facebook steći te potencijalne štete koju nove agregacijske usluge mogu prouzročiti modelima plaćene pretplate...  Potraži više... 

Publishing boost

Two of the world's biggest technology companies identifying value in a sector written off by many other investors would normally be cause for celebration in an industry that has lately not had much to cheer about. In the US, combined newspaper advertising revenues from print and digital sources tumbled from close to $50bn in 2005 to $20bn last year, according to the Pew Research Center. In that period, digital advertising revenues on newspaper websites increased from $2bn to just $3.5bn.

Circulation has not fared much better...  Search for more... 

Jačanje nakladništva

Dvije najveće svjetske tehnološke kompanije koje prepoznaju vrijednost u sektoru otpisanom od mnogih drugih ulagača u pravilu bi bile uzrok za slavlje u industriji koja se donedavno i nije baš imala čemu radovati. U SAD-u, kombinirani prihod od novinskog oglašavanja u tiskanim i digitalnim medijima pao je s oko 50 milijardi dolara u 2005. godini na 20 milijardi u protekloj godini, tvrdi istraživački centar Pew. U tom razdoblju, prihodi od digitalnog oglašavanja na mrežnim novinskim stranicama porasli su s 2 milijarde na samo 3,5 milijarde dolara.

Tiraža ne stoji mnogo bolje...  Potraži više... 

Transition to digital media

Most large circulation dailies have introduced paywalls to replace revenues lost by falling print sales and advertising, but with limited success. The New York Times has close to 1m digital-only subscriptions, for example, while the Wall Street Journal has amassed 724,000 paying digital readers. But Tribune Publishing, which owns 10 daily titles including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Baltimore Sun, had just 67,000 paying subscribers across its portfolio at the end of the first quarter, according to a company filing...  Search for more... 

Prelazak na digitalne medije

Većina velikotiražnih dnevnih novina uvela je naplatu dijela sadržaja (paywall) kako bi nadoknadili prihode izgubljene uslijed pada prodaje tiskanih izdanja i oglašavanja, ali s ograničenim uspjehom. Na primjer, The New York Times ima gotovo milijun isključivo digitalnih pretplatnika, dok je The Wall Street Journal prikupio 724.000 čitatelja koji plaćaju digitalne sadržaje. No Tribune Publishing, koji posjeduje 10 dnevnih listova, uključujući Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune i Baltimore Sun, ima u svojem portfelju samo 67.000 pretplatnika koji plaćaju sadržaj na kraju prvog tromjesečja, navodi se u priopćenju kompanije...  Potraži više... 

Demand for news

Facebook is well established in referring its users to news sites. Google is the top "referrer" online and was the source of about 41 per cent of all web traffic between January and February this year. But social media, led by Facebook, is eating into its lead, generating about 36 per cent of traffic referrals, according to Parse.ly, an analytics provider.

Almost a third of US adults read or watch news on Facebook, just under half the 64 per cent who use the social network, according to data from the Pew Research Center published in September...  Search for more... 

Potražnja za vijestima

Facebook je dobro ustrojen za upućivanje svojih korisnika na stranice s vijestima. Google je vodeći online "upućivač" te je bio izvor oko 41 posto ukupnog mrežnog prometa od siječnja do veljače ove godine. Ali društveni mediji, predvođeni Facebookom, nagrizaju njegovo vodstvo, stvarajući oko 36 posto prometa upućivanja, navodi Parse.ly, pružatelj analitičkih podataka.

Gotovo trećina odraslih Amerikanaca čita ili gleda vijesti na Facebooku, što je tek nešto manje od pola od ukupno 64 posto korisnika te društvene mreže, navodi se u podacima istraživačkog centra Pew objavljenim u rujnu...  Potraži više... 

Speed is the most important feature

"Each second counts", says Michael Reckhow, Facebook's product manager for Instant Articles. "Speed is the most important feature you can deliver in a mobile experience". Facebook has the tools to make the articles load up to 10 times faster by simplifying the complex network requests, which news publishers do not have, he says. The new format also allows for more photos and interactive elements without reducing speed. "Facebook's users are sharing more and more links to news articles".

Facebook has signed up nine publishers to Instant Articles; Apple has several dozen, ranging from The Economist, Politico and The Daily Telegraph to magazines such as GQ, Vanity Fair and Marie Claire. But not every publisher has jumped on board.

News Corp, which owns a large newspaper portfolio, including the Wall Street Journal, The Sun and The Times, has not signed up to either scheme. Robert Thomson, News Corp's chief executive, says the initiatives hark back to the "archaic AOL-style walled garden" of the web 15 years ago.

Providing content to these news services could be damaging to the identity of News Corp's individual titles, he suggests...  Search for more... 

Brzina je najvažnija značajka

"Svaka sekunda je važna", kaže Michael Reckhow, Facebookov menadžer za proizvode zadužen za Instant Articles. "Brzina je najvažnija odlika koju možete pružiti u mobilnom iskustvu". Facebook ima alate koji učitavaju članke i do 10 puta brže zahvaljujući pojednostavljivanju složenih mrežnih zahtjeva, što novinski nakladnici nemaju, navodi Reckhow. Novi format također omogućuje više fotografija i interaktivnih elemenata bez smanjenja brzine. "Korisnici Facebooka dijele sve više i više poveznica na novinske članke".

Facebook je angažirao devet nakladnika za Instant Articles; Apple ima nekoliko desetaka, među kojima su The Economist, Politico i The Daily Telegraph, pa do časopisa kao što su GQ, Vanity Fair i Marie Claire. Ali nisu im se pridružili baš svi nakladnici.

News Corp, koji posjeduje veliki novinski portfelj, uključujući The Wall Street Journal, The Sun i The Times, nije se priklonio nijednome. Robert Thomson, izvršni direktor News Corpa, kaže da te inicijative vraćaju na "zastarjeli ograđeni vrt u stilu AOL-a", tj. mreže kakva je bila prije 15 godina.

Pružanje sadržaja pomoću ovih servisa za vijesti moglo bi naštetiti identitetu pojedinačnih naslova News Corpa, navodi Thomson...  Potraži više... 

Adding expertise

But there are other lingering worries for publishers. Technology companies are doing more than merely being a conduit and platform for news and advertising. They are encroaching on to the territory of newspapers and magazines by becoming journalism practitioners, hiring people to make editorial judgments about story selection and placement...  Search for more... 

Dodavanje stručnosti

No pojavljuju se i druge bojazni za nakladnike. Tehnološke tvrtke nisu tek prijenosnici i platforme za vijesti i oglašavanje. One osvajaju područje novina i časopisa postajući praktičari novinarstva, zapošljavajući ljude za donošenje uredničkih odluka o odabiru i plasmanu priča...  Potraži više... 

Independence of production and distribution

It is unclear how Facebook and Apple will set their own editorial policies: like Facebook, Apple has not yet clarified whether it would distribute stories about its own activities, for example. This raises important questions for publishers, says Emily Bell, director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at the Columbia School of Journalism in New York.

"Journalism has always had an independence of production and distribution", she says. "But we're moving away from that for the first time". Publishers are "becoming dependent on a power structure they should be reporting on".

It all adds up to a Faustian bargain for an industry that has few other options, she says...  Search for more... 

Neovisnost proizvodnje i distribucije

Nejasno je kako će Facebook i Apple postaviti vlastite uređivačke politike: poput Facebooka, ni Apple još nije razjasnio hoće li, na primjer, distribuirati priče o vlastitim aktivnostima. To dovodi do važnih pitanja za nakladnike, kaže Emily Bell, direktorica centra Tow za digitalno novinarstvo na fakultetu novinarstva Columbia School of Journalism u New Yorku.

"Novinarstvo je uvijek bilo neovisno o proizvodnji i distribuciji", navodi Bell. "Ali sad se po prvi put odmičemo od toga". Nakladnici "postaju ovisni o strukturi moći o kojoj bi trebali izvještavati".

Sve to dovodi do faustovske nagodbe za industriju koja nema mnogo drugih mogućnosti, nastavlja Bell...  Potraži više...