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June 7, 2012, 11 a.m.
Business Models
LINK: www.reuters.com  ➚   |   Posted by: Joshua Benton   |   June 7, 2012

Useful, if depressing, piece by Reuters’ Jen Saba:

In the first quarter, digital advertising revenue at newspapers rose just 1 percent from a year ago, the fifth consecutive quarter that growth has declined, according to the Newspaper Association of America, a trade organization…

For an industry savaged by the erosion of print advertising dollars, significantly boosting digital revenue is necessary for survival. But the double-digit online growth rates that many newspapers used to enjoy — and on which their hopes for a prosperous future rest — could be a thing of the past.

Cheapie ad networks, unsold inventory, and the general economy get the blame. NYT Co.’s Scott Heekin-Canedy says it’s cyclical economic uncertainty, but it doesn’t seem to be having as big of an impact on the broader non-newspaper digital ad market, which eMarketer projects will increase 23.3 percent this year, driven by search and video — neither a newspaper strength.

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Lessons learned in The Building of Lost Causes
“The skills we developed while facing down the fossil fuel industry — persistence through trolling campaigns, converting readers one by one, turning an upstart publication into essential reading — these aren’t just about journalism. They’re about how to keep building when everything around you feels like it’s crumbling.”
Blocking out the audience’s siren song
“But most governance — even extreme governance — is banal. If Project 2025 is anything to go by, journalists need to focus more on the boring minutiae of policymaking and not on the sensationalism of politics.”
Journalism education leads the change we seek
“Training the next generation of journalists means preparing them to be global citizens.”