Category Archives: journalism

Lessons from the Bin Laden coverage

May 8, 2011 – 6:53 pm

TweetOne after the other, the newscycles of momentous events keep reshaping the digital information landscape. The latest example of such alteration is the Bin Laden story, it just set a new reference point. For traditional media, this raises the pressure yet another notch; they must rethink everything: organizations and processes – as well as business [...]

Edited by Frédéric Filloux | Also posted in online publishing | Comments (21)

Bob Woodward: how many page views?

April 10, 2011 – 7:12 pm

TweetThe legendary journalist was in Paris last week, promoting (“flogging”) his last book: “Obama’s Wars“. (Large excerpts in the Washington Post here). It was the standard book tour: TV and radio appearances; a well-timed cover story in Le Monde Magazine; same quotes, same anecdotes everywhere. Still, I was curious. After all, he’s one of my [...]

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Bloggers, publishers and the Apple lockdown

February 20, 2011 – 2:56 pm

TweetBloggers like simplicity. They view themselves as computer industry geniuses, as the embodiment of a fantasied future, vectors for all forms of intellectual life, culture, news, entertainment… Bloggers believe in a world where traditional publishing will soon meet a well-deserved death. Last week, this Manichaean worldview reached a paroxysm: many self-proclaimed digital pundits were celebrating [...]

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The Traffic Bubble

February 13, 2011 – 7:09 pm

TweetThe new high tech-bubble might not be the one you’re thinking of. Measuring the bubble’s size and inner pressure of is a delicate exercise. For today, we’ll consider two sectors: social networks and online media — such as the Huffington Post acquired last week by AOL for a stunning $315m. In the valuation game, social [...]

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Le Monde: a blueprint of a turnaround

January 9, 2011 – 6:29 pm

TweetThe iconic French newspaper Le Monde is about to begin a new chapter of its complicated history. Last September, what remains France’s most influential paper changed hands (see previous Monday Note Le Monde’s escape velocity and story in NY Times’ DealBook). Le Monde is now owned by a triumvirate: Xavier Niel, a telecom entrepreneur, provided [...]

Edited by Frédéric Filloux | Also posted in newspapers | Comments (15)

Two situations, two attitudes

October 3, 2010 – 8:00 pm

TweetLe Monde and The Daily Telegraph. Two leading newspapers. Last month, both had parallel experiences when dealing with government leaks. Two delicate situations, two reactions – or, at least, two postures. On September 13th, Le Monde proclaimed it was filing suit against the French government for illegally investigating a leak reaching one of its reporters. [...]

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Aggregators: the good ones vs. the looters

September 19, 2010 – 6:58 pm

TweetNews aggregators have grown into all shapes and forms. Some are truly helping the producers of original content but others simply amount to mere electronic ransack. My daily media routine starts on Techmeme. It is a pure aggregator — actually an aggrefilter, as coined by Dan Farber, at the time editor-in-chief of Cnet, who recommended [...]

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What do they read — actually?

September 12, 2010 – 5:40 pm

TweetUnlike their dead tree ancestors, online publications provide an interesting view on what readers actually like. Most news sites have Most E-mailed, Most Viewed and Most Blogged or Most Commented lists. Some even propose Editor’s Picks. For today, I’ll share non-statistical findings, influenced, needless to say, by my personal reading habits. Let’s start with the [...]

Edited by Frédéric Filloux | Comments (9)

The newswire quandary

September 6, 2010 – 6:47 am

TweetQuestions: should newswire agencies serve consumers – directly? And, to a broader extent, how does the current information shift impact the agencies’ future? Two recent events lead me to explore these questions in today’s Monday Note. The first one is rather significant: last week, Associated Press announced a deal with Google allowing the search engine [...]

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Le Monde on The Brink

June 20, 2010 – 11:19 pm

TweetWithin two weeks, the French newspaper Le Monde will run out of cash. By this Monday at noon, candidates to the takeover of the most prestigious French daily will have disclosed their offers. By June 28, the staff will vote and make the final decision for the fate of the 66 years-old paper. More importantly, [...]

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