AOL News/Huffington Post Merge

Colby Hall reports on AOL News:

Its no surprise to anyone that Huffington Post and Aol News will be merging, but what surprised us, is that in the days to come, Aol News will no longer be producing any original content, and will instead be entirely serviced by Huffington Post.

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http://www.mediaite.com/online/aol-news-to-officially-fold-into-huffington-post/

Obama Administration Bans Chronicle Reporter For Using Social Media

The San Francisco Chronicle reports on Carla Marinucci: 

The hip, transparent and social media-loving Obama administration is showing its analog roots. And maybe even some hypocrisy highlights.

White House officials have banished one of the best political reporters in the country from the approved pool of journalists covering presidential visits to the Bay Area for using now-standard multimedia tools to gather the news.

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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/bronstein/detail?entry_id=87978

$200 million to buy The Boston Globe from The New York Times Co.

Casey Ross reports on the Boston Globe:

A Wellesley businessman is preparing to offer more than $200 million to buy The Boston Globe from its longtime owner, The New York Times Co., according to a person briefed on the plan.

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http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2011/04/29/businessman_prepares_bid_to_buy_globe/?p1=News_links

AOL Attempts to Change the Advertising Game

Simon Owens reports on AOL: 

Greg Rogers wasn’t interested in speaking to me about click-through rates.

We were sitting in a conference room in AOL’s New York City headquarters with Rogers’ computer hooked up to a projector. “We don’t care about the clicks,” he told me. “There have been lots of studies that show very few people click on anything.”

Continue reading:

http://www.businessinsider.com/aol-doesnt-care-about-ad-clicks-2011-4#ixzz1KoTQqmO5

Pros and Cons for Online-Only Publishers

Deena Higgs Nenad examines the pros and cons of online-only publishing: 

J-school students and industry vets tackle the tough questions

Q:A newspaper has been forced to discontinue its print edition and publish entirely on its website. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages the paper might face?

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http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/critical-thinking-pros-and-cons-to-onlineonly-publishing-64904-.aspx

The Continuing Decline in Newspaper Ad Sales

Alan Mutter reports on declining newspaper ad sales: 

Nearly two years after the U.S. economy began climbing out of the worst recession since the 1930s, advertising sales at newspapers have yet to hit bottom.

Now, the question haunting every newspaper executive is: How low will they go? And the daunting question for them is: What can turn things around?

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http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2011/04/why-newspaper-ad-sales-are-not.html

No Dividends for NYT Shareholders Because of a “great lack of clarity”, Says Sulzberger

Katie Feola reports on the New York Times: 

At the New York Times Company’s annual meeting on Wednesday, chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. did his best to keep the focus on the flagship paper’s high quality journalism. But, inevitably, the conversation turned to the company’s financial situation.

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http://www.adweek.com/news/press/new-york-times-has-not-sunkyet-131075

Patch.com to Add 8,000 Bloggers

Jeff Bercovici reports on AOL’s Patch.com:

Arianna Huffington must not be taking that class action lawsuit against her too seriously. Not only is AOL’s new content chief not cutting down on the use of unpaid bloggers, she’s doubling down — literally. Patch, AOL’s network of hyperlocal news sites, is trying to recruit as many as 8,000 bloggers in the next eight days, according to editor in chief Brian Farnham.

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http://blogs.forbes.com/jeffbercovici/2011/04/26/aols-patch-adding-8000-bloggers-in-full-on-course-correction/

A Century of Growth Begins to Flatline at The New York Times

Henry Blodget and Kamelia Angelova report on the New York Times: 

The New York Times has righted its ship after a near-death experience during the last recession.

Thanks to sharp cost-cutting, the company has returned to profitability. And thanks to frantic debt restructuring, the NYT has also removed its creditors’ foot from its throat and bought several more years to figure out a long-term plan.

Continue reading:

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-incredible-shrinking-new-york-times-2011-4

Glenn Beck Plucks From Denver Post

Politico reports on The Blaze:

The Huffington Post isn’t the only persona-based news aggregation site that can poach talent from the mainstream media.

Glenn Beck’s website, The Blaze, has hired syndicated columnist David Harsanyi away from The Denver Post, POLITICO has learned.

Continue reading:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/onmedia/0411/Glenn_Becks_Blaze_hires_Denver_Post_columnist.html?showall