Social bookmarking in UK papers

Fellow UClaner Louise Thomas has published the findings of her research that looked at the use of social bookmarking. Plenty of interesting stuff

The type of bookmarks used also distinguishes the two groups, with links to sites such as Fark, NewsVine, MySpace and NowPublic proving much more popular among nationals than regionals.

While regional websites have a greater percentage of websites using the StumbleUpon (up 18.9% against nationals) and Facebook buttons (up 16.2% against the nationals).

And a nice slideshow of her finding.

Also, check out Louise’s other blogging activities at http://uclan-digital-literacy.blogspot.com/

This makes a nice companion piece to the ever excellent Martin Belam’s new series looking at social bookmarks

Newspapers not so popular shock. The bleeding obvious in french

Fench newspapers. Picture by Phil Moore from Flickr

Fench newspapers. Picture by Phil Moore from Flickr

Continuing a Francophile tone to the blog I thought you might find Alain Giraudo’s post on a report of the state of the internet interesting.

He picks up on an article on 20minutes.fr about the “ Etats Généraux de la Presse” – a kind of ‘what’s up with the newspapers then’ report.

Here are the findings (with Google providing a cod-translation)

Fact 1: The global supply of media is growing faster than consumption.
La preuve en chiffres: «Le nombre des chaînes de télévision a triplé en Europe dans les dix dernières années, le nombre des magazines a quadruplé en vingt-cinq ans.
The proof in figures: “The number of television channels in Europe has tripled in the last ten years, the number of magazines has quadrupled in twenty-five years.
Chaque jour, le Web grandit de 1,5 million de pages.» Each day, the Web grew by 1.5 million pages. “

Constat 2: Les annonceurs se retirent des médias. Fact 2: Advertisers should withdraw from the media.
Désormais, on voit moins de pubs sous la forme de pages, de spots ou de bannières. Now we see fewer ads in the form of pages, spots or banners. Un changement qui se fait au profit de davantage de sponsorisation, d’événementiel ou de marketing (direct et personnel, via les réseaux sociaux par exemple).
A change to be made with more sponsorship of events or marketing (direct and personal, via social networks, for example).

Constat 3. Fact 3. La hausse continue de la consommation de médias va de pair en France avec une dispersion des audiences entre titres et supports. The continuing rise in the consumption of media goes hand in hand in France with a dispersion of hearings between titles and media.
«A l’élargissement de l’offre, l’audience répond en se fragmentant.» Autrement dit, non seulement les Français consomment de plus en plus de médias différents, mais ils consomment en outre de plus en plus de titres différents. “With the enlargement of the bid, the audience responded by fragmenting.” In other words, not only the French consume more and more different media, but they also consume more different titles.

Constat 4. Fact 4. L’accès classique aux médias (TV, radio, imprimé) est minoritaire chez les 15-24 ans français. Access to traditional media (TV, radio, print) is a minority among the French 15-24.
Bruno Patino parle de «rupture générationnelle». Bruno Patino speaks of “generational break.” En effet, les pratiques multimédias (ordinateur, téléphone mobile, baladeur multimédia, jeux vidéos, etc.) «constituent 50,3% des contacts avec les médias des 15-24 ans français, contre 29,5% pour l’ensemble de la population.» Indeed, practices multimedia (computer, mobile phone, portable multimedia, video games, etc.). “Constituted 50.3% of contacts with the media 15-24 years of French, against 29.5% for the whole of the population. “

Constat 5. Finding 5. Les déplacements quotidiens sont l’occasion d’une consommation de médias et de loisirs numériques où le téléphone l’emporte désormais sur l’imprimé. The daily trips are an opportunity for consumption of media and entertainment where the phone now prevails on the printout.
«Pour trois Français sur quatre les déplacements quotidiens sont une occasion de contact avec les médias et les loisirs numériques. “For three out of four French daily trips are an opportunity to contact the media and entertainment. La radio reste leader (…) au sein de cette population “médiavore” en mouvement»; quant au téléphone, son utilisation explose. Radio remains the leader (…) in this population “médiavore” moving “about the phone use exploded.

Constat 6. Finding 6. La baisse de diffusion payante des médias imprimés est une tendance française avérée. The drop in pay-TV print media is a trend French proved.
Si la presse écrite payée voit sa diffusion faiblir, les premiers signes datent d’avant la montée en puissance d’Internet. If the press paid sees its dissemination falter, the first signs date from before the rise of the Internet. «Au total, la tendance baissière du papier payant est majoritaire, durable et continue.» «Overall, the downward trend of the paper is paying majority, sustainable and continuous.”

Constat 7. Finding 7. La presse imprimée est une dépense mineure dans le budget d’un ménage français. The printed press is a minor expenditure in the budget of a French household.
«Le budget consacré aux médias (2.272 euros par an) représente 8,5 % des dépenses d’un ménage (quand) plus du tiers est alloué à la téléphonie fixe et mobile, loin devant l’audiovisuel et Internet.» “The budget for media (2,272 euros per year) represents 8.5% of a household (when) one third is allocated to fixed and mobile telephony, far ahead of Audiovisual and Internet.”

Constat 8. Finding 8. La recette publicitaire de la presse payante s’installe dans une croissance négative. The advertising revenue of the press pay moved in negative growth.
«Depuis 2004, avec la montée en puissance de la publicité sur Internet, la presse écrite payante facture moins les annonceurs, en France, comme aux Etats-Unis ou au Royaume-Uni.» “Since 2004, with the rise of Internet advertising, print invoices paid less advertisers, France, the United States or the United Kingdom.”

Constat 9. Finding 9. Les quotidiens gratuits (dont 20 Minutes, ndlr) ont la plus grande affinité avec le lectorat français de 15 à 49 ans. The free daily (including 20 Minutes, ie) have the greatest affinity with the French readership of 15 to 49 years.

Constat 10. Finding 10. Le gros consommateur de médias écrits ne se cantonne pas, en France, à un support unique. The big consumer of media is not confined, France, a single support.
«Une lecture forte de quotidiens est corrélée avec un comportement actif sur Internet. “A strong reading newspapers is correlated with an active on the Internet. De même, une lecture forte de magazines est corrélée avec un comportement actif sur Internet. Similarly, a strong reading magazines is correlated with an active on the Internet. Plus largement, l’intérêt pour la presse d’information générale et politique se combine avec un comportement plus actif que la moyenne sur le média Internet.» More broadly, interest in the press and information policy combined with a more active than the average over the Internet media. “

Constat 11. Finding 11. Le média Internet continue de croître en France, en pénétration et en utilisation. The Internet media continues to grow in France, penetration and use.
Avec une «population d’internautes en hausse de 5 % sur un an», la «barre des 60% de Français de 11 ans et plus se connectant au moins une fois par mois a été franchie à l’été 2008». With a population of Internet users, up 5% over a year “, the” over 60% of French people aged 11 and over logging at least once per month was reached in the summer of 2008. Sans compter que «l’activité des internautes ne s’arrête pas à la consommation, elle s’étend désormais à la production et à la redistribution de contenus.» Not counting that “the Internet does not stop for consumption, it now extends to the production and distribution of content.”

Constat 12. Finding 12. Le smartphone possède un potentiel de bouleversement complet de la consommation de médias. The smartphone has a potential to complete upheaval in the consumption of media.
L’apparition des Blackberry et autres iPhones a un impact sur la lecture des médias. The advent of Blackberries and other iPhones has an impact on playing media. «Le choc Internet du mobile peut rivaliser en impact avec celui connu sur le PC, d’autant plus que la pénétration du téléphone mobile a beau rester faible en France (83%), elle l’emporte largement sur celle d’Internet.» “The impact of mobile Internet can compete with the known impact on the PC, especially as the mobile phone penetration has beautiful remain low in France (83%), it outweighs the Internet.”

Constat 13. Finding 13. La recette publicitaire tirée d’un visiteur unique est vingt fois moindre que celle d’un lecteur. The advertising revenue from a single visitor is twenty times less than that of a player.
«Le revenu publicitaire fourni chaque année par un visiteur unique mensuel (sur un site Web, ndlr) varie de 1 à 3 euros, contre 20 à 60 euros pour un lecteur de presse écrite.» “The advertising income provided annually by unique visitors monthly (on a website editor’s note) varies from 1 to 3 euros, against 20 to 60 euros for a reader of newspapers.”

Constat 14. Finding 14. Google est au cœur des sessions sur Internet et sa vente de publicité en tire parti. Google is at the heart of sessions on the Internet and its sale of advertising exploits.
Comprendre: Google est un mastodonte. Understand: Google is a mastodon. «85% des sessions sur Internet incluent en France l’utilisation du moteur de recherche Google. “85% of sessions on the Internet in France include the use of search engine Google. (…) Ce qui permet à Google de capter 90% de la valeur dans la publicité à ciblage contextuel. (…) This allows Google to capture 90% of the value in advertising to contextual targeting. Une position dominante s’est créé dans les usages et n’est pas contestée sur le marché.» A dominant position was created in the uses and is not contested on the market. “

So mobile is where you need to be in France.

The last point is not a surprise given the French media’s attitude to Google. But Alain expresses some surprise in his response.

un, très humblement, je me demande pourquoi il a été nécessaire de réunir des Etats généraux pour constater ce que tout le monde sait;

Basically. “No, shit and why did we need a report to tell us this”. (my translation)and though the report gives some interesting figures,  I agree


French Media say Non to Google help

Eric Scherer at AFP newsnet has an interesting roundup of the French media’s reaction to the head of Google News, Josh Cohen as he asks what role will Google play in the news ecosystem?.

He’s got this nifty video of the twitter coverage as well as some very juicy quotes and debate about the impact of Google

From Emmanuel Parody, publisher of CBS Interactive in France:

Clearly, because Google is now controlling trading routes, it’s in a position of fixing prices. This is the problem

To Pierre Conte, president of PubliPrint, advertising branch of Le Figaro newspaper group

“We see you now as a danger for the life of our companies”, said Conte. “The CPM has collapsed, and the growth of the Internet has been hijacked by search. We are no longer able to pay professional journalists to do their work. “

Plenty of food for thought but Scherer picks a nice tweet from Jay Rosen to end the piece.

I am certain that Eric Schmidt will get a thorough de-briefing on Cohen’s Paris trip. As Jay Rosen commented in a recent tweet, “Google people tell me: we know we have to support the news ecosystem. But they don’t want to prop up messed up organizations.”

via Newspaper bailout: what role will Google play in the news ecosystem? – AFP-MediaWatch.

‘Councils should not build TV services with public money’ – Press Gazette

Bob says 'come and have a go if you think you're good enough'

In my own life I’ve seen it a thousand times, where there was the old rock’n'roll establishment beating up the punks, which I was part of, or it was the Aid establishment beating up Band Aid and Live Aid. But the reality is that there was room for the Rolling Stones and the Clash; there was room for Save the Children and Live Aid and so too there’s room for Kent Messenger and Kent TV and they sort of supply completely different services; I get my daily paper every day, but I’m also online every day

So says Bob Geldof. One of the founders of uberindie TenAlps and the company running Kent TV, Kent County Councils broadband TV service. But he wasn’t just plucking the Kent Messenger out of the air.

There’s been an ongoing debate about Kent TV, the latest round of which has seen Kent Messenger Group chairman Geraldine Allinson use the Westminster Media Forum debate in London to stress that ‘Councils should not build TV services with public money’.

Of course of course Bob is bullish about the reasons for the Kent Messengers dislike of the project. In his exclusive interview with Kent TV(who else):

This spurious beating up of Kent TV, on the notion that it’s political is rubbish. It’s a commercial attack. So, do it honourably and compete with us. We’ll win because we’re better, and regardless of who initiated this in Kent, they showed foresight. so competing on the commercial level, I love it, I love the challenge and if we lose, we lose ‘cos we’re not good enough, but competing, playing footsie with your political pals, ah that’s naff and it’s not what business should do.

But KMG are not the only ones up in arms. The Press Gazette reports similar worries for ITV Local director of programming and content Lindsay Charlto

“When council taxpayers wake up to the fact that half a million pounds is being spent on a television service on their behalf, they may have something to say about it,” he said.

“If you replicated that across the country I think there would be a public outcry.

“My own view is they shouldn’t be building television networks with public money.”

Outcry at public money being spent on a public service? Really. Well, I suppose it depends on whether you take the public service view or the commercial view.

I think Paid Content pegged the motivation of the council when they reported on the Kent Messenger groups efforts, through FOI requests, to work out just how much this was costing:

In a way, this issue is a mirror of opposition to BBC Local video plans. Is it logical that a local authority launches a web video news operation? Yes – in these days of local news cutbacks, every local government should want to guarantee a line of communication with voters. The side-effect – that much-loved spectacle of competition between the council and its local newspaper.

I think the Kent Messenger are right to question where public money is being spent – -that’s the job of a journalist after all. But when Geraldine Allinson suggests that “Some would argue that is a very unlevel playing field.” You have to have some sympathy with Geldof.

For me the real problem here, and where I think it differs from the BBC question,  is that the regional media cannot compete here. It really is a catch 22.

They can’t get on board with the council as that will simply leave both open to accusations of bias. But they cannot compete with a product backed by that much money because they have no infrastructure to do it.

Rather than throw stones, it may be better to question the process but let it develop (and perhaps fail) on its own. In the mean time they should concentrate on sharpening and matureing that questioning voice in a multiplatform environment. Maybe then they would have something to compete with.

Newspapers belong in bins not bookshelves

The disposable medium

The disposable medium - Picture by Pete Ashton via Flickr

I was on the train back from London last week and found myself sat behind a guy with a huge pile of newspapers. For the duration of the trip from London to Manchester he systematically went through the papers tearing out article and leaving a shredded mess behind him when he got off. By a quick reckoning he had left behind about 6 pounds worth of newspaper.

I was pondering this as I read a nice post over at Jo Geary’s blog where she ponders the ‘value’ of print. In, what she calls, Quick, incoherent thought #4: the power of print (I like the number thing, makes it sound like a series of artworks)she questions the value of print in world where digital is cheaper. Does digital mean that people value print less?

Well, the people who queued outside The Washington Post for their special edition on Obama’s victory would tell you there was a value to print and it has been argued that this is proof that newspaper is still the format of choice for important events. “People didn’t print out the news on their computers”, goes the argument.

In fact Jo argues that in some cases the content is so valuable that it could go in a hard back book.

I have some sympathy with that view (despite my link bait title), the transient nature of the web is often its least appealing characteristics. But I think there is one key factor that makes newspapers, rather than books, a valuable platform and one that should thrive and it isn’t the keepsake value.

Would you bin a kindle?

For me the man on the train proved to me that the compelling feature of newspaper as a medium is that we are prepared to throw it away. Bin it, shred it, leave it on the bus. Whatever we do we are happy to spend money on it and then leave it.

That’s why I think Jo’s book idea is a good one. But it’s also why I think that the newspaper industry excitement (or maybe that should be panic driven hope) for the development of e-readers and digital paper is so, so wrong. I have actually heard newspaper managers talk about how things will be ‘all right’ once digital ink is sorted.

Would you buy this and bin it?

Would you buy this and bin it?

Allowing people to download the daily newspaper to an e-reader or flexible screen may feel like it gives the industry back some of the monopoly on the distribution platform it thinks it needs to survive. But in reality it flies in the face of the way we consume and discard our daily news fix.

Maybe that’s just me. But I’m sure the man on the train would rather have his pile of paper.

Newspaper photo by Pete Ashton from Flickr

Liverpool Daily uses public FOI site for scoop

Liverpool Daily Post used what do they know

Liverpool Daily Post used democracy site "what do they know" for this story

Update: Alison has a great post on her blog about this story with some insight in to what a big cultural shift this has been for some in the newsroom

Alison Gow has just dropped me a tweet pointing me to a story on the Liverpool Daily Post website about the numbers of council workers going off sick.

The information for the story came via a website called What do they Know which facilitates the submission of Freedom of information requests by the public.  What’s esspecially pleasing is that full credit is given to the site at the end of the article

How the figures were revealed

THE figures were released after a member of the public made a Freedom of Information request.

Stephen Gradwick used democracy website www.whatdotheyknow.com to submit the enquiry.

The original request, all letters and emails and the council’s response can be found at http://bit.ly/14Xm6

Great stuff and I hope a lot more people pitch in to the site and the other great offerings from MySociety

On a personal note, I should say that I’m a bit peeved that Alison and the team have got a story from the site. I’ve been using What do they know in the training I’ve been doing with Trinity Mirror journos and now my secret weapon to wake people up as the afternoon session drags is out!