9 Questions: Zell’s Clown Car, The New “100,” Tablets & Print Circ & Daughter of Alesia

Will the cats of newspaper industry be successfully herded? After pouring millions into his Alesia project, Rupert Murdoch gave the retreat order to his would-be Roman warriors, killing the tablet-oriented paid news portal initiative. Though his News Corp is the biggest news company in the ...

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The Newsonomics of Replacement Journalism

The second half of the year has so far produced TBD’s hiring of 50 in Washington, Patch’s push to pick up 500 journalists across the country, and the new alliance for public media plan to hire more than 300 journalists in four major cities, if funding can be found in 2011. In addition, the ...

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“Public Media” $100 Million Plan: 100 Journalists Per City

One hundred "public media" reporters and editors in a market is a huge increase. Among those four stations, the news staff would now range from 12 to 30 each, among them. It's tough to count because these are legacy radio operations and radio requires different job descriptions than digital ...

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USAT: It’s (About) Time for the Next Re-Invention

Today's announcement that the USA Today is falling on its own grenade, blowing itself up, taking casualties (130 layoffs) and taking an increasingly familiar digital-first, print-last path makes historic sense.

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The Newsonomics of TBD’s New D.C. News Site

Let’s look at the Newsonomics of launching what is the nation’s first combined local online news startup/24-hour news channel. That combination is the most basic to understanding the business of TBD, informing both TBD’s cost structure and revenue models. If TBD turns profitable within two to ...

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TBD: First Takes on the Launch

So we go from macro ("10 Reasons to Watch the TBD Launch," to micro, as we all get look at the site, and can translate the good theory behind the site to its actual look, feel and execution.

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10 Reasons to Watch Next Week’s TBD Launch

The launch will come next week, in the doggiest days of D.C. summer, creating a regional DC alternative to the long-impressive WashingtonPost.com. I'll offer today a half-dozen reasons why TBD is a launch worth watching by all those in Old and Newer media. It may be the first significant ...

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Weigel and Nasr “Sins” Put the Church of High Integrity on Trial

Thinking about the recent terminations at the Washington Post and CNN, though, I wonder if the press priesthood is still another cultural institution in the process of being swept away, encumbered as much as it has by habit as by principle.

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The Philly Watch: Labor, Skills and the Digital Future

Philly's next re-do -- maybe it will catch the recovery wind at its back this time -- won't happen in isolation. Down the road, in D.C., it'll be able to watch Allbritton's TBD start-up experiment, beginning in June. The first lesson: Figuring out how to serve substantial top-flight journalism ...

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Philly Report: Thinking About the Roll-Ups to Come

The magic word here from a business perspective: Roll-up. Whoever figures out how to roll up major audiences and monetize them wins. J-Lab's report holds out hope that may come about somewhat organically. History, though, teaches us that it's more likely to come by dint of more singular zeal.

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