2005-2014

LONDON: Faced with slowing sales and dipping profits, foreign media houses are increasingly eyeing India, one of the most attractive markets globally, thanks to a robust economy and easing of stiff investment rules. India's thriving media industry, which was shut for foreign firms until not long ago, today counts Britain's Pearson, publisher of the Financial Times, Independent News and Media...

Jan. 23, 2006 issue - Recently the consumer Electronics Show filled up Las Vegas with more than 130,000 people and countless cell phones, camcorders, flash drives, car stereos, MP3 players and porn stars. In a State of the Industry speech, Gary Shapiro, head of the trade group behind the extravaganza, instructed us to view the "hallowed event": as "a Mecca... a Holy Grail." I have come back to...

IT wasn't so long ago that the Internet was seen as a trap for China. The country desperately needed to foster economic growth, and in the early 1990's much of the globe was plugging itself in. Sooner or later, the thinking went, China would have to plug into the Web, too, and however efficiently its leaders might have controlled information in the old days, they would be no match for this new...

PARIS Adapting to competition from the Internet in a downward advertising cycle, the largest U.S.-based newsweeklies have adopted sharply different tactics for the future of their international editions - and none of them involves expansion. Editors at Newsweek, Time and BusinessWeek emphasize their commitment to international coverage. Yet within the last month, staff reductions at Time and...

SOON AFTER man figured out that he could communicate to others through markings on the walls, duplication and distribution became a primary concern for the creator. As the means of communicating through drawing and words evolved from cave walls to scrolls and, later, books, writers realized that with the help of others, their stories could reach more people – and publishing was born. Then and now...

The News of the World's Mazher Mahmood is an undercover reporter who specialises in exposing the behind-the-scenes activities of high-profile celebrities. Mahmood's latest sting was to trick England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson into making several embarrassing revelations about his plans for the future. The reporter is known as "the fake Sheik" because many of his stings involve posing as an Arab...

Microsoft Corp may soon be able to tell whether an Internet search query comes from a man or a woman. The feature may help advertisers make search-related pitches more relevant to their intended audiences, said Jed Nahum, a Microsoft director of product management. Microsoft, the world's largest software company, is developing advertising technologies to bolster its MSN Internet unit and fight...

Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), the former Marine who is an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq, has become the latest Democrat to have his Vietnam War decorations questioned. In a tactic reminiscent of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth assault on Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) during the 2004 presidential campaign, a conservative Web site yesterday quoted Murtha opponents as questioning the...

McClatchy Co. executives wrapped up talks Friday over a possible bid for Knight Ridder Inc. of San Jose, the nation's second-largest newspaper chain, according to a newspaper report. Sacramento-based McClatchy, publisher of The Bee and 28 other daily and nondaily newspapers, spent Thursday and Friday meeting with Knight Ridder executives in the first in a series of presentations from would-be...

If, like me, you've been avoiding the "blog" phenomenon, don't despair. In this world of the 10-second attention span, you can fake your way through any conversation on blogs if you learn a few basics. Read on and you will find out everything you need to know about blogs short of actually writing or reading one on a regular basis. First of all, don't trust anyone who pretends they know all about...