United States

Move over CNN, ABC and New York Times, Google and Facebook could be calling more of the shots in news delivery if a new study is any indication. The fundamental challenge to journalism may be that it is no longer in charge of its own destiny in a digital world that has introduced a new layer of complexity and new players on whom traditional media have become dependent. That is according to a copy...

The audience for network evening newscasts continued their 30-year decline in 2010, and cable news, while it has become the fourth most popular platform for news, shows signs of having peaked. That is according to a copy of the annual Project for Excellence In Journalism State of the News Media Report, which was released Monday morning. The audience for most network news programs continued to...

Gannett Co, the owner of 82 US newspapers including USA Today, is considering charging for its online content, Chief Executive Officer Craig Dubow said, according to a Bloomberg News report. The company, which also owns television stations, is trying a paid-content model at three newspaper websites, and is likely to experiment more before making a decision about the broad use of paywalls, Dubow...

NPR, PBS and local public broadcast stations in the United States are hiring more journalists and pumping millions of dollars into investigative news to make up for what they see as a lack of deep-digging coverage by their for-profit counterparts, the Associated Press (AP) has reported. Public radio and TV stations have seen the need for reporting that holds government and business accountable...

US ambassador to Kosovo Christopher Dell has written an open letter to the country's Independent Media Commission criticising Express, Koha Ditore and Koha Vision TV for using blown-up photos of text messages on a smartphone screen to show that he provided the country's new president with last-minute advice in parliament before a vote that secured him the presidency. It was clear from the photos...

The largest US newspaper and local TV companies have created a new system to sell online advertising in a private exchange, part of a growing shift by publishers to take control over the digital ad-buying process in an attempt to raise ad rates, says an Adage report. Excerpts: [ Link] The New York Times Co, Hearst, Tribune and Gannett will start selling the bulk of ad inventory for its newspapers...

Events and controversies related to Islam dominated US press coverage of religion in 2010, bumping the Catholic Church from the top spot, according to a new study by the Pew Research Centre’s Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Much of the coverage focused on the plan to build a mosque and Islamic centre near ground zero in New York City, a Florida...

Unique visitors to local news websites are less unique and less local than one would assume. A new study from research and consulting firm Borrell Associates challenges many of core ways that online audiences are characterized and counted by local news outlets. On average, a third of the visitors to a local news site live outside the market, and a quarter of the visitors are “fly-bys.” The Borrell...

The Washington Post announced Friday it will launch Trove, a site that aggregates news and enables users to personalize their news stream based on their interests. The site, which is currently in private beta, is expected to launch in March, according to Mashable.com The details: [ Link] The announcement highlights a trend among news publishers looking to personalize news consumption based on...

The Voice of America (VOA) has launched a new “blog network”. All of VOA’s English language blogs are now conveniently listed on one webpage, including Digital Frontiers, a dynamic online discussion of privacy, identity and freedom in the digital age. In addition to a single page that brings together links to all of VOA’s blog sites, visitors can see what others are saying about key issues, and...