Launches and Strategies

The Isle of Man Examiner is to end more than 131 years as a broadsheet newspaper to instead adopt a tabloid format, says a Press Gazette report. The Examiner, one of three titles produced by the Johnston Press-owned Isle of Man Newspapers, will switch to tabloid format on May 10. The weekly paper has been a broadsheet since 1880 when it was founded by Samuel Keown Broadbent, a Methodist who vowed...

Another new newspaper has been revealed in Zimbabwe, making a surprise arrival on the streets on Thursday, reports swradioafrica.com. Dummy copies of the paper titled The Mail were handed out free to the public on Thursday, ahead of the paper’s official launch, set for some time next week. The paper, carrying a headline story that says: “Restrictions on rallies biased,” appears to be a far cry...

The Al-Jazeera pan-Arab satellite channel says it will begin airing a Balkans programme in September, hoping to to establish itself as a regional news hub in the ethnically divided region, says an Agence France-Presse (AFP) report. With powerful public television divided along ethnic lines across the region and dozens of private channels mostly focusing on entertainment, Al-Jazeera Balkans hopes...

Arianna Huffington is to launch a UK edition of the Huffington Post this summer, as the US news and current affairs website recently acquired by AOL moves to expand internationally. The multi-millionaire, who sold Huffington Post to AOL for USD 315m in February, told the MediaGuardian Changing Media Summit on Thursday that the takeover meant she could accelerate plans to hire journalists and...

The Centre for Public Integrity is launching a daily digital investigative newspaper that will go live in about a month. The new product, likely to be called iWatch or Integrity Watch, will feature 10-20 original investigative stories per day about corruption, political ethics, corporate accountability, “truth watching,” and waste, fraud and abuse. Excerpts: [ Link] The nonprofit Centre for Public...

A new platform for crowdfunded photojournalism which aims to build a community around projects has received more than USD 20,000 in backing, just over a week since it went live, according to journalism.co.uk. Some details: [ Link] Emphas.is works by inviting story proposals and an expenses budget estimate from professional photojournalists, to be reviewed by a board of advisers working against a...

A multicultural, international news service wants to change the adage that no news is good news, says an IJNet report. Istanbul-based non-profit Silent Heroes, Invisible Bridges wants to promote peaceful co-existence amongst nations, cultures and religions of the world. The news service started out as a project for an International Center for Journalists online course called Reporting Across...

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...

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...

Yahoo on Thursday announced the debut of Livestand, a publishing platform that aims to deliver personalised content to mobile devices. The New York Times reported on Sunday, the platform, a digital newsstand, will offer a continuous stream of programming based on users’ interests. Yahoo plans to push the platform across multiple formats, including tablets, smartphones, and Web browsers, according...