When people were asked where they found out about news stories in a new Pew Research Center project, their answer was old media, predominantly newspapers. This is the headline table:

Sector From Which New Information Reported (Six Key Storylines)

Sector
% of All Stories

Print
48%

Local TV
28

Niche media
13

Radio
7

New media
4

Source: Pew Research Center, January 2010

The FT reports that The Economist plans to make headroads into social networks:
The Economist newspaper plans to acquire 500,000 fans on Facebook and 750,000 followers on Twitter within six months, in another sign that traditional publishers are looking to social media as a substantial source of web traffic and new readers.
via FT.com / UK – Economist eyes social network cash …read the rest of this article

We call the Internet a place. We go to sites. Marketing people talk about destinations.
But that’s rubbish. The Internet is with me, and increasingly with most people, all of the time. It follows us as we go to other places. Increasingly, it helps us to navigate those places. You have probably seen it already, but if you haven’t, check this …read the rest of this article

Just watched Be Kind Rewind on PirateCity. In the interests of research, I tested an illegal video service that streams movies for free. The quality is fairly poor – somewhere between YouTube and Vimeo. And not ideally, I watched this widescreen movie in 4:3. Jack Black seems a lot slimmer nowadays.
As I am sure you know, the plot is that …read the rest of this article

I’ve been thinking about the future of newspapers a fair bit over the last few weeks, because we’ve been preparing a panel event on just that topic. It’s involved a range of reading and on-record and off-record conversations with a load of people involved with newspapers – readers, editors, pundits and the man on the Clapham Omnibus.
Newspapers, particularly quality papers, …read the rest of this article

On Amazon, this book is tagged ‘liar’, ‘alcohol’, ’sociopath’ and ‘jail’. But also with ‘entrepreneur’, ‘web 2.0′ and ‘dotcom’. It should probably also be tagged ‘genius raconteur’.
The book tells the tale of Paul Carr’s successful beginnings – a published author while still at university, a Guardian columnist a couple of years later and a blogs-to-books publisher shortly after that – …read the rest of this article

One for the agency folk.

http://view.break.com/542649 – Watch more free videos
Found another copy!

If you start a job as an oil rigger, then there’s a 50% chance you’ll have a reportable accident within the next six months. After that period, the risk drops to 5% or less, as you get to know the ropes.
That’s quite frightening for potential oil-riggers and for people in the oil and gas industry who hire such folk.
I was …read the rest of this article