j's scratchpad

The Federal Trade Commission hosts the free public and webcast workshop From Town Criers to Bloggers: How Will Journalism Survive in the Internet Age? Tuesday and Wednesday, December 1-2, in Washington, DC. Pre-registration by those attending is encouraged to reserve space.
They are accepting public comment by Friday, 11/6. An organization called FreePress.org has put together [...]

In September, The New York Review of Books printed an article about trends in the news industry and the potential future of news. An upcoming issue includes some editorials in response.

I breathed a big sigh of relief when I read the front page headline of my paper copy of The Boston Globe yesterday: The New York Times decided not to sell The Globe. The future of this newspaper and Boston journalism were in question. Sure, there are lots of news sources around here, but without [...]

Bill Dedman, owner of the Power Reporting: Resources for journalists is offering the website for anyone who take it over:
“If a university journalism program or nonprofit association is interested in using this domain as an aid to journalists or journalism, drop me a line. Contact Bill Dedman. I don’t think whoever takes over the site [...]

The June 4, 2009 issue of The New York Observe has an article called ABC News Shuttering In-House Library in Favor of ‘Digital Research Facility’; Looking To Donate Print Materials:
“Today, yet another bricks-and-mortar media bibliothèque fell victim to the digital age.”
“This afternoon, in an email to his staff, David Westin, the president of ABC News, [...]

Erica Smith, journalist, newspaper and multimedia designer at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a nifty multimedia website called Paper Cuts which lists all of the layoffs, closings and other news in the newspaper field.
As of March 16, 2009, 5,046 plus jobs have been lost in the United States.
For more info:
http://graphicdesignr.net/papercuts/
Posted by Rich

The New England News Forum at UMass Amherst, the Boston University College of Communication and the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute are hosting a one-day collaboration called NEWSOUT: What to do when the newsroom lights go out: Options and strategies for New England communities on Saturday, March 21, 2009 at Boston University:
“In the last 18 [...]

The daily Boston Globe reports how various Boston area weekly newspapers are handling the economic downturn. Several have reduced page size and number of pages, some are limiting distribution, and one has gone back to being a weekly after a few weeks of trying life as a daily.

From the Berkman Center for Internet & Society’s weekly email detailing nifty events in the coming week:

[MONDAY] THE FUTURE OF NEWS
=================================
3/9/09, 5:00-7:00 PM
Austin West, Austin Hall, Harvard Law School
Topic: The Future of News
Guests: Russ Stanton and Jeff Jarvis — A public session of “The Internet: Issues at the Frontiers” seminar
Russ Stanton and Jeff Jarvis will [...]

About two months shy of its true 150th anniversary, the Rocky Mountain News published its last paper and prepares to completely close down. It had been seeking a buyer in the midst of troubles plaguing many newspapers these days.
My hat is off to our colleagues. I can’t help wondering what will happen to the archives [...]