According to Silicon Alley Insider http://www.alleyinsider.com/2007/12/reuters-iht-deal-wave-of-future-nytrtrsy.html the IHT/Reuters deal is 'the wave of the future'.
'The deal is a necessary step for two struggling news organizations. It is also likely the wave of the future.The primary business model supporting the traditional news business--print newspapers--is crumbling. The cause of this disintegration--a free, global publishing and distribution system called the Internet--has also vastly increased competition.The combination of these two factors amounts to a one-two punch to the news industry: First, undifferentiated content is now too expensive to produce relative the revenue that can be generated from it, and second, there's way too much content that is duplicative. The only way news organizations will survive, therefore, is by reducing content-creation and distribution costs and making their content more differentiated. Deals like this are one way to make this happen.'
Why an existing IHT/Bloomberg deal couldn't be turned into a wave of the future, I don't know. All postings from Bloomberg insiders welcome....
Monday, 10 December 2007
Tyler Brûlé and Monocle: Conflict of Interest?
It's not easy writing a weekly column, it's not easy writing a daily blog in fact.
(One of the reasons I am writing about the IHT is to just discover for myself how blogging is done, how easy or not it is and how rewarding as a writer - conclusions to be announced later).
So I am loathe to criticise anyone who does write a weekly column, like Tyler Brûlé.
Tyler Brûlé is an interesting character, as a quick visit to wikipedia will confirm. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyler_Br%C3%BBl%C3%A9
I'm not someone who feels comfortable quoting from wikipedia but it tells you where to start.
More reliably, because no doubt Brûlé signed off on it, his bio at the site of the International Speakers Bureau, (http://www.internationalspeakers.com/speakers/Celebrity_Speaker/ISBB-68CNTK/Tyler_Brule/) which represents him for speaking fees ranging from US$30-50k (oh look, it's snowing outside my study) makes the claim that "Almost everything you see, read, wear and do has been influenced by Tyler Brule."
WOW!
I note that someone on wikipedia pointed out that "Brûlé's father does not appear to have used any diacritical marks or accents on the family surname". Having said I don't like to quote wikipedia, I only do so because his bio on the internationalspeakers website doesn't use the marks on his name either. Do they know something we don't or are they going to be in big trouble with Brûlé when he finds out?
(Brûlé himself has made mention of these marks on his name - in the context of complicated hotel bookings, I think it was - in one of his IHT columns.)
Brûlé started his column for the IHT in March, 2007, and it was given big billing by the newspaper.
http://www.ihtinfo.com/pdfs/pr_TylerBrule070214.pdf
The column was going to be about (is?) 'urbanism and global navigation'.
(I don't know what urbanism is, other than it is an abstract noun and a legitimate derivative of the word urban, but that's just me.)
The editor of the IHT was very excited, describing Brûlé as 'the wisest, wittiest, guide I know to the increasingly global world [I do always like it when people speak of the 'world' getting increasingly 'global'] of great cities, and the planes, trains and other modes of transport that get our audience from one to another every day of the year.'
Diacritical marks or accents on the name or not, the man is clearly a genius.
Whether he writes well, wittily or about anything interesting is for other readers to decide.
For example: http://www.jaunted.com/tag/Brule
(Actually I fully agreed with his column this Saturday Let's bring back some Christmas spirit. http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/07/arts/tyler8.php)
What interests me more is the conflict of interest between his column and his business interests.
The press release from the IHT that accompanied the announcement of his column, gave a great deal of unusual space in the 'notes to editors' promoting a magazine called Monocle, which apparently is a 'global media brand that combines print, web and broadcast components. At it's core lies a monthly magazine delivering original coverage in global affairs, business, culture and design.' And which Brûlé started.
The IHT's willingness to promote this brand has continued, with regular adverts in the IHT about the latest or upcoming edition of Monocle, appearing normally on the day of Brûlé's column.
Now, when I worked for the IHT, if the advertising director were to have come to the editor of the IHT and say, look, we've got this global brand as a potential client, and they'll place 24 quarter page adverts a year on the op-ed page IF their MD can write a weekly column for the newspaper, the advertising director would certainly have lost all credibility, and perhaps even his job.
However, things have changed. The back of the book, most notably Roger Collis' interminable column (more on that another time), Brûlé's column and the international life rubric on the back page, along with such things as International Travel Update and Globespotters blog, are all about locking in one of the key advertising sectors that is the bread and butter of the IHT - or at least they would like it to be: travel industry advertising.
If so blatantly promoting a columnists' business interests isn't a conflict of interest between editorial and business (please refer to IHT Mission statement at www.ihtinfo.com ) then I don't know what is.
(One of the reasons I am writing about the IHT is to just discover for myself how blogging is done, how easy or not it is and how rewarding as a writer - conclusions to be announced later).
So I am loathe to criticise anyone who does write a weekly column, like Tyler Brûlé.
Tyler Brûlé is an interesting character, as a quick visit to wikipedia will confirm. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyler_Br%C3%BBl%C3%A9
I'm not someone who feels comfortable quoting from wikipedia but it tells you where to start.
More reliably, because no doubt Brûlé signed off on it, his bio at the site of the International Speakers Bureau, (http://www.internationalspeakers.com/speakers/Celebrity_Speaker/ISBB-68CNTK/Tyler_Brule/) which represents him for speaking fees ranging from US$30-50k (oh look, it's snowing outside my study) makes the claim that "Almost everything you see, read, wear and do has been influenced by Tyler Brule."
WOW!
I note that someone on wikipedia pointed out that "Brûlé's father does not appear to have used any diacritical marks or accents on the family surname". Having said I don't like to quote wikipedia, I only do so because his bio on the internationalspeakers website doesn't use the marks on his name either. Do they know something we don't or are they going to be in big trouble with Brûlé when he finds out?
(Brûlé himself has made mention of these marks on his name - in the context of complicated hotel bookings, I think it was - in one of his IHT columns.)
Brûlé started his column for the IHT in March, 2007, and it was given big billing by the newspaper.
http://www.ihtinfo.com/pdfs/pr_TylerBrule070214.pdf
The column was going to be about (is?) 'urbanism and global navigation'.
(I don't know what urbanism is, other than it is an abstract noun and a legitimate derivative of the word urban, but that's just me.)
The editor of the IHT was very excited, describing Brûlé as 'the wisest, wittiest, guide I know to the increasingly global world [I do always like it when people speak of the 'world' getting increasingly 'global'] of great cities, and the planes, trains and other modes of transport that get our audience from one to another every day of the year.'
Diacritical marks or accents on the name or not, the man is clearly a genius.
Whether he writes well, wittily or about anything interesting is for other readers to decide.
For example: http://www.jaunted.com/tag/Brule
(Actually I fully agreed with his column this Saturday Let's bring back some Christmas spirit. http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/07/arts/tyler8.php)
What interests me more is the conflict of interest between his column and his business interests.
The press release from the IHT that accompanied the announcement of his column, gave a great deal of unusual space in the 'notes to editors' promoting a magazine called Monocle, which apparently is a 'global media brand that combines print, web and broadcast components. At it's core lies a monthly magazine delivering original coverage in global affairs, business, culture and design.' And which Brûlé started.
The IHT's willingness to promote this brand has continued, with regular adverts in the IHT about the latest or upcoming edition of Monocle, appearing normally on the day of Brûlé's column.
Now, when I worked for the IHT, if the advertising director were to have come to the editor of the IHT and say, look, we've got this global brand as a potential client, and they'll place 24 quarter page adverts a year on the op-ed page IF their MD can write a weekly column for the newspaper, the advertising director would certainly have lost all credibility, and perhaps even his job.
However, things have changed. The back of the book, most notably Roger Collis' interminable column (more on that another time), Brûlé's column and the international life rubric on the back page, along with such things as International Travel Update and Globespotters blog, are all about locking in one of the key advertising sectors that is the bread and butter of the IHT - or at least they would like it to be: travel industry advertising.
If so blatantly promoting a columnists' business interests isn't a conflict of interest between editorial and business (please refer to IHT Mission statement at www.ihtinfo.com ) then I don't know what is.
IHT and FT Readers in the Blogosphere
Trying to understand who reads the International Herald Tribune can be, in part, examined by looking at how many people or organisations quote or comment on articles in the IHT in any given period.
To give you a flavour of this I did a quick Google Blog search this morning using the search term "International Herald Tribune" (Monday, 1020hrs CET) on how many people had done this during the following time periods (I have not deduplicated the list, so this is just approximate):
Last 24 hours: 198
Past Week: 6,804
Past Month: 65,0650
Of course, many of these bloggers are doing searches on subjects of their own interest, and therefore don't come to the IHT horizontally via the front door (as regular or even frequent IHT readers) but vertically, searching out information on the subjects that interest them.
By way of comparison, a search of the blogoshere using the search term 'Financial Times' delivered the following results (again not deduplicated):
Last 24 hours: 183
Past Week: 5,803
Past Month: 51,765
So more or less in the same ballpark, but the IHT leading by a reasonable margin.
Why?
To give you a flavour of this I did a quick Google Blog search this morning using the search term "International Herald Tribune" (Monday, 1020hrs CET) on how many people had done this during the following time periods (I have not deduplicated the list, so this is just approximate):
Last 24 hours: 198
Past Week: 6,804
Past Month: 65,0650
Of course, many of these bloggers are doing searches on subjects of their own interest, and therefore don't come to the IHT horizontally via the front door (as regular or even frequent IHT readers) but vertically, searching out information on the subjects that interest them.
By way of comparison, a search of the blogoshere using the search term 'Financial Times' delivered the following results (again not deduplicated):
Last 24 hours: 183
Past Week: 5,803
Past Month: 51,765
So more or less in the same ballpark, but the IHT leading by a reasonable margin.
Why?
- More bloggers interested in general interest and 'back of the book' type information, than business news, hence more referencing the FT?
- Greater brand recognition of the IHT in the USA, blog central?
- A fluctuating result that may change as per the news cycle?
- I don't know?
A typical or atypical IHT reader
I found an International Herald Tribune reader blogging, in part, about the paper.
Two things of note:
a) He was a traveling American
b) He thinks the newspaper has too much fashion coverage.
Well, I agree with point 'b' - but the IHT is obliged to follow the money to be a viable business and the advertising money for fashion doesn't follow the IHT but their fashion editor Suzy Menkes.
As to point 'a' - well, no one really knows for sure how much of the newspaper's readership is made up of this category, but we do know they generally buy at newsstands or get given it for free by hotels and airlines, the latter making up a substantial chunk of the IHT's global circulation. How much exactly? I'll get back to you on this.
Here's what we know about this IHT reader, Gerald Day.
a) He runs a blog - A Different Note about Washington: notes on politics, law and the news
http://geraldday.blogspot.com
b) He's American
c) He lives in Sammamish, Washington
d) He is or was working in the accounting industry
e) He's 72.
f) He 'picked up', rather than 'bought' the IHT nearly every day during his recent trip overseas.
g) He's a Pisces (IHT market research supremo Brian Shields, take note.)
Unfortunately, not exactly the target audience of IHT advertisers
Here's what he has to say about the IHT's coverage of the war in Iraq.
October 11, 2007
We left on vacation just as General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker were delivering their momentous reports. Apart from some superficial coverage on CNN, caught in snatches at the airport, I wasn't able to hear much about their testimony. I picked up an International Herald Tribune almost every day, but saw little there about their reports or the situation in Iraq generally. (Possibly the IHT would have more space for such issues if it cut back on its fashion pages.) However, based on what I've seen during the few days we've been back, I didn't miss much. Bush continues to prattle, the Democrats continue to backpedal, and the war goes on.
Two things of note:
a) He was a traveling American
b) He thinks the newspaper has too much fashion coverage.
Well, I agree with point 'b' - but the IHT is obliged to follow the money to be a viable business and the advertising money for fashion doesn't follow the IHT but their fashion editor Suzy Menkes.
As to point 'a' - well, no one really knows for sure how much of the newspaper's readership is made up of this category, but we do know they generally buy at newsstands or get given it for free by hotels and airlines, the latter making up a substantial chunk of the IHT's global circulation. How much exactly? I'll get back to you on this.
Here's what we know about this IHT reader, Gerald Day.
a) He runs a blog - A Different Note about Washington: notes on politics, law and the news
http://geraldday.blogspot.com
b) He's American
c) He lives in Sammamish, Washington
d) He is or was working in the accounting industry
e) He's 72.
f) He 'picked up', rather than 'bought' the IHT nearly every day during his recent trip overseas.
g) He's a Pisces (IHT market research supremo Brian Shields, take note.)
Unfortunately, not exactly the target audience of IHT advertisers
Here's what he has to say about the IHT's coverage of the war in Iraq.
October 11, 2007
We left on vacation just as General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker were delivering their momentous reports. Apart from some superficial coverage on CNN, caught in snatches at the airport, I wasn't able to hear much about their testimony. I picked up an International Herald Tribune almost every day, but saw little there about their reports or the situation in Iraq generally. (Possibly the IHT would have more space for such issues if it cut back on its fashion pages.) However, based on what I've seen during the few days we've been back, I didn't miss much. Bush continues to prattle, the Democrats continue to backpedal, and the war goes on.
It's a family affair: J. Murdoch and M.Golden
The International Herald Tribune gave a front page story to the question of the heir apparent to Rupert Murdoch - his son James. (James Murdoch: Ready for the throne? Saturday, December 8, 2007.)
It was interesting to note this story running the day before the new Reuters/IHT deal was announced and shortly after an article about Murdoch's plans to shake up Dow Jones, owner of IHT arch-rival The Wall Street Journal (http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/07/business/07dow.php)
I learnt that James has a 'soft-side' because he drives environmentally friendly cars - like his hybrid Lexus 4WD (sic), so that's all good.
The publisher of the International Herald Tribune, Michael Golden - a charming, gentle man who I have met on a number of occasions, even having the pleasure of sitting next to his wife at my last IHT board meeting dinner - used to be a potter and teach in prisons, so he too has a 'soft-side'.
How then did he arrive at being publisher of the IHT?
Given the IHT's love of full disclosure in it's reporting, it's surprising that his biography, as published on the IHT's corporate website www.ihtinfo.com fails to mention Golden's membership of the family that owns the New York Times, hence perhaps in part explaining not only his rise from remedial eduction prison teacher to publisher of the IHT, but also his election to the NYT Company board of directors in 1997 and his appointment as vice-chairman of the company in the same year.
It's for others to judge if his abilities as a businessman, journalist and publisher merited these powerful roles, but it might be appropriate for the IHT/NYT to explain to their stakeholders exactly what his family relationship is.
Eric Pfanner, who wrote the article about James Murdoch, has not as yet been assigned the story of who will be the successor to the chairman of the NYT company, Arthur 'Pinch' O. Sulzberger Jr., nor indeed the power struggles in New York after the Jason Blair fiasco which included rumours of open fisticuffs between Michael Golden and Pinch, and Mr. Golden being packed off to Paris shortly thereafter to run the IHT.
Nor has there been a report on the views of senior management at the IHT about the capacities and faculties of Mr. Golden as publisher. I don't want to name names but the words 'light-weight' and 'disappointing' have been used to describe Mr. Golden to me by some such executives.
Anyway, for those interested in reading Mr. Golden's bio, family connections expurgated, you can check it out at http://www.ihtinfo.com/pdfs/p_b_MichaelGolden.pdf
It was interesting to note this story running the day before the new Reuters/IHT deal was announced and shortly after an article about Murdoch's plans to shake up Dow Jones, owner of IHT arch-rival The Wall Street Journal (http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/07/business/07dow.php)
I learnt that James has a 'soft-side' because he drives environmentally friendly cars - like his hybrid Lexus 4WD (sic), so that's all good.
The publisher of the International Herald Tribune, Michael Golden - a charming, gentle man who I have met on a number of occasions, even having the pleasure of sitting next to his wife at my last IHT board meeting dinner - used to be a potter and teach in prisons, so he too has a 'soft-side'.
How then did he arrive at being publisher of the IHT?
Given the IHT's love of full disclosure in it's reporting, it's surprising that his biography, as published on the IHT's corporate website www.ihtinfo.com fails to mention Golden's membership of the family that owns the New York Times, hence perhaps in part explaining not only his rise from remedial eduction prison teacher to publisher of the IHT, but also his election to the NYT Company board of directors in 1997 and his appointment as vice-chairman of the company in the same year.
It's for others to judge if his abilities as a businessman, journalist and publisher merited these powerful roles, but it might be appropriate for the IHT/NYT to explain to their stakeholders exactly what his family relationship is.
Eric Pfanner, who wrote the article about James Murdoch, has not as yet been assigned the story of who will be the successor to the chairman of the NYT company, Arthur 'Pinch' O. Sulzberger Jr., nor indeed the power struggles in New York after the Jason Blair fiasco which included rumours of open fisticuffs between Michael Golden and Pinch, and Mr. Golden being packed off to Paris shortly thereafter to run the IHT.
Nor has there been a report on the views of senior management at the IHT about the capacities and faculties of Mr. Golden as publisher. I don't want to name names but the words 'light-weight' and 'disappointing' have been used to describe Mr. Golden to me by some such executives.
Anyway, for those interested in reading Mr. Golden's bio, family connections expurgated, you can check it out at http://www.ihtinfo.com/pdfs/p_b_MichaelGolden.pdf
Poorberg? NYT to purchase Thomson Corp?
The International Herald Tribune is announcing plans today to form a new business alliance with Reuters.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/10/technology/reuters10-web.php?WT.mc_id=rssfrontpage
'With the new agreement, Reuters replaces its fierce rival Bloomberg, which since 2002 maintained a business partnership with the IHT. Bloomberg and the IHT first collaborated in a section called Business Asia by Bloomberg in the newspaper's Asian editions and later in Marketplace by Bloomberg in Europe.'
At the time of the Bloomberg deal, it was rumoured that Bloomberg were so keen to raise their profile, essentially to compete with Reuters for the lucrative terminals business, that not only did they not demand money for their copy, but that they even paid for, or at least a part of, the editorial and paper and print costs of the Bloomberg pages.
Clearly something has come unstuck, because their has been little suggestion that the Bloomberg pages were not up to scratch editorially.
Did Bloomberg ask for revenue sharing and the IHT - always looking to save a dollar - went to Reuters? Or is there a bigger picture behind this deal, and if so, what is it?
It's interesting that Reuters themselves has agreed to a takeover bid by publisher Thomson Corp - a deal that is being looked into by US and EU competition authorities but which is expected to be completed in Q1 2008. Could Thomson Corp be on the radar screen of The New York Times company as a potential acquisition target?
It will be interesting to see how the Reuters pages measure up to the Bloomberg pages. And I might be off to buy some Thomson Corp shares, because their is no doubt that financial information is the weak link in the NYT offering, and in competition with Dow Jones, recently acquired by Murdoch's News International, things could be hotting up.
I noted this in particular: Monique Villa, a managing director of Reuters Media, said that Reuters would eventually like to extend its alliance beyond the IHT to NYT newspaper and its website.
Where Pearson's FT fits into all this is yet to be seen, but the FT, although a flagship Pearson property, accounts for very little of their overall turnover. With the Wall Street Journal now owned by the deep-pocket, ambitious News Int., and the IHT, and by extension the NYT, making a play with Reuters, the FT is beginning to look increasingly isolated in the world of business publishing.
To see Reuter's announcement on the FT deal, have a look at http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kunc/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1195550§ionID=5
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/10/technology/reuters10-web.php?WT.mc_id=rssfrontpage
'With the new agreement, Reuters replaces its fierce rival Bloomberg, which since 2002 maintained a business partnership with the IHT. Bloomberg and the IHT first collaborated in a section called Business Asia by Bloomberg in the newspaper's Asian editions and later in Marketplace by Bloomberg in Europe.'
At the time of the Bloomberg deal, it was rumoured that Bloomberg were so keen to raise their profile, essentially to compete with Reuters for the lucrative terminals business, that not only did they not demand money for their copy, but that they even paid for, or at least a part of, the editorial and paper and print costs of the Bloomberg pages.
Clearly something has come unstuck, because their has been little suggestion that the Bloomberg pages were not up to scratch editorially.
Did Bloomberg ask for revenue sharing and the IHT - always looking to save a dollar - went to Reuters? Or is there a bigger picture behind this deal, and if so, what is it?
It's interesting that Reuters themselves has agreed to a takeover bid by publisher Thomson Corp - a deal that is being looked into by US and EU competition authorities but which is expected to be completed in Q1 2008. Could Thomson Corp be on the radar screen of The New York Times company as a potential acquisition target?
It will be interesting to see how the Reuters pages measure up to the Bloomberg pages. And I might be off to buy some Thomson Corp shares, because their is no doubt that financial information is the weak link in the NYT offering, and in competition with Dow Jones, recently acquired by Murdoch's News International, things could be hotting up.
I noted this in particular: Monique Villa, a managing director of Reuters Media, said that Reuters would eventually like to extend its alliance beyond the IHT to NYT newspaper and its website.
Where Pearson's FT fits into all this is yet to be seen, but the FT, although a flagship Pearson property, accounts for very little of their overall turnover. With the Wall Street Journal now owned by the deep-pocket, ambitious News Int., and the IHT, and by extension the NYT, making a play with Reuters, the FT is beginning to look increasingly isolated in the world of business publishing.
To see Reuter's announcement on the FT deal, have a look at http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kunc/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1195550§ionID=5
Sunday, 9 December 2007
Watching the Watch Watchers
For many years I never owned a watch. Now I do, a Casio G-Shock. Robust, functionality I need.
So I was surprised to find myself reading a special report in Saturday's International Herald Tribune on Watches which was of course there because the advertising department were sure to deliver - and indeed did so - pages of expensive colour advertising from watch makers.
It focused on small, independent watchmakers, was absolutely fascinating and I found myself, I think for the first time, reading one of these advertising led special reports.
I found this blog from a watch-lover, Harry Tan, who was interviewed for the special report by -who he described as - an IHT journalist, Ms Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop.
As far as I can tell Ms. Sonia is in fact either a freelancer or staffer for Newsweek, is based out of Singapore (as is Mr. Tan) and was commissioned to write for the special report.
http://watchinghorology.com/2007/12/what-is-attraction-of-independent.html
So I was surprised to find myself reading a special report in Saturday's International Herald Tribune on Watches which was of course there because the advertising department were sure to deliver - and indeed did so - pages of expensive colour advertising from watch makers.
It focused on small, independent watchmakers, was absolutely fascinating and I found myself, I think for the first time, reading one of these advertising led special reports.
I found this blog from a watch-lover, Harry Tan, who was interviewed for the special report by -who he described as - an IHT journalist, Ms Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop.
As far as I can tell Ms. Sonia is in fact either a freelancer or staffer for Newsweek, is based out of Singapore (as is Mr. Tan) and was commissioned to write for the special report.
http://watchinghorology.com/2007/12/what-is-attraction-of-independent.html
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