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Daily Archives: November 5, 2018

Are Newspapers Heading Towards Post-Print Obscurity?

Thurman, Neil J. and Fletcher, Richard, Are Newspapers Heading Towards Post-Print Obscurity? A Case Study of the Independent’s Transition to Online-Only (2018). Digital Journalism, doi: 10.1080/21670811.2018.1504625. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3256638 [h/t Joe Hodnicki]

“With print circulations in decline and the print advertising market shrinking, newspapers in many countries are under pressure. Some — like Finland’s Taloussanomat and Canada’s La Presse — have decided to stop printing and go online-only. Others, like the Sydney Morning Herald, are debating whether to follow. Those newspapers that have made the switch often paint a rosy picture of a sustainable and profitable digital future. This study examines the reality behind the spin via a case study of The Independent, a general-interest UK national newspaper that went digital-only in March 2016. We estimate that, although its net British readership did not decline in the year after it stopped printing, the total time spent with The Independent by its British audiences fell 81%, a disparity caused by huge differences in the habits of online and print readers. This suggests that when newspapers go online-only they may move back into the black, but they also forfeit much of the attention they formerly enjoyed. Furthermore, although The Independent is serving at least 50% more overseas browsers since going online-only, the relative influence on that growth of internal organizational change and external factors — such as the “Trump Bump” in news consumption — is difficult to determine.”

OCLC and Ithaka S+R publish report on aligning library strategies with university directions

“OCLC and Ithaka S+R have published a new report, University Futures, Library Futures: Aligning library strategies with institutional directions, which establishes a new framework for understanding the fit between emerging library service paradigms and university types. The report is available on the OCLC Research website. Supported in part by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, project… Continue Reading

More Now Say It’s ‘Stressful’ to Discuss Politics With People They Disagree With

“Over the past two years, Americans have become more likely to say it is “stressful and frustrating” to have political conversations with those they disagree with. The change in opinions has come largely among Democrats: 57% now say that talking about politics with people they disagree with is stressful and frustrating, up from 45% two… Continue Reading

CRS Report – Presidential Disability Under the Twenty – Fifth Amendment

Via Secrecy News: “Under the 25th amendment to the Constitution, a U.S. President could be declared “disabled” and removed from office against his will by the Vice President acting together with a majority of the Cabinet. A new report from the Congressional Research Service details the background and provisions of the amendment. Proponents of the 25th… Continue Reading

NYT posts examples of misinformation submitted by readers

We Asked for Examples of Election Misinformation. You Delivered – “Two months ago, The New York Times asked readers to send in examples of election-related misinformation they saw online. Readers responded. In all, more than 4,000 examples of misinformation were submitted to The Times from social media feeds, text-messaging apps and email accounts. Each legitimate… Continue Reading

Are you ballot ready?

Oxford University Press Blog: “The 2018 midterm elections could see the highest turnout for a midterm since the mid-1960s, another time of cultural and social upheaval. Michael McDonald, Professor of Political Science at the University of Florida, predicted to NPR that “between 45-50 percent of eligible voters will cast a ballot.” The Trump presidency has… Continue Reading

Concern for global democracy

Oxford University Press Blog: “A new report by the Democracy Project finds that a majority of Americans view democracy in the United States as weak and getting weaker. Even worse, nearly half of Americans express concerns that the United States is in “real danger of becoming a nondemocratic, authoritarian country.” Reports such as this one… Continue Reading

A ‘Mass Shooting Generation’ Cries Out for Change

Take a couple of minutes to digest the concept, unthinkable for baby boomers when we recall our respective childhoods, that we now routinely refer to schools and houses of worship, as “soft targets.” What is our civic responsibility in response to the now embedded process of active shooter drills, school lock-downs, screams of code-red, and… Continue Reading

Flip side of UN climate report’s findings – change is a mandatory choice the world must make

The Nation: “Ask me when they learn that I study climate politics. Fair enough. The science is grim, as the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has just reminded us with a report on how hard it will be to keep average global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. But it’s the wrong question. Yes,… Continue Reading