17 posts and columns on editors

News Byte

NileGuide Acquires Decade-Old 10Best for Travel Content

in Social on January 25, 2011 at 6:33 am PT

San Francisco-based NileGuide wants to be the alternative to scuzzy keyword-stuffed travel information from content farms. The company, which pays local editors to maintain free, user-generated content, has acquired 10Best.com, a profitable edited travel recommendations site from EnVeritas that’s been around since 2000, to help boost NileGuide’s traffic to three million visitors per month. Terms were not disclosed, but NileGuide said it will keep a portion of 10Best’s staff in Greenville, S.C.

Roll Camera! Jason Calacanis Makes a Video Push at Mahalo, and Wants You to Know About It

in Media on January 25, 2011 at 3:00 am PT

But what he really wants is a billion-dollar-plus valuation, like the one that competitor Demand Media is going to get.

Perfect Market Raises Another $9 Million to Help Papers Sell Old News

in Media on January 17, 2011 at 9:00 pm PT

Perfect Market doesn’t promise to save the newspaper business. But the company says it can help papers wring more money out of the stuff they’re already making.

Chartbeat Says the Rise of the Machines Won't Be So Bad if You're a Cyborg

in Media on January 4, 2011 at 7:46 am PT

Or why Tony Haile wants you to learn to stop worrying and love data–and pay up for a subscription to Newsbeat, his new analytics service.

Comcast Unit Finds New Use for the iPhone: Getting Work Done

in Mobile on December 30, 2010 at 12:45 pm PT

While plenty of people are using their iPhones and iPads to watch video, a unit of Comcast is betting that the devices can also play a role in helping professional video get onto the Internet. Though a niche product, it is the kind of application that many expect to see more of as businesses find ways of incorporating mobile devices into their office workflow.

It Was a Bright, Cold Day in Beijing, and the Clocks Were Striking Thirteen…

in News on March 25, 2010 at 2:26 pm PT

Google co-founder Sergey Brin says China’s efforts to censor speech and suppress dissidents smacks of the “totalitarianism” of his youth in the Soviet Union. Here’s a prime example of that: A Beijing directive describing how Google’s defiance of China’s censorship laws is to be portrayed in the country’s media.

Google Loses a Round in Italian Court: Will YouTube Have to Pay Up?

in Media on December 16, 2009 at 2:11 pm PT

Here’s the problem with running the world’s biggest video site: It exposes you to legal fights all over the world. And Google appears to have lost a tussle in Italian court today. Mediaset, a commercial broadcaster controlled by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, has won a copyright ruling, and a Rome court has ordered YouTube to remove all of Mediaset’s content from the site. The broadcaster is reportedly looking for at least $730 million in damages.

Tim Armstrong Makes One Last Pitch for AOL: “No More Hail Marys”

in Media on December 9, 2009 at 10:15 am PT

AOL is about to cut ties to Time Warner, and CEO Tim Armstrong has been making his case to current and potential investors. Here’s one last pitch, delivered to the crowd at the annual UBS Media and Communications Conference in New York.
tim_armstrong_lg

Journalism and Freedom

in News on December 8, 2009 at 11:13 am PT

We are at a time when many news enterprises are shutting down or scaling back. No doubt you will hear some tell you that journalism is in dire shape, and the triumph of digital is to blame. My message is just the opposite.

AOL Automates Its Story Factory. Does That Kill an Associated Content Deal?

in Media on November 30, 2009 at 4:45 am PT

AOL is cutting its payroll by one-third. Now comes its plan to make the remaining employees more productive: New technology that assigns and even edits stories automatically. That sounds an awful lot like Associated Content, a start-up that AOL CEO Tim Armstrong invested in–and considered buying–earlier this year.
chaplin-modern-times

Jimmy Wales on Wikipedia Quality and Tips for Contributors

in News, November 6, 2009 at 12:09 pm PT

QOTD