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Issue: #371                                                        
March 18, 2016
Andrew Rosenthal Steps Down As Editorial Page Editor, James Bennet Returns To The New York Times to Succeed Him   
The New York Times announced Monday that Andrew Rosenthal, who has served for a decade as editorial page editor, has decided to step down. The announcement was made by publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., who said that Mr. Rosenthal's departure will take place in late April. Mr. Sulzberger asked Mr. Rosenthal to begin writing online columns, covering a range of subjects, including the presidential election. James Bennet, who for the past ten years has been editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, is rejoining The Times to succeed Mr. Rosenthal.

Mr. Rosenthal said, "Since Arthur began the public discussions last fall about succession planning for himself, I also have been thinking about my own plans. I feel very honored to have served in this position for longer than any editorial page editor in the modern history of The Times and during a period of such sweeping change, both in our business and in the world we cover. It's been a great challenge and great fun. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to step back and focus my full attention on writing about subjects I care deeply about. I am very happy that in James, the editorial department will be left in the care of such an accomplished, influential and smart journalist. I am enormously grateful for my long association with The New York Times, an institution for which I will always have tremendous pride and affection." More 
NYNAME and NYSCMA, Inc. announce free Networking Mixer
NYNAME and NYSCMA, Inc. are pleased to announce a casual Networking Mixer set for Wednesday, April 20, 5:30-8:00 p.m. at the Garden Grille & Bar/Hilton Garden Inn in Pittsford, New York.
 
The mixer, which is open to NYNAME and NYSCMA, Inc. members, as well as non-members in the newspaper industry, is free to attend. Light refreshments will be provided.
 
This is your chance to mingle with fellow advertising and circulation staff members in a relaxed, after-hours setting.
 
Representatives of NYNAME and NYSCMA, Inc. will be on hand to greet and converse with attendees.
 
The Garden Grille & Bar/Hilton Garden Inn is located at 800 Pittsford-Victor Road, Pittsford, NY, 14534, just off Exit 27 of Interstate 490.
 
To learn more about NYNAME, visit www.nyname.org. For additional information on NYSCMA, Inc., click to www.nyscma.com.
 
Those with questions about the mixer may contact Don Ferlazzo of NYNPA at 518-449-1667 ext. 700 or [email protected].
USA TODAY NETWORK Premieres Virtual Reality News Show  
From Press Release                      
USA TODAY NETWORK, part of Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI) announced today that it will produce VRtually There, the first branded news experience presented in virtual reality (VR). Through the launch of VRtually There, the USA TODAY NETWORK maintains its groundbreaking status in VR-driven journalism and media, poised to scale as specialized VR hardware evolves, and the viewing audience grows.

VRtually There will premiere in Spring 2016 and will air a variety of regularly scheduled segments through a true network approach. Working with USA TODAY NETWORK newsrooms across the nation, VRtually There will expand to include a slate of regularly-scheduled original programming to include content from across the NETWORK, touching on a wide variety of topics, such as: music news from Nashville, SPORTS news from Detroit and Indianapolis, political news from Washington DC, outdoor news from Reno and Fort Collins, MONEY news from Westchester and USA TODAY's team, TECH and LIFE news from San Francisco and Los Angeles, and consumer tips from Reviewed.com.

Tied to the introduction of programming, VRtually There will also make various tiers of new, VR advertising units available by working with brands and agencies to develop winning integrations on the channel. And, USA TODAY NETWORK's GET Creative, its branded content studio, will have in-house expertise in VR branding. By providing these unique offerings for brands, USA TODAY NETWORK is continuing to push the boundaries on emerging technology platforms. More
From engagingnewsproject.org
Online comment sections provide a space for the public to interact with news, to express their opinions, and to learn about others' views. To date, little is known about the populations that inhabit online comment sections. Who comments online and why? Who reads online comments? And what does the public think about best practices for this space? In this report, we use a nationally representative sample of commenters and comment readers to describe the demographic makeup, attitudes, and behaviors of the people who comprise the online commenting world.

Some noteworthy findings include:
  • 55% of Americans have left an online comment and 77.9% have read the comments at some point.
  • Of those who have left a comment, 77.9% have done so via social media.
  • Just over half (50.7%) of Americans do not read news comments or leave comments on news sites.
  • Of those who leave news comments, 53.2% said they comment on news monthly or less frequently, and of those who read comments, 59.0% said that they do so a few times a month or less.
  • Americans who leave news comments, who read news comments, and who do neither are demographically distinct. News commenters are more male, have lower levels of education, and have lower incomes compared to those who read news comments.
  • News commenters and comment readers most commonly name United States politics or domestic policy as the types of stories on which they comment or read comments.
  • 56% of those who comment on news say they do so to express an opinion, particularly when the topic is United States politics or domestic policy.
More
Tightening the Screws on Anonymous Sources       
From NYTimes.com                      
After two major front-page errors in a six-month period, Times editors are cracking down on the use of anonymous sources.

An email to the newsroom Tuesday morning from Dean Baquet, the executive editor, Matt Purdy, a deputy executive editor, and Philip Corbett, the standards editor, said, in part:
At best, granting anonymity allows us to reveal the atrocities of terror groups, government abuses or other situations where sources may risk their lives, freedom or careers by talking to us. In sensitive areas like national security reporting, it can be unavoidable. But in other cases, readers question whether anonymity allows unnamed people to skew a story in favor of their own agenda. In rare cases, we have published information from anonymous sources without enough questions or skepticism - and it has turned out to be wrong.
Although the policy does not ban anonymity, it is intended to significantly reduce what Mr. Purdy characterized as an overreliance on unnamed sources.

The policy, several months in the making, is the result of newsroom leaders consulting with "a number of our most experienced reporters and editors," the email said.

It requires one of three top editors to review and sign off on articles that depend primarily on information from unnamed sources - particularly those that "hinge on a central fact" from such a source, Mr. Purdy told me last week in an interview. The editors are Mr. Baquet, Mr. Purdy, and Susan Chira, another deputy executive editor. More
Why Subscriptions are the Future of Journalism 
From Editorandpublisher.com
With the rise of ad blockers, platform dependency, and Facebook's and Google's dominance on the mobile ad market, the need for publishers to invest in the relationship with their readers is more important than ever.

Instead, many a media outlet is opting to sell "branded content." Also referred to as "native ads," this form of advertising not only threatens a publication's editorial independence, it also harms its relationship with readers. And while they're at it, one journalism site after another is killing the comments section, locking out readers' voices instead of investing in building a community of contributing readers and journalists. Damaging the ties with your audience is the last thing one should do, yet it seems to be every publisher's strategy at the moment.
Our times call for a dramatic change in media business models. We should choose to empower journalists and restore the trust of readers by adopting a subscription model. More

 
In a New York Minute is the weekly electronic newsletter of  NYNPA, providing you with member news, money-saving and money-generating ideas, and upcoming events. If you would like to contribute to this newsletter please reply to this e-mail or contact [email protected]. For more on NYNPA please visit us on the web at www.nynpa.com.

Mary Miller
Education Services Director
New York News Publishers Association
Also In This Issue
When should newspapers run front-page editorials?
2-Day Innovation & Entrepreneurship Workshop
USA TODAY launches branded content studio
Investor Emerges as Big Player for Small Newspapers
NYS Open Meetings FOIL Event
UPCOMING WEBINARS AND EVENTS

3/24 - Mobile Trends & the Changing Face of Retail - FREE for NAA Members

3/25 - Growing Your Digital Audience - Online Media Campus - $35

3/25 - Covering the Election Online, From Tweet to App - Poynter NewsU - $29.95

4/8 - Train the Trainer: Creating top-notch training materials for your team - Online Media Campus - $35

4/13 - Content and Context: How to Create Native Advertising Without Feeling Icky - Poynter NewsU - $34.95

4/13 - Social Marketing/Social Commerce 2.0 - Inland Press - $25

4/15 - Saving Print: Highlights From 25 Ways to Improve Your Print Products in 2016 - Inland Press - $25

4/22 - Best Breakouts for Daily Reporting - Online Media Campus - $35
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6/12-6/14 - Ninth Annual Sales & Marketing Joint Conference, Saratoga Springs - NYNAME/NYSCMA, Inc. - $175/$125

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