Sour Alba

It’s 18 months since I left scotsman.com. I knew the new Johnston Press redesign was, to put it very, very, mildly, unworthy to lick the boots of the 2001-2007 model.

I also knew that traffic would tank. I warned Tim Bowlder, the JP chief executive, of this face to face saying the JP redesign would lose “millions of page views and hundreds of thousands of users”. My warning was ignored and a JP apparatchik later explained that I had not understood how good their plans were.

Well, we can finally see how good their plans were. Audited traffic figures for scotsman.com have finally escaped into the light of day. According to ABCe, the site I edited for seven years now gets about 2 million unique users a month.

I have made a return to newspapers of sorts. My agency, w00tonomy, has formed an alliance with Palmer Watson, one of the world’s leading newspaper design agencies.

Our expertise in online content will help them move into the field of newspaper websites while their knowledge of how design can maximise the appeal of words and pictures adds to our offering to our clients.

More on the problems of a small newspaper getting its money from the print edtion. Summary: If the top guys don't all want to see the website work, it's not gonna happen. Trying to get a staff that is used to the print edition and doesn't really understand online to use the internet is difficult. - Joey Baker

“It makes you wonder whether Jarvis has actually done any, you know, reporting,” Rosenbaum asks, lamenting his “contempt for the beautiful losers who actually made journalism an honorable profession.”

DON Brash and Nicky Hager may not see eye to eye on many issues - but they agree media coverage of the election campaign has been inadequate. They say high profile MPs Winston Peters, Peter Dunne, Bill English and Clayton Cosgrove have all had accusations levelled at them late in the campaign, with little or no analysis provided. Former National Party leader Dr Brash believes the media has a role in probing potential hypocrisy in a candidate’s statements, provided they give the candidate the

Last week was our crazy conference week; now we have our crazy earnings week. Check out our earnings channel for Q3 results from News Corp., Disney, Time Warner, and many more. We also have interviews with Disney CFO Tom Staggs and new Yahoo SVP Jeff Dossett by our own Staci D. Kramer.

Top headlines of the week from mocoNews.net and paidContentUK:

mocoNews:

– Microsoft Trying To Shiv the Potential Google-Verizon Wireless Search Deal

– Obama Used Mobile Advertising To Target Youth And Voters In Key Battleground States

– FCC Approves White Space Use For Wireless Broadband

– Nokia Slashes 600 Jobs; Targets Emerging Markets With Internet Services And New Handsets

– Sprint Decides To Keep Nextel After Potential Deal Unravels

paidContent:UK:

– Virgin Media Considers Content Divison Sell-Off To Become Comms Platform, Not Content Producer

– EMI Music To Reorg; Divided Into Three Global Units; EMI.com’s Limited Scope

– Babelgum COO Leaves In Latest High-Level Shakeup

– Election Section Perfection?: News Sites’ Presidential Strategies Prize Blogs, Tweets, Maps

– Industry Moves: Reed Elsevier Picks Smith For CEO; £3.6M Possible Salary, RBI Sale Top Of To-Do List

Briefing notes from our research director Lauren Rich Fine are still available: Positive Bias: The Problem With the Latest Online Ad Forecasts | Online Fantasy Sports: Growth Outlook Intact

Social Media Deals Report: This 199-page report, filled with charts and data, examines the categories, number and size of VC and M&A deal in social media from 2007 through 2008. Visit the ContentNext Reports page

Overseas web TV viewers could soon be watching Eastenders or Dr Who on the BBC’s VOD iPlayer, says the Beeb’s director of new media and technology, Erik Huggers. Speaking at Screen Digest’s conference on the future of online distribution (via MediaGuardian), he said that the iPlayer had built up 248 million views since its Christmas Day launch last year and said the barriers to non-UK viewers could be lifted. “The internet is, by definition, a global medium, yet today we are artificially blocking international access to the iPlayer. That’s a problem, in my mind, and a big challenge for the industry,” he said.

It’s a nice idea, but the question remains: what access model would the Beeb opt for? The iPlayer is funded through the British license fee, so would foreign viewers be expected to pay for the service? Or perhaps with the help of commercial division BBC Worldwide, views could be monetized? BBCWW this week began selling BBC TV shows on the French iTunes store for download from €1.99 per episode. If this same content were given away for free, it could hinder BBCWW’s foreign business plan. Another option would be to emulate the Virgin Media-iPlayer carriage deal; Virgin subscribers have watched 49 million videos since June.

– Multi-platform downloads: Huggers says another persistent problem for the iPlayer, multi-platform functionality, will be solved by the end of the year with a download manager compatible with every OS. PC users make up 85 percent of the iPlayer audience, Mac users 10 percent and minority platforms Linux and the Nintendo Wii users make up one percent each.

Rafat adds: Yoohoooo….if it happens.

Mark Logic Digital Publishing Summit, Thursday November 6, Westin Times Square. Insight and perspective from Outsell, Gilbane, Simon & Schuster, BusinessWeek.com, more. Evening cocktail reception. Cost is complimentary. Register now!

Rhett Smith discusses the Obama campaign’s use of sites like Myspace, Facebook and Twitter: “Obama dominated the social media world…which is where the young voters live. It’s a world they inhabit, trust, socialize, converse, and confer with one another.” Related posts:Applying the (virtual) brakesRhett Smith shares how to tell if you’re a social…Contrary to popular belief …… young evangelicals may be less likely to vote Democrat…Do something about human traffickingFrom Southeast Asia, S