Corporate takeover of internet news sources

Received from Butrflynet:

Thursday, May 05, 2005

Hold on tight folks. Corporate America is now trying to tighten control of our news sources on the internet after their successful campaign to filter other forms of media.

Who decides what "quality" is and how do you obtain a patent on that judgment?

Who breaks the grip that media conglomerates have in controlling the news?

The Blog is going to become an even more important source of independent news.

Is there anyone left to investigate the news or will they all just report the news purchased from conglomerates?

If the patent is granted to Google, I'd like to see one stipulation added as a requirement for the patent. I'd like to see Google and Yahoo types have to add a code to their news headlines denoting the media ownership of that news source. That way, it would be blatantly obvious if all the news is coming from one source.

Google trying to patent news ranking by quality

Web search leader Google Inc. has applied for U.S. and international patents on technology to rank stories on its news site based on the quality of the news source, according to patent applications obtained by Reuters on Thursday...

Google's (GOOG - news) search engine now automatically scours some 4,500 news sources and highlights stories, typically by popularity and timeliness, although Google does not disclose full details of its ranking system.

Google News site gathers article from disparate news outlets such as ABC News, Voice of America, the Christian Science Monitor, the World Peace Herald, Xinhua, Reuters, Bloomberg and the Los Angeles Times.

As Web logs and other commentary sites proliferate, postings from some have received prominent play within search result pages and on online news-gathering sites. Sometimes, such postings have carried biased or inaccurate claims.

The technology Google is attempting to patent may help the company choose the most reliable information sources, although some Web commentators have said it will create a bias toward mainstream news sources.

Topix.net is an online news service that gathers stories from thousands of sources around the Web as well as from such places as college newspapers. In March, newspaper publishers Gannett Co. (NYSE:GCI - news), Knight Ridder Inc. (NYSE:KRI - news) and the Tribune Co. (NYSE:TRB - news) each bought 25 percent stakes in Topix, while company founders retained the last one-quarter stake.

Online news has become an increasingly competitive market as newspaper circulation declines and mainstream news organizations look for ways to hold on to readers, many of whom favor sites that gather stories from many sources over those run by a single news outlet.

Yahoo Inc. (YHOO - news) recently gave a visual make-over and technological boost to its online news site, which is the most-visited in the United States. Yahoo gathers news from disparate sources via direct feeds and a Web crawler. But unlike Google News, Yahoo News employs human editors and carries advertising.
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Info on the big three owners of the online news service Topix.net from The Newspaper Guild. That's one heck of a grip on news.

Gannett Co., Inc.

Gannett is the USA's largest newspaper group based on circulation. The company's 99 US daily newspapers have a combined daily paid circulation of 6.6 million. The company owns more than 200 non-daily publications in the US. Gannett also operates 22 US television stations. Most of its TV stations and newspapers sponsor news sites on the web. Gannett does business in 45 US states, and the District of Columbia.

Gannett is also a first-tier global player with publications in Guam, England, Germany and Hong Kong. The company's recent acquisitions of England's Newsquest and Newscom, are its largest overseas transactions to date and brings close to 300 British publications including 15 dailies to the company. Gannett is now one of England's largest regional newspaper publishers. The Newsquest group goes into 8 million homes, about one third of British households. Newsquest publishes in 12 geographic clusters, Newscom in three. Both companies had well-established regional internet products.

Gannett recently purchased 21 Thomson newspapers for $1.6 billion in the US in Wisconsin, Ohio, Louisiana, Utah and Maryland. At a cost of $2.6 billion Central Newspapers has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Gannett. The company also completed a swap of two TV stations, one in Austin, Texas, for a Sacramento, California station. Late last year, Gannett sold its cable systems to Cox Communications for $2.7 billion.

Gannett's buying spree has been funded by increased revenue from advertising. Second quarter advertising revenues overall were up 5 percent compared to the same quarter last year. National ads were up 9%, and classified revenue increased four percent in comparison to last year. Through its ownership of USA Today, Gannett enjoys a higher income from national advertising than the typical newspaper company. Gannett's national ad revenues are estimated to be 30 percent for USA Today, versus 15 percent for newspapers in the industry as a whole.

Tribune Co.

If the Tribune Company and Times Mirror merger had been the only merger this year it would still have had a dramatic impact on the newspaper industry. Through its $8 billion purchase of Times Mirror, the Tribune Company's combined newspaper circulation has become the third largest in the United States. Through its broadcast, publishing and interactive operations, the company will reach 80 percent of US households daily. As a result of the merger, Tribune is the only US media corporation with television and newspaper combinations in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

The new Tribune Company owns leading local web sites in 23 markets. Tribune's interactive sites generated over four million unique visitors in April?-more than Knight Ridder's Real Cities, more than City Search and more than Cox Interactive Media.

Tribune Ventures is an industry leader in partnerships with new-media and technology companies?-one of the largest organized efforts in the industry; bringing both monetary payoffs for their investments, and access to emerging companies likely to alter the landscape for its core businesses. The company is determined to develop mass media assets. They believe that mass media are more valuable, and will be more valuable in a fragmented media environment, because today's advertisers need to reach consumers in major markets. As John Morton says: "New businesses need mass media to create awareness, build brands and drive traffic. And existing businesses need mass media to protect their franchise." Online is one-to-one, and newspapers and broadcast can be targeted demographically and geographically. The combination of online, newspapers and local broadcast media provides the company with an ability to deliver unbeatable value to the advertiser.
Knight Ridder

Knight Ridder Inc. (KRI) owns 31 daily, 22 non-daily newspapers and 45 associated web sites, employing 22,000 people.

Although Knight Ridder is identified with its print publications, the company is optimistic that its distribution deal with Yahoo will bring in larger numbers of non-newspaper consumers. KRI's Real Cities Network will become the default provider of local news for Yahoo's Web site. Yahoo, in turn will promote Knight Ridder's sports, restaurant reviews, advertising and other content. And, though it is not as involved in broadcast as other newspaper chains, KRI has heavily involved in lobbying against FCC regulations limiting cross-media ownership.