Neville’s posterous

Speaking today in Athens at Stream 2009, the annual invitation-only technology and media conference organised by WPP Digital, Sir Martin said: “[Rupert] Murdoch is absolutely correct to try and get people paying for content – it is critical for traditional media businesses as there is not enough advertising to support these models anymore. Getting consumers to pay for content they value is key. We have to find those areas.”

He also talked about the need for consolidation: “There will be massive consolidation in media companies. Traditional media cannot survive in its current structure.”

[...] Sir Martin concluded his session by urging the media agency industry to chance the way it does business. “We need to look at processes and the way we organise our structures. There is a natural tendency to focus on cost in a downturn – but we need to focus on long term strategy changes.

“Long term it’s about new media, new markets and consumer insight,” he surmised.

This is the key phrase he said: "Getting consumers to pay for content they value is key. We have to find those areas.”

Exactly the point. if the mainstream media offer something that you and I believe is of value to us, we're likely to be willing to pay for it. That doesn't only mean the content itself: it also relates to what I can do with that content, how I can interact with it, etc.

It's the overall experience, I guess.

Find the value of that, and you'll have a business model that might just work.

While Dow Jones follows through with plans to convert some of its iPhone and BlackBerry free app users to paid subscribers, CNN is jumping right into the premium market—although in a small way. The Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) cable news network is charging a one-time $2 fee for the CNN iPhone app that just went live (direct iTunes link), hoping to take advantage of what execs see as iPhone/iTouch users’ comfort with small, instant transactions. It’s also planned as dual revenue stream from the start, launching with logo placement and banners for advertisers Chevron and Lexus. The approach differs considerably from that of TW sibling Time Inc., which is going ad-only for iPhone news apps from CNNMoney, Time and Sports Illustrated, and premium for non-news apps like People Celebrity Tracker, $1.99, and SI Swimsuit, $2.99.

If people find this compelling enough, they'll pay.

Yet doesn't this fly in the face of paidContent's own recent research about people's unwillingness to pay for access to news content? That research said only 5% would be willing to do that.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is one of the most respected foreign services in the world. Its purpose is to work for UK interests in a safe, just and prosperous world. To achieve this, it must both influence and engage with a broad range of stakeholders.

The Digital Diplomacy Group has evolved to do just that. It is the Foreign Office’s centre of web excellence and aspires to be a world leader in digital diplomacy. The FCO has invested in a 40 language global web platform to communicate foreign policy issues online in a way that generates dialogue with global audiences. We are already using the internet to achieve foreign policy objectives, rather than simply as a means of channeling information. The task now is to unleash the full potential of the FCO in global digital communications.

This is an outstanding opportunity to spearhead the Digital Diplomacy Group’s efforts internationally, to lead the FCO’s interaction on the web and make a major contribution to the UK’s global diplomatic effort. Central to success will be a passion for what online communications can deliver on issues as diverse as nuclear proliferation and climate change.

Reporting to the Strategic Communications Director, this role will require a senior strategic communicator with excellent editorial judgement.

The successful candidate will be both tenacious and diplomatic, with the proven strategic and stakeholder management skills to handle considerable organisational complexity.

Managing a team of over 30 staff operating in London,

Washington, New Delhi and Singapore; strong leadership skills and the sensitivity to operate cross-culturally will be essential.
In order to apply you will require an information pack.

This can be obtained by click on APPLY

Any questions relating to the position can be raised with

Faye Flexer: 020 7580 4300 or fco@taylorbennett.com

Closing date is noon 12th October 2009.

We seek our strength through diversity and appoint suitably qualified individuals regardless of ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, social backgrounds, age or disability.

www.fco.gov.uk

The second senior central government role with 'Head of Digital Engagement' in the job title.

Annual salary £90K plus £3K London allowance.

[...] Chrome OS is one of the first attempts. It is offered as a Live CD and virtual image currently. Chrome OS uses a GNOME 2.24 desktop environment with the Google Chrome 4.0.207 web browser integrated. Several other programs like Open Office or Flash Player have also been integrated into the distribution.

[...] This is a custom Linux distribution and not the official Google Chrome OS. It still resembles the operating system and can be used as a Live CD to run the Google Chrome web browser on Linux. Interested users can download the Live CD or the virtual image from the Chrome website.

Boy, that Chrome logo thing is ugly! That would put me off :)

[...] Raju Narisetti [is] one of The [Washington] Post’s top editors. As one of two managing editors, he’s responsible for The Post's features content and oversees its Web site. But he also sits in on news meetings and occasionally gets involved in “hard” news.

Narisetti said today he now realizes that his tweets, although intended for a private audience of about 90 friends and associates, were unwise.

They were “personal” observations, he said. “But I also realize that... seeing that the managing editor of The Post is weighing in on this, it’s a clear perception problem.”

He has closed his Twitter account.

In today’s hyper-sensitive political environment, Narisetti’s tweets could be seen as one of The Post’s top editors taking sides on the question of whether a health-care reform plan must be budget neutral. On Byrd, his comments could be construed as favoring term limits or mandatory retirement for aging lawmakers. Many readers already view The Post with suspicion and believe that the personal views of its reporters and editors influence the coverage. The tweets could provide ammunition.

Narisetti’s decision to stop posting coincides with today’s release of new Post newsroom guidelines for using Facebook, Twitter and other online social networks.

What an interesting development.

PaidContent has got the full text of the Post's new guidelines - WaPo’s Social Media Guidelines Paint Staff Into Virtual Corner; Full Text of Guidelines.

The latest version of the "Shift happens" videos updated for autumn 2009, developed by XPLANE in partnership with The Economist. This Did You Know video focuses on the changing media landscape, including convergence and technology.

Phoenix is showing off a few interesting things at IDF, but the real standout is their new Instant Boot BIOS, a highly optimized UEFI implementation that can start loading an OS in just under a second. Combined with Windows 7's optimized startup procedure, that means you're looking at incredibly short boot times -- we saw a retrofitted Dell Adamo hit the Windows desktop in 20 seconds, while a Lenovo T400s with a fast SSD got there in under 10. It's pretty slick stuff, and it should be out soon

So from when you turn on your PC to being at a functional desktop in 10-20 seconds. Pretty good.

(This is about BIOS startup speed not Windows startup speed.)

Word documents can sometimes contain hidden but also visible information that have to be removed before sharing these documents with other users. Tools have been developed to take care of the hidden data (Microsoft Word Metadata Scrubber is one) but until now there were not many tools to take care of visible data that needed to be removed before a document could be shared. Most Word users are therefor replacing confidential text with blanks or single characters like xxxxx which can often times confuse readers of the edited version of the document.

The Word 2007 Redaction Tool has been designed as an add-in for Microsoft Word 2007 to redact text and images in documents before they are shared with other users. The add-in will add a Redact group in the Review tab which can be used to control the process.

Neat utility.