Browsing articles tagged with " media"

Will Verizon buy Netflix?

Dec 13, 2011   //   by admin   //   Media blog  //  No Comments

by Leigh Goessl (Guest Contributor/Digital Journalist)

A hot rumor surfaced online yesterday that telecommunications giant Verizon is seeking to acquire the struggling Netflix.

Last week Digital Journal reported buzz was that Verizon was looking to offer some regions an option to purchase a package that streams television shows and movies over the Web.

Initially the speculation was Verizon was going to compete with Netflix; however now it seems that the company may be, in fact, trying to buy Netflix rather than battle it in this market.

The rumors of Verizon acquiring Netflix first came from subscription-based financial reporting site DealReporter. Currently this rumor is unconfirmed, reports TheNextWeb, but it “has some steam behind it.”Bloomberg reported, Porter Bibb, managing partner at Mediatech Capital, cited “unnamed people within Verizon.”

“I am hearing rumblings from inside Verizon that they are very serious about either Netflix or something similar,” according to Bibb.

Recently CEO Lowell McAdam said Verizon was thinking about making a bid for Hulu stating,

“The jury’s out, but I do believe there’s a place for over-the-top” — jargon for a digital alternative to traditional pay TV — he said. “That model has yet to be determined and I hope we’ll be a player in that.”

In addition to Hulu, there are also rumors, as reported by TechCrunch, Verizon is planning to “team up” with Coinstar’s Redbox service, to the point where the project is already purported to have a code name of Project Zoetrope and has a tentative launch date set for spring 2012.

While Verizon’s intentions are not known for sure, one thing does seem certain: online TV and movie streaming is a niche the company wants to invest in. But why Netflix and would it even make sense? Some say no, according to Deadline, primarily because it would be a costly investment being Netflix currently has a market value of $4 billion and commitments to license TV shows and movies, which come to approximately $4.5 billion.“It would be far cheaper to buy Netflix’s subscribers than it would be to buy the service,” says Janney Montgomery Scott analyst Tony Wible, who has a “sell” on Netflix shares, reported Deadline.

Over the past several months Netflix has been struggling after a change in service structure and pricing. The result of these changes was a mass exodus of customers and a dropped value in shares, which perhaps leaves the company vulnerable to takeover. After the Verizon/Netflix rumor hit the Web, reportedly Netflix saw a jump of about six percent.

Whatever direction Verizon decides to go, it appears certain the company is keeping everyone guessing and is, perhaps, gearing up for some sort of big change in the near future that will include online streaming of TV and movie content.

This article originally appeared on Digital Journal [Link]

Photo by David Silverberg

Digital Journal November ‘Power User’ list features top contributors in monthly crowdsourcing project

Dec 7, 2011   //   by admin   //   Media blog  //  No Comments

Digital Journal, a global digital media network, today published a comprehensive list of the 20 most active contributors for November. The Top 20 list is published each month to report how Digital Journalists, bloggers and citizen journalists interact in an online media network.

“Digital Journal’s gamification project is hands-down one of our most successful technologies we’ve developed to date,” said Chris Hogg, CEO, Digital Journal. “We know right down to a granular level how people consume and interact with our media network and it has provided us with a true wealth of information and data.”

In September, Digital Journal launched a massive gamification project that tracks and reports the activity of contributors across the media network. Recording actions such as quantity of articles published, frequency of visit and how engaged members are, Digital Journal rewards points and badges to individual contributors based on the amount of their activity. The members who stay the most active in the month are then rewarded with a “Power Users” badge.

“Our contributors and members are highly engaged with our media network,” said Hogg. “We’ve proven that by giving people recognition for hard work, and by highlighting details of how people engage in an open news ecosystem, everyone wins. Contributors are rewarded for being really active, and the entire media network benefits with a huge increase in activity.”

In addition to creating incentive for contributors to participate in the social news network, Digital Journal’s gamification project aims to showcase talent and create a level of transparency that gives a completely open look at how people interact with a news organization and how user-generated content is valuable in the wider news ecosystem.

In no particular order, Digital Journal’s November 2011 Power Users include:

Digital Journal compiles data on a monthly basis and resets the points at the beginning of each month when a new competition begins. More info on Digital Journal’s gamification project can be found on the company’s website here.

About Digital Journal:

Digital Journal is a global digital media network with 34,000+ professional and citizen journalists, bloggers, photographers and freelancers in 200 countries around the world. Regarded as a pioneer and leader in crowd-sourcing and user-generated content, Digital Journal leverages its custom-built content platform and global reach to produce news and media content at scale in an environment that is built from the ground-up to be digital-first and social by nature. Digital Journal also consults news organizations on how to empower their audience to acquire content, drive revenue and increase engagement from digital media properties. For more information, visit digitaljournal.com.

WikiLeaks wins ‘outstanding contribution to journalism’ award

Nov 28, 2011   //   by admin   //   Media blog  //  No Comments

Julian Assangeby Lynn Herrmann (Guest contributor/Digital Journalist)

WikiLeaks was awarded a Walkley Sunday night for its outstanding contribution to journalism, commended by judges for its revelations in the war on terror to “diplomatic bastardry” and noted the “site’s commitment to the finest traditions of journalism.”

The prestigious Walkley Foundation has awarded whistle-blower Wikileaks its Most Outstanding Contribution to Journalism award, stating: “WikiLeaks applied new technology to penetrate the inner workings of government to reveal an avalanche of inconvenient truths in a global publishing coup.”

Were it not for WikiLeaks, according to Walkley Trustees, many of the world’s major publishers were able to take advantage of the secret cables released by Wikileaks, giving them “more scoops in a year than most journalists could imagine in a lifetime.”

On Monday in Hong Kong, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange addressed journalists via videolink from England, where he remains under house arrest. Speaking to the News World Summit, he called the Internet “the most significant surveillance machine that we have ever seen,” noting the tremendous amount of information people are willing to give up about themselves online, Agence France Presse reports.

During his 40-minute address, Assange criticized mainstream media, the Washington political machine and the banking industry.Regarding the US Department of Justice’s whistle-blower investigation into WikiLeaks for releasing sensitive and embarrassing document, including the now-famous and equally disturbing Collateral Murder video, Assange noted “The United States government does not want legal protection for us,” according to AFP.

Assange punctuated his address when the conference moderator asked if the WikiLeaks founder was a member of the journalism profession. “Of course I’m a goddamn journalist,” Assange responded, in what AFP called “affected frustration.”The Walkey Foundation’s broad aims “are to support and encourage professional and ethical journalism and promote and reward excellence in the Australian media,” according to its website.

Fox News leaves viewers knowing less, new survey shows

Nov 23, 2011   //   by admin   //   Media blog  //  No Comments

by Lynn Herrmann (Guest contributor/Digital Journalist)

The latest results from a new Fairleigh Dickinson University survey show some news sources, such as Fox News, leave their viewers less informed than those who watch no news at all.

The latest PublicMind Poll reveals some news sources leave us less likely to stay on top of current events than people who watch no news at all. According to the study, some news outlets, especially Fox News, lead people to be even less informed than those who say they don’t watch any news at all.

Dan Cassino, political science professor at Fairleigh Dickinson and an analyst for the PublicMind Poll, said: “Because of the controls for partisanship, we know these results are not just driven by Republicans or other groups being more likely to watch Fox News,” in a news release. “Rather, the results show us that there is something about watching Fox News that leads people to do worse on these questions than those who don’t watch any news at all,” he added.

Fox News is the most popular 24-hour cable news network in the U.S., but its viewers are 18-points less likely to know that demonstrators in Egypt overthrew their government than those watching no news at all, according to the survey. Those same viewers are also six points less likely to know Syrians have yet to overthrow their government than those who do not watch news.

The poll concerns how New Jersey residents conduct new viewing habits and found 53 percent know about the successfully overthrown government in Egypt. However, 21 percent said the uprisings were unsuccessful while 26 percent admitted they don’t know.

The PublicMind poll went on to note viewers of any “ideological media” didn’t fare as well as NPR listeners, New York Times or USA Today readers, or Sunday morning news show viewers did. Even those obtaining their news from Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show fared better than Fox News viewers.

This article originally appeared on Digital Journal [Link]

Digital Journal ‘Power User’ list features top contributors in global crowdsourcing project

Nov 7, 2011   //   by admin   //   Media blog  //  No Comments

Digital Journal, a global digital media network, today published a comprehensive list of the 20 most active contributors for the month of October. The data was published as part of an ongoing crowdsourcing project that tracks and reports how Digital Journalists, bloggers and citizen journalists interact in a newsroom.

In September, Digital Journal launched a massive gamification project that tracks and reports the activity of contributors across the media network. Recording actions such as quantity of articles published, frequency of visit and level of engagement, Digital Journal rewards points and badges to individual contributors based on how active they are. The members who stay the most active in the month are then rewarded with a “Power Users” badge.

“When we launched our gamification project in September, we expected to see some interesting results because we are recording virtually every move made by our contributors each month,” said Chris Hogg, CEO, Digital Journal. “When we looked back through the data, we were really happy to see such a diverse group of contributors from around the world take home the coveted Power Users badge.”

In addition to creating incentive for contributors to participate in the social news network, Digital Journal’s gamification project aims to showcase talent and create a level of transparency that gives a completely open look at how people interact with a news organization and how user-generated content is valuable in the wider news ecosystem.

“We’re as much a technology company as we are a media company, and this project really aims to marry the two so we can rely on data to identify key contributors across the world,” said Hogg. “Most newsrooms have no idea how productive or hard-working some of their employees are, but this initiative gives us a granular look at how every one of our members and contributors interacts with us in real-time.”

In no particular order, Digital Journal’s October 2011 Power Users include:

Digital Journal compiles data on a monthly basis and resets the points with the beginning of each month when a new competition begins. More info on Digital Journal’s gamification project can be found on the company’s website here.

About Digital Journal:

Digital Journal is a global digital media network with 33,000+ professional and citizen journalists, bloggers, photographers and freelancers in 200 countries around the world. Regarded as a pioneer and leader in crowd-sourcing and user-generated content, Digital Journal is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Digital Journal also consults news organizations on how to empower their audience to acquire content, drive revenue and increase engagement from digital media properties. For more information, visit digitaljournal.com.

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