This article by Eric Pfanner tells those who have been paying attention to mainstream media like the newspapers as well as to future trends such as online news, some things that they already know. This is to be expected. After all, the article appeared in the New York Times (I don’t know where it appeared first; I’m not that good of an Internet sleuth. If you find that out, please let me know in the comments.):

1. that publishers of old-style, paper and ink newspapers are having an increasingly difficult job staying out of the red;
2. that web versions of anything, be it newspapers or online textbooks, need to add a little something to exploit the online medium and technology, not just put online the same exact content as the paper and ink newspaper (duh!).

The Web site was enhanced with faster, more thorough coverage of local events. A social networking area of the site was developed, and the paper now solicits articles from its members— about their clubs, church groups and other Fredrikstad institutions, for example.

Some of the material on the site veers beyond traditional newspaper content.

Local moviemakers, for example, have provided short fictional films that are included in a video section.

‘‘Online newspapers have to be something very different from print,’’ said David Montgomery, chief executive of Mecom, the London-based company that acquired Edda four years ago.

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Tags: Internet, news, online