Virgin Mary Statute reported stolen from St. Michael's in Palmer, AK

The Catholic Anchor is reporting:

A long-standing religious marker in Palmer was reported stolen April 13 after parishioners at St. Michael Church noticed that a large white statue of the Virgin Mary was missing from the outdoor shrine next to the parish.

According to a report by the Anchorage Daily News, the statue had stood in the shrine for more than 40 years.

Parish staff notified police of the theft April 14. The cost to replace the 5-foot statue was estimated to cost more than $3,000, not including shipping.

Anyone with information about the missing statue can call the church at 745-3229, Palmer Police at 745-4811 or Mat-Su Crimestoppers at 745-3333.

Don't believe there is an Anti-Catholic bias in the media?

Think again!

The sex abuse scandal that is currently in the news is a horrible thing. I know that. We as Catholics have to endure this and endure the struggles against our Church perpetrated by evil desires and some evil people. What we must do is call for the truth. Truth in the accusations, truth in the way things are handled by the Church, and truth in the reporting about these incidents.

Unfortunately, there is a HORRIBLE Anti-Catholic bias in the media. They are attempting to use these scandals to mar and destroy the Church. If you don't believe that, and think I am exaggerating let me use an example from ABC News Online story: Pope Benedict Cannot Be Fired.

It is a silly headline to begin with, but I understand the outrage. I also understand many people have a very primary understanding of the Church and the position of Pope.

What I cannot understand is how ABC News can and will blatantly misinform and lie about the facts of this ordeal. Or how they allow things to be printed that are not only wrong, but also use the source of that misinformation as a credible analyst on this issue.

Let me show you some examples of what I am talking about:

"He is really accountable to no one, and that is the history," said former priest Richard Sipe, author of the 1990 book, "A Secret World" about the priesthood. "There have been a pope or two who have resigned, several hundred have been murdered, but it's a very stable organization from the top down. What other monarchy do you know that's lasted for 2,000 years?"

"He is untouchable, there is no question about that," Sipe said.

This is a small point, but it shows the lengths to which ABC and other media outlets will go to harm and taint the view of the Church and the Papacy. So let me go through the problems with this blurb.

1. This is a former priest. So they are pushing him as some sort of AUTHORITY on the Papacy. What they don't tell you is WHY he is not longer a priest. They instead allow the reader to assume why. Most people will infer that he left because of some displeasure.
2. He wrote a book in 1990. It doesn't say how long he was a priest, when he left the priesthood, or what the books was about. Again they leave it to the readers to infer what it is about based on the title and the theme of this story. Wonder what they want us to assume? 
3. The book, "A Secret World", isn't about the secrecy of the priesthood or the Papacy. In fact, a quick browse of its Amazon Page shows that it is instead a book about the celibacy of priests. Ahh... the whole "this wouldn't happen if we let priests marry" angle... is that really where ABC wants to go?
4. So what does Mr. Sipe say? Well first he says that a pope or two have resigned. In actuality easy and quick research shows that it was more than that. The number is around 7 but there is a lot of disagreement about the actual number, and it depends on what you count as a "resignation." Regardless, I don't think Sipe was trying to be accurate here, instead I think he was trying to make it seem as if few men WILLINGLY relinquish this "power."
5. Then comes the statement that blew me away... "several hundred have been murdered..."?!?!? What? No. That can't be right? Of course not, but let's see how BAD of a misstatement this was.
1. There have been 266 Popes*. Now, granted this number is debatable or arguable for various reasons. For argument sake, let's go with this number, since it is used by Newadvent.org
2. The term several is highly ambiguous. Yet, it often means to be more than 2 or 3 but "not a lot." Again let's err on the low side and by several he meant between 300-400.
3. The problem is already evident.
4. Wikipedia lists 8 official "Murdered Popes." Generally I won't use wikipedia for "research" but I figure that at the VERY least the editors and writers at ABC know how to use google and can click on the wikipedia article. (They also list 11 "suspicious deaths" of Popes.
5. So 7-10 resignations = "a Pope or two" while 8 Murders = "several hundred."
6. Monarchy. Do I even have to explain how wrong this is? Ok good.

So how does this show bias? I think it is pretty evident. ABC clearly didn't check the facts, nor did they explain Mr. Sipe's comments. They left too much to the imagination of their readers. These are professionals. They get paid to work hours a day doing JUST this. I mean, this writer probably worked on this article for days, and didn't fact check these things? Why? 

I'll tell you why. They want to paint the Church in the worst possible light. There isn't another explanation. If there is one... tell me, and I will easily tell you how that explanation is an excuse and not an explanation. Sure a media source can write a story with any slant they want. Yet ABC purports itself to be an objective news source. It is clearly Anti-Catholic. So... if in just that one paragraph they are willing to allow so much misinformation and Anti-Catholic sentiment through... imagine how much more exists in the rest of this story, and the rest of the stories out there by other outlets with an even larger anti-Catholic and anti-Christian agenda? Be careful what you read.

-Posted by: Joe

Announcing the Google Apps Marketplace YouTube channel

Hot on the heels of our Google Apps Marketplace release, we're pleased to announce today a new YouTube channel, youtube.com/appsmarketplace.

The Apps Marketplace YouTube channel showcases videos from Marketplace vendors. Ranging from funny to informative, from cartoons to screencasts, these videos are meant to convey the benefits of extending Google Apps with integrated apps that work seamlessly with Gmail, Calendar, Docs and more. We're happy to already have more than a dozen videos in the channel and over 60 integrated app vendors in the Marketplace, and look forward to more great things as the Marketplace grows.

Please enjoy these examples of our Marketplace vendors' hard work. Thanks for the videos, guys!

Aviary:

ScheduleOnce:

MindMeister:

To get started using great apps like these, visit google.com/appsmarketplace, or watch our own short demo video explaining how the Marketplace works.

Are you a developer? Visit developer.googleapps.com and start building.

Posted by Chris Kelly, Google Apps Marketplace team

The Myth of Pedophile Priests - a Re-Post

***UPDATE***:
This link will help explain more of what the Vatican has been doing to combat these problems:
A Response to the NY Times Article on Pope Benedict's handling of the abuse problems.
**************

***UPDATE***:
Father Z takes the anger angle. I know a rant is hard to read... but he summarizes the anger than many Catholics feel at this. We are torn in both directions. We are hurt and angered by the abuse that occurred by men of the cloth... and we are hurt that the media is using it in a way to discredit the Church and the Faith, not just those who committed these acts.
Read Father Z's Article here:
"I am angry and sad about this new round of exposure of sins and crimes..."
*************

So with the two articles above... we need to look at how this is being handled by the media as well. To combat evil, we must use truth. If we don't we are only throwing fuel on a fire. We must get to the root of these issues... and I can tell you the problem is not unmarried clergy, cover-ups by the Pope, or anything like that.

Many blogs have linked to this already. But I think it needs to be out there. This is not an attempt to marginalize or rationalize what has occurred. Quite the opposite. This is a search for the truth... and we can not achieve the truth unless we are truly seeking it.

The rest of this post is from Father Longeneck's Blog Post: The Myth of Pedophile Priests

As more pedophile priest scandals blow up across Europe we should be ashamed of the offenders and those who sheltered them and oppressed the victims. The guilty should be weeded out, removed from office and handed over to the civil authorities where they are guilty of crimes. Systems to avoid abuse must be established and rigorously maintained, and victims should be justly compensated for their suffering.

However, Penn State professor Philip Jenkins (who is not a Catholic) has written the most objective book on the subject, and he summarizes his arguments in this excellent article. In light of his work, we should remember some basic facts and principles:

• 
  Priestly celibacy is not the issue - married men are more likely to abuse children than unmarried
• 
  Most child abuse takes place within the home.
• 
  All religious groups have pedophile scandals, and the Catholics (while the largest religious group) are at the bottom of the list statistically.
• 
  Child abuse is prevalent in all areas of society: schools, youth organizations, sports, etc.
• 
  Statistically, of all the professions, Christian clergy are least likely to offend. Doctors, Farmers and Teachers are the professions most likely to abuse children--not clergy.
• 
  Among clergy offenders Catholic priests are least likely to offend.
• 
  Catholic cases of pedophilia make more headlines because of anti Catholic prejudice and because the Catholic Church is bigger and more lucractive to sue.
• 
  Pedophilia and Euphebophilia are different problems. The former is sexual attraction to pre-pubescent children. The latter is attraction to teenagers. Most cases branded 'pedophila' are actually 'euphebophila.'
• 
  Most of the cases of euphebophilia are homosexual in nature, however the politically correct do not want this problem to be associated with homosexuality.
• 
  The number of Catholic priests guilty of pedophilia is very small.
• 
  What we now call 'cover up' was often done in a different cultural context, when the problem was not fully understood and when all establishment organizations hushed scandals. They did so for what seemed good reasons at the time: protection of the victims and their families, opportunity for rehabilitation of the offender, the avoidance of scandal to others. It is unfair to judge events thirty years ago by today's standards.
• 
  When lawsuits are looming people smell money. We must be wary of false accusations.
• 
  The accused must be entitled to a fair hearing. The church should insist on hard proof of the abuse, and for the sake of justice, ensure that the innocent are not prosecuted.
• 
  When guilt is established the offender must be punished, not sheltered.
• 
  Distinctions must be made between types of abuse. Some offenses are worse than others. Verbal abuse or corporal punishment during a time when that was acceptable, while lamentable, is not the same as sexual abuse or extreme physical abuse.
• 
  Sexual abuse of an adult, or a sexually experienced older teenager is wrong, and damaging, and should be punished, but it is not the same as the sexual abuse of a younger, innocent child.
• 
  Number of offenses must be considered. One lapse is not of the same seriousness as repeated, persistent and premeditated offenses.

I am in no way wishing to be soft of pedophiles and those who covered for them, however justice and truth demand an objective analysis of the facts.

As a father, I don't know what I would do if my child were ever victimized. I prayed about this post long and hard tonight at Adoration. It was pressed upon my heart that our Church and our Faith is under attack right now, and we must be willing to talk in "TRUTHS" whenever possible. There is a lot of misinformation out there distorting this subject, especially in the mass American media.

Don't get me wrong. There are problems; serious, horrible, heinous, grievous, and despicable acts occurred at the hands of men who claimed to be chosen and consecrated by God to lead us to Heaven. That does not give the media the right to sensationalize and distort the truth, in an attempt to somehow taint or tear down Holy Mother Church because some men, fallible humans, sinned in some horrible way.

The way I think about it is this... we don't detest all GERMANS today because of Hitler, we detest Nazi's. So too we must not indict the Church because of these abuses, we must indict the perpetrators. In the meantime, it is up to us as Catholics to pray for the victims, the Church and the Pope. If this does not make it clear that we are in a REAL BATTLE against EVIL, then I do not know what will convince you. The Devil has found the perfect vehicle in which to attack the Church, and we must not let him win... not one small battle!

An update for our customers on Google Apps and China

Yesterday, we stopped censoring our search services – Google Search, Google News, and Google Images – on our Chinese domain, www.google.cn. This makes good on our commitment to stop censoring search results in China, and you can read more here. In terms of Google's wider business operations, we intend to continue R&D work in China and maintain a sales presence there. We’d like to share some additional information on how this may affect your employees that use Google Apps within mainland China.

First, we very much hope that the Chinese government respects our decision, though we are well aware that China could at any time block access to our services in mainland China. We will be carefully monitoring access issues and we have created this new web page, which we will update regularly each day, so that you can see which Google services are available in China.

Note that you can continue to view performance information for Google Apps services outside of China on the Google Apps Status Dashboard.

Second, it is important to know that there are several networking configurations and associated technologies available to help ensure ongoing access to your critical business services such as Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Docs. These network configurations, such as a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection, secure shell (SSH) tunneling, or using a proxy server, are already in place by many businesses with worldwide operations who serve their users from various locations. Companies should consult their own technical, legal and policy personnel to find a solution that works best for them.

Finally, we do not host any Google Apps services, or your data, in mainland China. Moreover, Google employees in mainland China do not have access to any Apps systems or customer data.

We recognize that these issues are not unique to Google; many technology companies serving users in China face challenges in providing access to their services, and we don't see yesterday’s news changing how we serve you moving forward.

Feel free to contact us with any questions via our support channels. Thanks for reading.

Posted by the Google Apps team

Google Message Security wins SC Magazine Reader Trust award

A few months back, we learned that Google Message Security, powered by Postini, was selected as a finalist in the 2010 SC Awards for outstanding achievement in IT security. Today, we are thrilled to announce that Google Message Security has received the Reader Trust Award for Best Managed Security Service.

At Google, we think about the user experience in all that we do, so we are especially honored to receive this award from the Reader Trust Voting Panel, which consists of security and technology experts from large, medium and small enterprises from all major vertical markets.

The Postini team would like to thank SC Magazine and the many readers who voted for Google Message Security. We'd also like to congratulate our fellow nominees and award-winners and acknowledge their contributions to the field of online security.

For more information on Google Message Security and the Postini suite of security and archiving products, please visit, www.google.com/postini

Posted by Gopal Shah, Google Postini team

More great apps for Google Apps

This evening, we were joined by more than 50 participating companies to announce the launch of the Google Apps Marketplace, a new online storefront that enables millions of Google Apps administrators to discover and purchase integrated third party cloud applications and deploy them to their domains.

Adding an application from the Marketplace to your domain is simple - it only takes four clicks. Applications can then be easily managed from your domain's control panel and accessed by users through the same links as the Google Apps suite.

1) Click "Add it now"
2) Agree to the vendor's Terms of Service
3) Grant access to the data that the app is requesting (ome apps require data access, some don't...so only grant access to apps you trust)
4) Turn it on and start enjoying your increased productivity

Applications listed in the Google Apps Marketplace integrate with Google Apps using open protocols. These integrations improve the efficiency of your businesses by allowing users to share data and collaborate on projects as well as connect to users' daily workflows in apps like Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Contacts.



This integrated app experience is available in the Marketplace today for users of Google Apps Premier, Standard and Education Editions thanks to the efforts of folks like Intuit and Atlassian, and others who are committed to join, including NetSuite and Successfactors. We are honored to work with the more than 50 partners listed below:


The Google Apps Marketplace gives software vendors access to a rapidly growing Google Apps customer base of 25 million users from 2 million businesses and universities. By embracing open standards like OpenID and OAuth, and by giving software vendors freedom of choice for both billing arrangement and hosting platform, Google makes it easy to build apps for the Google Apps Marketplace.

For a lot more detail on what this means for developers and ISVs, check out our posts on the new Google Apps Developer Blog and the Google Code Blog.

We look forward to seeing the ways in which companies leverage the applications currently in the Google Apps Marketplace in addition to the apps to come in the future. In fact, we'll be exploring these topics further at Google I/O on May 19-20 in San Francisco. We hope you'll join us!

Posted by Scott McMullan, Google Apps Partner Lead, Google Enterprise team

Heads up.....

The Google Developer team will be live streaming an important announcement about Google Apps this evening. Tune in on the Google Developers YouTube channel tonight at 6:00 p.m. PST to watch. Enjoy the show!

Posted by Chris Kelly, Google Apps Developer Marketing team

Google Docs welcomes DocVerse

​The future of productivity applications is in the cloud. We've always believed the web is the best platform for creating and sharing information, and Google Docs has already helped millions of people become more productive. But we recognize that many people are still accustomed to desktop software. So as we continue to improve Google Docs and Google Sites as rich collaboration tools, we’re also making it easier for people to transition to the cloud, and interoperate with desktop applications like Microsoft Office.
​
For example, we recently made it possible to use Google Docs to store and share any type of file that you have on your computer, not just the ones you create online. Today we’re excited to announce another step towards seamless interoperability: we have acquired DocVerse.

DocVerse is a small, nimble team of talented developers who share our vision, and they’ve enabled true collaboration right within Microsoft Office. With DocVerse, people can begin to experience some of the benefits of web-based collaboration using the traditional Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint desktop applications.

A huge "welcome" to the DocVerse team and their customers! Current DocVerse users can keep using the product as usual, though we’ve suspended new sign-ups until we’re ready to share what's next. Stay tuned!

Posted by Jonathan Rochelle, Group Product Manager, Google Apps team

Breaking!: Notre Dame "Observer" refuses to print Dr. Charles Rice's Column RE: Church's Teaching on Homosexuality

UPDATED*** 7:49 pm ET:

Notre Dame... fails again.

• UPDATE*** 7:49pm ET:
• A new email from the Editor to Dr. Rice is printed below. It appears that the Observer is still licking it's wounds from an earlier "incident." What better way to "repair" your image than print the teachings of the Church?? Guess they don't think that way..... (SEE BELOW FOR NEW EMAIL)

This is story is hitting just now in a few well respected Catholic News outlets:

Dr. Charles Rice (Notre Dame Law School - Bio) recently wrote a column/piece for the Notre Dame Observer, as he does every few weeks. The topic this week is: The Church's Teaching On Homosexuality. Only... this week they didn't print it.

Here is the article: Dr. Rice's - "Right or Wrong?" Column: March 1, 2010 - Homosexuality (from Fumare)

The Editor of the Observer didn't print it for a variety of reasons...or so they say. None of the listed reasons was legitimate. Now, as a former College Paper Editor, I know something about the role of an EIC. There are LEGITIMATE reasons for not printing certain things, and there are times when you don't WANT things printed so you CREATE a reason. This folks... is a brush off.

Below is the email exchange between Dr. Rice and the Editor.

From: Matt Gamber [mgamber@nd.edu] Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2010 1:24 AM To: Charles Rice Subject: Tuesday's column

Dear Mr. Rice,

I wanted to first introduce myself as Matt Gamber, the new Editor-in-Chief of The Observer. Thank you for your continued hard work and contributions to The Observer's Viewpoint section.

Second, I wanted to let you know why we chose not to run your most recent submission in Tuesday's Observer. First, it far exceeded our word limit guidelines, which I understand our Viewpoint Editor, Michelle Maitz, has shared with you in the past. Our daily space limitations require that we enforce this word limit, and we would appreciate your attention to this limit in the future.

Also, I personally had some concerns with the content of the column, particularly considering The Mobile Party comic incident earlier in the semester at The Observer. While your piece was well-researched and I trust the information was factually correct, I did not feel it lent itself to creating a productive discussion, all things considered. I was a bit concerned with certain language as well.

In the future, if you would like to examine this topic, we thought it might be beneficial to do so in a point-counterpoint format, perhaps with an author of an opposing or differing viewpoint. That way, each "side," to speak, would have the opportunity to present relevant facts, evidence and analysis to define its position.

As I began, I again thank you for your contributions to The Observer. Please let me know if you have any questions regarding this decision, and I look forward to working with you in the future.

Matt Gamber Editor-in-Chief The Observer Cell: (847) 287-1141 Office: (574) 631-4542

Dr. Rice's Response:

From: Charles Rice Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2010 3:04 PM To: Matthew Gamber Subject: Rice Column on Catholic Teaching on Homosexuality

Dear Mr. Gamber:

Thank you for your email informing me that my column presenting the teachings of the Church on homosexuality will not be published. Since 1992, I have been privileged to publish every two weeks a column, entitled “Right or Wrong,” in the Observer. I emphasize my appreciation for the unfailing professionalism and courtesy of the Observer editors with whom I have had contact over those years.

You mention the column “far exceeded our word limit guidelines.” It is in fact significantly shorter than each of the three previous columns published this semester in the Observer. I was not asked to shorten any of them. The rejected column accurately presented relevant teachings of the Catholic Church on homosexuality. I understand why you are concerned over the content of the column. You further propose that if I examine the topic of homosexuality in the future, “we thought it might be beneficial to do so in a point-counterpoint format, perhaps with an author of an opposing or differing viewpoint. That way, each ‘side,’ so to speak, would have the opportunity to present relevant facts, evidence and analysis to define its position.”

In a university that claims to be Catholic, I am not willing to restrict my presentation of Catholic teaching to a format that treats the authoritative teaching of the Church as merely one viewpoint or “side” among many. If you require that future columns of mine on homosexuality comply with a format such as you propose, it will be inappropriate for me to continue writing the column for the Observer.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Rice Professor Emeritus Notre Dame Law School

Words fail me. Dr. Rice is amazing, I had some limited interaction with him while at Ave Law, and he was nothing less than a gentleman and a scholar. This is another BLACK mark on the name of Notre Dame, and unfortunately, Dr. Rice is once again a target of Anti-Catholic thinking.

UPDATE*** 7:49pm ET:
Here is the most recent email from Matt Gamber, EIC to Dr. Rice:

From: Matt Gamber [mgamber@nd.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2010 5:29 PM
To: Charles Rice
Subject: Re: Rice Column on Catholic Teaching on Homosexuality

Dear Dr. Rice,

Thank you for your response. I appreciate your contributions to The
Observer and I hope that we will continue to work together. I do not
wish to question the Church teachings or argue the points you
presented in your essay, but rather, because the paper is still
recovering from the incident with The Mobile Party comic, we would
prefer to examine this issue at a later time.

I sincerely appreciate your understanding of our concerns, and I hope
you will not hesitate to contact me with any further questions or
concerns you may have.

Sincerely,

Matt Gamber

-Posted by: Joe

Donating to Haiti.... some thoughts

If you haven't donated:
CRS.org


((UPDATE:))
So I decided that I wasn't going to delete my post, but based on a comment below, I decided to rethink the situation. We as Catholics do have a lot to offer beyond just money. We have prayers, novenas, rosaries, etc...

Donations though... they do need to keep coming. We as Catholics shouldn't assume or presume motivations. At this point Haiti needs all the support that we can give. So the commentator below was correct when he said that we need to give what we can, in any way that we can, and not detract from people trying to do the same. So let's all encourage one another, help when we can and how we can and continue to pray.

I apologize for making the post I did before, and I pray that we all can be charitable with our giving as well as with our hearts. So use me as a lesson as what NOT to do. And again... don't for get to pray.

And if you haven't... I am curious, will the likes of George Clooney and Wyclef Jean inspire you to do so? I am not suggesting that their support for this is bad in any way. I just wonder why people haven't donated yet...if they intend to.


Again, Jean is from Haiti, he is apparently on the ground and helping out, but is a telethon really going to get people to donate? The answer is yes, but why? Are there thousands of people sitting around going, "Nah, I just can't afford it. Oh wait, George Clooney says that I should? Oh, OK." Again, I am not saying that Mr. Clooney and the rest shouldn't be out there using their fame to garner donations, they should. I just don't understand that mentality of the people that wait for this sort of thing in order to give.


I guess it is the large scale production aspect of it that doesn't sit well with me: Help for Haiti
I am just a little torn on this. Half of me says, "Whatever it takes." The other half of me says, "Do people need a concert in order to give?"

As a side note, the "text donations" are a cool thing. I wish that some of the better organizations would have signed on to it, instead of Red Cross, but it is still cool. Anyone with any connections to any of the cellular carriers or with CRS.org should convince someone to get that going on the CRS.org front. (SEE BELOW!)

((UPDATE)):*************************************************
So... you CAN donate with your cellular bill and CRS.org. It isn't through texting, but it is the same concept. If you go to CRS.org and look at the right side-bar there is a place to enter your cell number. You will then receive a text message on how to give... OR:

TEXT: "RELIEF" to 30644 - This will connect you to someone that will allow you to give with your credit card. It isn't as "easy" as the other groups... but there are reports coming out that the "text" gifts may be delayed up to 90 days because of the problems and processing issues that the carriers are facing.

Shanda Literature - An interesting business model for more than 800 000 authors

Shanda Literature, a subsidiary of Shanda Interactive Entertainment known for its online games, is an online publishing company based in Shanghai, with a very interesting business model.

More than 800 000 amateur authors have been providing around 50 million Chinese characters daily, to Shanda’s literature portals with around 500 million page views daily. Any writer can register with Shanda and post their works on any of its sites. Content is made available as Internet literature, mobile literature, traditional print, and Shanda has also its own E-Reader in development. Most known portals are Qidian, Jinjiang and Hongxiu, targeting different groups of readers with different types of content. Shanda Literature’s original online literature site Qidian has released more than 600 000 online novels.

Revenues are generated from micro transactions, advertising and for non-professional writers copyrights are acquired and licensed to other publishers, mobile, gaming, TV and film industries, with the great majority being from micro transactions. Readers can read the first half of a book for free and then, if they like the book, pay about 2-3 cents per 1000 characters, for the rest of the book. The total cost is about one-tenth of the paperback price to read a book online.

Revenues from micro transactions are shared 50/50 with the authors “that’s why writers in China can make a fortune” says Zhou Hongli, Chief Copyright Officer in the first video below.

The company that was founded in 2007 controls over 90% of China’s online-reading market, and generated $15 million in 2008 from a total readership of 25 million, and is still growing at 10 million new readers per year. It has received awards such as “China’s most promising enterprise”, “One of the ten best Internet brand names of China” and “China’s cutting edge media by Forbes”.

See the last 2 minutes in the video below:

Interview with Hou Xiaoquiang, CEO Shanda Literature. (noisy)

Related posts:

• Videos from New Business Models For News Summit 2008
• TimesOpen: Tim O'Reilly Keynote Video
• Nick Bilton on new technology that will enable interesting business models for news

Videos from the Web 2.0 Summit 09 (Day3)

At the center of both the destruction and creation of new business models is the World Wide Web. At the Web 2.0 Summit, held in San Francisco October 20-22, some of the leading companies share their views on business models and what is next on the horizon. The Summit is arranged by O'Reilly Media and TechWeb, and moderated by John Battelle and Tim O'Reilly.

Videos from Day 1
Videos from Day 2

A Conversation with Paul Otellini Paul Otellini (Intel Corporation), John Battelle (Federated Media Publishing)


HOB: A Windows for the Web? Sundar Pichai (Google)


HOB: Burning Algae: The Green Crude Revolution Cynthia Warner (Sapphire Energy)


High Order Ignite - Sponsored by Omidyar Network Brady Forrest (O'Reilly Media, Inc.), Bre Pettis (I Make Things), Daniel Fletcher (CellScope), Rolf Herken (mental images GmbH), Jacquelyn Ford Morie (USC Institute for Creative Technologies), Dennis Crowley (foursquare)


A Conversation with Shantanu Narayen Shantanu Narayen (Adobe Systems Incorporated), John Battelle (Federated Media Publishing)


A Conversation with Jonathan Miller Jonathan Miller (News Corporation), John Battelle (Federated Media Publishing)


Discussion: Web Squared and the Economy of Work Liam Casey (PCH International), Maynard Webb (LiveOps), Josh Green (Panjiva), John Hagel (Deloitte & Touche)


A Conversation with Austan Goolsbee Austan (President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board), Tim O'Reilly (O'Reilly Media, Inc.)


A Conversation with Sergey Brin (Google)


A Conversation with Tim Armstrong Tim Armstrong (AOL), John Battelle (Federated Media Publishing)


HOB: An API for the English Language Erin McKean (Wordnik)


HOB: Surviving the Hype Curve: A Case Study Tom Hale (Linden Lab)


HOB: The Rise of the Network Company Sean Parker (Founders Fund)


Relating videos:

• Videos from the Web 2.0 Summit 09 (Day1)
• Videos from the Web 2.0 Summit 09 (Day2)
• Videos from New Business Models For News Summit 2008
• The Future of Content & Telecoms: Flat Rate Content Bundles and Social Media (Gerd Leonhard @ eComm 2009)

Videos from New Business Models For News Summit 2008

Below is a great collection (3h) of videos from New Business Models For News Summit 2008, held at University of New York’s Journalism School, organized by Jeff Jarvis. The three videos cover very interesting presentations and summaries from group discussions about network models for news and media, new structures for news organizations, new efficiencies and structures for newsrooms, new revenue opportunities and models, and public support of journalism.

Jeff Jarvis' Introduction Slides:

Part I:

Speakers:
Jeff Jarvis, CUNY
Edward Roussel, Telegraph
Dave Morgan, Tacoda
Colin Crawford, IDG
Michael Rosenblum, video training

Part II:

Speakers:
Charlie Sennott, GlobalPost.com
Mark Josephson, Outside.in
Adam Davidson, NPR Planet Money
Samir Arora, Glam
Tom Evslin, ITXC

Part III:

Speakers:
Upendra Shardanand, Daylife
Scott Karp, Publish2
Dave Chase, NextNewsNet
Adam Bly, ScienceBlogs
David Cohn, Spot.us
Jeff Jarvis, CUNY
Scott Meyer, Warburg Pincus
Benjamin Wagner, MTV
Jan Shaffer, J-Lab
John Hassell, Star-Ledger


Related posts:

• Outlook for Newspaper publishing: Moving into multiple business models

Related videos:

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Related posts:

• Outlook for Newspaper publishing: Moving into multiple business models

Chris Anderson on Freemium: The First Business Model of the 21st Century

A short but content rich presentation about the Freemium Business Model by Chris Anderson, that starts off by quoting five principles from Alan Murray, Deputy Managing Editor of The Wall Street Journal and Executive Editor for the Journal Online:

1. The best model is a mix of paid and free content
2. You can't charge for exclusives that will just be repeated elsewhere
3. Don't charge for the most popular content on your site
4. Content behind a pay wall should appeal to niches
5. The narrower the niche, the better

“If you don’t make your exclusives free, other people will report on your exclusives, and they will get all the traffic… To reference my last book, The Long Tail, you get the head of the curve, the most popular stuff, that's best to monetize with advertising, and you got the tail of the curve, the niche stuff, a more narrow interest, that is best to monetize with direct payments… Give away the head, sell the tail”

This is very much in line with the results of the report On the outlook for newspapers in the digital age: Moving into multiple business models, by PricewaterhouseCoopers, summarized here.

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Chris Anderson & Guy Kawasaki debate The Freemium Business Model

Making $1.6 Million in a week for music given away for free

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Journalism and business models discussed by a panel at the International Center for Journalists' annual Board Dinner

Two unexpected quotes from the panel about journalism and business models that made me laugh:

“In fact journalists take government support all the time; that is why they got relief so that they can have tiny little boys delivering newspapers, not have to be paying attention to child labor laws, or why they got to have joint operating agreements in contravention to laws of fair trade, or why they get postal privileges”

“I’ll tell you a business model that works really well. Porn. I don’t want to be distasteful but there is plenty of free porn on the Internet and there are some incredibly successful websites where you have to pay to get your porn… …they are obviously continuing to get something there when the same commodity is available for free elsewhere. And why? – Because it’s indispensible to them, it is necessary, it is fulfilling some kind of need, and it is being delivered to them in a platform that makes sense to them at that moment. And quite frankly, we are not doing that in journalism anymore.”

More videos:
Interview with Steve Rubel on business models for newspapers and online communities
Eric Schmidt on news, newspapers and real time content
Mad Avenue Blues - The year the media died

Further Reading:
Outlook for Newspaper publishing: Moving into multiple business models

Mad Avenue Blues - The year the media died

A really fun take on the changing business models of media.

Related videos:

Eric Schmidt on news, newspapers and real time content

Tim O'Reilly on NYTimes.com as a news and information platform

Tim O'Reilly on Open Publishing

Further reading:
Outlook for Newspaper publishing: Moving into multiple business models

Outlook for Newspaper publishing: Moving into multiple business models

The newspaper industry has seen a long-term decline in circulation volume and advertisers have been moving from newspapers to online channels and into new formats to reach its target groups. At the same time several newspaper publishers that have started online TV-like experiences in relation to their online news sites, thus finding new audiences beyond their traditional print readers. The global economic downturn has accelerated the need for many newspaper publishers to adjust their business models to survive and as this 56 page report concludes "there will be some casualties and losses of well-known papers along the way."

The report On the outlook for newspapers in the digital age: Moving into multiple business models, is an interesting read from PricewaterhouseCoopers. Based on interviews with industry actors and 4900 consumers, it focuses on two key issues: the change of consumer behavior with respect to their consumption of news content, and the response of newspaper publishers, advertisers, advertising agencies and media buyers to these changes.

The change of consumer behavior
PwC concludes that print will remain the largest source of revenue generation for some time but will have to coexist with other media in new ways. Consumers see breaking news and general interest news as commodities, something that is more difficult to charge for online than offline. Instead they place a high value on deep insights and analysis provided by journalists, and a growing segment is increasingly demanding specialized information.

Consumers increasingly expect to be part of the debate and to be able to contribute to their newspaper, both in terms of commenting and in providing content. Perhaps surprising is that the rapid adoption of mobile technology and devices, has not yet resulted in high preference to use mobile devices for accessing information due to the difficulty of reading content and thus the overall willingness to pay for news on e-paper and mobile devices is low. Perhaps new business models around Amazon Kindle or perhaps a future e-reader from Apple? will do the trick?

Advertisers' perspective
The authors conclude that the shift of advertising revenue from print to online is expected to continue over the next few years even though TV appears to remain the most attractive medium for advertisers. However, advertisers can, and choose to, use multi-platform approaches, combining newspapers, magazines, mobile, the Internet, TV, cinema, radio, sponsorship and outdoor advertising. Main focus in the economic downturn is to use reliable and measurable media types to achieve the best return on investment. Another interesting conclusion is that advertisers are still reluctant to invest in user-generated content and social networking sites due to the difficulty of controlling the environment.

Publishers' perspective
The authors conclude that traditional newspapers have a relatively loyal reader base even though younger readers increasingly prefer to read news online. And although there is a huge potential for growth online and many younger readers prefer to read news online, the conclusion is that print will remain the largest source of revenue generation for some time. At the same time newspaper publishers are reassessing the role of the aggregator and are starting to introduce new subscription models combining multiple platforms and new technologies as new channels for distributing content.

PwC concludes that there is a shift in the organizational structure of newspaper publishing operations from a structure based on channel distribution to one based on content production. As actors in adjacent industries such as telecom providers are becoming media participants, newspapers can leverage their advantages of being a trusted source of information and having content creation as a core competence.

What about business models around APIs?
Something I miss in the report is the concept of a newspaper as an open platform. Newspapers such as the Guardian and the New York Times, and news organizations such as BBC and NPR have started to provide API (application programming interface) which allow third-party developers to access and reuse content databases in their own applications. This is something that the content owners can chose to charge for, enabling very interesting business models.

How will news be experienced online?
In the early days of the television, news was presented as if being in a newspaper. The Internet is only in its very early days and companies are exploring new ways to use algorithms analyzing twitter conversations to identify breaking news and combine videos, links, blogs, comments and communities to explore ways to provide deep insights and analysis. I believe the consumers answering these questions have a clear perception of how online news is and will be presented, and as Henry Ford allegedly once said "If I'd asked my customers what they wanted, they'd have said a faster horse."

This is a great report to dive into and contains much more than what I have covered above. For those of you interested to read more download the full report and watch a short video here.

Related posts:
The Freemium Business Model
Subscription-based business models

Related videos:
Eric Schmidt on news, newspapers and real time content
Tim O'Reilly on NYTimes.com as a news and information platform
Tim O'Reilly on Open Publishing

Mad Avenue Blues - The year the media died

Other recent reports:
Pharma 2020: Challenging New Business Models

Eric Schmidt on news, newspapers, real time content and the Internet distrubution model

Eric Schmidt, at the Newspaper Association of America, on news, newspapers, real time content and the Internet distrubution model. Interesting Q&A after the presentation.