“The free traffic in articles that news organizations have put significant money into developing is unsustainable in the long term. This moves the Internet and media closer to a consumer-paid model.”

Contact Lou Ureneck, 617-353-4095, lureneck@bu.edu

Contact Chris Daly, 617-353-4295, cdaly@bu.edu

Contact Tom Fiedler, 617-353-3488, tfiedler@bu.edu

College of Communication Professor Lou Ureneck, the former Philadelphia Inquirer deputy editor who now chairs the Journalism Department, says the clear public demand for good journalism as measured by online readership could bode well for the troubled newspaper industry.  “If the public’s demand is real,” he says in a Boston Globe op-ed, “the challenge is principally one of packaging and pricing news on the Internet.”

Contact Lou Ureneck, 617-353-4095, lureneck@bu.edu

With Boston Globe Newspaper Guild members still considering the final contract offer from owners at the New York Times, the Globe’s publisher is predicting more reductions but a future for New England’s largest paper.  Meantime, sources say the Times is looking for a buyer.  College of Communication Dean Tom Fiedler, a former executive editor of the Miami Herald, can offer some perspective on the Globe’s dicey situation.

Contact Thomas Fiedler, 617-353-3488, tfiedler@bu.edu

College of Communication Dean Tom Fiedler, a Pulitizer winner and former executive editor of the Miami Herald, says the threat by the Associated Press to take on Web aggregators who distribute news stories without paying for them is misguided.

“I think the AP and its newspaper members have more to lose than to gain from this threat.  Journalists typically are thrilled – as they should be – when their stories are picked up by Google because it brings readers that otherwise wouldn’t be there.  Have no doubt that readers are lifeblood to journalists, not the incidental advertising dollars that might stay in Google’s hands.

“The notion that Google is stealing content from newspapers and profiting from that theft is misguided.  The fact that a reader who clicks on a headline link in Google News goes immediately to the host’s paper’s site underminds the ‘theft’ argument.

“In fact, if any organization should be charged with stealing content from newspapers it should be the AP, whose staffers rewrite newspaper stories thousands of times every day, often with the barest of credit going to the originating reporter or newspaper.”

Contact Tom Fiedler, 617-353-3488, tfiedler@bu.edu

College of Communication Professor Lou Ureneck, chairman of the Journalism Department and former executive editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer, says the Justice Department’s willingness to consider easing antitrust policy for newspapers would be good for the struggling industry.

“This is a positive and reasonable government response to the newspaper crisis.  Newspapers are the chief source of journalism in the U.S., and the country has an interest in seeing them survive.  This intiative doesn’t solve root problems, but it may offer some help at a time when it is sorely needed.”

Contact Lou Ureneck, 617-353-4095, lureneck@bu.edu

Since January 2007, the value of the New York Times Co.’s New England Media Group, which includes the Boston Globe and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, has dropped by $980 million. As the Boston Globe’s financial woes worsen, speculation is rampant about the possibility that someone will step up to buy the region’s largest paper from the Times.

Lou Ureneck, chair of the journalism department, offered commentary in today’s Boston Herald saying: “If somebody does come forward, it will be a person who cares about the city, is thinking long term about the importance of journalism in the life of the community, and sees the Globe as an important asset.”

Professor Lou Ureneck, Journalism Department chairman in the College of Communication and former deputy editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer, comments on the Tribune Company’s decision to drop AP news service.

“If the Tribune follows through and actually drops the AP, it will hurt the Tribune more than the AP, but it is not a good development for either. This may turn out to be a way for the Tribune to keep its options open and affirm its position as it tries to negotiate a lower rate.”