Many of the publishers I work with are (still) grappling with questions about charging for content: if, why, how, and so on. These questions can become almost paralyzing when taken to their extreme, and in this situation I've often advocated to "give it away or don’t: pick one," i.e., choose a direction, stick with it for a while, and then re-assess. Nonetheless, there will be those that want to fret over the decision endlessly and to carefully consider every angle -- and those folks will want to have a look at Alastair Bruce's recent presentation about "Charging for content."

Bruce's presentation is a thorough examination of the current state of affairs in the online publishing world. He offers a comparison chart the explores the different models used by major newspapers, local news, and specialist publications. He delves into the specifics of many of the models -- micro-payments, metering, freemiums, etc. -- and leaves us with a nice snapshot of the landscape that's current to February 2010.

It will be a great addition to your weekend reading list, I promise. I particularly liked the exploration of how publishers are pulling social media, search advertising, and other models (membership, etc.) into their revenue mix. Great stuff and hope to see more like this from Mr. Bruce.

(Thanks to Mark Coddington's weekly roundup at Neiman Journalism Lab for the pointer)

This just in from Steve Anderson via OpenMedia.ca:

The CRTC is currently reconsidering the role of community television in Canada, providing an historic opportunity to create a rejuvenated, FRESH and innovative independent media system.

Many people are unaware that two per cent of what cable companies collect from their customers monthly is supposed to be spent on community channels. BUT, rather than provide community access to these resources as they should, cable operators have used these channels and funds to give themselves a competitive edge, and at times even pocketing the money while shutting down studios. Tell the CRTC what you think of this: http://tinyurl.com/ycf3uo5

OpenMedia.ca supports a proposal by CACTUS (Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations) calling for the millions of dollars already being collected by cable companies for community TV, be liberated to independent media centres for use by all Canadians. The CRTC can make this a reality – please send them a letter now! HERE: http://tinyurl.com/ycf3uo5

The best part of CACTUS’ plan is that Canadians won't have to pay another dime! The money we are already paying to cable companies will be directed to independent media!

Continuing with the theme of stories... I was struck yesterday, when speaking to David Beers, about the sense of community that he's trying to weave into the fabric of The Tyee's newsroom.

I shared with David that the idea of bringing the community into the newsroom -- or the newsroom into the community -- had recently been discussed on the Rebooting the News podcast, and by "hacker journalist" Daniel Bachhuber on his blog, under the banner of "Newsroom as cafe."

David chuckled a bit, as he described his early careers experiences working in the San Francisco-based Pacific News Service newsroom in the 80s. He described it as a place that was open to the community; where "anyone could come in for their Monday [editorial] meeting" and thus take part in the news process.

He finished with the sentiment that these ideas are not necessarily new, but they are often are the ones that have been lost in the contemporary, profit-driven, newsroom. So, as news becomes more narrowcast, and fights to be more relevant to people's lives, it would seem to that these ideas of community-connected newsrooms are ripe to be rediscovered.

It's stories like these that keep me engaged.

Interviewing the venerable David Beers today, I was reminded about the power of stories.

David is the Founder / Editor of the award-winning daily news site The Tyee and we were speaking about the changing news environment. At times, David likes to make himself out to be a fish out of water (pun intended -- a "tyee" is a salmon): the "old fashioned" guy leading the news innovation pack. But it's clear to me that it is people like David -- these fish out of water -- that are learning to survive in this new environment.

If you want to hear David's stories about news innovation at The Tyee, you can find him (along with more than 200 other media innovators) at the "Journalism That Matters: Re-imagining News & Community in the Pacific Northwest" gathering in Seattle this week. You can be sure it won't be a firsherman's tale.

I recently received some questions from a friend who's applying for a position as an "online editor" along the lines of "What do I need to understand about Web sites to bring value to an online position?" and "What do I need to know to communicate effectively with my Web-development counterpart?"

These questions come across my Inbox often enough to justify a quick summary of what I think are "Top five" resources for folks making the transition from print to online. These aren't editorial resources, specifically, they're mostly technical in nature (as that's my "thing").

Editors & publishers: have you ever asked yourself the question “When should print content go online?” If so, you’re in luck…

A handful of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to ask some of the most influential publications in the US (and a handful of my colleagues in the publishing business in Canada) that very question.

I received about ten responses, ranging from smaller bi-monthly publications to large weeklies. The responses were very interesting, and quite consistent. I’ve compiled the responses here:

I’m going to guess that I’m not the only person who’s ever taken a nine-month hiatus from their blog. (Though you can correct me, or chastise me, if I’m wrong.) And, today — November 5th — I’m happy to report that I’m back from said hiatus, and excited to have more than nine-months worth of experiences to blog about. Read on for the highlights, sad moments, and the lowdown on what’s next…

It has been a hectic couple weeks since we returned from out west; catch-up sure can be a killer. Either way, I’m not letting my overly-tired ass stay put tonight, tomorrow, or Friday, as Toronto becomes ground zero for some of the most exciting conversation in online news, citizen journalism, and media democracy.

Thanks to Lisa Rundle, I’ve got ring-side seats for what is sure to be one of the week’s more exciting events: CBC’s The Future of the Future of News forum. Sparks are sure to fly when Andrew Keen and Leonard Brody go head-to-head on the topic of citizen journalism. Andrew is the author of The Cult of the Amateur — a book that refuses to accept that the Web is changing the rules — and Leonard is the founder of Now Public, a Vancouver-based citizen journalism start-up that is catching mainstream attention.