An excerpt from the article I mention below. This one refers to the NYT's decision to start charging to read its columnists:

While newspaper Web sites are attracting an increasing number of online ads, those ads are cheap and bring in only a fraction of the revenue that print ads do. And while some newspapers now have more readers on their Web sites than they have in print, most are reluctant to charge for their content online, depriving themselves of revenue from their most popular product. The New York Times recently started charging $50 a year for nonsubscribers to read its columnists online, but it has declined to discuss the early results. (emphasis mine - BD)

U.S. newspapers are being forced into a new round of cost-cutting and layoffs. Some editors -- perhaps as an act of emotional self-preservation -- are trying to imagine how this would be to the paper's advantage.

A letter from a visitor and CBC veteran who wishes to remain anonymous, but who offers some counterpoints to my earlier post in which I suggested the CMG lost the dispute with CBC management:

Well, it's an indirect battle. But a U.S. gun control group wants to target tourists (no pun intended) with ads warning them of the dangers of Florida's stand-your-ground law, which means an armed Floridian shouldn't have to run from a conflict and can instead blast away in self-defence.

While smaller in scale, the mudslides in Guatemala have also been devastating. The government declared that some destroyed villages are now essentially mass graves.

The UN put out a flash appeal Monday for $22 million US. It will be interesting to see how the world community responds, given what's happened in Pakistan.

Or spare cash? The Daily Bread food bank is about 44,000 kilograms behind where it was on Thanksgiving last year.

If you wish to donate, here's some contact info: "Credit-card donations can be made all year long by calling 416-203-0050 or online at http://www.givegroceries.com."

From a Toronto Star article:

(Food bank director Sue) Cox said credit card donations, simple to make by phone, are especially appreciated because they cut out the middleman — every cent will be translated directly into food, Cox said.

"We're really great shoppers because we're buying all in bulk and getting a great deal," she said. "But there's something about donating the food itself. It just reminds people what this is all about, which is people not having enough food.

The last great night of the extended summer of 2005 was Thursday, which I spent trying to unsuccessfully catch a salmon at Bronte Creek.

But even on Wednesday, one of the last mid-20s days, the patio scene on College St. -- normally the stuff of line-ups -- had died down substantially.

Perhaps even the scenesters had subconsciously and collectively decided: "Enough. Patio season is done."

For now, I don't miss the summery weather, and I appreciate the extra colour that's coming out now -- like a final burst of fireworks at the end of a summer holiday evening.

One huge judgment error, however: Monday was the day The Big Chill closes, which meant free ice cream in exchange for a charity donation.

Last year, this was a source of angst because I had to choose between my two flavour favourites. This year, I reminded myself, reminded myself, reminded myself ... and then when the big day came, completely forgot about it.

Agghh!!

Veteran British TV personality David Frost will be going on-air with al-Jazeera International next spring.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg defends his decision to make public a potential terror threat against his city's transit system, while unnamed Dept. of Homeland Security officials say the "threat" wasn't that credible.

Democracy Now! speaks with investigative reporter Robert Dreyfuss, author of Devil's Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam.

That's the nickname coined for law blogs. This NYT story looks at the proliferation of law blogs and asks why it's happening.

An explanation of why so many lawyers dabble in politics may help explain: It's because law is so boring that you need an interesting hobby! :)

An article for Maissoneuve magazine by a National Post writer attempts to answer why Canuck bloggers haven't generated a shockwave of a scoop yet that rattles the Canadian political or media establishments.

The short answer is, because they're bloggers, not journalists. Duh!

The CBC had some ads up in TTC subway cars touting some of its blockbuster programs "coming soon" -- on people like Shania, Trudeau, Levesque and Gretzky.

But the "coming soon" part was a sticker. Underneath it, you easily could read "Coming on September 25."

The Toronto Sun is advertising free classified ads. To read about the strings attached to that kind offer, click here.

I don't know what triggered that move, but here's a link to an article about the impact of Craigslist on the U.S. newspaper industry.

And if that's not enough, Google wants to get in on the classified ads game.

This is important stuff to the newspaper industry. Classified ads can account for up to 50 per cent of a newspaper's revenue, according to a World Association of Newspapers report.

Two ethnic Chinese bloggers who dissed Islam and Muslims got a jail term in one case and a heavy fine in another.

Dubya gave a big speech Thursday on how the Islamists want to take over nations from Spain to Indonesia. And as if to underscore the dire nature of the threat, New York's subway system was reported to be at imminent risk of attack. Updated

James Yee was a former U.S. army chaplain and Muslim who worked at Guantanamao Bay. He was arrested and charged with espionage, specifically to pass information from enemy combatant detainees to al Qaeda -- a charge for which he could have received the death penalty if convicted

However, the U.S. government's case against him totally collapsed. Yee has written a book about his experiences entitled For God and Country: Faith and patriotism under fire.

Another NYT story about video producers that dovetails nicely with the posting below.

Jeremy Allaire, who helped developed little applications like ColdFusion and Flash, now wants to become the middleman for pretty much anyone with a camcorder and a desire to reach an audience.

The Islamic insurgency in Algeria has left an estimated 100,000 dead and a wounded nation trying to move forward.

According to a post by TorStar's Zerby, the memorandum of understanding between the Canadian Media Guild and the CBC includes purging any "negative references and material related to the work stoppage from web sites, podcasts, blogging etc. consistent with the CBCand CMG accepted journalistic standards."

Lockout? What lockout?

Tod Maffin, the guy behind CBC Unplugged, doesn't sound like he wants to be a team player about this in his post I will NOT erase history:

 I have chosen to not publish hurtful, personal attacks against individuals (management or workers -- neither the infamous memo nore the "party" photo appeared on my site) and I stand behind every word I posted.

The last 50 days changed labour communications forever. The worst thing we can do is erase history.

Blogs are powerful. When I blogged about how Bell Expressvu fucked me over, it jumped to the top of Google.

If the Guild or CBC wants something off my web site, I will gladly provide the contact information for my lawyer and would welcome the challenge in court.

Bring it.

One person commenting at Maffin's blog said such language was standard and that all the CMG had to do was "encourage" compliance, not enforce it.

If you're in T.O., filmmaker Eric Geringas will be holding a screening tonight of Cheating Death, his doc about a fellow named Gyazi Ferdinand, aka J9.

A certified gangsta, J9 dealt drugs and packed a 9 mm around his Regent Park nabe -- until he got shot. Then he decided to clean up and become a youth pastor.

This 30-minute documentary is his story. Both Geringas and Ferdinand will be in attendance at the screening and will speak afterwards at a panel discussion.

The screening is being held, with a 7 p.m. start time, at Nelson Mandela Park Public School at 440 Shuter St. -- pretty much in the 'hood where J9 used to prowl.

A disabled Danish man wants the state to pay for a prostitute's visits to his home.

In a Toronto Star article, new CBC board chair Guy Fournier had some pointed words for CBC president Robert Rabinovitch. Meanwhile, the CMG thinks most of its members will be back on the job by Tuesday and rabble.ca's Judy Rebick proclaims victory for the workers.

Here's a grab bag of stuff I found today on the deal between the Canadian Media Guild and the CBC.

A harsh assessment, to be sure, but if preventing further contracting of jobs at CBC was the Canadian Media Guild's aim, one would have to think it lost.

However, it's still a Pyrrhic victory for CBC management.