Yesterday I was part of CNET’s Reporters’ Roundtable, talking about the in-vogue topic of whether iPad will be a savior of newspapers and magazines. Moderated by Rafe Needleman, editor of CNET’s Webware, it included Damon Darlin, the technology editor of News York Times, and me. Some of the issues brought…

Highlights from Rafat Ali’s conversation with Demand Media’s Shawn Colo, Discovery’s Bruce Campbell, Associated Content’s Patrick Keane, About’s Cella Irvine, and AOL’s Marty Moe: —Gutters: Are the panel members—whose companies are sometimes referred to as “content farms”—driving the value of content to the “gutter?” Colo: No; “We’re adding value by…

Last Friday at the Paley Center in NYC, at the Carnegie Journalism Educators Summit, I spoke on a panel on entrepreneurial journalism. Among the main points brought up were the skills that needed to be taught to j-students these days changes in the way the courses are structured at these…

What can you expect at paidContent 2010: Discussing the Economics of Content? Just what we promised when we announced our first namesake conference: a forward-looking discussion of the major issues and opportunities facing us, staying away from the religious arguments that often arise when discussing the topic of paid content,…

At DLD yesterday in Munich, I interviewed Dennis Crowley, CEO and co-founder of the currently hot location-based service Foursquare. He touched on a lot of topics in the short 20-minute allotted time, including genesis of Foursquare, adoption of the still-nascent service, and revenue models. The text coverage of the interview,…

Rafat will be interviewed today on the video site WatchMojo.com by Ashkan Karbasfrooshan, the site’s CEO. They will talk about the secrets to raising venture money, where the media-blog business is headed—and a whole lot more. You can watch it live here (see feed after the jump) at 3 p.m.…

During the second session at our L.A. Year-End Digital Media Review and Mixer, our founder, publisher and editor Rafat Ali led a panel with Albert Cheng, EVP of digital media for Disney-ABC Television Group; Miles Beckett, co-founder and CEO of EQAL and co-creator and executive producer of lonelygirl15 and KateModern;…

Trust ContentNext to accomplish the impossible. We got a major network exec, the head of an indie digital studio and the SVP of digital at one of the largest talent agencies in the business to agree on something: that though 2009 will be tough, the best thing for companies in…

Some thoroughly depressing news to start Monday morning: the founder of UK media research agency Enders expects the number of media jobs in the UK industry to halve between now and 2013. The last couple of months has seen urgent and accelerated downsizing from a glut of publishers, TV and…

In the EconCeleb panel concerning how new players are getting into the gossip cyberspace, Mike Dodge, SVP/GM, AtomicOnline; Tyler Goldman, CEO, Buzznet; Mattias Miksche, co-founder & CEO, Stardoll; and R.J. Williams, founder, producer & CEO, YoungHollywood talked about the differences in their own outlets, including Buzznet fostering interactivity among users,…

Users seeking celebrity news and content want something more, something deeper that they can socialize around, Tyler Goldman, CEO of Buzznet, said on a panel on blogs and social media moderated by our founder and editor, Rafat Ali. Goldman, Mike Dodge, SVP/GM, AtomicOnline; Mattias Miksche, co-founder & CEO, Stardoll; and…

At EconAds the final panel of the day took a step back and analyzed a big part of what keeps the ad business thriving, activity in VC and M&A. Inevitably, the Microsoft-Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) possibility became a hot topic and while it became clear there was no one answer, Microsoft’s…

In a discussion about the future of ad agencies at EconAds, panelists talked about the steady growth in digital, the importance of laying out a strategy before making an acquisition and utilizing creative marketing campaigns in a little space called social media. Other topics from the panel: going where the…

During this Q&A ad EconAds a few weeks ago, our founder, publisher and editor Rafat Ali interviewed Jo Ann Ross, president of network sales, CBS (NYSE: CBS) about the state of the upfront and CNET (NSDQ: CNET) acquisition, as well as CPM rates and the cancellation of Jericho. Ross explained…

Earlier this month at EconAds, Samir Arora, founder, chairman and CEO, Glam Media, talked with our founder, publisher and editor Rafat Ali about raising a huge $84.6 million earlier this year to support international expansion and tapping Mike Meyers from rival SheKnows.com to run its new family-focused channel. Though he…

Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) and Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO)—will the deal happen? Will any deal happen? Those questions met with uncertain answers from ContentNext’s EconAds’ final panel, a look at deals and the online ad marketplace. Bruce Jaffe, former Corporate VP, Corporate Development for Microsoft seemed like the perfect person to provide…

Having been in the middle of some of the most significant digital media deals through her position as Allen & Co. Managing Director, Nancy Peretsman is uniquely qualified to dive deep into the economics of the big stories: Microsoft-Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) being particularly noteworthy. During a one-on-one discussion with ContentNext…

After plenty of talk about ad networks and digital incumbents, the day’s discussion at EconAds turned to the traditional agencies, and their role in the in the digital landscape. —Is the recession hitting digital? paidContent.org advertising correspondent David Kaplan kicked off the discussion with the economy question. Are we in…

Just before our first EconAds seminar at New World Stages in NYC started, Tech Confidential’s Mary Kathleen Flynn caught up with ContentNext publisher and editor Rafat Ali to talk about issues on the agenda, including VC money flowing into online ads, what traditional publishers are doing online, social media advertising…