NY Times to charge for content. The newspaper is expected to announce the introduction of a so-called paywall … on January 27. Sources close to Arthur Sulzberger Jr, chairman of The New York Times, said the paper would make a decision on charging within the next few days … The New York Times is following in the wake of the FT and The Wall Street Journal. The New York Times dropped a previous paywall in 2007. — The Telegraph
Air NZ mauled for cougar ad. A campaign that portrays single middle-aged women as cougars who prowl bars looking for sex with young men has landed Air New Zealand in hot water. In the Discovery Channel-style documentary clip, complete with David Attenborough-esque voiceover, a so-called cougar is shown “starving itself on sparse vegetation during the day then hunting large slabs of meat at night” by stalking a young man at a bar. — The Sydney Morning Herald
Palin nabs US$100k for magazine cover. Sarah Palin and her daughter, Bristol, earned an eye-popping $US100,000 for their new In Touch Weekly cover, sources say. For just eight hours’ work at her own home, Palin pocketed nearly as much as her $125,000-a-year salary as Alaska governor. It seems her decision to quit her political role is making big financial sense. — The New York Post
How much Twitter power have you got? Several sites are now promising to judge how influential you are on Twitter, labelling you by doing everything from calculating your “social capital” to knocking you for a “low Twitter efficiency.” — PC World
3D TV to hit Australian screens. Network Ten appears to be alone among the free-to-air networks in preparing to broadcast a segment of its hit panel quiz show Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation in 3D this year. The segment will be filmed using traditional 3D technology that can be viewed with the traditional cardboard glasses with red and blue lenses. — The Australian
Twitter takes on Don Quixote. The Twijote project, as it is known, aims to publish the 470-odd pages of the first volume of Don Quixote’s adventures using just the 140-character blocks of text allowed by Twitter. The 8200-odd tweets needed to get to the end of the first volume must come from one-off visitors to the Twijote site. They are given the next block of 140 characters of text to put on Twitter. — The Guardian
The Air NZ ad is as harmless and in good fun as are so many of the same ilk. In fact a quick look at some of the most popular beer, insurance and vehicle ads on view at You Tube are of a similar type, many of which have won international awards. Could it be Fairfax are just a little miffed the kiwis had the good fun and sense to do it? Certainly is getting Air NZ thousands of dollars media space not costing them a cent, they will be loving it following their recent top International Airline award. As is often said, the kiwis fight above their weight and win many times.