How many people really pay for digital news?

Now that roughly a third of the nation’s newspapers are charging for access to their web and mobile content, the early evidence suggests that digital audiences aren’t nearly as enthusiastic about paying for news as publishers are about charging for it.

Although digital-only subscribers make up 37.6% of the total circulation of the Wall Street Journal and 34.4% of the total readership of the New

16 Essentials to Survive the Dutch Autumn

Photo: Billy Alexander

According to my calendar this Sunday is the official start of autumn. In the blink of an eye summer faded and an unpredictable weather front crept over the Netherlands with a mischievous smirk on its face, just as we were all finishing up our ice creams and rubbing the last drops of sun cream on from the bottle. Most of us weren't quite prepared for the onslaught of the rain, hail, wind and greyness.

It's the time of year known as "four seasons in one day", also known as autumn, fall or herfst. To survive it you need sixteen items.

1. Sunglasses - when it makes an appearance the sun is still bright and strong and you need eye protection (can also prove helpful against leaves - see tip 8)
2. A sense of humour - you have to be able to see the funny side of getting hailed on in your sunglasses 
3. A rain coat - one that is very waterproof indeed
4. A rain hat - unless your rain coat has a built in hood that actually stays on your head (unlike mine which was apparently designed with the head of the Gruffalo in mind) it is worth investing in a rather fetching rain hat. Okay, it may not be attractive, but the 'drowned rat with limp hair' look isn't hot either
5. Waterproof trousers - particularly if you don't like to be parted from your bicycle. Again, not a sexy look but it is a dry look
6. Two pastic bags - one to put over your bicycle seat and the other big enough to put over your child's bike seat, should you have one
7. A gale proof umbrella - if you have the choice between a bog-standard umbrella and a super-duper wind proof monster version, opt for the latter. The Netherlands is a wasteland of decrepit, washed up umbrellas, torn apart by gale force winds and lashing rain. Don't let your umbrella become the next victim
8. A scarf - the Dutch autumn wind blows cold and wild when the mood takes it. As a bonus to keeping warm, wrapping a scarf round your face is also a clever way to avoid getting a surprise smack in the face by a wayward dry crispy leaf or two
9. Jumpers (or sweaters if you are American) - the temperature drops and it gets a bit nippy out there
10. A summer jacket - some days the sun shines and it's actually quite warm so don't hide that summer jacket away just yet
11. Short sleeve T-shirts - some days it is so warm you'll start thinking you imagined the hail, rain and wind of two days ago
12. A winter coat - and then reality hits, the sun decides it's done for the year, tucks itself up behind a big blanket of clouds and sleeps until spring. Be prepared, before you know it you'll be needing that big, thick, snuggly coat
13. Wellington boots - whether or not you are into puddle jumping you will need some kind of waterproof boots before the year is out, unless your preference is to walk around in soggy socks
14. De-icer for the car - chilly mornings ease their way in gradually and what begins as a friendly layer of frost on your windscreen soon turns into a stubborn blanket of ice
15. A selection of plastic zip up bags - it's not just squirrels that are collecting stuff in autumn, kids do it too. They collect conkers, acorns, fir cones, leaves and general crap from the floor. You're going to want to put it all in a sealed off bag. Trust me.
16. A big rucksack - last but not least you will need a really big bag to put the other fifteen items in. Think the kind of bag you see hikers and campers lugging around. 

I wish you all good luck with the decline to colder, wetter, darker days. See you all again in spring!

 

Photo: Claire Noe (Stock.Xchng)

Guess Who's a Guest Blogger for Smitten By Britain

Photo Credit: Petre Birlea

Me! I am delighted to share that I have the honour of being a new monthly guest blogger for Smitten by Britain. I've been following Smitten by Britain for a long while, keeping up to date with all things British whilst living away from British shores. When there was a call for guest posters I jumped up with my hand in the air shouting me, me, me. And she said ok.

The Smitten by Britain blog is run by Melissa who is nuts about Britain. She's in fact a Britophile, which I guess is about as close to being British that you can get without actually being British. The most important thing about Melissa is that she loves a proper cup of tea, so that absolutely qualifies her to be a Britophile!

Anyway, I'm the new British culture monthly blogger and I have kicked off my new adventure with a post on the British and their love of caravans. It hit me this summer that the Dutch are not the only ones pulling caravans along in their masses. In fact, it turns out that the British obsession love affair with caravans is more intense than even that of the Cloggies. Seriously, it is. I looked it up. Brits really are bonkers about their caravans.

Hop on over to Smitten by Britain to read more - and keep tuned in over there for more every month from me, plus tons and tons of great posts every day about all things British.

The Happy Netherlands

The second UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) World Happiness report is out and the Netherlands fared well once more. Really well actually. The Dutch are the fourth happiest nation in the world, behind Denmark, Norway and Switzerland.

In order to assess just how happy people are across the world the report concentrates on six areas:

• real GDP per capita 
• healthy life expectancy 
• having someone to count on 
• perceived freedom to make life choices 
• freedom from corruption
• generosity

Measuring the well-being of citizens is starting to be seen as serious business in many countries. And there's a good reason for that. Happy people are more productive, healthier and live longer. I consider myself lucky to live in the Netherlands, and when reports like this are published it only reinforces how blessed we I am to raise a family here. 

The USA is placed at number 17 and United Kingdom comes in at 22. Togo sits bottom of the pile.  

Where does your country come in the list? Do you consider yourself lucky to live where you do? Are you happy there?

If you want to read the whole report you can do so here.

Digital puts news consumers in control

News consumption in the digital era has become far more of a participatory activity than it was in the days when folks plopped into a La-Z-Boy to read the paper or watch the evening news. 

Publishers hoping to connect with modern audiences need to understand the radically different expectations that consumers have about when, where and how they get the news – and how they proactively mix, match

The five big decisions facing Bezos at WaPo

When Jeff Bezos takes control of The Washington Post in a few short weeks, the Amazon founder will face five enormous decisions that will shape the future of an iconic newspaper once so powerful that it drove President Richard M. Nixon from office. They’re decisions plenty of other media companies will be facing, too. Here goes: 

Local or global? 

First and foremost, Bezos will have to decide

How can they fire the photographers? Easy.

Like many others, I was distressed to learn that the Chicago Sun-Times fired all 28 members of its photo staff, as the casualties include such cherished former colleagues as the Pulitzer-winning John H. White. 

“How can they do that?” asked a number of journalists, friends and readers who called or wrote to express their outrage.  “Yes, it’s awful,” I agreed. “But, actually, it’s easy.” Here’s