Print Media Slashes Staff–(NYT, Free with registration) More news about print media needing to cut staff because of declining ad pages and ciruculation. Resources are shifting to the web. Our questions: (a) Can web CPMs support a large-scale transition of print to web? (b) Is the shift happening fast enough to save some print pubs? (c) Are digital publications doing enough to offer advertisers innovative products?

Venice Project Now Called Joost–(Media Daily News) Kazaa and Netflix founders go for convergence. They say: “Combining the best of TV with the best of the internet, Joost gives you more control and freedom than ever before – control over what you watch, and freedom to watch it whenever you like. We’re providing a platform for the best television content on the planet – a platform that will bring you the biggest and best shows from the TV studios, as well as the specialist programs created by professionals and enthusiasts.” Message for traditional media– Yikes!

Needed for Brands: Training Wheels for Second Life–(Mediapost) Greg Verdino, new-technology guy from Digitas offers brands some advice on participating in Second Life. One of his points: You can’t just build it and forget about it. We have seen this behavior for over 10 years with regard to brands on the Internet: Once the print ad or TV spot is done, you can forget about it. Brands have had a hard time adjusting to the idea of a web site that needs updating every day or week, ditto with a blog. And now we see it in their social networking participation. The realities of new media will require brands to revised their launch-it-and-forget-about-it expectations.

Hollywood & YouTube–(NYT, free with registration) Kids are uploading bootlegged movies to YouTube. Studios are trying to work out licensing deals with the site, but suits are possible. The CIQ question: How do content producers– studios in this case– harness the power of YouTube and avoid becoming like the music industry? Our answer is that they need to (a) package lots of content for free on YouTube, and (b) Invent new compelling content just for YouTube. And do it FAST.

Getting Local. REALLY Local –(NYT, free with registration) AmericanTowns.com allows communities to create hyper-local online newspapers. A great idea. We are fascinated to watch what advertising does in this space. Another likely source of revenue: Local politicians.

 Harper Collins Invests in Content Digitizers— (Publishers Weekly) HC has taken a stake in the company that has helped it create its digital warehouse. We are interested in all the potential uses– and partial uses– of this digital content. See two-part article, beginning today, on the New York Public Library.

Gather.com Seeks Unpublished Authors–(Gather.com) This social networking site has made a partnership with Simon & Schuster in an effort to find new talent. The First Chapter competition allows members of Gather to vote chapter-by-chapter and choose the winner of a S&S publishing contract. Like American-Idol for the Lit-Heads. A great CIQ idea.

Big Media Partners with Web 2.0–(MarketWatch) CBS has announced partnerships with YouTube (select the best 15-second inspirational video) and with SecondLife (A new Star Trek environment for fans). We think there are hints here of the next internet trend– creating higher quality content within the (generally) low quality UGC areas.

Social Network Sites’ Data Valuable to Advertisers— (Knowledge@Warton.com) A Wharton School of Business study has found that consumers are more likely to buy a product or service when they are networked with existing customers. This means that social network data could be very valuable to advertisers. The problem is that social networks’ data belongs to the network. Does this mean that SN’s will become ad brokers or ad networks? These sorts of cats-marrying-dogs examples are CIQ phenomena: evidence of a new kind of order that is in the process of breaking through.

Web TV Redux–(Business Week) From CES, covering the various companies who are trying to launch a Web TV device. We think they’re getting it wrong. (See Wii-TV Article)

Perseus Buys Avalon— (WSJ, subscription required) How many times can we hear “The Troubled Book Business.” Publishing has been extremely slow to the digital party and, frankly, is risking the same fate as the music business. It’s one industry that could use a few CIQ hints.

Bloggers Earn Cash from Content Reviews— (Washington Post) This article gets the CIQ award for the day! Small content producers *can* earn money on the internet. And no, they’re not selling their souls. Hey, you people in the book business from the article above, you might wanna read this one.

One Device Determines the Futuer of Digital Rights–(Tech Crunch, free) Here’s an interesting twist on the issue of digital rights management: The iPod is so dominant that it has become the arbiter of digital rights. Labels must work with apple, or make a work DRM-free. Does this mean the iPod will kill all digital rights except at iTunes?

Big Budget Productions A Thing of the Past— (Marketwatch, free) This commentator sees the demise of big-budget Hollywood productions in favor of smaller “long tail” internet video. She predicts people will consume low-quality YouTube video. We see the potential for small, nimble creative production teams producing video content for the web.

Publisher’s Acquiring Ad Shops— (Media Post, free with registration) Cats marrying dogs? What’s next? Kidding aside, we see the unification of content and advertising a key CIQ trend. It makes us want to invent a new word, Covalence. See post on Covalence.