These are some of the things that have caught my attention lately. It’s a more eclectic mix than just the news business, but then so’s life:

• Reshaping the Financial Times’ newsroom for the Credit Crisis – Interview with Managing Editor, Daniel Bogler | editorsweblog – "Bogler reported that one of the key things the FT did when the magnitude of the story unfolding became clear was rethink the entire layout of the paper. To ensure that the FT provided enough space to deliver comprehensive coverage, it cleared the first four pages of previously planned stories and bumped them further inside."
• Mainstream media’s power shifting to new media, says FT’s Lionel Barber | Journalism.co.uk – "The imperial status of the mainstream media – the television networks, big metropolitan dailies and lofty commentators – has been shaken. The lay-offs of hundreds of US newspaper journalists this summer are a symptom of a wider malaise," he said.

  "We are witnessing a shift in the balance of power towards new media, with wholesale repercussions for the practice of journalism."

• Why I shout about newsprint’s demise | Roy Greenslade – "We cannot force people to read what they don't want to. Hence the huge sales in Britain for popular tabloids that carry so little genuinely serious news and analysis. An élite of sorts already forms the audience for serious papers." But can we incentivize the consumption of such news and analysis?
• New media plan to combat Taleban | BBC – Funding a DIY Afghan "happy slapping" craze? "A radical new plan is being considered by the UK government to counter growing Taleban propaganda in Afghanistan, the BBC has learned.
  The programme involves using new media like mobile phones and the internet to empower ordinary Afghans to contradict the prevailing Taleban message.
• Great Data Visualization Tells a Great Story | Flowing Data – "Approach data visualization as if you were telling a story. What kind story are you trying to tell? Is it a report or is it a novel? Do you want to convince people that something is necessary? Think character development. Every data point has a story behind it the same way that every character in a book has a past, present, and future. There are interactions and relationships between those data points. It's up to you to find them."
• In Emirates, newspapers still a growth industry | Los Angeles Times – "Some have accused the National and other newspapers in the Persian Gulf of playing little more than a decorative role for their respective kingdoms…
  So far, the National appears to have avoided such a fate. Its pages include hard-hitting reports on topics such as AIDS and human trafficking in the Emirates, and its front page rarely, if ever, features the kingdom's rulers except when they are doing something truly newsworthy.