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:

• For Iraqi Journalists, Free Press vs. Free Land | NYTimes.com – More than just free elections, policy analysts often say, democracy requires democratic civil institutions like a free press. But the popularity of the land-for-journalists program illustrates the challenges newfound democratic principles face when they clash with entitlements and cozy relationships that no one ever questioned before.
• Luke Johnson: Why I fear the west’s luck has run out | Ft.com – A REAL jeremiad.
• Mobile FT.com is a River of News | Adam Tinworth – Mobile news: "The design, to me, demonstrates the value of that blog-style design in the mobile environment. What do you want to know? The latest news. Not what a gatekeeper has deemed the most important, just the newest."
• News You Can Endow | NYTimes.com – "[T]here is an option that might not only save newspapers but also make them stronger: Turn them into nonprofit, endowed institutions — like colleges and universities. Endowments would enhance newspapers’ autonomy while shielding them from the economic forces that are now tearing them down."
• Rebekah Wade’s first public speech in full | Journalism.co.uk – "Last year, we gave away over 163 million copies in bulks to maintain these levels.
  We listed 270 million foreign sales.
  We gave away 120 million free CD’s and DVDs – of questionable quality and at enormous cost – just to rent readers.
  We paid our retailers and wholesalers over 800 million pounds in margins that have outstripped RPI.
  And while 1,400 corner shops closed, it’s been years since we developed alternative new routes to market.
  We saw another increase in the number of free newspapers. In 2008 we distributed 639 million copies.
  The huge growth in digital still doesn’t pay for high quality journalism.
  We give away our expensive editorial content free online without an economic model that compensates for the loss in traditional revenues.
  The rising cost of news and magazine print is in double figures and there is the small matter of the recession."
• How the New York Times Can Thrive Without Profits | Seeking Alpha – [I]t seems to me that in media generally, and in newspapers in particular, capital really is more patient than in many other businesses.

  When did you ever hear of anybody flipping newspapers for a quick profit, even in the good years? Newspaper owners like profits, of course, but they also like the power and influence they get from owning a paper, and are therefore generally extremely reluctant to ever sell.

• Obama tells Arabic network US is ‘not your enemy’ | The Associated Press – "The U.S. sees Al-Arabiya as a friendly Arab channel, whereas they see Al-Jazeera as confrontational," said Lawrence Pintak, director of the journalism training center at the American University in Cairo.
• Transparency in Sport | Andrew Jennings – Veteran reporter Andrew Jennings' site uncovering mischief in international sport.