Local reporter finds sex offender in Switzerland

Posted by Press Gazette on 16 March 2010 at 12:39
Tags: Newspapers, Photography, Regional Newspapers

A local press reporter worked with a photographer from a second paper to track down a convicted sex offender who had breached the terms of his licence by moving abroad.

Holdthefrontpage has the remarkable story of how Derby Telegraph crime correspondent Shaun Jepson and Nottingham Evening Post photographer Jemma Cox flew out to Switzerland in the hunt for 48-year-old Richard Guelbert.

Guelbert, who was jailed in 1999 for 12 years for raping a 15-year-old, failed to notify the authorities of a change of address and after an appeal last month to help find five missing sex offenders the East Midlands papers went looking for him.

Both papers splashed the story this morning (Derby piece, Notts piece).

Photojournalist Charles Moore dead at 79

Posted by Press Gazette on 16 March 2010 at 11:47
Tags: Newspapers, People, Photography

Photojournalist Charles Moore, who captured some of the defining images of the United States in the civil rights era, died last week.

Through his iconic Life magazine photographs, Moore helped define the civil rights struggle in the US and helped sway public opinion.

The New York Times reported his daughter, Michelle Moore Peel, saying he died of natural causes – last week at home in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, aged 79.

Among Moore’s work he captured images of Martin Luther King Jr being arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1958.

The BBC has compiled a gallery of a number of his images.

Ten new journalism jobs found today

Posted by Press Gazette on 16 March 2010 at 11:29
Tags: Journalism Jobs

Press Gazette has found ten new jobs for journalists today. To view the daily archive of our journalism jobs search click on Journalism Jobs. (more…)

Eleven new journalism jobs found today

Posted by Press Gazette on 15 March 2010 at 12:29
Tags: Journalism Jobs

Press Gazette has found eleven new jobs for journalists today. To view the daily archive of our journalism jobs search click on Journalism Jobs. (more…)

John Simpson ‘very pessimistic’ over future of the BBC

Posted by Press Gazette on 15 March 2010 at 12:16
Tags: BBC, Broadcast, Newspapers, Television

It’s a day of veteran BBC correspondents sticking their heads above the parapet to dispense little “Hell-in-a-handcart” style missives about the state of the news media.

Kate Adie has already sounded off about “fluffy” female newsreaders and “showbizzy” 24-hour news channels. Now, it’s BBC World Affairs editor John Simpson’s turn to sling it about.

And what’s John’s beef? The future of the BBC and Rupert Murdoch primarily, although he does extend a few nice words the way of the News Corp chairman and chief executive. (more…)

Bruni and Sarkozy: How two tweets have made twits out of many British journalists

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 15 March 2010 at 11:35
Tags: Journalism, National Newspapers, New Media, Newspapers, Online

It seems that two tweets can make a twit out of a great many journalists.

The Sunday Times reported yesterday that just two anonymous postings on the social media site Twitter were behind the extensively reported story that Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni might be having marital problems. The slender sourcing didn’t stop the paper devoting 1,600 words to the story.

The rumours were largely ignored in the French press (possibly because if a French premiere was NOT having an affair that would be news). But it is all still getting massive play here.

Stephen Glover, writing in The Independent today, says this should provide a lesson for British journalists in the way we report foreign news:

“A Twitter rumour alleging adultery on the part of a home-grown politician would not be taken up so eagerly by British newspapers. France is treated differently because it is across the Channel, and can be partly imagined. Carla and the President also both look as though they might have affairs, but that does not mean they have. We apply more stringent standards to rumours about our own politicians.”

Kate Adie: 24-hour culture creates ’showbizzy’ news programmes

Posted by Press Gazette on 15 March 2010 at 11:27
Tags: BBC, Broadcast, Television

Veteran BBC war correspondent Kate Adie has criticised the culture of 24-hour news channels by suggesting they reduced coverage of world events into “showbizzy” events, according to a report.

Speaking at the Emirates Airline Literature Festival in Dubai, Telegraph.co.uk reported that Adie launched an attack on “young and fluffy” looking newsreaders where looks counted for more than journalistic skill.

She said: “It is no good your reporters bringing back a two-minute distillation of the crucial events. Nowadays they have to graze across all those things and they have to stand and speculate a bit.” (more…)

GMG set to write-down Emap investment by at least £100m, report

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 15 March 2010 at 11:07
Tags: Journalism, Media Business, Newspapers, Regional Newspapers

Guardian Media Group is set to write down the value of its investment in Emap to the tune of between £100m and £200m, the Sunday Times reports.

GMG invested in Emap along with private equity company Apax in 2007 - buying the business to business publishing arm of the magazines giant for £1bn. GMG put up £300m of the purchase price.

GMG told the Sunday Times: “Any impairment of our investment would be an accounting technicality, a paper loss with no impact on the company’s cash position.”

It follows a similar move by Apax in June 2009, when it wrote-down the value of its stake in Emap by 50 per cent, writing-off of the £300m cash part of its investment. The remaining third of the business was paid for through borrowing by Emap.

It all means that if GMG and Apax were to sell Emap now, they would only recover a fraction of the money they spent. All that could change if the economy bounces back, and Emap’s profit margins have proved to be pretty robust so far.

Peter Kirwan did a detailed blog post on this in June when, incidentally, he predicted that GMG would probably have to write down the value of its Emap holding.

Fake news report of Russian invasion panics Georgia

Posted by Press Gazette on 15 March 2010 at 08:49
Tags: Broadcast, Television

Georgia was thrown into panic on Saturday night when a local television news programme broadcast a hoax claiming that the Russian Army had invaded and killed President Mikhail Saakashvili.

The false report by broadcaster Imedi Media, Georgia’s privately-owned third channel, brought immediate fears that the brief and bloody 2008 war between Russia and Georgia had restarted. (more…)

11 new journalism jobs found today

Posted by Press Gazette on 12 March 2010 at 11:41
Tags: Journalism Jobs

Press Gazette has found 11 new jobs for journalists today. To view the daily archive of our journalism jobs search click on Journalism Jobs.

The Sunday Times is looking for a second assistant chief sub-editor. You have two years of experience in a senior sub-editing position on a national newspaper or a regional daily. You will be responsible for producing key sections of the News, News Review and In Gear.

Job location: London (more…)

What words and phrases would you like to ban?

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 12 March 2010 at 09:09
Tags: Journalism

The CEO of Tribune Co in the US Randy Michaels is a man after my own heart, he has issued a list of 119 words and phrases which must never be uttered by reporters on his talk radio station (hat-tip Stephen Brook).

These include: “lending a helping hand”, “mother of all anything” and “lucky to be alive”.

I’m with him, and George Orwell, on this one who - as every journalism student will know - said in his first rule on writing (in the essay Politics and the English Language):

“Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.”

Words currently banned from Press Gazette include “staggering” to decribe sums of money, job losses etc. and “extraordinary”, which is being rested until further notice.

Further nominations are welcome.

Eady on privacy: ‘I understand one or two people disagreed with the result of the Mosley trial’

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 11 March 2010 at 12:45
Tags: Journalism, Law, National Newspapers

Leading judge Mr Justice Eady set out his views about the developing law of privacy in detail at a speech to mark the opening of a new Centre for Law, Justice and Journalism at City University last night.

His lengthy and detailed speech was in a nutshell hitting back at the suggestion that the UK privacy law has been made by judges (more specifically him) - insisting that all he, and other judges, have done is interpret the European Convention on Human Rights as incorporated into UK law by the Human Rights Act.

He also said that it was futile to draw generalisations from individual cases because privacy is such a difficult thing to pin down that each case must be judged on its own merits. (more…)

Daily Mail correction over Facebook paedophiles mix-up

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 11 March 2010 at 12:30
Tags: Law, New Media, Online

The Daily Mail today published a correction on page four after wrongly stating in a feature that a user of Facebook posing as a 14-year-old girl was quickly targeted by sexually motivated messages.

The Mail says: “In fact he had used a different social networking site.”

More in detail on this from technology experts Charles Arthur at The Guardian and Rory Cellan Jones at the BBC.

12 new journalism jobs found today

Posted by Press Gazette on 11 March 2010 at 11:42
Tags: Journalism Jobs

Press Gazette has found 12 new jobs for journalists today. To view the daily archive of our journalism jobs search click on Journalism Jobs.

New Scientist is looking for a technology editor (£34-36K). You have a degree in science or technology. You will run the technology news section in the magazine.

Job location: United Kingdom (more…)

Martin Amis condemns ‘humourless’ and ‘literalist’ English journalists

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 11 March 2010 at 09:15
Tags: Journalism, National Newspapers, Newspapers

Author Martin Amis has condemned “humourless” and “literalist” English journalists over the reporting of comments he made about euthanasia and the elderly earlier this year.

The author was interviewed by the Sunday Times in January this year as he promoted his new book The Pregnant Widow and he said of the UK’s ageing population: “How is society going to support this silver tsunami?

“There’ll be a population of demented very old people, like an invasion of terrible immigrants, stinking out the restaurants and cafes and shops. I can imagine a sort of civil war between the old and the young in 10 or 15 years’ time.

And reporting that he supported “ethanasia booths” Amis was quoted as saying: “There should be a booth on every corner where you could get a martini and a medal.”

Gulf News today reports Amis telling an audience in Dubai that “everything I say gets twisted and distorted”.

He said that his quote about euthanasia was “immediately taken up by literalists and humourless everywhere”, adding that “when Sir Terry Pratchett made the same remarks, it was not taken up at all”.

According to Gulf News Amis said that he had “no problem” with the Scottish, Irish or Welsh, press but with English “metropolitan journalists”.

He said: “There’s nothing controversial in what I say.”

Facebook photo lift costs Wales on Sunday £260

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 11 March 2010 at 08:56
Tags: Law, National Newspapers, Newspapers, Photography, Regional Newspapers

10 new journalism jobs found today

Posted by Press Gazette on 9 March 2010 at 12:32
Tags: Journalism Jobs

Press Gazette has found 10 new jobs for journalists today. To view the daily archive of our journalism jobs search click on Journalism Jobs.

There is an opportunity for a market reporter (£26-28K). You will have a background in business/financial reporting with market reporting experience within commodities. European language skills would be beneficial.

Job location: London (more…)

Press shows caution on covert recording of England football squad

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 9 March 2010 at 11:22
Tags: Law, National Newspapers

Newspapers appear to have heeded a warning not to publish the transcript of a secret recording made of members of the England football team as they prepared for last week’s international against Egypt.

According to The Times the recording was made by a member of the public and includes private discussions between the England football manager and his squad.

FA solicitors Charles Russell warned editors yesterday in a letter that publication of the recording would breach the Data Protection Act and the Editors’ Code, the Times reports.

It would also be a blatant breach of privacy, unless there it could be shown there was a major public interest defence. This would have to involve the exposure of serious wrongdoing.

According to the Daily Mail the recording is six hours long and includes players joking about sex scandals.

Apparently the recording was made at the team hotel, the upmarket Grove spa hotel in Hertfordshire.

The caution which is apparently being shown with regard to this recording is an example of the seriousness with which UK national newspapers currently take privacy matters.