Metro to launch quarterly travel supplement in London

Posted by Press Gazette on 18 March 2010 at 14:44
Tags: Advertising, Newspapers

Associated Newspapers freesheet Metro is to launch a quarterly travel supplement for London commuters.

From next week, the glossy Metro Journeys will be available with editions of the morning paper distributed in the capital’s mainline stations, tube stations across zones one-to-three and some stations in zone four.

Metro, which distributed an average of 735,492 newspapers each day in the capital last month, said 250,000 copies of the supplement will be distributed over five days.

The supplement, which has been produced and guest-edited by Sarah Baxter of Wanderlust Magazine, will feature two focus destinations, a pull-out-and-keep European summer travel calendar, a UK destination spread and a celebrity travel interview.

First female chairman for Scottish PPA

Posted by Press Gazette on 18 March 2010 at 12:43
Tags: Magazines, People

Magazine trade body PPA Scotland has appointed Helenor Gilmour, DC Thomson’s head of consumer insight and brand development, as its first female chairman.

Gilmour will replace Fraser Allen, of White Light Media, while Hamish Miller, publisher at Holyrood Communications, will replace Steve Craven, of Craven Publishing, as vice-chairman.

The appointments follow former Emap executive Barry McIlheney joining the PPA as its new chief executive in January.

Richard Ayre to join BBC Trust

Posted by Press Gazette on 18 March 2010 at 12:16
Tags: Broadcast, People

The former deputy chief executive of BBC News, Richard Ayre, is to join the BBC Trust.

Ayre, who is currently the Ofcom Content Board member for England and chairman of Ofcom’s Broadcasting Review Committee, will replace former ITN editor-in-chief Richard Tait.

Tait will step down on 31 July with Ayre taking up his appointment on 1 August.

Jobs to go at Stratford Herald

Posted by Press Gazette on 18 March 2010 at 09:47
Tags: Newspapers, Photography

Family-owned Midlands newspaper, the Stratford Herald, is to drop three of its ten journalists, according to reports.

Editor Chris Towner told Holdthefrontpage: “Like everybody else we’re having a rough time and it doesn’t look like it’s getting any better. We thought we could weather the storm as we have done in previous recessions but this one has proved deeper, darker and more protracted.”

According to the report, the cuts are unlikely to affect its reporting team, with the posts under threat expected to be news editor, sub-editor and one of the paper’s two photographers.

Scottish plan to allow councils to cease press ads abandoned

Posted by Press Gazette on 18 March 2010 at 08:59
Tags: Advertising, Newspapers, Regional Newspapers

Public notices will continue to be published in local and regional newspapers in Scotland after ministers dropped plans to shift advertising to the internet.

Scottish finance secretary, John Swinney, said yesterday that opposition to the plan aimed at saving councils around £4m each year by removing their obligation to place notices in the press had proved too great.

The move was welcomed by the Scottish Newspaper Society, which highlighted how the decision reflected a recent vote against the proposal taken during a debate in the Scottish Parliament. (more…)

OFT clears Lebedev takeover of Independent

Posted by Press Gazette on 17 March 2010 at 16:14
Tags: Media Business, National Newspapers, Newspapers

The Office of Fair Trading has cleared the likely takeover of the Independent and Independent on Sunday by the Russian billionaire, and owner of the London Evening Standard, Alexander Lebedev.

The OFT issued a mergers update this afternoon:

“The OFT has decided, on the information currently available to it, that a relevant merger situation, under the provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002, has not been created in the following merger(s):

“Anticipated acquisition by Lebedev Holdings Limited of The Independent and The Independent on Sunday.”

The move follows owner Independent News & Media filing a submission over the proposed deal last month. (more…)

Johnston Press starts rollout of new websites

Posted by Press Gazette on 17 March 2010 at 11:07
Tags: New Media, Newspapers, Online, Regional Newspapers

Johnston Press has begun rolling out new versions of its websites – and not before time.

HTFP reports that The Grantham Journal and Peterborough’s Evening Telegraph are “both sporting the revamped online offerings and inviting readers to have their say on the new websites.”

Johnston Press has long been playing catch-up with some, frankly, poor digital versions of its newspapers. The revamp of its websites was long-overdue and the company had recognised it as such. (more…)

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.

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…)

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…)

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…)

Tindle to launch four new papers in London

Posted by Press Gazette on 5 March 2010 at 10:00
Tags: Newspapers, Regional Newspapers

Tindle Newspapers will add to its portfolio of more than 230 local newspapers later today when it unveils four new weekly London newspapers. (HERE IS THE UPDATED VERSION)

The publisher was reluctant to reveal too many details ahead of a briefing at its North London Newspapers offices in Enfield this morning – however it did reveal a few morsels.

Each of the papers will be “hyper-local” and focus on a small section of North London already served by larger “area” papers in the Tindle stable.

The publisher is billing the launch as a unique project aimed at using spare printing capacity to produce new distinct papers to bring in extra revenue to help guide its local business out of the red.

That’s all we know so far…more when we get it. Here’s more…

Carmarthen Journal celebrates 200th birthday

Posted by Press Gazette on 4 March 2010 at 10:43
Tags: Newspapers, Regional Newspapers

The weekly Carmarthen Journal, which was launched during the Napoleonic Wars, yesterday celebrated it 200th birthday.

Cathryn Ings, Journal editor, told Holdthefrontpage: “Times have changed and we face different challenges now than our people faced 200 years ago.

“But one thing hasn’t changed; the Journal is still bringing its readers, all the latest news on the things which matter most to them.”

The paper celebrated with the publication of a commemorative 40-page supplement looking back at some of the momentous events the paper has covered.

Lord Davies: Digital Economy Bill does not not grant Ofcom any powers to regulate newspaper websites

Posted by Press Gazette on 3 March 2010 at 12:41
Tags: National Newspapers, New Media, Newspapers, Online, Regional Newspapers, press freedom

The report stage of the Digital Economy Bill in the Lords threw up a little nugget on Monday night that might go some way to allaying concerns in the press that Ofcom might end up regulating some audio/video content on newspaper websites.

Lord Davies of Oldham, the minister in charge, said the Bill did “not grant Ofcom any powers to regulate newspaper websites, including audiovisual content” after PCC chairman Baroness Peta Buscombe raised concerns about possible Ofcom regulation of newspaper websites.

It’s an issue the PCC has been keen to stress as its own voluntary code covers these titles and statutory regulation is unwelcome in any corner of the press.

(It’s the debate around Amendment 9 if you’re looking for it amongst the reams of material on Hansard – worth a quick read as it also covers the trickier problem of mixed public service and newspaper audio/visual material)

Camden New Journal’s protest march draws ‘thousands’

Posted by Press Gazette on 3 March 2010 at 10:17
Tags: Newspapers, Regional Newspapers

If you ever needed a example of the importance of good local newspaper campaigning, then here it is:

A campaign by the Camden New Journal and Islington Tribune to save the Accident and Emergency department at their local Whittington Hospital culminated in a protest march on Saturday. (more…)

Telegraph.co.uk to stream live coverage of the World Indoor Athletics Championships

Posted by Press Gazette on 3 March 2010 at 09:25
Tags: Media Business, Mobile, National Newspapers, New Media, Newspapers, Online

The fever with which eight national newspapers dived in to stream England’s World Cup football qualifier in Ukraine following the collapse of the broadcaster Setanta last year has yet to be replicated on such a scale. (Let’s not dwell here on the technical troubles that blighted much of that match).

Despite this national newspaper websites are growing increasingly accustomed to showing sports packages on their websites.

The Guardian is just one which shows highlights of Premiership rugby and other sports.

Telegraph Media Group has now proved that it is hungry to add regular live action to the sporting reflection that has been more traditional newspaper fare through live streaming sports which don’t have such a big impact when broadcast on TV. (more…)

Lebedev will pay £1 for the Independent, claims report

Posted by Press Gazette on 1 March 2010 at 11:32
Tags: Media Business, National Newspapers, Newspapers, People

Alexander Lebedev will pay a token £1 later this week to take control of the Independent, according to a report in the Sunday Times.

The price is the same as a newsstand copy of the Independent – and also the same price he paid for the London Evening Standard last year. (more…)

British Journal of Photography relaunches as monthly

Posted by Press Gazette on 1 March 2010 at 11:03
Tags: Consumer Magazines, Magazines, Photography

After 146 years as a weekly the British Journal of Photography, one of the world’s oldest photography titles, is switching back to a monthly format.

The BJP originally launched as a monthly in 1854 but switched to weekly publication ten years later. (more…)

Photographer dies after covering football match

Posted by Press Gazette on 1 March 2010 at 08:52
Tags: Newspapers, People, Photography, Regional Newspapers

Rochdale Observer photographer Steve Bostock died suddenly after covering a football match last week.

Bostock suffered a suspected heart attack outside Spotland Stadium just minutes after the end of last week’s Rochdale and Bradford City match.

Colleagues paid tribute to Bostock, who was married with two children and four step-children.

Observer sports editor Richard Partington told his paper that Bostock’s photography reflected his great enthusiasm for his work. (more…)