Brian Barron: ‘Tenacious, ruthless…the ultimate professional’

Posted by Helen Potter on 17 September 2009 at 12:38
Tags: BBC, Broadcast, International, Journalism, People, Television

Jon Snow, the Channel 4 News presenter, said that BBC news correspondent Brian Barron, who died yesterday, was “the most tenacious, even ruthless, correspondent I have ever worked against” and the “ultimate, objective professional”.

“In learning of his death today from cancer, I feel one of my co-ordinates has gone. Barron’s excellent reporting was a yardstick to which one aspired,” Snow wrote on his blog. (more…)

C4 chairman: ‘BBC doesn’t want what we want’

Posted by Helen Potter on 17 September 2009 at 12:29
Tags: BBC, Broadcast, Media Business, People, Television

Luke Johnson, Channel 4 chairman, has talked down proposals for a tie-up between the channel and BBC Worldwide, the Telegraph reports.

He said the broadcaster must push for “contestable funding” as the group confirmed Andy Duncan, chief executive was stepping down. (more…)

FHM slashes cover price by £1.40 for November

Posted by Helen Potter on 10 September 2009 at 14:10
Tags: Consumer Magazines, Magazines

Bauer Media’s FHM magazine is dropping its cover price in an effort to claw back some of the ground lost to Mens Health, which overtook it last month to become the best selling men’s consumer paid for title.

The November issue of the magazine will be reduced to £2.50 - £1.40 under its normal price of £3.90, according to Media Week.

Bauer’s move will result in hundreds of thousands of pounds lost in cover price revenue but, the report says, it is all part of editor Colin Kennedy strategy for the re-birth of the magazine.

The redesign is looking to drop its traditional lager-lad image to attract a more sober, health conscious audience.

According to the latest ABC figures, FHM lost its 13 year reign as the top selling men’s magazine, losing out to Men’s Health. Circulation fell 16.2% year on year to 235,027 between January and July this year.

City Uni provides free researchers for science journalists

Posted by Helen Potter on 10 September 2009 at 08:24
Tags: Journalism, National Newspapers, Newspapers, People, Student Journalism, press freedom

A new initiative from City University, London, will supply free investigative researchers from its Science Journalism Masters Course to working journalists.

The intention of the scheme is to provide research support for in-depth scientific investigative journalism as part of a joint partnership between the Journalism Department at City University and ABSW (the Association of British Science Writers). (more…)

Multimedia: Reuters project charts the recession

Posted by Helen Potter on 10 September 2009 at 08:23
Tags: Agencies, International, Journalism, New Media, Online, Photography

Reuters has launched an interactive multimedia project, Times of Crisis, charting the global impact of the current financial climate.
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London Press Club Ball embraces ‘austerity’ theme

Posted by Helen Potter on 7 September 2009 at 16:41
Tags: Advertising, Broadcast, Journalism, National Newspapers, Newspapers, People, Radio, Television

Austerity is the theme of this year’s London Press Club Ball.

BBC Breakfast presenter Kate Silverton will host the event and Bargain Hunt’s James Braxton will conduct the auction where a special edition Mini Cooper Mayfair car will be the top prize.

Organisers of the ball have acknowledged the economic climate by cutting ticket prices with the aim of maximising funds for the Journalists’ Charity. (more…)

Guardian unveils new environmental website

Posted by Helen Potter on 7 September 2009 at 16:13
Tags: Journalism, New Media, Newspapers, Online

The Guardian launched a new environmental website today with six dedicated correspondents.

To mark the launch of the site, foreign secretary David Miliband will take visitor’s questions in a live online question and answer at lunchtime tomorrow.

Ian Katz, deputy editor of the Guardian, said that the site showcases “a host of new content, from video and data tools to authoritative Q&As on a wide range of green issues”.

He said: “The site will also ensure that its users are able to participate fully, from the debate over global warming to household tips on green living.”

Editor of the website James Randerson said: “The Guardian has built this unrivalled team in the belief that environmental issues, and in particular global warming, is the defining issue of our age, combining politics, economics and social justice. The new site, like the 10:10 campaign, which launched last week, will enable everyone to understand and influence the debates.”

Lagerfeld takes over Wallpaper

Posted by Helen Potter on 7 September 2009 at 16:09
Tags: Consumer Magazines, People

The international design, fashion and lifestyle magazine, Wallpaper has signed up fashion designers Karl Lagerfeld and Philippe Starck as guest editors for its October issue.

They have both created unique covers for they issues. Lagerfeld’s ‘peelable’ front cover will feature male model Baptiste Giabiconi dressed in Dior Homme while Starck will make a triple-layered front cover made from tracing paper. Each layer will have an image representing a different state of evolution.

Lagerfeld’s personal 27-page edition will include Ancient Rome and the Palace of Versailles as well as his collection of houses.

Starck, however, focuses on product and interior design.

Editor in chief Tony Chambers said: “Like their illustrious predecessors. Lagerfeld and Starck have made full use of their prime piece of Wallpaper real estate. Both have stepped out of their creative comfort zones to challenge our preconceptions as well as their own. It is a fascinating, contrasting portrayal of 21st century genius and they have both delivered outstanding projects that are memorable and collectible. Their covers have pushed the boundaries of magazine design and production: the art of ink-on-paper manifest.”

The magazine will be on sale from 10 September.

Lagerfield:

Starck:

AP image of a dying US marine causes outcry

Posted by Helen Potter on 7 September 2009 at 14:17
Tags: Agencies, Freedom of Information, Journalism, Newspapers, Photography, press freedom

International news agency, the Associated Press, has been criticised for publishing a picture of a dying US marine.

The picture, which depicts Lance Cpl Joshua Bernard being tended to by fellow soliders in Southern Afghanistan moments before the 21-year-old’s death, prompted outcry in the US. (more…)

How’s this for a bad review? Home of columnist shot at after she disses locals

Posted by Helen Potter on 7 September 2009 at 14:06
Tags: Journalism, National Newspapers, Newspapers, People

The home of a newspaper columnist has been shot at after her local community took exception to being depicted as morons in her latest book.

A blast from a shotgun damaged the letterbox of Liz Jones, former editor of Marie Claire and regular columnist for the Mail on Sunday.

The incident followed publication of Jones’ book, the Exmoor Files, in which she mocks her local community.

The book documents her life in Islington with her younger husband, her divorce and her eventual move to Exmoor.

She wrote of her new home: “If men have teeth in the West Contry it’s a bonus” and that shopworkers: “have learning difficulties and have never heard of Illy coffee”.

Jones has said that her comment about toothless farmers was just a joke but the attack has left her so distressed, she is thinking about moving.

Public backs under-fire BBC, says poll

Posted by Helen Potter on 7 September 2009 at 09:40
Tags: BBC, Broadcast, Journalism, Media Business, National Newspapers, Newspapers

An ICM poll sponsored by the Guardian has found that viewers and listeners still broadly back the BBC despite recent attack by James Murdoch, European chief executive of News International.

Murdoch criticised the BBC for being anti competitive and called it to be made “far, far smaller”.

However, the poll found that 77 per cent think the BBC is an institution people should be proud of despite it coming under fire in recent years after the Hutton inquiry and the scandal involving fake phone-in competitions.

Criticism has also come from politicians, sections of the national press and some rival companies over levels of executive and talent pay as well as the future of the licence fee.

A minority of respondents support the licence fee, 43 per cent. Some 24 per cent say advertising should pay for the BBC and 30 per cent believe there should be an optional subscription for BBC services.