Leak leaves NUJ speechless

Posted by Jon Slattery on 15 July 2009 at 12:04
Tags: National Union of Journalists

The NUJ was left speechless today after an overnight leak flooded part of its London headquarters.

Electricity was turned off while the building in King’s Cross dried out - meaning all the union’s phones and emails were put out of action.

A training session being held at the headquarters was switched to another venue. An NUJ spokesman said: “All our communications had to be switched off because of a leak which caused the flood overnight. We hope to be up and running again as soon as possible.”

Reporters Without Borders ’shock’ over kidnapped French security advisers posing as journalists in Somalia

Posted by Jon Slattery on 15 July 2009 at 11:29
Tags: Journalism

Press freedom campaign group Reporters Without Borders says it is shocked that two French government security advisers who were abducted in Mogadishu by gunmen had been posing as journalists.

“Being a journalist is not a cover, it is a profession,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We hope these two advisers are freed quickly but we are shocked that they were passing themselves off as journalists. They were on an official mission and had no need of cover. Their behaviour endangers journalists in a region where media personnel are already in danger.”

The two advisers, who had only recently arrived in Mogadishu, had been sent by the French government’s General Directorate for External Security (DGSE) to provide security advice to the transitional government.

Somalia, regarded as Africa’s deadliest country for the news media, was ranked 153rd out of 173 countries in the 2008 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index. Kidnappings of journalists and humanitarian aid workers are now common in Somalia.

Five journalists have been killed in Somalia since the start of the year.

BBC Magazines boosted by Top Gear topping 200,000

Posted by Jon Slattery on 15 July 2009 at 11:15
Tags: Consumer Magazines, Magazines

BBC Magazines sold around 90m copies of its titles in the past year as total annual revenues for BBC Worldwide operations broke the £1billion barrier for the first time, according to its annual review published today.

Results for BBC Magazines, Children’s & Licensing were: sales £210.2m – up 3% from £203.4m; profit £13.2m – up 71% from £7.7m

Among the highlights were:

Top Gear broke through the 200,000 circulation barrier (ABC Jan-Jun 2008) and is the most-read men’s magazine in the UK (National Readership Survey July 2008). Radio Times’ circulation remains over the one million mark.

Launches of new titles increased BBC Magazines’ sales to £182.2m, a modest improvement on £177.9m in 2007/08.

Losses were partly reflected by the cost of  the investment programme, including the relaunch of topgear.com and the launch of Lonely Planet magazine.

Magazines also wrote down the balance sheet value of our joint venture in India to reflect the weakness of the market there. Match of the Day, the weekly magazine aimed at 8-14 year olds, was launched in March 2008.

Northeast Press to consolidate subbing in Sunderland

Posted by Jon Slattery on 15 July 2009 at 10:10
Tags: Newspapers, Regional Newspapers

Northeast Press, publisher of the Sunderland Echo, has told staff that subbing for all its titles will be consolidated into Sunderland from offices in Hartlepool, South Shields, Alnwick, Morpeth and Whitley Bay. Consultation is to take place over the possible loss of five editorial jobs.

Around 30 jobs to go as Northcliffe goes ahead with subbing hubs in Bristol and Swansea

Posted by Jon Slattery on 15 July 2009 at 09:43
Tags: Newspapers

Enders: Local newspapers hurt by doing digital too well

Posted by Jon Slattery on 13 March 2009 at 16:46
Tags: Journalism

Many local publishers are accelerating their decline by ‘doing too much too well’ in terms of digital news provision at the expense of the quality of their newspapers, media analyst Enders has claimed.

Enders made the comment in its response to the Johnston Press results for 2008 which it says “all too eloquently” illustrated accelerating local media advertising decline, with property advertising down 10% in Q1 and 55% in Q4.

It added: “Write-downs have forced Johnston to record losses of £429 million in the year and there is a very real threat that the publisher will breach its borrowing covenants in June 2009, or by the end of the year.”

IFJ calls for release of shoe-throwing Iraqi journalist

Posted by Jon Slattery on 13 March 2009 at 10:13
Tags: Journalism

A protest over the three-year jail sentence handed down to television journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi for throwing his shoes at US President George W. Bush during a Baghdad press conference has been made by The International Federation of Journalists.

Al-Zaidi was yesterday found guilty of assaulting a foreign leader.

“This sentence is hugely out of proportion,” said Aidan White, IFJ general secretary.

“The journalist made a serious mistake, but it was something that should have been properly dealt with internally and not brought before the courts at all.

“The Iraqi response is regrettable and we urge that there is clemency and his sentence is reduced on appeal.

“He has already been in custody too long over a matter which is more of embarrassment than of seriously violent behaviour.”

Zeidi, 30, a correspondent for the Iraqi-owned al-Baghdadiya TV television station based in Cairo, Egypt, has become a cult figure.

The IFJ has called for his release, saying his action was a desperate act to protest over injustice suffered by Iraqi citizens, including journalists, since the US-led invasion and subsequent occupation by the coalition forces. The Federation said it hopes Zeidi will be freed as soon as possible.

There is speculation that the journalist will not have to serve the full sentence. His lawyer is to appeal and some experts think Zaidi wiull be pardoned by the Iraqi government part way through his sentence.

The Independent said in a leader today: “If public opinion had anything to do with it, Muntadar al-Zaidi would not be commencing a three-year sentence in an Iraqi prison, but being borne aloft through the streets of Baghdad.

“For if there was one act that defined the contempt felt by many for the Bush presidency, it was the hurling of those shoes in his direction, described by Mr Zaidi as ‘a farewell kiss’ from Iraqis who had been killed, orphaned or widowed since the invasion.”

NUJ to discuss new models for news at one-day event

Posted by Jon Slattery on 13 March 2009 at 09:51
Tags: Journalism

The National Union of Journalists is to hold a one-day commission later this month to look at alternative business models for the local media.

Media Guardian commentator Roy Greenslade and former FT journalist and Reuters Institute journalism director John Lloyd are among a panel of media experts lined up by the NUJ for the event.

NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear said the panel of experts, meeting on 30 March, will look at new ways of funding local news.

These could include endowments for journalists, start-up grants, partnerships with public service broadcasters, trusts, local consortia and state aid.

The continuing crisis in the regional newspaper industry has seen hundreds of jobs axed in the past fortnight.

12k to read a blog? Mobile site goes subscription only

Posted by Jon Slattery on 13 March 2009 at 09:41
Tags: Journalism

A formerly free blog is being transformed into a product charging a premium £12,000 a year subscription.

Mobile Industry Review, a blog covering the mobile communications industry, is turning subscription only from 27 March.

One company has bought MIR and its entire output exclusively but it is offering corporate subscriptions at £12,000 a year.

MIR has told visitors to its site: “Our new client is unwilling to subsidise our existing audience of readers (300-400k last month) so the content that we’ll be creating - reports, video interviews and day-to-day industry news and analysis - will become proprietary from 27th of March. After this date, the public version of MIR will no longer be updated.”

Comments on the blog from existing users range from “that price to read a blog? Wow. The economy in the UK must be more messed up than I realised” to “Firstly - congratulations. It’s great that you’ve built such a compelling product that you’ve been bought. However, this truly is astonishing. Is this the first time a blog has transformed so significantly?”

Local newspaper chiefs form new alliance

Posted by Jon Slattery on 4 March 2009 at 10:47
Tags: Journalism

A new alliance of regional newspaper group chief executives has been formed to negotiate with the government on behalf of the sector which is facing unprecedented job losses and closures, the Financial Times reports today.

The new group, called the Local Media Alliance, is made up of the seven chief executives of Trinity Mirror, Johnston Press, Newsquest, Northcliffe Media, Guardian Media Group, Archant and DC Thomson. They will be joined by the Newspaper Society, which represents regional newspaper publishers.

Roger Parry, who retires as chairman of Johnston Press later this month, has been appointed chairman of the LMA group.

He tells the FT: “This is not a lobbying organisation but a way for the regional press to act quickly and efficiently to provide information and responses to government in a fast-moving situation.”

Irish Daily Mirror pays out over schoolboy drug claim

Posted by Jon Slattery on 18 February 2009 at 11:21
Tags: Journalism, National Newspapers

The Irish High Court has approved a €50,000 settlement for a 10-year-old schoolboy who claimed he was defamed in a Daily Mirror article in March 2007 which had alleged he had brought cocaine into school when the substance in question was baby powder.

Kalvin Dunne, through his mother Gillian Dunne, sued Mirror Group Newspapers over the article, the Irish Times reports today.

The boy’s mother said the story was untrue and police had established that the substance Kalvin had brought to school was in fact baby powder.

Counsel said it was accepted Kalvin did bring a bag of white powder into school in a recreation of something he may have seen on TV or in a film.

Alan Skehan memorial mass and tournament

Posted by Jon Slattery on 17 February 2009 at 15:45
Tags: Journalism

A fifth anniversary memorial mass is to be held for former Press Gazette sub-editor Alan Skehan on 4 April at 10.30 am at St Mary’s University College Chapel, Twickenham.

It will be followed in the afternoon by a college football tournament in Alan’s honour at the Lensbury Club, Twickenham, and finally retiring to university bar.

Teams will include friends, colleagues and family and a representative side from his old Sunday morning club Olinda Sportsbeat FC.

For more information contact: Sean Bennett 07840 651360

sbennettallovertheplace@hotmail.com

John Suchet speaks out about wife dementia for first time

Posted by Jon Slattery on 17 February 2009 at 10:07
Tags: Broadcast, Radio

Former ITV News presenter John Suchet has spoken for the first time about his wife Bonnie’s dementia.

In a moving interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, Suchet told how the disease was slowly robbing him of his wife of more than 20 years.

Bonnie Suchet, 67, was diagnosed with dementia three years ago, after sporadic instances of forgetfulness and confusion. (more…)