Posted by Martin Stabe on 28 August 2008 at 09:40
Tags: Journalism
The idea of a website that is not merely a destination, but a “platform” or a set of tools on which users can build additional services, is nothing new — it’s a key feature of many of the thinking underlying many of the current “2.0″ startups, and has been a fundamental part of the success [...]
Continue ReadingPosted by Martin Stabe on 27 August 2008 at 13:03
Tags: Agencies, BBC, Journalism, Online
The Press Association’s events listings database is to be made available for non-commercial use by web developers and will be released through the BBC’s web developer network.
PA is releasing an API (application programming interface) of its events listings through the BBC Backstage programme, a developer network that provides access to BBC and some third-party content to a community of web developers.
The plan was first revealed by BBC Backstage producer Ian Forrester at the Mashed08 conference in June, and is set to go live this week.
Forrester said publishing APIs through BBC Backstage gives third-party data providers like PA access to the projects’s existing community of developers, which he has been actively fostering for several years.
“They saw the Backstage as being not just about releasing APIs but also the engagement with the community,” Forrester told Press Gazette.
“That’s why they - rather than set up their own Backstage-ish project - wanted to work with us.”
The news agency hopes that users of the data will provide new ideas about how to use it and how listings are stored.
The PA database contains listings of events in cinema, art, theatre, literature and includes includes web links, venue details, times and prices. It is the same data that PA also supplies to newspapers, magazines and websites.
PA head of digital development Chris McCormack said the launch of a public, non-commercial version of its listings came about after the service was developed for use by some of its commerical clients. PA has long delivered its material to media clients using XML feeds, but these require the clients to recreate PA’s database on their own servers. By providing APIs, the agency can instead give customers structured access to its existing content databases.
The version available to developers through BBC Backstage will be strictly for non-commercial use by the BBC Backstage developer community, McCormack said.
“We have to safeguard our existing customers, so we won’t be allowing anyone to do anything commercial with them,” he said.
McCormack said PA has no immediate plans for launching further public APIs.
“We’re going to wait and see how this goes first,” he said. “There’s no strategy or plan to release our news or TV listings or anything after this.”
Continue ReadingPosted by
Martin Stabe
on 13 August 2008 at 13:51
Tags: Broadcast
A video has been posted on YouTube showing ITV journalist John Ray following his arrest while covering a demonstration in China.
“I was physically manhandled to the ground, then then dragged out. Then three or four more police came, wrestled me into the restaurant here and they’ve taken my shoes off me and my equipment bag,” he says, leaning out of the window of a police van.
Ray repeatedly tells Chinese police officers “I’m a journalist” and asks why is being arrested.
As the van pulls away, he adds: “I’ve tried to explain that I’m a journalist. This is what it’s like. This is reporting freedom.”
Posted by
Martin Stabe
on 5 August 2008 at 09:56
Tags: Magazines, Online
The Disney Interactive Media Group has acquired parenting website Raisingkids.co.uk, just three weeks after launching its own parenting site, UKfamily.co.uk.
Raisingkids.co.uk, which was founded in 2001, has 142,000 unique visitors per month, generating 1.3 million page impressions. Its database include more than 100,000 registered users. The site site includes an archive of thousands of age-specific articles and an active community section featuring 17 discussion boards.
Raisingkids.co.uk will be become part of Disney Online, a unit of Disney Interactive Media Group. Disney plans “a subtle integration” with UKfamily.co.uk, the site it launched on 17 July, with an eight-member team led by general manager Dani Zur. The two sites are, however to remain distinct.
RaisingKids.co.uk’s founder, child psychologist Pat Spungin, will stay on board, as will editor Catherine Hanly and web producer Michael Howard.
“I am very proud of what we have built, but to take Raisingkids.co.uk onto the next level requires resources that only a company like Disney can provide,” Spungin said.
Posted by
Martin Stabe
on 5 August 2008 at 09:44
Tags: Magazines, Online
Nuts.co.uk and NME.com more than doubled their online traffic in the year to June, new ABCe figures are expected to show.
The IPC lad’s mag site Nuts.co.uk increased its online readership by 121 per cent to 1.4 million unique users per month, up from 631,467 in June 2007, according to the publisher. The company credited the expansion of Nuts’ video offering and the social networking tool MyNuts.
Its sister title, music site NME.com, meanwhile, reported a 107 per cent year-on-year increase to 3.5 million unique users.
In addition to its print magazine, website, mobile site and television station, NME recently added a digital radio station to its brand.
“Via its various platforms – print, NME Radio, NME TV, mobile, online, events – NME reaches up to 1.5 million music enthusiasts every week,” NME publishing director Paul Cheal said in a press release.
A third IPC Ignite title, Loaded.co.uk, saw its traffic increase 51 per cent to 366,610 unique users.
The new online figures come ahead of the next semi-annual ABC magazine circulation report, which is due to be released as part of a cross-media Group Product Report next Thursday, 14 August.
Posted by
Martin Stabe
on 4 August 2008 at 10:40
Tags: Journalism, Photography
While Los Angeles is debating a local law to curb paparazzi, residents in the London borough of Islington are getting annoyed with celebrity snappers hounding one of their neighbours, Peaches Geldof.
“Swarms” of photographers regularly gather outside Geldof’s flat at Rufford Mews near Kings Cross, and a local councillor is encouraging the celeb to take a three week “break” to allow interest in her to die down, the Islington Tribune reported this week.
Councillor Paul Convery, who represents the local ward, has left a note in Geldof’s letter box making the suggestion. He says local residents accuse the paparazzi of illegal parking, littering, and “holding impromptu barbecues” on the pavement outside Geldof’s flat in what the paper called “the siege of Rufford Street”.
Posted by
Martin Stabe
on 4 August 2008 at 08:00
Tags: Mobile, National Newspapers, New Media
Telegraph Media Group has launched new services for mobile phones.
The service, built using TMG’s new digital publishing and content management system, Escenic, will allow readers to access the Telegraph’s news, sport and travel sections on all major mobile phones.
The group says the move is part of a wider strategy to “offer consumers news when and how they want it”.
The announcement comes just after last month’s redesign of the Telegraph.co.uk website.
Last week, Trinity Mirror announced plans to launch a network of 14 mobile sites across its national and regional newspaper titles.
Posted by
Martin Stabe
on 29 July 2008 at 09:33
Tags: National Newspapers, New Media
Pageviews on Times Online’s stable of blogs have increased 400 per cent in the past year.
Internal data provided by Times Online communities editor Tom Whitwell shows Times Online’s blogs to generate more than 2.5 million pageviews in May, up from just over 500,000 a year ealier.
Three blogs accounted for over half the traffic — football blog The Game (with 562,835 pageviews), Money Central (552,941) and Daniel Finkelstein’s Comment Central (541,598).
The blogs section outperformed the site as a whole, but remains a small fraction of the Times’ overall traffic.
The data is part of the Times Online May ABCe figure, which shows that the site as a whole recorded 117,826,926 pageviews, up 84 per cent year-on-year. The figure for June was released last week.
Posted by
Martin Stabe
on 25 July 2008 at 10:37
Tags: Magazines, New Media
German tech publisher Heise has boosted its presence in the UK, hiring DJ Walker-Morgan as UK open source editor.
Walker-Morgan will contribute to Heise UK’s open source channel, which covers news and features for those who create and use open source software.
He has previously written for Personal Computer World and PC Pro.
He also worked as a software developer.
In addition to open source, Heise UK runs specialist channels on security and networks.
Posted by
Martin Stabe
on 11 July 2008 at 12:32
Tags: National Newspapers, New Media
Guardian News & Media has confirmed that it has acquired ContentNext, the US-based publisher of digital media business website PaidContent.
Guardian News & Media will incorporate the network of digital media websites into its B2B branch Guardian Professional, but will maintain it as a stand-alone business run by founder and editor Rafat Ali and chief executive Nathan Richardson.
Founded in 2002, ContentNext comprises the flagship paidContent.org, the mobile content website mocoNews.net, the UK- and Europe-focused paidContent:UK and contentSutra.com, which covers India’s digital market. It received funding from Greycroft Partners in 2006
In a press release, Guardian News & Media managing director Tim Brooks said: “We have long been admirers of Rafat and the business he has built, which is an indispensable resource for so many senior people in our industry.”
The story was first reported this morning on All Things D.
Posted by
Martin Stabe
on 9 July 2008 at 00:00
Tags: National Newspapers, New Media
FT.com has begun embedding videos directly into news articles on its website.
Until today’s launch of the “FT Mini Player” (seen in action here, here and here), users of the site had to navigate to a dedicated multimedia section of the site to view multimedia content.
FT.com appointed Richard Edgar as head of video late last year and now publishes more than 150 videos a month, and achieving more than 1 million video views a month.
Edgar hinted at the move in an interview with Press Gazette earlier this year.
“Being online allows you to have more than just a video ghetto – which is what video often is on a lot of sites,” he said.
“You can have a blend of text, graphics and video, as well the opportunity to create very powerful packages of information.”
The BBC News website began embedding video directly into its online news stories in March. Within two months, the BBC found that the new player had led to a 50 per cent increase in video users and views.
Posted by
Martin Stabe
on 2 July 2008 at 09:22
Tags: Magazines, Media Business
Informa is considering a £3.4 billion approach from a consortium of private equity firms, the Financial Times reports today.
The approach from Providence Equity Partners, Carlyle Group and Hellman & Friedman came just before a merger deal from CMPi parent United Business Media fell through.
The FT’s report today says Informa has confirmed the deal, first reported yesterday morning on the FT’s blog, Alphaville.
Posted by
Martin Stabe
on 30 June 2008 at 17:21
Tags: Broadcast, Online
Sky News is set to unveil its new website in the early hours of Tuesday morning, the rolling news channel said today.
The new site, which has been in public beta testing this week, promises to be a video-rich site with a host of new features, including community functionality from partners Pluck and news aggregation from Daylife.
Users will be able to personalise the stories they see using a feature called “Choose Your News”.
A “story tracker” feature will allow users to receive updates on a developing story on the site.
The site will also include a community features powered by Pluck, which will allow registered users of the site to write blog posts to the site.
New topic pages that aggregate stories from both Sky News and external websites using the news aggregator Daylife.
Media bloggers Simon Dickson and Andy Dickinson have already posted reviews of the beta site, as has e-Consultancy.
Posted by
Martin Stabe
on 30 June 2008 at 09:40
Tags: Broadcast, Freedom of Information, National Newspapers, New Media, Regional Newspapers
Journalists in Scotland could get the chance to file Freedom of Information Act requests to a wider range of bodies.
Scottish ministers are considering extending the scope of the Scottish version of the FOI Act, which applies to public bodies in Scotland, BBC News reports.
Housing associations, private finance projects and private prisons are among a number of new organsiations that could become subject to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act.
The UK-wide Freedom of Information Act 2000 can also be extended to further public bodies.
The Government held a consultation on extending the list of bodies subject requests filed under the Act earlier this year.
As part of that process, the Campaign For Freedom of Information called for voluntary organisations and private bodies that perform public functions, such as academy schools, housing associations, new deal communities partnerships and local strategic partnerships — to be added to the list of bodies subject to the Act.
Posted by
Martin Stabe
on 30 June 2008 at 09:20
Tags: National Newspapers, Online
The Irish Times has relaunched its website, offering free access at IrishTimes.com.
The move marks a shift in online strategy for the paper, which has since 2003 bucked the trend toward free online news with its subscription portal, Ireland.com.
According to the Irish Times’s own account, existing subscribers to Ireland.com will be offered a full refund for the remainder of their subscription period.
The move back to a newspaper-branded site comes as part of a newsroom integration programme. Editorial staff from the paper and the site moved into a common newsroom in January.
Posted by
Martin Stabe
on 26 June 2008 at 13:16
Tags: Freedom of Information, Journalism, National Newspapers, Online, Regional Newspapers
London mayor Boris Johnson’s plan to disclose maps of crimes committed in the capital is being held up by “an unthinking, fetishistic attitude towards privacy“, freedom of information campaigner Heather Brooke argues in the Times today.
“When I was a crime reporter in America, I was able to view all police incident reports, jail booking records and every warrant signed by the magistrate. I had some privileges as a reporter, but all this information was considered to belong to the public,” she notes.
In Britain, by contrast, she has found similar data is impossible to obtain, even under the Freedom of Information Act.
Brooke notes that crime maps that hold local police to account are a fixture of local newpapers’ websites in the United States, and that a number of independent sites, like Everyblock and Spotcrime, have emerged to provide more detailed views of local crime data.
In April, the Conservative Party has pledged to introduce crime mapping in the UK, and Johnson said during his campaign for Mayor that he would begin work toward introducing the policy to London on “day one” of his administration.
The plan now has Government support. But it has also plan has faced opposition from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, who fear its effect on house prices.
More crucially, the Information Commissioner’s office has advised police that the plan could breach the Data Protection Act and violate the privacy of crime victims.
Posted by
Martin Stabe
on 24 June 2008 at 16:34
Tags: National Newspapers, Online
The International Herald Tribune and New York Times could merge their websites as part of a widespread reorganisation that will more closely integrate the two sister titles.
The moves come as part of major management shakeup revealed yesterday in a memo circulated yesterday and published by US media website MediaBistro.
“The IHT should become the international print edition of the NYT, whether it is formally branded that way or not,” the memo says.
According to a report in the IHT, executives also announced plans to create a “co-branded international homepage” that could be accessed via either IHT.com or NYTimes.com.
“We want to examine the potential to merge iht.com with nytimes.com,” IHT publisher Stephen Dunbar-Johnson reportedly said.
The Paris-based IHT was long run as a joint venture between the New York Times and its rival the Washington Post. The New York Times Company gained full control in 2003.
There have been several other moves that point to closer integration between the two titles. The IHT removed its traditional masthead logo and began describing itself as “the global edition of The New York Times.”
Last month, IHT editor Michael Oreskes resigned for a new role at the Associated Press. As an initial part of the integration effort, Martin Gottleib of the New York Times will move to Paris as with new title of “editor, global editon” until the end of the year. He will be replaced with a new “editor, global editions” reporting to New York Times editor Bill Keller and Dunbar-Johnson.
Posted by
Martin Stabe
on 24 June 2008 at 16:34
Tags: New Media
Google News is growing more slowly than most major news web sites, the New York Times notes today.
Although the news aggregator has frequently been the target of criticism — and even lawsuits — from parts of the news industry, it is not as dominant in its sector as Google’s main search service.
The New York Times cites Nielsen Online figures, which show Google News on 11.4 million users in the United States last month, a figure that has been growing at 10 per cent year-on-year - a figure far lower than many news sites. The figure places Google News eighth among US news sites, well behind market leader Yahoo News, which boasts 35.8 million users.
Posted by
Martin Stabe
on 24 June 2008 at 11:07
Tags: Magazines, Online
IPC has acquired games website Mousebreaker.com for an undisclosed sum.
The UK-based site, launched in 2001, publishes more than 200 free online Flash-based games. The site, targets 18-to-34 year old men claims an audience in of more than 4 million unique users a month.
In a press release, IPC Ignite managing director Eric Fuller described the deal “a major strategic investment for IPC Media” which would support its existing sites targeting young men, Nuts.co.uk and Loaded.co.uk. Citing DFC Intelligence data, IPC says the online games market, worth an estimated $5.7 billion (£2.9bn) in 2007, is forecast to double in the next five years.
Fuller said: “Mousebreaker doubles our portfolio’s digital reach of UK young men. It’s an attractive proposition for advertisers, delivering a highly targeted and loyal male audience. We have some very exciting plans in place to enable our advertisers to engage with our audience of young men in innovative and effective ways.”
Mousebreaker co-founders Richard Pendry and Alick Stott will remain with the business, and will work with IPC Ignite to develop the brand. IPC Ignite’s sales team will take on take on ad sales for the site.
The move is the latest in a number of recent acquisitions of independent online-only publications by magazine publishers. In October 2007, IPC acquired the product review site TrustedReviews.
More recently, Dennis Publishing acquired the current affairs site The First Post and Hachette Filipacchi UK snapped up media news and forum site Digital Spy.
Posted by
Martin Stabe
on 24 June 2008 at 10:28
Tags: Broadcast, Online
ITN’s archive footage division, ITN Source, has signed a “six figure” global licence agreement with Al Jazeera.
The deal gives Al Jazeera and independent production companies making programmes for it unlimited access to ITN Source’s footage libraries, which include more than 800,000 hours of video footage from news outlets including Granada, ITN, Reuters, Channel 4 and British Pathe.
The license agreement covers unlimited global transmissions on the Al Jazeera’s television networks, websites and its YouTube channel pages for five years.
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