Johnston Press extends pay freeze until 2010

Posted by Sally Griffith on 14 May 2009 at 16:27
Tags: Journalism, Media Business, Newspapers, People, Regional Newspapers

Johnston Press has extended a pay freeze on all of its UK employees until 2010.

Press Gazette reported a six-month deferral of salaries was implemented in December last year by the publisher.

Salary reviews were due to take place in the second half of this year, but that has been extended until 2010.

Johnston Press’s ad revenue was down 34 per cent year on year in the first four months of 2009.

It cancelled the sale of its Irish titles after failing to raise a suitable offer from bidders.

“All UK-based Johnston Press employees have been informed that, in view of the effect of the current economic situation on company profits and UK price inflation, no salary reviews will take place in 2009,” Johnston Press said.

“This follows the company’s decision last December to defer the decision on salary reviews for a period of six months. The next salary reviews will be in 2010.”

Johnston Press is not the only regional publisher trying to save cash in the economic downturn. Publishers Northcliffe and Archant implemented a pay freeze in March this year and Newsquest asked staff to take a week unpaid leave.

Sportsbeat agency publishes content online

Posted by Sally Griffith on 14 May 2009 at 10:14
Tags: Agencies, Journalism

Press agency Sportsbeat is to make its content available online for the first time.

The website will syndicate copy from over 40 sports (excluding football, cricket and rugby union).

From its newsrooms in London and Manchester Sportsbeat provides over 20,000 stories a year to over 150 newspaper clients across the UK.

“The prospect of the 2012 Olympics has already seen an increase in appetite for content from the editors we supply,” said managing editor James Toney.

“We are dedicated to providing coverage of these Olympics sports all year round – and not just the big international events but competitions at national, regional and local level.”

Gerard Meagher and Tom Reynolds have been appointed to the agency’s London newsdesk.

Financial Times tops financial readership poll

Posted by Sally Griffith on 14 May 2009 at 08:48
Tags: Journalism

The Financial Times has topped a survey of ‘must read’ publications for financial decision-makers for the fifth year running.

The Global Capital Markets survey monitors the most popular media sources used by about 10,000 of the world’s most powerful financial bosses.

Combined with FT.com, the Financial Times was found to reach 45 per cent of respondents - who are collectively responsible for borrowing, raising and lending billions of dollars worth of capital each year.

Campaigner Heather Brooke launches MP expenses petition

Posted by Sally Griffith on 13 May 2009 at 11:35
Tags: Freedom of Information, Journalism, Law

Freedom of information campaigner Heather Brooke has launched a campaign to get MPs’ expense receipts published immediately.

Brooke, who has been campaigning for the details to be released for years, has teamed up with the Taxpayers’ Alliance to create an online petition that calls on the House of Commons authorities to immediately publish the full receipts behind MPs’ expense claims – including second home addresses.

In March 2008, Brooke won a High Court case against the House of Commons for the full disclosure of MPs’ second home allowances.

The new petition asks the House to commit to publishing full receipts in future on a quarterly basis and demands that an independent person be allowed access to the full record “to ensure no MPs are deleting information to avoid criticism or embarrassment”.

On her website, Your Right To Know, Brooke says: “The only power the people do have is to band together and shame the powerful into doing what’s right.

“The more names on this petition the greater the chance we can start dictating a new relationship between politicians and the people.”

New editor for Garden News

Posted by Sally Griffith on 12 May 2009 at 17:10
Tags: Journalism

A new editor has been appointed at Bauer Media’s weekly title Garden News.

Clare Foggett takes over from Neil Pope. She has worked on the title for four years, most recently as Gardening Editor.

Gardening is booming despite the recession. Sales of gardening products at garden centres were up 31% year on year in April.

Foggett says: “I’m thrilled. There will be some exciting and challenging times ahead as we try to make the most of this new mood, and rake in new readers!”

MarketWatch.com unveils new interactive tools in revamp

Posted by Sally Griffith on 12 May 2009 at 16:55
Tags: Journalism

MarketWatch.com has been revamped and today unveiled its new format.

The redesign includes new tools such as NewsViewer - an interactive tool for following breaking news, sortable by subject and type of news with a real-time headline crawl.

Robert Thomson, editor-in-chief of Dow Jones & Company which runs MarketWatch, said: “One of the lessons of the crisis is that individuals need to take more responsibility for their personal finances and the redesigned MarketWatch provides them with the tools to do just that.”

MarketWatch said it now offers more coverage and detail on emerging and key markets in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Reuters releases mobile app

Posted by Sally Griffith on 11 May 2009 at 17:18
Tags: Mobile, New Media

Thomson Reuters has introduced a new mobile application for iPhone and BlackBerry users.

Designed ‘with a professional commuter audience in mind’, Reuters says the free to download app lets iPhone, iPod touch and BlackBerry users ‘pull from the depth and breadth of Reuters multimedia content’.

The app was designed to utilise the revolutionary capabilities of modern mobile phones for a better user experience.

The app also allows offline browsing.

“Rather than merely talking about innovation, we are putting substantial resources into development of new multimedia products for innovative devices,” said Chris Aheam, president of media for Thomson Reuters.

Standard relaunch coincides with Lebedev pay delay

Posted by Sally Griffith on 8 May 2009 at 11:17
Tags: Newspapers

The Evening Standard’s new owner has told 120 journalists working for his Russian title Novaya Gazeta that cashflow problems mean their pay has been delayed.

Alexander Lebedev told the Guardian yesterday his financial troubles were temporary, due to problems with his German budget airline Blue Wings.

Last month Germany’s aviation authority withdrew the airline’s licence, claiming it had business difficulties.

Lebedev maintained British journalists working on the Evening Standard would receive their salaries as usual.

The Standard is relaunching on Monday. Its relaunch campaign - masterminded by McCann Erickson - focused on apologising to Londoners for ‘being negative’ and ‘losing touch’.

Each poster uses the word “sorry” and the Standard’s Eros logo.

According to Media Week, the title will be renamed London Evening Standard as part of several changes to the paper including a design overhaul, which will be unveiled next week.

The website will also be relaunching on Monday, with ’significant, inventive digital developments’ promised under new editor Geordie Greig.

No official information about the launch has been released by the Standard’s PR company, Brown Lloyd James.

Daily Mirror associate editor Kevin Maguire joins LBC

Posted by Sally Griffith on 7 May 2009 at 16:52
Tags: Journalism

Daily Mirror associate editor Kevin Maguire is to host a one-off programme on London news and talk radio station LBC this weekend.

LBC has announced that Maguire will cover Andrew Pierce’s Sunday lunchtime current affairs and political show between 11am and 2pm.

Maguire, who has appeared as a guest on the station’s programmes before, said in a statement: “If Frank Lampard would like to call LBC 97.3 again, I’d be delighted to put him on.”

Figures released today by Rajar give LBC its highest audience since the current methodology began 10 years ago.

The station recorded an average of 705,000 listeners a week in the first three months of 2009, up 75,000 or 11.9 per cent on the previous quarter.

Telegraph celebrates broadsheet size with new advert

Posted by Sally Griffith on 7 May 2009 at 16:37
Tags: Journalism

The Daily Telegraph launches a new advertising campaign this week to “boldly celebrate” its broadsheet format. Posters will be put up across the London Underground network.

The message: “It pays to think big” is accompanied by images relating to famous people and companies who have achieved success by ‘thinking big’ - including the ice cream store where Barack Obama had his first job and a Wellington boot, the product Nokia manufactured in 1979 before it turned to mobile phones.

Telegraph Media Group editor-in-chief Will Lewis said: “The campaign emphasises that TMG is a ‘big thinking’ organisation, constantly evolving.”

The Telegraph took the title of biggest national newspaper website in March, but its print circulation figures last month were down 5.63 per cent to year on year to 824,883.

Yorkshire journalists thank public for support

Posted by Sally Griffith on 6 May 2009 at 15:57
Tags: Journalism, Regional Newspapers

Johnston Press journalists handed out thankyou leaflets in Leeds today to thank members of the public for their support during recent strike action.

NUJ members from the Yorkshire Post, Yorkshire Evening Post and Leeds Weekly News wanted to thank the public for supporting them through their 13-day strike over compulsory redundancies.

They chose today to as it is the last day their strike ballot is valid under UK law.

The leaflet reads: “Those 13 days demonstrating outside the building were long and cold, but we were kept warm by the spirit and solidarity we showed each other and the wonderful support shown to us by the great West Yorkshire public.

Pete Lazenby, Father of the NUJ chapel at the Evening Post, said: “The people of Leeds were fantastic - constantly tooting their horns in support as they passed our picket line.

“But I also want to thank other trades unionists for their support. Over the past 20 years journalists in Leeds have done what we can to support other workers on strike with contributions from our fighting fund.

“But we were amazed at the level of generosity shown to us when our turn came.”

Murdoch: My papers will recover after a year or three

Posted by Sally Griffith on 6 May 2009 at 13:20
Tags: Media Business, National Newspapers, Newspapers

Rupert Murdoch says his UK newspapers will lose money ‘for a year or three’ but emerge from the recession stronger, and with a bigger market share.

Although Murdoch admitted: “I never thought it would get this bad.”

The Times and The Sunday Times have lost nearly £1m a week between them in the year ending June 2008, a 16.7 per cent greater pre-tax loss compared with 2006-07.