9/11 conspiracy: is search engine optimisation bad for journalism?

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 21 July 2008 at 08:20
Tags: Journalism, National Newspapers, New Media, Online

Charlie Brooker, writing in The Guardian, asks today whether search engine optimisation is a malign influence on journalism after noting that because a recent piece he wrote “contained the words ‘9/11 conspiracy’, the article generated loads of traffic for the Guardian site, which in turns means loads of advertising revenue.”

He notes: “your modern journalist your modern journalist is expected not only to shoehorn all manner of hot phraseology into their copy, but to try and position it all in precisely the right place. That’s an alarming quantity of unnecessary shit to hold in your head while trying to write a piece about the unions. Sorry, SEXUAL unions.”

Erik Huggers confirmed as BBC’s new digital chief

Posted by Paul McNally on 18 July 2008 at 10:40
Tags: New Media

Erik Huggers has been confirmed as the BBC’s new director of future media and technology, replacing Ashley Highfield, who left in July to oversee the joint-venture TV catch-up service Kangaroo.

Huggers starts in the new role on 1 August, responsible for all of the corporation’s output on the internet, interactive TV and mobile - including the BBC iPlayer.

Vogue to produce web-based TV series

Posted by Paul McNally on 18 July 2008 at 09:29
Tags: Magazines, Online

Fashion bible Vogue is to produce a web-based reality TV series based on the fashion industry.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the $3m project is one of the biggest-budget web TV projects to date.

Uxbridge Gazette web launch includes 10 hyperlocal sites

Posted by Paul McNally on 15 July 2008 at 15:36
Tags: Journalism, Online, Regional Newspapers

Trinity Mirror weekly title The Uxbridge Gazette has relaunched its website, including 10 hyperlocal community mini-sites which the paper hopes will allow journalists to gather material that can be “reverse published” into print.

In a press release, the Uxbridge Gazette editor-in-chief, Adrian Seal, said: “We are particularly excited about the new hyperlocal sites we have developed and it’s great that they are open to everyone from Scout groups to churches and schools and local residents in those areas.”

Erik Huggers to lead BBC future media and technology?

Posted by Paul McNally on 15 July 2008 at 09:24
Tags: Broadcast, New Media

Erik Huggers is expected to be announced as the BBC’s new director of future media and technology this week, according to MediaGuardian.co.uk.

Huggers joined the BBC last year from Microsoft.

World’s oldest blogger dies, aged 107

Posted by Paul McNally on 15 July 2008 at 09:18
Tags: Journalism, Online

The world’s oldest blogger, 107-year-old Australian woman Olive Riley, has died.

According to the Independent, Riley took up blogging at the suggestion of a friend and has built up an international following.

4,000 subscribers for Crain’s business alerts

Posted by Paul McNally on 14 July 2008 at 10:33
Tags: Online

Crain’s Manchester Business has broken the 4,000-subscriber mark for its daily news alert service.

The new weekly business paper for the north-west said in a press release that the service had only been promoted through word of mouth and on the website itself.

Publisher Arthur Porter said: “We are not just a weekly paper. We are a constantly updated news and information source and want to be the first place people read or hear about a local business story, be it in print or online.”

Google duo top Media Guardian power list

Posted by Paul McNally on 14 July 2008 at 08:18
Tags: Online

Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page have come top of the Guardian’s Media 100 power list.

News Corp’s Europe and Asia chief executive, James Murdoch, has leapfrogged his father Rupert and comes second.

New entries this year include culture secretary Andy Burnham, Radio 4 controller Mark Damazer and Telegraph chairman Aidan Barclay.

Guardian acquires PaidContent publisher

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.

FT.com begins embedding video on story pages

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.

Newsquest begins relaunch of website network

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 8 July 2008 at 09:17
Tags: New Media, Regional Newspapers

Regional press giant Newsquest has begun a revamp of its newspapers’ websites, Holdthefrontpage reports, with thie Lancashire Telegraph, the Bradford Telegraph and Argus and The Press in York now with new looks.

The new sites are wider, to suit modern computer screens, and feature horizontal rather than vertical menu navigation.

Media Lens threatened with legal action by Times Newspapers

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 7 July 2008 at 09:08
Tags: Law, National Newspapers, New Media

The website Media Lens has been threatened with legal action by Times Newspapers for breach of copyright and harassment, Peter Wilby reports in the The Guardian today.

Media Lens took issue with a piece in The Times by Bronwen Maddox on 17 June arguing that she did not question the assumption that Iran is bent on producing a nuclear bomb. It invited its readers to email Maddox prompting Times Newspapers’ legal manager to write a letter saying Maddox had received “vexatious andd threatening emails” and arguing that publishing her email address was breach of copyright.

BBC iPlayer to be available on third-party websites

Posted by Paul McNally on 4 July 2008 at 08:47
Tags: New Media, Online

The BBC is to make its on-demand web TV and radio player, iPlayer, embeddable on other websites, according to TV news site Channel 21.

The move means viewers will be able to watch clips of BBC programmes on third party websites such as Facebook.

Businessman in false Facebook profile libel action

Posted by Patrick Smith on 1 July 2008 at 08:26
Tags: Law, New Media

A businessman is suing a former friend for creating a false Facebook profile using his personal information in what is thought to be the first defamation case involving the social networking website.

The Daily Telegraph and Daily Telegraph report that Mathew Firsht is suing for libel and misuse of private information in the High Court after camerman Grant Raphael put false information about his political views and sexual orientation on the page.

Sky News relaunching site with Pluck and Daylife features

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.

Scottish FOI Act could be applied to more organisations

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.

Irish Times goes free online

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.

FOI campaigner: Privacy concerns misplaced on crime map plan

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.

IHT and New York Times mull web merger

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.