Times: Zac Goldsmith mulled bid for Independent

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 18 November 2008 at 09:08
Tags: Media Business, National Newspapers, Newspapers

Conservative parliamentary candidate Zac Goldsmith came close to buying The Independent this summer, according to The Times.

According to The Times the Independent “is under such financial pressure” that it is considering all options.

Goldsmith’s family owns The Ecologist magazine.

The Times reports that the Indy is expected to lose £10m this year and will announce major editorial cuts this week.

Earlier this month The Times predicted that the Independent titles would lose up to £28m this year.

And James Robinson, writing in The Observer, suggested that DMGT might buy the Independent titles for £1.

In September The Independent raised its cover price to a £1 - making it the most expensive national title bar the FT - in a move which suggested drastic action was needed to offset drops in advertising.

Sir Ray Tindle on BBC local video: A fight we must win

Posted by Rachael Gallagher on 17 November 2008 at 10:30
Tags: Broadcast, Newspapers, Regional Newspapers, Television

Proprietor of Tindle Newspapers Sir Ray Tindle has joined the fight against the BBC’s plans for local online video.

Tindle, who claims that his business has pre-tax profits of £7m and is debt free, said that even he is not immune against the economic downturn or the BBC.

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Sunday Times: BBC unlikely to prosecute licence fee rebel Charles Moore

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 17 November 2008 at 10:19
Tags: Broadcast, National Newspapers, Newspapers, People

The BBC is unlikely to launch a criminal prosecution against former Daily Telegraph editor Charles Moore for his refusal to pay his TV licence fee, the Sunday Times reports.

Two weeks ago, Moore wrote in his Telegraph column that he would refuse to pay his TV licence if the corporation continued to employ Jonathan Ross.

According to the Sunday Times, the BBC declines to prosecute such conscientious objectors to the TV licence for fear of creating “martyrs”. Other licence fee refusniks include Noel Edmunds and former Russian dissident Vladimir Bukovsky.

Mirror launches new cashback money-making scheme

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 12 November 2008 at 10:43
Tags: Media Business, National Newspapers, New Media, Newspapers, Online

The Daily Mirror has launched a new online money-making scheme called Mirrorcashback.com.

It works like a loyalty shopping scheme by giving readers money back if they shop through the new site to buy goods from retailers including Tesco, Boots, WH Smith and Asda.

The new site is being promoted on Mirror.co.uk and with an eight-page supplement in the print edition.

The rate of “cashback” on offer varies from retailer to retailer.

Rusbridger: State funding is needed to save local press

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 10 November 2008 at 10:19
Tags: Broadcast, Journalism, New Media, Newspapers, Regional Newspapers

Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger has a solution to the woes currently afflicting the regional press - public funding.

He argues today that some of the public funding which will be needed to safeguard public service broadcasting outside the BBC should go to local newspapers to support their fledgling video news services.

It is difficult to think of a more worthy cause for public funding than local papers, with the vital role they play in binding communities together and holding those in power to account. And if the banks can get state-funding then why not the press?

Rock-solid safeguards would obviously be needed to maintain editorial independence. But I think Rusbridger is right - if local newspapers really do move into meltdown, the government has to step in to save them.

New parliamentary bid to gag press, Indy reports

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 10 November 2008 at 08:25
Tags: Journalism, Law, National Newspapers, Newspapers

Parliament’s cross-party Intelligence and Security Committee wants a new law to stop news outlets reporting on matters which could undermine national security, the Independent reports.

The ISC is to call for a commission to be set up to look into this in its next report at the end of the year, the paper claims.

The move would effectively end the voluntary DA-Notice system which currently controls reporting on matters of national security and would make it statutory.

Journalist sheds four stone to become jockey

Posted by Rachael Gallagher on 7 November 2008 at 11:42
Tags: Journalism, National Newspapers, Newspapers

A former journalist has ditched his excessive lifestyle and lost four stone to become a racing jockey, reports The Daily Telegraph.

Dominic Prince, 47, has been training for ten weeks and ran his first race in Towcester, Northamptonshire on Wednesday.

Prince used to work as a journalist in London, and is married to Daily Telegraph food writer Rose Price and said being married to her hasn’t helped with his health.

“It has not helped being married to one of the best cooks in the country. Without wanting to blame her for my greed and gluttony, she does always produce more than strictly necessary. There was lots of game, lots of cheese and lots of wine and I didn’t eat that many vegetables.”

Times: Independent titles heading for big losses this year

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 7 November 2008 at 10:29
Tags: Media Business, National Newspapers, Newspapers

The Independent titles will lose between £14 million and double that this year, according to the Mediapolis column in The Times today.

It also reports that the The Belfast Telegraph and the Independent titles made an operating profit of £4.3m in 2007, according to accounts released yestertday.

This all follows reports earlier in the week that the Independent titles could be sold to DMGT for £1 and that they are proposing to merge back office functions - including sub-editing - with another newspaper publisher.

Man jailed for robbing journalists with sword

Posted by Rachael Gallagher on 4 November 2008 at 13:16
Tags: National Newspapers, Newspapers, Regional Newspapers

A man has been jailed for robbing two Trinity Mirror journalists at sword point after falsely claiming he had images of a celebrity taking cocaine, reports Wales Online.

James Williams, 23, was given a four year prison sentence after he lured two journalists to Cardiff from London on the promise of the scoop and on their arrival brandished a two-and-a-half foot sword and demanded the £1,000 cash they had brought with them.

Williams then locked the pair in the house and told them to stay put for at least ten minutes claiming he had an accomplice with a knife waiting outside.

The journalists eventually escaped through a skylight.

Newsquest boss shares the pain with cut on seven million dollar pay

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 4 November 2008 at 10:23
Tags: Media Business, National Newspapers, Newspapers

Journalists at Newsquest reeling from round after round of cost-cutting and redundancies at the UK regional press giant can take heart from the fact that their ultimate boss - the chairman of US parent company Gannett - is sharing their pain.

Craig Dubow has vountarily taken a $200,000 pay cut on his $1.2m a year salary. According to Editor and Publisher, with bonus, deferred compensation, stock awards and options, Dubow’s total compensation is about $7.5 million.

He said in a memo to staff:

“All Gannett employees are making deep sacrifices for their company. I have great empathy for those employees and their families who have lost their jobs. I also recognize that our employees are working harder and harder to produce results in a challenging business environment.

“But I firmly believe the steps we are taking now are necessary and will serve as the foundation for our future success. I want to thank all our employees for their patience and loyalty during these difficult times.”

Press Gazette watches with interest to see if the likes of Sly Bailey, Michael Pelosi and Tim Bowdler at Trinity Mirror, Northcliffe and Johnston Press will be following suit over here in the UK.

Veteran South Wales editor moves into books and PR

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 4 November 2008 at 10:03
Tags: Newspapers, People, Regional Newspapers

Editor of the Llanelli Star and Camerthen Journal Robert Lloyd is leaving journalism after 31 years in the business - to work on new projects involving books and PR.

The 49-year-old told Holdthefrontpage:

“It has been a privilege to be the editor of two of the best-known weekly newspapers in Wales. Working with such a dedicated team has been a delight and an honour.”

The Times: No conspiracy in timing of Obama Aunt Zeituni story

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 3 November 2008 at 13:52
Tags: National Newspapers, Newspapers

The Times today gives a blow-by-blow account of how some international detective work led to it tracking down Barack Obama’s aunt Zeituni Onyango in Boston.

The story has led to something of a row for Obama after it emerged that his relative was staying in the USA illegally and had defied a court order asking her to leave the country.

The Democrat campaign has implied that the story was a plant by the Republicans.

But Ben Macintyre and James Bone writing today say:

Whatever the Democrat campaign may imply, there is nothing suspicious about the story or its timing. The only mystery, perhaps, is how so many people read Mr Obama’s book in the US without wondering what might have happened to the mysterious relative, lost in America.

The Times got on the trail of Aunt Zeituni after picking up on a reference to Obama’s “lost” Uncle Omar, who moved to Boston, in his book Dreams From My Father.

Public record searches found traces of O.Onyango Obama in Boston - and it was in the course of this search that The Times tracked down Omar’s sister, Aunt Zeituni.

The Times tracked her down to a Boston housing estate to find she had apparently been sworn to secrecy. She said: “I can’t talk about Obama until after the election, I just pray for him.”

Belfast Telegraph journalists strongly resist Sunday working

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 3 November 2008 at 11:41
Tags: Newspapers, Regional Newspapers

NUJ members at the Belfast Telegraph are strongly opposing moves to introduce Sunday working for all editorial staff, according to the Sunday Business Post.

The Independent News and Media-owned title has lost sales steeply in recent years despite being named Press Gazette Regional Press Awards daily newspaper of the year in 2006 and 2007.

It had an average daily sale of 75,964 in the first half of this year - down nearly 20,000 copies in three years.

The Irish organiser of the NUJ, Nicola Coleman, told the Sunday Business Post:

‘‘The Belfast Telegraph has recently undergone a redundancy programme. Further threats to editorial resources will be strongly resisted. We believe it is not possible to further diminish resources and maintain a viable newspaper.”

Kent Messenger cuts 59 jobs as revenue continues to decline

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 3 November 2008 at 10:43
Tags: Newspapers, Regional Newspapers

The Kent Messneger Group has pressed on with plans to make 59 jobs redundant - around half in editoral.

And it is closing its offices in Dover, Faversham, Maidstone, Sittingbourne, Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells.

A memo to staff, published by Holdthefrontpage, reveals that the Kent titles - in common with the rest of the regional press - are having a very tough time at the moment.

“Since we launched the consultation, our revenues have continued to decline along with the rest of the industry and the rate of decline shows no sign of abating.

“We need to take this action if we are not to plunge into unsustainable trading losses.

“In the current economic climate we cannot rule out further changes to our business but we believe this restructure will go a long way towards ensuring the sustainability of the company.”

Sources claim Independent could be sold to DMGT

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 3 November 2008 at 10:21
Tags: Media Business, National Newspapers, Newspapers

Daily Mail and General Trust is considering a bid for the Independent titles, according to James Robinson writing in the Observer.

“Industry sources” have told Robinson that the Independent titles could be off-loaded for £1, with DMGT taking on their liabilities.

Sources close to Indepedendent News and Media have told Robinson that the papers are not for sale - but that rival groups have offered to take on back office functions such as human resources and accounts.

The Sunday Times reports that the Daily Mirror and Independent are in talks to “unify functions” in IT, accounting and sub-editing to save money.

It cites sources as saying that a tie-up between in the Independent and Trinity Mirror was possible but that “other groups were also in the running”.

According to the Sunday Times such a tie-up would have put the Independent titles into the black last year.

The Independent titles have lost money since they were bought by IN&M in 1995.

A wholesale buy-up by the DMGT does seem far-fetched - considering the Mail publisher already has one loss-making daily paper in the shape of the Evening Standard.

Any merger of titles between the Mail and the Independent would be unthinkable because their readerships are so different - but some sort of merger between the Standard and Indy is more plausible.

Robinson also notes in his piece that Daily Mail editor-in-chief Paul Dacre turns 60 next month and may be considering a move to a different role in the business and handing over the editorship.

The future of the Independent titles has been put in question by the activities of rebel IN&M shareholder Denis O’Brien - who now has a 26 per cent stake in the business and wants the Independents to be sold off.

Serial litigant Jonathan Ross did not break the law

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 31 October 2008 at 14:37
Tags: Journalism, Law, National Newspapers, Newspapers

News International legal boss Tom Crone makes a good point in The Sun today (he can write as well it seems) - about the Ross/Brand furore.

He points out that Jonathan Ross is a “serial litigant” who is the first person to run to his lawyer Keith Schilling when he feel his privacy is being infringed. (more…)

Gillian Tett: From tea-girl to business journalism superstar

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 31 October 2008 at 11:20
Tags: Journalism, Media Business, National Newspapers, Newspapers, People

An indication of the extent to which the credit crunch has elevated financial journalism to the mainstream comes in the The Guardian today - which has a profile of the FT’s Gillian Tett in its main features section.

Tett was Press Gazette British Press Awards business and finance journalist of the year last year.

The Guardian credits the FT assistant editor as being one of the few people to have predicted the current economic meltdown two years ago. And it reveals that the FT journalist has PhD in social anthropology from Cambridge.

Explaining her interest in finance Tett says:

“People who come from a background of arts and humanities and social studies tend to think that money and the City is boring and somehow dirty.

“But if you don’t look at how money goes round the world you don’t actually understand the world at all. When you try and join up the dots about how money can be linked to politics, can be linked to culture, then it’s electrifying.”

She said she had her big break whilst on work experience at the FT at the time of the break-up of the Soviet Union:

“They came around and said, ‘Does anyone speak Russian?’ I put my hand up, and I basically went from making the tea to writing pieces. Total Hollywood moment. Then the foreign editor comes round and says, ‘There’s going to be a revolution in Lithuania, does anyone want to go?’ And I went, ‘Yes! Me!”

The Economist backs Obama

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 31 October 2008 at 10:32
Tags: National Newspapers, Newspapers

he Economist is the latest news organisation to give Barack Obama its endorsement in the US presidential race.

The UK-based has worldwide sales of over 1.3 million - of which some 747,000 are in the US, so it will be seen as a significant boost for the Obama campaign. It should also cement Obama’s image as the candidate most likely to be able to deal with the economic crisis.

The Economist states that Obamam offers the better chance of restoring America’s self confidence.

According to Editor and Publisher - in terms of US daily newspaper endorsements, Obama leads McCain by 234 to 105.

Evening Standard to drop from three to two editions

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 31 October 2008 at 10:20
Tags: Journalism, National Newspapers, Newspapers

The Evening Standard is proposing to go from three editions throughout that day to two - in a move would mean major cost-savings on delivery costs, The Guardian reports.

Currently the Standard hits newsstands at 11am and 2.30pm, but it is proposing to reduce this to just a morning and West End Final edition.

In August 2006 the dropped its mid-morning West End edition.

Journalists v Scottish politicans football match ends in a brawl

Posted by Rachael Gallagher on 29 October 2008 at 11:05
Tags: BBC, Broadcast, Journalism, Magazines, National Newspapers, Newspapers, People, Radio, Regional Newspapers, Television

A charity football match between Scottish politicians and sports journalists has to be cut short after it ended in a punch up between the players, reports The Times.

The game, which took place on Sunday morning in Glasgow, first showed signs of trouble when Labour MSP John Park was sent of for a challenge on BBC football pundit Chick Young.

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