Lord Davies: Digital Economy Bill does not not grant Ofcom any powers to regulate newspaper websites

Posted by Press Gazette on 3 March 2010 at 12:41
Tags: National Newspapers, New Media, Newspapers, Online, Regional Newspapers, press freedom

The report stage of the Digital Economy Bill in the Lords threw up a little nugget on Monday night that might go some way to allaying concerns in the press that Ofcom might end up regulating some audio/video content on newspaper websites.

Lord Davies of Oldham, the minister in charge, said the Bill did “not grant Ofcom any powers to regulate newspaper websites, including audiovisual content” after PCC chairman Baroness Peta Buscombe raised concerns about possible Ofcom regulation of newspaper websites.

It’s an issue the PCC has been keen to stress as its own voluntary code covers these titles and statutory regulation is unwelcome in any corner of the press.

(It’s the debate around Amendment 9 if you’re looking for it amongst the reams of material on Hansard – worth a quick read as it also covers the trickier problem of mixed public service and newspaper audio/visual material)

News International statement on phone-hacking

Posted by Press Gazette on 24 February 2010 at 09:26
Tags: National Newspapers, Newspapers, press freedom

Full statement from News International in reaction to the media select committee report on phone-hacking.

”The credibility of the Select Committee system relies on committee members exercising their powers with responsibility and fairness, and without bias or external influence. (more…)

Guardian’s full statement on phone-hacking report

Posted by Press Gazette on 24 February 2010 at 09:21
Tags: National Newspapers, Newspapers, press freedom

Full statement from The Guardian in reaction to the media select committee report on phone-hacking:

“The committee has produced an insightful and wide-ranging report, which makes positive recommendations on a number of key issues for the press. (more…)

Video: Attacked Times journalist says BNP are just ‘a bunch of street thugs’

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 16 February 2010 at 09:42
Tags: Journalism, National Newspapers, Newspapers, press freedom

The Times has posted video of its investigations editor Dominic Kennedy being violently thrown out of a the historic BNP meeting which at the weekend voted to allow non-whites to become members of the far right party.

Kennedy is shown calmly explaining to BNP officials why he wishes to cover the meeting before he is suddenly violently bundled out off the door.

Kennedy says in the video: “I was still holding on to my notebook, which I wasn’t going to let go off for anyone…they grab my nose and try to pull it off…It’s not what you expect when you go to cover a press conference of a British political party.

“They’ve shown their true colours. They are just a bunch of street thugs who are dressed up as a political party.”

Defending the attack on Kennedy, BNP leader Nick Griffin is today quoted in The Times saying: “Millions of viewers will have seen the report of us ejecting a lying Times journalist from the press conference. That’s not the actions of a snivelling PC party, but of an organisation that has had enough of being lied about.”

Kennedy had been invited by the BNP to the meeting, but was remonstrated with by officials over another Times article which appeared on Saturday and was critical about the party.

Reuters photographer freed by US forces in Iraq after 17 months detention

Posted by Press Gazette on 11 February 2010 at 11:13
Tags: Agencies, People, Photography, press freedom

A Reuters photographer Ibrahim Jassam Mohammed has been freed by the US military after 17 months’ detention in Iraq without charge.

Mohammed, an Iraqi who contributed to Reuters on a freelance basis, was released yesterday. (more…)

Liverpool Echo overturns gagging order preventing it naming teenage murderer

Posted by Press Gazette on 21 January 2010 at 10:36
Tags: Law, Newspapers, Regional Newspapers, press freedom

The Liverpool Echo has overturned a court order banning it from naming a teenage murder.

Echo court reporter Chloe Griffiths informally approached the prosecution to request they ask the judge to lift the order which prevented the Trinity Mirror title from identifying 17-year-old, the Newspaper Society said.

Griffiths said: “It was essential that the defendants in this case be named. The judge realised straight away that there was a massive public interest in the case and that people had a right to know who they were.”

Google threatens to pull out of China

Posted by Press Gazette on 13 January 2010 at 10:43
Tags: New Media, Online, press freedom

Google has threatend to withdraw its services from China saying it will no longer censor its search results on its Chinese site after it came under web attacks which originated in that country.

The US company has said that it may also be forced to close its Google.cn site, which would include the Chinese version of Google News, if it cannot find a way to operate an unfiltered search engine within the Chinese law, which currently requires it to block access to millions of websites. (more…)

Sunday Times removed from newsstands in UAE

Posted by Press Gazette on 30 November 2009 at 10:42
Tags: International, Journalism, National Newspapers, Newspapers, press freedom

News International’s Sunday Times newspaper was removed from shelves in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday after it ran a series of critical reports about Dubai’s debt problems.

The National Media Council of the UAE ordered that distribution of the paper should be blocked this weekend. (more…)

Photo gallery: Journalists and campaigners pick their dream headlines

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 23 November 2009 at 13:43
Tags: Journalism, Photography, press freedom

Freelance photographer James Young is on the hunt for leading journalists and freedom of speech campaigners who will agree to be pictured with their ‘Dream Headline’ as part of a project of the same name.

Young has already persuaded journalists Sally Murrer and Nick Davies, as well as director of Liberty Shami Chakrabarti; MP George Galloway; Labour party activist Walter Wolfgang and anti-war campaigner Brian Haw to pose with a mocked-up front page of the Daily Tomorrow.

He says the Dream Headline project is intended to promote free speech and press freedom and will culminate in an exhibition next year.

Here are the Dream Headline pictures taken so far:

Brian Haw:

(more…)

Portsmouth FC bans local reporter from club

Posted by Press Gazette on 6 November 2009 at 14:10
Tags: Journalism, Newspapers, press freedom

Portsmouth FC has banned Neil Allen, chief sports reporter of the town’s The News title from the club after his wrote an article the club disliked. (more…)

John Kampfner calls for changes to libel laws

Posted by Press Gazette on 2 November 2009 at 11:33
Tags: Journalism, Law, People, press freedom

Index on Censorship, the campaign group which fights for freedom of speech, will next week publish a report aimed at convincing politicians that current libel laws must be changed. (more…)

Murdoch battles ‘content kleptomaniacs’ in Beijing

Posted by Gary Neale on 12 October 2009 at 12:42
Tags: Free Newspapers, Media Business, National Newspapers, New Media, Newspapers, Online, press freedom

News Corp. head, Rupert Murdoch, has again spoken out against free news content on the web, now calling search engines such as Google and Yahoo “content kleptomaniacs”.

Murdoch was speaking at the World Media Summit in Beijing and promised that “the aggregators and plagiarists will soon have to pay the price for the co-opting of our content”, while other News Corp executives have called search engines “vampires” and ”tapeworms” the Independent reports.

The call to take control of online news was supported by Associated Press head, Tom Curley, and Gavin O’Reilly, CEO of Independent News & Media.

Google say they encourage people to click onto a newspaper website, and only provide a snippet of news to promote 300 million hits a month on news websites.

Independent in test case to open up court proceedings

Posted by Oliver Luft on 6 October 2009 at 10:08
Tags: Journalism, Law, National Newspapers, Newspapers, press freedom

Lawyers from the Independent are involved in a test case to open up legal proceedings involving vulnerable people to greater public scrutiny.

Publisher Independent News and Media, along with a number of other media organisations, is bidding to make it easier to report cases involving vulnerable people incapable of managing their own affairs. (more…)

Hong Kong journalists rally against police abuse

Posted by Press Gazette on 14 September 2009 at 10:58
Tags: International, press freedom

Hundreds of people, including journalists, on Sunday staged a protest march in Hong Kong over the alleged police beatings of three local TV news journalists on September 4 while covering the recent unrest in Western China. (more…)

City Uni provides free researchers for science journalists

Posted by Helen Potter on 10 September 2009 at 08:24
Tags: Journalism, National Newspapers, Newspapers, People, Student Journalism, press freedom

A new initiative from City University, London, will supply free investigative researchers from its Science Journalism Masters Course to working journalists.

The intention of the scheme is to provide research support for in-depth scientific investigative journalism as part of a joint partnership between the Journalism Department at City University and ABSW (the Association of British Science Writers). (more…)

AP image of a dying US marine causes outcry

Posted by Helen Potter on 7 September 2009 at 14:17
Tags: Agencies, Freedom of Information, Journalism, Newspapers, Photography, press freedom

International news agency, the Associated Press, has been criticised for publishing a picture of a dying US marine.

The picture, which depicts Lance Cpl Joshua Bernard being tended to by fellow soliders in Southern Afghanistan moments before the 21-year-old’s death, prompted outcry in the US. (more…)

Trainee journalist Kambaksh is free thanks to Independent campaign

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 7 September 2009 at 09:34
Tags: Journalism, National Newspapers, press freedom

A trainee journalist in Afghanistan has been freed from jail with the help of a campaign led by The Independent which made his plight an international cause celebre.

The Independent highlighted the case of Pervez Kambaksh with successive front pages days after he was condemned to death in January 2008. More than 100,000 people around the world would sign a petition calling for his release.

He was sentenced to death for distributing literature which promoted women’s rights at a university.

HIs death sentence was initially commuted to 20 years prison. President Karzai has now freed Kambaksh under an amnesty.

Police open 24hr helpline for journalists

Posted by Martin Dominguez on 26 August 2009 at 14:40
Tags: Journalism, National Union of Journalists, press freedom

Police in London have launched a 24 hour helpline for journalists covering two big public events in the city in the next week.

The Camp for Climate Action starts today, at an as yet secret location, and Notting Hill Carnival takes place as usual on the August Bank Holiday weekend.

The helpline has been set up for UK Press Card holders experiencing problems on the ground at the events.

Determined to avoid repeating what the NUJ called past “difficulties”, the police are offering round-the-clock advice from today.

In addtion to carnival, an estimated 3,000 protestors began gathering this morning at “swoop” sites - including The Bank of England, the South Bank, Stockwell and at the headquarters of a number of energy companies - before making their way to the Climate Camp site this afternoon to begin their eight-day stay.

At noon today protestors awaited text messages announcing the still undisclosed site for the actual Climate Camp, which according to the Camp’s Twitter site would be held “somewhere on the outskirts of London.”

Journalists experiencing problems should call 07917 556824 to reach a press officer who will be able to assist them. The NUJ website has more details.

Reports of Afghanistan violence ’strictly forbidden’ during election

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 19 August 2009 at 09:27
Tags: Journalism, press freedom

As Afghans go to the polls tomorrow, the country’s government has ordered a media blackout over reports of violence which it fears will curb turnout.

The foreign ministry issued a decree banning all broadcasts of information about violence while polls were open.

“While the English version of the decree spoke of a ‘request’, the version in Dari used stronger language, saying that reporting on violence during the election was ’strictly forbidden’”, New Statesman reports.

Met Police changes press photographer guidelines

Posted by Neil Vowles on 31 July 2009 at 11:12
Tags: Journalism, Law, National Union of Journalists, Photography, press freedom

The Metropolitan Police has clarified its rights to inspect photographs taken in public following complaints by the NUJ.

The original Met guidelines issued earlier this month for professional and amateur photographers claimed that under the Terrorism Act 2000, police had the right to view images taken in public.

The guidance has now been updated to clarify that officers can only view images belonging to photographers they reasonably suspect to be terrorists.

Roy Mincoff, NUJ’s legal officer, said: “It is good to see that the police have listened to some of what we have been saying and the new guidance is certainly an improvement. Let’s hope that this marks a recognition on the part of the police that they must take the concerns of photojournalists seriously. We will be monitoring to see if the changes are reflected in practice.”

The original ruling also recognised the right of the media to take photographs in public without interference from police or need for permits and tsaid hat police officers needed to obtain a court order before viewing photojournalists’ images. This section has not been altered.

The guidance followed criticism of police treatment of photographers in a number of high profile protests this year, including the G20 and Tamil demonstrations in April.