Jon Slattery

Arrest of Sun journalists a 'witch-hunt' says NUJ

2012-02-11T19:10:00.015Z

The NUJ has condemned the arrests of five more Sun journalists as a “witch-hunt” in which newspaper staff are being sacrificed by News International management in order to take pressure off the company.

General secretary Michelle Stanistreet (pictured) said: “The closure of the News of the World was a cynical act of damage limitation. The unprecedented decision to allow the Metropolitan Police to camp out at Wapping, and the sacrificing of journalists by the management's standards committee is an extension of this strategy.

"The reputation of these journalists – and let’s remember they have not been convicted of anything – will inevitably be damaged.

“Once again Murdoch is trying to pin the blame on individual journalists, hoping that a few scalps will salvage his corporate reputation. It’s clear that by spuriously cleaning up his reputation he and those close to him still believe the BSkyB deal can be resurrected at some point in the future.

"They’re doing all they can to make that politically possible. If that means shafting people who have simply been doing their jobs, as it was demanded of them on the Sun and other titles, clearly Murdoch has given the green light to do so.”

The Sun journalists arrested are reported to be deputy editor Geoff Webster, chief reporter John Kay, picture editor John Edwards, chief foreign correspondent Nick Parker, and John Sturgis, who is deputy news editor.

Officers from Operation Elveden made the arrests this morning as part of the investigation into allegations of inappropriate payments to police and public officials.

A fortnight ago four former and current Sun journalists were arrested over alleged illegal police payments.

Ex-News of the World journalist Neville Thurlbeck, writing on his blog, says: "It is not an overstatement to say that I cannot think of another example of behaviour which rates higher on the scale of sickening hypocrisy. These acts of treachery by News International and News Corporation are literally destroying the lives of the people who served them loyally and did their bidding. The anger among Sun staff at the moment is straight from the furnace and springs from the company’s desire to sacrifice anyone in order to protect itself. They have effectively declared war on their own staff, a disastrous corporate strategy.”

Pic: Jon Slattery

Tribune tale inspires book on busker and Bob

2012-02-11T14:40:00.008Z

The story of a Big Issue selling busker and his friendship with Bob the cat is being published as a book next month after their story was spotted in the Islington Tribune.

Publisher Hodder & Stoughton say the book, A Streetcat Named Bob, came about after literary agent Mary Pacnos read an article in the Tribune about busker James Bowen and Bob who have become a local landmark outside The Angel tube station in London.

Bowen found stray Bob limping after apparently being attacked by another animal, possibly a fox, and nursed him back to health.

They are now inseparable and travel on buses and the Tube and walk everywhere together.

Emma Knight, publicity director of Hodder & Stoughton, emailed the Tribune to say: “I wanted to let you know we are publishing in March the heart-warming story of James Bowen and his ginger cat Bob. I’m not sure if you are aware but the book agent, Mary Pacnos, first read about their incredible story from your piece in the Tribune.”

Pic: Islington Tribune

NUJ welcomes Rusbridger's pay and benefits cut

2012-02-10T11:03:00.004Z

The NUJ has welcomed Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger's decision to reduce his pay and benefits - and urged other media executives to follow his example.

Rusbridger is to take a 10 per cent pay cut; his salary for 2012-2013 will be £395,010 compared with £438,900 in the current financial year.

His annual pension contribution will be reduced to £75,000 and the total reduction in his salary and pension package will amount to 19 per cent in the next year starting in April.

Barry Fitzpatrick, NUJ deputy general secretary, said: “I welcome Alan’s response to the NUJ’s suggestion that he should take a pay cut and show a lead to executives within the industry at a time when many journalists face redundancy and pay freezes.

"I hope that others including Sly Bailey, chief executive of Trinity Mirror, and Richard Desmond owner of the Express newspapers, will now be following suit.”

Quotes of the Week: Loadsa Leveson Inquiry plus a Dickens of a quote from the 19th century

2012-02-10T00:01:00.004Z

Simon Carr in the Independent on Robert Jay QC, lead counsel at the Leveson Inquiry: "There is something in Mr Jay's manner that would start a fight in a pub. Not just the beard, or the passive combativeness. No, he insinuates mean motives into his questions, and sometimes when he finishes his question he leaves his mouth open. It hangs there, disbelievingly. Try that in the Garrick Club and you'd leave without your teeth."

Paul Dacre at the Leveson Inquiry on what it is giving the public: "A very bleak and one-sided view of the press."

NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistret at Leveson on Paul Dacre's idea for a press card controlled by the industry: "Akin to licensing journalists which the NUJ would oppose and would damage press freedom within the UK."

The Times editor James Harding at Leveson: “As editor of the paper, I am responsible for what it does and what its journalists do. So I want to say at the outset that I sorely regret the intrusion into Richard Horton’s e-mail account by a journalist then in our newsroom. I am sure that Mr Horton and many other people expect better of The Times. So do I. So on behalf of the paper, I apologise.”

Baroness Buscombe, ex chair of the Press Complaints Commission, at Leveson: "I remember towards the end of my time there, one of the editors asked me 'Peta, don't you trust us?'. And I said with an incredibly heavy heart 'How can I?'. We felt we hadn't been told the truth."

Hugh McIlvanney in the Sunday Times on the death of boxing trainer Angelo Dundee: "Decency is not nearly as rare in professional boxing as some old movies and the trash-talking endemic among modern fighters might suggest. But it seldom shines through the murk with the heart-warming consistency that, for me, made 50 years of sporadic close encounters with Angelo Dundee one of the happiest themes of the sportswriting experience."

Charlie Brooker in the Guardian on the success of MailOnline: "Curiously, the online version of the Mail has become a hit by doing the reverse of what Dacre is commended for doing. It succeeds by remorselessly delivering industrial quantities of precisely the opposite of what a traditional Mail reader would presumably want to read: frothy stories about carefree young women enjoying themselves."

Ex-BBC Today programme editor Kevin Marsh on the tabloid press:"An incredibly powerful, unaccountable machine for turning vindictiveness into cash."

Quote from the 19th Century (via David Hepworth's blog):

Charles Dickens on seeing his name in print for the first time for an unsolicited article 'A Dinner At Poplar Walk' in 1833: "...my first copy of the Magazine in which my first effusion - dropped stealthily one evening at twilight, with fear and trembling, into a dark letter-box, in a dark office, up a dark court in Fleet Street - appeared in all the glory of print; on which memorable occasion - how well I recollect it! - I walked down to Westminster Hall, and turned into it for half-an-hour, because my eyes were so dimmed with joy and pride, that they could not bear the street, and were not fit to been seen there."

Losers are winners for UK's top news coverage

2012-02-09T00:01:00.003Z

Losers dominated the news in the week ending Sunday, February 5, according to journalisted.

John Terry losing his England football captaincy, following the announcement of a trial date for alleged racist abuse, generated 266 articles;

Stephen Hester losing his RBS bonus, turning it down amid public controversy 265 articles;

Fred Goodwin losing his knighthood, the honour annulled and cancelled by the Queen, 263 articles;

Harry Redknapp losing his temper with a detective in court, during the course of his trial for allegedly cheating the public revenue, 174 articles;

Chris Huhne losing his place in the Cabinet, resigning after being charged with perverting the course of justice, 166 articles.

Covered little, according to journalisted, were the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation finds malaria kills twice as many people per year as previously believed, 6 articles; Sauli Niinisto is elected president of Finland, 3 articles; and Brazilian minister Mario Negromonte becomes the seventh member of Dilma Rousseff's cabinet to step down amid corruption allegations, 2 articles.

Hyperlocal Epping site launches mag with Archant

2012-02-08T23:20:00.013Z

David Jackman, who launched the hyperlocal Everything Epping Forest website after being made redundant as a local newspaper editor in 2008, is to launch the Everything Epping Forest monthly magazine in March in partnership with Archant London.

The glossy, colour magazine will be delivered to some 10,000 homes in the CM16 and RM4 postcode areas providing local community news and information, a what’s on section, and local advertising.

Each edition will also be available online and from selected outlets in the area.

Tony Little, commercial director of Archant London, said: “Archant are continually looking at new and innovative ways to interact with readers and advertisers. Ultimately we want to serve and add value to the local community by providing platforms for those who are interested in where they live, what’s going on there and how to obtain the services they need, therefore we are delighted to be working with David who is a much–respected local journalist, with important contacts in the local area.

“His success with Everything Epping Forest, with 200,000 plus hits a month to date, should be applauded and we are delighted to get involved with such a successful community-focused initiative.”

Jackman was made redundant after 13 years as editor of Newsquest's Epping Forest Guardian, Harlow and Bishop's Stortford Citizens and the Epping Forest Independent and a total of 21 years with the newspaper group.

He said: "I'm passionate about local news and local events and a firm believer that even the smallest snippet of news is worthy of reporting, whether it is a coffee morning or a report from a local club.

"The idea of publishing a regular, high quality printed edition with a mass circulation has always been in my thoughts but has been prohibitive for printing and distribution reasons.

"To be approached by Archant London to work with them and provide the editorial for a monthly printed title to be delivered to some 10,000 households, with Archant handling the advertising, printing and distribution side of the operation, has really taken Everything Epping Forest to another level."

Strike off at Thomson Reuters after NUJ pay deal

2012-02-08T18:30:00.009Z

NUJ members at Thomson Reuters in London have called off the planned 48 hours of industrial action which was due to start tomorrow following an improved pay offer.

In a joint statement the union and management said: "We are pleased to announce that London members of the NUJ today voted to accept an enhanced pay deal and call off industrial action scheduled for tomorrow and Friday.

"The agreed 3% increase includes a minimum pay raise of 2.5% and an additional .5% available for merit raises. The deal was reached after a number of days of constructive negotiations between the NUJ and Thomson Reuters to resolve this dispute."

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary said: “We are pleased management have backtracked on the derisory pay offer. The improved offer shows just how valuable it is to have the backing of the NUJ. This deal sets the tone for future negotiations between the chapel and management and I hope the pay deal sends a strong message to other companies in the media industry."

Helen Long, NUJ chapel rep at Thomson Reuters, added: “It seemed inconsistent to us that, while claiming to be the best-funded news organisation in the world, and the one with the best business model, Thomson Reuters was only prepared to offer one of the lowest pay rises in the industry.”

Guido: 'Journalists are reluctant to speak out'

2012-02-08T12:32:00.015Z

Blogger Guido Fawkes, aka Paul Staines, told the Leveson Inquiry today that journalists are reluctant to speak out because they are worried about their careers.

He said: "People still in the business are reluctant to admit what's going on."

Staines also said that journalists "were very thin skinned" and "will put the knife into each other by me." He agreed, after being asked by Lord Justice Leveson, that there was an "unwritten rule" that journalists did not write about other newspapers.

He told the inquiry: "I'm a citizen of a free republic [Ireland] and since 1922 don't have to do what a British judge tells me to do."

On privacy, Staines said: "I don't think people in public life paid for by the tax-payer should have the same expectancy of privacy as a private citizen."

He also defended the Telegraph's use of subterfuge over the Vince Cable story because "he was saying one thing in private and one in public."

Staines told the inquiry he would not join a press regulatory body because he would have to "self-censor" and didn't "want an editorial product that's politically correct".

In an attack on the Lobby system, Staines said it was a cartel and journalists should not accept anonymous briefings. He called for Lobby briefings to be televised.

He claimed Lobby journalists knew about the expenses scandal but it only became public because of freedom of information campaigning journalist Heather Brooke.

Staines said he favoured an unregulated free press and the enforcement of existing criminal laws over issues such as phone hacking. He said if the Leveson Inquiry did not act as a catalyst to prosecute journalists who had invaded privacy on "an industrial scale" it would have failed.

Staines claimed his website attracted 50,000 to 100,000 users a day.

Dacre's press card plan. What would Orwell say?

2012-02-08T09:30:00.006Z

"This Paul Dacre press card. It's a bit Big Brotherish don't you think?"

Patrick Barclay in Twitter storm over Heysel tweet

2012-02-08T09:16:00.009Z

Sports journalist Patrick Barclay has run into a Twitterstorm after hitting back at a Liverpool fan, who criticised him for having worked for a Murdoch paper, with a tweet about the Heysel stadium disaster.

Despite the Twitter backlash, which saw Heysel trending, Barclay tweeted: "The usual twisters are active, I hear - "he's mocking the dead" - but those who can read plain English know I wasn't mocking. The opposite."

He later tweeted: "Sorry that some people found my reply yesterday inappropriate - certainly meant to cause no offence."

Paul Dacre's press card plan comes under fire

2012-02-08T00:01:00.000Z

Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre's proposal for a new press body that would issue press cards to journalists - and withdraw them from those found guilty of malpractice - was roundly criticised at the launch of a new book on the phone hacking scandal.

Speakers at a Media Society debate, marking the publication of a new book 'The Phone Hacking Scandal: Journalism on Trial', said the press card scheme was tantamount to licensing journalists.

Professor Steven Barnett, of Westminster University, claimed it was wrong to put the blame on journalists for poor press standards. "The culture and ideology is imposed from above. Look at the Mail and the Express. The journalists are told 'go and get me this story and fit it into this template'."

Kevin Marsh, the former editor of BBC Radio 4's Today programme, said Dacre's proposal was extraordinary and sounded like the way journalists were treated in China and Zimbabwe. He quipped: "What would I have to do to get Melanie Phillips struck off?"

Professor Ivor Gaber, of City University, said he was horrified at the idea that a new press body would be able "to licence journalists and withdraw their licences."

Former Sunday Mirror editor Paul Connew suggested the press card plan was "impractical in the age of the blogosphere."

Marsh, one of the contributors to 'The Phone Hacking Scandal', described the tabloid press as "an incredibly powerful, unaccountable machine for turning vindictiveness into cash." He also claimed Mail Online had become one of the most successful websites in the world "purely by using paparazzi pictures."

'The Phone Hacking Scandal: Journalism on Trial': Edited by Richard Lance Keeble and John Mair, published Arima Publishing.

Tributes to 'newspaper legend' Alan Goode

2012-02-07T13:04:00.015Z

Warm tributes in the Bristol Evening Post and the Plymouth Herald today to former Bristol United Press chief executive and editor Alan Goode who died in hospital yesterday aged 72.

Goode started in his role as chief executive at Bristol United Press in 1994, after rising through the ranks of regional journalism to become editor of the Plymouth Evening Herald.

He oversaw BUP – then the parent company of the Evening Post and Western Daily Press – as it expanded and registered record profits in the late 1990s.

Goode his first job in journalism was a trainee reporter at the Oldbury Weekly News in 1960.He had two spells at the Wolverhampton Express and Star – one as chief reporter – and a spell at the Birmingham Post and Mail before he became editor of the Evening Herald.

Former Evening Post editor Mike Lowe, who was appointed by Goode in the mid-1990s, said: "Alan was a true newspaper legend who was fortunate enough to live through the golden age of the regional industry.

"He was a brilliant newspaperman and an inspirational leader who was hugely respected by his peers. He had a great sense of fun and mischief and was incredibly loyal to his staff."

Phil Welch, editor at Mid Somerset News & Media, said: "Alan was a wonderful man, a mentor to me and a friend to many."

Alan Cooper, who was his deputy at the Herald said Goode was renowned for his "fantastic sense of humour and larger-than-life character".

He added: "I joined the Herald in the same year as Alan where I worked as his deputy editor. It was a partnership made in heaven and we became lifelong friends.

"He was such a lovely man and my admiration for him has never been diminished. "He was one of the true greats in the profession and an absolute pleasure to work with – we had a fantastic partnership.

"His fantastic sense of humour will be remembered forever. He was a wonderful journalist, a wonderful editor and a wonderful man."

In retirement, Goode returned to his journalistic roots as a community correspondent. (Pic: Plymouth Herald)

Indy backing for Paul Dacre's new press card plan

2012-02-07T08:40:00.011Z

The Independent in a leader today backs the idea, put forward at the Leveson Inquiry by Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre, that a new press body should control the issuing of press cards for journalists.

Dacre told the inquiry yesterday that the new press cards would be a kitemark for responsible journalists and those found guilty of malpractice could have their press cards withdrawn and be "struck off" in the the way the General Medical Council disciplines doctors.

The Independent leader says: "Mr Dacre was right that the idea that journalists should be licensed by the state is repellent to the fundamentals of press freedom. But there is merit in his suggestion for a body replacing, or sitting alongside, the existing Press Complaints Commission, which would be charged with the wider upholding of media standards.

"One of its functions might be the issuing of a press card which could be suspended or withdrawn from individuals who gravely breach those standards. And while some people will argue that a kitemark for professional journalism might threaten freedom of expression in an age when much news and comment originates with bloggers and social networks, there is no danger to that freedom in giving the public what might be called a quality reassurance. Some information sources are more reliable than others.

"Bodies such as the Jockey Club, the Law Society and the General Medical Council supervise their own spheres of professional activity. There is no reason why a collective of media organisations should not together do the same for journalism. The proposal has the potential to improve the standing of the industry, and act in the interests of our wider democracy."

The NUJ is likely to fiercely resist any move which would take the issuing of press cards out of its hands. The union fought hard to be classed as a "gatekeeper" under the present press card issuing system, which was brought in after the Met Police decided it no longer wanted to be responsible for issuing press cards in London.
Simon Carr in the Independent today has a pop at Robert Jay QC, the lead counsel at the Leveson Inquiry. Carr writes: "There is something in Mr Jay's manner that would start a fight in a pub. Not just the beard, or the passive combativeness. No, he insinuates mean motives into his questions, and sometimes when he finishes his question he leaves his mouth open. It hangs there, disbelievingly. Try that in the Garrick Club and you'd leave without your teeth."

First there was the custard shortage...now the Whitstable Times reveals the great bog roll theft

2012-02-07T00:00:00.003Z

From the paper that brought you the classic 'Whitstable Mum in Custard Shortage'... now the Whitstable Times is reporting on the great bog roll theft mystery.

The Times reports: "VOLUNTEERS at a community centre are getting bogged down with the theft of toilet rolls from their building. As many as 15 rolls are being taken from Whitstable Umbrella Centre each week."

According to the Times, "Staff lifted the lid on the losses in the hope of sniffing out the culprits and persuading them to stop. Otherwise, they warn, they will have to lock their loos."

Centre manager Rob Isted tells the Times: "If it's about 20p a roll and we're losing 12 to 15 rolls a week, that's about £150 a year."

A glum looking Isted is pictured at the scene of the crime pointing at an empty bog roll holder.

The Times' custard shortage tale became a sensation in the local newspaper industry and even inspired a book - 'Whitstable Mum in Custard Shortage . . . And Other World Exclusives from Britain's Finest Local Newspapers'

But my man in Kent says the Whitstable Times is facing fierce competition from stablemate the Folkestone Herald which last year revealed the scandal of the 'public loo lightbulb left on for a decade' and the 'three days out of date pasty'.

It's all happening down in Kent.

Dacre: 'Use the press card to control journalists'

2012-02-06T14:58:00.014Z

Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre told the Leveson Inquiry today that the press card should be used to prove that journalists are responsible - and taken away from those guilty of malpractice.

Dacre said that at the moment the press card "didn't mean much" and was issued by 17 different organisations.

He suggested the press card could be controlled by one body and be a "kitemark" for journalists and proof they were responsible and bona fide.

Dacre proposed that the press cards would only be issued by newspapers and magazines that had signed up to the new press body and its code and that sporting and Government organisations should only give access to journalists with press cards issued under the new system.

He also said that journalists could have their cards withdrawn if they were guilty of malpractice - in the same way the GMC strikes off doctors. "It will be the newspaper industry registering and disciplining journalists, not the state," Dacre said.

Asked by Lord Justice Leveson if the proposed press card system could cover digital, Dacre answered: "In principle yes."

Dacre ended his appearance by telling Lord Justice Leveson that the inquiry was giving the public a "very bleak and one-sided view of the press."

The NUJ is one of the leading "gatekeepers" that can issue press cards. It is unlikely to want to surrender its role to the newspaper and magazine industry as it is a major benefit of joining the union.

Parky to speak at Journalists' Charity Brum lunch

2012-02-06T10:34:00.010Z

Sir Michael Parkinson, who is celebrating his 60th year in journalism, is to be the guest speaker at a fund-raising event in Birmingham for the Journalists’ Charity.

Sir Michael has agreed to be this year’s celebrity guest at the charity’s annual lunch at The Botanical Gardens, Edgbaston, on Friday 22nd June.

The charity, formerly known as the Newspaper Press Fund, has been holding the lunch in Birmingham since 1993, raising hundreds of thousands of pounds for journalists in need. Previous speakers have included Sir Richard Branson, Sir Trevor MacDonald, Chris Tarrant, Jasper Carrott, Kate Adie and Greg Dyke.

Sir Michael started his working life aged 16 on local newspapers in Yorkshire before joining the Manchester Guardian and later the Daily Express. His early broadcasting career began as a current affairs producer at Granada Television.

Sir Michael said: “I am very much looking forward to speaking at the Journalists’ Charity lunch on 22nd June as I am celebrating 60 years in journalism.”

Laurie Upshon, the charity’s regional chairman, added: “We have always managed to attract top quality speakers to our Birmingham lunch – and they don’t come any more popular than Sir Michael. We’re very grateful that he has agreed to be with us. It’s a great coup and I am confident that it will be sold out very quickly.”

Tickets for the lunch cost £45, which includes a three-course meal, and a 10% discount is available for tables of ten booked before the end of April at £400. After April, all tickets cost £45.

For more details, contact: Laurie Upshon: (laurie@upshon.com); Steve Dann: (steve@fleetstreetconsulting.co.uk); Val Deeley: (val.deeley@live.co.uk).

Briefing Media announces £10m deal to acquire Farmers Guardian and Pulse magazine from UBM

2012-02-06T08:53:00.009Z

Briefing Media, the company founded by Neil Thackray and Rory Brown which is behind the media industry website TheMediaBriefing, announced today it has entered into an agreement to buy the Farmers Guardian and Pulse magazine from UBM for £10 million.

Farmers Guardian is the weekly newspaper and website covering the farming and agriculture sector, primarily based in Preston, and Pulse is the weekly magazine and website for general practitioners and primary healthcare professionals, based in London.

The investment was funded by the management team with support from private equity group GCP Capital Partners.

Rory Brown said: "This is a big day for us, and something we have been working towards for a long time. We see great opportunity in specialist business media markets but recognise that our world is evolving & we need to adapt with it. We look forward to working with the teams on the agriculture and primary healthcare titles as part of our expanded group."

Neil Thackray added "When we founded Briefing Media we had a vision for creating a vibrant new business to business media company. This acquisition gives us both the scale and market opportunity to accelerate that ambition. We are delighted to be acquiring assets with such excellent pedigrees and reputations in important business markets and to be working with GCP Capital Partners. This will be the first but not the last acquisition we plan to make."

Briefing Media says with the company's increased scale it can accelerate plans to development of complementary website to TheMediaBriefing.

Academy of Acting and Directing...but not spelling

2012-02-05T18:35:00.003Z

Is this a typo I see before me?

Unfortunate misspelling of science in this ad in the Islington Tribune.

Times' cycling safety campaign backed by 11,000

2012-02-04T08:05:00.005Z

The Times reports that the 11,000th person has signed up to support the paper's Cities Fit For Cycling campaign following its launch on Thursday.

The campaign promotes safer cycling in cities and was partly inspired by the plight of Times news reporter Mary Bowers who is still not conscious after an accident involving a lorry while she was cycling to work last November.

The Times has launched a public campaign and 8-point manifesto calling for cities to be made fit for cyclists:

Trucks entering a city centre should be required by law to fit sensors, audible truck-turning alarms, extra mirrors and safety bars to stop cyclists being thrown under the wheels.
The 500 most dangerous road junctions must be identified, redesigned or fitted with priority traffic lights for cyclists and Trixi mirrors that allow lorry drivers to see cyclists on their near-side.
A national audit of cycling to find out how many people cycle in Britain and how cyclists are killed or injured should be held to underpin effective cycle safety.
Two per cent of the Highways Agency budget should be earmarked for next generation cycle routes, providing £100 million a year towards world-class cycling infrastructure. Each year cities should be graded on the quality of cycling provision.
The training of cyclists and drivers must improve and cycle safety should become a core part of the driving test.
20mph should become the default speed limit in residential areas where there are no cycle lanes.
Businesses should be invited to sponsor cycleways and cycling super-highways, mirroring the Barclays-backed bicycle hire scheme in London.
Every city, even those without an elected mayor, should appoint a cycling commissioner to push home reforms. Jon Snow has backed the manifesto and says cycling has made him a better journalist.

Quotes of the Week: From News Corp to the Hoff

2012-02-03T00:01:00.003Z

News Corporation statement on the arrest of four senior Sun journalists: "News Corporation made a commitment last summer that unacceptable news gathering practices by individuals in the past would not be repeated. It commissioned the Management and Standards Committee (MSC) to undertake a review of all News International titles, regardless of cost, and to proactively co-operate with law enforcement and other authorities if potentially relevant information arose at those titles. As a result of that review, which is ongoing, the MSC provided information to the Elveden investigation which led to today's arrests."

Neville Thurlbeck on his blog: "It's sad News International had to describe the arrests of Sun men Chris Pharo, Graham Dudman, Fergus Shanahan and the legendary crime editor Mike Sullivan as, ‘draining the swamp’. Notwithstanding the allegations, this is a deeply offensive comment on nearly 100 years of journalistic excellence and dedication to News International."

Rupert Murdoch on Twitter disputes an FT report that plans for a Sun on Sunday have been put on hold because of the arrests of some of the paper's journalists: "F.T. Financial Times or Fawlty Towers? Sun on Sunday story today 100 per cent wrong."

Janet Street Porter in the Independent on Sunday: "Local television current affairs should be culled. Leave it to newspapers and online coverage. As for local radio – just because bands of people complain, it doesn't mean these stations have a meaningful audience."

NUJ organiser Chris Morley: “Stephen Hester has shown the way that most decent people in this country expect directors to act in companies that are failing to deliver growth. We need those at the top of companies such as Trinity Mirror, Newsquest and Johnston Press to show a real example and instead of thinking about their own wallets, to think instead about protecting their workforce and the overall business."

Sir Christopher Meyer defending the Press Complaints Commission at Leveson: “It’s as if you would say to the police, you’re a useless organisation because there is still crime. Or to the bishops that there is still sin. These are ridiculous arguments."

Financial Times report on Trinity Mirror chief exec Sly Bailey's pay: "Shareholders believe Ms Bailey’s pay is above her peers and that she must rebase her remuneration to recognise Trinity Mirror was now a much smaller business than when she joined nine years ago."

Stephen Glover in the Daily Mail: "I don’t suppose we’ll ever know the full truth about Gary Speed’s tragic death. That’s a pity for everyone involved. It’s not in the interests of justice or an open society. And I would suggest that, if the media and coroners’ courts get into the habit of not thoroughly examining the reasons behind the deaths of public figures, that will be a tragedy of another sort."

David Hasselhoff in the Observer: "I have fun with Twitter. When I see something in the press I think, 'Now I can respond to that garbage.' But the press isn't really that bad. My kids say: 'Dad, forget about it, it's bird paper. It doesn't mean anything.' And they're right. The time to worry is when there's no paparazzi."

Thomson Reuters' journalists plan 48-hour strike

2012-02-02T15:54:00.005Z

Journalists at Thomson Reuters are to stage a 48-hour strike – the first in more than 25 years – after being awarded a below the rate of inflation pay rise of 1.75 per cent.

The strike action, supported by 83 per cent of the NUJ members, will start at one minute past midnight on Thursday, February 9th and end at midnight on Friday, Feb 10th.

This action coincides with the release of Thomson Reuters earnings.

NUJ chapel officers, Mike Roddy and Helen Long said: “We tried very hard to reach a settlement with management but the company's refusal to improve its below-inflation offer of 1.75 per cent, which follows years of effective pay cuts, has compelled Thomson Reuters journalists to vote overwhelmingly for strike action for the first time in more than 25 years.

"Thomson Reuters must shoulder the responsibility for this dispute. The company ignored repeated warnings that members had reached a tipping point, after years of below inflation pay rises, combined with rising costs, that are pricing many members out of their jobs.

"Those with families who cannot afford to live in London are especially feeling the pain as they are forced to commute into the capital on the most expensive train lines in Europe. We hope management will now listen to its journalists and return to the table with a sensible offer to avert a costly strike.”

Barry Fitzpatrick, NUJ deputy general secretary, added: “This strike is about fairness. The management is proposing a below-inflation pay deal, while holding back money for a merit scheme. This is just not on. While our members struggle to make ends meet on their wages, the management should be putting all the money into an across the board pay increase.”

NUJ charities boost from Irish MoS 'grave robbing'

2012-02-02T14:20:00.011Z

A marketing stunt by the Irish Mail on Sunday which led readers into believing it was a special edition of the defunct Sunday Tribune has led to its publisher, Associated Newspapers, agreeing to pay €15,000 to charities nominated by the NUJ.

Associated also faces a legal bill following a court case taken by National Consumer Agency, the Irish consumer watchdog, after it published a wraparound (top) last February bearing the title Sunday Tribune when the struggling paper was in receivership.

Noirin Hegarty, the editor of the Sunday Tribune at the time, accused the Irish Mail on Sunday of being "shameless" and "grave robbing".

Judge Conal Gibbon, in a reserved judgment at Dublin district court, found that the Irish Mail on Sunday had deceived or misled customers. However, he found the company not guilty of having intended to deceive or mislead under the Consumer Protection Act 2007. He said it was “clear how a person could believe it was the Sunday Tribune”.

The National Consumer Agency alleged that the Mail on Sunday had breached the Consumer Protection Act with the four-page wraparound covering its issue of February 6th last year. It alleged that that the paper had broken the Act by deliberately deceiving or misleading the consumer and by promoting its own product in a way that would deceive or mislead the consumer.

The Mail on Sunday argued it was a legitimate marketing tactic.

The company was prosecuted by the National Consumer Agency following a series of complaints from members of the public, including Séamus Dooley, Irish Secretary of the NUJ. Five consumers gave evidence of buying the special editions thinking they were the Tribune.

Judge Gibbons accepted a plea by counsel for Associated Newspapers that the Probation Act should be applied. The court ruled that the Mail on Sunday should pay €15,000 to charities chosen by the NUJ and applied the Probation of Offenders Act. This means that a conviction will not now be recorded. Associated Newspapers has also been ordered to meet the prosecution’s costs and the expenses of witnesses – totalling €25,000 – within four weeks.

Séamus Dooley, who passed on the cheques from Associated Newspaper to the NUJ, said he was tricked into buying the Mail on Sunday twice, after buying it and the fake Sunday Tribune, which turned out to be a copy of the Mail. He described the Irish Mail on Sunday’s edition as “crass” and said it was as if the paper was “dancing on the graves of my members facing redundancies”.

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said: “This ruling is of little consolation to the Sunday Tribune workers but it is nevertheless welcome. The Mail showed total disregard for the Sunday Tribune workers and acted in an insensitive manner.”

Two NUJ charities, NUJ Extra and the George Viner Memorial Fund, have each received €7,500, following the judge’s ruling.

Times' cycling safety campaign highlights plight of paper's reporter still not conscious after accident

2012-02-02T08:51:00.014Z

The Times' impressive front page campaign to make cities safe for cyclists highlights the case of one of its own news reporters - Mary Bowers - who was injured in a cycling accident on the way to work last November and is still not conscious.

Kaya Burgess, a friend and colleague of Bowers, writes in The Times today: "The reality with any major issue is that it only truly touches you when it comes close to home. However regularly you may cycle on Britain’s city streets and however aware you are of the risks of doing so, it is not until you have seen one of your closest friends and colleagues stretchered off the tarmac from beneath the wheels of a lorry only yards from the office that the vulnerability of cyclists hits home.

"Mary Bowers is a news reporter at The Times. She joined the paper as a graduate trainee in September 2009, though her beaming smile and effusive personality were common sights around the office from previous roles as a researcher on the comment and foreign desks.

"With a passion for social affairs investigations and witty features, she has a writing style that is as distinctive as her sharp, quirky dress sense. She also has a remarkable singing voice, and it is an honour to have been one of those lucky enough to perform with her on several occasions in the folk clubs of London.

"Yet it is only by a hair’s breadth that we are still able to talk about Mary in the present tense. Her survival to this point, now almost three months since her accident in London at 9.30am on Friday, November 4, is down to the passers-by who stopped and called the emergency services.

"It is down to the paramedics who arrived on the scene within three minutes, to the fire crews who cut Mary and her mangled bike from beneath the wheels of the lorry, and to the doctors and nurses in the intensive care unit of one of the city’s busiest hospitals. But Mary cannot thank them herself. Not yet. Not for a long time. Possibly never. Because, though she is stable, Mary is still not conscious and remains in a trauma unit. Her broken legs, arm and pelvis are slowly healing, but other damage sustained during complications in her treatment, almost inevitable after so traumatic an injury, will be far harder to overcome, though she is making slow progress.

"There are also people Mary would not want to thank. There are the authorities who have neglected to ensure that junctions like those on The Highway in Wapping — or countless others where cyclists have been maimed and killed in Britain — are made safe for cars, lorries and cyclists to co-exist safely.

"Mary, a news reporter, would be first to ask why it is not mandatory for lorries driving on city streets to be fitted with sensors and mirrors to pick up cyclists in their blind spots. Or why training for cyclists and drivers on how to share the road responsibly is so poor. Or why some junctions are so dangerous that jumping a red light can actually be a safer option than lining up alongside HGVs at the lights like a racetrack starting grid. Or why London trails so far behind cities such as Amsterdam and Copenhagen in terms of the infrastructure and legislation to protect vulnerable cyclists and to help the drivers who are trying to avoid them."

Readers are urged to pledge their support for The Times' make cities safe for cyclists campaign; show their support on Twitter with #cyclesafe; and write to their MPs.
The campaign is outside The Times' paywall.

It's not just the NUJ unhappy at Sly Bailey's pay

2012-02-01T22:25:00.018Z

The Financial Times reports that Trinity Mirror is facing renewed pressure to rein in the pay of its chief executive Sly Bailey (pictured) from some of the biggest shareholders in the media group.

It says the shareholders will set out their mounting unhappiness over the pay of one of the UK’s highest-profile media executives when Trinity Mirror’s incoming chairman David Grigson holds a series of meetings with key investors.

The FT says: "Shareholders believe Ms Bailey’s pay is above her peers and that she must rebase her remuneration to recognise Trinity Mirror was now a much smaller business than when she joined nine years ago."

One top 10 shareholder said the size of Ms Bailey’s pay was “just not tenable," reports the FT. “It is out of kilter with the group’s performance and current size. It is premature to say we are demanding her head but we are looking at it all very keenly,” the shareholder said.

A second top ten shareholder said: “Sly hasn’t got a great many supporters now – not when she has lost so much and is so well paid.” A third added they planned to raise the issue of pay when meeting Mr Grigson, a former finance director at Reuters.

Yesterday, the NUJ criticised Bailey's pay after it was announced 75 jobs are to go at the Mirror and People. (See post below)

NUJ anger at axing of 75 jobs at Mirror and People

2012-02-01T17:29:00.006Z

The NUJ has condemned the axing of 75 jobs at Trinity Mirror’s national newspaper titles – the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and the People.

In a shock announcement this afternoon staff across all three titles were summoned to a meeting to be told of the cuts, which will see the centralisation of subbing and production across all titles and the pooling of features and news.

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said: “These cuts represent a depressingly familiar tale at Trinity Mirror. Rather than invest in quality products – and continue to build on recent growth in circulation on the Sunday titles – the strategy is to cut jobs and compromise quality journalism. Where is the strategy for growth and the future? Journalists are paying with their jobs for the corporate mismanagement and incompetence of Sly Bailey and her senior executives – yet still they continue to award themselves lavish pay.”

The NUJ says the cuts comes after the total directors’ pay and pensions bill for Trinity Mirror last year was £3.9million - £1.3million of which was cash bonuses. Of that, Sly Bailey's package of pay and pensions was a staggering £1.7m, including a cash bonus of £660k.

It also points out the share price for Trinity Mirror today is 48p whereas 12 months ago it was 90p.

The NUJ says it will be organising meetings of members to discuss the union’s response.

FT story on Sunday Sun was Fawlty, says Murdoch

2012-02-01T07:56:00.005Z

Rupert Murdoch was not impressed by the Financial Times' story that the launch of a Sunday version of the Sun has been put on hold following the arrests of some of the paper's journalists - and tweeted his displeasure, comparing The Pink 'Un to a well known comedy.

Speculation is that a Sun on Sunday is planned for a launch at the end of April.

World Economic Forum dominates news agenda

2012-02-01T00:01:00.002Z

The World Economic Forum in Davos dominated the news for the week ending Sunday 29 January, according to journalisted.

The Forum in Davos, addressed by David Cameron and other global leaders, generated 441 articles; Spurs manager Harry Redknapp on trial accused of cheating the public revenue, 198 articles; RBS chief executive Stephen Hester under pressure to give up his bonus, 192 articles; the government loses a vote on a benefits cap, 138 articles; the Leveson Inquiry continues, with witnesses from the BBC, ITN, social networks and pressure groups, 130 articles; and Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich campaign for the Republican presidential nomination ahead of the Florida primary, 113 articles.

Covered Little, according to journalisted, Tibetans are shot dead in clashes with Chinese forces, 14 articles; four stand for Plaid Cymru leadership, 6 articles; former Scottish Socialist leader, Tommy Sheridan, is released from prison amid claims of a 'gagging order', 5 articles; and Khaled Meshaal, exiled Hamas political leader, opts not to seek re-election, 3 articles.

Murdoch biographer Wolff joins Guardian in US

2012-01-31T21:12:00.007Z

Michael Wolff, the outspoken biographer of Rupert Murdoch, is joining the Guardian in the US to cover media, tech, publishing and politics.

Wolff is a columnist for Vanity Fair, wrote the biography of Rupert Murdoch The Man Who Owns the News, and was editorial director of Adweek.

Wolff tweeted: "Yup. Hanging my hat at the Guardian."

Wolff has predicted: "Leveson reform could well produce US-style newspapers in UK. Of course US-style newspapers have all gone (or will shortly go) bankrupt."

Pic: Jon Slattery

When the NUJ lorded it - and Snowdon had to join

2012-01-31T12:45:00.005Z

One of the interesting exhibits on show at the Saatchi Gallery's celebration of 50 years of The Sunday Times Magazine (see post below) is an application by Lord Snowdon to join the NUJ (top).

When Snowdon was appointed artistic adviser to the magazine in February 1962 he had to join a union because the Sunday Times was a closed shop.

Initially he applied to join the NUJ as a full member but this would have given him voting rights which might have proved awkward as he was married to Princess Margaret at the time.

A compromise was reached and he became a non-voting associate member of the NUJ.

Marking 50 years of The Sunday Times Magazine

2012-01-31T12:21:00.008Z

An exhibition celebrating 50 years of The Sunday Times Magazine has opened at the Saatchi Gallery in London.

It features work by many of the great photographers published in the magazine since its launch in February 1962. They include Don McCullin, David Bailey, Eve Arnold, Snowdon, Richard Avedon, Eugene Richards and Sam Taylor-Wood.

The exhibition also highlights contributors such as Ian Fleming, VS Naipaul, Bruce Chatwin, Jilly Cooper, Nicholas Tomalin, James Fox and Zoe Heller.

When the first issue of The Sunday Times Magazine was published, the then owner of the paper, Roy Thomson, remarked: "My God, this is going to be a disaster."

But the readers liked it, and the magazine is said to have added 250,000 sales to the Sunday Times.

A special isasue of the magazine will be published by the Sunday Times next Sunday. (Feb 5)

The exhibition runs until February 19.

'Nevermind RBS, what about the media fat cats?'

2012-01-31T09:54:00.006Z

Following the row over RBS chief executive Stephen Hester's bonus payments, the NUJ is turning its guns on the bumper rewards paid to executives in large media companies.

The NUJ today declared that public outrage directed at RBS should now be aimed at directors of the Trinity Mirror media group, who it says are pocketing more than £1.3 million a year - equivalent to 50 journalist jobs - at a time when editorial staff are facing another pay freeze and 700 job have gone in a year.

The NUJ says there can be no excuses for excessive bonus payments in the media industry and the money should be used to save jobs.

It claims the total directors’ pay and pensions bill for Trinity Mirror last year was £3.9million - £1.3million of which was cash bonuses - and chief executive Sly Bailey's package of pay and pensions was £1.7m, including a cash bonus of £660k.

Chris Morley, NUJ organiser said: “Stephen Hester has shown the way that most decent people in this country expect directors to act in companies that are failing to deliver growth. We need those at the top of companies such as Trinity Mirror, Newsquest and Johnston Press to show a real example and instead of thinking about their own wallets, to think instead about protecting their workforce and the overall business.

“Bonuses need to be earned and where that is in doubt the money should go to keeping up the resources of editorial departments across each business - not a race to the trough where rewards are showered on those who have done little to earn them.”

Press Gazette declares Feb 8 'Journalism Day'

2012-01-31T08:12:00.008Z

In a bid to restore journalism's battered image, Press Gazette is urging journalists to send in a snapshot of their work - in newspapers and magazines, TV and radio, and online - to record a 24-hour news cycle, from 6am Wednesday 8 February, to 6am the next day.

The idea is to declare 'News-Day'and record a day in the life of British journalism over a 24-hour period.

Journalists are asked to send in a summary - 100 to 500 words - describing what they did during the 24 hours: news jobs, stories, features, photos, mishaps, interviews, events, meetings, humour, even an office party.

Overseas journalists supplying British news media are also asked to contribute.

Press Gazette contributing editor John Dale, ex-editor of Take a Break, says PG will publish its News-Day special report in the March issue, with coverage also appearing online.

He says: "It will give an unprecedented insight into the role and the dimensions of the news industry across Britain and Ireland, how we really work, how we enrich our society and culture, and how we make a huge difference to the lives of every man, woman and child, on an hour-by-hour basis.

"It will be entertaining, enlightening and intriguing and, at this time when journalism is under profound scrutiny, point to answers to the questions being raised at Lord Justice Leveson’s inquiry. But we are not doing it for him. We are doing it for ourselves out of the pride we take in doing the greatest job in the world."

Contributions (as soon as possible after Feb 8) should be emailed to johnkdale@msn.com.
To follow the action on the day on Twitter, use the hashtag #news_day.

'Scrap local tv news and leave it to newspapers and online coverage': says Janet Street Porter

2012-01-30T09:28:00.007Z

Janet Street Porter has called for local television news to be scrapped and for local coverage to be left to newspapers and online.

Writing in the Independent on Sunday, the former BBC television executive argues: "Local television current affairs should be culled. Leave it to newspapers and online coverage. As for local radio – just because bands of people complain, it doesn't mean these stations have a meaningful audience.

"The BBC is still guilty of massive over-staffing in news and current affairs. Why do we have to have a completely different hourly news bulletin on Radio 3 from Radio 4? News is news. Local bulletins are necessary only twice a day in drivetime.

"The current local regions are so large as to be pointless. Community radio and television broadcast online and staffed by special interest groups is the only way forward. That way I can watch my council meetings on my laptop."

Street-Porter is scathing about her experience of local tv news: "Look North, in Yorkshire? It is appalling, presented by a weird-looking bunch of people with zero charisma. At 10.15 it regularly features just three items covering a huge part of the UK. In Kent, South East Today has an equally random pick-and-mix agenda that tries and fails to cover a region ranging from wealthy bits of East Sussex to poverty-stricken Sheppey."

Guardian reveals latest 'open journalism' phase

2012-01-30T09:08:00.005Z

The Guardian has today unveiled the next phase in its experiment in "open journalism" - following its move last October to publish its daily news list - by launching a new live blogging platform Newsdesk Live.

Newsdesk Live is hosted by Polly Curtis, the Guardian journalist who has been running the paper's Reality Check blog.

It will incorporate the open news list, but will also feature a live comment thread allowing readers to discuss what's going on directly rather than having to do so via Twitter.

For the period of the experiment, Polly Curtis is joining the national newdesk to work alongside other UK editors to help feed ideas from readers back into the newsgathering process.

Blossom water vs cheap cuts: In hard times what does a Guardian reader have left in the cupboard?

2012-01-30T08:35:00.013Z

In this new age of austerity the readers' editor of the Guardian has taken up complaints about the paper featuring luxury fashion goods and expensive food.

Chris Elliott in his Open Door column today highlights a letter from a Guardian reader who asked: "What is blossom water and pistachio halva?" (which were both listed as ingredients for a salad scheherazade featured in some free recipe cards offered by the Guardian).

The reader suggested: "In these straitened times we need recipe cards for cheap cuts of meat like ox cheek, brawn and breast of lamb, recipes that our parents might have used, not those that need a trip to a big city to gather their ingredients … none of which, I suggest, would be found in an average reader's cupboard."

Elliott writes that readers have been making "irritable noises" in these difficult economic times about the Guardian's coverage of food, fashion, gadgets and cars.

He adds: "Last September, after the price of the Saturday Guardian rose to £2.10, one reader said she felt the paper was good value 'compared with £2.99 for a card from WH Smith … But then you go and fill the Weekend magazine with pictures of expensive tat, culminating in four pages entitled Vital Extras. Personally, I have never considered kitten heels or a handbag vital, let alone those costing £425 and £1,700 respectively.'

"One interesting division between readers and journalists is that the former, when they complain, tend to feel that coverage means a recommendation. The latter strongly disagree."

Various section editors tell Elliott that just because they write about expensive items doesn't mean they are instructing readers to go out and buy them.

Jess Cartner-Morley, the Guardian's fashion editor, says: "There are a variety of factors influencing what product we feature. Price is one. But newness, originality, desirability, usefulness, availability, suitability for different ages and ethical production credentials are others. Fashion pages are not merely shopping lists."

Elliott concludes: "These are all good and valid reasons for covering subjects that represent major industries or major areas of interest for readers, and Guardian coverage of them has been appreciated by the overwhelming majority of readers hitherto. But a further prolonged period of austerity may bring a change in outlook."

How the Mail become biggest newspaper on web

2012-01-27T09:19:00.010Z

Ex-Guardian technology correspondent Bobbie Johnson has written an article on GigaOM on the reasons why the Daily Mail has become the biggest newspaper on the web.

Johnson writes: "There is no secret formula, just a lot of hustle and plenty of shamelessness. Anyone who thinks the Mail can show them how to succeed in online news must understand its increasing prominence has been the result of editorial choices that not everybody will be prepared to emulate."

He argues: "The core of the Mail’s success is down to its planet-sized ambition and incredibly aggressive approach to the news...the paper is entirely unashamed by its desire to win at all costs. That tone is set right from the top with rapacious editor-in-chief Paul Dacre, who retains an iron grip over the paper’s output and is regarded as one of the shrewdest — and most vindictive — editors around."

Johnson praises MailOnline's broad approach, saying: "Headlines and stories are often written in such a way that the stories transcend location, class and gender."

He adds its editorial trademark is jaw-dropping, salacious headlines (“Swinging couple in drug-fuelled orgy with sex partner sprayed him with bear repellent after he refused to let them take explicit photos”); paparazzi shots of attractive women and fame-hungry celebrities, often in various states of undress; and a constant stream of stories about personal health.

Johnson says the other big factors in MailOnline's success is that it is free and has the financial support from its corporate parent.

He concludes: "While upmarket audiences and rivals sniff at it, the rest of the world, it seems, couldn’t care less. and in a media industry that is struggling, it is not hard to imagine some who are looking at what the Daily Mail has achieved and thinking they can do the same."

Judy Shields post on Johnson's article: "The writer of this article goes in for the same kind of over-the-top, selective BS which he complains about…in the end the Daily Mail is successful because it’s put together by proper news journalists – ones who are extremely professional, well motivated, and well paid. No amount of ranting by jealous bloggers will change this. There’s no substitute for professional, mainstream, quality journalism."

Media Quotes of the Week: From the Sun to rise on Sunday to should Leveson ban page 3 girls?

2012-01-27T00:01:00.006Z

Tom Watson MP in a tweet: "A News Corp source tells me Rupert Murdoch has seen the draft designs of the Sunday Sun with a launch in April at a discounted price."

Guardian readers' editor Chris Elliott on reader reaction to the new slimmed down paper: "Among those who feel the changes most keenly are the readers who have taken the paper for 40, 50 or even 60 years, who are more likely to be subscribers; they feel they are either being pushed towards reading online or subsidising the digital Guardian."

Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger on the changes to the newspaper: "We are not disguising the fact that we have brought the paper down in size. But in fact the total universe of what we are doing is expanding, not shrinking. We publish much more but decisions about limited resources are difficult; there is a fine balance between the production and expense of print versus digital."

Johnston Press chief executive Ashley Highfield interviewed in InPublishing: “The fundamental aspect of the business is that every newspaper in the group has a healthy margin over 20 per cent and all up the business is very profitable. The challenge is, can you migrate that business into the digital realm quickly enough before profits decline.”

Johann Hari on his decision not to return to the Independent: "I’d like to thank the Independent for the privilege of working for them over the past nine years, and for offering me my job back, starting in a few weeks. But after nearly six months living in New York City, and plenty of time to reflect, I’ve decided to not take them up on their kind offer."

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, on the BBC cuts: “Local radio is for some sections of the population, particularly the elderly, a lifeline. I am pleased that the BBC Trust has made this small concession, but it has obviously not listened to the concerns of the many others who took part in the consultation. These cuts, which will result in the loss of 2,000 jobs, on top of the 7,000 jobs lost since 2004, will severely damage the quality of the service provided by the BBC. It will damage its ability to produce quality creative programming and investigative journalism. It will damage its function as a public service broadcaster."

Reporters Without Borders press freedom index: "Despite universal condemnation, the UK clings to a surreal law that allows the entire world to come and sue news media before its courts."

Jon Snow in his Hugh Cudlipp lecture at the London College of Communication: "We journalists are not a breed apart – we must be of the world we report. The hacking scandal reveals an echelon of hacks who removed themselves from the world in which the rest of us live – they took some weird pleasure in urinating on our world."

Clare Short in the Independent: "Tabloid vilification helped kill off a debate that would have forced Page 3 images out of British newspapers and perhaps obliged the media to behave and report in a less sexist way. Twenty-six years on, Lord Leveson should seriously consider the case that has been made."

The only way to fight company pay freeze is to go on strike say NUJ Newsquest Essex journalists

2012-01-26T14:39:00.007Z

NUJ members at Newsquest South East Essex plan to take strike action next month over a pay freeze.

Members of the chapel voted overwhelmingly in favour (90.5%) of the strike action and action short of a strike (95.2%) on the grounds that the company had introduced another pay freeze.

The industrial action will consist of a two-weeks work to rule, starting on Monday 30 January followed by three days of strike action starting on Monday 13 February.

The NUJ claims staff were due a pay rise in January this year but were told this would not be given and would be reviewed again in June, without any guarantee that any pay rises will be given then.

If no pay awards are made in 2012 the NUJ says it will be the third year in four that Newsquest journalists’ salaries have stood still.

Sally King, MoC of the Newsquest South Essex chapel, said: "No one wants to take this action. It is a reflection of the deep disappointment and genuine concern about their ability to pay bills that members feel, that they voted this way.

"By freezing pay - and even when a rise is offered keeping it well below inflation - it seems members of staff are being penalised for their loyalty.

"The chapel is also disappointed to hear management has told non-unionised members of editorial team at the Echo and its sister papers, the Colchester Gazette, Thurrock Gazette and Chelmsford and Brentwood Weekly News, that they will be awarded overtime payments for working 10-hour shifts during the strike action."

New boss Highfield on future of Johnston Press

2012-01-26T12:35:00.012Z

Fascinating interview with new Johnston Press boss Ashley Highfield (pictured) by Ray Snoddy in the latest issue of InPublishing which is also online.

Highfield tells Snoddy: “The fundamental aspect of the business is that every newspaper in the group has a healthy margin over 20 per cent and all up the business is very profitable. The challenge is, can you migrate that business into the digital realm quickly enough before profits decline.”

Highfield's appointement as Johnston chief executive last year raised eyebrows because he has no newspaper experience but had made his name in digital working for the BBC and Microsoft.

He tells Snoddy: “Yes I have absolutely no previous newspaper experience but the board had already made the decision that the future of Johnston Press lay in moving the organisation beyond print and that was explained to me in the first sentence.

“Not closing down print but moving beyond an almost entirely solus print operation.”

Snoddy says it is believed that the name of Ashley Highfield was raised the last time Johnston was looking for a new chief executive two years ago but the former chairman Freddy Johnston, then on the board, argued that the job should go to someone with newspaper experience. Highfield was never contacted and the job went instead to John Fry.

Highfield tells Snoddy: “I have learned a great deal from the BBC and Microsoft about the importance of process. Microsoft was particularly instructive. There was a reason why it’s the world’s most profitable company because it manages itself so well and so effectively and I am certainly hoping to bring across that discipline into my current job.”

Snoddy asks: "That presumably means more jobs will go at Johnston Press?"

He adds: "Too early to comment on that insists Highfield, although for 2011, like-for-like cost savings are expected to total £20 million - a process that is likely to continue."

As for the future, Highfield says: “I think within three years, I would expect all our titles, our brands to have a healthy, growing audience when looked at across print and online and to be profitable.

“I would also expect in three years to have confounded those who said this was a sunset industry and, along the way, thus transforming the share price."

IC: It would be 'phenomenal undertaking' to contact all those named in the Motorman files

2012-01-26T11:20:00.012Z

Information Commissioner Christopher Graham told the Leveson Inquiry today it would be a "phenomenal undertaking" to contact all those named in the Operation Motorman files as having been targets of private investigators acting for newspapers.

But he said individuals were able to make legal access requests for information.

Graham told Leveson that some of the information covered by Operation Motorman was "deeply obscure" and not everyone named was a famous celebrity.

Campaign group Hacked Off had written to Graham asking him to inform the thousands of people who are listed in the Operation Motorman files held by the Information Commissioner's Office as having been the targets of apparently illicit searches, including criminal-records checks, vehicle-registration inquiries and information 'blags'. (See post below)

The Hacked Off letter to Graham says: "We are writing to ask you to take steps to notify those who were subjects of data-mining by the national press where you are in possession of such knowledge by virtue of the information that you obtained in Operation Motorman. Such individuals should be told that information had been sought on them, possibly illegally; what information that was; and who (newspaper and journalist) procured it."

Graham told Leveson that a number of individuals have had access to the Motorman files as a result of court orders and "subject access requests" could be made via lawyers.

He suggested that to contact some people named in the files but about whom there was very little detail could be a greater breach of privacy because people would think "there's no smoke without fire".

Independent: 'Press faces new wave of legal action if Operation Motorman victims are named by ICO'

2012-01-26T09:05:00.012Z

News organisations responsible for more than 17,000 dubious personal information checks carried out by a disgraced private detective could face civil litigation under plans to notify victims that they were targeted, the Independent reports today.

It says Christopher Graham, the Information Commissioner, is facing a legal challenge to release details of victims identified in Operation Motorman, the investigation into the activities of private eye Steve Whittamore, who was convicted of illegally accessing personal data in 2005.

The Independent adds: "Acting on legal advice, the campaign group Hacked Off has written to Mr Graham, demanding he inform the thousands of people who are listed in Whittamore files held by the Information Commissioner's Office as having been the targets of apparently illicit searches, including criminal-records checks, vehicle-registration inquiries and information 'blags'.

"Newspaper groups have in recent months been given access to the files by the ICO. In its letter, seen by the Independent, Hacked Off argues that targets should be notified so they have an opportunity to challenge claims by the news groups that the searches were done in the public interest."

The Independent claims: "If the ICO refuses to notify the people who were targeted by Whittamore, Hacked Off and its supporters will likely seek to have that decision subjected to judicial review."

The Independent revealed in September that Whittamore's targets included victims of some of the worst crimes from the past 15 years.
You can read the Hacked Off letter to the ICO here.
Christopher Graham told the Leveson Inquiry today it would be a 'phenomenal undertaking' to contact all those named in the Motorman files.

UK's rating falls in RWB press freedom index

2012-01-26T00:01:00.003Z

The United Kingdom has dropped to 28th in the Reporters Without Borders annual International Press Freedom Index.

The press freedom campaign group raises concerns about the way the Government responded to last year's riots by threatening social media and urging tv companies to hand over unbroadcast film.

It is also concerned over moves to protect privacy in the UK and the country's continued role as a centre for libel tourism.

In 2010/2011, the UK was ranked 19th in the RWB Press Freedom Index.

RWB says: "Against the extraordinary backdrop of the News of the World affair, the United Kingdom caused concern with its approach to the protection of privacy and its response to the London riots.

"Despite universal condemnation, the UK also clings to a surreal law that allows the entire world to come and sue news media before its courts."

In the wake of the riots in the UK, Reporters Without Borders voiced concerns about police being provided with personal data of BlackBerry Messenger service users and possible restrictions on social media. It urged the British authorities to rule out any possibility of shutting down or drastically restricting the use of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

RWB also come out against David Cameron's request that tv companies should give police unbroadcast riot film, claiming: "this would turn them into police auxiliaries and seriously endanger their independence".

RWB says in a review of the index: “Crackdown was the word of the year in 2011. Never has freedom of information been so closely associated with democracy. Never have journalists, through their reporting, vexed the enemies of freedom so much. Never have acts of censorship and physical attacks on journalists seemed so numerous. The equation is simple: the absence or suppression of civil liberties leads necessarily to the suppression of media freedom. Dictatorships fear and ban information, especially when it may undermine them.

“It is no surprise that the same trio of countries, Eritrea, Turkmenistan and North Korea, absolute dictatorships that permit no civil liberties, again occupy the last three places in the index. This year, they are immediately preceded at the bottom by Syria, Iran and China, three countries that seem to have lost contact with reality as they have been sucked into an insane spiral of terror, and by Bahrain and Vietnam, quintessential oppressive regimes. Other countries such as Uganda and Belarus have also become much more repressive.

“This year’s index finds the same group of countries at its head, countries such as Finland, Norway and Netherlands that respect basic freedoms. This serves as a reminder that media independence can only be maintained in strong democracies and that democracy needs media freedom."

NUJ welcomes reduction in planned BBC local radio cuts but still wants licence fee renegotiated

2012-01-25T16:30:00.005Z

The NUJ has welcomed the BBC’s Trust move to reverse some of the cuts to local radio, but says its interim findings on Delivering Quality First, the director general’s plans to cut BBC funding by 20 per cent, do not go far enough and has called again for the licence fee to be renegotiated.

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said: “Local radio is for some sections of the population, particularly the elderly, a lifeline. I am pleased that the BBC Trust has made this small concession, but it has obviously not listened to the concerns of the many others who took part in the consultation.

"These cuts, which will result in the loss of 2,000 jobs, on top of the 7,000 jobs lost since 2004, will severely damage the quality of the service provided by the BBC. It will damage its ability to produce quality creative programming and investigative journalism. It will damage its function as a public service broadcaster.

"I am also amazed that the Trust is happy to agree to the 40 per cent cuts at the Asian Network, a launchpad for new Asian talent. Fifteen posts will go by 2013 and the news team will move out of Leicester to London. The Trust appears to have rubberstamped the BBC’s management plans, without listening to the concerns made in the consultation.

“The scandal is that the reason why the corporation is forced to make these cuts is because of the shocking deal, made behind closed doors, by Mark Thompson. He agreed to freeze the license fee until 2017, while agreeing to take on extra responsibilities, such as the World Service, which will cost an extra £340 million. NUJ research shows that licence fee payers are prepared to pay more to prevent a downgrading of the service. It is vital that the license fee settlement is renegotiated.”

The Trust’s interim report largely backs the DQF proposals, however it has asked the BBC management to scale back plans to make local radio stations share afternoon shows, to review plans to cut Radio 5 Live’s weekly current affairs and has asked for a rethink on the plans to merge the BBC’s local current affairs programme Inside Out, which faced cuts of 40 per cent, into super regions.

Costa Concordia disaster dominates national press

2012-01-24T17:33:00.005Z

The Costa Concordia disaster dominated the national press for the week ending Sunday 22 January, according to journalisted.

Costa Concordia running aground off the Italian coast, generated 413 articles; Newt Gingrich wins the Republican primary in South Carolina, 210 articles; Labour faces union criticism of its stance on cuts, 202 articles; the Leveson Inquiry continues, 169 articles; and Michael Gove calls for a new royal yacht to celebrate the Jubilee, 111 articles.

Covered little, according to journalisted, were China faces an economic growth slowdown, 19 articles; Croatia votes to join the EU, 13 articles; Arab League calls for Syrian reform, 10 articles; final results in Egyptian parliamentary elections show victory for Islamist parties, 5 articles; China sees 'dragon baby' boom, 4 articles; and Jon Huntsman withdraws from the GOP presidential nomination race, 3 articles.

Call for digital entries for Amnesty media awards

2012-01-24T14:37:00.010Z

Amnesty International UK is looking for entries for its digital media awards which show new and creative ways to bring human rights issues to growing online audiences.

There is more information on how to enter here.

The digital award forms part of the 2012 Amnesty International Media Awards which also has categories for documentary; Gaby Rado Memorial Award; international tv and radio; magazines; national newspapers; nations and regions; photojournalism; radio; television news and student award.

Last year's digital winner at the Amnesty awards was the Bureau Of Investigative Journalism: Iraq War Logs.

Redknapp tax trial is dogged by tabloid headlines

2012-01-24T08:51:00.009Z

Newspapers are usually careful about how they headline court cases but the Mirror and Sun could not help themselves when it was revealed in the Harry Redknapp tax trial that the Spurs manager had named a Monaco bank account after his dog.

Even the Independent joined in with its front page teaser "How much has that doggy got in Monaco?" (top).

Jon Snow: 'Phone hacking journalists took some weird pleasure in urinating on our world'

2012-01-24T00:01:00.001Z

Channel 4 News anchor Jon Snow was scathing about journalists who hacked phones when giving this year's Hugh Cudlipp Lecture at the London College of Communication last night.

Snow made a plea for media bosses to let their journalists get out in the real world, claiming: "We journalists are not a breed apart – we must be of the world we report. The hacking scandal reveals an echelon of hacks who removed themselves from the world in which the rest of us live – they took some weird pleasure in urinating on our world."

"Bosses must carve out time for journalists to get out of the newsroom," he said. "Leveson should recommend many of the people and institutions that have been before him find a way of allowing their staff to get stuck into the real world, it will vastly improve and deepen their journalism.

Snow gave an upbeat view of the media future, claiming: "We are poised for the golden age of journalism.

He said: "For the first time since Caxton, Alexander Graham Bell, Marconi, or Logie Baird – the entire media has been liberated; liberated in a way that allows the reader, viewer, listener the true capacity to answer back.

"We are in the age of answer back, better still we are in the age in which ‘we the people’ have their greatest opportunity ever to influence the information agenda…But above all we are in the age of more. More potential to get it right, to get it fast, to get it in depth. We have that illusive entity ‘the level playing field’; we can compete on equal terms and yet be the best. Sure, we are justifiably scared of ‘we the people’ – where will they lead us – we want control, order.

"Fear not! Our editorial control remains. It’s just that we no longer live in a vacuum – unknowing of the effect of our reporting. We know more about how to interest our consumers, how to engage, and what effect what we do have upon them.

"We can detect them switching on or off. We can see their comments surge on Facebook or Twitter: – they interact – they augment – and if we are open enough, we learn. In short, the democratisation of information through the web is providing journalists with opportunity to enter the gateway to the golden age."

Snow added: "So how do we make money out of our dawning golden age? Well not by selling newspapers, that’s clear. I believe it unlikely that many people will be turning paper pages in a decade’s time. But the brands will live on in our golden age."

In his lecture, Snow said there was no evidence anyone was harmed by revelations from WikiLeaks. "The Americans told us that WikiLeaks would result in the deaths of many agents and informers. Are we to suppose that if even one had died the Americans would not have broadcast the fact to prove their case? How about a challenge: I believe there is no evidence that anyone has died from a WikiLeak. WikiLeaks told us what we know: the most extraordinary quantity of stuff is kept from the citizenry because it’s easier that way – it’s the culture."

On Leveson, he argued: "Our secretive society is being opened up. Our media society is being opened up with it. If the Leveson Inquiry does nothing else it reveals the questionable values of key elements of the tabloid press – to the grave detriment of the very fine work that is done by other elements of that same tabloid press that help keep sport, politics, and business straight. Well instanced by both the cricket fixing story and key aspects of the Stephen Lawrence investigation. The tabloid street is not one way – but when it reaches the gutter it is devoid of proportion, care, and all too often, truth."

On regulation, Snow praised the way Ofcom had regulated broadcasting, claiming "they have done an excellent job regulating my end of television: firm, fair, intelligent" and asked: "What are these print guys afraid of – if their story is right, is justified, they have nothing to fear from a regulator.

"Even the most hardened of tabloid journalists must have been, mortified, embarrassed, even shocked at the rubbish that has tipped across Leveson’s desk; what age do these supposed journalists and editors, the agents of this stuff live in… what lives do they live?"

He said: "I see no reason why print journalism wouldn’t benefit from a credible regulator in the same way TV has. Alas thus far they have not enjoyed a credible regulator. I’m not suggesting Ofcom should take over. But an independent system with its own powers to investigate wrong-doing seems an essential given what has gone wrong in the past couple of decades.

"It should be at well over arms length from Government, exclude any serving editors from its ranks, and probably - a very long way down the line have recourse to the law to enforce its will. But I would hope that the mere spectre of the law would be enough to sort things out.

"By the way the establishment of the regulatory system should be accompanied by the wholesale abolition of the UK’s current libel laws and any recasting to ensure both free speech and the rights of the individual – it could probably be achieved within the Human Rights Act.

"If we can practice cutting edge journalism on television with regulation I see no reason why an Ofcom style regulator, although not necessarily an identical system, with full access for public complaint - should not be perfectly applicable to the print world too."

Ben Bryant, a City University journalism graduate, won this year's Cudlipp Student Journalist Award for features about gang culture published in the London Evening Standard. He is now with the Telegraph.

MP Tom Watson says Sunday Sun for April launch

2012-01-23T12:02:00.005Z

Tom Watson, the MP who has led the tough questioning over phone hacking, tweeted today that a News Corp source has told him the company is set to launch a Sunday version of the Sun to replace the News of the World in April.

New look Guardian: What the readers think so far

2012-01-23T09:06:00.012Z

Interesting Open Door column in the Guardian today on what reader reaction has been to the new smaller - or "streamlined" - newspaper.

Readers' editor Chris Elliott notes: "As I write more than 1,400 readers have been in touch via email and phone. There is more lament than downright anger among the bulk of those who responded. The majority of the responses are complaints, or demands for further explanation for specific changes. Most pertain to highly compartmentalised bits of the paper, rather than to the generality of change. High on the list are changes to the cryptic crossword, daily TV listings, the weather page, and the loss of a separate sport section in the Tuesday-to-Friday papers."

He notes: "The paper is smaller, but not by as much as people may think. The numbers of pages for comment and leaders, obituaries, and sport, have returned to 2005 levels, but there is still the extra reviews page, which didn't exist before then."

Elliott reveals there has been a more fundamental change to the paper rather than just reducing its size to save on production costs.

"Beyond the familiar theme of the need to save money at a time of declining newspaper advertising and sales, there is another aspect to the change. There is an unseen but important restructuring of the editorial staff to improve the workflow – to ensure stories go on to the web faster and in a more even flow. Planning has become a great deal more important."

Elliott quotes deputy editor Paul Johnson stating: "We are pre-planning more of the paper, partly by anticipating events but also laying an even greater emphasis on making our own news, our own bespoke content, be it investigations, reportage, interviews or profiles – this will be at the core of the paper we produce."

Elliott also writes: "Among those who feel the changes most keenly are the readers who have taken the paper for 40, 50 or even 60 years, who are more likely to be subscribers; they feel they are either being pushed towards reading online or subsidising the digital Guardian."

Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger tells Elliott: "People are very proprietorial and people get very comfortable with the way they use the paper. People have said they understand what we are doing but are making understandable pleas for their part of things not to change.

"We are not disguising the fact that we have brought the paper down in size. But in fact the total universe of what we are doing is expanding, not shrinking. We publish much more but decisions about limited resources are difficult; there is a fine balance between the production and expense of print versus digital.

"News and comment is not going back at all: one day last week we published 125 news stories. All the evidence shows that digital is growing and newspapers are in decline. If you care about the Guardian's future then you will understand why we are investing in the future and why it's vital."

Johann Hari quits Independent to write a book

2012-01-20T22:15:00.008Z

Columnist Johann Hari has quit the Independent to write a book just a few weeks before he was due to return to the paper following a period of retraining in the US after admitting plagiarism.

Hari says on his website: "I’d like to thank the Independent for the privilege of working for them over the past nine years, and for offering me my job back, starting in a few weeks. But after nearly six months living in New York City, and plenty of time to reflect, I’ve decided to not take them up on their kind offer.

"There are two reasons. I’m willing to take the flack for my errors myself: when you screw up, you should pay a price. But I’m not willing to see other people, who are played no part in those errors and are unimpeachably decent people, take the flack too. It’s not fair on them.

"The Independent has been great to me, and we need its principles in the public arena without distractions. Secondly, while doing some journalistic retraining in the US, I’ve started working on a book on a subject I believe is important and requires urgent action. To be done properly it needs international travel and the kind of in depth focus that’s not possible when you are writing a heavily researched column at the same time.

"So, while I’ll be writing occasional articles elsewhere, I’ll be mainly delving deeply into this one subject for now. Above all else, I’d like to thank all the readers of the Independent. Ever since I started as a columnist as a 23 year old I have learned so much from you. I often learned the most from the more critical messages – you have talked me out of a dozen positions – but your supportive letters and emails since last July have hugely moved me.

"I’ll continue to be a loyal reader and supporter of the Independent. It is one of the world’s great newspapers, and I feel privileged to have been part of it all these years."

Local paper has dig at council's £66k PR job ad

2012-01-20T10:38:00.012Z

The Islington Tribune today highlights that despite this being a time of "belt-tightening austerity" Islington Council is advertising for a temporary head of communications - at an annual salary of between £62,460 and £66,366 a year.

The Tribune says the job description "with no hint of irony in the online advert" describes how the successful candidate will be working in a borough which is "home to serious inequality and deprivation" and with "rich and poor living side by side."

And the local weekly dismisses the job as "pushing out positive reports about how well the council is doing."

The ad says the post is a fixed 9-12 month contract to cover the current communications chief who is on maternity leave.

Lib Dem opposition leader Coun. Terry Stacy is quoted by the Tribune saying the job should not be advertised at time when the council is making redundancies.

Pic: Islington Town Hall (Jon Slattery)

Quotes of the Week: From Sly Bailey on regional press ads to comparing MacKenzie to Shipman

2012-01-20T00:00:00.003Z

Trinity Mirror chief executive Sly Bailey on regional press advertising at the Leveson Inquiry: "At the peak, we had around £150m recruitment advertising supporting our titles, and last year we had less than £20m."

Spencer Feeney, editor of the South Wales Evening Post, at Leveson: “The local press is in a fragile financial state. Please don't make any recommendations ... to exacerbate that."

Daily Mirror editor Richard Wallace at Leveson: "Just after I was appointed editor of the Daily Mirror, the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, asked me to 10 Downing Street. One of the first things he asked me was when was I going to sack one of my journalists who had been a constant critic of the Government and Mr Blair in particular. Of course, I did not react to it."

Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger at Leveson on the newspaper industry: "We've been under-regulated and over legislated."

Brian Cathcart in the Independent on Leveson: "This is not a case of the press fighting an unending battle for its liberties. It long ago accepted the need for effective regulation and indeed it has long insisted that such regulation existed. It just cynically would not allow it to happen. If, after all that has happened in recent months, Leveson, or parliament, or the public, accepted the industry's latest promises, that would be to run an unacceptably high risk of joining a line of history's suckers – and of failing to learn from all that experience. This time we should ensure change is real and lasting."

The Times in a leader: "We make two points above all. The first is that we believe in the freedom of the press and argue that preserving this freedom requires resisting any form of statutory regulation. The second is a more ambitious, optimistic argument. The report of the Leveson inquiry, for all the inauspicious circumstances of its establishment, can prove to be a positive moment, one where Britain gains both a better and a freer press."

Nick Cohen in the Observer on the British libel laws (from his book You Can't Read This Book): "With an aristocratic prejudice against freedom of speech, the judges imposed costs and sanctions on investigative journalism that would have been hard to endure in the best of times, but were unbearable after the internet had undermined the media's business models. Instead of aiming its guns at the worst of British writing, the law of libel aimed at the bravest."

Andrew Neil, interviewed in the Independent on Sunday, on Rod Liddle's article about the Stephen Lawrence case which is under investigation for possible contempt of court: "It's quite clear it shouldn't have been published, but if you are going to be a magazine like The Spectator, and take strong positions and be controversial, every now and then you may do something stupid."

Chris Horrie, quoted in the Independent, on Leveson: "Kelvin MacKenzie is a national treasure and he's very funny, but asking him for advice on the ethics of journalism is like asking Harold Shipman for advice on medical ethics. This thing is just a circus."

First weekly Liverpool Post published today but Daily Post name lives on for revamped website

2012-01-19T09:45:00.010Z

The Liverpool Post, the new weekly version of the city's 156-year-old Liverpool Daily Post, was unveiled today with 100-pages and a £1 cover price - but the Liverpool Daily Post's name lives on in a revamped website.

The Liverpool Post’s companion website liverpooldailypost.co.uk has a new look and aims to keep readers up to date with breaking news.

It has retained the Liverpool Daily Post name, telling readers: "You'll have noticed that we haven't changed our name. That's not because we forgot, rather that our focus remains on keeping you right up to date with what's happening in Merseyside every day."

The new weekly Post has an extended 24-page POST Business section, a new 24-page weekly pull-out, POST Culture,covering the arts scene, together with full listings – and seven days of TV pages.

A new free daily email newsletter will be delivered direct to readers’ inbox every morning with links to the paper’s key breaking stories.

New free weekly newspaper launches in Norfolk

2012-01-19T09:11:00.005Z

The new independent free weekly newspaper the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Gazette has launched today in print and with a website.

The Gazette is published by MGMT Media based in Great Yarmouth which describes itself as Norfolk's "newest media company".

The Gazette has a planned distribution of 50,000 and will compete with Archant's long established paid-for Great Yarmouth Mercury and free Yarmouth Advertiser.

NUJ confirms it wants ombudsman to replace PCC

2012-01-19T08:00:00.006Z

The NUJ has confirmed it will tell the Leveson Inquiry that it wants a press ombudsman system to replace the Press Complaints Commission.

NUJ Irish secretary Séamus Dooley confirmed the union is in favour of the creation of the post of ombudsman as part of a new regulatory system to replace the PCC in his response to a charity for relatives of murder victims - Support After Murder and Manslaughter Northern Ireland - which has called for the appointment of an ombudsman to help relatives aggrieved by media coverage.

An ombudsman system was introduced in the Republic of Ireland four years ago.

Dooley said of Leveson: "The current inquiry represents an opportunity to see how we can improve and how journalism can become more accountable. We fully support the concept of a Press ombudsman based on the model which has proved so successful in the Republic of Ireland. We do not believe that the current PCC model is capable of reform.

"A new regulatory body and the creation of an Office of Press Ombudsman is something we are exploring and we will be giving evidence on this point to Lord Leveson. We do not at this stage see the need for a separate ombudsman for Northern Ireland. Part of the work of the new ombudsman would be to draw up new guidelines and to work with the media and civic society – that might include guidelines on the type of issues raised. We would welcome the opportunity to meet SAMM NI and will be in contacting the organisation in the coming weeks."

NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet will present the union’s proposal for a press ombudsman to the Leveson Inquiry.

Dooley in response to a report by SAMM NI said: “Journalists covering murder and manslaughter should always treat relatives, friends and colleagues with sensitivity. Throughout the Troubles reporters, photographers and editors have tried to demonstrate care and compassion in extremely harrowing circumstances.

"Certainly there may have been lapses of judgment but for NUJ members working on the ground covering the Troubles represented a daily challenge to act in the public interest while respecting the privacy of individuals. "

In a new report, SAMM NI is calling for a new code of conduct that would see journalists:

Recognise a family's fears that speaking to the media might prejudice a legal case.
Refrain from intrusion at funerals, or "door stepping" family members for information or interviews.
Be honest and not mislead anyone in pursuit of an interview with a family member.
Acknowledge it is not appropriate to attempt direct contact with families, but to use the official intermediaries, such as police family liaison officers.
Refrain from publishing unsubstantiated rumour and stick to known facts.
Ensure families have an opportunity before publication to satisfy themselves with the factual accuracy of stories, without prejudice to the editorial independence of the publication.
Seek approval for the use of all photography relating to the loved one and the circumstances of their death.
Not publish distressing photographs, such as the removal of a loved one's remains in a body bag.
Warn families if there is an intention to run stories or photography relating to the death of their loved one, weeks, months and years later.

Times and Sunday Times free home delivery deal

2012-01-18T19:06:00.004Z

The Times and the Sunday Times is to offer London readers a free home delivery deal for new subscribers.

Next week a marketing campaign launches which will offer new subscribers throughout London the opportunity of having their newspaper delivered free of charge for three months.

The Times has been running a home delivery service since 2008, however this is the first time the free trial will be offered along with a subscription price. Previously customers paid full cover price.

Under the new deal, copies of The Times are guaranteed to be hand delivered, couriered by branded vans, before 7am to addresses within the M25 area on a free three month trial.

Archant launches readers' community news site

2012-01-18T10:36:00.006Z

Archant has launched a community news platform iwitness24 that it says will transform the way it gathers news by allowing readers to contribute pictures and videos.

This material is published on a standalone website – but Archant says it is also a quick and easy way to promote the material into the company's own newspapers and websites.

Archant teamed up with Citizenside to build a platform that makes it easy for readers to connect with their local titles.

It says the technology will allow Archant’s readers to better connect with the group’s 64 local newspapers across the UK and via the iwitness24 site and iPhone and Android applications, readers have already begun sharing geotagged photos, videos and text articles directly with their local newsrooms.

James Foster, editorial director of Archant Norfolk, who led the project, said: “This is about reaching out to our readers and engaging with them directly. We know people are eager to share material with us but at the moment we just publish an email address and it’s hit and miss whether anybody sees their content.

“It’s about getting news and pictures we wouldn’t otherwise get, and also using our readers to send us stuff we would miss. Whether it’s a picture from a community group activity or a fire, we know that by engaging with our audience and telling them how much we value their contributions, we can add to the richness of the material that we produce.

“It’s not about replacing existing content but about adding to our huge mix of reader content – community news exists in every newspaper. This puts it into the digital age and tells our readers our serious we are about them.

“For example, our best reader picture of 2011 was of a burning bus. By the time our staff photographer got to the scene, the fire had been put out. Both pictures are great, but the flames made it so much more dramatic and unless we invent a time travel machine, we always risk missing those pictures.”

The website comes with smartphone apps. More than 100 people have signed up after just one day. And one picture has prompted an investigation after a reader sent in picture of litter dumped in a river in Norwich.

Foster said: “A reader sent us a picture of how bad the litter was in the river. We wouldn’t have thought of it, and we were able to harness our news journalists to write the story but the idea was prompted by a reader. It will certainly be an element on the front page.”

A dedicated room for readers has been created in Archant’s Norwich headquarters and there will shortly be launched an iwitness roadshow to tour the towns and villages to show people how it works.

The platform includes a social gaming element which means that reader’s contributions are measured and tracked and when they reach certain levels, different rewards are triggered.

“We offer a variety of different rewards, It could vary from a substantial cash commission on a scoop picture to asking a regular contributor to join a reader’s panel to meet the editor and shape the future of their title,” said Foster.

The platform is divided into 7 regional sub-communities, and the “Calls for Witnesses” tool allows Archant to send geotargetted news alerts to members within 1 km of breaking news events to ask for their help in coverage. Other features include a one-click sign in with Facebook Connect, and the ability to follow members in the community and see their updates in a Facebook-like activity feed.

Philippe Checinski, co-founder of Citizenside adds, “We are very excited to be launching with Archant as our first partner in the UK. They have really taken the platform and run with it, and we can’t wait to see what new ways they’ll find to get closer to their audience through iwitness24.”

The slogan of iwitness24 is “your news is our news”.

Archant's announcement comes at a time when it is planning to make a number of staff photographers redundant. (See posted comment below).

Scottish independence referendum tops the news

2012-01-18T00:01:00.001Z

Plans to hold a referendum on Scottish independence dominated the news for the week ending Sunday, January 15, according to journalisted.

First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond announces plan to hold independence referendum in autumn of 2014, was covered in 225 articles; Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney wins the New Hampshire primary, 146 articles; the Leveson Inquiry into press ethics and phone hacking continues, 124 articles; the cruise liner Costa Concordia capsizes off Isola del Giglio, Italy, 102 articles.

Covered little, according to journalisted, were MPs to hold an inquiry into racism in sport, and will hear evidence in March, 23 articles; Turkish authorities charge the Duchess of York with secretly filming orphans for 2008 TV documentary, 22 articles; TVShack student founder Richard O’Dwyer faces extradition to the United States, 21 articles; and French ferry firm SeaFrance goes into liquidation, 13 articles.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visits Venezuela as part of his Latin American tour, generated only 10 articles; dozens killed in bomb blast in Karbala, Iraq, 6 articles; boundary changes in Welsh constituencies proposed, cutting the number of Welsh MPs from 40 to 30, 6 articles; 15 arrests are made following clashes between English Defence League supporters and youths in East London, 3 articles; and police remove protestors from St. Peter’s Square, Rome, 1 article.

Rusbridger backs conscience clause for journalists

2012-01-17T16:15:00.010Z

Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger has backed the idea of a conscience clause in work contracts to protect journalists from being sacked if they refuse to do journalism which is unethical.

Asked today at the Leveson Inquiry if he supported a conscience clause, Rusbridger said he did and that he thought there was "unease" among a lot of journalists at the News of the World about what was going on at the paper.

He said there ought to be a way for journalists to say that unethical jobs did not fit with their professional code or conscience.

Lord Justice Leveson intervened to say he thought a conscience clause would be of "limited value" because, once their cover was out, while you could protect people in law it was quite difficult to protect them from insidious issues.

Rusbridger replied: "I hope a union or staff association could give protection to anyone who triggered that [conscience] clause."

He said of the newspaper industry: "We've been under regulated and over legislated."

The NUJ has long campaigned for a conscience clause in contracts to protect journalists who refuse to breach the union's Code of Conduct.

Trinity Mirror chief executive Sly Bailey told Leveson yesterday that she "might" consider whether a conscience clause should be inserted into Trinity Mirror employees' contracts.
See also, How a conscience clause could fill the ethical vacuum in the newsroom.

Belfast Tel holiday promo gets that sinking feeling

2012-01-17T15:23:00.006Z

Sometimes ads and front page news collide. Like this holiday promo from the Belfast Telegraph, the newspaper that covers the city that built Titanic. Via Steve Dyson.

Bauer behind wannabe journalists reality tv show

2012-01-17T14:29:00.011Z

Bauer Media has joined forces with production company Twofour to create a new reality show called The Exclusives for ITV2 in which six wannabe journalists compete for a one year contract with the magazine publisher, which produces titles such as Closer, heat and FHM.

According to a Bauer press release: "The Exclusives’ will showcase the fast-paced and competitive world of magazine publishing, plus the kind of talent needed to make it."

It adds: "Each trainee will learn to hone their skills working closely with the successful teams behind some of the UK’s best known magazines including heat, FHM, Closer, more!, Kerrang! and Empire. They will be given incredible backstage access to some of the most high profile and glamorous events of the year, and will be coached and mentored in the crafts of interviewing, organising photo shoots and connecting with their reader."

Bauer Media says it will cover and promote the programme across its magazine, online and radio portfolios. The series of seven one-hour programmes is made by the Twofour team behind Educating Essex and will be broadcast later this year.

Abby Carvosso, MD lifestyle & advertising, Bauer Media, commented: “This breakthrough media partnership will deliver an exciting new TV programme that shows what it really takes to create the most exciting magazines in the country. We’re on the hunt for a gutsy, fearless and talented individual who stands out from the crowd and we’re sure it will be a great watch!"

I asked Bauer if the six wannabe journalists would be paid, or was it like work experience? A spokeswoman told me: "The six journalists do not get paid during the show so in a sense yes, it can be seen as work experience but with the added opportunity to gain a full time contract with Bauer Media. The winner of the 12-month journalism contract with Bauer Media will of course be paid for their job."

Ian Hislop speaks up for the 'Street of Shame'

2012-01-17T11:00:00.008Z

Private Eye editor Ian Hislop spoke up for a free press when he appeared before the Leveson Inquiry today.

Hislop, asked what he thought of the inquiry so far, said when it started and heard evidence from celebrities "my overall feeling was that might be it for the press."

He said there was such revulsion from the public that there was a view to "close down the lot."

But Hislop told Lord Justice Leveson he wanted to "put in a plea for a free press" which was "not always very pretty."

Hislop urged: "I hope this inquiry does not throw out the baby with the bathwater."

The Private Eye editor also lashed out at journalism being given away free on the internet. He said he didn't see why journalism, which was at its best "a noble craft," should be given away for free.

Hislop told the inquiry that Private Eye's French equivalent, Le Canard enchaîné, had a website which just said "go and buy the paper."

Newsquest journalists take action over pay freeze

2012-01-17T10:20:00.007Z

NUJ members at Newsquest-owned Essex County Newspapers, based in Colchester, have voted in favour of strike action and action short of a strike over pay.

It comes as the NUJ reports that Newsquest journalists across the country are facing another pay freeze, with reviews due to be carried out later in the year.

The Essex journalists will take short of strike action tomorrow by holding an hour-long mandatory chapel meeting to protest at what the NUJ says is the company’s failure to adequately negotiate over pay and plans to introduce a single pay anniversary that will leave some staff waiting until June 2013 before any wage increases are considered.

Will Lodge, FoC at Colchester, said the chapel was still committed to talks with management but believed a potential third year out of four with no pay rise was unsustainable for members.

He said: “Members don’t want to take action but feel they have been left with little choice as their pay packets continue to shrink compared to the cost of living. Communication with management is on-going and we hope to avoid strike action. The chapel meeting discussions tomorrow will be about our next steps and is not intended to be disruptive.”

NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said: "The action in Essex is taking place as journalists at Newsquest centres around the country are hearing the news that their pay will be frozen, with reviews carried out later in the year.

"If no pay awards are made in 2012 it will be the third year in four that Newsquest journalists’ salaries have stood still. While thousands of staff were forced into the second year of a pay freeze in 2009, company accounts show that the pay of the firm’s chief executive Paul Davidson rose by 21.5% to £609,000."

Newspaper headlines: More great boobs exposed

2012-01-17T00:50:00.001Z

Here's some great newspaper headline mishaps from an old Private Eye book - the Bumper Book of Boobs. The collection covers 1962-73.

Found: The News of the World's greatest headline

2012-01-16T15:20:00.003Z

Found in an old copy of Private Eye's Bumper Book of Boobs, what many regard as the News of the World's greatest headline.

New paper launches this week in Great Yarmouth

2012-01-16T00:01:00.000Z

A new independent local newspaper is due to launch in Norfolk on Thursday (January 19) covering Great Yarmouth and Gorleston.

The Great Yarmouth & Gorleston Gazette is being produced by MGMT Media based in Great Yarmouth which describes itself as Norfolk's "newest media company offering a wide range of products and services to the local community".

The Gazette will be a free paper with a planned distribution of 50,000. It says it will contain classifieds, advertising for property, jobs and motors as well as local news.

It will be up against Archant's long established paid-for Great Yarmouth Mercury and free Yarmouth Advertiser.

Theatre claims East Anglian Daily Times editorial staff cuts will bring curtain down on arts coverage

2012-01-15T12:17:00.017Z

The New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich is urging readers of the East Anglian Daily Times to protest at cuts in arts coverage it says will come as a result of the latest round of 14 redundancies at Archant Suffolk, publisher of the EADT and the Ipswich Star.

It is believed that the role of EADT arts' editor will go in the cuts to editorial staff.

A posting on the the New Wolsey Theatre's website says it is concerned "to hear of an apparent strategy by the East Anglian Daily Times to abandon all arts coverage."

It continues: "The arts form a vital part not only of the Cultural Life of this region but of its economic prosperity as well. At a time of intense economic pressure Suffolk County Council recently protected the Arts from its programme of cuts precisely because it recognised the important contribution the Arts make to the region's economy.

"We know from our experience and research that our customers look to the EADT for information and features about the Arts, particularly from the popular Saturday edition of the paper. The removal of all informed cultural commentary, reviews and information can only make the paper a less attractive purchase for the customers of the EADT.

"At a time when arts activity in the region is growing in diversity, vitality and ambition, when its economic contribution is being recognised alongside its place in creating an attractive social and cultural environment, it seems a very retrograde step for the EADT to be removing itself from this vital and expanding area of, excitement, commentary and debate.

"For the health of the cultural scene within the region, the organisations like ourselves which rely on the coverage and commentary that EADT provide, and the future health of your own publication we urge the EADT to reconsider."

It then urges readers to write to EADT editor Terry Hunt.

The NUJ chapel at the Archant titles in Suffolk has called on the jobs of the editors and deputy editors at the EADT and Star to be merged to save some of the 14 editorial posts under threat.

Welcome Burnley fans: The answer is this...

2012-01-14T00:01:00.003Z

I noticed a lot of action on my website last night looking at a story about the first issue of the Sunday Times Magazine.

Published as the Sunday Times Colour Section on February 4 1962, the magazine featured 11 shots of model Jean Shrimpton by David Bailey, and one of Burnley football legend Jimmy McIlroy.

The reason for the sudden interest. A quiz question on the Burnley thread of the Footymad website asking: "What ground breaking event links Jean 'The Shrimp' Shrimpton and Jimmy McIlroy?"

Now you know.

Who at the Leveson Inquiry reads the red-tops?

2012-01-13T12:50:00.013Z

I've written an article for TheMediaBriefing wondering how many of those at the Leveson Inquiry, from Lord Leveson, his panel of experts and the lawyers downwards, are natural readers of the red-tops.

My guess is not many.

I think the time when newspaper readers happily consumed both posh papers and red-tops is over. This has led not just to a split between national newspapers but also their readerships.

Quotes of the Week: From Desmond to despair

2012-01-13T00:01:00.005Z

Richard Desmond at the Leveson Inquiry: "This inquiry is probably the worst thing that's ever happened for newspapers in my lifetime."

Kelvin MacKenzie at Leveson: "In the end newspapers are commercial animals; they try to make money... I would be in favour of fines – and heavy fines for newspapers that don't disclose the truth to the Press Complaints Commission."

Sun editor Dominic Mohan at Leveson: “One thing I would ask out of this inquiry is... that there’s a level playing field in terms of the way they’re dealt with [the internet and press], because I do think it could be a potentially mortal blow to the newspaper industry that’s already wounded. I think the combination of an over regulated press with an unregulated internet is a very, very worrying thought for an industry that employs many thousands of people.”

GingerElvis on Twitter: " If I was Leveson, the main conclusion I'd draw from the inquiry so far is the press is full of self-important liars with double standards."

Lord Justice Leveson: "There have been wake up calls in the past and everyone has just drifted off again...I hope that the business of journalists, and journalism, is considering it [regulatory reform] on the basis that it has to work for them but it will also have to work for the public...but it won't do just to think one can tinker around the edges."

Roy Greenslade on Leveson in the London Evening Standard: "It has the appearance of a judicial inquiry. Yet the reality is less credible. To be candid, it is one giant fishing expedition in which the participants seem to have no idea how to catch anything, let alone what they should be catching."

Toby Young on Leveson in the Spectator: "I hate to see the red-tops go down without a fight. Watching one tabloid editor after another abase themselves before the inquiry is a dispiriting sight, reminiscent of a Stalinist show trial in which those who've fallen out of political favour admit their guilt before being led off to the gallows. How much more satisfying it would be to see the red-tops engaging in a last hurrah, using every weapon at their arsenal to ridicule Lord Justice Leveson and his army of pompous lawyers."

Rupert Murdoch on Twitter: "Many questions and jokes about My Space.simple answer - we screwed up in every way possible, learned lots of valuable expensive lessons."

Northern Echo editor Peter Barron blogging about using Twitter to help design the paper's front page: "The interaction from followers has been remarkable and new followers have joined during the process. Some comments have influenced the look of the page, with suggested changes and ideas being taken on board."

AA Gill in the Sunday Times reviews Hacks, Channel 4's comedy on phone hacking: "This effort, even by the woe-begone standards of rushed comic parody, was pathetic, humourless, limp, predictable and toothless without anger, righteousness or even a point of view. It wouldn’t have passed muster as an episode of Drop the Dead Donkey. It looked like a skit at the Guardian’s Christmas party."

Guardian media editor Dan Sabbagh covering the Leveson Inquiry on Twitter: "Despair. My industry."

Toby Young: 'Leveson like a Stalinist show trial'

2012-01-12T12:17:00.010Z

Toby Young in this week's Spectator compares the Leveson Inquiry to a "Stalinist show trial" and urges the red-tops to fight back and make a glorious last stand.

He writes: "Maybe the internet will destroy the tabloid press willy-nilly, just as it will destroy the broadsheets in due course, and anyone who thinks otherwise is being naive.

"Nevertheless, I hate to see the red-tops go down without a fight. Watching one tabloid editor after another abase themselves before the inquiry is a dispiriting sight, reminiscent of a Stalinist show trial in which those who've fallen out of political favour admit their guilt before being led off to the gallows.

"How much more satisfying it would be to see the red-tops engaging in a last hurrah, using every weapon at their arsenal to ridicule Lord Justice Leveson and his army of pompous lawyers.

"Yes, it might have been tantamount to to signing their own death warrants, but if you're going to die anyway, why not go out in a blaze of glory?

"It would have been the tabloid version of Rorke's Drift. And perhaps it would have brought the public to their senses, and encouraged them to rally behind then tabloids and remember our national sense of fun."

Young concludes: "Meanwhile, the show trial continues, with another vanload of ink-stained wretches waiting in the dock."

Belfast court backs BBC over Real IRA parade film

2012-01-12T11:40:00.005Z

The NUJ has welcomed the decision of the Belfast Recorder not to order the BBC to hand over video shot at a Real IRA parade in Derry in April 2011 to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Judge Tom Burgess ruled that he had been given insufficient evidence by the police to prove the video could assist experts in identifying masked men and that the PSNI had failed to show that the video would be of substantial value in its investigation.

NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said the ruling was “extremely significant” and expressed the hope that it would “send a signal to the PSNI that trawling exercises had no place in police investigations.” The police had claimed it could be used to identify masked men by the way they walked or by facial features under balaclavas. The case arose after 10 men dressed in paramilitary uniform paraded in Derry's City cemetery at a 32 County Sovereignty movement commemoration.

The BBC challenged the application for the handing over of unbroadcast material, on the grounds doing so would endanger its staff. The BBC also claimed that the PSNI was fully aware of the likely nature of the parade and had failed to prevent it or film it themselves.

Off with their eds! NUJ's revolutionary cuts plan

2012-01-12T00:01:00.003Z

NUJ members at two Archant newspapers are calling for cuts to its team of editors as an alternative to proposals to reduce the rest of the editorial team by 14.

Archant Suffolk, which owns the Ipswich Evening Star and the East Anglian Daily Times, plans to change the Star from a six-day-a-week to a five-day-a-week operation, in order to cut costs. It also said that 14 editorial jobs will have to go.

Journalists are now arguing that as the editorial workforce of the two papers has been merged, so should the roles of the papers' two editors and two deputies.

NUJ members have suggested alternative proposals to management, that two of the editors’ jobs should go, and the remaining editors should work for both papers like the rest of the staff.

The NUJ Chapel claims this is the "lesser of two evils" and will have far less impact on the papers than the changes proposed by management.

In a statement it said: "Regrettably, we think merging the editors' posts is necessary, and is a viable alternative to what the company is proposing, which we think will be very damaging to both papers. We recognise the company has a difficult balancing act and we have welcomed its decision to try to keep the Star as close to a daily as possible. However, it has become a very top-heavy organisation and we believe that the current management structure is unsustainable given the costs of retaining it.

"This change is inevitable, and the current economic situation is unfortunately hastening the need for a brave decision by management to move to this point. If the papers need to become leaner, let's start at the top, not the bottom. We have already said we would accept the loss of three 'natural wastage posts' as long as it doesn't have an adverse impact on other staff's workloads, and that leaves 11 jobs at stake. Ultimately, it's 11 jobs versus two, and we believe those 11 are more vital to the future of the newspapers."

French tv journalist killed covering Syrian uprising

2012-01-11T17:28:00.012Z

Reporters Without Borders says French reporter Gilles Jacquier of the French TV station France 2 was killed today by a shell or rocket in Syria.

Jacquier was on a government-authorised reporting visit with other journalists in the city of Homs, one of the bastions of anti-government protest in Syria.

Reporters Without Borders said: “Jacquier is the first foreign journalist to be killed in Syria since the start of the uprising on 15 March 2011.

“Our thoughts are with his family and colleagues. We call on the authorities to shed all possible light on this tragic event with help from the Arab League’s observers.”

A witness said a shell or rocket landed on the group of journalists while they were at the border between the Akrama Al-Jedida and Al-Nuzha neighbourhoods in southern Homs, killing Jacquier on the spot and wounding many other people, including journalists. According to an AFP correspondent, dutch photographer Steven Visner sustained an eye injury.

A roving foreign correspondent for France 2 since 1999, Jacquier had covered fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo and Israel, and was in Syria to do a report for the France 2 programme “Envoyé Spécial.”

A Syrian professional journalist and two Syrian citizen journalists have also been killed since the start of the uprising in Syria, Reporters Without Borders says.

Pic: Reporters Without Borders

It's grim getting your own paper's address wrong

2012-01-11T11:49:00.013Z

Oh dear! It's good news that page production has returned to the Grimsby Telegraph but a pity the story about it managed to publish the wrong address for the paper.

My man on the Grimsby docks tells me that the Telegraph mangled its own address in the paper and on its website (top).

As its entry on the Newspaper Society database shows (bottom), the Grimsby Telegraph is based in Cleethorpe Road, Grimsby - not Grimsby Road, Cleethorpes.

Thank goodness the subs are back! Just hope they can find the office.

Stephen Lawrence murder verdict dominates news

2012-01-10T17:10:00.004Z

The Stephen Lawrence murder trial dominated the news for the week ending Sunday, January 8, according to journalisted.

Gary Dobson and David Norris found guilty of the murder of Stephen Lawrence, generated 336 articles; the faulty PIP breast implants debacle, 141 articles; Mitt Romney narrowly wins Iowa caucus in race for Republican presidential candidacy, 113 articles; Diane Abbott causes controversy on Twitter, 75 articles; and 100mph+ winds sweep across Britain, leaving thousands without electricity, 71 articles.

Covered little, according to journalisted, were Jamaican Prime Minister vows to drop British monarch as head of state, 20 articles; dozens killed in suicide bomb attack in Damascus, 17 articles; in Hungary, thousands take to the street to protest against new constitution, 16 articles; David Cameron apologises after Tourette’s jibe, 15 articles; in Nigeria, thousands protest against the scrapping of fuel subsidies, 15 articles; jury acquits Michael Peacock in landmark obscenity trial, 4 articles; and the world’s first ‘chimeric’ monkeys are born, 4 articles.

NUJ opts for press ombudsman to replace PCC

2012-01-10T00:01:00.011Z

The NUJ's national executive wants an ombudsman and a new press regulatory body containing working journalists to replace the Press Complaints Commission.

The union's National Executive Council has outlined its preference for how the press should be policed as the NUJ prepares to make a detailed submission to the Leveson Inquiry on what future regulatory regime it wants.

The NUJ will argue that the PCC should be scrapped and be replaced by an ombudsman backed by a new regulatory body made up of working journalists, publishers and members of the public.

The ombudsman model is seen by the NUJ as a success in Ireland where the Press Council of Ireland and a press ombudsman system was established four years ago.

Under the Irish system, the ombudsman is appointed by the Press Council of Ireland, whose members include working journalists, academics, lawyers and an NUJ official. The Press Council of Ireland aims to resolve complaints that have not been settled by the ombudsman. The current Irish press ombudsman is an NUJ member.

Although the PCC includes editors among its members it does not, unlike its predecessor the Press Council, include NUJ representatives.

Another major plank of the union's submission to Leveson is its long standing call for a "conscience clause" for journalists which would protect them from being sacked for refusing to do unethical journalism that was in breach of the NUJ's Code of Conduct.

An NEC member said the NUJ's proposals for Leveson are still at the outline stage with lots of detail needed to be added.

MacKenzie: 'Fine newspapers that lie to the PCC'

2012-01-09T11:05:00.015Z

Former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie told the Leveson Inquiry today that publishers who lied to the Press Complaints Commission should face "heavy fines".

He said: "I would be favour of heavy fines for newspapers that didn't disclose the truth to the PCC...they were lied to by News International, that was quite wrong and they should pay a commercial penalty for that.

"The threat of a financial penalty will have a straightforward effect on newspapers."

MacKenzie used his appearance to have another bash at the Guardian. He said that the Guardian had got the story claiming News of the World journalists deleted Milly Dolwler's phone hacking messages "completely wrong" and had buried the fact on page 10.

MacKenzie suggested if the Sun had got the same story wrong it could have come very close to being shut down. He also claimed: "People view the Sun at the bottom of the pile and papers like the Guardian as the top of the pile."

MacKenzie said if phone hacking had been used show that Tony Blair was circumventing his Cabinet with plans to go to war it would have a different impact depending which paper published it.

"If you publish it in the Sun you get six months' jail and if you publish it in the Guardian you get a Pulitzer prize," he claimed.

Robert Jay QC, counsel for the Leveson Inquiry, denied a claim made by ex-News of the World journalist Neville Thurlbeck on his blog that he told him in private that the NoW was "smut". Jay said he was referring to a particular NoW story and not the paper as a whole.

New media awards launched by TheMediaBriefing

2012-01-09T09:08:00.004Z

Online media industry website TheMediaBriefing is launching the British Media Awards.

They are claimed to be the first pan-industry media awards celebrating modern news, information and entertainment publishing and designed to reward and recognise innovation and ingenuity from titles, people, teams and projects across the UK media.

The awards will take place at Arsenal FC’s Emirates Stadium in London on April 26th.

TheMediaBriefing says the awards will highlight how media business managers are solving the big questions affecting the media industry both online and offline, such as how to charge for content? What to do with new platforms for content distribution? How to use the explosion in social marketing and social communities? How to reinvigorate the old media brands and formats? How to create new organisation and cost structures to meet the needs of this new media age?

The awards categories include Overall Media Innovation of the Year; Social Media Marketing Innovation; Paid Content Innovation; Online Advertising Innovation; Best use of Mobile; Most Innovative New Technology for Media Owners; B2B Innovator of the Year; Consumer Magazine Innovator of the Year; Newspaper Innovator of the Year; Broadcast Industry Innovator of the Year; Digital Media Innovator of the Year; Marketing Innovator of the Year; Commercial Team of the Year; Media Innovator of the year; and Media Company of the Year.

Ed: 'Hold the front page while Twitter has a look'

2012-01-08T20:25:00.015Z

Peter Barron, the editor of the Northern Echo, has blogged about how he used Twitter to help design Saturday's front page of his paper.

Saturday's splash about the threat of Darlington Football Cub - "The Quakers" - being forced to close after 128 years was based on Baron's idea for a graphic incorporating a ref's whistle.

The front page was shown for comments on Twitter while it was being designed.

Barron blogged: "It's been a really interesting experiment tonight - building the Northern Echo front page in stages on Twitter.

"The interaction from followers has been remarkable and new followers have joined during the process.

"Some comments have influenced the look of the page, with suggested changes and ideas being taken on board.

"I'm not sure if it's been done elsewhere but it's been fun and I'll definitely do it again. Sports editor Nick Loughlin followed suit with the sport front page and has also had good reaction."

Barron added: "I had the idea to incorporate the whistle in the early hours of the morning when I couldn't sleep and remembered I had one in a drawer somewhere.

"My special thanks to front page sub-editor Jo Kelly who put up with her work being in the Twitter spotlight...Thanks also to graphic artist Chris Moran for working on the central graphic."

Sunday Times' AA Gill: 'I was phone hacked'

2012-01-08T12:34:00.011Z

Sunday Times critic AA Gill reveals in the paper that he was a victim of phone hacking.

Gill in a scathing review of Channel 4's Hacks, the comedy about the hacking scandal, writes: "Hacks was TV’s satirical response to the phone-hacking scandal. I should admit to a personal interest here: I am paid by News International and have been interviewed by the constabulary as apparently my phone was hacked."

Gill goes on to trash Hacks: "This effort, even by the woe-begone standards of rushed comic parody, was pathetic, humourless, limp, predictable and toothless without anger, righteousness or even a point of view. It wouldn’t have passed muster as an episode of Drop the Dead Donkey. It looked like a skit at the Guardian’s Christmas party.

"In the end, apparently, hacking was everyone’s fault — but mostly yours for electing politicians and buying papers. Nothing it produced was as entertaining as the simultaneous news that Rupert Murdoch has started tweeting."

The Sunday Times is behind a paywall.

Barry Fitzpatrick elected NUJ Deputy Gen Sec

2012-01-06T11:31:00.008Z

Barry Fitzpatrick, the NUJ's head of publishing, has been elected deputy general secretary of the NUJ beating Helen Gavaghan and Coventry freelance Chris Youett.

Fitzpatrick has long experience working for unions and was a Sogat official at the time of the bitter Wapping dispute when Rupert Murdoch sacked his Fleet Street printers.

Fitzpatrick got 2,444 votes; Youett 1,326; and Gavaghan 473. Total votes: 4,243.

The ballot had to be re-run at a cost of around £20,000 after problems emerged over membership data.

The ballot came after the former deputy Michelle Stanistreet took over as NUJ general secretary from Jeremy Dear, who decided not to seek re-election, last year.

Four front pages: Press pays tribute to Eve Arnold

2012-01-06T09:36:00.009Z

It is a fantastic tribute to Eve Arnold, the celebrated Magnum photographer who died yesterday aged 99, that she has pictures on the front of all four quality newspapers in the UK today.

While the Telegraph, The Times and the Guardian opt for her famous shots of Marilyn Monroe (top), the Independent goes for an Arnold picture of Malcolm X.

Magnum has a collection of Eve Arnold's pictures on its website.

Media Quotes of the Week: From the Mail's 'finest hour' to is it time to try a conscience clause?

2012-01-06T00:01:00.007Z

Jonathan Freedland in the Guardian: "He made an unlikely anti-racist campaigner, but there were few voices more critical in the demand for justice for Stephen Lawrence than Paul Dacre and the Daily Mail. It was the Mail's 1997 front page headline, branding Lawrence's alleged killers "Murderers", that helped make the case impossible to ignore. It was, without question, the Mail's finest hour."

Northern Echo editor Peter Barron on Twitter: "If I could nominate one front page which sets the bar in being proactive, campaigning and daring, The Mail's 'Murderers' would be it."

Daily Mirror associate editor Kevin Maguire on Twitter: "I remember the 1997 Daily Mail "Murderers" splash. Every journalist wished their paper had carried it."

Ex-News of the World political editor David Wooding on Twitter: "Congrats to D Mail on great campaign which brought killers of Stephen Lawrence to justice. Tabloids as force for good."

Tom Watson MP on Twitter links to the Mail's Lawrence victory story: "And here's a story involving the Daily Mail that should make you proud."

Tony Parsons on Twitter: "Congratulations to Hugh Grant and Steve Coogan for bringing Stephen Lawrence's killers to justice - oh, sorry, I mean the British press."

Richard Orange in a post on Press Gazette: "Dacre and crew should remember that no one is above the law. Exposing miscarriages of justice and unsafe convictions is a noble pursuit for investigative journalists. Branding suspects as guilty before any trial is to supplant the rule of law with the rule of the mob."

Ex-News of the World journalist Neville Thurlbeck on his blog writes about his appearance at the Leveson Inquiry: "The biggest sneer of all was reserved for the meeting room immediately before my appearance when Robert Jay QC introduced himself and announced that in his opinion, the News of the World was ‘nothing but smut’."

Sally King, MoC of the Newsquest South Essex chapel, on pay: “No-one takes voting for industrial action lightly, but members feel they have been ignored for too long. It is ridiculous that staff, who are graduates with post-graduate training and years of experience, are having to take second jobs just to meet bills. This year alone at this centre, we have had two members of staff leave the profession because they felt they just couldn’t afford to work here."

The Independent on investigations of email hacking: "The links discovered from the seized computers suggest that the email investigation could involve as many victims as those involved in the News of the World phone-hacking scandal."

Guardian's Josh Halliday on Twitter: "News Int tells me @Wendi_Deng is fake. It is an imposter. @rupertmurdoch is genuine."

Grey Cardigan in Press Gazette: "I've never understood office Secret Santas. Buy something for somebody you don't know that they won't want. Sounds like a Johnston Press business plan."

Tim Crook, senior lecturer in media law and ethics and head of radio at Goldsmiths, University of London, on the possible jailing of journalists for phone hacking: "I have argued for many years that human communication generates harm that is largely emotional and immaterial and that civil legal remedies and criminal sanctions should be proportionately restorative and avoid the temptation for popular penalism. Our penal institutions are overfull with young offenders and no useful social purpose would be served by feral youths being joined by the feral beasts of journalism."

Tony Harcup, teacher and researcher of journalism at Sheffield University: "A conscience clause will not heal all of journalism’s ills. It is a fairly modest proposal, addressing just one element of the complex relationship between ethics and journalism. But, given the ethical vacuum that appears to have been created in certain newsrooms by the almost totally unconstrained management prerogative that followed Rupert Murdoch’s victory at Wapping in 1986, isn’t it time we gave it a try?"

NB. Last two quotes are taken from articles in THE PHONE HACKING SCANDAL; JOURNALISM ON TRIAL': Edited by Richard Lance Keeble and John Mair, Arima Publishing, Bury St Edmunds, which will be published in February 2012. Available via Amazon.

Colin Myler made editor-in-chief of NY Daily News

2012-01-04T20:36:00.013Z

Colin Myler, the last editor of the News of the World, has been appointed editor-in-chief of the New York Daily News. He replaces Kevin Convey, who was appointed in 2010.

According to The New York Times, in an e-mail to the staff, Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman said: “The New York Daily News is a great institution of American journalism which will only get better under the leadership of Colin.”

Myler was appointed executive editor of the New York Post in 2001 but left in 2007 to take over as editor of the News of the World after Andy Coulson resigned folowing the royal phone hacking affair.

Or as the New York Daily News reported it at the time: 'TOP EDITOR FLEES POST FOR LONDON TABLOID.'