February 2004 Archives

"Is the time right for mobile?" asked Frode Ugland, Head of Mobile Development, Telenor, Norway, at the 2004 World Newspaper Advertising Conference & Expo organised in Amsterdam, Netherlands by the World Association of Newspapers. Mr Ugland, who works for Norway’s largest and most forward-looking mobile telephone service, said that the increasing use of colour and pictures on mobile telephones means the time is right for newspapers to get into the business.

"Is the time right for mobile?" asked Frode Ugland, Head of Mobile Development, Telenor, Norway, at the 2004 World Newspaper Advertising Conference & Expo organised in Amsterdam, Netherlands by the World Association of Newspapers. Mr Ugland, who works for Norway’s largest and most forward-looking mobile telephone service, said that the increasing use of colour and pictures on mobile telephones means the time is right for newspapers to get into the business.

In Spain, a number of writers, academics, singers, journalists and actors have set up a platform to lament the absence of open political debate. "The Spanish press is filled with silences," freelance journalist Emilio Silva said. Though there are many newspapers, each has a distinctive political bias. But though this is common in the privately-owned media, Spain's public broadcaster, too, has come under fire. In January, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe cited Spain's public radio and television channels as an example of "news manipulation". At Television Espanola itself, over half the employees formed an independent Advisory Council.

Source: European Journalism Centre and Expatica/BBC. See also (in Spanish) Periodistas 21 from Juan Varela.

Don't know if it is serious: in the US, the Internet edition of The Times of India would have broken into the category of the most popular news sites. It has been the fifth most-visited print news and media site in America (rating based on the entire population of the US). Leading the group, and ranked as No 1, is the web version of The New York Times. On the No. 2 spot is The Washington Post , the leading newspaper from America's capital city, followed by USA Today and CNN's Sports Illustrated . The rankings were done by online tracking agency Hitwise, which tracks and analyses how 25 million people from around the world interact with 450,000 websites.

Source: Times of India.

To read in the New York Times an intriguing paper: "Jayson Blair, the former New York Times reporter who was found last year to have fabricated or plagiarized portions of more than three dozen articles, admits many of his deceptions in a forthcoming memoir but writes that they were fueled by ambition, cocaine and alcohol abuse and an undiagnosed condition of manic depression. In the book, Burning Down My Masters' House, scheduled for publication March 6, Mr. Blair writes of a path to what he calls his "self-destruction." He is at various points contemplative, introspective and piqued... But Mr. Blair, 27, expresses little remorse for the pain his actions caused."

Source: Jacques Steinberg, NYT.

Abdul Rahman al-Rashid is just named as the new director general of the Al-Arabiya, the Arab satellite television network said. Rashid, a Saudi national, was previously the chief editor of the pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat for five until the end of 2003. He resigned, but remained a contributor to the paper's opinion and editorial section. The newspaper is published in London and owned by Saudi Research and Marketing Group, a company controlled by the Saudi government.

Source: AFP

Brian MacArthur from The Times suggests that the Glover’s project of creating a British Le Monde is more difficult than expected. "Trying to start a newspaper in a period when sales of all newspapers are in decline is a challenge. Over the six months to January, year-on-year sales of the five broadsheets fell by 122,000 (4.5 per cent). In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, sales of the Financial Times, the most austere of the broadsheets and the closest to Glover’s model, fell by 14,000."

Source: The Times.

Seen on Slate: Robert Alter considers The Passion of the Christ - the Mel Gison's movie - is bad for Jews and worst for Christians. An interesting American point of view.

Reporters Without Borders claim that Cuba was behind a Paris court action that could bankrupt the press freedom organisation for using the world famous Korda portrait of Che Guevara without permission. Diana Diaz-Lopez, head of the Havana ballet and daughter of the late photographer, is seeking 1.14m euros in damages from the Paris-based group over posters that use the Korda image to criticise President Fidel Castro's civil liberties record. The legal battle started in June when RSF launched a poster campaign to dissuade tourists from visiting Cuba. It grafted the face of Korda's "Che" on to a picture of a French riot squad officer beating up a protester, with the caption, "Cuba: the world's biggest prison for journalists".

Source: Jo Johnson, Financial Times.

The UK Daily Post will see the introduction of new supplements, increased news coverage, a wholesale redesign and a bold new masthead which will include the name 'Liverpool' for the first time in more than 25 years. One major change to the Trinity Mirror paper will be its new design, which has been masterminded by design editor Gary Bainbridge. He approached the project as if he was designing a completely new product.

Source: holdthefrontpage.co.uk.

The Knight-Ridder Washington bureau publishes the Richard Perle's resignation letter from the Defense Policy Board, an influential bipartisan Pentagon advisory group. Richard Perle, one of the most outspoken advocates for invading Iraq, has informed Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld that he was quitting the board in a letter dated Feb. 18, although a week later a Pentagon list of board members still included him.

The ownership of Le Matin du Sahara, the newspaper which is loyal to the monarchy, is on the move. According to Le Monde, France, Othman Al-Oumeir, former editor of Chark Al-Awsat - the Saudi newspaper printed in London - will take the control of Le Matin, even if foreigners cannot own more than 50% of the capital of a Moroccan newspaper. Le Matin du Sahara is the oldest French-speaking newspaper in the kingdom and sells 70,000 copies a day, a very good figure in Morocco.

Photo: Dan Gillmor (c) Dan Gillmor 2003.

It's not recent (May 2003), but it remains a good synthesis on what is collaborative journalism. Steve Bryant, a freelance journalist, co-managing editor of ReadMe and of the ReadMe blog, DriftNet gives us a good lesson on the recent past and the future of blogging.

According to Gaceta de Prensa, a new Spanish-speaking website dedicated to international affairs has been launched by the governmental "Iberoamérica-Europa Foundation" and Pablo Izquierdo, member of the Spanish parliament and, in the nineties, adviser of the current Prime Minister, José Maria Aznar. Name of the website: El Diario Exterior.

"Newspapers began experimenting with online content about 10 years ago, but it is by no means a maturing business. A new technology comes along, and everyone thinks success will happen overnight, but most take 20 years to become an overnight success," said Paul Saffo, research director at the Institute for the Future. "Radio took 20 years. TV took 20 years. The Internet is no exception."

Source: NAA website.

Two Dutch publishers will add Sunday editions to their existing daily newspapers. The largest circulation (800,000) national newspaper, Telegraaf, will start Sunday publication on 21 March, and the regional newspaper Twentsche Courant Tubantia (140,000) starts 7 March. Previous launches of Dutch Sunday newspapers in the ’80s and early ‘90s failed. The new editions will be home delivered by Telegraaf and Twentse Courant Tubantia, as well as being available at the normal outlets open at Sundays.

Contact: Jan-Willem Gast: jw.gast@nuv.nl

Fakt, the Polish tabloid launched last October by Axel Springer, outsold Gazeta Wyborcza in December 2003 to become the country's top-selling newspaper, according to the paper’s distribution group. Fakt's daily circulation reached over 536,000, only two months after its October 22, 2003 launch, compared to 433,000 for Gazeta Wyborcza.

Contact: Maciej Hoffman: info@izbaprasy.media.pl