Results matching “uk the independ 2”

The news outlet MSNBC has developed its own application for the Apple mobile devices, iPhone and iTouch. It has collaborated with the mobile phone application developer, Zumobi to produce an application, which offers a breaking news service, audio and visual components Twitter streams.   

The Twitter integration streams will allow users to track Twitter feeds from NBC News and MSNBC anchors and easily share sites. 

When the Ann Arbor News ceases printing in July, Ann Arbor will become the first US city with no daily newspaper. The publication as it exists now will disappear completely, although a new venture, AnnArbor.com, is set to take over local news on the web and will produce a print product two days a week.

In a column for Poynter's The Biz Blog, Rick Edmunds postulates on what factors led to the decline of the News in Ann Arbor, whose vibrant, educated community would appear to be the ideal location for a newspaper. Edmunds even goes so far as to suggest starting over with AnnArbor.com might not be such a bad idea.

We live in a world, not a village

The directors of international journalism courses talked about the importance of internationalisation and giving students a chance to interact with other students from around the world in a bid to understand the effects of global media in a local context.

According to Eric Scherer at AFP, the future of journalism will lie in enterprising journalists and their efforts to come up with journalistic solutions that will facilitate the communication process and continuously revise the business models in place. He also believes that a new mindset will eventually need to replace the typical journalist's attitude of today, as well as in the value of a broad general knowledge base - something that internationalisation makes possible.

The FrontLine Club has launched its own quarterly title to sponsor independent journalism.  FrontLine: A Broadsheet, will comprise of foreign coverage, as well as articles investigating British culture and politics.  In fact, its creators hope to resurrect "some traditions lost from the British market".

The identity of these traditions is as of yet vague, however the publication's ethos has been made clear.   This, according to Vaughan Smith, founder and managing director of the Club, is "political, but party-politically-allergic, irreverent and iconoclastic".  The subject choice in the selection of articles for the first edition suggests that these values are indeed underwriting the content.  Up for discussion is Tony Blair's Catholic faith, the return of British sleaze and peacekeeping in Kosovo.

The Digital Britain report, published this afternoon, evokes the government's attitude and pledges to a rapidly evolving news industry, underlined by the recognition that both traditional and technological forms of news provision require both respect and support.   

Recognising the economic pressures pressing on the news industry, the report asserts that citizens, government and industry will have to work collaboratively to financially maintain the 'vital civil function of journalism.'

Alexander Lebedev is reportedly negotiating a potential purchase of the the Independent and the Independent on Sunday.   If the deal is successful, the Russian oligarch would have control of two important British titles, in addition to the 75.1 per cent stake in the London Evening Standard that he acquired in January.

From today, a new partnership between Associated Newspapers' free titles and PageSuite will see the group's online newspapers including Metro, Metro Ireland, London Lite and 7Days published by the digital publishing solutions company.

The Metro's operations director, Stuart Wood, said: "Our electronic editions provide a convenient way of accessing our content. We are focused on delivering a first-class customer experience and PageSuite's market-leading product helps us achieve that."

Pess freedom in Italy has come under international scrutiny in recent weeks as a down-grading of the press's freedom status by US non-profit Freedom House has coincided with an increase in prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's aggression towards media outlets which oppose him. Leading left-leaning daily La Repubblica has even attempted to take on the premier directly, publishing a list of questions concerning his relationship with a young girl, to which it believes he owes answers. A Dutch politician has threatened to take action in the European parliament against the Italian leader because of journalistic constraints. Should a newspaper be demanding such information which concerns a politician's private life? Is the press freedom situation as bad as it seems?

The La Repubblica crusade

On May 14 La Repubblica journalist Giuseppe D'Avanzo published ten questions directed at the prime minister concerning his involvement with 18-year-old Noemi Letizia. Berlusconi's relationship with the girl gained mass media attention when, four days after the prime minister dropped in on the girl's 18th birthday party in Naples, his wife issued a press release accusing him of "consorting with minors" and pressing for a divorce. Berlusconi promptly went on a late-night political chat show to defend himself, but the holes in his story which have gradually emerged have attracted even more attention than the original incident. D'Avanzo's questions address these holes and ask the premier to come clean about the nature of his encounters with the girl. Berlusconi has not yet answered the questions and has given no indication that he intends to. The paper has put a timer on its website to indicate the days, hours, minutes and seconds since the questions were issued, and even offers them in English.

Berlusconi himself has tried to present the left-leaning paper's campaign as a left-wing plot to undermine his authority, accusing the paper of lying and adding in an interview on TV-channel Sky that he believes many readers will abandon the paper because of this. His office issued a statement saying referring to the "campaign of denigration" and saying that the paper is driven by "jealousy and hatred."  The prime minister has fought back as the story developed, with his lawyers applying for the seizure of photos taken at his Sardinian villa (where Letizia reportedly attended parties with other young women) before they could be published, and a journalist from Berlusconi's brother's Milan-based daily Il Giornale posing as a member of the foreign press to get an interview with Ms Letizia's former boyfriend in an attempt to discredit him.
 
 
The international reaction 
La Repubblica has defended its actions, with editor Ezio Mauro saying that "There are contradictions here and when the powers that be don't explain something, journalism has a job to do." And foreign journalists seem to agree. The paper also featured an interview with Bill Emmott, former editor of the Economist, who said that "for a newspaper, asking a political leader questions is not only legitimate, but part of its mission to inform the people." According to the International Herald Tribune, "for the first time in recent memory, the Italian press is shining a bright light into the dark recesses of a politician's personal life." The Times wrote that the premier's campaign against La Repubblica "looks ominously like an attempt to cow dissent rather than protect a private reputation" and that "his newspaper critics are performing a public service for a badly governed populace." A Financial Times editorial criticised the way that Berlusconi turned on La Repubblica following the questions, and stressed that part of the "danger of Berlusconi... is that of the media sapping the serious content of politics, and replacing it with entertainment."

Berlusconi has reacted with anger and scepticism to such foreign criticism. He seems to refuse to believe that papers might be acting of their own accord, announcing that "the international press's campaign is being orchestrated by an Italian group" and referring to it as a left-wing "plot." He insists that the foreign press is misrepresenting the Italian situation, and a rift in his relationship with Rupert Murdoch seems to be further deteriorating following the Times' article and others. He has accused the Times of writing critical editorials about him because his government is in dispute with News Corp. Il Giornale, owned by the prime minister's brother Paolo, ran a story discussing the FT editorial entitled "The left has also enlisted the Financial Times."

One of a newspaper's main goals should be to act as a watchdog over the government, but it is unusual for a paper to take on a country's leader so directly, particularly over a matter which is largely private. In the UK, the Daily Telegraph's recent campaign over MPs' expenses was firmly in the public interest, as it dealt with public money being used by members of parliament for personal gain. Berlusconi has been derisive of the media discussing what he says is his private life. Should a paper be putting so much focus on an issue that is arguably unrelated to the prime minister's ability to govern the country? Is this indicative of media trivialisation?

The Times editorial does not see the questions as intrusive, as they relate to Berlusconi's "public roles as politician and media magnate". The Independent's Peter Popham said that the media "cannot be accused of muck-raking on the issue because it was Mr Berlusconi himself who drew attention to the relationship" by attending the 18-year-old's party and not only posing for photographs but publicly giving the girl a 6000euro gold necklace. And the fact that a politician might have lied to the public is probably enough of an incentive to investigate.
 
Press freedom in Italy
 
Italy has a fairly unique media situation, which makes confrontation between a newspaper and the prime minister even more pertinent. The country's press freedom status is clearly in question. A Dutch politician who is leader of the Green Left party in the European Parliament, Judith Sargentini, has said that her party is considering taking legal action against Berlusconi because of the press freedom constraints in his country. Amongst her complaints is the fact that the premier blocks critical questions at press conferences. If a majority of the European Parliament were to agree to the initiation of legal proceedings, then the matter would come before the European Court of Justice.

US-based nonprofit Freedom House recently downgraded Italy's press freedom status from 'free' to 'partly free' for 2008. In conversation with Karin Karlekar, editor of the report, she explained that the main reasons given for this were the unusually high level of media concentration, particularly in broadcasting, threats from organised crime and others, and attacks on journalists, mainly from far right groups. During Berlusconi's former term as prime minister, the country was also given partly free ratings, and Karlekar added that the media concentration was "one of the highest levels anywhere in the world."

Daria Gorodisky, a veteran Corriere della Sera journalist who is also a union representative for the paper, told the Editors Weblog that she believes there is a "truly enormous press freedom problem in Italy" which will be "extremely difficult to resolve." She does not place blame for this directly on the government but on the fact that there are no "pure" newspaper owners, rather, those who publish newspapers also run other businesses and therefore have aims and interests aside from their papers. She also believes that the quality of Italy's journalism schools have deteriorated as more and more have sprung up. She did, however, point out that this is not the first time that Berlusconi has threatened the press.

Internet penetration is low in Italy in comparison to that of its Western European neighbours: about 48%, compared to 72% in the UK or 66% in France, for example. This low figure would suggest that many people are more likely to get their news from television and one or two newspapers, rather than the range of sources that online readers might visit. Despite this, however, Karlekar noted the country's "very vibrant and influential" blogosphere, particularly politically-orientated blogs.

Gorodisky commented that although some journalists were "very worried" by the situation, she did not think that there was enough widespread concern about Italy's press freedom status. Karlekar said that her organisation's report had sparked considerable debate and she had received both praise and hate mail from Italians. Niccolo Ghedini, lawyer to Berlusconi, dismissed the report on a TV show called Anno Zero, saying it was a private organisation and took its information from only two sources, La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera. Karlekar responded that she was "not sure where he got that" and was clear that "the range of sources is large and our authors would never just rely on one or two." She added that it was "interesting that the government felt compelled to respond in some way."
 
Karlekar did say that Berlusconi did not seem to be "exerting the same amount of influence over the broadcast media" as he did during his previous term as prime minister; there seems to be less "overt political manipulation." She was also clear that she did not think that the high media concentration had "stifled" the whole media, and drew attention to the diversity in terms of political opinion in the print sector.

Arguably there are far more important questions that the Italian press could be asking its country's leader, rather than focusing on the somewhat sordid details of his involvement with a teenage girl. But as a vital part of the press's role in a democracy is to play watchdog on the government, the fact that a paper is challenging the prime minister to clear up inconsistencies is something that must be welcomed. And even though the original issue may not be crucial in itself, the other questions it has brought up concerning use of government planes for private use, for example, are very pertinent. Given how much of the media the prime minister does control, and the fact that even the journalists who do not currently work for Berlusconi know that they may well some day, the press freedom situation could undoubtedly be worse than it is, and it is important that journalists keep fighting.

Are any dailies hiring? That seems to be the question on every aspiring journalist's mind. A recent graduate student who uses the penname "Where to Look?" asked this very question of whether or not daily newspapers are hiring to expert recruiter Joe Grimm. Grimm is a visiting professor at the Michigan University School of Journalism whose Q & A advice column is aimed at tackling 'the toughest recruiting questions.' A former editor, Grimm has moved into public communications and is the host of the weekly live online chats that address a designated issue in addition to his column.

Grimm candidly replies to the graduate that there are jobs available at daily news publications. The future of those dailies, as well as others that are not hiring is, however, less certain. What is certain is that the way media is delivered (as print, on-air, or through the internet) will become far more advanced.

According to an article in today's Guardian Media, the Sunday Times is planning to launch its own standalone website and is even considering introducing a paywall.

Publisher News International is a subdivision of News Corp headed by Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch has expressed his desire - to see his newspapers based around the world to follow the example of the Wall Street Journal by charging readers for content - on numerous occasions.

"Who guards the Guardian?" went the headline in last week's edition of political magazine, New Statesman, who asked if the Guardian was abusing its status to damage commercial rivals.

The New Statesman referred to the Guardian as "influential" "imposing" and "corporate" and suggested that the MediaGuardian, in particular, was being used by owner Guardian Media Group as an editorial battleaxe to discredit competitors.

April's figures from the Audio Bureau of Circulations Electronic see Guardian.co.uk leading the pack, overtaking last month's victor Telegraph.co.uk. Guardian.co.uk attracted 27,324,309 unique users in April, representing a 4% increase from March - Independent.co.uk also saw a 4% month-on-month rise, and an impressive 63% increase year-on-year, putting it in 7th place.

Jemima Kiss attributes Guardian.co.uk's success this month to content including an exclusive video of a policeman attacking protestor Ian Tomlinson shortly before he collapsed and died at the G20 protests, as well as the controversial Damian McBride e-mails and the "Guardian goes Twitter" April Fools article. Guardian.co.uk looks set to lose the top spot by some margin in May, however, given Telegraph.co.uk's string of MP expenses scandal exclusives.

Source: Guardian.co.uk

In 2005, the Guardian prepared itself for what was heralded as a revolution in newspaper journalism by switching from traditional broadsheet to the Berliner format. (See the first issue of the Berliner Guardian, right, printed 12 September 2005.) For the first time since its makeover, the Guardian explains in detail why it decided to make the move and how it went about doing it.

Four years ago, when news first got out that the Guardian was getting geared up for a reinvention, journalistic tongues were soon wagging, such was the interest generated among its rivals.

Following the Evening Standard's controversial 'Sorry' ad campaign, which came hot on the heels of its Russian takeover, new editor Geordie Greig has spoken out - and so has former editor Veronica Wadley. The publication has just revealed the second part of its publicity blitz with a 'We Promise' campaign, assuring readers that in future it will celebrate London, listen to its readers, be fair, be politically independent and be surprising.

Since Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev bought the publication and recruited former Tatler editor Greig, the Standard has decided to take a more positive editorial line and launched a somewhat controversial 'Sorry' ad campaign apologising for its previous mistakes - for losing touch, negative reporting, taking readers for granted and being too predictable.

The Observer's James Robinson has revealed that the Daily Mail had previously considered a 49% stake in the Independent, along with an office-sharing policy.

Ever since Gavin O'Reilly - President of the World Association of Newspapers -  was confirmed as the new CEO of Independent News & Media (INM), talk about possibly selling the newspaper has been rife - something his predecessor and father had previously refused to consider, or so people believed.

A one-off summit at the House of Commons on local media has been described as "both dull and brilliant", but nonetheless a "breakthrough moment in history" by media commentator Roy Greenslade.  In the ongoing troubles of the UK's regional media, the summit was attended by representatives of all types of UK media, and speakers included culture secretary Andy Burnham and Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards.

The main point of note from the summit has been the unprecedented level of cooperation show by all sides. Greenslade describes how the summit was "was all the better for the absence of fireworks, the lack of point-scoring and even the rather obvious and well-rehearsed contributions from some of the representatives because it revealed a welcome trend towards co-operation."

While newspapers around the world, especially the US and UK, scramble for new strategies, journalism schools are too as the young continue to enrol in journalism schools. Considering nobody can surely predict what the future of journalism will look like, professionals are saying the most important strategy is to equip them with the tools to be independent, creative and strong entrepreneurs.

Owner of the venerated Press Gazette, Wilmington, announced last week, that as of May, the industry's trade magazine will be no more.

Since then, media commentators have come forward in verbal support of the association; but if only words could translate into funds. Alas, the type of support the association really needs is non-existent and instead industry colleagues are left wondering "what if".

The Guardian has revealed that subbing duties at the Independent will, from today, be given to desk editors in a move similar to one made by the Financial Times, which earlier this month asked its reporters to sub edit their own work.

The decision to cut down on subs follows a spate of redundancies overseen by publisher Independent News & Media earlier this year.

The Telegraph and the Times are training their staff to optimise content in a bid to improve rankings by attracting users to their sites.

As part of general plans to overhaul newsroom operations, more and more newspapers are beginning to rethink their search engine optimisation strategies which not only improve the online experience for the user, but also lead to a rise in traffic, as the latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations Electronic (ABCe) show.

The Belfast daily has announced that it will be ditching the broadsheet format in favour of the tabloid one, with both morning and afternoon editions going compact.

The decision to downsize is the result of extensive market research, says Michael Brophy, CEO of Independent News & Media (NI) which publishes the paper.

The announcement last Friday that Sir Anthony O'Reilly will step down as CEO of Independent News & Media provoked two things: firstly, it sent the company's shares soaring,  then sparked a revived debate regarding its future.

When O'Reilly turns 73 in May, he will be replaced by his son and current chief operating officer, Gavin O'Reilly, who is also president of the World Association of Newspapers. The restructure of the INM will also affect the Board, which will be reduced from 17 members as it presently is, to just 10. According to son Gavin, his father's decision to leave had nothing to do with the impending 200 million euro bond repayment deadline, also in May.

With closures and threatened closures for local newspapers around the US, Pew Research has asked a "nationally representative sample of 1,001 adults" their thoughts on the matter. Suprisingly, just 43% of those surveyed said that civic life would be hurt "a lot" if local newspapers were to close - and 23% were of the opinion that the effect of such an event would be "not much" or "not at all". With regard to the role of local newspapers, 30% of those who believe their demise would have "a lot" of impact on civil life give the reason for this as reliance upon them to provide in depth local news. Conversely, 29% of the 23% who didn't think the effect would be too great, cited other news sources providing similar information.

Similarly, the UK regional press is under pressure. Ian Burrell of the Independent writes that the sector is "in unprecedented crisis and there is not one of the media organisations with interests in this sector that has been immune to this catastrophic downturn in the industry's fortunes". Whilst not parallel statistics, Burrell states that "an impressive 82 per cent of UK adults read local newspapers", compared with the 41% of Americans in the Pew Research survey who said they get local news from newspapers "regularly".

The Independent reported that it is asking its readers to work with the Debategraph community to help develop a "comprehensive map" of climate change issues that will confront world leaders at negotiations for a new international climate change treaty. Formal negotiations on Kyoto's successor start in less than three weeks.

Debategraph describes its goal as "to make the best arguments on all sides of any public debate freely available to all and continuously open to challenge and improvement by all," using argument visualisation and web-based collaborative editing. A diagram or map is created with the key questions about an issue, and then users can click on these to enter sub-maps, and click on different buttons to delve deeper and deeper into each topic.

"Democracy can't exist without newspapers" was the headline of former Scotsman editor Tim Luckhurst's article in the Independent on Monday. He was writing about the declining fortunes of two of Scotland's biggest national papers; the Herald and the Scotsman. Luckhurst charts the decline of the newspaper for which he "once hired foreign correspondents from Washington DC to Beijing", but "is now a parochial rag with meagre claim to influence in Edinburgh". He cites the 9.18% drop in the Scotsman's sales in the year ending January 2009, and a parallel figure of 9.7% for the Herald.

Many London based newspapers print Scottish editions, but "until recently Scottish newspapers were the only titles published outside London that could possibly claim national status." To survive, they had to cover Scotland better than their rivals, and cover world news to the same level as their London based competitors. However, recent spates of redundancies and a "brain drain" of talented journalists migrating from Scottish newspapers to their London counterparts has left the editorial quality of these two Scottish newspapers somewhat depleted.