Results matching “us industry pra”

The financial plight of the newspaper industry has caused some papers to shut down, some to reduce days with printed copy or go entirely online.  Tom Mcniff, managing editor of the Ocala Star-Banner, detailed in his paper's Sunday edition the latest way they are cutting costs:  literally cutting the paper.

Starting Monday, the Star-Banner will be a column narrower than in the past.  It is the latest of a "number of significant changes" to the paper in recent months, including a complete redesign of its layout.

The Financial Times' Ben Fenton muses on the "unpalatable" prospects for newspapers, some radical, that signifies that the industry is "embracing changes that would once have been unthinkable."

Former editor of the Daily Mirror Piers Morgan said that all national newspapers will be free within 10 years, and his paper should be the kick-off to the transition, according to Press Gazette.

One month after its initial trial period, a meeting of about 30 editors will be held in Atlanta to hear about CNN's wire service.

CNN has made plans to broaden its service to provide coverage of national, international and possibly local events "on a smaller scale and at a lower cost" than the Associated Press, according to Editor and Publisher.

According to Brand Republic, Microsoft has signed a one-year agreement with Hargreaves Lansdown, a financial services and asset management firm, to provide MSN Money users with information, news, comments and services related to the financial industry.

The service will cover funds, Isas, pensions, Sipps, annuities, share dealing and currency.  It will allow users have access to investment and technical research and use interactive tools.

The UK's daily Independent costs its publisher, Dublin-based Independent News & Media a "small fortune" every year, The Evening Standard's Roy Greenslade writes, and is likely to fail.

The way to save the paper is by taking a "revolutionary" step--going entirely online.

Foregoing all of its newsprint editions would be following the paper's tradition of "taking risks," according to Greenslade, and would change the face of newspapers in the UK.

The Associated Press suspended the use of US military photos on November 14th after the US Government body distributed doctored photographs of General Ann E. Dunwoody, the first female four star General in US history. This is the second hand out photograph that has been altered by the US army in a matter of months. The fact that a government institution would manipulate a photograph begs the question: can we trust what we see?

The Editors Weblog spoke to Santiago Lyon, the Director of Photography at AP about the events surrounding this suspension and the issue of photo manipulation.

First case - flag appears

Lyon reports that when Dunwoody was promoted, the AP searched for an image of the new General on a US military website that gathers photos of armed services personnel. Unable to locate a photograph, the AP contacted the website and requested a photograph and subsequently received a picture of the General by email. This photo showed Dunwoody with a US flag behind her (the photo on the right). The photo was immediately passed to the editing desk (all AP photographs go through at least one editing desk) where it was vetted and examined; it was then released onto the wire.  The San Antonio Express-News, a Texas-based local newspaper, contacted the AP alerting them to the fact that they had found a very similar image of Dunwoody on Google images, but with no US flag behind her (both photos shown above). Lyon and his team immediately investigated and discovered that a member of US military staff had added the US flag background and changed the number of stars on her uniform from three to four. The photograph was then immediately removed from the AP's wire.

Second case - superimposing a head
 
This was the second such incident involving the US army in a matter of months. The AP collects headshots of all the US personnel that have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan and as part of this effort the AP received a photo that on closer inspection was not what it appeared. The army had the cut out the face of the dead soldier in question from one photo and superimposed it onto an existing mug shot with a uniform and an American flag in the background.

Lyon says, "Because this had been the second incident in as many months, we decided to suspend the use of US military photographs while we examined our own internal policies as well as have a conversation with the US military about what they were doing to these pictures and how this was unacceptable."

Army were, "at a loss to explain it"

Surprisingly when Lyon contacted the military to complain about this incident, it did not appear to accept the gravity of the situation. Lyon reports, "Initially they were a little bit defensive, claiming that this photo did not really alter the substance of the image. Our policy is of course zero tolerance, we do not accept that images be manipulated or that content be added or subtracted more specifically, unless there is a pressing need to for security reasons for example, and in that event we flag this." In further conversations, the army were, "at a loss to explain it." Lyon goes on to say, "I was shocked, but we wanted to deal with it as forcefully as possible and put it behind us."

The Pentagon later told the AP that they would redistribute their guidelines again to staff, which are also firm on the issue of manipulation. Lyon says, "They pretty much admitted that there had been a mistake and that they weren't proud about it, and that they wanted to work with us to try and ensure that this does not happen again."

As a result, the AP has now strengthened its internal policies with regard "hand-out" images (images that it receives from non-AP staff and external bodies). "We have instituted a more rigorous policy of examining those images now, at least two editors have to examine the images closely and if there is any doubt at all, the image is then held pending further examination." Previously, the standard procedure was to examine all images but not in the kind of minute detail that they do now with hand out images. Lyon reports that the AP receives vast numbers of these hand out images from various bodies, including the police, industry and so forth. AP staff know its strict zero tolerance policy for photo manipulation, but is it something that these external organisations adhere to?

In recent weeks not only do we have the AP case, but also the issue of a French Government minister and a disappearing and reappearing diamond ring. A Le Figaro front-page photo of Justice Minister Rachida Dati was doctored to erase a substantial diamond ring she was wearing. The practise of photo manipulation is nothing new: in 1942 Mussolini had a horse handler removed from a photograph of him sitting on a horse in order to make him look more heroic.

As long as there has been photography, there have been photo manipulations. However, with advanced technology and increased use of photo shop, it is now easier to achieve and harder to detect. Lyon says, "It is the click of a mouse and you can add or subtract things from a photo quite easily. What that means for an organisation like ours, whose whole reputation is based on the voracity of the information and telling the truth, is that we have to be ever vigilant." These incidences raise the question of how often these doctored images make it onto our front pages - unintentionally in the case of AP and intentionally in the case of Le Figaro  - as we generally only hear of this when the culprits are caught out. Can we now trust what we see? "You see images that are printed by others and are you always sure of the truthfulness of what you are looking at? It's hard to say. Sometimes you look at an image and you wonder," say's Lyon on the issue.

Lyon says that the Dunwoody image has highlighted the problem to AP. "What this has done is that it has shown us the need to be as vigilant and as careful as possible with hand out images from third parties whose provenance we cannot be 100% sure of. It has heightened our vigilance."

Today's newspaper reader is well aware that anything can be done with an image, even if it is just from their experiences watching the magic of CGI at their local multiplex. However, this is an arena where they expect the full trickery of the camera to be on display, the public does not expect it when they open the newspaper.

Due to the Internet and various other factors, "there has been a huge increase in the number of images that are being sent by international news agencies. 20-years ago we were probably sending 100 images a day in a 24-hour period. Now we are closer to sending 3,000 images in a 24-hour period. When you do the maths, the news agencies are handling close to a million images a year. That's a huge amount of imagery." This increase in distribution and use of photographs highlights the need for there to be strict rules on the doctoring of photographs. The role of a photojournalist is to capture a story for the reader, to bring a story to life, and to tell the truth. Just because we have the technology to do something, it  doesn't mean we should.

Source: AP, Straits Times, National Press Photographers Association, Ethics of Digital Manipulation, Daily Tech

The series of coordinated terrorist attacks in Indian financial capital Mumbai have gained worldwide attention, and the speed with which Internet users were able to read first-hand reports within hours of the initial attacks is proof of a revolutionized way that information reaches an audience.

Although mainstream news coverage has dominated headlines thus far, social media has been a major outlet for news at the scene and around the world.  Internet users are sharing news and information for updates and reactions.

The Indian Readership Survey, a sampling of trends in newspapers in the Himachal state, demonstrates that a differing family structure, increase in female readership and youth favoring the Hindi language over English are all factors in the country's media industry.

Total readership is down in the Himachal state by nearly 700,000.  Both Hindi and English dailies have lost readers, 11,000 and 49,000, respectively, since the last survey, according to the report.

Sub-editors are facing a series of cutbacks at the Herald Express, a South West daily newspaper, in the latest of an industry-wide overhaul of newsrooms to reduce costs.

The team of five sub-editors will be reduced to two, Hold the Front Page reports, and administration and sales staffs have left the company.

"Casual staff" has been cut back - at least six community correspondents, who contribute pieces for local news pages, and their sub-editor, have been fired.

The Herald Express has joined other Northcliffe titles on a new server, allowing their copy to be available for sister papers.

Source:  Hold the Front Page

See Also:
Interview with Trinity Mirror's Neil Benson

The Online News Association, an organization for digital journalists has redesigned its website, Journalists.org.  According to Editor & Publisher, the site seeks to connect online media worldwide.

The redesigned site has several new features including a way in which members can connect by region and area of interest through chats and discussion groups, a training section and tips on multimedia storytelling.

Roger Alton, editor of UK daily newspaper The Independent, said in an interview on Sky News Online that he takes responsibilty for the publication's declining economic situation. Alton also sttates that there are no plans to sell the newspaper in the future.

Alton goes on to say that the price increase startegy (from 80p to £1 in September) failed and pushed sales down further. The price rise made The Independent more expensive than other papers in the UK market, such as The Telegraph, The Guardian and The Times.

The Trinity Mirror's innovative workflow overhaul, moving three of its regional newspapers into a single newsroom, has been a "morale booster" for staff in a time when the industry has seen its share of downturns.

The new site at Fort Dunlop is the largest open plan office space outside of London, Journalism.co.uk reports.  As the Weblog has reported, Trinity Mirror completely revamped the approach to newsroom management with the transition.

Self-regulation in the UK newspaper industry needs more protection with the "threat" of digital media and celebrity privacy actions, according to Sir Christopher Meyer, departing chairman of the Press Complaints Commission.

Several paper manufacturers have reported to Media Bistro that they will not be raising their rates in 2009, giving the financially strapped industry a break in costs.

The high rates of newsprint have contributed to "a wave of downsizing in the beleaguered newspaper industry." 

The Guardian's Peter Wilby asks the question:  just how many journalists do you need to publish a newspaper?  In today's failing economy, circulation declines, dried up advertising revenue and the transition to new media, can a newspaper staff maintain its numbers?  Is "small," he asks, inevitable?