Results matching “spain the free”

The future of Twitter is mobile phone applications, says Jean-Sébastien Cruz, CEO of Netco Sports, France, speaking at the WAN-IFRA conference 'Using sports news to optimise your revenues'.

He points to some important trends in the areas of social networking and mobile applications. Newspapers that create pages on Twitter find themselves on the same level as any user, he says. The iPhone has the fastest penetration we've seen, and is rapidly changing the way we use the web, pressing buttons rather than using URLs. The Apple tablet is coming soon. Apple makes payment easy through the centralised App store, and provides a robust software development kit. And sports apps make up a substantial part of the massive growth in app downloads.

So what is NetCo Sports' strategy? Their objective is to have 2500 apps in 15 sports worldwide by 2012. They have created 200 iPhone apps in the field of sport so far, and their first was launched in 2008. Each one is available in five languages, and recognises the language of the phone automatically. A search for football in the Apple store brings up their Football 10 app. He calls this an encouragement to arrive quickly and be present early. His company has a 25% market share in France, with 30 million pages read through their mobile apps. Canal+ is their advertising partner, and receives traffic and visibility from the arrangement.

Working closely with advertisers can help newspapers to establish a good brand image, says Paz Alvarez Sanchez-Arjona, Market Intelligence director of Marca/Unidad Editorial in Spain, speaking at the WAN-IFRA conference 'Using sports news to optimise your revenues'.

She has worked closely with marketing and advertising teams. This was satisfactory for the advertisers because the campaigns were distinctive and became well-known. This created loyalty and gave her brand a good, dynamic image, as well as revenue.

Marca is the leader among newspapers in terms of readership in Spain. It has 2.8 million readers, far more than any other newspaper in Spain. There are 40 million people in the country, with four national sports newspapers. Marca is located in Madrid and focuses a lot on Real Madrid and football, although it covers all the sports. In the last few years, a number of local papers have popped up, focusing on local teams. These detract from Marca's readership.

The economic crisis is eroding the independence of Spanish journalists, reports Periodismo Digital, with some 57.5 per cent of directors in national media positions claiming they have less freedom now than in previous years.

Results from a survey carried out by the Press Association of Madrid (APM) as part of its Annual Report 2009 found that directors in Spanish print, radio and television media believed that they now have to play more favourably to the interests of advertisers and institutions as a direct consequence of the financial strain the industry is currently experiencing following the recession.

The Sunday Times was banished from Dubai news stands earlier this week amidst accusations that a graphic depicting the emirates ruler sinking in a sea of debt, was an insult.
 
"The Sunday Times was not distributed today," an official from the United Arab Emirates National Media Council told AFP on Sunday, requesting anonymity.

"We cannot accept a personal insult. It is against our traditions," he said.

Morocco blocked the distribution of El País on Saturday after the Spanish daily reproduced two cartoons considered to "undermine the institution of the monarchy," reports AFP.

The first image, by French cartoonist, Jean Plantu, was originally printed in Le Monde last Thursday, and depicts 'a hand reaching out of a Moroccan flag to create a child-like drawing of a funny face wearing a crown'. The cartoon also resulted in a ban on distribution of Le Monde in Morocco on both Thursday and Friday.

The European Parliament debated the issue of freedom of information in Italy at the 7-8 October plenary session in Brussels, agreeing to vote on a resolution on the freedom of information at its session in Strasbourg on 19-22 October. Some MEPs had expressed concern over what they see as a climate of media intimidation due to the prime minister's control over large sections of the media, according to EUobserver.

Many MEPs expressed their belief that the issue was an Italian national issue and therefore not one for the European Parliament to deal with, according to a press release from the EP. Others believed that some kind of intervention was necessary. Belgian ALDE leader Guy Verhofstadt said that act that three EU countries (the other two being Bulgaria and Romania) had been categorised by the organisation Freedom House as having only "partially free" media worried him and prompted him to call on the Commission to guarantee media pluralism. Patrick Le Hyaric (EUL/NGL) called for the creation of a European body to monitor press freedom. 

Ezio Mauro, the Italian editor whose newspaper is being sued for defamation by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi likens the situation to attacks on the American press during the Watergate scandal that ultimately led to the resignation of US President Richard Nixon.
 
"Like the American journalists, our journalists were doing their work and were publishing information that had to be published," said Mr Mauro, Editor-in-chief of La Repubblica, speaking at a World Editors Forum conference in Prague, Czech Republic.
 
 "We are a democratic country, where citizens have the right to be informed, and it is the obligation and role of media to provide information," he said.
 
La Repubblica is being sued for defamation by Mr Berlusconi for repeatedly publishing 10 questions asking the Prime Minister to explain his extra-marital relationships and behaviour, the subjects of widely reported public scandals this year.  Several other newspapers and journalists have also come under attack by Mr Berlusconi and his supporters.
 
 "It is not only an attack on La Repubblica but on freedom of the press", said Mr Mauro.
 
"Is it right that, in Italy, you're a journalist and you criticise Mr Berlusconi even a little bit and you actually have to worry about your position and your future? That is a big problem in our every day life as journalists because that can make you self-censor information that you're going to write about."
 
Mr Mauro said repeatedly publishing the 10 questions was a legitimate journalistic action because Mr Berlusconi refused to answer them.
 
He also said Mr Berlusconi's private life was a legitimate subject of journalistic investigation because of its political implications, because Mr Berlusconi raised the subject himself, and because of questions that have been raised - by Mr Belusconi's wife among others - about his behaviour and his health.
 
"It could be said that Mr Berlusconi has an enormous talent for dismantling the wall between private and public life," said Mr Mauro. "Mr Berlusconi published a book with private photos and public photos included. He has turned attention to his private life corresponding with his public life, and its basis for the success of his career."
 
"But this has turned against him," Mr Mauro said. Mr Berlusconi has "become a prisoner of the macho personality he has built with his own hands."
 
Mr Mauro was the keynote speaker at the World Editor Forum's 2015 Newsroom Conference. Xavier Vidal-Folch, President of WEF and Deputy Director of El Pais in Spain, said: "It is not often that press freedom is under threat in the heart of Europe, where a government has forbidden the publication of information of public interest, even if it relates to the private life of a prime minister. This is the case of Italy."
 
La Repubblica has posted the 10 questions on its website, along with a petition in support of a free press.

More comments from Mr Mauro can be found here.
 

Would expanding US copyright law to incorporate news articles help protect newspapers from unfair competition online? Several columnists and commentators have come out on both sides of the issue in the past week, raising questions on the role of online aggregators and the efficacy of any action regarding copyright.

First off, US Court of Appeals judge Richard Posner proposed on his blog that copyright law should be changed to "bar access to copyrighted materials without the copyright holder's consent, or to bar linking to or paraphrasing online content without the copyright holder's consent." Essentially, that would mean news aggregators like Google News would have to ask permission each time they linked to a newspaper article. Posner argues that traditional media lose so much revenue by these "free riders" reusing content it will eventually drive newspapers out of business.

Citizen photojournalism agency Citizenside has partnered with French free daily 20minutes to launch a citizen journalism portal on the paper's website 20minutes.fr. In the area "la une des lecteurs" (the readers front page) there is a new section called "vos images" (your images) where readers can upload their photos and see them sorted and published.

Hélène Fromen, new media editor at 20Minutes said in a press release that "putting this contributative platform in place "confirms 20minutes.fr's capacity for innovation." She added that "with this service, we are deploying a true participative ecosystem around 20minutes.fr that treats our Internet readers as a potential new source of verified information and gives value to their contributions."

German publishers have united behind demands that the government pass legislation
shielding their intellectual property from "ongoing theft" over the Internet.  The principle publishing houses aligned themselves with trade unions of the music, film and advertising industries at the "International Media Dialogue" in Hamburg earlier this month to discuss to question "No Future for Paid Content? Media Industry Under Pressure".  

A statement warned about the greatly damaging financial repercussions of intellectual property theft by providers and demanded legal protection for online content. The signatories of the statement were: the German Producers Alliance, the German Association of Communications Agencies, and the big publishing houses Springer, Bauer, Ganske, Gruner & Jahr, Spiegel and Zeit.  

How is one news source, totally funded by subscriptions, to compete with another that receives government subsidies? Such is dilemma that arose when WAZ, Germany's second-largest newspaper group, dropped its subscription to the independently-run German press agency DPA in favor of government-subsidized Agence France-Presse.

As Isabelle de Pommereau points out in the Christian Science Monitor, the decision has consequences for both WAZ and DPA. Since the WAZ group started relying on AFP for all its wire coverage, "the papers' depth of German-based coverage has become undeniably more shallow." Pommereau adds that the loss of such a major client also puts financial pressure on DPA as it struggles against cutting coverage or raising the cost for its other clients.

Further to Metro International's announcement earlier this month that it was planning to sell off its US newspapers, the company has now publicised its intention to sell off its Italian and Portuguese businesses.

The company said it "is currently in advanced negotiations with potential partners in both Italy and Portugal which may lead to a partial or full divestment of these operations. These discussions are in line with Metro International's global strategy to encourage consolidation in its European markets. For the full year 2008, the total losses in Italy and Portugal together amounted to EUR 2.5 million."

The Economist has made the news industry the special focus of its business section for its latest edition. "Established" news is described as "being blown away" but news in general is otherwise considered to be "thriving."

In an opening paragraph which does not bode well for advocates of traditional media, the Economist ponders if "the surest sign that newspapers are doomed is that politicians, so often their targets, are beginning to feel sorry for them," in reference to Barack Obama's pledge to newspapers last weekend at an industry dinner in Washington, as well as Massachusetts senator, John Kerry's commitment to help the "endangered species" and, in particular, his region's beloved Boston Globe.

Following three months of ongoing negotiations, Unidad Editorial, one of Spain's leading newspaper and magazine publishers, finally approved the terms for an employment regulation file or Expediente de Regulación de Empleo pactado (ERE) as it is known.

At the end of January, the group informed staff that due to the changing media landscape and the additional pressures brought on by the global downturn, a series of unavoidable cutbacks would be implemented to ensure the company maintains its competitive edge moving forward. At the time it was envisioned that around 400 jobs would go, equating to 20% of its total workforce, but the newly agreed pact has seen this number drop to 180 positions, meaning that just under 1 in 10 workers will lose their jobs.

After dropping several editions last year, Spanish newspaper Qué! launched a Navarra edition yesterday. The publication's parent company, the Vocento group, in cooperation with La Información (Diario de Navarra), will be launching more editions of the paper for La Rioja and Castellon provinces.

Qué! is a free daily newspaper, launched in 2005, that quickly became the second most read free paper in Spain, according to a 2008 study by "Estudio General de Medios". In December, four editions of the paper were shut down--A Coruña, Bilbao, Mallorca and Murcia--affecting about 40% of the paper's work force.

Spain's free press organisation, the Asociación Española de la Prensa Gratuita (AEPG), announced on its site the launch of the country's first search engine for printed free publications.

More than 150 free online publications have been made available in a move - according to the AEPG - which confirms the organisation's commitment to online.

Free Press founders John Nichols and Robert W. McChesney propose a solution to the demise of the American newspaper: give all Americans an annual tax credit for the first $200 they spend on daily newspapers. According to their plan, newspaper dailies would be required to publish at least five times per week and maintain a substantial length with less than 50 percent advertising. They maintain that this way the government pays for citizens to receive a free daily newspaper subscription, but the taxpayer is allowed to pick which paper.

In an article for the Nation, Nichols and McChesney outline the importance of the printed newspaper in maintaining democracy and examine the problems facing the newspaper industry. They believe the death of the newspaper would mean the loss of independent scrutiny of the government and politicians and also of public accountability for their policy and actions. Yet, Nichols and McChesney support government intervention as necessary for the preservation of its own watchdog.

Chief media correspondent of the Financial Times, Ben Fenton, today published an article in which he argues that newspaper groups with a large number of free newspapers are struggling more compared to companies dealing in just paid-for titles.

Sly Bailey, CEO of the Trinity Mirror group agrees: "Free newspapers are in the frontline trenches of this war, simply because they only have advertising revenues."

According to Arsenio Escolar, editor of free Spanish daily, 20 Minutos, "free papers are able to confront the crisis better than paid-for ones."

Escolar made these and other comments whilst attending a working breakfast as part of the Foro de la Nueva Comunicación in Madrid on Wednesday 4 March. His comments overlapped with some points presented in an article published by Newspaper Innovation blogger, Piet Bakker, just one day earlier.

"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.

The Spanish media has rallied together in an effort to gain government support to save the country's television, radio and press from demise, with newspapers seeking generous tax breaks.

The various branches of the communications industry have each put together their own list of proposals, which have since been presented to the government.

Free dailies around the world are closing and making cutbacks, but Italy seems to be bucking the trend.  The Newspaper Innovation blog reports that there are still six national free dailies in publication, as well as other free local titles. The blog puts national free daily circulation at approximately 4.5 million, and that of its paid counterpart at 5.5 million, although warns against taking the figures too literally as such data is not officially audited in Italy.

These figures appear to indicate that the Italian free daily market is not encountering to the same extent the financial pressures and plummeting readership experienced by publications globally.  Metro, for example, publishes 7 daily editions around Italy and boasts a circulation of 850,000.  Yet in Spain, Metro International has in fact pulled the publication due to "unsustainable losses".

Source: Newspaper Innovation

The Metro group, worldwide distributor of free newspapers has announced that they are shutting their Spanish edition, affecting 7 cities across the country.

Metro International has said that the decision has been made due to the "unsustainable losses" which its publications are encountering in Spain, although the Spanish Metro is not as loss-making as some of its other free competitors in the country.  However, the company said that "the worsening Spanish economic downturn, which during the beginning of 2009 has resulted in a collapsing advertising market" means that continuing to publish is not a viable option.

Another free daily hit by news of its imminent departure is the Baltimore Examiner, which according to vice President and CEO Ryan McKibben is unable to continue due to "the economic dynamics that have ravaged the print media industry".

Source: The Guardian, Baltimore Sun

Free daily Qué! is closing four of its Spanish editions in A Coruña, Bilbao, Mallorca and Murcia, according to Newspaper Innovation.

40% of the paper's workforce will be laid off, and publisher Vocento is asking the Spanish Ministry of Labor for a special ERE (Expediente de Regulación de Empleo) provision.

Closure of the A Coruña branch could be avoided "if the edition would merge with the other Galician edition in Vigo," and the Bilbao edition could merge with local free paper El Nervión


The 12 editions of Qué! were launched in 2005, but were owned by the Recoletos group, who sold the title in 2007.  Vocento's strategy is to "launch editions in every city where they operated a paid newspaper."

Qué! was the third national free newspaper in Spain, after 20 Minutos and Metro, with a readership of 2.2 million.  The circulation of the four dailies closed was around 120,000.

Source: Newspaper Innovation