MediaGuardian: OMC09: Reform UK copyright, says Google

Allow limited use of copyrighted work to individuals looking to create new content, Richard Sargeant, Google UK’s public policy manager, told the Oxford Media Convention.

Full story at this link…

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Currybet.net: No mention of blogs/Google/Twitter in Ofcom report

Martin Belam has run a quick search through the ‘Putting Viewers First’ section of Ofcom’s public service broadcasting review.

Despite looking at ‘emerging trends involved with Internet delivery of content to an ever more interactive British audience’, there’s no mention of search, Twitter, blogs, Google…

Full story at this link…

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Editor&Publisher: Tribune launches multimedia marketplace online

The Syndicate will feature content from Tribune’s TV stations and newspaper websites, as well as some third-party sites, organised by topic.

Full story at this link…

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Wired.com: Fake Wired.com runs fake Steve Jobs health scare story

Wired.com has been the latest victim of a fake story about Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ health.

A hoaxer created a page, which looked like part of Wired.com, featuring a report about Jobs having a heart attack.

“In this instance the hoaxer went to the considerable trouble of creating an image of a three-paragraph story, with such affirming attributes as my aforementioned byline, current time stamp, some excellent (genuine) related stories and the social bookmarking icons at the bottom — including an (unfortunately hoax) 201 Diggs,” writes the falsely bylined John Abell.

Interestingly enough, Abell learnt about the hoax through Twitter.

Full story at this link…

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allmediascotland: Voluntary redundancies put on hold at Herald

Staff who had applied for voluntary redundancy packages, as part of a reorganisation of the group’s titles, are now being asked to reapply for other roles by management after talks with the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) broke down.

Full story at this link…

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Live Twittering from the Oxford Media Convention

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OMC09: No Andy, the NUJ wouldn’t like it

UK secretary of state for culture, media and sport, Andy Burnham, told the Oxford Media Convention today that his first job after leaving university was on a local paper – he’s well equipped to address the issue of the ailing industry then.

Especially, as he admitted, he was brought onto the paper to replace a redundant staff member. What’s more, he worked unpaid.

Not sure the National Union of Journalists would have liked that, he added – not a lot, Andy, not a lot.

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Obama inauguration coverage sets new live streaming record for AP

It seems that more and more people are eschewing television in favour of online content, when it comes to obtaining and providing coverage of important events.

According to the Associated Press, eight million users watched the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States in Washington D.C on Tuesday, via AP’s Online Video Network (OVN).

At its peak, AP claim that as many as 374,000 streams were accessed concurrently.

This is a significant increase from the 80,000 live streams AP recorded during its coverage of the presidential election night in November.

In addition, 160 media outlets subscribed to their premium service, which provided a video widget allowing for multiple viewing angles of the event.

Static media also enjoyed a healthy rise, with AP Images and AP Exchange together recording an 80 per cent peak over regular traffic to their sites during the event.

In total, over 1,400 inaugural images passed through their services from around the globe.

AP were not alone in their online triumph. CNN shattered its own record four-fold, by attracting 136 million views of its website and 21.3 million viewers to its live streaming coverage.

Web users were so busy watching President Obama sworn into office that Google noticed a distinct drop in the number of searches performed during the inaugural address.

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OMC09: Levies for aggregators?

Interesting suggestion from National Union of Journalists (NUJ) general secretary and Oxford Media Convention panellist, Jeremy Dear, that content aggregators should be subject to levies.

Dear said the union is opposed to state aid for local media and the relaxation of local media regulation rules, but would consider introducing a levy for those who ‘do not produce content, but live off the back of those who do’.

New media and digital technology is not a threat to journalism – the danger is people who treat news and information as just a commodity, he said.

Online media is becoming dominated in the same ways as traditional media, he added.

Speaking to Journalism.co.uk, Dear said the idea is discussed in a report set for release next week, which focuses on public service broadcasting.

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Channel 4 (part 3): BBC Worldwide could benefit from merger, says Duncan

More comments from Channel 4 CEO, Andy Duncan, at the House of Lords Communications meeting:

• ‘Synergy’, ‘Pluraility’ and ‘Radicalism’ appeared to be the keywords playing on Andy Duncan’s mind, as he explained his vision of a merger between Channel 4 and BBC Worldwide.

• Channel 4′s CEO felt the broadcasters could be beneficial to each other, holding on to their ‘distinctive’ brands while planning bold strategies for a bigger and brighter future. The question was, according to Duncan, ‘how much synergy is there?’

• He highlighted BBC Worldwide’s DVD venture as an example, positioning Channel 4 as the ideal candidate to, ‘unlock some of the constraints’ placed on the BBC in the cross promotion of this enterprise.

• Any notion of the station’s identity being absorbed and lost as a result of the plan was shrugged off by both Andy Duncan and Anne Bulford, the organisation’s financial director. “At heart, the culture would be aligned,” she claimed. “You have to maximise the commercial revenue you can get from that.”

• Despite claims that the channel would effectively be syphoning the BBC licence fee ‘through the side door’, Duncan remained insistent that talk of merger was only a partial solution.

• Duncan indicated direct funding from the licence fee could still be ‘a valid option’ in the long term. Pooled resources, radical action and strategic thinking would be needed if value were to be added to the organisations.

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