paidContent.org: Harold Evans on the future of journalism and Murdoch

In the video below of a talk he gave last week, Sir Harold Evans takes apart the current state of the newspaper industry and journalism, from praising Rupert Murdoch’s management of the Wall Street Journal to the problems with journalism schools. Well worth watching:

Full story at this link…

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US media CEO vents frustration at Twitter squatters (don’t mess with a skunk!)

WebMediaBrands chairman and chief executive officer Alan Meckler was so frustrated with Twitter’s slowness in dealing with his complaints over ‘Sqwitters’ (Twitter username squatters) parked on some of his brands that he publicly aired his grievances – on Twitter.

WebMediaBrands is a US media behemoth that is probably best known in the UK for its ownership of MediaBistro, an online community for mostly US-based media professionals. Meckler did not mention which of his brands are being squatted on, but @learnnetwork and @semanticweb are both WebMediaBrands and currently inactive with only a handful of followers.

Twitter expressly forbids username squatting in its terms and conditions so it seems likely that Meckler will get his way, but the subsequent minor spat that broke out following his Tweet (see screengrab below) rather neatly encapsulates the clash of cultures on the web described by Dr Aleks Krotoski in the first two episodes of the BBC documentary The Virtual Revolution:

The founding father of the Web, Tim Berners-Lee, believed his invention would remain an open frontier that nobody could own, and that it would take power from the few and give it to the many. Now, in a provocative, strongly authored argument, presenter Aleks Krotoski will re-assess utopian claims like these, made over many years by the digital revolution’s key innovators – and test them against the hard realities of the emerging web today, exploring how the possibilities of the pure technology have been constrained, even distorted by the limitations of human nature.

PS interesting skunk fact: skunks can spray up to 4-7m in a favorable wind, although they are usually only accurate for up to about 2m.

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Dhiren Katwa: ‘Current BBC Asian Network model promotes segregation’

Dhiren Katwa, senior news editor at Asian Voice, spoke at the Coventry Conversations series on Thursday about the possibility of the BBC’s Asian Network being scrapped in the face of strategic cuts. He said Vijay Sharma, head of the Asian Network, has been “in hiding” over the current situation.

The Asian Network’s audience fell by 15 per cent to 357,000 in the third quarter of last year, and is expected to struggle for survival after director-general Mark Thompson’s forthcoming strategic review of BBC programming.

Katwa, a member of the Equality Council of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), said he thought it would be a shame for the Asian Network to go, but added that he didn’t believe the BBC should be specifically broadcasting to minority groups. He told the audience that “with the Asian Network working within a silo, it’s promoting or contributing to segregation rather than integration”. He said that the solution is to embed minority targeted elements of the BBC more firmly within the corporation.

When asked about the network’s fall in ratings, Katwa said commercial competitors such as Sunrise Radio had contributed to the network’s struggle to reach it’s young target audience, but put its current problems largely down to “a lot of internal issues”.

Caroline Thomson, the BBC’s chief operating officer, told the House of Lords Communications Committee on Wednesday that the idea of one network serving the UK’s entire Asian community wasn’t the right way to represent such a large and diverse audience.

Katwa echoed her assessment in his talk, and suggested that “the BBC Asian Network needs to be embedded within the BBC as a corporation with more faces from black and Asian backgrounds.”

Sharing Katwa’s view, broadcast journalism lecturer and founder of Coventry Conversations John Mair added: “There is no role for something separate or segregated, it should just be part of the mainstream. Not ‘now Radio Four’s Asian hour’, every hour should be Asian hour”.

Katwa said at the talk that his opinions were his own and did not necessarily reflect the views of Asian Voice.

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Plans afoot for new management journalism service

Last August, amidst all the speculation over the Observer’s future, we reported how academics and business figures were threatening to cancel their subscriptions to the Sunday newspaper, following the decision to axe Simon Caulkin’s Observer Management column. Guardian News and Media never re-instated Caulkin and a letter of complaint from nearly 100 leading authors and academics went unpublished.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Observer did not later report how the Work Foundation had named Caulkin columnist of the year at the end of January. As noted by Private Eye in its latest issue (1255): “Newspapers usually trumpet awards their writers win. But the Observer and the Guardian were strangely silent…”

Philip Whiteley, management author, blogger and editor of the Human Capital Forum, who spearheaded the Caulkin complaint, has now launched a new campaign: for more effective coverage of management in UK media.

“It is also a reaction to the feeble coverage of the Kraft-Cadbury merger in mainstream newspapers in which business journalists repeatedly refused to put any tough questions to the Kraft or Cadbury leadership on the very high risks and integration costs that mega-mergers involve,” he said.

Whiteley believes that in reporting the Kraft-Cadbury merger, journalists focused on finances and the offer price rather than management challenges.

“The error common to the banks and the Kraft-Cadbury affair is to imagine that the management task, even though it is responsible for delivering the vast bulk of the returns from investment strategies of banking employees, or take-over activity respectively, is still bizarrely regarded as a junior matter, not front-page material,” Whiteley argued in a recent blog post, criticising both the Financial Times’ and the Telegraph’s coverage.

The new management project will collect blogs and other web news sections and launch a ‘blog of blogs’ – “a summary from the management blogosphere”.

Whiteley will circulate this to the Human Capital Forum’s database (16,000 subscribers) on a monthly basis, with the possibility of extending that to the databases of all participants.

“The aim is to provide more critical coverage of governance and management in the public and private sectors,” Whiteley said.

He cited a comment left on his blog, as another prompt for the new network:

“There was a time when papers like the FT and others had the expertise and inclination to dispel the myths of uttered corporate statements. Alas, no longer. The institutions that were supposed to be ever vigilant and fearless are now content to simply cover the passing parade. One has to read the right blogs and the right books to get any sense of objective insight into what’s going on. A real shame.”

Human Capital Forum has listed some online management resources here: http://www.humancapitalforum.com/links/index.php

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Twenty new jobs this week on the Journalism.co.uk jobs board

These are the latest editorial and media job opportunities from this week on Journalism.co.uk’s jobs board:

Experienced Structure Finance Reporter
Bloomberg News seeks an experienced structured finance reporter in its London office. The reporter will be responsible for stories about structured products, including those tied to interest rates, stocks, commodities and currencies.
Salary: competitive + benefits
Bloomberg
City of London, England, England
>>more

Emerging Markets Editor
Bloomberg News is seeking an experienced real-time financial news Editor to join the Emerging Markets team in London.
Salary: competitive + benefits
Bloomberg
City of London, England, England
>>more

Principal advisor – editorial
With proven journalistic and in-house corporate experience, for a leading international mining group.
Salary: DoE
Rio Tinto
London, England
>>more

Speed desk reporter
The successful applicant will produce breaking news stories under real-time deadline pressure and write stories that are clearly written and comprehensive
Salary: Competitive + benefits
Bloomberg
Dublin, Republic of Ireland
>>more

Stocks editor
Bloomberg News seeks an editor to shape European stock market stories. The successful candidate will have considerable editing and reporting experience at a newspaper or news service.
Salary: competitive + benefits
Bloomberg
London, England
>>more

Chief reporter
Financial Adviser, part of Financial Times Business, has a vacancy for an ambitious, enthusiastic chief reporter who can deliver high-quality financial services stories.
Salary: DoE
Financial Times Group (Financial Adviser)
London, England
>>more

Editorial assistant
We are a small online media agency that owns and runs three successful websites in the financial services industry and we are looking for another great mind to lend us a hand in the fast-paced day-to-day running of the business from our Maida Vale hub.
Salary: Expenses paid internship (£5700 pa)
Bridging and Commercial Ltd
London, England
>>more

Sub-editor
Haymarket Media Group, one of the worlds most respected private publishers of magazines and websites is seeking a sub-editor.
Salary: Negotiable
Haymarket Media
Teddington , England
>>more

Features editor
Pro Publishing Ltd are seeking an experienced features writer to join national consumer magazine Utopia Kitchen & Bathroom.
Salary: DoE
Pro Publishing Ltd
Colchester, England
>>more

Editor
Classic Car Weekly (CCW), the newspaper which is both the mouthpiece of the classics scene and the number one location for buying and selling classic cars, has a vacancy for an editor.
Salary: DoE
Bauer Media
Peterborough, England
>>more

News editor
New Media Age is the UK’s only weekly news title covering the interactive marketing and media sector. An opportunity has opened up to join an expanding magazine and website covering one of the most dynamic and growing industries.
Salary: DoE
Centaur Communications Ltd
London, England
>>more

Listings writers
If you have the makings of a razor-sharp sub-editor with bags of enthusiasm for TV and radio, we have a permanent and a six-month vacancy for listings writers based in Ealing, west London.
Salary: £19.5K
Red Bee Media
London, England
>>more

Energy correspondent
A great opportunity for an experienced energy correspondent to join this prestigious portfolio of business intelligence tools, produced to the highest standard in order to support the finance sector.
Salary: On application
Formula Won
Central London, England
>>more

Sports Correspondent
You’ll be a key member of a busy team of broadcasters working across all outlets breaking and reporting on major sports news stories for all outlets.
Salary: DoE
BBC
London/Salford Quays, England
>>more

Journalists/writers
Fixedia, a networking site for media professionals, is recruiting freelance writers/journalists based in various locations around the world.
Salary: Competitive
Fixedia Group Limited
International, All
>>more

Online reporter – EU
IntraFish Media, the world’s leading provider of news to the global seafood industry, is seeking a dynamic and talented EU-based online reporter for its flagship Web site, IntraFish.com.
Salary: DoE
IntraFish
London, England
>>more

To sign up for free as a jobseeker, please go to http://www.journalism.co.uk/113/

To sign up as an advertiser, please go to http://www.journalism.co.uk/75/

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Peston to tackle audience questions in TV debate

BBC business correspondent and blogger Robert Peston is to take live audience questions for BBC Three’s ‘Peston on Money’ – and the BBC is calling for audience members for recording on March 1.

Put your money moans to business guru Robert Peston in a live audience debate: For the last two years this country and the rest of the world has been hit by the biggest financial disaster in half a century. But who’s to blame and why does it matter? Award winning business journalist, Robert Peston, has been at the centre of this storm, unearthing stories of financial greed and mismanagement that affect us all. Robert will be tackling questions, such as: Why does my boss earn 100 times more than me and what do they do to deserve it? How does a bank work and why do we need them? Does debt really matter and how much debt is dangerous?

I like this warning:

Please note that throughout the recording you will be asked to contribute and interact with the show. For example, the audience will be asked to give a show of hands if they are in debt.

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Live webcast from NYC: crowdsourcing and journalism

Via paidContent, we see that a live conference from the New York Times building is being webcast right now (not sure for how much longer), with a stellar line-up: Brian Stelter, media reporter & Media Decoder blogger, the New York Times (moderator) with Aron Pilhofer, editor, interactive news technology, the New York Times; Andy Carvin, senior social media strategist, National Public Radio; Amanda Michel, editor, distributed reporting, ProPublica; Jay Rosen, professor, New York University; and Joaquin Alvarado, senior VP, digital innovation, American Public Media.

Live Webcast Happening Now: Crowdsourcing For Journalists, at NYT Building | paidContent.

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Today programme interviews journalist from French social media experiment

The Today programme has a brief interview with Janic Tremblay, journalist for Radio Canada, one of five journalists from French-speaking radio stations involved in a five-day experiment this week using social media sites and networks as their only source of news.

Tremblay explains the set-up of the project (which has been criticised by some media commentators), what they have learned so far and, in particular, the opportunities and challenges provided by using Twitter.

Listen to the short clip at this link.

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Magazine publisher Imagine looks to iPads and iPhones with digital editions launch

Specialist magazine group Imagine Publishing – which produces titles including Retro Gamer, X360 and Advanced Photoshop magazine – has made its entire magazine portfolio available for Apple iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad users.

It’s no surprise given the publisher’s commitment to creating digital edions, its range of online-only titles and the digital focus of many magazines that it’s decided to launch paid-for apps across these platforms.

But interestingly these applications, developed by technology company PixelMags, while creating digital editions of the titles rather than an iPhone or iPad-specific version, will feature embedded video clips.

What’s more, digital magazine subscriptions created by PixelMag are certified by the Audit Bureau of Circulations electronic, so the apps will potentially count towards Imagine’s circulation figures.

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PCC’s credibility under attack

The Press Complaints Commission is once again under attack for its structure and effectiveness as a self-regulatory body.

Last night the Guardian reported how Sir Ken Macdonald, ­visiting professor of law at the LSE and the former director of public prosecutions, had called for “all credible media organisations” to withdraw from the “farcical” Press ­Complaints Commission (a plea which was made by Geoffrey Robertson QC last year).

The event for editors and lawyers also featured Max Clifford, former Formula 1 chief Max Mosley, former TV presenter Anna Ford, the editors of the Guardian and the Financial Times, and the deputy editor of the Daily Telegraph. The Guardian also reported:

Alan Rusbridger, the Guardian editor, said the credibility of the PCC was “clinging by its fingertips” and that recent investigations had been “embarrassing”. The PCC’s current review should work out whether it has the capacity to be a regulator or a mediator, he said.

It’s timely then, to compare Rusbridger’s quotes from last night, with Stephen Abell’s comments this week, in his first media interview since becoming director of the PCC:

Abell told Journalism.co.uk that he didn’t believe Rusbridger’s resignation from the PCC code committee Editors’ Code of Practice Committee weakened the body at all:

Alan Rusbridger has said it [the code committee] does a good job (…) I think these arguments happens within industries but I think it’s perfectly acceptable to move on from that. I don’t think it weakens the PCC in any way that Alan is leaving an industry body that he was a member of for a while. You don’t have every editor on the code committee anyway (…) I think it’s tremendous merit that Alan Rusbridger of the Guardian was on the code committee for as long as he was.

Journalism.co.uk’s interview with Stephen Abell (who took over as PCC director in December 2009):

• Under review: new PCC director on phone hacking, superinjunctions and forthcoming reports
• Press Complaints Commission to join Twitter; wants to explore social network debate

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