Metro UK and Metro Herald launch iPhone apps

Both titles last week launched free-to-download applications for the iPhone featuring scrolling editions, which means users are presented with a digital replica of the print edition that can be browsed page-by-page or searched through by keyword.

The apps have been developed by PageSuite, which produces digital, online editions of newspapers including the Metro.

Readers can also use the apps to download articles or editions to read them offline.

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#FollowJourn: Pete Shield/managing director

#followjourn: Pete Shield

Who? According to his Twitter biography, “an eco-socialist, ethical writer and bio small holder”.

What? Shield is also managing director and co-founder of www.naturalchoices.co.uk, a news site concerning all things natural, sustainable, and ethical.

Where? See a bit about his work on his LinkedIn page.

Contact? Follow @pete_shield.

Just as we like to supply you with fresh and innovative tips every day, we’re recommending journalists to follow online too. They might be from any sector of the industry: please send suggestions (you can nominate yourself) to judith or laura at journalism.co.uk; or to @journalismnews.

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• #FollowJourn: @DirDigEng/digital engagement director

AEJMC: Study: What skills are online-only and ‘traditional’ news organisations looking for?

Online news organisations are more likely to hire recruits with “adaptive expertise”, while more traditional outlets look for “solid technical skills”, suggests an extensive study by Dr Serena Carpenter, an assistant professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

The analysis of 664 online media job listings posted over a six-month period on JournalismJobs.com was first published in the Autumn 2009 issue of Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, but is summarised on the AEJMC website.

Carpenter in particular looks at how the different skills sought by traditional and only-only news organisations should affect journalism training courses.

Full story at this link…

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MediaGuardian: Phone records suggest 100 accounts hacked by NOTW

Three phone companies – Orange, O2 and Vodafone – have discovered that more than 100 customers had their mobile phone voicemail accounts hacked by Glenn Mulcaire and Clive Goodman, the private investigator and the journalist who are the focus of allegations of phone hacking at the News of the World.

The News of the World and Press Complaints Commission (PCC) have both previously suggested that only a handful of individuals were affected by the phone hacking.

Full story at this link…

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Salford Star: Council newspaper costing £27,797 a month – what impact on local news?

Figures released by a Freedom of Information request made by the Salford Star suggest that Salford Council’s Life in Salford magazine is costing £27,797 per month, the title reports.

The Star asks what the production of the magazine and the council’s expenditure on it mean for local news outlets – the Salford Advertiser has recently withdrawn free home delivery from more postcode areas, while the Star “struggles to get back into print”:

While the Salford Star and the Salford Advertiser are only available free online, an estimated two thirds of Salford’s population do not have access to the internet.

The only free printed information people are now getting about their city comes courtesy of Salford City Council and its Life in Salford magazine. With no criticism of the Council, no debate, no accountability, low quality content and bucket loads of public money showered all over it…

Full story at this link…

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#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – tips for coding

Coding: Journalist interested in coding? This is a handy set of tips for working with MySQL databases; find it at this link. Tipster: Judith Townend.

To submit a tip to Journalism.co.uk, use this link – we will pay a fiver for the best ones published.

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Venturebeat: Twitter hires former Current TV man to forge media partnerships

Robin Sloan, a former executive with Current TV, is joining Twitter to help the microblogging service develop new media partnerships.

According to the VentureBeat report, Sloan will help “producers, reporters, developers and strategists at media orga­nisations that want to do cool, transformative things with tweets”. Whether that’s for free or for a fee is yet to be announced…

Full story at this link…

Sloan has more on his appointment in this blog post.

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Wired.co.uk: Are mobile news apps anti the link economy?

Interesting piece from Peter Kirwan on news organisations developing mobile apps that don’t allow users easy access to alternative sources of news:

In the way of all love objects, apps do suggest that something satisfying lies on the horizon for news organisations. Readers may not be prepared to pay for content, but they do seem willing to pay for software and services that improve their lives (…) Promiscuity is limited by the opportunity for discovery. Searching for alternatives to stories that pop up inside your app will cost you time. And for most mobile users, that’s a commodity in short supply. On this basis, it’s a racing certainty that some news publishers perceive apps as a way of putting Humpty-Dumpty back together again, on the mobile web at least.

How long will this model last when confronted with devout RSS feed users and those who favour the sharing of multiple sources and links via social media sites and networks?

Full post at this link…

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#FollowJourn: Ellie Levenson/freelance

#followjourn: Ellie Levenson

Who? Freelance journalist.

What? Levenson has worked for a wide range of quality newspapers and magazines, including the Times, the Guardian, the Observer, the Telegraph, the Independent, the New Statesman and Cosmopolitan. She is also the author of The Noughtie Girl’s Guide to Feminism, published by Oneworld in 2009.

Where? Visit her homepage – Ellie Levenson

Contact? Follow @ellielevenson

Just as we like to supply you with fresh and innovative tips every day, we’re recommending journalists to follow online too. They might be from any sector of the industry: please send suggestions (you can nominate yourself) to judith or laura at journalism.co.uk; or to @journalismnews.

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• #FollowJourn: @mikewhills/freelance journalist

Event news: Will 2010 be the first new media election?

The Media Society, which is backed by Camelot, and City University have joined forces to arrange a panel discussion on the role of new media in the forthcoming UK general election.

How will 2010′s election differ from past events? What impact will social media have on the coverage and outcome? What will the tole of new media mean for TV, radio and press coverage?

BBC political editor Nick Robinson and City University London professor Ivor Gaber will take part in a panel discussion alongside Matthew McGregor from Blue State Digital, the agency behind Barack Obama’s social media and web campaigns.

Full details of the event, which will be held on 2 March at City University London, are available at this link. The event is free to attend, but delegates must register beforehand to reserve a place.

Coverage during and after the event will be available on Twitter and other channels under the hashtag #vote2.0.

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