Leaked US military video boosts donations to Wikileaks

#Singhbca: What will the British Chiropractic Association do next?

April 9th, 2010 | No Comments | Posted by Judith Townend in Journalism, Legal, Press freedom and ethics

Last week, science writer Simon Singh celebrated his successful appeal in the Royal Courts of Justice, pleased that he could defend his claims about the British Chiropractic Association as “fair comment”. Singh was personally sued for libel by the BCA in July 2008 for a Guardian article alleging that the association “happily promotes bogus treatments”.

But despite the appeal ruling the BCA still hasn’t dropped its case. This week legal blogger Jack of Kent, aka lawyer Allen Green penned an open letter to the association, saying the time has come “to bring the claim against Simon Singh to an end”. An extract:

The claim should never have been brought, but one can see why the BCA hung on until the Court of Appeal decision. The BCA can still extract itself with some dignity now the procedural advantage has been lost. It really should take this opportunity to bring this wretched business to a close. The time has come to settle.

When Journalism.co.uk contacted the BCA spokesperson yesterday, we were told the association’s statement of 1 April still stood, with no further comment.

Following the High Court ruling Richard Brown, BCA president, said:

“We are of course disappointed to lose the appeal, but this is not the end of the road and we are considering whether to seek permission to appeal to the Supreme Court and subsequently proceed to trial. Our original argument remains that our reputation has been damaged. To reiterate, the BCA brought this claim only to uphold its good name and protect its reputation, honesty and integrity.”

Here’s that statement of 1 April in full:

BCA Statement 1st April 2010(5)

Tags: british chiropractic association, Richard Brown, simon singh

Tribune agreement could bring bankruptcy exit

April 9th, 2010 | No Comments | Posted by Joel Gunter in Job losses, Legal

US newspaper publisher Tribune Company has reached an agreement with its creditors and lenders that will help it emerge from bankruptcy protection later this year, according to news from Reuters.

Tribune, which publishes the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, filed for bankruptcy in 2008. The new agreement settles all potential claims stemming from the 2007 $8.2 billion (£5.4 billion) Tribune leveraged buyout by Sam Zell in 2007.

The agreement has come under criticism from a group of junior boldholders holding $1.2bn (£780 million) of Tribune debt. They claim to have been unfairly cut out of the negotiating process, and have further criticised the make-up of the creditors committee, which includes bank lenders, normally excluded from such groups.

Full story by Reuters at this link.

Tags: Bankruptcy, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Tribune company

#followjourn: Nick Reeve/features writer

April 9th, 2010 | No Comments | Posted by Joel Gunter in Recommended journalists

#followjourn: Nick Reeve

Who? Reeve is a freelance financial journalist and a regular features writer for Financial Times Business. He is also, according to his Twitter bio, a “podcaster, Arsenal fan, musician, hopefully soon to be community radio presenter via @genradio”.

Where? He has a website here, with audio, print and photography portfolios, a bio, contact details and links to his work. He also has details of employment history up on his LinkedIn page. His work for FT Investment Adviser is collected here. Reeve tweets about all things financial, Arsenal, and otherwise.

Contact? @nick_reeve

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.

Correction: Nick Reeve is no longer a freelancer, he is a features writer for Financial Times Business.

Tags: #followjourn, FT.com, investment adviser, nick reeve

Yahoo releases Style Guide for writing and editing

April 9th, 2010 | 1 Comment | Posted by Judith Townend in Handy tools and technology, Online Journalism, Social media and blogging

Yahoo has released a style guide for writing, editing and creating content in the ‘digital world’. Priced at £13.12 on Amazon.co.uk (currently on pre-order only), it promises to be the ‘Ultimate Sourcebook’.

Here’s the blurb:

Is it Web site, website, or web site? What’s the best on-screen placement for a top story? How can I better know my site’s audience? The rapid growth of the Web has meant having to rely on style guides that are intended for print publishing, such as The Chicago Manual of Style, Strunk and White’s, The Elements of Style, or The Associated Press Stylebook, but these excellent guides do not address writing for the Internet.

The Yahoo! Style Guide does. Writers and programmers at Yahoo!, faced with a lack of industry guidance fifteen years ago, began cobbling together a set of guidelines for Web writing.

The seeds of The Yahoo! Style Guide were planted with their first in-house reference guide, and Yahoo! content creators have built and added to the guide ever since, making it the go-to manual inside Yahoo!. Polished and expanded for its public debut, this resource will cover the basics of grammar and punctuation as well as Web-specific ways to perfect a site, such as:

• Identifying the audience and making the site accessible to everyone
• Constructing clear and compelling copy
• Developing a site’s unique voice
• Streamlining text for mobile devices
• Optimizing Web pages to increase the chances of appearing in search results
• Streamlining text so that people can read your pages at Internet speed.

The Yahoo! Style Guide will help anyone who writes, edits, or designs for the Internet accomplish their work with clarity and precision.

Via FishbowlNY

Tags: Styleguide, subediting, Yahoo

Jonathan Rayner: ‘Time to put some balance back into journalism’

April 9th, 2010 | No Comments | Posted by Judith Townend in Comment, Editors' pick, Newspapers

The Law Gazette’s Jonathan Rayner attacks newspapers’ lack of balance, in the run-up to the election. Of both national and regional journalists, he asks: “When did reporters stop reporting the news and become political propagandists instead?”

What is the journalist’s job? Is it still finding out and reporting what’s going on, because how else will everyone know? Or is it convincing the readers, because of their proprietors’ commercial or political interests, to vote in a certain way?

Full post at this link…

Tags: general election, jonathon rayner, law society gazette

ABC News: US judge sues newspaper for disclosing anonymous commenter details

April 9th, 2010 | No Comments | Posted by Judith Townend in Editors' pick, Legal, Press freedom and ethics

A judge in Ohio has filed a law suit against The Plain Dealer newspaper in Cleveland, which claimed she may have commented anonymously on the newspaper’s website about court cases, ABC News reports.

According to [judge] Saffold and her attorney, Spitz, any comments from the username “lawmiss” connected to cases involving Saffold were most likely left by the judge’s 23-year-old daughter, Sydney, an aspiring law student.

Full post at this link…

Tags: ABC News, Cleveland, Ohio, the plain dealer

Index on Censorship: Conservatives pledge support to libel reform campaign

April 9th, 2010 | No Comments | Posted by Judith Townend in Editors' pick, Journalism, Legal, Press freedom and ethics

The Conservative party has joined Labour and the Liberal Democrats in pledging support to the Libel Reform Campaign, a coalition led by Index on Censorship, English PEN and Sense About Science.

Conservative shadow justice secretary, Dominic Grieve, said:

The Conservative party is committed, if elected, to undertaking a fundamental review of the libel laws with a view to enacting legislation to reform them. This reform could best be done by means of a separate Libel Bill and this is the preferred approach for us.

The Libel Reform campaign “is believed to be the first campaign by an NGO this year to get a manifesto commitment from all three major parties,” reports Index on Censorship.

Full post at this link…

Disclaimer: Journalism.co.uk has also pledged its support to the libel reform campaign.

Hear the Libel Reform Campaign’s Michael Harris talk about how he built the online buzz around this issue at Journalism.co.uk’s upcoming news:rewired event, on 25 June 2010 in London.

Tags: conservatives, Dominic Grieve, libel reform

Adam Boulton on why live debates will be an election game changer

April 9th, 2010 | No Comments | Posted by Judith Townend in Broadcasting, Editors' pick, Social media and blogging

Polis director Charlie Beckett reports on comments by Sky political editor, Adam Boulton, at a Foreign Press Association event at the LSE.

Boulton convinced Beckett that the televised leader debates, one of which Boulton will host, could change the general election campaign.

“This campaign is about to be completely shaken up [by the first TV debate]. So far it has just been the lull before the storm” says Boulton. “It’s not just the live debates themselves. There will be re-runs on all the channels plus the online downloads, the YouTube mash-ups and the rest. They will be a real presence in the campaign. And it won’t just be about personality. Policy will be discussed because they have to talk about something for 90 minutes.”

Full post at this link….

Tags: Adam Boulton

#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – technical requirements for journalists

April 9th, 2010 | No Comments | Posted by Laura Oliver in Top tips for journalists

What technical expertise do you need as a journalist? The Depth Reporting blog shares a list showing the skills most in demand from recent journalism job advertisements in the US. Tipster: Judith Townend.

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