HelpMeInvestigate.com looks at campaign expenses after Goldsmith case

Crowdsourcing website HelpMeInvestigate.com has launched probes into MPs’ campaign expenses. The move follows Channel 4′s investigation into Zac Goldsmith, who is alleged to have exceeded the spending limit set for his Richmond constituency.

So far, the focus has fallen on the closely-fought Edgbaston race, where Labour’s Gisela Stuart held her seat with a reduced majority of 1,274, but investigations have also begun in other Birmingham constituencies and in Brighton.

Posting on the HelpMeInvestigate.com blog, the site’s founder Paul Bradshaw said he was undergoing this investigation after Goldsmith and the Conservative Party claimed that they were justified in only accounting for election materials that were used in the campaign, as opposed to materials that were not used as they had become out-of-date.

“We want to see if this is true. Are other candidates not claiming for the expense of ‘unused’ materials? Or is Goldsmith an exception?” writes Bradshaw.

“We’ve started one investigation in Birmingham but would really welcome sister investigations in other towns and cities.”

The website is currently in beta testing, meaning new users can only access the site after requesting an invite.

HelpMeInvestigate on campaign expenses at this link.

Similar posts:

• Guardian: Zac Goldsmith hits out at Ofcom after Channel 4 complaint is rejected
• Cameron’s personal photographer taken off public payroll
• Index on Censorship: Conservatives pledge support to libel reform campaign
• Telegraph’s new election database (in beta)
• #Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – simplifying investigations

News Corporation forced to sell Fiji Times under new law

Offers are now being taken for Rupert Murdoch’s Fiji Times, following a new decree in the country which means media outlets must be largely owned by the country’s citizens.

According to a report by the Shaping the Future of the Newspaper blog, PricewaterhouseCoopers – hired by News Limited (News Corps’ Australian brand) to value the daily paper – is calling for “expressions of interest” from potential buyers up until 9 August.

Under the new decree, which went into effect on June 28, media outlets must be 90 percent owned by Fijians citizens that reside in the country. Although News Limited did not want to sell the newspaper, the military government has said there will be no amendments to the decree and no extensions will be given.

See the full post here…

Similar posts:

• Guardian: Jeremy Hunt stakes his reputation on local television
• Online news on the rise in Italy
• FT.com: France Telecom interested in Le Monde’s digital operations
• Motors.co.uk expands regional newspaper deals
• Let your mind wander: the Economist’s new campaign

Afghanistan government criticised for closing down TV station

Press freedom groups have condemned a decision by the Afghan government to close down privately-owned TV station Emroz.

According to a BBC report, the government closed down the station which is owned by MP Najibulla Kabuli for allegedly fueling religious tensions.

The Committee to Protect Journalists urged the government to put the station back on air while Reporters Without Borders added that the move breaks media law.

The government must not under any circumstances violate the media law, which gives the media commission sole decision-making authority when a media commits an offence. We call on the government to rescind these decisions and never interfere in the content of Afghan TV stations again.

See the RWB full post here…

Similar posts:

• Council news round-up: ad revenue shortage for East End Life and plans for new council TV
• Journalism in Africa: Kenyan government relaxes communication laws
• Reporters Without Borders urges Iraq authorities to reopen radio station
• Jack of Kent: Putting phone hacking into legal context
• Journalism in Africa: Kenyan radio stations criticised in human rights report

Japanese journalists drown attempting to report helicopter crash

Two Japanese journalists have been found dead on a mountain after setting off to find the wreckage of a rescue helicopter that crashed in the area last week.

Reporter Yuji Kita and cameraman Jun Kawakami, who were working for Nippon Television, were found in a pool of water 980ft below a mountain trail near the city of Saitama, northwest of Tokyo. According to Kyodo News, autopsies have confirmed both men drowned.

The helicopter had crashed the previous Sunday while attempting to rescue a female climber, killing five of the seven passengers. The climber later died from her injuries.

Nippon Television staff alerted the authorities on Saturday night when Kita and Kawakami, who headed into the mountainous area earlier that day, failed to return. Police in the region had asked media organisations to refrain from gaining access to the crash site due to the terrain was dangerous.

Similar posts:

• TNW Media: Two years after newspaper closes, 67% of its journalists earning less
• Wired: Army intelligence analyst arrested over leaked video of Iraq helicopter attack
• BBC News: Murdered Sri Lankan journalist’s family denied justice
• The Star Tribune… going dark: employees launch online petition
• Independent.co.uk: Quick-thinking newsreader uses iPhone for radio headlines

The changing face of the news editor in the world of social media

The freedom attributed to the world of online journalism supports the notion that the internet fosters equality. When it comes to news, we can be our own gatekeepers and use social media to carve out our own news agenda.

The issue is at the heart of a post on Nieman Journalism Lab by Ken Doctor, looking at the evolving image of the news editor within social media, from the experienced newsdesk figure to our community of online friends.

In this hybrid era of straddling print and digital publishing, the role of the gatekeeper has markedly morphed. It’s shifted from “us” to “them”, but “them” includes a lowercase version of “us”, too. Gatekeeping is now a collective pursuit; we’ve become our own and each other’s editors.

With social media, the serendipity that came with turning pages and suddenly discovering a gem of a story that an editor put there happens in new ways. We’re re-creating such moments ourselves, each of us―individually and collectively―as we tout stories and posts to each other. A friend e-mails us a story; we might read it, time permitting. We get the same story from three people, and chances are good that we’ll carve out time to take a look.

Doctor says that in the future news organisations will need to “harness this power” by combining a professional and traditional news judgement with the value and reach of social media networks. Additionally – never underestimate the importance of aggregation in appealing to social media audiences.

Go ahead and call it gatekeeping, but think of it with a different slant when it comes to flexing those well-honed news judgment muscles. These days editors have a much bigger bank of news and features on which to draw. It’s not just what staff reporters and wire copy offers; it’s the entire web of content.

See his full post here…

Similar posts:

• #cablegate: Time magazine interview with Julian Assange
• Google buys social payment provider Jambool
• Ed Walker: Legal challenges in the online newsroom
• All Facebook: Facebook patents ‘The News Feed’
• Why the BBC is scrapping its Have Your Say discussion board

Hack vs. Flack: Journalist reports back after week on the other side

The relationship between journalist and PR officer is one of the most valuable – but often one of the most difficult – to foster and maintain in the media world. But there are often valuable lessons to be learnt from understanding the tensions on both sides.

PRWeek decided to let its deputy features editor Kate Magee find out what these could be, by setting up a job swap with Bite Communications‘ account executive Mat Gazeley. They would spend a week in each others shoes, documenting their experiences and hopefully learn a trick or two for dealing with the “other side” in the future.

Speaking to Journalism.co.uk after the swap, PRWeek’s Kate – now safely back in the world of journalism – said life on “the dark side” was not such a far cry from the newsroom as people may think.

There were actually more similarities than I had expected. Throwing around ideas in a brainstorming session was my favourite part of the job. I found it similar to my role as a journalist; working out what is interesting about a topic and translating this into something that will engage an audience. The work was also a far more collaborative process than journalism, with team members reporting back on which calls they’d made and even what was said. In my role, I am quite independent, coming up with ideas and being able to run with them myself. As a journalist there is also a far greater individual pressure to hit deadlines. The blank print page or online space is waiting, and you have to fill it. As a PR, it felt like more of a group effort.

But for journalist Kate, the pride of a byline still draws her back to the day-job.

I won’t change my approach dramatically, but I will have greater empathy for a PR trying to find out whether a story will be used or not. But certainly for now, I still want my own name, not my client’s name, at the top of an article.

Watch an interview with Kate and Mat below, courtesy of PRWeek’s video podcast produced by markettiers4dc.

Read the final PR Week feature here…

Similar posts:

• ‘A week on the dark side’: Hack trades places with PR, blogs about it
• Trading places: digital editor takes Liverpool FC story to the wire in print swap
• Behind the scenes: Telegraph.co.uk’s redesign
• Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – Yahoo Pipes group for journalists
• #wef11: ‘News industry is in the vortex of a fast changing world’

Three of four kidnapped journalists freed in Mexico

Three journalists thought to have been kidnapped in Mexico have been freed according to national reports, while one remains missing.

Journalism.co.uk reported on industry calls for the safe release of four journalists who went missing on Monday after covering a demonstration taking place outside a prison.

Police have now reportedly announced that two cameramen, Javier Canales and Alejandro Hernandez, were freed over the weekend while another journalist, Hector Gordoa, was freed on Friday. It remains unclear whether the three men were released by their captors or rescued by security forces.

Reporters Without Borders said the country is one of the deadliest in the world for journalists.

We are very relieved to learn to learn that cameramen Jaime Canales of TV Milenio and Alejandro Hernández of Televisa have been freed and our thoughts are with reporter Oscar Solís of El Vespertino, who is still being held. The war between the drug cartels and the authorities is wreaking havoc in Mexico and journalists are being targeted with increasing frequency. Those responsible for killing journalists take advantage of the prevailing impunity, which is fuelling the violence.

A total of 67 journalists have been killed in Mexico since 2000 and 11 have gone missing since 2003. In the 2009 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index, Mexico was ranked 137th out of 175 countries.

Similar posts:

• RSF: Three reporters arrested in one week in Rwanda
• Mexican drug cartels silencing country’s reporters
• Knight Center maps Mexico gangs’ violence against journalists
• The top 10 most-read stories on Journalism.co.uk, 29 October-4 November
• I.P.I: Mexican authorities need to act immediately to ‘stem systematic killing of reporters’

Survey attempts to track the changing skills of online journalists

We know that many journalists today aim to have a finger in every multimedia pie – a ‘print’ journalist wants to understand how to communicate by video or audio, while online reporters should be prepared to build and manage online communities.

The Online Journalism Review is running a simple survey to measure this changing skillset of modern-day online journalists.

A few points, before we get to the vote: First, I’m just going to assume that everyone’s got basic reporting, text writing and copy editing, so those aren’t listed as options. Next, I do not wish to infer that everyone needs to develop all of these skills. Many journalists continue to work in newsrooms where they are expected to specialize. And even independent journalists often can rely on networks, contractors, vendors and open source solutions to cover many of their publishing needs. So if you don’t want help with a particular skill, just leave the box next to it blank.

But the more skills you develop, the more freedom and flexibility you have as a journalist in the online publishing market. I know personally OJR readers who’ve mastered each of the skills listed below, so if you do want to add more to your journalism repertoire, your fellow readers have the capacity to help.

The results already make for interesting reading, with the growing importance of good images and strong communities online reflected in the statistics – so far rated the two top skills mastered by journalists during their career

See the full post here…

Similar posts:

• Advertising Age: Why ad networks are surviving
• Reuters: New UAE multimedia centre for journalism and publishing training
• Entrepreneurial journalism – how Newcastle University is shaping up
• Journalist invites others to join in with ‘liquid newsroom’ idea
• Social media fellowship offers week-long course for journalists

#followjourn: @jaynehowarth – Jayne Howarth/freelance

#followjourn: Jane Howarth

Who? Freelance journalist

Where? Jayne has been in the newspaper industry for 20 years, 15 of which were spent with regional daily paper the Birmingham Post. She has her own wordpress site website at at this link.

Contact? @JayneHowarth

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 laura at journalism.co.uk; or to @journalismnews.

Similar posts:

• #followjourn: @timanderson – Tim Anderson/freelance
• #FollowJourn: @rebeccats/reporter
• #followjourn: @chriscondron/head of digital strategy
• #FollowJourn: @andyoakes/publisher
• #FollowJourn: @severincarrell/Scotland correspondent

#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – free tools for news start-ups

Online toolkit: A list of free tools from the Knight Citizen News Network for everything from email newsletters to logo design, mapping and content management systems. Tipster: Laura Oliver.

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

Similar posts:

• Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – optimise search for your readers
• #Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – a mobile media toolkit for smartphone reporting
• #Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – Free tools for measuring traffic
• Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – Think about copyright
• #Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – launching a non-profit news site