BBC: Pakistani newspapers publish fake embassy cables

Pakistani newspapers have today admitted they were hoaxed after publishing reports yesterday “based on fake WikiLeaks cables”, according to a BBC report.

This follows WikiLeaks’ release of batches of diplomatic cables from a leak of more than 250,000 last week. It is not known who instigated the hoax.

The English-language Express Tribune newspaper, which is affiliated to the International Herald Tribune in Pakistan, published a front-page retraction.

The newspaper said it “deeply regrets publishing this story without due verification and apologises profusely for any inconvenience”.

But not all the titles who reported on the fake cables mentioned the matter the next day, the BBC adds.

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Guardian: Andy Coulson denies phone-hacking at Sheridan trial

Downing Street director of communications Andy Coulson was yesterday forced to once again deny that as editor of the News of the World “he ordered reporters to ‘practise the dark arts’ by illegally hacking phones and ‘blagging’ confidential information”, according to the Guardian.

Coulson was giving evidence at the perjury trial of Tommy Sheridan, a timeline of which is available at the BBC.

Coming face-to-face with Sheridan – who is conducting his own defence – Coulson told the high court in Glasgow that he had no idea his newspaper had used private detectives to illegally “hack” phone messages from members of the royal family and other targets. He repeatedly denied promoting a “culture” of hacking and “blagging”, where people’s confidential data such as tax details, criminal records or phone bills were illegally accessed, in the NoW’s newsroom.

According to the Guardian report Coulson also denied knowing private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who, along with former News of the World royal correspondent Clive Goodman, was convicted of conspiracy to intercept telephone calls in 2007.

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#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – subscribe to the best journalism bloggers on Twitter

Media blogs: To follow Journalism.co.uk’s Best of Blogs mashup via Twitter subscribe to the @journalism account. Tipster: Laura Oliver.

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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NUJ: More strife for Newsquest as four more NUJ centres vote to strike

Protests at Newsquest-owned titles across the country continue this week as members of the National Union of Journalists at four more centres vote in favour of strike action.

According to a release from the NUJ today, members at Newsquest Blackburn, Bradford, Bolton and York have all voted for indsutrial action.

The new votes follow two days of strike action carried out by members at the Brighton Argus and Southern Daily Echo this week, the second round of industrial action for both titles.

Union members are taking action against a continuing pay freeze, redundancies and closure of the pension scheme to future accrual.

More than 90 per cent of members at Newsquest Bradford voted in favour of strike action in a recent ballot while all voters supported action short of a strike, the release adds.

All NUJ members who took part in the ballot at Newsquest Blackburn have voted overwhelmingly for strike action and action short of a strike. NUJ members at Newsquest Bolton have also voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action.

… NUJ members at Newsquest York today voted overwhelmingly for strike action and action short of a strike.

According to the release the newspaper titles within these centres includes:

• Newsquest Bradford – Bradford Telegraph & Argus, Ilkley Gazette, Wharfedale & Airedale Observer, Craven Herald and the Keighley News.
• Newsquest Bolton and Newsquest Blackburn – Bolton News and the Bury Times Group weekly series (the Bury Times, Radcliffe Times and The Guide covering Prestwich & Whitefield) and the Lancashire Telegraph, Burnley Citizen, Blackburn Citizen, Chorley Citizen, Bury Journal, Bolton Journal and Westmorland Gazette.
• Newsquest York – the Press and the Gazette & Herald.

NUJ members at Newsquest Warrington as well as members at the Herald, Sunday Herald and Evening Times in Scotland have also voted to ballot for industrial action.

The NUJ parliamentary group this week launched an Early Day Motion in support of NUJ members at Newsquest, calling on the company to “enter into meaningful discussions with the union at all levels to resolve the disputes by protecting jobs and investing in journalism”.

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Guardian: WikiLeaks insider to publish memoirs in January

According to a report by the Guardian, Julian Assange’s former second-in-command at WikiLeaks is preparing to publish his inside story of his time at the organisation, which is currently at the centre of debate following a leak of more than 250,000 diplomatic cables, batches of which the site is continuing to publish.

One-time Wikileaks spokesman Daniel Domscheit-Berg, who was Assange’s second-in-command for three years at Wikileaks, is to write a tell-all book, Inside Wikileaks: My Time at the World’s Most Dangerous Website. German publisher Econ Verlag has announced that it will publish the book on 27 January, with English language versions sure to follow promptly.

The Guardian’s full report is here. To access a summary of Journalism.co.uk’s coverage of WikiLeaks’ latest release so far follow this link.

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BetaTales: Print journalists, beware ‘the typographers’ trap’

What is the typographers’ trap and why do other print journalists need to know about it? A thoughtful post on skills, careers and a changing industry from BetaTales:

It describes how a group by wrongly trying to save the jobs of its members at the same time destroys its own profession.

Typographers used to hold an important position in editorial newspaper production. In the old days this was the group typesetting the newspaper pages.

Then the production process was digitalised. Suddenly anybody with basic design and computer skills could do the tasks the typographers used to have a monopoly of doing.

In fact the need for typographers in newspaper production was more or less wiped out in a very short time frame. As a result the profession disappeared in most countries.

Full post on BetaTales at this link…

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The Australian: Digital boosting morale in Australia’s newsrooms despite job losses

A look at the Future of Journalism study released by Australian industry group the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, which suggests that despite 700 job losses in the metropolitan news industry in the country since 2008, morale is still relatively high amongst working journalists.

Full story on the Australian at this link…

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Video: How the Guardian has protected #cablegate sources

Great video explaining how the Guardian has organised the database of US embassy cables released by WikiLeaks, including how sensitive information is handled and sources protected.

Video via Guardian.co.uk…

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#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – B2B guide to using Twitter

Twitter basics: Incisive has produced a free to download guide to getting started on Twitter. Particularly useful for those working in B2B and specialist media for the advice it gives. Tipster: Laura Oliver.

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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Video: I would have published leaks, says Harry Evans

Veteran journalist Sir Harry Evans, the former Sunday Times editor who presided over many controversial investigations by the newspaper, including the Kim Philby espionage case, said this week he would have published the WikiLeaks embassy cables.

He was critical of WikiLeaks though, which he said had not done a responsible job with redacting their leaks.

The full video, courtesy of the 92nd Street Y, New York.

Original post at this link.

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