#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – using Quora

Using Quora: Poynter has produced a ‘how to’ on ways journalists can use Quora, the question and answer site. Ideas include sourcing question ideas for interviews and monitoring the buzz surrounding a specific topic. Tipster: Rachel McAthy.

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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Observer: How the phone-hacking scandal fits together

As the CPS begins a fresh assessment of Met police evidence in the News of the World phone-hacking case, and coverage of the convoluted scandal is once again on the rise, the Observer has produced a graphic for the confused, showing how the major players fit together.

See the full graphic at this link [PDF].

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Today: Cameron defends Coulson, refuses to comment on resignation rumour

David Cameron defended his director of communications, Andy Coulson this morning on Radio 4, refusing to comment on speculation that Coulson had offered his resignation after mounting pressure over the News of the World phone-hacking scandal.

I think there is a danger at the moment that he is being punished twice for the same offence … I gave him a second chance, I think in life sometimes its right to give a second chance.

Presenter John Humphrys pressed the prime minister on the rumours of a resignation offer but he refused to comment: “I don’t go into private conversations.”

Here the full programme at this link (skip to 18:40 for Coulson questions).

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#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – job interview tips

Mark Luckie has some ‘killer tips’ over on the 10,000 Words blog on how to prepare for and impress in a journalism job interview. Tipster: Rachel McAthy.

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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#jpod: The week’s top news stories from Journalism.co.uk, 14 January 2011

Listen below for this week’s news round-up from Journalism.co.uk news reporter Rachel McAthy and sign up to our iTunes podcast feed for future audio.

Podcast: Download

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The Wall: Independent.co.uk boosts Facebook referrals by 680%

Independent.co.uk has been doing its social media homework by the looks of things, with a report from the Wall suggesting that Facebook referrals to the site are up by 680%.

According to the post, Twitter referrals are up by 250%. The site’s digital media editor Jack Riley puts the growth in part down to being one of the first big sites to integrate the Facebook Recommend and Like buttons.

Another nice touch is the paper has started to allow readers to get their news through social networks in categories that reflect their interests and the Independent’s breadth of output. For examples this means you can like individual writers in your news feed or if you’re a footie fan you can like its coverage of your particular team.

Full post on the Wall at this link.

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Reporters Without Borders publishes alleged secret Chinese media directive

Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has published what it alleges to be a document issued to Chinese news organisations by the country’s Propaganda Department.

The directives in the document were reportedly delivered only via word of mouth to journalists at meetings where note-taking was banned.

The document (Chinese language) reportedly bans the coverage of a number of contentious issues in China, including: “the property market, rising prices, corruption, the demolition of housing and compulsory relocation, residence permits, the absence of social security, inadequate transport during the Chinese New Year and popular discontent that finds expression in anti-government demonstrations.”

RSF has accused the Chinese Propaganda Department of placing the country’s media within an “editorial straitjacket”.

Nobody from RSF was available to comment on when, or from whom it obtained the document.

Nobody from the Chinese Embassy press office, London was available to comment on the report.

Full RSF post at this link.

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

The Reynolds Center takes a look at coding for journalists with a collection of useful tutorials and other resources for beginners interested in learning more about HTML, CSS, databases, MySQL and PHP for WordPress. Tipster: Rachel McAthy.

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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Peston: Ofcom has recommended BSkyB bid go to competition commission, that is a fact

BBC business editor Robert Peston has insisted that claims he made earlier today about a recommendation from Ofcom to put News Corp’s BSkyB bid to the Competition Commission is not just speculation.

Update 12:59: I slightly regret the way I wrote this post, because some of you seem to think this is speculation.

It isn’t speculation.

What I am saying is very simple: Ofcom has recommended that there should be a full Competition Commission enquiry into News Corporation’s plan to buy all of British Sky Broadcasting.

That is a fact.

The report by Ofcom has not yet been made public, with the regulator and Department for Culture Media and Sport telling Journalism.co.uk recently that they could not comment on the contents of the report until culture secretary Jeremy Hunt, who has responsibility for the decision, has made an announcement.

Jeremy Hunt discussed the bid in an debate at the LSE with Raymond Snoddy last night but refused to comment in any detail on the decision making process.

In a separate meeting last night, journalists held a campaign meeting at the Houses of Parliament where Lord Razzall said “all hell would break loose” if Hunt were to ignore a recommendation by Ofcom to refer the bid to the Competition Commission.

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Media Standards Trust poses questions over Northern & Shell PCC exclusion

Following news that Richard Desmond’s publisher Northern & Shell had withdrawn all of its titles – including the Daily Mirror and OK! Magazine – from the PCC’s self regulatory system, the Media Standards Trust has posed the following open questions to Northern & Shell, the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) and the Press Board of Finance (PressBof). Republished here in full.

Northern & Shell

• Will you guarantee to offer the same levels of protection to members of the public – such as families who have suffered a suicide – as you did when covered by the PCC code?
• If a member of the public feels harassed by a journalist claiming to work for Northern & Shell, what should they do?
• If you discover that a high profile public figure is pregnant before their 12 week scan, will you protect their privacy as other newspapers have agreed, or just publish the story?
• Will your publications continue to write to the PCC Editorial Code, or is Northern & Shell opting out of all existing codes of self-regulation?
• How should a reader go about making a complaint about something that is written in one of your titles?
• When the Media Standards Trust wanted to make a complaint to the Daily Star, it found that the newspaper did not make public the name of its editor or a phone number for anything other than the newsdesk. Will the affected titles now make clear how to contact the editor and/or provide a clear internal complaints system?
• What motivated your withdrawal and on what terms, if any, would you return to the system overseen by the PCC?

Press Complaints Commission

• What impact will Northern & Shell’s withdrawal have on the PCC’s overall funding? Given that the amount contributed by national newspapers is kept secret, it is currently not possible for those outside the industry to work out what effect the exit will have.
• Will the PCC be able to maintain the same level of service on a lower budget?
• In its statement – and for the first time – the PCC revealed some of the publications not covered by the PCC (i.e. Northern & Shell publications). Will the PCC now publish a list of all those that do subscribe?
• Was Northern & Shell clear as to what motivated its withdrawal? And, if so, is it clear under what terms it might return to the system?

PressBof

• This is the second time in two months that the PCC budget has been hit (the first being the libel settlement and costs in November 2010). PressBof was not transparent about the cost of the first (and did not respond to the Media Standards Trust’s letter requesting further information); will it now be transparent about the cost of the Northern & Shell withdrawal?
• PressBof has previously refused to provide any assurances on what this means for the PCC’s level of service. Will it now provide assurances that the level of service the PCC provides will be maintained?
• Given the importance of national newspaper contributions to the sustainability of the PCC, will PressBof now lift the secrecy surrounding those contributions, and publish information on who pays for the PCC and how much each pays?

Martin Moore, the director of the Media Standards Trust, said: “The withdrawal of Northern & Shell raises fundamental questions about the sustainability of the current system of self-regulation. The PCC and PressBof need to reassure the public that they will continue to have adequate avenues of complaint. Northern & Shell needs to be clear as to how it will, in future, fulfil its obligations to its readers and to the broader public.

“The Press Complaints Commission argues consistently that it exists as a better alternative – and deterrent to – statutory regulation. It now needs to explain what impact Northern & Shell’s withdrawal will have on the general public, and what it plans to do to ensure the comprehensiveness and sustainability of press self-regulation.”

Update

The MST reports on its PCC Watch site that the PCC and PressBof have responded to their questions.

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