News sites can remove YouTube logo for embedded video

News sites and blogs no longer have to display YouTube’s logo on embedded videos.

YouTube announced the change on its blog, where it has published a full list of player parameters.

To remove the YouTube logo from the player when displaying a video on your site just add the code ?modestbranding=1 to  the end of the URL. For example:

<iframe width=”425″ height=”349″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/IytNBm8WA1c?modestbranding=1” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

A small YouTube text label will still show up in the upper-right corner of a paused video when you hover over the player.

The video-sharing site has also introduced ‘As Seen On’ YouTube pages. These pages bring together videos from news sites which regularly display YouTube videos, such as the Guardian, which now has its own As Seen On page.

A YouTube blog post explains how it does this:

By crawling web feeds of sites that have embedded videos, we’ve built dedicated pages that highlight your embedded videos. This means that there is now a place on YouTube to find videos mentioned on your favorite blogs & sites. We think these pages provide a way to find new and interesting content while helping you dive deeper into the conversation around a video.

A third recent development is HD preview, the option to add a high-quality placeholder image to a YouTube video in the hope of encouraging more viewers to be tempted to click play.

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Guardian: David Banks on Bahrain’s attempt to sue the Independent

I spoke to media law consultant David Banks this morning for this article about Bahrain’s announcement that it intends to sue the Independent for defamation.

He explained that under case law in the UK local and national governments can’t sue for defamation, as outlined in Derbyshire County Council vs The Times, 1993. He went on to say that one way to circumvent the Derbyshire judgement would be for an individual Bahraini minister to take legal action against the newspaper, but added that the minister would have to prove personal defamation and would likely be up against a robust defence from the Independent. See more on the story in my report.

This afternoon, Banks expands on these legal issues for the Guardian, adding “a note of caution” regarding the Derbyshire judgement:

The judgment refers to the “democratically elected” local and central government of the UK. It does not expressly include the unelected governments of other countries. Whether the high court would take a different view of the unelected government of Bahrain as a claimant than it would a local authority here is not set out.

It would set a curious precedent, though, for the courts here to say that our own elected governments should expect robust media criticism, but unelected dictators and despots can rely on the full protection of our libel laws.

Full the post on Guardian.co.uk at this link.

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WaPo: Facebook hires former White House press secretary

Former White House spokesman Joe Lockhart has been appointed by Facebook as vice president of global communications, according to reports, such as this by the Washington Post:

Lockhart will be located at the company’s Silicon Valley headquarters and report to Elliott Schrage, VP of global communications, marketing and public policy. Marne Levine, DC-based vice president of global policy, also reports to Schrage.

This follows the appointment of Mashable’s former community manager and social media strategist Vadim Lavrusik by Facebook as its new journalist program manager in April.

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Telegraph: Review of reviews of new BlackBerry PlayBook

The BlackBerry PlayBook tablet went on sale in the UK today and B2B publishers will be watching take-up closely due to the popularity of BlackBerry phones with their readership.

The Telegraph has taken a look at a few of the reviews written since its launch in the US in April, most of which are critical of the new device.

With prices starting at £399 – the same as Apple’s iPad – the PlayBook has a smaller screen than the Apple device: a seven-inch screen, compared to the iPad’s 9.7-inch screen but the same processor and screen resolution and has more memory. It can also record HD video.

The device runs bespoke apps, Android apps and existing BlackBerry apps.

So, what do US reviewers make of the BlackBerry PlayBook?

“Right now, the BlackBerry PlayBook is a tablet that will come close to satisfying those users who gravitate toward the first word in its name: BlackBerry. Those who were more excited about the ‘play’ part would be well advised to look elsewhere, at least until Android compatibility joins the party. Then, well, anything could happen.”

The “herpes of tablets”, says CNN:

“One of the perks of being a tech journalist are all the new toys we get to try out – companies generally send us products for a week or two, and after trying them out they’re sent back to the company (it keeps us honest). Except for this PlayBook… every time we contact RIM asking where to send it back to we don’t get a response. It is the herpes of tablets – once you have it, you can’t get rid of it. And unlike herpes, even the person who gave it to you doesn’t want to see you again.”

The Telegraph’s full review of reviews is here.

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#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – curating tweets with CoveritLive

Many of you will have used Coveritlive already for liveblogging, but 10,000 Words has a good how to post on using it to curate tweetstreams.

For those who haven’t tried this before the post has some good practical advice on using it to pull in tweets from individual users, lists, search terms and hashtags to curate streams.

See the full post on 10,000 Words at this link.

Tipster: Joel Gunter.

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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Telegraph: BBC ‘flooded’ with complaints about Choosing to Die documentary

The Telegraph reports that as of yesterday afternoon a total of 898 people had “registered their disapproval” of the Choosing to Die documentary, broadcast on Monday by the BBC.

The documentary shows author Sir Terry Pratchett, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s three years ago, travel to the Dignitas Clinic in Switzerland and witnessing the procedures for assisted death.

The corporation said 898 people had registered their disapproval of the documentary presented by the author Sir Terry Pratchett, with 162 fresh complaints since it aired on Monday night.

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Journalisted Weekly: Syrian refugees, Grand Prix, & Southern Cross

Journalisted is an independent, not-for-profit website built to make it easier for you, the public, to find out more about journalists and what they write about.

It is run by the Media Standards Trust, a registered charity set up to foster high standards in news on behalf of the public, and funded by donations from charitable foundations.

Each week Journalisted produces a summary of the most covered news stories, most active journalists and those topics falling off the news agenda, using its database of UK journalists and news sources.

for the week ending Sunday 12 June

• Syrian crackdown and Southern Cross crisis gripped headlines
• Grand Prix news drove the back pages
• Vietnam-China tensions and world’s largest refugee camp, covered little

Covered lots

• Grand Prix, with Jenson Button winning the Canadian race, and the Bahrain race postponed due to political unrest, 273 articles
• Troubled care home provider Southern Cross, denied government bailout, cutting 3,000 jobs, and planning to hive off over 130 homes, 154 articles
• Syrian refugees fleeing the town of Jisr al-Shughour along Turkey’s border, with 120 of the 189 dead alleged to be soldiers killed for refusing orders, 119 articles

Covered little

• Tensions escalate between China and Vietnam over disputed South China Sea territory and oil exploration, 17 articles
• An Iranian anti-government protester, held in Iran’s notorious Evin prison, died on Sunday after ten days of hunger strike, 5 articles
• The world’s largest refugee camp, on the Somalia-Kenya border, is declared full, with aid workers warning of a grave humanitarian crisis, 3 articles

Political ups and downs (top ten by number of articles)

• David Cameron: 700 articles (+88% on previous week)
• Tony Blair: 276 articles (+312% on previous week)
• Ed Miliband: 238 articles (+386% on previous week)
• George Osborne: 194 articles (+88% on previous week)
• Gordon Brown: 180 articles (+134% on previous week)
• Vince Cable: 177 articles (+503% on previous week)
• Ed Balls: 166 articles (+295% on previous week)
• Nick Clegg: 161 articles (+59% on previous week)
• Theresa May: 128 articles (+266% on previous week)
• William Hague: 123 articles (+78% on previous week)

Celebrity vs serious

• Singer Nicole Scherzinger, who replaced Cheryl Cole as US X Factor judge, 50 articles vs. the previous government’s counter-terrorism strategy, accused of channelling money towards extremists, 43 articles
• Singer Lily Allen, ties the knot, 40 articles vs. vs. a volcanic eruption in Chile, forcing 3,500 to flee and disrupting flights in Australasia, 33 articles
• Model Kate Moss has her hen party, 37 articles vs. Peru’s election, won by left-populist candidate Ollanta Humala, 31 articles

Arab spring

• Libya and Colonel Gaddafi Libya and Colonel Gaddafi, 170 articles (+23% on previous week)
• Syria and President Bashar Al-Assad, 159 articles (+189% on previous week)
• Turkey and Prime Minster Erdogan Turkey and Prime Minster Erdogan, 77 articles (+3,750% on previous week)
• Yemen and President Saleh, 75 articles (-9% on previous week)
• Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu, 16 articles (-30% on previous week)
• Iran and President Ahmadinejad, 15 articles (+25% on previous week)
• Gaza and Hamas, 11 articles (-39% on previous week)
• Bahrain and King Al Khalifa, 9 articles (-40% on previous week)
• Saudi Arabia and King Abdullah, 7 articles (-46% on previous week)
• West Bank and President Abbas West Bank and President Abbas, 7 articles (+250% on previous week)
• Oman and Sultan Said 3 articles (+200% on previous week)
• Jordan and King Abdullah, 3 articles (+200% on previous week)
• Egypt’s Military Council, 1 articles (-92% on previous week)
• UAE and President Al Nahyan, 1 articles (-92% on previous week)

Who wrote a lot about…’Ed Miliband’

Long form journalism

• 4,141 words: Kosovo’s bitter harvest – Ed Caesar, Sunday Times, 12th June 2011
• 3,500 words: Groupon: The golden nugget – Oliver Burkeman, The Guardian, 11th June 2011
• 3,022 words: British institutions: horse racing – Matthew Engel, Financial Times, 11th June 2011

More from the Media Standards Trust

Visit the Media Standards Trust’s new site Churnalism.com – a public service for distinguishing journalism from churnalism

Churnalism.com ‘explore’ page is available for browsing press release sources alongside news outlets

The Media Standards Trust’s unofficial database of PCC complaints is available for browsing at www.complaints.pccwatch.co.uk

For the latest instalment of Tobias Grubbe, journalisted’s 18th century jobbing journalist, go to journalisted.com/tobias-grubbe

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#mobilemedia11: ‘Tablets are biggest opportunity for publishers’, says Bonnier

Tablets pose the biggest opportunity publishers have had for a long time and offer new possibilities for making money, according to Staffan Ekholm from Bonnier’s Moving Media+.

Speaking at today’s Mobile Media Strategies event Ekholm said tablet apps are now in a “crawling” developmental stage, and likened their position to where the web was in 1996 and 1997.

“Tablets are not just another device and channel,” he told publishers at the event, “you have to recreate the experience, packaging and marketing.”

He said the best people to drive the creation of tablet magazines and apps are the creatives, but with editors having total control in the content.

“If you are starting from scratch with a tablet app, think freely,” he said, but warned moving from print can be more problematic.

He encouraged publishes to be aware of the possibilities for engaging advertising, including using HTML5.

And the future of magazine tablet publishing? “It is all about products,” he said.

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MEN journalists respond to news of arrested photographer

Journalists at the Manchester Evening News have responded to the news that photographer Sean Wilton was arrested after taking pictures of an incident near to the city’s magistrates’ court on Monday.

According to a report by MEN Wilton was later released, after being what the police termed “de-arrested”.

“I tried to explain I wasn’t obstructing and was just doing my job, but to no avail,” Wilton says in the report. “When I tried to speak to him about the situation, he arrested me for breach of the peace. As professional photographers, we do try to conduct ourselves as professionally as possible.”

In a statement (attributed to mother of the chapel Bethan Dorsett) his colleagues in the NUJ MEN chapel said its photographers always abide by industry codes of conduct.

To be treated in such a way by police is completely unacceptable and very worrying. Either police officers do not understand our rights and responsibilities or they sometimes choose to ignore them – either is disturbing and suggests some education would be useful. We are sure the NUJ and MENMedia would be more than happy to discuss and clarify these matters with the police.

The police issued the following statement:

A photographer was arrested to prevent a breach of the peace and on suspicion of obstructing a police officer. Officers brought the situation under control and the photographer was de-arrested and subsequently released.

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#mobilemedia11: Over 55s with iPads are ‘sweet spot’ for Telegraph

The number of subscribers who pay to use the Telegraph’s iPad app are “hugely encouraging”, said Tim Rowell, director of mobile development at the Telegraph Media Group.

The app has received a boost as there are more over 55s with iPads than under 35s, Rowell explained, “which is a sweet spot for us as they are our readers”.

Research shows the average age of the Telegraph iPad reader is 47, about half way between average age of print and web reader.

Speaking at the Media Briefing’s Mobile Media Strategies event today, Rowell refused to go further and reveal how many people had signed up since the launch of the subscriber app on 5 May.

The Telegraph’s paid for app launched just over a month ago with readers paying £1.19 a day (which is 19 pence more than the print edition due to the limited rates set by Apple) or £9.99 a month. The Telegraph’s 340,000 print subscribers are able to access the content via the app without paying extra.

The fact readers are willing to pay is “incredibly reassuring”, Rowell explained, as feedback before the launch of the subscriber app suggested the reverse.

The research was carried out by “rushing out” a free iPad app and gathering audience data. Approximately 60,000 people agreed to have their browsing information analysed. The inclusion of web trends showed what people were reading, when and whether they were using 3G or a wifi network.

The free app research showed weekend reading was twice as popular as week-day reading on the app, with two daily peaks, at 7am and 9pm. As the app was updated just once a day readers were accessing content that was almost 12 hours old. “But that was not important”, Rowell said.

In edition to wider audience data, around 1,800 people submitted a feedback form to give the Telegraph an even more detailed picture of what readers wanted, which included the crossword.

The biggest surprise in the research findings was the worldwide spread of iPad Telegraph readers, Rowell said.

Another key lesson is that the app is “not a substitution for print”, Rowell said, and it requires spend. The annual running costs of an app are around six times the cost of building the iPad app.

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