Journalism.co.uk Editors' Blog » celebrity

Independent.co.uk: Gossip sites put heat on celeb mags in latest ABCs

Laura Oliver — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:47:07 +0000

Sales of celebrity magazines have plunged in the latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations - a result of the economic downturn and the rising popularity of online competitors.

Associated Press launches celebrity news service

Laura Oliver — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:16:31 +0000

The Associated Press (AP) has launched a celebrity news service to expand its coverage of entertainment news.

Celebrity Extra, which includes video footage, is the result of a multi-million dollar investment by the agency, a press release from AP said.

New staff have been hired to work on the service and new video production technology has been bought for its Los Angeles, New York and London bureaux.

A photo version of the service will launch in September.

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Beet TV: TMZ using live web video streaming for celeb snooping – even in court!

Oliver Luft — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:22:54 +0000

The US celebrity tabloid ‘news’ TV show and website TMZ has started using mobile phone technology to live stream video of celebrity goings-on.

And it’s all a great success Alan Citron, general manager of TMZ tells Beet TV.

And the real crowd pullers?

A courthouse appearance by Hulk Hogan’s son and a two hour stream of a car park where Britany was expected to arrive.

‘Hypnotic effect’ of the car park kept viewers interested says Citron.

Glam – this celeb business.

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Innovations in Journalism – AccessInterviews.com

Oliver Luft — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:31:10 +0000

We give developers the opportunity to tell us journalists why we should sit up and pay attention to the sites and devices they are working on. Today, it’s indexing interviews across the web from Access Interviews.

1) Who are you and what’s it all about?
My name is Rob McGibbon and I am a freelance journalist with a background in writing – mainly celebrity interviews – for various national titles. I launched Access Interviews.com in January 2008 after two years of development.

The website provides a unique index to the world’s interviews with subjects of all kinds and in every category. AI is a totally original concept, which is not bad going in such a crowded web world!

The site works on an open editorial platform. Web editors on newspapers and magazines and individual journalists submit links to the interviews, which they have published on their own websites.

Access Interviews does not carry the actual content but instead links back to the copyright owner’s website and automatically maintains a full searchable archive of the links to interviews that are submitted.

2) Why would this be useful to a journalist?
It is useful in many ways to journalists. It is ideal for research because Access Interviews only carries genuine, professionally sourced interviews.

This material is often the most important for a journalist. You can save a lot of time you might otherwise waste on Google by going to AI first.

Access Interviews is also a great tool for journalists and publishers to promote their work. Individual writers can create a portfolio of their interviews, which is particularly useful for freelance journalists who work across a number of titles.

Newspapers or magazines can also promote their archives as a way of drawing new readers to their website or hard copy.

Some magazines and provincial newspapers have small circulations but get great access to high profile personalities because of the credibility of the publication.

Our website is a powerful independent platform to showcase exclusive work and bring a new audience to the work of smaller publications.

The AI site is also the perfect way of establishing the true origin and copyright of an interview. This is incredibly useful for journalists who originate so much material, only to see it ripped off in this digital world.

3) Is this it, or is there more to come?
I am already developing three other websites that will be launched later this year, but the priority is to get Access Interviews fully established and being used by the journalists.

There are already extensive plans to expand AI, so this is my focus.

4) Why are you doing this?
More is definitely not always best and the internet is living proof. It is congested with worthless and often inaccurate content. Interviews are the golden source of content and I want to create a 24-carat resource for journalists and to generally promote the value of the professional interview.

5) What does it cost to use it?
It is free to use and there is no need to register. Click and go. How can you resist?

6) How will you make it pay?
Regretfully, the money side is very much phase two. I expect any business-minded person would hear me say that and scream or laugh.

Essentially, my plan is to make a great website that becomes indispensable to journalists and users generally. By doing this, Access Interviews will have a powerful readership which, in turn, will make it an interesting proposition for big brand advertisers.

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Hellomagazine.com launches first blog

ruth morgan — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:24:26 +0000

Hellomagazine.com has launched its first blog – a celebrity-focused effort called Stilettos At Dawn.

Launched quietly at the tail end of March, the daily blog – penned by Sapphire Carter-Brown – reflects on such necessary and weighty issues as Jude Law’s new crop and Victoria Beckham’s birthday celebrations.

The development of a blogging element – with its ability to leave comments and trackbacks – is a slight improvement on the remainder of the magazine site, which – despite a limited range of bookmarking features – remains steadfastly entrenched in a Web 1.0 world and mostly oblivious to the terms – interactivity, usability, and social media.

Despite this, Hellomagazine.com reports healthy, even hearty, traffic figures. An ABCe audit of the site in January confirmed that it was attracting over a million-and-a-half unique users per month.

Traffic to the site is expected to increase rapidly in the coming months, however.

Sources have told Journalism.co.uk that it will undergo a major revamp later in the year to introduce a host of new social media, interactivity features to connect it better with the wider web.

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Digital Spy: Digital Spy sold to Hachette Filipacchi

cathy_relf — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:03:56 +0000

Hachette Filipacchi, publishers of Elle and Psychologies magazines, has acquired entertainment and media news site Digital Spy.

No changes will be made to the management and editorial teams of the site.

As part of the deal DS claims ’significant investment’ will be made in the site to increase the breadth of its coverage.

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French court finds website guilty of privacy breach for linking

Oliver Luft — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:02:51 +0000

Last week a French court found a website guilty of breach the privacy of actor Olivier Martinez because it linked to a story about him (hat tip Cybersoc).

The site, Fuzz.fr, had linked to a gossip website which was carrying a story about the actor’s relationship with Australian singer Kylie Minogue.

In landmark ruling for the French online world, the court decided that Fuzz.fr has taken ‘an editorial decision’ to link to the other site and was therefore responsible for the content.

The site, which allows users to post their own links, was taken offline shortly after the ruling.

“It’s a black day for French participatory websites, because it opens the door to all kinds of (court) procedures,” Fuzz’s creator Eric Dupin told AFP.

According to a report on Yahoo News, Dupin was ordered to pay 2,500 euros in damages and legal costs.

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Guardian: Perez Hilton to blog for ITV

Oliver Luft — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 10:30:48 +0000

Celebrity tittle tattle blogger Perez Hilton- real name Mario Lavandeira – has agreed to write a regular column for the ITV.com to promote its new show Gossip Girl.

Hilton will write a weekly column after each episode of the ITV2 gossip-girl show.

The blog, which will start tonight after the airing of the first episode, is the latest move by the vacuous ‘personality’ to broaden his appeal beyond the blogosphere.

He has also recently taken up presenting roles with MTV and launched his own show on VH1

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Messy Media officially launches Glitterditch – a blog about all things London

cathy_relf — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:30:03 +0000

After its ever so soft launch, Messy Media has officially introduced Glitterditch, a new blog about all things London.

MessyMedia co-managing director Lloyd Shepherd said: “Glitterditch isn’t just another ‘what’s on’ title. It’s about the immense, teeming great fishbowl of London.

“We want to reflect the reality of living in London, through the eyes of a young and talented team of bloggers who eat, sleep and breathe the capital.”

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Time Out launches Kuala Lumpur site, Hong Kong launch imminent

Oliver Luft — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 09:30:11 +0000

Time Out has this week launched a new listings and entertainments news website in Kuala Lumpur and plans to launch a similar site in Hong Kong next month.

The online launches coincide with sister print title launches in the territories. Developments in Hong Kong will bring the total number of international Time Out web/print publications to 24 in 18 countries including Sydney, Kiev and New York.

Time Out, which also launched in Barcelona in January, plans seven further launches in 2008, including titles in Belgrade, Budapest, Bangkok and Jakarta.

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