The budget online: Liveblogging and Twitter dominate news orgs’ coverage

Today’s budget announcement is being billed as the most significant of recent times given the UK’s current financial woes.

This is both a breaking news story, but one that requires closer analysis and follow up – and, perhaps most importantly, the ability to make it relevant to the reader.

So how are news organisations covering it online and who’s ticking these boxes?

Telegraph.co.uk
Currently performing well in Google News search for budget, the Telegraph is going in big on online coverage today.

It will be updating throughout the day via its @Telefinance Twitter account (headed up by @hrwaldram). Meanwhile a trio of Telegraph reporters have been liveblogging budget news since 6:30am.

On the subject of Twitter – the Telegraph has reinstated its Twitterfall – an embed aggregating all Twitter updates marked #budget. The feature had to be taken down earlier in the week, because of some mischief, but so far so good with the tweaked (filtered?) version.

In addition there’s a nice ‘What to expect’ guide breaking down the issues that are likely to feature in the budget announcement.

FT.com
Arguably the go-to site for budget coverage given its specialism, the FT is building on tried and trusted features from last year (a budget day podcast, video analysis, a budget calculator) with a new liveblog from 12pm covering Alistair Darling’s speech, editor Robert Shrimsley, who will participate, told Journalism.co.uk.

The format is based on the site’s MarketsLive feature successfully developed and used by its Alphaville blog. As such it will ‘bring people people up to speed, but inform them in an entertaining way’. Financial analysis but entertaining – two styles that rarely meet, said Shrimsley, but that will be key to FT.com’s liveblogging of the budget.

“There’s a premium on getting that information out and telling people what its means. We feel at the FT that we have the right people to pass on that analysis,” explained Shrimsley.

There will be a Twitter feed too, but it’s crucial not spam people with updates, he added. Readers are encouraged to participate in both this stream and the liveblog though.

Alphaville isn’t being used as a lab for experimenting with new ways of coverage, he stressed, but there is potential for more liveblogging across the site. It’s important not to overdose on technology, however, but to use only when applicable, he added.

“Can we offer our audience what is worth reading? There’s lots of innovation on the internet and there’s lots that you can do – that doesn’t mean you have to,” he said.

Channel 4 News website
More use of Twitter by the Channel 4 news team – as introduced by presenter Krishnan Guru-Murphy in the vid below:

There will also be use of CoverItLive (CiL) for a liveblog starting at 12pm, which was similarly used in the site’s coverage of the G20 summit.

Some nice additional touches include the use of FactCheck to test the claims made by the chancellor in the budget; and a wordcloud (or Snowcloud) of Darling’s announcement.

Sky News Online and Times Online
A specially built budget page has been set up including a liveblog, live video streams of the budget speech, and analysis from bloggers, tax experts and taxpayers, the site told us. There’s a good guide to how to use Sky’s online coverage too – one particular highlight, the chance for users to get answers from PKF UK tax accountant Matt Coward.

Meanwhile Times Online will be following up its excellent liveblogging of the G20 summit with a version starting at midday today.

Liveblogging at regional level
Deciphering what the budget means for the average news reader is being tackled head on by the Newcastle Evening Chronicle with a liveblog taking place across a number of Trinity Mirror centres.

“We’ll be mainly trying to digest it for *normal* people with rx [reactions] from experts, rather than the scary £180bn debt figures,” said Colin George, multimedia editor, in a Twitter update.

Wales Online (bringing in a tax expert) and the Birmingham Post – under its dedicated Live! Section – also host budget day liveblogs (using CiL again).

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SoE08: Robert Peston and Clarence Mitchell on blogging

Following his comments at the Society of Editors (SoE) conference that suggestions that the media had caused the current banking crisis were ‘laughable’, BBC Business editor Robert Peston was questioned about his use of a blog on bbc.co.uk.

Peston said he wasn’t a ‘proper blogger’ insofar as he didn’t use his blog to speculate.

“I apply exactly the same standards of verification to a blog as I do to anything else I do,” he explained.

“I can do two things with a blog: I can get stuff out very quickly; but the most valuable thing about the blog if you work for an organisation like the BBC is that you can put out an amount of detail you can’t get in a three minute bulletin.”

The comments left by readers of the blog are ‘incredibly valuable’, as it can make you think about a story in a different way, he added.

“The great advantage of the blog is that you are constantly out there putting nuggets out that will give you stuff back and allow you to complete the story more quickly,” he said.

in the same conference session, Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for Kate and Gerry McCann, was less complimentary describing the downside of the blogosphere as ‘the lynchmob gone digital’.

Speaking with regards to the Madeleine McCann case, Mitchell said: “Where comment strays beyond the bounds of acceptability we will take action. Because story has engendered a degree of controversy and debate we have to cope with that on a daily basis.”

The case is still ‘very much ongoing’, according to Mitchell, and the McCanns see the media as partners in the search for their daughter when reporting is ‘fair and accurate’.

Settlements between the media and the McCanns and with friends they were holidaying with at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance now total more than £1 million, he said.

Mitchell also accused the British press in Portugal of being lazy at the time of the incident, choosing to sit in the local bar and turning to the Portugese media for leads.

“A quote from me and that was considered balanced journalism. Even when I said I didn’t have anything, front pages would duly appear,” he said.

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Belgian newspapers seeking £39m damages from Google

A group of Belgian newspapers are seeking up to £39m (€49m) in damages from Google for the search giant publishing and storing their content without permission or offering payment.

Last year Google lost a case brought against it by the Copiepresse group – an organisation that represents the French language press in Belgium – forcing it to remove cached versions of newspaper articles and take down content from its Google News service

The organisation’s secretary-general told Bloomberg yesterday it had summoned Google to appear again before a Brussels court so that it could decide on the damages. Copiepresse is seeking between €32.8 and 49.1m.

The damages would be in addition to the €25,000 (£20,000) daily fine imposed on Google by the court for each day it kept Copiepresse material on its site.

Google appealed the original court decision of February 2007, which ruled that it could not claim ‘fair use’ – acceptable under copyright law – for using a lines of text and linking to the original article.

A Google spokesperson told Bloomberg that it was still awaiting the results of its appeal and that it had not received notification from Copiepresse of any new court dates.

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Future websites attracting over 11m unique users per month

Future publishing’s portfolio of websites, which includes TechRadar.com and GamesRadar.com, are attracting over 11 million unique users per month, figures released today suggest.

GamesRadar alone attracts three million page views a day, according to the publisher’s financial report for the six months to March 31.

The report also stated that revenue from digital advertising now accounts for 19 per cent of the group’s total advertising revenue – an increase from 15 per cent last year.

“Our digital strategy, which attracts the lion’s share of our investment in new product development, is at a very exciting stage. With the launch of MusicRadar and TechRadar networks earlier this year, we now have pillar online properties in each of our specialist sectors,” Stevie Smith, chief executive of Future, said in the release.

However, operating profit for the publisher fell from £7.7 million over the same period in 2007 to £5.2 million.

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PA Group appoints James Murdoch as non-executive director

James Murdoch, chairman and chief executive, Europe and Asia News Corporation, has joined the PA Group board as a non-executive director.

Murdoch’s appointment, which was announced today as the group released its financial report for 2007, is one of a series of changes to the board with Sir Harry Roche stepping down after 20 years as a director and 13 years as chairman.

The group announced a 25 per cent growth in revenues from its digital business, but a drop of £1.2 million in its total operating profits.

The fall from £2.6 million in 2006 to £1.4 million in 2007 was a result of significant multimedia investment, the group said.

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DMGT digital revenues boosted by search portals while local media profits fall

Revenue for Associated Northcliffe Digital (AND), the digital division of Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT), rose by 12 per cent to £46 million over the six months to the end of 2008, boosted by specialist search portals Jobsite, Findaproperty and Primelocation.

However, AND’s total operating profits fell by £3.6 million to £2.2 million after developing automative website Motors.co.uk, according to the group’s report released today.

Operating profits from the group’s local media assets under the Northcliffe media division fell by £4.9 million (13 per cent) to £33.8 million over the same period.

Associated Newspapers also posted a drop in operating profits, but stressed the acquisition of a new printing facility at Didcot was a key factor in this downturn.

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Guardian: Indian Premier League to live stream matches online and on mobile

The Indian Premier League has signed a deal to stream live coverage of cricket matches on the internet and mobile devices.

The deal, which is reported to be worth £25 million over 10 years, will cover India, Pakistan and the Middle East and will be a subscription based service.

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Online Journalism Scandinavia: Metro Sweden’s deal with Schibsted part of its ‘Freesheets 2.0′ strategy

Norwegian media giant Schibsted this morning announced that it’s paying £30m to take a 35 per cent stake in the Swedish edition of Metro International’s free newspaper.

In what is a key freesheet market the former rivals have forged a partnership to collaborate on advertising sales with the new company offering advertisers the chance to reach 4.2 million readers across the Metro and Schibsted paid-for dailies Aftonbladet and Dagbladet.

In February, Metro International CEO, Per Mikael Jensen, discussed his company’s strategic goals with Journalism.co.uk saying that consolidation and online innovation would be key for the development of his newspapers, in what he called the ‘freesheet 2.0 phase.’

“We are entering a freesheet 2.0 phase where we are consolidating our core business and looking at more ways to attract readers,” said Jensen, who succeeded Pelle Törnberg as head of Metro in 2007.

In Sweden, this consolidation will mean Schibsted will stop publication of its free paper Punkt SE with immediate effect so that the new joint venture can focus print advertising around a single free title.

The deal has similarities with the one Metro struck at the end of 2007, when it sold 60 per cent of its Czech operation to its competitor Mafra.

The freesheet giant is currently undergoing a strategic review, and when Journalism.co.uk spoke to him, Jensen said we could expect more deals of this nature.

Today, Jensen refused to rule out further consolidations when questioned by Danish media and said he expected dramatic changes in the Danish newspaper market in the coming months (but refused to go into details).

“We do not just sit there and wait for the strategic review to be completed, but implement strategy from day to day. Strategy is something we evaluate each month. Those who believe the strategic review we now are in the middle of will become some sort of bible, will be disappointed,” said Jensen in the interview with Journalism.co.uk.

In addition, Metro is looking to attract more readers online. It’s launching new versions of its websites in all its markets – it recently launched online for the first time in France – and will consolidate some of its editorial activities by creating an internal news agency in London which will serve all its editions.

Jensen is behind Metro’s new developments and alliances but he remains as pessimistic as ever about the future of paid-for printed newspapers.

“I would be very surprised if more than 25 per cent of today’s paid-for newspapers exist in ten years. Of the newspapers that will survive, many of them will be published online only, or make its paper edition free,” Jensen said.

The two newspaper giants may have forged a partnership in Sweden but they remain embroiled in a head-to-head competition over their market leading freesheets in France and Spain.

However, Metro International still has a lot of work to do to convince investors that its business model – the company is still loss-making even though it narrowed its first quarter net loss to £5.1 m – has a profitable future.

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Press Gazette: Express editor Hill leaves PCC after McCann libel payout

Daily Express editor Peter Hill has left the Press Complaints Commission.

The move follows two months after his newspaper (along with its sister Sunday and the Star and Sunday Star) published front page apologies and paid the parents of missing child Madeleine McCann £550,000 in libel damages.

He’s replaced on the 17 strong commission by Mail on Sunday editor Peter Wright.

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FollowTheMedia site faces closure

News and commentary website FollowTheMedia could be shut down unless €35,000 (£27,444) is raised by May 16.

FTM, which focuses primarily on US and European media news and analysis, did not give any reasons for the potential closure in an announcement on its site.

The site is urging readers to make donations or register for membership – annual membership costs €99. Alternatively sponsorship packages are available for €1,000 a year.

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