Emap’s owners – the Guardian Media Group (GMG) and Apax – have pledged to pump more money into the publisher, the Sunday Times reports:

The pair are gearing up to support an acquisition drive with fresh funds after rejecting proposals to relax covenants on Emap’s £700m of debt because it would be too expensive.

Emap, which was acquired for £1 billion in 2007, warned in its last set of accounts of “significant doubt” that it could carry on as a going concern if economic conditions deteriorate or renegotiations with lenders failed.

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Reed Business Information’s (RBI) Tom Vaughan was a double winner at today’s Periodical Training Council’s (PTC) New Journalist of the Year awards.

Vaughan, who writes for Caterer and Hotelkeeper, picked up the overall award and new business features journalist too. Unfortunately (or fortunately for him) he was in absent – busy holidaying in Switzerland – and had the awards collected on his behalf.

The awards, which focus on new or young journalists in the UK magazine industry, also saw prizes for Jheni Osman, editor of Focus from BBC Magazines, who was named new editor of the year.

Full list of the winners:

Overall winner - Tom Vaughan, Caterer and Hotelkeeper, RBI

New editor of the year – Jheni Osman, Focus, BBC Magazine; (highly commended) Lucy Scott, Property Week, CMP Information

New section editor of the year – Emma Dent, Health Service Journal, EMAP Inform; (highly commended) Tom Bill, Building, CMP Information

New consumer journalist of the year – Josh Woodfin, FHM, Bauer Media; (highly commended) Jo Adnitt, Look, IPC Media

New consumer specialist/customer magazine journalist of the year - Ben Brain, Photoplus, Future Publishing

New magazine designer of the year - Tina Smith, Property Week, CMP Information; (highly commended) Luke O’Neill, Computer Arts, Future Publishing

New business journalist of the year – Crispin Dowler, Inside Housing, Ocean Media Group; (highly commended) Victoria Gill, Chemistry World, Royal Society of Chemistry

New business features journalist of the year – Tom Vaughan, Caterer and Hotelkeeper, RBI; (highly commended) Lydia Stockdale, Property Week, CMP Information

Most promising student journalist of the year: Audrey Ward, MA magazine journalism, City University; (highly commended) Alix O’Neill, MA magazine, GoldsmithsSimilar Posts:

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Further to reports today, that Emap is to make content from its Inform titles (which include Health Service Journal, Retail Week and its Drapers brands) free online, we have been told that is not really news. In fact, all the sites have been made free over the last few months.

“All new content created on Emap Inform sites is now free to air,” Conor Dignam, Emap’s digital director, told Journalism.co.uk.

“Some of our older archives remain behind either subs or registration barriers, but they too will go free overtime. We’re also moving all Emap Inform brands to a new CMS and redesigning all of the websites.

“This is a reflection of what we see as a different relationship with print and online users. There may be some content that remains behind barriers on some of the brands, but for the most part we are looking at our online content being free to air,” Dignam said.

“The editors here have welcomed that move which is putting more content in front of their audiences and bringing more relevant people to their sites.”Similar Posts:

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UPDATE: a Tweet from Martin Stabe alerts us that in fact most of the titles’ content is already free online: J.co.uk is on the case and will up date soon.

B2B publisher Emap ‘is to scrap subscription charges on a number of its website next year,’ reports Press Gazette. The changes affect the Emap Inform division, which includes Health Service Journal, Retail Week and Drapers.Similar Posts:

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Stephen Brooks has been appointed as the UK managing director of web analytics firm Nielsen Online. Brooks takes up his new post after working for EMAP, where he was digital director for magazines.

Before EMAP he was publisher of mad.co.uk for seven years, having helped launch the Centaur title in 1999.

Joining Brooks is David Webb as UK client director media research and Matthew Dodd as vice president of research and analytics for EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa).

Webb was formerly director of digital research worldwide for CNN International, while Dodd leaves the Telegraph Media Group, where he was director of customer insight.

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