“Embattled newspaper publisher Independent News & Media (IN&M) this afternoon confirmed that it was close to unveiling a financial rescue that would allow the owner of The Independent to pay off an overdue €200 milion bond,” reports TimesOnline.  Full post at this link…

• Irish Times: Denis O’Brien may be ‘bypassed’ in IN&M bond deal
• FT.com: INM agrees financial restructuring
• Poynter: Nielsen to sell Mediaweek in US; closing Editor&Publisher
• MediaGuardian: Sir Anthony O’Reilly leaves Independent News&Media
• Independent: Reprint of Independent article leads to Indian newspaper editor’s arrest

The following great new vacancies have been advertised on Journalism.co.uk’s jobs board this week:

Editor
Computing is looking for a far-sighted and highly capable editor to take charge of the UK’s leading business technology brand
Salary: DoE
Incisive Media
London, England
>>more

Graphic designer (digital media)
Spreek je Nederlands? We need an experienced graphic designer, fluent in Dutch, to join this funky technology brand and push the creative boundaries further with their remarkable creative skills. Must be willing to relocate to Amsterdam.
Salary: €50K + bens.
Formula Won
Amsterdam, Netherlands
>>more

Sub-editor/compliance assistant
Growth Equities and Company Research is a leading independent research brand. GECR is looking to recruit a talented sub-editor to manage and develop the brand and product, manage a team of analysts and take on a compliance role within our organisation.
Salary: £25K
Rivington Street Holdings PLC
London, England
>>more

Senior advertising sales executive
We are looking for people who are target and performance driven, highly motivated self-starters who have very strong pitching and closing skills and also have good organisational abilities.
Salary: DoE
Crew Magazine
London , United Kingdom
>>more

Features writer
Experienced journalist with an in-depth understanding of all marketing disciplines and business sectors needed to join the features team at Marketing Week, the UK’s leading marketing industry weekly magazine.
Salary: DoE
Marketing Week
London, England
>>more

Assistant editor
Assistant editor required for national newspaper for the hearing impaired and deaf communities
Salary: DoE
Hearing Times Ltd
Woking, Surrey, England
>>more

Marketing assistant, social media
With experience in a similar role and additional language skills for this pan-European role for Travelzoo.
Salary: Competitive
Travelzoo (Europe) Ltd
London, United Kingdom
>>more

News editor
For the UK’s only weekly news title covering the interactive marketing and media sector.
Salary: DoE
Centaur Communications Ltd
London, England
>>more

Senior editor
To monitor breaking regional news, assign editors/writers as warranted and write and/or edit news items as needed Assign writers/editors and freelancers Process both incoming and outgoing content within the confines of a content management system
Salary: Competitive
News Corporation
London, England
>>more

Staff writer
We are looking for a staff writer who wants to have a real impact on the leading laboratory publication in the UK. The ideal candidate will be a science graduate with a real interest in, and knowledge of, all aspects of science.
Salary: DoE
Metropolis Business Media
Croydon, England
>>more

Staff Writer – Cycling Plus
Would you like to write for one of the UK’s best selling road cycling magazines? Take your first step into magazine journalism and join Cycling Plus as a staff writer.
Salary: Competitive salary plus excellent benefits
Future Publishing Ltd
Bath, England
>>more

To see the full jobs board, please go to http://www.journalism.co.uk/36/64/

To sign up for free as a jobseeker, please go to http://www.journalism.co.uk/113/

To sign up as an advertiser, please go to http://www.journalism.co.uk/75/

• New editorial and media job vacancies on Journalism.co.uk
• Eleven new journalism and media jobs on Journalism.co.uk
• Twenty new media, editorial, communications and PR jobs this week on Journalism.co.uk
• Twenty-four great new jobs this week on the Journalism.co.uk jobs board
• Fifteen new media, editorial and journalism jobs this week on Journalism.co.uk

The newspaper group fell into the red in the first six months of 2009 – a result of a massive drop in advertising revenues, reports MediaGuardian.

The group has reported a pre-tax loss of €48.5 million (approximately £42.7 million) for the six months to the end of June – compare this with last year’s profit of €96.8 million (£85.2 million) – and cited the costs of reducing staff, writing down the value of its newspaper titles and other ‘exceptional items’.

Advertising revenues for the group fell by 25.8 per cent from the last report to €608.8 million (£535.6 million).

Full story and figures at this link…

• Mail Online helps DMGT to significant increase in digital revenue
• Northcliffe’s operating profits drop 81 per cent
• Johnston Press’ ad revenues feel effects of recession
• paidContent.org (via Washington Post): Online newspaper revenues fall 2.9 per cent at end of 2008 – drop predicted for 2009
• Online revenues up for Independent and Johnston Press, but print ads fall

Independent News & Media ‘will likely agree another extension to a standstill deal with holders of a 200 million euro ($283 million) bond originally due for repayment in May’, an industry source said, according to Reuters. It reported today:

“The Irish publishing group has until Aug. 27 to agree a deal with holders of the senior debt but the industry source, who declined to be named because talks are ongoing, said another rollover was inevitable as this month’s deadline looms.”

INM declined to comment, Reuters said.

Full story at this link…

• Sunday Times: Breakingviews.com in ‘advanced talks’ with Thomson Reuters
• Is CNN about to buy Mashable?
• WSJ.com: ITV launching legal proceedings against STV for £38m debt
• Reuters: Google forced to pay €5,000 damages to former convict over search suggestions
• Thomson Reuters creates site for deal makers

The latest on the Independent News & Media financial negotiations, as reported by the Irish Times:

“Bondholders in Independent News & Media (IN&M) are negotiating with the company on the resolution of an overdue €200 million note on the basis that key investor Denis O’Brien will not sign up to current proposals.”

Last month, in an interview with the Irish Sunday Times, O’Brien said that it was possible IN&M might go into bankruptcy protection.

Full story at this link…

• MediaGuardian: O’Brien says that financial crisis could cause sale of Independent
• MediaGuardian: O’Brien calls for sale or closure of Independent and IoS
• CNN Money: Sun-Times Media files for Chapter 11
• FT.com: INM agrees financial restructuring
• TheAustralian: ‘Major gap’ in whistleblower legislation

France has extended the age range of its free newspaper subscription scheme. The country’s government will now offer a free newspaper once a week for a year to 18-24-year-olds, under the 600 million euro scheme.

Full story at this link (via Le Figaro)…

• Editors Weblog: Dutch government to finance 60 jobs for young journalists
• Folio: US newspaper company, Tribune Co, launches magazine just for Kindle
• Editors Weblog: Figaro group’s new financial news subscription service
• SFN Blog: French news sites to erect pay walls
• Brand Republic: Shortlist revenues give hope to free magazine market

Metro International shares have plummeted on news of increased losses and a prospective bid falling through, but CEO, Per Mikael Jensen, remains optimistic.

“It was not a good quarter, but we could have done much worse,” Jensen told me, after the company posted grim financial news this morning.

Its net losses for the first quarter (Q1) of 2009 more than doubled compared to the same period last year, from 6.4 million euros to 15.3 million euros, and year-on-year net revenues decreased 24 per cent to 55.6 million euros from 73.4 million euros in Q1 2008.

The freesheet giant also announced that a mystery bid, which led the company to postpone seeking a rights issue to raise more capital earlier this year, had been stranded on the bidder’s inadequate financing arrangements.

The news caused Metro shares to fall sharply, but when I talked to Jensen, he professed to take comfort in the share doing better than before the bid emerged in February.

“I think people were calculating on a divestment,” he said, adding that he was not sure if the timing of the rights issue, which will now go ahead, would be any worse than two or three months ago.

In January, Metro shocked the market by closing its fully owned operation in Spain, which published the free daily newspaper Metro in seven Spanish cities, with immediate effect. However, in the last few months the company, which has 81 editions in 22 countries, has launched titles in Moscow and Mexico’s second city, Monterrey.

“It’s been our expressed strategy to grow in Russia, Asia and Latin America, markets that are not as mature as the European, for some time now,” Jensen said.

Read more about the consequences of the recession for free newspapers here.

• Online Journalism Scandinavia: Metro Sweden’s deal with Schibsted part of its ‘Freesheets 2.0′ strategy
• paidContent:UK: Metro International making big losses online
• Mail Online helps DMGT to significant increase in digital revenue
• NYT second-quarter operating profit more than twice 2009 figure
• LinkedIn growing by two new members every second

Belgian media company Persgroep Publishing is set to pay 100 million euros for a 51 per cent stake in Dutch media group PCM Uitgevers, publishers of de Volksrant, Trouw and NRC Handlesblad.

Full story…

• MediaGuardian: DMGT records second highest ever profit
• Nisnews.nl (via EJC): Dutch leave ruder comments on websites than other Europeans
• Online Journalism Scandinavia: Metro International betting on newspaper growth in emerging markets
• Guardian and Apax begin talks over future of Auto Trader
• MediaGuardian: Independent News & Media falls into the red

Yes, Monday was two days ago but Frédéric Filloux’s take on Sarkosy’s media prescription is a good read and clearly set out. “Tons of cash for publishers, little in return,” Filloux starts.

“That’s the Sarkozy prescription to ‘save’ the press. For €600m ($767m) to be spent over three years, the French president is buying if not influence, the French media barons’ ear and goodwill. This is not a stimulus package. This is a band-aid to an ailing industry that has a shown a tremendous resistance to change, at every level.”

Full story…

• MediaGuardian: Sarkozy starts talks to rescue France’s ailing newspapers
• ProPublica’s ‘Shovelwatch’: reviewing Obama’s stimulus package
• Observer: An internet licence fee could aid newspapers
• Reporters Without Borders joins Le Monde in complaint against Sarkozy’s office
• Telegraph.co.uk: BBC to apologise to Band Aid and Geldof over funding slurs

Basicthinking.de, one of the most-visited German blogs discussing IT and hardware topics, was sold on eBay last week for nearly €47,000, Medienlese has reported.

Robert Basic, IT expert, owner and only author of the popular forum, said in a post that he had put the blog on eBay, because it was ‘time for a change and to build up something new’. At time of writing, Basic’s last entry had received 444 comments.

Some critics accused Basic of linkbaiting, suggesting that he would not go through with the sale of the blog.

He will continue to write for multi-language blog buzzriders, but not basicthinking. The blog is now in the hands of serverloft, a German server company.

• McClatchy editor sets up public wiki for discussions about innovation across the group
• #Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – basic integrated engagement strategy
• Associated Press: Publisher plans printed version of Wikipedia
• AP: Germany’s Bild looking for citizen photographers
• #Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – edit videos in YouTube

Metro International, the freesheet publisher, said it doesn’t expect to break even in 2008: so far this year has lost a total €3.97 million (£3.08 million) from its seven websites in Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, Hungary, Chile, France and Spain.

• Online Journalism Scandinavia: Metro Sweden’s deal with Schibsted part of its ‘Freesheets 2.0′ strategy
• Online Journalism Scandinavia: Metro International betting on newspaper growth in emerging markets
• paidContent: Metro launches new app business
• Johnston Press chief executive million pound earnings revealed in annual report
• Future websites attracting over 11m unique users per month

The 11th Readership Conference is addressing building new print, as well as digital audiences (not just stopping the old readers running away). So how exactly have newspapers across the world successfully built up new audiences? (Quotes and information courtesy of the WAN conference updates)

The Telegraaf in the Netherlands has used sport and social networking

• Using Hyves.net they used the network’s ‘send to a friend’ function and a widget for users’ home pages that allowed them to see how they were performing against their friends. The contest had 170,000 participants: 110,000 through Hyves and 60,000 through the Telegraaf’s sports site, Telesport.
• For the Olympics, the Telegraaf provided editorial content to a Hyves web section dedicated to the events which included blogs from Telegraaf reporters in Beijing and other stories from the Telegraaf sports team in Amsterdam.

Lara Ankersmit, publisher for online media, at the paper, said the partnership provided strong branding tied to popular sports events, and more than 170,000 registrations and e-mail addresses.

The Verdens Gang newspaper company in Norway has increased revenue while losing readers

• A graph of VG’s print circulation decline over the past several years looks like a ski slope – it dropped 20 percent since 2002. But, at the same time, profit increased from 270 million Norwegian krone (31 million euros) to 365 million krone (41 million euros).
• The approach is ‘continuous product diversification and improving production efficiency considerably’ through new prodcucts such as social networks, and doing more marketing: VG spends 10 million euros annually on market examination.
• It pays more attention to distribution. Ensuring good product placement at sales outlet is one important focus, as is establishing new outlets, such as coffee shops.

Torry Pederson, CEO of VG said that good journalism that attracts attention, on all platforms. “Don’t cut down on journalistic resources to cover the important stories,” he said.

The Bakersfield Californian is focusing on who isn’t reading the paper

• In five years, it went from having no weekly newspapers to having three, from no magazines to three magazines, from one website to 11 websites. It created three subsidiaries and built its own social media software.
• Alongside market research there was commitment to invest in new product development – at least 1 per cent of revenues each.
• New products recaptured six of the eight percentage points in consumer reach lost by The Californian. It increased non-core revenue from 1 per cent to 12 per cent.

Mary Lou Fulton, vice president of audience development at the paper said “Before, we focused primarily on the circulation, profitability and content of our daily newspaper (…) The essential shift in thinking was to become interested in who was not reading the newspaper or advertising in it. That was a big wake-up call.”

• paidContent:UK: Telegraaf to buy Dutch social network Hyves
• Online Journalism Scandinavia: Metro International betting on newspaper growth in emerging markets
• SFN: Norway’s online newspaper revenues reach 290 million euro – up 61 per cent in two years
• ‘Individualised’ newspapers launched at Ifra Expo 2009
• Le Figaro’s new online payment plans

At the same time as reports of significant decline in UK and US print advertising, online advertising revenue is up for the Independent News Media Group (INM) and Johnston Press.

Johnston Press, the publisher of the Scotsman and over 300 regional newspapers and websites, announced that digital revenues had grown by 52.1 per cent to an unstated figure, in its interim results for the 26 weeks ending June 30.

The publisher reports that it will ‘continue to experience significant growth in overall audience reach – combining our newspaper readership with the rapidly increasing number of people visiting our websites.’

Meanwhile, INM, which – among other titles – publishes the Independent, the Belfast Telegraph and the Independent on Sunday, saw online revenue from advertising grow by 23.3 per cent to €15.9 million in the six months prior to June 30, it reported in its half-year results.

INM’s online revenue (including its stakes in other online ventures) rose buy 57.1 per cent to €30 million over the same period ‘reflecting good organic growth and a continuation of its multimedia investment strategy across all regions,’ the report said.

Online classified and display advertising now represents around 4 per cent of publishing advertising for the group. This increase was helped by ‘strategic’ investments in services such as price comparison, online gaming, image search, and mobile.

Nonetheless, online was included in INM’s overall group costs, which increased by 1.4 per cent. The publisher also recorded ‘certain online and education start-up development costs’ of €6 million and €19 million.

• Johnston Press’ ad revenues feel effects of recession
• Mail Online helps DMGT to significant increase in digital revenue
• NYT second-quarter operating profit more than twice 2009 figure
• MediaGuardian: Independent News & Media falls into the red
• Future: Digital ads going from strength-to-strength

Online newspapers in Norway generated nearly €290 million in 2007, up 61 per cent from about €180 million in 2005, according to the International Newsmedia Marketing Association (through SFN Blog).

Display and classified revenues increased 41.7 per cent. Search and listing up 112.5 per cent.

• Online revenues up for Independent and Johnston Press, but print ads fall
• US newspaper ad revenue decline slows
• Mail Online helps DMGT to significant increase in digital revenue
• Archant announces 61.1% drop in profits
• Yahoo: US papers grew online audience 6 per cent last year

Telegraph.co.uk has published a Polish version of a report on Poland’s progress in Euro 2008 – thanks to Jon Buscall for the email.

The article by Kat Mochlinski is available in both English and Polish with a link between the articles.

With The Sun running a print edition in Polish for Euro 2008 and having already trialled a Polish version of its website, this Telegraph tactic could attract more than just football fans.

• When Saturday Comes: How Twitter has changed football reporting
• Political magazine Seven returns to online roots
• The Drum: Newspapers ‘could introduce football Twitter reporter role’
• Ole Ole expands football blogs network
• NME to produce a free online version of its magazine