Author Archives: Rachel Bartlett

About Rachel Bartlett

Rachel Bartlett is editor of Journalism.co.uk

Guardian: Republicans seek congressional inquiry into WikiLeaks

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The Republican party is planning on holding a congressional inquiry into WikiLeaks as well as its founder Julian Assange following the recent release of diplomatic cables, the Guardian has reported.

WikiLeaks appears in a list of priorities for investigation by the House of Representatives’ oversight committee, published here by Politico. The Republican party reportedly takes control of the House this week.

The move is partly political, aimed at the attorney general, Eric Holder, who the Republicans claim has been too slow and too weak in reacting to the leaks.

He said last month that the justice department was looking at what action can be taken against Assange but that lawyers are struggling to find legislation under which the Australian national can be prosecuted.

Full story on MediaGuardian at this link.

WSJ.com: Google plans digital newsstand for Android users

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Talks are underway at Google to launch a digital newsstand which will include apps from media companies available on devices running Android software, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

Google hopes to launch it in part to provide a more consistent experience for consumers who want to read periodicals on Android devices, and to help publishers collect payment for their apps, these people say.

Google has been in discussion about the potential venture with publishers including Condé Nast and Hearst Corporation, the report adds.

Editor & Publisher partners with MediaSpan to improve website

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Newspaper industry journal Editor & Publisher is to partner with digital content management organisation MediaSpan to help improve navigation of its online content.

According to a report by E&P this week the agreement, which was finalised last week, will enable the site to focus more on new content production than daily site upkeep.

Soon, visitors will be able to easily browse E&P’s deep archive database of more than 51,000 articles dating back to 1993.

In addition, the Newspeople section, which details the comings and goings of news, advertising, and circulation professionals, will be expanded and will include obituaries.

Earlier this month E&P removed its website paywall to “build more traffic and make exclusive content available to visitors”, it claimed.

BBC News launches collaborative multimedia project based on British soldiers

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A collaborative project between the BBC’s video-on-demand team, online graphic designers, journalists, newsgathering reporters and the BBC News channel was launched on the BBC News website yesterday.

The special multimedia report, ‘Life with the Lancers’, follows a year of filming with four Army soldiers from the Queen’s Royal Lancers regiment.

They were given cameras to gather video-diary material, took stills as well, and talked to BBC correspondents at different stages during the year about their experiences. The Army’s combat camera team also provided material.

In a blog post discussing the report editor of the BBC News website Steve Herrmann said the aim was to understand what the daily experience of UK troops serving in Afghanistan “in more detail than headline news reports allow”.

YouTube launches new trending news feature

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YouTube has announced the launch of YouTube Trends, which was officially unveiled last week.

In a more detailed explanation of the new tool yesterday a blog post on the site explains how the new feature will use algorithmically-generated feeds to highlight trending news, topics and videos.

The site also offers a ‘top videos’ module and a blog with more in-depth explorations of videos, trends, news, and cultural phenomena as seen through the lens of YouTube.

We’ve also created a Trends Dashboard that lets you quickly explore what’s popular in different cities in the U.S. and around the world, as well as within specific demographic groups.

E&P: AP to move hosted video to NDN platform

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The Associated Press is to move its hosted online video operation onto a platform provided by the News Distribution Network (NDN).

According to a report by Editor & Publisher NDN will be providing the 1,500 affiliates of AP’s Online Video Network with the newswire’s coverage as well as video content from news brands across more than a dozen categories.

By the time the upgrade is completed in the first quarter of 2011, affiliates that opt in will have the broadest offering of video news available anywhere.

Google launches new ‘follow news’ feature in US

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Google News has added a new feature which enables users to save news searches as a bookmark and also add to their Google News homepage.

The ‘follow news’ button is US-only at the moment and a spokesperson said Google does not have “a timeline” to bring the feature to the UK at this point.

Hatip: Search Engine Land

Android app update allows users to purchase Kindle newspapers

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On Friday Amazon announced that its Kindle for Android app is the first of its Kindle apps to receive an update that enables users to buy, read and sync more than 100 Kindle newspapers and magazines.

Kindle for Android users can now buy a single issue or subscribe to the most popular newspapers and magazines, have them automatically delivered to their Android-powered device, and enjoy a full color reading experience optimized for the touch interface of Android-powered devices.

Bloomberg View will be ‘consistent with the values of the founder’

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Bloomberg News this week announced plans to launch Bloomberg View – a new editorial page which will feature columns and commentary across all of Bloomberg’s platforms.

In a release Bloomberg said that David Shipley and James Rubin will be joining Bloomberg News as executive editors in January, to lead the new feature.

“I look forward to joining Bloomberg at a time when rational thought and commentary in the media is needed now more than ever before,” Rubin said. “There is an urgent need for ideology-free, empirically-based editorial positions about the pressing issues of our time, and we plan to deliver them.”

In a report by the New York Times Matthew Winkler, editor in chief of Bloomberg News, said the editorial page will be “consistent with the values and beliefs” of founder Michael Bloomberg, who is also the mayor of New York City.

“I fully expect us in our Bloomberg View always to reflect those values. In fact, I want people to come away from reading the Bloomberg View infused with those beliefs and values.”

Daily Mail apologises to Matt Lucas over invasion of privacy claim

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It was reported yesterday that comedian and actor Matt Lucas received “substantial undisclosed” damages and an apology from Associated Newspapers following an article in the Daily Mail earlier this year.

Lucas sued for invasion of privacy over the article headlined “How Matt Lucas learnt to laugh again” following his ex-partner’s death. His law firm Schillings claimed that the article “constituted an unlawful intrusion into his grief and suffering and an invasion of his privacy”.

In the apology on MailOnline, the paper said the article had “caused great upset to Mr Lucas which we did not intend and regret”.

The article on Mr Lucas’ return to public life following the tragic death of Kevin McGee suggested he had ignored Kevin’s calls, became a virtual recluse, and hosted a birthday party to ‘move on’. We accept this was not the case and apologise to Mr Lucas.