Category Archives: Media releases

Archant London restructures its senior editorial team

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Archant London has restructured its senior editorial team following the merger of its newspaper and magazine divisions.

Geoff Martin has been appointed editor-in-chief for Archant London’s newspapers published out of its Swiss Cottage office in Camden.

Malcolm Starbrook is the now editor-in-chief of newspapers published from its Ilford office, in east London.

Archant London’s editorial director Bob Crawley said the changes would provide one point of senior management contact at each office.

Chris Carter, editor of the Ilford Recorder, will continue to lead CMS editorial development as well as working on new projects such as the roll-out of its citizen journalism website iWitness24 for the whole of Archant London’s newspaper division.Laura Adams will continue to edit Archant’s bridal publications as well as editing the Barking and Dagenham Post, while Colin Grainger continues as editor of the Newham Recorder.

Peter Le Riche has been appointed to the newly-created role of commercial features editor.

Peter Le Riche, who previously worked as an editor with Archant South West before joining Richmond Council as head of communications, will rejoin Archant as their commercial features editor from 12 March.

Citizen journalism: Street Photographer of the Year announced

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Kheoh Yee Wai, winner of the CJET Street Photographer of the Year, poses with his photo

The winner of the Citizen Journalism Education Trust (CJET)’s Street Photographer of the Year was announced yesterday.

In a release, Kheoh Yee Wai, 23, (pictured above) described his winning photograph:

The mum and her child were strolling on the streets of a neighbourhood in Leeds, passing by a family that was having a barbecue at that time. They had a huge dog that kept jumping-up in excitement.

That was when I knew I had to stop and capture a candid street photograph.

To qualify for the prize, entries had to be taken on a mobile phone by an amateur photographer or citizen journalist.

Judges included award-winning photographer and former Guardian picture editor, Eamonn McCabe and Allyce Hibbert picture editor for Time Out.

Wei, was awarded a camcorder. Runners-up Pete Smith and Daniel Holland received framed prints of their photographs.

All 12 shortlisted photographs are being exhibited at the London College of Communication until Thursday, 15 March. More information is available on the LCC news and events blog.

Media release: Mirror launching personalised web content

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Trinity Mirror is to deliver personalised web content across its national news and entertainment sites using “recommendation engine technology” by Rummble Labs, a London-based technology start-up.

In a release, Rummble Labs said it will integrate its technology across the Mirror’s website, 3am and the Mirror’s football site to “provide better targeted and personalised content to users”.

The technology will deliver personalised content by combining real-time analysis of social data with site activity, the release states.

Rummble Labs said that the technology will allow Trinity Mirror to take activity data and combine it with meaningful social data insights from Facebook, to provide powerful recommendations on content or products.

In the release, Chris Ellis, Trinity Mirror’s managing director, digital, nationals division, said:

The recommendation engine will provide highly-personalised content for our users and will drive engagement and page views across our news, entertainment and sports sites.

Alex Housley, chief operating officer, Rummble Labs said:

We will be helping Trinity Mirror make sense of a huge amount of social data and enabling them to unlock the real value of that data.

Community Newswire service to close due to funding cuts

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Community Newswire, a news service which works in partnership with the Press Association to assist community groups in getting stories in the media, will close tomorrow due to a cut in funding.

The Cabinet Office has withdrawn funding from the group following October’s government spending review.

The service, which is run by the Media Trust, encourages community groups to contact the organisation and stories are then written up by PA journalists and sent via a PA feed to newsrooms.

In a statement on its website, the Media Trust said it is seeking new funding and hopes to reinstate the service.

hatip: HoldtheFrontPage

 

Media Release: Ongo adds Reuters to news feeds

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News aggregation service Ongo is adding Reuters to its news feeds on offer to subscribers to its service.

Ongo launched earlier this year and offers content from news outlets including the Guardian and the Associated Press and provides a single web interface where full articles are delivered alongside customisation features, as well as curated content by an editorial team.

According to a release, the addition of Reuters brings the total number of daily stories for subscribers to more than 600.

Ongo’s base package consists of AP, Financial Times, New York Times picks, USA Today and Washington Post articles.

Media Release: IPC Media unveils 24 mobile-optimised sites

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IPC Media, which owns Marie Claire, NME and Nuts magazines, has unveiled 24 new mobile-optimised sites.

In a release, IPC said consumers can now browse content on the following sites: Country Life, Cycling Weekly, Decanter, Golf Monthly, GoodToKnow, House to Home, Marie Claire , Motor Boats Monthly, MotorBoat & Yachting, NME, Nuts, Now, Practical Boat Owner, Shooting Gazette, Shooting Times, Shooting UK, Sporting Gun, The Field, Volksworld, What Digital Camera, Woman & Home, YBW, Yachting Monthly and Yachting World.

IPC Media head of mobile Miles Ross said: “The mobile platform is a vital channel through which consumers can discover and consume our titles and content. The launch of 24 new mobile-optimised sites illustrates both the level of commitment and the speed with which IPC is moving into the mobile space, thanks to some great work from our technology group, IPC Digital. Mobile advertising is growing rapidly and these new sites will enable IPC to offer a unique audience across this medium.”

IPC Digital programme director Tara Hamilton-Whitaker added: “Consumption of IPC websites through smart phones is already significant, but through an optimised web experience, targeted at a 3.5” screen, engagement levels sky rocket.

“This means IPC brands are closer than ever in ensuring consumers can choose where and when they enjoy our content. You can expect more content, more mobile sites, more great mobile functionality and more mobile-related announcements over the coming months.”

New whistleblowers’ site UniLeaks writes open letter to US college presidents

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UniLeaks, which calls itself  ‘a version of Wikileaks aimed at universities’ has published an open letter to US college presidents informing them of the existence of the site.

UniLeaks, which started in Australia, says it aims to have a global reach and wants to expose corruption and mismanagement in academic institutions.

The whistleblowing site has published a media release.

Media Release: BBC axes deputy director general post and Mark Byford

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The BBC has announced it will cut the role of deputy director general, making current incumbent Mark Byford redundant. Byford took up the post in 2004 and has been at the BBC for 32 years.

Speaking in a release, BBC director general Mark Thompson says:

We have concluded – and Mark fully accepts – that the work he has done to develop our journalism and editorial standards across the BBC has achieved the goals we set to such an extent that the role of deputy director-general can now end, that the post should close at the end of the current financial year, and that Mark himself should be made redundant.

Byford will step down from the corporation’s executive board at the end of March and depart from the BBC in early summer. Helen Boaden. director, BBC News, will join the executive board to represent BBC Journalism in April.

Full BBC press release at this link…

ONA wins grant to overhaul website

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Industry group the Online News Association (ONA) has received a $75,000 grant to redesign its website. The funding comes from the Excellence & Ethics in Journalism Foundation (EEJF) and will be used to create an open-source site containing resources and training materials for digital journalists.

Full release from the ONA at this link…

Media Release: Birmingham Post launches sister title Birmingham Post Lite

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As reported by The Business Desk West Midlands earlier this week, Trinity Mirror is launching a new freesheet as a sister paper to the paid-for Birmingham Post, which changed from a daily to weekly publication last year.

Birmingham Post Lite will be delivered to around 18,000 homes in the south Birmingham areas of Harborne and Moseley and will contain a selection of the Birmingham Post’s editorial content and material from its Post Property magazine, says a release.

The new newspaper will not carry the paid-for Post’s specialised business
and financial news. Instead it will combine south Birmingham news with the features and leisure content from the Post’s award-winning team.

The BusinessDesk (TBD) had the date pegged as April 22, but suggests the launch is a direct response to plans for a new rival title, the Birmingham Press, from newspaper entrepreneur Chris Bullivant.

“The title (…) is intended to go head-to-head with the Press in the battle to secure advertising from the city’s mid-market estate agents,” says TBD’s report.