Global Radio has asked nine web editors to reapply for two jobs, as part of a series of cuts (an unspecified number as yet) across the group.
In January around 40 of its online and interactive staff were axed.
The BBC has announced plans to team up with commercial radio groups Global Radio, Bauer Media and GMG, to develop new digital projects for the radio industry – including a ‘a calendar of exclusive digital-only content for listeners on DAB’.
Ben Goldacre has recorded this interview with Journalism.co.uk, following initial coverage of the LBC/Jeni Barnett row last week.
Read extracts or listen to the full interview at this link for ‘Goldacre’s Law’ explained; the doctor’s view on television (it’s too rude to transcribe); how he thinks newspapers should employ more bloggers as writers; and a bit of background on the MMR debate.
Since last Thursday’s post he has picked up a wide array of support across the web as people share their views on whether Global Radio, owner of LBC, is within its rights to ask Goldacre to remove the LBC clip from his Bad Science blog.
Goldacre has the mainstream media support of David Aaronovitch over at TimesOnline while bloggers have rushed to collect information relating to the ‘story’ and republish the audio elsewhere. Comments express opinion on both the original subject – the anti-MMR campaign – and LBC legal team’s actions. A Facebook group has also been set up.
Stephen Fry has expressed his support via Twitter too and left this comment on Goldacre’s blog:
“The fatuity of the Jeni Barnett woman’s manner – her blend of self-righteousness and stupidity, her simply quite staggering inability to grasp, pursue or appreciate a sequence of logical steps – all these are signature characteristics of Britain these days. The lamentable truth is that most of the population wouldn’t really understand why we get so angry at this assault on reason, logic and sense. But we have to keep hammering away at these people and their superstitious inanities. We have to. Well done you and well done all you supporting. I’ve tweeted this site to my followers. I hope they all do their best to support you. Publish and be damned. We’ll fight them and fight them and fight them in the name of empricism, reason, double blind random testing and all that matter
Love
Stephen xxx
http://twitter.com/stephenfry”
Additionally, it is alleged by several blogs, including Quackometer.net that Barnett has removed comments from her own blog.
Journalism.co.uk will now follow up again with Global Radio and Jeni Barnett.
Media companies such as Trinity Mirror, Incisive Media and Global Radio have signed up to iSense Network, a targeted ad service for online.