Tag Archives: National newspapers

Mail & Guardian launches latest in blog series

South African newspaper the Mail & Guardian has added a third blog to its website – Sports Leader.

The sports blog will mix opinion and insight from 30 professionals, academics and ‘armchair commentators’, a release from the paper said.

The English Premier League will be covered alongside news from the Springboks rugby team and Bafana – the country’s national football team.

“There is a need for a space where people interested in a diverse range of sports can discuss and debate their sporting passion. What the Mail & Guardian brings through its editorial policy is quality debate and critique and what Sports Leader offers even further is interaction between the fans and their heroes,” Vincent Maher, online strategist at Mail & Guardian Online, said in the release.

Guardian implements Pluck on Comment Is Free platform

The Guardian has redesigned its Comment Is Free (CiF) section as part of a new online community platform for the paper.

It has been integrated with the paper’s main site eradicating the divide between online and print comment, Georgina Henry, head of comment, has written in a blog post.

Changes to the design include:

  • A longer front page – so articles are present for longer
  • Print and web comment will be published side-by-side
  • Features for recommending posts, seeing what others are reading and offering feedback on the section, have been introduced
  • Sub-sites, which bring comments on topics together, have been added, with plans to develop these into individually edited areas
  • The implementation of Pluck’s social media technology has added:

  • More access to writers’ profiles and an archive of their comments – this archive will eventually be extended to comments left on any part of Guardian.co.uk
  • Improved signing in process for leaving comments
  • Moderators or Guardian staff participating in a comment thread will be highlighted with an M or G symbol
  • Comments will now be shown in pages of 50 not 10 with the time limit for leaving comments extended to 48 hours
  • The redesign is part of the paper’s ongoing overhaul of its website.

    Le Monde staff to stage second strike

    Staff at French daily newspaper Le Monde are taking further industrial action over plans to cut 129 jobs including 90 of the title’s journalists, the AFP reports.

    Today’s strike – voted for yesterday – is the second in a week after action was taken on Monday.

    The paper’s management says the planned cuts, which include sale of several magazines also published by the group, will ‘save the publication’.

    NOTW website wins right to show Mosley ‘Nazi-orgy’ video

    The News of the World has been granted permission to republish a video on its website of Max Mosley, despite attempts by the formula one boss to have the footage removed.

    Mosley, who is alleged to have participated in a Nazi-style orgy, had sought a High Court injunction banning the newspaper from showing the video or using images of the incident in the paper.

    His application was refused today prompting a fighting statement from the paper’s legal manager Tom Crone, which said Mosley’s attempts to ‘suppress’ the video had ‘failed’.

    Read more on the story at Journalism.co.uk.

    Wall Street Journal launches environmental business blog

    WSJ.com has created a new blog focusing on the impact of environmental change on the energy industry.

    The Environmental Capital blog, which can be accessed for free, will feature regular podcasts and contributions from industry experts, guest bloggers and columnists.

    Keith Johnson, reporter for The Wall Street Journal, will be the blog’s lead writer, while the Journal’s environmental news editor Jeffrey Ball is editor and contributor.

    ‘Blog off’ says Janet Street-Porter

    I’m not the first to pick up on this (thanks to Iain Dale’s diary for flagging it up) but wanted to share:

    In her latest offering for the Independent on Sunday, Janet Street-Porter says her motto for 2008 will be: ‘blog off’.

    In it Street-Porter argues that, while blogs from war zones and places of censorship might have news value, “99 per cent of blogs just soak up your valuable time without giving anything meaningful back”.

    Unfortunately for Janet, what should appear at the bottom of her piece online, but…

    To have your say on this or any other issue visit www.independent.co.uk/IoSblogs