“British regional newspaper group Johnston Press axed its final 2008 dividend on Wednesday after saying its advertising revenues in 2009 to date were down 36 per cent,” Reuters reports.
“The group, which has been especially hard hit by its high exposure to local classified advertising and sectors such as employment, housing and motoring, posted 2008 results in line with forecasts, with operating profit down 28 per cent.”
and another report from MediaGuardian at this link.
Thomson Reuters’ new video news service will launch in June for financial professionals, part of a $1 billion (£710 million) plan, and will supply ‘live and searchable financial markets coverage, analysis and breaking news.’
“Unlike traditional television stations, it will not run all day, will not rely on advertising and will be largely unavailable to the public. Clients, however, will be able to access it around the clock.”
“The three men accused of helping murder Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya were found not guilty on Thursday by a Russian court,” Reuters reports.
Follow this link for a Reuters timeline of the Politkovskaya murder trial.
The Guardian reports that “a fourth defendant, Pavel Ryaguzov, a lieutenant colonel in Russia’s FSB spy agency, was acquitted in a separate but related case”.
If you missed it yesterday, this week’s Media Show presented by Ed Stourton is worth listening to. In light of the recent bush fires in Australia, Stourton asks his guests (Reuters’ Chris Cramer and Channel 4’s Lindsey Hilsum) about generational changes in journalism when reporting in emotional or distressing situations. Then, a look at the fate of Teletext. But then to a debate that’s been dominating newspaperland over the last week following Roy Greenslade’s declaration that subs – as we know them – are becoming redundant.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00hklvr/The_Media_Show_18_02_2009
Brian Cathcart and Roy Greenslade (on the line from Brighton) talk to Stourton.
A quick summary:
BC:
- “There is this army of people who are out there serving the industry of journalism, who police this and in quite a private and quiet way (…) [They] check the grammar and spelling, check some of the facts (…) check the sort of general thrust of the story, that it all makes sense (…) cut it to length and put a headline on top.”
- “I don’t think they [subs] should be at the front of the queue for the chop.”
RG:
- Makes it clear that his comments apply to regional/local and broadsheet or serious newspapers, rather than tabloids. Subs are ‘key workers when it comes to tabloid newspapers.’
- Subbing outsourcing is already happening, with sub-editors working cross-titles at many papers.
- “The change I’m expecting next is that subs will be eliminated or re-purposed (…) what we need are writers, reporters who can produce copy which is already accurate and obeys the law, and so on…”
- Radio and TV presenters are expected to produce material speedily and accurately; “why is it that we don’t expect NP journalists to do the same thing?”
Then to the Midlands to meet the Birmingham Post editor, Marc Reeves (@marcreeves) and one of the media production journalists who works across several of the group’s titles.
MR:
- The paper is ‘saying to people we need you to be used to this new way of working’.
- The titles will ‘always need people to look after the finessing of the output (…) certainly the traditional role of the subeditor will be redefined.’
Hubdub – the prediction site where users bet virtual money on news events – is to introduce advertising onto the website.
In an official blog post, Hubdub said it would be trying out Google Adsense as well as display advertising.
The company hopes the advertising will not negatively effect the look or functionality of the site, which recently signed deals with the Independent and Reuters to feature their news stories on the website.
After Reuters scoops itself by Twittering from Davos, Schlesinger asks himself “Am I destroying Reuters standards by encouraging tweeting or blogging?” Full blog post…
Gary Hershorn, Reuters News pictures editor for the Americas, gives a real sense of how it feels to chase breaking news in the post about how his team photographed the Hudson Rive plane crash.
Come back to this link at 5pm to watch a live Qik video Reuters Q&A with Finbarr O’Reilly, an experienced photographer who has worked in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
O’Reilly will be asked about his experiences and motivations for working in the DRC, and users can contribute questions.
His biography can be read here and his video introduction to this Q&A is here.
‘Here and Now’ channel will sit within existing Nokia portal and syndicate world news, music and celebrity content from publishers including Reuters and Rolling Stone. Full story…
Connecticut’s Department of Economic and Community Development steps offers tax breaks and training funds to ailing newspaper publishers, setting a worrying precedent for the independence of the ‘free press’.