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29 June 2012 | AFP

European rights court condemns France for press freedom violations

France acted unconstitutionally when authorities searched the offices of two publications and homes of five journalists over coverage of a doping scandal, the European Court of Human Rights ruled Thursday. Judges in Strasbourg found that the actions of the French government were were disproportionate and violated article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights which deals with press freedom. In 2004 French daily L'Equipe and weekly news magazine Le Point printed a series of articles containing tapped transcripts of telephone conservations linked to a judicial investigation launched into allegations of doping among members of the Cofidis cycling team. French authorities subsequently searched the media offices plus the homes of the five journalists who covered the story to establish how it had been leaked, seizing computer hard drives and documents. The journalists were released due to a lack of evidence. They later lodged a complaint with the European court in 2007.

Original source

29 June 2012 | Reuters

Spanish free daily shuts as crisis hits advertising

Spanish loss-making free daily newspaper Que! will shut down, owner Vocento said on Thursday, making it the third free paper to fall victim to the country's economic crisis. Media companies in Spain are struggling in face of tumbling advertising revenues as the country battles through a painful recession where one in four are unemployed. Vocento said recently that advertising revenues at Que! fell by 30 percent in the first quarter of 2012. The company bought the newspaper in 2007 for EUR 132m, two years after its launch. The closure of Que!, which offered a colourful mixture of local news, politics and celebrity gossip, leaves Spain with just one free newspaper, 20 Minutos, owned by Norwegian media group Schibsted, following the closures of Metro in 2009 and ADN in December. As in many European countries, a number of free newspapers sprang up in Spain in the middle of the last decade, but the format has struggled to survive. Regional newspapers are also disappearing in Spain and left-leaning national newspaper Publico suspended its print edition this year and only operates online. Advertising in Spanish newspapers halved between 2007 and 2011 to EUR 967m, according to consultancy Infoadex.

Original source

29 June 2012 | Human Rights Watch

Kosovo: New law puts media freedom at risk

The Kosovo government should take urgent steps to address the threat to media freedom posed by provisions that, despite extensive protest, have survived in the new criminal code, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday. On June 22, 2012, the Kosovo National Assembly failed for a second time to remove provisions from the new criminal code that criminalize defamation and force journalists to reveal their sources, despite calls to remove them by the government, president, and journalists. The current criminal code has similar provisions. The Kosovo Assembly originally passed the disputed articles 37 and 38 of the Criminal Code on April 20. On May 8, after protests from journalists and media watchdogs, President Atifete Jahjaga sent the law back to Assembly for reconsideration. Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, and the deputy prime minister and justice minister, Hajredin Kuqi, publicly supported removing the two provisions. But only 59 members voted to remove the contested articles, two short of a majority. Media reports say that the president has said that the new code is unconstitutional. But the president has no authority to send the law back to the Assembly for a second time, and the government cannot make further amendments to the law until it comes into force on January 1, 2013. The code could be challenged in the Constitutional Court. Article 113 of the Kosovo Constitution allows the president, the Assembly, the government, or the Ombudsperson to refer a question of constitutional compatibility of laws to the Constitutional Court.

Original source

29 June 2012 | The Next Web

The Huffington Post partners with Ustream to beef up its live news coverage

The Huffington Post has closed an exclusive agreement with Ustream, the live streaming service announced Wednesday. Following the announcement, the HuffPo will get access to videos from Ustream’s citizen journalists, which it will be able to embed on its breaking news pages. Citizen journalism is the key word here; with this partnership, the HuffPo will obtain breaking content from Ustream’s community, many of whom are reporting live from news scenes. According to the site, 1 out of 8 broadcasts are live from mobile devices, and Ustream’s users have already witnessed and reported on major events over the last couple years, from Japan’s 2011 earthquake to Occupy Wall Street. For the HuffPo, this partnership is a way to get a similar tool to CNN’s, without having to build a community or a tool from scratch. As for Ustream, it hopes to amplify the impact of these videos and benefit from the large audience of its media partner, which boasts 36.9 million monthly readers and viewers.

Original source

29 June 2012 | Knight Center

Most Brazilian journalists use Twitter to spread news, new study shows

In 2011, 68 percent of Brazilian journalists used Twitter as their main tool for spreading news, according to a new digital journalism study from Oriella PR Network. The study, which aimed at understanding how the press worldwide is using digital technologies, interviewed about 500 journalists from 15 countries - 84 of those interviewed were Brazilian. Blogs were listed as the second-most used tool among Brazilian journalists, 59 percent of whom used blogs for disseminating news, the study showed. However, the main source for journalists in search of news continues to be press releases, mentioned 32 percent of the time. Among social media, which are a challenge for journalists, Twitter was most used by the press (67 percent), followed by Facebook and blogs, which were tied at 57 percent. About 24 percent of Brazilian journalists said they only publish content online.

Original source

29 June 2012 | Wall Street Journal

Hong Kong journalists warn of self censorship

As the 15th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to mainland China on July 1 approaches, local journalists say that press freedoms have eroded in recent years and self-censorship is on the rise. According to a survey by the Hong Kong Journalist’s Association, 87 percent of journalists say that access to information has been limited and obstruction of news coverage has risen in the past five years under Chief Executive Donald Tsang, who steps down from office on June 30. That figure is 29 percent higher than the results of a similar survey the association conducted in 2007. The survey comes amid a mini firestorm over what some critics viewed as a self-censorship incident at the territory’s leading English-language newspaper, the South China Morning Post. Local journalists say that the government has restricted the number of news events accessible to reporters in recent years, while the number of off-the-record briefings have risen. Hong Kong operates independent political, legal and economic systems from mainland China that include freedom of speech and of the press. According to HKJA’s survey, local journalists say that they aren’t immune to pressures from the mainland. Among 663 respondents, 79 percent believed that self-censorship has risen since 2005, and 36 percent said that they personally or their supervisors practice self-censorship, mostly by downplaying reports that might displease the central government, their advertisers or company owners.

Original source

28 June 2012 | Knight Center

U.S. war on information leaks continues with new rules implementing polygraph tests

Outcry over leaked national security information published in The New York Times and other news media outlets has prompted U.S. national intelligence to implement new rules aimed at curbing - and punishing - information leaks, the NY Times reported. The new rules, announced Monday, June 25, call for lie detector tests to question officials about whether they revealed secret information to journalists, and allow the newly established inspector general for the intelligence community to investigate leaks, even if the Justice Department, which normally conducts such investigations, decides not to bring criminal charges, explained the Los Angeles Times and the WallStreet Journal. "The leaking of classified national security information is intolerable at any level, but the parade of recent leaks requires action. We must break this culture of unauthorized disclosures," said House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, a Republican, as quoted by Yahoo News. The Obama administration has a track record of aggressively going after anyone who leaks information to the press. During Obama's three-and-a-half years as president, six whistleblowers have been charged under the Espionage Act for leaking classified information -- that's more people prosecuted than under all previous administrations combined.

Original source

28 June 2012 | The Guardian

Mexican media scandal: Televisa condemns Guardian reports

Mexico's television network Televisa has accused the Guardian of intimidation after fresh revelations about the company's links with the presidential candidate Enrique Pena Nieto caused an online furore in the runup to Sunday's election. The world's biggest Spanish-language broadcaster said that the Guardian's report that it had set up a secretive unit to campaign for Pena Nieto were part of a defamation campaign. Televisa's response came as renewed student-led protests against the network led to scuffles with rival demonstrators who supported Pen~a Nieto, who is the rightwing PRI party's candidate. Separately, the Mexican magazine Proceso published new claims that a company linked to the network had backed the frontrunner's campaign with TV adverts. The Guardian first reported on 7 June that documents from 2005 appeared to detail Televisa's sale of favourable coverage to several politicians, including Pena Nieto. On Tuesday it published documents that said a secretive unit codenamed "team Handcock" commissioned videos to promote the candidate and his PRI party, and rubbish rivals, in 2009. Within hours, the report was trending on Twitter and being picked up by blogs, radio stations and several Mexican newspapers. A spokesman for the PRI denied the allegations and the network issued a swift rebuttal. CNN's Spanish-language news service and influential news sites such as animalpolitico.com carried the story prominently but Televisa's news bulletins did not report the controversy – an example followed by several leading media organisations, which ignored or downplayed it.

Original source

28 June 2012 | New York Times

The New York Times is introducing a Chinese-language news site

The New York Times is introducing a Chinese-language Web site, part of a continuing effort to expand its reach to international readers. The site, which is called cn.nytimes.com and went live Thursday morning China time, is intended to draw readers from the country’s growing middle class, what The Times in its news release called “educated, affluent, global citizens.’’ The site will feature about 30 articles a day on national, foreign and arts topics, as well as editorials. Joseph Kahn, the paper’s foreign editor, said that about two-thirds of the content would be translated from Times articles and one-third would be written by Chinese editors and local freelance journalists. The Times Company, which is well aware of the censorship issues that can come up in China, stressed that it would not become an official Chinese media company. The Times has set up its server outside China and the site will follow the paper’s journalistic standards. Mr. Kahn said that while the Chinese government occasionally blocked certain articles from nytimes.com, he was hopeful that the Chinese government would be receptive to the Chinese-language project. The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times already have Chinese-language sites.

Original source

28 June 2012 | Reuters

Ethiopian blogger convicted of plotting with rebels

Twenty-four Ethiopians, including a prominent journalist and blogger, were convicted on Wednesday of conspiring with rebels to overthrow the government, the third case in six months involving a member of the media. Prosecutors said they would not demand the death penalty and called for jail sentences from five years to life for the group. Media rights groups have accused Addis Ababa of using national security concerns as an excuse to clamp down on opposition figures and journalists, a charge dismissed by the government. Both the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Amnesty International criticised the convictions. Journalist and blogger Eskinder Nega was arrested last year and accused of trying to incite violence with a series of online articles, alongside other charges. Along with the 23 other named individuals, he was also accused of belonging to Ginbot 7, a group branded a "terrorist" organisation by the Ethiopian government. The trial resumes on July 13, when sentences are expected.

Original source

28 June 2012 | Reuters

Google’s digital glasses move out of lab and closer to reality

Google Inc expects to roll out a consumer version of its electronic eyewear that can live-stream images and audio and perform computing tasks in less than two years, though it stopped short of putting a price tag on the "smart" glasses. Google Glass, as the technology is known, will be sold to consumers at a price "significantly" lower than the USD 1,500 that the company is selling it to U.S.-based software developers from early next year, Google co-founder Sergey Brin said. Brin showed off the glasses at Google's annual developer conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, providing the most in-depth public look at the futuristic technology since Google first announced the project in April. Google also unveiled its first tablet which it will start selling from mid-July for USD 199, hoping to replicate its smartphone success in a hotly contested market now dominated by Amazon.com Inc's Kindle Fire and Apple Inc's iPad. Google Glass is a stamp-sized electronic screen mounted on the left side of a pair of eyeglass frames which can record video, access email and messages, and retrieve information from the Web. Google is still experimenting with various aspects of the glasses, including potentially providing directions on the screen and the ability to have the glasses speak out text messages, Brin said.

Original source

28 June 2012 | AFP

Algerian blogger gets suspended jail term

An Algerian court on Wednesday slapped an eight-month suspended prison sentence and a USD 1,250 fine on a blogger who had called for a boycott of the 10 May 10 legislative election. The Algiers court found Tarek Mameri, 23, guilty of destroying property, setting administrative documents on fire and inciting public gatherings. The young blogger was initially detained on 2 May for posting videos on his blog calling for a boycott of last month's parliamentary election. State prosecution had sought a three-year prison sentence earlier this month.

Original source

27 June 2012 | The Guardian

Mexican media scandal: secretive Televisa unit promoted PRI candidate

A secretive unit inside Mexico's predominant television network set up and funded a campaign for Enrique Pena Nieto, who is the favourite to win Sunday's presidential election, according to people familiar with the operation and documents seen by the Guardian. The new revelations of bias within Televisa, the world's biggest Spanish-language broadcaster, challenge the company's claim to be politically impartial as well as Pena Nieto's insistence that he never had a special relationship with Televisa. The unit – known as "team Handcock", in what sources say was a Televisa codename for the politician and his allies – commissioned videos promoting the candidate and his PRI party and rubbishing the party's rivals in 2009. The documents suggest the team distributed the videos to thousands of email addresses, and pushed them on Facebook and YouTube, where some of them can still be seen. The nature of the relationship between Pena Nieto and Televisa has been a key issue in Sunday's election since the development in May of a student movement focused on perceived media manipulation of public opinion in the candidate's favour.

Original source

27 June 2012 | New York Times

Rebels attack Syrian broadcaster as Assad talks of war

A day after President Bashar al-Assad said Syria was living in a “state of war,” rebels probing with increasing audacity around the capital Damascus were reported by the country’s official media on Wednesday to have stormed into a pro-government television station, killed three employees and planted explosives that destroyed studios. The latest attack came within hours of a surprise assault by Syrian insurgents on a Republican Guard base in Damascus, on Tuesday, eliciting a furious military response. Early on Wednesday, the official Syrian news agency SANA reported that attackers at the al-Ikhbaria satellite broadcaster “planted explosive devices in the headquarters of al-Ikhbaria following their ransacking and destroying of the satellite channel studios, including the newsroom studio which was entirely destroyed.” The station, privately-owned but strongly supportive of the government, is in the town of Drousha, around 14 miles south of Damascus, Reuters said, quoting an unidentified employee at the station as broadly confirming the SANA account. The assault reflected the information war between Mr. Assad’s government and its adversaries. SANA described the satellite channel as “an active Syrian media means” to combat what it called “a sinister campaign” by Arab and Western media to “spread false, virtual and biased news.”

Original source

27 June 2012 | BBC News

Microsoft loses EU antitrust appeal

Europe's second highest court has upheld a competition ruling against Microsoft saying it "essentially upholds the Commission's decision". But it slightly reduced the fine from EUR 899m to EUR 860m. The fine was imposed four years ago and was a record at the time. It was imposed because Microsoft had not provided certain information about its products to competitors as it had been ordered to do in 2004. EU anti-trust regulators originally fined Microsoft EUR 497m in 2004 for abusing its dominant market position to block competitors. Microsoft was ordered to make the code for its server software available to competitors so their products could work alongside it. In 2008, Microsoft was given an additional fine for failing to comply with the 2004 order. The latest decision, "rejects all the arguments put forward by Microsoft in support of annulment", a statement from the EU General Court court in Luxembourg said. At a hearing in May 2011, Microsoft's lawyers had argued that the fine was excessive and undeserved.

Original source

27 June 2012 | AP

Iraq backs off on forcing 44 media outlets closed

Iraq has suspended plans to close 44 media operations in the country, including the BBC and Voice of America, after an outcry by press freedom advocates, an official said Tuesday. The Communications and Media Commission that regulates the news media in Iraq will give the targeted organizations more time to pay outstanding fees and renew lapsed licenses, deputy director Ali Nasir said. The commission denied that its previous order to close the agencies, most of them Iraqi, represented a crackdown on a free press. No media outlets were known to be actually shut down. Still, the Iraqi press watchdog Journalistic Freedoms Observatory decried the order as “a setback to the freedom of journalism in Iraq." Nasir said Tuesday that five organizations, including the BBC and U.S.-funded Radio Sawa, are working with the media commission to settle licensing problems and pay fees, which he said amount to about USD 20,000 per year for radio stations. Most of the other organizations on the list are Iraqi, including prominent broadcasters that had criticized al-Maliki but also Shiite religious programming that had no apparent political stance. Some of the broadcasters targeted for closure are using frequencies that are either licensed to other stations or used by security forces, Nasir said.

Original source

27 June 2012 | Human Rights Watch via The Guardian

Journalists arrested in Sudan crackdown

Sudan security forces have arrested scores of people, including several journalists, in a brutal crackdown on protests that began on 16 June in response to government austerity measures and price increases. Police are alleged to have used excessive force in breaking up protests, beating demonstrators, using tear gas and rubber bullets and even live ammunition. Though the protests were sparked by economic grievances, protesters have since called for an end to the current government led by the president, Omar al-Bashir. The demonstrators are also opposed to Sudan's wars in Darfur, Southern Kordofan and the Blue Nile. Local and international journalists have been arrested while trying to report on the protests. Simon Martelli, an Agence France Presse correspondent, was detained for 14 hours in Khartoum. After Salma al-Wardany, an Egyptian journalist for Bloomberg, was detained she was ordered to be deported after it was alleged that she had links to activists. Nagla Sid Ahmed, a well-known citizen journalist was summoned to the offices of the security services for questioning for several days in succession in order to prevent her from covering the protests. Other Sudanese journalists have also been detained.

Original source

27 June 2012 | Reuters

More U.S. teens hide online activity from parents: survey

More and more teenagers are hiding their online activity from their parents, according to a U.S. survey of teen internet behavior released on Monday. The survey, sponsored by the online security company McAfee, found that 70 percent of teens had hidden their online behavior from their parents in 2012, up from 45 percent of teens in 2010, when McAfee conducted the same survey. McAfee spokesman Robert Siciliano cited the explosion of social media and the wider availability of ad-supported pornography as two factors that have led teens to hide their online habits. The increased popularity of phones with Internet capabilities also means that teens have more opportunities to hide their online habits, he said. The survey found that 43 percent of teens have accessed simulated violence online, 36 percent have read about sex online, and 32 percent went online to see nude photos or pornography. The survey reported that teens use a variety of tactics to avoid being monitored by their parents. Over half of teens surveyed said that they had cleared their browser history, while 46 percent had closed or minimized browser windows when a parent walked into the room. Other strategies for keeping online habits from parents included hiding or deleting instant messages or videos and using a computer they knew their parents wouldn't check. Meanwhile, the survey found that 73.5 percent of parents trust their teens not to access age-inappropriate content online. Nearly one quarter of the surveyed parents (23 percent) reported that they are not monitoring their children's online behaviors because they are overwhelmed by technology.

Original source

26 June 2012 | Wall Street Journal/New York Times via The Guardian

Murdoch considers splitting up News Corporation

News Corporation is considering dividing itself into two, splitting off its publishing arm from its much larger entertainment division, according to a report in the News Corp-owned Wall Street Journal (WSJ). If Rupert Murdoch brings off the move, it would mean the creation of a publishing business that would comprise News International's papers - The Times, Sunday Times and The Sun - with the WSJ, the New York Post and the book publisher, HarperCollins. The entertainment entity would include the Fox movie studio and television networks that now represent News Corp's strongest and most profitable parts. According to a source cited by the New York Times, the Murdoch family would be likely to retain control of the newly split companies. Such a proposal has been aired in the past, and Murdoch has always rejected it. But the negative effects of the phone-hacking scandal have reopened the door to the notion. And this time it might just happen. The WSJ, quoting "a person familiar with the situation," states that Murdoch "has recently warmed to the idea." The main reason for the division, even if prompted by the hacking scandal, centres on attempts to improve shareholder value at a time when shareholders have been increasingly critical of the News Corp board.

Original source

26 June 2012 | Reuters

Microsoft to buy Yammer for USD 1.2 billion

Microsoft Corp agreed to buy online social network firm Yammer Inc for USD 1.2bn in cash, which will allow the software company to offer a service like Facebook Inc's to corporate customers. Talk of a deal had circulated earlier this month, but the two companies only confirmed an agreement on Monday. Four-year-old Yammer, which has 5 million users of its private, in-company social networks, helps companies' internal communications and collaboration by allowing employees to form groups and interact with each other freely. Companies such as Ford Motor Co, Supervalu and Deloitte are customers. The service should fill a growing gap that Microsoft was struggling to fill with its SharePoint application for creating private websites for intra-company projects. With Yammer, employees can use a private, online company directory to contact co-workers, form networks, chat, share links and post news. A basic version of Yammer is free, but a subscription buys more security and integration with other company-wide software. Yammer's subscription-based business model makes it different from ad-driven network companies like Facebook or LinkedIn Corp.

Original source

26 June 2012 | LA Times

Vivendi ordered to pay Liberty Media USD 950 million

The French media company Vivendi has vowed to appeal the verdict of a federal jury that determined it must pay the American media conglomerate Liberty Media about USD 950m in a dispute that dates back to Vivendi's 2002 financial collapse. Liberty Media contended that Vivendi, under its former chief Jean-Marie Messier, fraudulently concealed the dire nature of the company's finances and liquidity from Liberty Media and other investors. Vivendi agreed in December 2001, amid much fanfare, to buy the lucrative USA cable network, the Syfy channel and USA's robust television production studio, assets then managed by Barry Diller, in a stock and cash deal estimated at USD 10bn. Liberty Media owned 21 percent of USA — a stake then valued at nearly USD 2bn. But the French company's cataclysmic stock collapse in 2002 erased much of the value of Liberty's holdings in Vivendi. The USA Network deal closed in 2002. Liberty, based in Colorado and headed by cable mogul John Malone, had asked the federal jury in New York to grant it an award of EUR 841m. After a four-week trial and nearly two days of deliberations, the jury on Monday returned an award of EUR 765m, or about USD 950m.

Original source

26 June 2012 | VOA News

First Zimbabwe commercial radio station hits airwaves amid questions

Zimbabwe's first commercial radio station started broadcasting on Monday amid skepticism that its programming may not capture independent views as it is linked to President Robert Mugabe’s party. Star FM radio, owned by Zimpapers, a government stable that publishes newspapers pushing Zanu PF's agenda, was licensed last year together with ZiFM, which has yet to go on air. Station manager Admire Taderera announced that their programming will include music and news. Star FM ends a three-decade monopoly by the state-operated Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation. The licensing of the two broadcasters last year, ahead of other applicants, one of which was heavily favored by civil society sparked demands for the dissolution of the licensing authority, seen as biased. Many say Star FM and ZiFM are an extension of the Zanu PF propaganda machinery. President Mugabe's Zanu PF has maintained a grip on both print and electronic media over the years, shutting out and frustrating potential independent players. It was forced to accept reform of the media sector and licence private daily newspapers by a power-sharing agreement signed in 2009 that includes the two formations of the Movement for Democratic Change. But observers say true reform in the broadcasting sector has yet to be realized.

Original source

26 June 2012 | Nashua Telegraph

US: Nashua Telegraph, ‘crowdfunding’ journalism site join forces

In a move that both sides describe as a hopeful experiment, The Nashua Telegraph has teamed with a Nashua blogger and free-lance writer to seek “crowd- funding” support of journalism to accompany a newspaper project about life at the Bronstein Apartments. The unusual arrangement calls for The Telegraph to pay USD 1,000 for a series of stories, photos, videos, blog posts and social-media connections about Bronstein by Livia Gershon that will appear in the paper and on NashuaTelegraph.com, while Gershon is also seeking to collect another USD 1,000 via a website called Spot.us to expand the time and effort she can put in. The arrangement taps into the still growing field of crowd-funding, which finances projects through lots of small contributions rather than a few large loans or donations. But it also reflects the evolution of journalism as the traditional model of advertising-supported news gathering fades. “The question is how do you fund new journalism,” said Phil Kincade, executive managing editor for The Telegraph, acknowledging that the paper can’t pay enough for an experienced free-lancer to spend the time needed for a long, complicated project like this. “She will provide material beyond a freelance story, so who who’s going to pay for the additional costs?” Kincade said Gershon’s approach also shows a possible way to pay for getting new types of journalism into the newspaper and on its website, complementing the traditional news reporting that remains the mainstay of The Telegraph’s purpose.

Original source

26 June 2012 | Market Watch

China regulator cracks down on media bribery

For many journalists in China, the rewards of the profession are purely a financial question. Amid a slew of media bribery-related scandals in the past year, China’s top media regulator announced a crackdown on non-transparent media practices. On June 13, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) issued a notice on a campaign against unethical practices in the media which will focus on three areas: individuals that falsely pose as investigative journalists, individuals that receive cash envelopes for interviews and media organizations that engage in corrupt practices. SARFT said the campaign would be carried out on all levels of media organizations, including central and provincial broadcast stations. The agency said as part of reinforcing previous bans on bribery and extortion, media professionals will be required to produce press credentials during every interview. Media organizations will also be asked to conduct internal compliance reviews.

Original source

25 June 2012 | Journalism.co.uk

Al Jazeera’s The Stream holds open editorial meeting using Google+ Hangout

Al Jazeera programme The Stream has opened an editorial meeting to its audience by holding it via a Google+ Hangout On Air, which enables anyone to follow the conversation. The Stream is using publicly available video conversations to share the topics of the stories they are working on and gather ideas. The Stream, which runs on Al Jazeera English four days a week, has used its strong social media community to shape and set the news agenda since the show's launch last year. Indeed the Webby Award-winning programme describes itself as "a social media community with a daily TV show". Last Thursday, in its first open news meeting via Google+ Hangout Malika Bilal, a co-host of the programme, invited those taking part in the video conversation to pitch their ideas of what should be included by The Stream in its web coverage. The show is currently off-air as it is working on a re-launch but continues to cover stories which have "a unique social media angle" on its website. It does this by using Storify to curate tweets, Facebook posts, videos and more. In addition to show producers, other contributors taking part in the Google+ video hangout yesterday included journalists, bloggers and key members of its social media community from across the world, including from Malaysia, Uganda and Brazil.

Original source

25 June 2012 | CNET News

Flipboard in deal to carry New York Times content

The New York Times announced late Sunday it would collaborate with Flipboard to make the entire newspaper available on the popular social news-reader app. Beginning Thursday, Times subscribers will have access to articles, videos, photo slideshows, and blogs produced by the newspaper from within Flipboard. Nonsubscribers will be able to read a limited sampling of the newspaper's content. The partnership is being touted as a first for both companies. It marks the first time the startup has persuaded a large publisher to make its content available on its platform. Indeed, Flipboard says the authentication process and navigation experience was designed specifically for Times' readers. For the newspaper, the partnership marks the first time its subscribers have been allowed to get full access to its content through a third-party platform. Flipboard characterized the partnership as a natural marriage of print media and mobile devices. Along with news, the app pulls information from Facebook and Twitter accounts, turning friends' updates into an attractive magazine-style presentation of headlines, story blurbs, and photos. Flipboard, which has hitherto been an iOS-only app, released versions last week for Android phones, as well as Kindle Fire and Nook tablets.

Original source

25 June 2012 | BDNews24.com

German daily sent to all 41 million households

Germany's best-selling newspaper was given away free to almost all of the country's 41 million households on Saturday in a controversial celebration of the daily's 60th anniversary that set a world record for largest circulation. Bild newspaper - a tabloid-style daily both feared and respected for its massive influence in Germany but also known for its hard-hitting campaigns and photos of nude women - sent 41 million copies to all but 200,000 postal addresses of people who expressly requested not to receive Saturday's newspaper. "Free Bild for everyone!" wrote the daily in two-inch high letters on page one above an open letter from editor in chief Kai Dieckmann. Bild said Guinness World Records in Germany has certified the print run as "the largest circulation for the free special edition of a newspaper". Bild, which likes to pride itself for having its finger on the pulse of what makes ordinary Germans tick, normally costs 70 cents per issue. Critics of the newspaper organised a boycott of the free delivery and about 200,000 people filled out forms requested they not receive the Saturday edition. Bild said that represented 0.6 percent of German households. According to media reports, Bild had a daily circulation in the 1980s of 5 million before falling to about 3 million now.

Original source

25 June 2012 | New York Times

Fox News reporter hired as Vatican media adviser

In an effort to shore up its communications strategy amid a widening leaks scandal in a troubled papacy, the Vatican has hired the Fox News correspondent in Rome as a senior communications adviser. The correspondent, Greg Burke, 52, who has covered the Vatican for Fox since 2001, will leave the network to help improve and coordinate the Vatican’s various communications operations, Mr. Burke and the Vatican spokesman said. Some Vatican watchers called the move a power play by media-savvy Americans — including Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, the archbishop of New York and the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops — inside a Vatican hierarchy run by Italians whose most frequent communications strategy is to accuse their critics of defamation. Mr. Burke is a member of the conservative Opus Dei movement, and his hiring underscores the group’s role in the Vatican. In a telephone interview on Sunday, Mr. Burke, the Vatican’s first communications expert hired from outside the insular world of the Roman Catholic news media, said that he would not replace the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, but would advise officials on how to shape their message. He said he had turned down the Vatican twice in the past month before accepting the paid position. He will answer directly to officials in the Secretariat of State, the Vatican’s executive branch.

Original source

25 June 2012 | Reuters

Iraq orders closure of 44 media outlets

An Iraqi regulatory body has ordered the closure of 44 media outlets in the country including the BBC and Voice of America in a dispute over broadcast licenses, sources with knowledge of the order said on Sunday, but no action has yet been taken. Other organizations targeted for shutdown include privately-owned local TV channels Sharqiya and Baghdadia as well as U.S.-financed Radio Sawa. A senior source at the Communications and Media Commission (CMC), the body responsible for the order, said the move had nothing to do with the way the outlets had reported on sectarian conflict in the country, as some reports have suggested. "The CMC sent such a letter warning them that they're going to shut down their services because they didn't pay (their license fees)," a senior source at the CMC told Reuters. The BBC said it was negotiating the renewal of its license with the Iraqi authorities. Some of the outlets on the list no longer operate bureau in Iraq.

Original source

25 June 2012 | AFP

Top editors quit at Australian media giant Fairfax

Top editors at Australian newspapers The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald resigned on Monday, after parent company Fairfax last week announced an overhaul designed to embrace the digital era. Peter Fray, publisher and editor-in-chief at the 180-year-old Sydney paper, and its first female editor Amanda Wilson, said they were leaving, as did The Age's editor-in-chief Paul Ramadge, the papers said on their websites. The resignations follow last week's shock announcement that Fairfax will slash about 1,900 jobs and downside The Herald and The Age from broadsheet to tabloid size and put the two dailies' websites behind a paywall. The Australian media sector is enduring a turbulent period, with the two major newspaper groups Fairfax and Rupert Murdoch's News Limited both flagging large job cuts last week. News is yet to nominate how many positions will go from among its staff of 11,000 but reports put the figure at 1,000 to 1,500 as media companies lose readers and advertisers in the switch to online platforms. At the same time, mining magnate Gina Rinehart has increased her stake in Fairfax, provoking fears she will seek to assert her influence on the newspapers which are known for their integrity and professionalism.

Original source