Workies of the World Unite: May Day campaign

The NUJ Freelance Branch will highlight its Cashback for Interns campaign against unpaid work in the media during the May Day march in London tomorrow.

The May Day trade unions march starts from Clerkenwell Green at noon and ends at Trafalgar Square, for a rally at which NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet will be among the speakers.

The London Freelance Branch says: "Young media workers entering the profession are increasingly expected to do more and more unpaid internships of ever-longer duration, with the prospect of later going into a real paid job diminishing.

"Some media enterprises seem to regard the serial exploitation of 'workies' as a business model, while outlets that used to pay now seem to work on the basis that online means unpaid."

The NUJ says it has already helped one former "workie" to victory - and a pay-out of the minimum wage due to her - at an Employment  Tribunal.

Following a motion passed at its April meeting, NUJ London Freelance Branch will be distributing flyers with information on the Cashback for Interns campaign during the May Day march.

Illustration: LFB

Spiking the Leveson Inquiry: A counter argument

Fed-up with the Leveson Inquiry and concerned that it will impose statutory controls on the press?

It's worth listening to the arguments of Spiked journalist Patrick Hayes (above) in a discussion on WORLDbytes, the online Citizen TV channel.

He argues that the Leveson Inquiry will introduce regulation of the press with statutory back-up and it will be less free as a result.

Hayes also claims that the debate should not be focused on Murodch and hacking and that there are few people who are prepared to stick up for freedom of the press.

Free speech and a free press with no ‘buts’ are essential for democracy he argues.

The online journal Spiked has launched The Counter-Leveson Inquiry website.

Death of financial journalist Hugh Sharpe

Hugh Sharpe, the former Evening Standard City journalist who covered finance and business for UK Press Gazette, died last weekend aged 91.

Among his scoops for Press Gazette was that T. Bailey Forman was trying to sell its flagship Nottingham Evening Post at a time when big regional newspapers rarely came onto the market.

He was also sued personally by Robert Maxwell for an article he wrote for Press Gazette. The action dragged on for a year before being resolved.

Hugh kept working as a journalist well beyond his retirement age but left London to live with his nephew, Rob Sharpe, in Normanton 12 years ago. He became involved with the Civic Trust and Museum in Newark.

Six months ago he moved into a nursing home where, according to his nephew, he spent much of his last few months reading through stacks of library books or discovering new authors on his Kindle.

Hugh was a lovely man to work with and shared his knowledge with great generosity. His funeral is on Friday 4th May at 11.45 at Grantham Crematorium.

Quotes of the Week: From who wants rid of Rupert Murdoch's newspapers to Johnston's margins

Rupert Murdoch at Leveson: "I love newspapers... my shareholders would like me to get rid of them all."

Simon Carr in the Independent on Leveson and Jeremy Hunt: "A hundred and sixty three pages of emails between your private office and News Corp written during the most sensitive stages of a takeover... and volunteered to the tribunal without a struggle. What a betrayal of such tender intimacy. For Jeremy Hunt, it must have been like having his sex-tape released on the internet. The minister had seemed such a respectable young man and here he was, upside down and inside out as News Corp had its rough and complicated way with him. 'Oh Mummy, it was horrible'."

Evgeny Lebedev at Leveson on the free press in the U.K. compared to Russia: "Something that needs to be treasured and valued because I’ve seen the other side."

Irish Post and former local paper editor Murray Morse in Press Gazette on the exodus of editors from the regional press: “It’s already a tough job but when you’ve got no staff, a lot of the joy can go out of editing a newspaper. I think that some editors have decided that the job has changed so much that they wanted to get out before they were driven insane by constantly having to battle with the beancounters,”

Peter Preston in the Observer: "Journalism, via web or app, can still be fine and probing, spurred on by great section heads, but it cannot be edited in any strict sense, any more than TV cable news churning day and night while controllers sleep. Leveson and his supplementary silks have often looked askance these past few months when an editor in their witness box hasn't kept proper audit trails, doesn't remember the decision in question or, just flat-out, was doing something else at the time. But that's the nature of the job – a job in the throes of profound, sometimes barely realised change."

Louise Mensch MP: "The local press performs a unique function in our democracy, as often only a local paper will hold a council or MP to account. Government has to look at ways of preserving Britain’s most popular print media – read by an estimated 33 million people per month. When we think of so many things that are subsidised that have only limited appeal, surely there is a case for tax advantages for local papers. And if a pure profit model doesn’t work, government should look at ways to facilitate local communities and businesses owning their own papers – like the supporters trust model for football clubs."

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, on the idea of a media tax to subsidise the local press:  "An industry levy – a tax or charge on the revenues or profits of media organisations – common in many European countries is one option to provide subsidies elsewhere in the industry. A levy of one per cent on pay TV operators, such as Sky and Virgin Media, could bring in around £70 million a year."

Johnston Press financial results: "In a challenging trading environment, the Group has maintained market leading operating margins in 2011 and cash generation from operations has remained strong. The underlying operating profit fell by 10.3% to £64.6m, the underlying operating margin for the year was 17.3% ."

NUJ joins the calls demanding Hunt must resign

The NUJ is calling for Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt (top) to resign following the claims that he was a "cheerleader" for Rupert Murdoch's bid to take full control of BSkyB.

NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said: "The revelations at the Leveson Inquiry confirm what many of us have suspected all along – the contact between News International and the Minister tasked with deciding the fate of the BSkyB bid was totally inappropriate.

"Jeremy Hunt has utterly compromised his position and cannot remain in post – he should resign now and have the grace to admit that his contact with James Murdoch was a grave error of judgement and a violation of his quasi-judicial role during the BSkyB bid.

"James Murdoch may think it’s acceptable to indulge in such ‘small’ mobile call exchanges and emails but providing confidential information to the Murdoch camp is not the proper and fitting way for a minister to conduct business. These revelations should be Hunt’s swansong - at least he will have more time to go to the ballet.”

Hunt has told the Commons he acted with "scrupulous fairness" over the BSkyB bid. His special adviser Adam Smith resigned after saying the the “content and extent” of his contact with News Corp had not been authorised by Hunt and had given the impression that the government had “too close a relationship” with the company.

Welcome for judicial review of Dale Farm orders

Video journalist Jason Parkinson (pictured) was joined by NUJ members at the Royal Courts of Justice in London today in support of the judicial review of the Dale Farm production orders which require the media to hand over unbroadcast matrial of the evictions at the farm.

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary said: "The NUJ welcomes the decision to allow the judicial review to proceed. The media played a critical public interest role in reporting on Dale Farm and the case will have significant implications for the whole of our industry.

"Journalists are put in danger if footage gathered whilst reporting events is seized and used by the police. The NUJ's code of conduct compels the union – and our members - to defend a vital principle, the protection of journalistic sources and material. This case is a defence of press freedom - journalists are not evidence gatherers for the police."

Parkinson said: "Since November 2010, the storming of the Conservative headquarters at Millbank, we have seen a dramatic increase in the use of production orders. Every public order incident since then, one news outlet or another has had the proverbial knock at the door. Coincidentally the increase in production orders happened at the same time police and press relations seemed to improve on the ground. Gaining passage through police cordons was no longer a problem. Press cards were being respected. Overt surveillance by Forward Intelligence Teams seemed to stop. It was almost as if they wanted us there.

"On Tuesday 1 November 2011 I received an email from Essex police stating I was being served an order to obtain all my footage from the first two days of the Dale Farm eviction. That came 38 minutes after a separate email from Essex police press office asking to use my footage for "training purposes". They even offered me a visit to their in-house television unit.

"The union's own code of conduct lists the protection of sources and all journalistic material as a fundamental part of journalist ethics and in turn a fundamental part of our democracy. The ability to report free from state interference and indeed report on the state and hold them to account is the corner stone of what makes our democracy. When this was raised at Chelmsford Crown Court during the application hearing, prosecuting counsel said I held a "very extreme view" for defending that code of conduct. But it's not just the NUJ or myself, claiming to be holding these extreme views. Across the board - Sky News, the BBC and ITN - all have said enough is enough with these fishing exercises.

"That is why I have opposed this production order and stood to uphold the NUJ Code of Conduct and protect all journalist sources and all material."

The judicial review is on behalf of Jason Parkinson and the BBC, ITN, BskyB and Hardcash Productions.

Pic: David Hoffman

The Bahrain Grand Prix controversey leads news

The Bahrain Grand Prix, which went ahead despite calls from politicians and human rights activists for it to be called off, was the top UK news story for the week ending Sunday, April 22, according to journalisted.

The staging and ramifications of the Bahrain Grand Prix generated 212 articles.

Anders Breivik went on trial with horrific details coming out about his claimed motives for killing 77 people, 205 articles.

Theresa May apparently got the date wrong regarding the deportation of Abu Qatada, with the European Court of Human Rights and Abu Qatada's legal team disputing the Home Office's belief, 196 articles.

The French election was entering its final week before the first round as Francois Hollande was forecast to edge out Nicolas Sarkozy, 143 articles.

Covered little, according to journalisted was Jim Yong Kim was named the president of the World Bank, 20 articles; a plane crash in Pakistan killed all 127 onboard, 19 articles; Many NHS workers agreed to strike on May 10th over the continuing row over their pensions, 9 articles;
Iraq hit by a series of bombings, leaving at least 35 dead, 6 articles.

Barclays top Sunday Times proprietors' Rich List

Sir David and Sir Fredrick Barclay, owners of the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, are Britain’s richest newspaper proprietors, according to The Sunday Times Rich List 2012 to be published next Sunday (April 29).

The Rich List in naming the wealthiest in British publishing and advertising makes no mention of Rupert Murdoch, the owner of the Sunday Times, as he is based in the US.

The Barclays, who also own the Ritz hotel in London, and the Littlewoods mail order business, are said by the Sunday Times to be worth £2,250m.

They are followed by Express owner Richard Desmond (£1,000m) and Mail owner Viscount Rothermere and family (£760m).

Mike Danson, the owner of the New Statesman and Press Gazette, is ranked 10th with his wealth estimated at £310m. Local newspaper proprietor Sir Ray Tindle (£125m) is listed at 16.

London-based Cristina Stenbeck is the wealthiest woman among Britain’s richest publishers, with a £369m fortune. After the death of her father in 2002, Stenbeck became steward of the family's interests at the Swedish-based Investment AB Kinnevik media and telecoms group, best known for its stable of Metro free newspapers (which doesn't include UK Metro).

WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell is Britain’s wealthiest advertising mogul worth £174m, up from £148m last year.

• Additional guides to wealth will appear at thesundaytimes.co.uk/richlist from April 29, with the Richest 2,000 people in Britain available from May 13.

Parly debate on the future of local newspapers: Could subsidies and tax breaks save the sector?

Parliament is to host a debate tomorrow at 4pm (April 25) in Westminster Hall on the future of local newspapers in the wake of the decision by Johnston Press to turn five of its daily titles into weeklies.

The debate comes as the NUJ  is suggesting that a tax on media industries could be used to subsidise the local press.

Leading the Parly debate will be Louise Mensch (top), the Conservative MP for Corby and East Northamptonshire and member of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee who is arguing a case for tax advantages to be given to the local press or for newspapers to be run by local trusts.

She secured the debate following the decision of Johnston Press to turn its two Northamptonshire dailies, the Northampton Chronicle and Echo and Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph, weekly.

Mensch said: “The local press performs a unique function in our democracy, as often only a local paper will hold a council or MP to account. Government has to look at ways of preserving Britain’s most popular print media – read by an estimated 33 million people per month. When we think of so many things that are subsidised that have only limited appeal, surely there is a case for tax advantages for local papers. And if a pure profit model doesn’t work, government should look at ways to facilitate local communities and businesses owning their own papers – like the supporters trust model for football clubs.”

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said one option to save the local press would be a levy on media industry profits to provide subsidies. "Our local newspapers are a community asset that should be cherished. The cuts mean that court cases are not being covered, council meetings are not reported and reporters have no time to dig and delve for stories. This is not the service that readers deserve.

"All this means that community and grassroots news has suffered. An industry levy – a tax or charge on the revenues or profits of media organisations – common in many European countries is one option to provide subsidies elsewhere in the industry. A levy of one per cent on pay TV operators, such as Sky and Virgin Media, could bring in around £70 million a year.”

Linda Riordan MP for Halifax has put down an EDM on Johnston Press. The Halifax Courier is one of the Johnston titles to switch from daily to weekly.

The EDM says: “That this House notes with sadness the decision by Johnston Press to move many long-established local newspapers from a daily publication to a weekly publication; condemns this unnecessary move and the implications it will have for the jobs of many journalists, printers, newspaper sellers and newspaper deliveries; praises the role local daily newspapers like the Halifax Courier and other titles in towns like Kettering, Northampton, Peterborough and Scarborough play in local democracy and in reporting the news on a daily basis; further notes the knock-on effect this will have on the local economies of the towns affected; urges Johnston Press to protect existing jobs at the newspaper titles affected and ensure that there are no compulsory job losses; further urges them to consult fully with the National Union of Journalists about their proposals; and hopes that local newspapers will continue to play an important role in the life of local communities for many years to come."

• The Independent in a leader today on the "Decline and fall of the local press" says: "The problem is that the internet can do most of what local newspapers have been doing for decades, such as telling people what is on at the cinema or giving them a medium through which to buy or sell a car. What the web has yet to acquire is the ability to monitor the council the way that the local reporter in the press gallery once did. But though the newspapers may all vanish, for the sake of our democracy local journalism must survive."

NUJ plans court protest over production orders

The NUJ and London Photographers' Branch have called a "Not FIT" protest aimed at sending a  message to the police and courts about the need for protection of sources and journalistic material. 

"Not FIT" refers to police evidence gathering units known as Forward Intelligence Teams (FIT) that use cameras, camcorders and audio recorders to conduct surveillance at demonstrations.

The protest is planned for 9.15am this Wednesday (25 April) at the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand in London in support of the judicial review of the Dale Farm production orders which would force broadcasters and journalists to hand over unbroadcast film of evictions at the farm.

The NUJ argues that production orders put journalists at risk if they are seen as "agents of the state" gathering material that could be used in court cases against protesters.

The NUJ, Sky News, ITN and the BBC are supporting the call for a judicial review of the Dale Farm production orders.

Save Our Sources: Who owns the material that could identify journalists' sources to police?

A debate organised by the NUJ at the House of Commons last night on protecting journalists' sources highlighted the new difficulties thrown up by so much information being held on computers.

Gavin Millar QC said it was a "grey area" who owned the material that the courts might demand should be handed over to identify a source - the journalist or their employer.

He said in the days of notebooks, employers could argue that material wanted by police to identify a source was not on their premises but was in the possession of the journalist.

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said in some past cases the union had arranged for material identifying sources to be sent abroad so it was beyond the jurisdiction of the courts.

But this is far more difficult in the electronic age where emails, notes and leaked information could be stored on computers owned by publishers and broadcasters.

BBC journalist Peter Taylor said it was yet to be tested who owned source material - the journalist or his employer - although he had always been backed by the BBC when he refused to provide information that could have named sources.

Stanistreet said the decision by the News Corp Management and Standards Committee to hand over emails and other material gathered by Sun reporters to police was unprecedented and "a betrayal of sources".

She claimed: "One overriding principle of all journalists is the protection of sources".

• The NUJ, Sky News, ITN and the BBC will be in court next week for a judicial review of production orders requiring unbroadcast film of the Dale Farm evictions being handed over to police. 

Media Quotes of the Week: From Simon Cowell on privacy to 'fear and anger' in the Sun newsroom

Simon Cowell on TMZ: "It's not my habit to kiss and tell. I've never done it. I've always tried to keep my private life private."

AllMediaScotland on the Johnston Press-owned The Scotsman being named Scottish Newspaper of the Year: "The newspaper that has had its editor-in-chief recently placed on leave - because his position is being axed - has been named Newspaper of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards. John McLellan accepted the prize on behalf of the paper, barely a week after it was announced by publishers, Johnston Press, that he was 'consulting' with the company, commonly interpreted as code for being sacked."

Various Johnston Press managing directors announcing that their daily regional newspapers are going weekly: “Our publishing strategy going forward will ensure that we give our local audiences what they want. While providing our existing audiences with an even better product, both in print and online, we will extend our audience by increasing our online content and making it easier to access in the most relevant ways as technologies continue to evolve.”

Johnston Press ceo Ashley Highfield on JP's strategy in a video message to staff: "Our audience is going to be bigger. They will be more active in contributing content. And they will consume our media mostly from digital and mobile devices. What does this mean financially? Well, we’re going to earn equal amounts from digital and print products by 2020 - and we will make much more money through a combination of delivering more of our media digitally and a vastly increased audience that we can target more effectively. The result is that we will be a much more profitable business - perhaps not as large as Johnston Press in the past, but certainly a sustainable business performing a unique function in the economy and society, and delivering positive returns for our shareholders."

Post on HoldtheFrontPage: "Having been told this morning that my own job is “at risk”, I feel a certain sense of relief that I am in the lifeboat instead of going down with the Titanic. New management brings new ideas but as yet has not solved the issue of how to give the public all the news it NEEDS to know (local government, crime, human interest etc) while axing editorial staff; nor has it discovered how to encourage readers to view advertising on line. Good luck with that, those rearranging the deckchairs…"

Matthew Engel on Ft.com about the Northampton Chronicle & Echo going weekly: "The Chronicle & Echo has died, not because the town is too small but because it is too big. Northampton is no longer a coherent community. Though it is by far the largest town in Britain to have lost its daily paper, others will follow, including perhaps – before long – cities as large as Birmingham and Manchester. And post-print websites will fail even there unless they pay for far better journalism than has been the provincial norm."

Paul Breeden, chair of the Bristol NUJ Branch, on the latest cuts at the Bristol Evening Post: "How can the city's only dedicated daily newspaper provide proper coverage when staffing is reduced by a further third, to fewer than 40 journalists? Six years ago there were close to 190 journalists on the Post, Western Daily Press and Observer."

Former Press Complaints Commission chairman Sir Christopher Meyer giving the annual lecture at the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspapermakers, on the Leveson Inquiry: "A combination of show trial, seminar and truth commission.”

Newspaper Society press release on research supporting its campaign that local authorities should advertise Traffic Regulation Orders in local press rather than council websites: "Eight times as many people have read a newspaper in the past week than have looked at their council website (32 million v 4 million adults). Twenty-nine per cent of all adults (and 21 per cent of drivers) haven't accessed the internet at all in the last 12 months meaning that advertising TROs online only would exclude 14 million UK residents, including many poorer members of society."

Senior Sun source quoted in the Journalist about News Corp's Management and Standards Committee handing over material to police which could identify sources: "Rather than go back to the reporter if they found something dodgy they acted as judge and jury and handed over everything to the police...There is fear and anger in the newsroom and a sense that reporters have been thrown to the wolves."

New workshop to help journalists go hyperlocal

A workshop to show journalists how to start their own hyperlocal newspapers is being launched in June.

‘Going Hyperlocal’ is the idea of Richard Coulter, the former assistant editor and chief sub of the Bristol Evening Post who now runs filtonvoice, his own hyperlocal print product, which launched last October.

Coulter has joined forces with Emma Cooper, who runs keynshamvoice near Bristol, and Steve Dyson, the former editor of the Birmingham Mail.

Calling themselves the Local Press Network, the trio are holding their first training workshop on Thursday 21 June in Filton, Bristol, charging £299 per delegate.

Coulter said: “There are a lot of negative vibes about the printed press, and much excitement about hyperlocal websites – but revenues in both are either declining or miniscule. What I’ve discovered is that there’s a healthy editorial and commercial appetite for a clever combination of the two – hyperlocal print products.

“I’m making a living with filtonvoice, and a second has now been launched by Emma, and we have decided to share our knowledge with other trained journalists and possibly media sales professionals looking to continue their trade but away from the big publishers.”

After the workshop day delegates will be able to join the Local Press Network which will offer a variety of services, including advice on production, printing, book-keeping, website development and national advertising.

• To book a place contact Emma Cooper on 07715 770448 or emma@keynshamvoice.co.uk

Are our towns and cities too big for a local paper?

Matthew Engel, who used to work for his hometown paper the Northampton Chronicle & Echo which is being turned into a weekly by Johnston Press, argues on FT.com that the local press thrives in small communities rather than large towns and cities.

He predicts that cities as big as Birmingham and Manchester will lose their daily local paper.

Engel writes: "Local newspapers thrive best where the roots are deepest. Rural weeklies (rural dailies in the US) still hold their own. And conventional local journalism doesn’t work on the web because readers have their own agenda – they want to hear news of what and whom they know: “Hey, the post office is closing! . . . Oh, old Mr so-and-so has died! . . . Aah, that kid from No 39 scored the winner!” You have to flick the printed pages to find your own private headlines.

"Northampton is now a town of blow-ins and drop-bys, there because it’s easy to get out of, living in anonymous estates, barely knowing their neighbours. They have no need of a local paper or even an iPad app. In the event of flood, pestilence or plague, the BBC is far more useful. The Chron now sells less than 20,000.

"The Chronicle & Echo has died, not because the town is too small but because it is too big. Northampton is no longer a coherent community. Though it is by far the largest town in Britain to have lost its daily paper, others will follow, including perhaps – before long – cities as large as Birmingham and Manchester. And post-print websites will fail even there unless they pay for far better journalism than has been the provincial norm."

NS publishes research backing campaign to stop traffic regulation ads being axed from local press

The Newspaper Society has published research backing its resistance to the Government's proposals to end the requirement for local councils to advertise traffic notices in the local press - an important source of income for newspapers.

The NS met with the Transport Minister Norman Baker yesterday (Wednesday) and presented him with new research from GfK NOP showing that local newspapers are the most effective way of informing the public about traffic changes and that local people are concerned about government proposals to abolish the requirement for local authorities to advertise traffic notices in local papers.

The research found that 64 per cent of adults, and 65 per cent of drivers, are concerned about potential changes to the current regulations meaning that such information would no longer need to be published in local newspapers.

The rearch also found that the vast majority of people expect to be made aware of traffic changes through their printed local newspaper and less than three per cent of the population used council websites to find such information.

The NS claims the proposals to remove the statutory obligation for councils to publish Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO) in local newspapers pose a dangerous threat to the public’s right to know as councils would rely on their own websites and site notices to advertise traffic orders rather than trusted local newspapers.

According to the research, more than two-thirds of the population (69 per cent) think it is important they are made aware of planned changes to local traffic routes. This is particularly true among drivers (74 per cent) and those who drive to work (82 per cent).

The NS says it shows eight times as many people have read a newspaper in the past week than have looked at their council website (32 million v 4 million adults). Twenty-nine per cent of all adults (and 21 per cent of drivers) haven't accessed the internet at all in the last 12 months meaning that advertising TROs online only would exclude 14 million UK residents, including many poorer members of society.

It says the research shows only 34 per cent of all internet users have visited their local council website in the last 12 months. Local papers are considered more trustworthy and up to date than either local commercial radio or council websites, the research found.

Source: Newspaper Society

25 years on: New NUJ chapel at NI Wapping plant plans action to protect sources from management

After being derecognised in Rupert Murdoch's flight from Fleet Street to Wapping 25 years ago, the NUJ has established a chapel at News International.

According to the latest issue of The Journalist, the first act of the chapel will be to take legal action to protect journalists' sources at The Times and Sunday Times after the company passed data, including Sun reporters' emails, to the police.

It says three new chapel officers, all Times journalists, have liaised with colleagues on the other two titles and a meeting of all NUJ members at News International is planned.

According to The Journalist, the chapel officers have agreed to be named on an application for an injunction against News Corporation to prevent its Management and Standards Committee passing on information identifying legitimate sources.

It says: "Material handed over to Scotland Yard by the committee included emails, expense forms and transcripts of internal interviews with staff, leading to the arrest of nine current and former Sun reporters on suspicion of allegedly making illegal payments to public officials.

"The same exercise is planned by the MSC at The Times and Sunday Times. Journalists on all three newspapers are deeply concerned that whistleblowers will be identified."

• Barrie Clement, in a feature in The Journalist, names a Sun journalist who tried to commit suicide after being arrested and quotes a "senior Sun source" saying: "There is fear and anger in the newsroom and a sense that reporters have been thrown to the wolves."

Independent plans new Saturday magazine Radar

The Independent is to launch a new arts, books, listings and culture magazine called Radar from Saturday week, editor Chris Blackhurst (top) reveals in the paper today.

Radar is part of a revamp of the paper ahead of a cover price rise to £1:20 next Monday.

Blackhurst writes: "From its name you can guess that Radar's aim is to give you advance notice of everything that's worth knowing in that space. It combines the strengths of the existing Arts & Books section – most of which will move from next week from its current Friday slot – and our old listings supplements."

He also says that new writers joining the Independent will include "the brilliant, sassy, funny" Grace Dent.

Dramatic Grand National dominates the news

The Grand National dominated the news for the week ending Sunday, April 15, after a photo-finish and two injured horses had to be put down, the favourite Synchronised and According to Pete, reigniting the controversy about the safety of the race.

According to Journalisted, the Grand National generated 275 articles.

Other top stories included: The cease fire in Syria on Thursday and reports of continued violence, 212 articles.

North Korea ignored calls not launch a long-range rocket which crashed into the ocean minutes after the launch, 121 articles.

David Cameron visits Burma and meets with the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as the UK considers easing economic sanctions on the country, 106 articles.

Covered little, according to Journalisted, were Sudan says it will mobilise its army against South Sudan after the latter annexes the biggest oilfield in Sudan, 10 articles; Blogger Guido Fawkes publishes the bluebook of the Motorman files, 9 articles; and Mark Lewis, the lawyer who had a prominent role in exposing the prevalence of phone hacking at the News of the World, flew to the US to prepare filing lawsuits against News Corporation, 8 articles.

Bristol NUJ Branch backs protest over Post cuts

The Bristol NUJ Branch is supporting a demo over the latest cuts at Northcliffe's Bristol Evening Post this evening (Tuesday).

The protest is planned at The Galleries, Fairfax Street, at 6:30 pm where an exhibition marking 80 years of the Post is taking place.

It was announced last week that the Post was to lose up to 20 jobs as its Saturday edition and Venue magazine are to close.

Bristol NUJ Branch said in a statement: "Last week's news about yet more redundancies at the Evening Post – and the end of Venue in print – has really made waves.

"At last many people – not just journalists – seem to realise that newsgathering in our city is approaching a crisis point.

"How can the city's only dedicated daily newspaper provide proper coverage when staffing is reduced by a further third, to fewer than 40 journalists? Six years ago there were close to 190 journalists on the Post, Western Daily Press and Observer.

"We don't want to mar the celebration – but we do want to point out the irony of Northcliffe celebrating the proud history of the Post when:

• The Post was founded in 1932 by the Bristol community in defiance at Northcliffe's attempt to win a Bristol monopoly for its title, the Bristol World.

• Northcliffe has been trying to sell Bristol and its other regional centres for years.

"The Bristol branch of the NUJ believes it's time to make clear that important papers like the Post are not safe in Northcliffe's hands."

The Bristol NUJ Branch says it is "partly" organising the protest along with "community members and activists".

• The Bristol Evening Post is celebrating its 80th birthday tomorrow (18 April). As part of those celebrations The Galleries is hosting a month long exhibition about the paper. It features dozens of memorable front pages from the past eight decades along with hundreds of archive photos.
  

Beware management brandishing the F-words it could mean you are about to be 'discontinued'

Everyone knows the regional press is facing huge problems in the digital age but why can't the managements just admit it rather than dressing up every disaster as a triumph.

Maybe turning small daily newspapers weekly is the only way for them to survive but please spare us all the management speak about improving the product by being more "focused" and "flexible" when journalists are being sacked to save money.

For example, commenting on the "re-launch initiative" of turning the Scarborough Evening News weekly, Stephen Plews, managing director, said: “Our publishing strategy going forward will ensure that we give our local audiences what they want.

"While providing our existing audiences with an even better product, both in print and online, we will extend our audience by increasing our online content and making it easier to access in the most relevant ways as technologies continue to evolve.

"Our focus has always been on local and we will increasingly benefit from that core expertise with the rapid growth in both social media and in demand for access from mobile devices.”

Plews quote is identical to other Johnston Press mds who announced their daily papers were going weekly today with the loss of an unspecified number of journalists jobs.

New Johnston Press ceo Ashley Highfield says in a statement: “In my first few months at Johnston I have been greatly encouraged by what I have seen in our local operations. Our publishing strategy going forward will ensure that we give our local audiences what they want.

"While providing our existing audiences with an even better product, both in print and online, we will extend our audience by increasing our online content and making it easier to access in the most relevant ways as technologies continue to evolve.

"Johnston’s focus has always been on local and we will increasingly benefit from that core expertise with the rapid growth in both social media and in demand for access from mobile devices. We are committed to remaining a local company: that means local journalists and sales people working across the UK and Republic of Ireland, staying close to the communities and businesses they serve.”

And take the announcement last week that up to 20 jobs will be lost as Northcliffe's Bristol Evening Post axes its Saturday edition and moves to morning publication.

That's bad news, right?

Not according to Bristol News and Media publisher Alan Renwick, who said: “We have undertaken an exhaustive review of our portfolio and the changing needs of readers and advertisers in our market.

“These planned changes give us a more focused and flexible set of publications which are much more closely aligned to our customers and give us a better platform for future growth.”

Finally, how's this for a bit of management speak about the departure of the John McLellan from The Scotsman?: "Johnston Press has announced that John McLellan’s role as Editor-in-Chief is to be discontinued."

It sounds like some cut-price offer at the local supermarket that has come to an end.

Scarborough Evening News to relaunch as weekly

Johnston Press, publisher of the Scarborough Evening News, announced today plans to re-launch the newspaper as a weekly in a move to what it calls “platform neutral” publishing.
[Four other Johnston dailies will also go weekly - see update below]

It said: "The re-launch scheduled for late May will comprise the creation of a new 'platform neutral' newsroom at Scarborough with significant investment in both print and digital publishing, enabling seven days per week publishing online and on a new iPad app with news updates around the clock and comprehensive online sport and events coverage.

"This will be combined with a bumper print edition of a newly designed newspaper once per week on Thursdays, giving readers all of the key sections they currently enjoy as well as some exciting new developments.

"At the same time the websites will receive a light touch re-launch with improvements to the home page and improved social networking and commenting functionality. A deeper change is planned for July 2012. As well as the launch of the new dedicated iPad app the plans will see a substantial investment in marketing for the re-launch of online and print publishing."

Commenting on the re-launch initiative, Stephen Plews, managing director, said: “Our publishing strategy going forward will ensure that we give our local audiences what they want. While providing our existing audiences with an even better product, both in print and online, we will extend our audience by increasing our online content and making it easier to access in the most relevant ways as technologies continue to evolve. Our focus has always been on local and we will increasingly benefit from that core expertise with the rapid growth in both social media and in demand for access from mobile devices.”

• UPDATE: Other Johnston Press dailies that are swiching to weekly publication by the end of May are the Halifax Courier, Northampton Chronicle & Echo, Peterborough Evening Telegraph and the Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph. Johnston Press said it would launch new iPad versions of the titles, as well as 24-hour news coverage online.

Guardian to publish who funds its travel features

The Guardian's readers' editor Chris Elliott (left) says in his Open Door column today that the paper is going to reveal at the end of each travel feature what parts of the trip were paid for and by whom.

Elliott writes: "The Guardian is going to take a step further towards openness in the area of travel writing. In future, travel features will specify which aspects of a trip were paid for and by whom at the end of such features."

He also says: "Across the rest of the paper, on each desk, there are plans to log any trips taken, to ensure that such trips are tracked and signed off by a senior editor."

Elliott has rejected a complaint by a reader over a trip to Senegal by a Guardian journalist whose travel costs were funded by Greenpeace, which the paper acknowledged in the article.

Elliott says:"I think the Senegal trip was a good example of how it should be done - from the decision to go, to the declaration at the end."

Media Quotes of the Week: From why tabloid hacks are best to being outraged by Ken and Boris

Blogger Fleet Street Fox interviewed in XCITY magazine: "I know broadsheet journalists who are very good reporters, but the reporters on tabloids are better, because they are more mischievous. Other kinds of journalists like to hang out with us because we're witty and great to go to the pub with. Broadsheet hacks are more likely to stand at the back of the press pack and watch, then report on other journalists."

Kelvin MacKenzie in the Daily Mail: "If you are a long-standing Sun journalist, you can expect 15 officers investigating phone hacking to turn up at your house at 5.05am. But if you are a copper abusing a black youngster in the most offensive way possible, then a quiet investigation is all that is required. Could I suggest Mr Hogan-Howe and the Crown Prosecution Service start treating people equally."

AA Gill in the Sunday Times: "Those responsible for The Undateables have withdrawn so much from the karma bank, they’ll be lucky if they’re reincarnated with internal skeletons. The measure and justification of documentaries should be: 'Would this happen if the cameras weren’t here? Is the presence of a film crew the prime motivator for what we’re being shown?' Channel 4 and its motley crew continue to sail the airwaves in its boldest TV experiment — to see how long you can live without shame."

Ex-Western Daily Press editor Terry Manners in Press Gazette: "I will never forget the words of the time-and-motion man who was assigned with a team to cut operational costs in the building. They hurt us all greatly. 'The trouble with you and your team, Terry, is that you are trying to be too professional,' he said. 'You don't need to be. Leave it to the nationals.' Sadly he won."

Channel 4 News' Alex Thomson on investigating the Rangers FC story in Glasgow: “I’d expected the paranoia, insults, spin etc – hey – this is ‘fitba’ after all and I welcome it good, bad and ugly, from fans within and without Glasgow. Indeed I’ve gone out and asked for it. What I didn’t expect were the insults (and in at least one case a direct physical threat) not from fans but from Scottish journalists. Sarajevo, Mogadishu, Kabul, Islamabad, Tripoli, Baghdad…I could bore you with more – in none of these places have I ever got this interesting reaction from local journalists."

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, on plans to combine the editorships of the Yorkshire Post and Yorkshire Evening Post: "These Yorkshire papers have a proud tradition of serving their community. Forty years ago the Yorkshire Evening Post had a staff of 1,350, eight editions and a daily circulation of 230,000. Today there are fewer than 400 and it has two editions a day. Further cuts and attacks on editorial is not the panacea for increased circulation."

The NUJ chapel at The Scotsman Publications on the sudden departure of editor-in-chief John McLellan: "John McLellan is an internationally-respected journalist and editor who is held in the highest esteem by his staff - if not by his bosses. He has given tirelessly to this company over the years in the belief that, whatever strictures may be placed upon us, we should always produce the best possible product for our readers - a belief he has instilled in each and every member of his staff. To see that commitment sacrificed in the name of cost cutting is at once contemptible and demoralising to the staff that John leaves behind. It shows management's utter disregard for the loyalty and dedication that their staff show every day in their efforts to produce quality newspapers and magazines, and sends out a deeply unpleasant message: no matter your experience or your commitment, everything is rated by cost."

Rod Liddle in the Sunday Times: "Which is the more outrageous fact, do you think? That Ken Livingstone, having railed against very wealthy people using loopholes to avoid paying tax, is revealed to be himself a very wealthy person using a loophole to avoid paying tax? Or that Boris Johnson earns a quarter of a million quid a year for writing the same column every week for The Daily Telegraph? Both facts make you flinch and wonder where you’ve gone wrong in life."

How the regional daily paper editors have fallen

This looks like being another tough year for daily regional newspaper editors with Johnston Press putting Peter Charlton, editor of the Yorkshire Post, and Paul Napier, editor of the Yorkshire Evening Post, under notice of redundancy as their editorships are combined into one role.

It was also announced this week that Simon Reynolds has left as editor of Johnston's Lancashire Evening Post. His departure follows that of Maria McGeoghan at Trinity Mirror's Manchester Evening News last month.

Here is a list of daily newspaper editors who have gone since the start of last year:

Dave King, Swindon Advertiser;

John Furbisher, Sheffield Star;

Sarah-Jane Smith, Shropshire Star;

Paul Robertson, Newcastle Evening Chronicle;

Jon Grubb, Lincolnshire Echo;

John Meehan, Hull Daily Mail;

Keith Perch, Leicester Mercury;

Marc Astley* , Express & Echo, Exeter;

Neal Butterworth, Bournemouth Echo;

Gerry Keighley, South Wales Argus;

Malcolm Pheby, Nottingham Post;

Alan Qualtrough, Western Morning News;

Maria McGeoghan, Manchester Evening News;

Simon Reynolds, Lancashire Evening Post.

*The Express & Echo had gone weekly by the time Astley left.

• HoldtheFrontPage reports that Scotsman editor John McLellan is set to become the latest casualty in the editorial shake-up at Johnston Press. The company has announced that his role as editor-in-chief of The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News is to disappear. McLellan has been placed on leave and is now in consultations with the company over his future.
• The NUJ has condemned the "cull of editors" at Johnston Press.
  

Balotelli wins a title - newsmaker of the week

Manchester City's wayward star Mario Balotelli dominated the news on and off the pitch for the week ending Sunday, April 8, according to journalisted.

Balotelli admits to a relationship with a prostitute, crashes his car and gets sent off against Arsenal, generating 171 articles.

Other big stories were: A hosepipe ban was put into force in the South East, 106 articles.

Tuesday saw the 30th anniversary since the start of the Falklands war, as tensions rise between Argentina and the UK, 103 articles.

The race for London mayor heated up as Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone clashed over each others personal tax, 89 articles.

Covered little, according to journalisted, were: the story that Amazon earned £7 billion from sales in the UK, but avoided a corporation tax bill, 27 articles.

A pensioner in Athens committed suicide in protest against public service cuts, and in particular cuts to Greek pensions, 25 articles.

According to a leading economics institute, the UK narrowly escaped falling into recession last quarter by posting a 0.1% growth in GDP, 15 articles.

C4's Alex Thomson under fire in Glasgow as he asks how did Scottish media miss Rangers story?

Channel 4 News chief correspondent, Alex Thomson (top), has revealed he has been physically threatened by a Scottish journalist in a hostile media atmosphere in Glasgow during his current investigation into the tangled financial affairs of Rangers FC.

Thomson, who has covered 20 wars across the globe in his 22 years with Channel 4 News, claims that asking questions about Rangers FC “clearly angers some in the Glasgow media in a way I’ve never seen in 25 years of global reporting."

The broadcaster, who has been reporting on screen in the past two weeks on the Rangers FC crisis, has also written a number of controversial blogs on the Channel 4 News website which has sparked off a deluge of comments online.

In one blog, he asks why nobody saw Sir David Murray’s Rangers empire was crumbling, and nobody at the club, the ScottishFootball Association and the ScottishPremier League questioned whether current owner Craig Whyte really was the man to buy Rangers FC.

And he answers: “Because – like the bankers – everyone was having too much fun living the dream? Partly yes, but partly a crucial check and balance to all the Ibrox hype had all but gone.

“For years too much football ‘journalism’ in Glasgow had been too lazy, sycophantic and incapable of asking awkward questions.”

In one blog, Thomson explains: “I’d expected the paranoia, insults, spin etc – hey – this is ‘fitba’ after all and I welcome it good, bad and ugly, from fans within and without Glasgow. Indeed I’ve gone out and asked for it.

“What I didn’t expect were the insults (and in at least one case a direct physical threat) not from fans but from Scottish journalists.

“Sarajevo, Mogadishu, Kabul, Islamabad, Tripoli, Baghdad…I could bore you with more – in none of these places have I ever got this interesting reaction from local journalists.

“Only in Glasgow. So something’s up. Something’s different. Something about asking questions about RFC clearly angers some in the Glasgow media in a way I’ve never seen in 25 years of global reporting.

He does add: “Equally, a number of fine Glasgow journalists have been incredibly helpful, encouraging and agree there has been something deeply wrong for far too long in the culture of reporting RFC."

Thomson has also posted: "The culture of taking wild stories at face value and pumping them out appears alive and well in Glasgow – the record will show the MSM in that city have been left standing time and time again by bloggers getting the facts in their spare time often many miles from Glasgow.

"Media studies PhD anyone? Tis fertile ground."

Read this and weep: What the time and motion man told the award winning regional editor

Terry Manners (top) was a fantastically committed editor of Northcliffe's Western Daily Press from 1999 to 2005.

It was no surprise that during his editorship the WDP picked up a string of awards including Regional Newspaper of the Year.

But how heartbreaking to read in the latest issue of Press Gazette what the cost cutters thought of Terry and his team.

He writes: "I will never forget the words of the time-and-motion man who was assigned with a team to cut operational costs in the building. They hurt us all greatly. 'The trouble with you and your team, Terry, is that you are trying to be too professional,' he said. 'You don't need to be. Leave it to the nationals.' Sadly he won."

• Press Gaztte magazine is not online but available by subscription

Northern Echo remembers editor WT Stead by launching new investigation into child sex trade

The Northern Echo today returns to one of the most famous campaigns run by its legendary editor W.T. Stead, who was one of the passengers killed when the Titanic sunk on its maiden voyage 100 years ago.

Stead made his name as a journalist by exposing child prostitution and caused a sensation by arranging the "purchase" of a 13-year-old girl.

Now the Echo is marking the centenary of Stead's death by launching an investigation into the sexual exploitation of children in 2012 in the North-East where it claims children as young as 10 are being trapped by gangs.

It reports: "MORE than a century after the former editor of The Northern Echo, Willam Thomas Stead, revealed that children were being sold for sex on the streets of Britain, girls and boys are still being sexually exploited in North-East towns and cities.

"Organised gangs are grooming children as young as ten, before luring them into a world of drugs, violence and sex for money or gifts."

• Current Northern Echo editor Peter Barron can be seen emulating W.T. Stead by arriving arriving at work today on a horse in this video.