Jon Slattery

Times' cycling safety campaign highlights plight of paper's reporter still not conscious after accident

2012-02-02T08:51:00.014Z

The Times' impressive front page campaign to make cities safe for cyclists highlights the case of one of its own news reporters - Mary Bowers - who was injured in a cycling accident on the way to work last November and is still not conscious.

Kaya Burgess, a friend and colleague of Bowers, writes in The Times today: "The reality with any major issue is that it only truly touches you when it comes close to home. However regularly you may cycle on Britain’s city streets and however aware you are of the risks of doing so, it is not until you have seen one of your closest friends and colleagues stretchered off the tarmac from beneath the wheels of a lorry only yards from the office that the vulnerability of cyclists hits home.

"Mary Bowers is a news reporter at The Times. She joined the paper as a graduate trainee in September 2009, though her beaming smile and effusive personality were common sights around the office from previous roles as a researcher on the comment and foreign desks.

"With a passion for social affairs investigations and witty features, she has a writing style that is as distinctive as her sharp, quirky dress sense. She also has a remarkable singing voice, and it is an honour to have been one of those lucky enough to perform with her on several occasions in the folk clubs of London.

"Yet it is only by a hair’s breadth that we are still able to talk about Mary in the present tense. Her survival to this point, now almost three months since her accident in London at 9.30am on Friday, November 4, is down to the passers-by who stopped and called the emergency services.

"It is down to the paramedics who arrived on the scene within three minutes, to the fire crews who cut Mary and her mangled bike from beneath the wheels of the lorry, and to the doctors and nurses in the intensive care unit of one of the city’s busiest hospitals. But Mary cannot thank them herself. Not yet. Not for a long time. Possibly never. Because, though she is stable, Mary is still not conscious and remains in a trauma unit. Her broken legs, arm and pelvis are slowly healing, but other damage sustained during complications in her treatment, almost inevitable after so traumatic an injury, will be far harder to overcome, though she is making slow progress.

"There are also people Mary would not want to thank. There are the authorities who have neglected to ensure that junctions like those on The Highway in Wapping — or countless others where cyclists have been maimed and killed in Britain — are made safe for cars, lorries and cyclists to co-exist safely.

"Mary, a news reporter, would be first to ask why it is not mandatory for lorries driving on city streets to be fitted with sensors and mirrors to pick up cyclists in their blind spots. Or why training for cyclists and drivers on how to share the road responsibly is so poor. Or why some junctions are so dangerous that jumping a red light can actually be a safer option than lining up alongside HGVs at the lights like a racetrack starting grid. Or why London trails so far behind cities such as Amsterdam and Copenhagen in terms of the infrastructure and legislation to protect vulnerable cyclists and to help the drivers who are trying to avoid them."

Readers are urged to pledge their support for The Times' make cities safe for cyclists campaign; show their support on Twitter with #cyclesafe; and write to their MPs.
The campaign is outside The Times' paywall.

It's not just the NUJ unhappy at Sly Bailey's pay

2012-02-01T22:25:00.018Z

The Financial Times reports that Trinity Mirror is facing renewed pressure to rein in the pay of its chief executive Sly Bailey (pictured) from some of the biggest shareholders in the media group.

It says the shareholders will set out their mounting unhappiness over the pay of one of the UK’s highest-profile media executives when Trinity Mirror’s incoming chairman David Grigson holds a series of meetings with key investors.

The FT says: "Shareholders believe Ms Bailey’s pay is above her peers and that she must rebase her remuneration to recognise Trinity Mirror was now a much smaller business than when she joined nine years ago."

One top 10 shareholder said the size of Ms Bailey’s pay was “just not tenable," reports the FT. “It is out of kilter with the group’s performance and current size. It is premature to say we are demanding her head but we are looking at it all very keenly,” the shareholder said.

A second top ten shareholder said: “Sly hasn’t got a great many supporters now – not when she has lost so much and is so well paid.” A third added they planned to raise the issue of pay when meeting Mr Grigson, a former finance director at Reuters.

Yesterday, the NUJ criticised Bailey's pay after it was announced 75 jobs are to go at the Mirror and People. (See post below)

NUJ anger at axing of 75 jobs at Mirror and People

2012-02-01T17:29:00.006Z

The NUJ has condemned the axing of 75 jobs at Trinity Mirror’s national newspaper titles – the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and the People.

In a shock announcement this afternoon staff across all three titles were summoned to a meeting to be told of the cuts, which will see the centralisation of subbing and production across all titles and the pooling of features and news.

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said: “These cuts represent a depressingly familiar tale at Trinity Mirror. Rather than invest in quality products – and continue to build on recent growth in circulation on the Sunday titles – the strategy is to cut jobs and compromise quality journalism. Where is the strategy for growth and the future? Journalists are paying with their jobs for the corporate mismanagement and incompetence of Sly Bailey and her senior executives – yet still they continue to award themselves lavish pay.”

The NUJ says the cuts comes after the total directors’ pay and pensions bill for Trinity Mirror last year was £3.9million - £1.3million of which was cash bonuses. Of that, Sly Bailey's package of pay and pensions was a staggering £1.7m, including a cash bonus of £660k.

It also points out the share price for Trinity Mirror today is 48p whereas 12 months ago it was 90p.

The NUJ says it will be organising meetings of members to discuss the union’s response.

FT story on Sunday Sun was Fawlty, says Murdoch

2012-02-01T07:56:00.005Z

Rupert Murdoch was not impressed by the Financial Times' story that the launch of a Sunday version of the Sun has been put on hold following the arrests of some of the paper's journalists - and tweeted his displeasure, comparing The Pink 'Un to a well known comedy.

Speculation is that a Sun on Sunday is planned for a launch at the end of April.

World Economic Forum dominates news agenda

2012-02-01T00:01:00.002Z

The World Economic Forum in Davos dominated the news for the week ending Sunday 29 January, according to journalisted.

The Forum in Davos, addressed by David Cameron and other global leaders, generated 441 articles; Spurs manager Harry Redknapp on trial accused of cheating the public revenue, 198 articles; RBS chief executive Stephen Hester under pressure to give up his bonus, 192 articles; the government loses a vote on a benefits cap, 138 articles; the Leveson Inquiry continues, with witnesses from the BBC, ITN, social networks and pressure groups, 130 articles; and Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich campaign for the Republican presidential nomination ahead of the Florida primary, 113 articles.

Covered Little, according to journalisted, Tibetans are shot dead in clashes with Chinese forces, 14 articles; four stand for Plaid Cymru leadership, 6 articles; former Scottish Socialist leader, Tommy Sheridan, is released from prison amid claims of a 'gagging order', 5 articles; and Khaled Meshaal, exiled Hamas political leader, opts not to seek re-election, 3 articles.

Murdoch biographer Wolff joins Guardian in US

2012-01-31T21:12:00.007Z

Michael Wolff, the outspoken biographer of Rupert Murdoch, is joining the Guardian in the US to cover media, tech, publishing and politics.

Wolff is a columnist for Vanity Fair, wrote the biography of Rupert Murdoch The Man Who Owns the News, and was editorial director of Adweek.

Wolff tweeted: "Yup. Hanging my hat at the Guardian."

Wolff has predicted: "Leveson reform could well produce US-style newspapers in UK. Of course US-style newspapers have all gone (or will shortly go) bankrupt."

Pic: Jon Slattery

When the NUJ lorded it - and Snowdon had to join

2012-01-31T12:45:00.005Z

One of the interesting exhibits on show at the Saatchi Gallery's celebration of 50 years of The Sunday Times Magazine (see post below) is an application by Lord Snowdon to join the NUJ (top).

When Snowdon was appointed artistic adviser to the magazine in February 1962 he had to join a union because the Sunday Times was a closed shop.

Initially he applied to join the NUJ as a full member but this would have given him voting rights which might have proved awkward as he was married to Princess Margaret at the time.

A compromise was reached and he became a non-voting associate member of the NUJ.

Marking 50 years of The Sunday Times Magazine

2012-01-31T12:21:00.008Z

An exhibition celebrating 50 years of The Sunday Times Magazine has opened at the Saatchi Gallery in London.

It features work by many of the great photographers published in the magazine since its launch in February 1962. They include Don McCullin, David Bailey, Eve Arnold, Snowdon, Richard Avedon, Eugene Richards and Sam Taylor-Wood.

The exhibition also highlights contributors such as Ian Fleming, VS Naipaul, Bruce Chatwin, Jilly Cooper, Nicholas Tomalin, James Fox and Zoe Heller.

When the first issue of The Sunday Times Magazine was published, the then owner of the paper, Roy Thomson, remarked: "My God, this is going to be a disaster."

But the readers liked it, and the magazine is said to have added 250,000 sales to the Sunday Times.

A special isasue of the magazine will be published by the Sunday Times next Sunday. (Feb 5)

The exhibition runs until February 19.

'Nevermind RBS, what about the media fat cats?'

2012-01-31T09:54:00.006Z

Following the row over RBS chief executive Stephen Hester's bonus payments, the NUJ is turning its guns on the bumper rewards paid to executives in large media companies.

The NUJ today declared that public outrage directed at RBS should now be aimed at directors of the Trinity Mirror media group, who it says are pocketing more than £1.3 million a year - equivalent to 50 journalist jobs - at a time when editorial staff are facing another pay freeze and 700 job have gone in a year.

The NUJ says there can be no excuses for excessive bonus payments in the media industry and the money should be used to save jobs.

It claims the total directors’ pay and pensions bill for Trinity Mirror last year was £3.9million - £1.3million of which was cash bonuses - and chief executive Sly Bailey's package of pay and pensions was £1.7m, including a cash bonus of £660k.

Chris Morley, NUJ organiser said: “Stephen Hester has shown the way that most decent people in this country expect directors to act in companies that are failing to deliver growth. We need those at the top of companies such as Trinity Mirror, Newsquest and Johnston Press to show a real example and instead of thinking about their own wallets, to think instead about protecting their workforce and the overall business.

“Bonuses need to be earned and where that is in doubt the money should go to keeping up the resources of editorial departments across each business - not a race to the trough where rewards are showered on those who have done little to earn them.”

Press Gazette declares Feb 8 'Journalism Day'

2012-01-31T08:12:00.008Z

In a bid to restore journalism's battered image, Press Gazette is urging journalists to send in a snapshot of their work - in newspapers and magazines, TV and radio, and online - to record a 24-hour news cycle, from 6am Wednesday 8 February, to 6am the next day.

The idea is to declare 'News-Day'and record a day in the life of British journalism over a 24-hour period.

Journalists are asked to send in a summary - 100 to 500 words - describing what they did during the 24 hours: news jobs, stories, features, photos, mishaps, interviews, events, meetings, humour, even an office party.

Overseas journalists supplying British news media are also asked to contribute.

Press Gazette contributing editor John Dale, ex-editor of Take a Break, says PG will publish its News-Day special report in the March issue, with coverage also appearing online.

He says: "It will give an unprecedented insight into the role and the dimensions of the news industry across Britain and Ireland, how we really work, how we enrich our society and culture, and how we make a huge difference to the lives of every man, woman and child, on an hour-by-hour basis.

"It will be entertaining, enlightening and intriguing and, at this time when journalism is under profound scrutiny, point to answers to the questions being raised at Lord Justice Leveson’s inquiry. But we are not doing it for him. We are doing it for ourselves out of the pride we take in doing the greatest job in the world."

Contributions (as soon as possible after Feb 8) should be emailed to johnkdale@msn.com.
To follow the action on the day on Twitter, use the hashtag #news_day.

'Scrap local tv news and leave it to newspapers and online coverage': says Janet Street Porter

2012-01-30T09:28:00.007Z

Janet Street Porter has called for local television news to be scrapped and for local coverage to be left to newspapers and online.

Writing in the Independent on Sunday, the former BBC television executive argues: "Local television current affairs should be culled. Leave it to newspapers and online coverage. As for local radio – just because bands of people complain, it doesn't mean these stations have a meaningful audience.

"The BBC is still guilty of massive over-staffing in news and current affairs. Why do we have to have a completely different hourly news bulletin on Radio 3 from Radio 4? News is news. Local bulletins are necessary only twice a day in drivetime.

"The current local regions are so large as to be pointless. Community radio and television broadcast online and staffed by special interest groups is the only way forward. That way I can watch my council meetings on my laptop."

Street-Porter is scathing about her experience of local tv news: "Look North, in Yorkshire? It is appalling, presented by a weird-looking bunch of people with zero charisma. At 10.15 it regularly features just three items covering a huge part of the UK. In Kent, South East Today has an equally random pick-and-mix agenda that tries and fails to cover a region ranging from wealthy bits of East Sussex to poverty-stricken Sheppey."

Guardian reveals latest 'open journalism' phase

2012-01-30T09:08:00.005Z

The Guardian has today unveiled the next phase in its experiment in "open journalism" - following its move last October to publish its daily news list - by launching a new live blogging platform Newsdesk Live.

Newsdesk Live is hosted by Polly Curtis, the Guardian journalist who has been running the paper's Reality Check blog.

It will incorporate the open news list, but will also feature a live comment thread allowing readers to discuss what's going on directly rather than having to do so via Twitter.

For the period of the experiment, Polly Curtis is joining the national newdesk to work alongside other UK editors to help feed ideas from readers back into the newsgathering process.

Blossom water vs cheap cuts: In hard times what does a Guardian reader have left in the cupboard?

2012-01-30T08:35:00.013Z

In this new age of austerity the readers' editor of the Guardian has taken up complaints about the paper featuring luxury fashion goods and expensive food.

Chris Elliott in his Open Door column today highlights a letter from a Guardian reader who asked: "What is blossom water and pistachio halva?" (which were both listed as ingredients for a salad scheherazade featured in some free recipe cards offered by the Guardian).

The reader suggested: "In these straitened times we need recipe cards for cheap cuts of meat like ox cheek, brawn and breast of lamb, recipes that our parents might have used, not those that need a trip to a big city to gather their ingredients … none of which, I suggest, would be found in an average reader's cupboard."

Elliott writes that readers have been making "irritable noises" in these difficult economic times about the Guardian's coverage of food, fashion, gadgets and cars.

He adds: "Last September, after the price of the Saturday Guardian rose to £2.10, one reader said she felt the paper was good value 'compared with £2.99 for a card from WH Smith … But then you go and fill the Weekend magazine with pictures of expensive tat, culminating in four pages entitled Vital Extras. Personally, I have never considered kitten heels or a handbag vital, let alone those costing £425 and £1,700 respectively.'

"One interesting division between readers and journalists is that the former, when they complain, tend to feel that coverage means a recommendation. The latter strongly disagree."

Various section editors tell Elliott that just because they write about expensive items doesn't mean they are instructing readers to go out and buy them.

Jess Cartner-Morley, the Guardian's fashion editor, says: "There are a variety of factors influencing what product we feature. Price is one. But newness, originality, desirability, usefulness, availability, suitability for different ages and ethical production credentials are others. Fashion pages are not merely shopping lists."

Elliott concludes: "These are all good and valid reasons for covering subjects that represent major industries or major areas of interest for readers, and Guardian coverage of them has been appreciated by the overwhelming majority of readers hitherto. But a further prolonged period of austerity may bring a change in outlook."

How the Mail become biggest newspaper on web

2012-01-27T09:19:00.010Z

Ex-Guardian technology correspondent Bobbie Johnson has written an article on GigaOM on the reasons why the Daily Mail has become the biggest newspaper on the web.

Johnson writes: "There is no secret formula, just a lot of hustle and plenty of shamelessness. Anyone who thinks the Mail can show them how to succeed in online news must understand its increasing prominence has been the result of editorial choices that not everybody will be prepared to emulate."

He argues: "The core of the Mail’s success is down to its planet-sized ambition and incredibly aggressive approach to the news...the paper is entirely unashamed by its desire to win at all costs. That tone is set right from the top with rapacious editor-in-chief Paul Dacre, who retains an iron grip over the paper’s output and is regarded as one of the shrewdest — and most vindictive — editors around."

Johnson praises MailOnline's broad approach, saying: "Headlines and stories are often written in such a way that the stories transcend location, class and gender."

He adds its editorial trademark is jaw-dropping, salacious headlines (“Swinging couple in drug-fuelled orgy with sex partner sprayed him with bear repellent after he refused to let them take explicit photos”); paparazzi shots of attractive women and fame-hungry celebrities, often in various states of undress; and a constant stream of stories about personal health.

Johnson says the other big factors in MailOnline's success is that it is free and has the financial support from its corporate parent.

He concludes: "While upmarket audiences and rivals sniff at it, the rest of the world, it seems, couldn’t care less. and in a media industry that is struggling, it is not hard to imagine some who are looking at what the Daily Mail has achieved and thinking they can do the same."

Judy Shields post on Johnson's article: "The writer of this article goes in for the same kind of over-the-top, selective BS which he complains about…in the end the Daily Mail is successful because it’s put together by proper news journalists – ones who are extremely professional, well motivated, and well paid. No amount of ranting by jealous bloggers will change this. There’s no substitute for professional, mainstream, quality journalism."

Media Quotes of the Week: From the Sun to rise on Sunday to should Leveson ban page 3 girls?

2012-01-27T00:01:00.006Z

Tom Watson MP in a tweet: "A News Corp source tells me Rupert Murdoch has seen the draft designs of the Sunday Sun with a launch in April at a discounted price."

Guardian readers' editor Chris Elliott on reader reaction to the new slimmed down paper: "Among those who feel the changes most keenly are the readers who have taken the paper for 40, 50 or even 60 years, who are more likely to be subscribers; they feel they are either being pushed towards reading online or subsidising the digital Guardian."

Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger on the changes to the newspaper: "We are not disguising the fact that we have brought the paper down in size. But in fact the total universe of what we are doing is expanding, not shrinking. We publish much more but decisions about limited resources are difficult; there is a fine balance between the production and expense of print versus digital."

Johnston Press chief executive Ashley Highfield interviewed in InPublishing: “The fundamental aspect of the business is that every newspaper in the group has a healthy margin over 20 per cent and all up the business is very profitable. The challenge is, can you migrate that business into the digital realm quickly enough before profits decline.”

Johann Hari on his decision not to return to the Independent: "I’d like to thank the Independent for the privilege of working for them over the past nine years, and for offering me my job back, starting in a few weeks. But after nearly six months living in New York City, and plenty of time to reflect, I’ve decided to not take them up on their kind offer."

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, on the BBC cuts: “Local radio is for some sections of the population, particularly the elderly, a lifeline. I am pleased that the BBC Trust has made this small concession, but it has obviously not listened to the concerns of the many others who took part in the consultation. These cuts, which will result in the loss of 2,000 jobs, on top of the 7,000 jobs lost since 2004, will severely damage the quality of the service provided by the BBC. It will damage its ability to produce quality creative programming and investigative journalism. It will damage its function as a public service broadcaster."

Reporters Without Borders press freedom index: "Despite universal condemnation, the UK clings to a surreal law that allows the entire world to come and sue news media before its courts."

Jon Snow in his Hugh Cudlipp lecture at the London College of Communication: "We journalists are not a breed apart – we must be of the world we report. The hacking scandal reveals an echelon of hacks who removed themselves from the world in which the rest of us live – they took some weird pleasure in urinating on our world."

Clare Short in the Independent: "Tabloid vilification helped kill off a debate that would have forced Page 3 images out of British newspapers and perhaps obliged the media to behave and report in a less sexist way. Twenty-six years on, Lord Leveson should seriously consider the case that has been made."

The only way to fight company pay freeze is to go on strike say NUJ Newsquest Essex journalists

2012-01-26T14:39:00.007Z

NUJ members at Newsquest South East Essex plan to take strike action next month over a pay freeze.

Members of the chapel voted overwhelmingly in favour (90.5%) of the strike action and action short of a strike (95.2%) on the grounds that the company had introduced another pay freeze.

The industrial action will consist of a two-weeks work to rule, starting on Monday 30 January followed by three days of strike action starting on Monday 13 February.

The NUJ claims staff were due a pay rise in January this year but were told this would not be given and would be reviewed again in June, without any guarantee that any pay rises will be given then.

If no pay awards are made in 2012 the NUJ says it will be the third year in four that Newsquest journalists’ salaries have stood still.

Sally King, MoC of the Newsquest South Essex chapel, said: "No one wants to take this action. It is a reflection of the deep disappointment and genuine concern about their ability to pay bills that members feel, that they voted this way.

"By freezing pay - and even when a rise is offered keeping it well below inflation - it seems members of staff are being penalised for their loyalty.

"The chapel is also disappointed to hear management has told non-unionised members of editorial team at the Echo and its sister papers, the Colchester Gazette, Thurrock Gazette and Chelmsford and Brentwood Weekly News, that they will be awarded overtime payments for working 10-hour shifts during the strike action."

New boss Highfield on future of Johnston Press

2012-01-26T12:35:00.012Z

Fascinating interview with new Johnston Press boss Ashley Highfield (pictured) by Ray Snoddy in the latest issue of InPublishing which is also online.

Highfield tells Snoddy: “The fundamental aspect of the business is that every newspaper in the group has a healthy margin over 20 per cent and all up the business is very profitable. The challenge is, can you migrate that business into the digital realm quickly enough before profits decline.”

Highfield's appointement as Johnston chief executive last year raised eyebrows because he has no newspaper experience but had made his name in digital working for the BBC and Microsoft.

He tells Snoddy: “Yes I have absolutely no previous newspaper experience but the board had already made the decision that the future of Johnston Press lay in moving the organisation beyond print and that was explained to me in the first sentence.

“Not closing down print but moving beyond an almost entirely solus print operation.”

Snoddy says it is believed that the name of Ashley Highfield was raised the last time Johnston was looking for a new chief executive two years ago but the former chairman Freddy Johnston, then on the board, argued that the job should go to someone with newspaper experience. Highfield was never contacted and the job went instead to John Fry.

Highfield tells Snoddy: “I have learned a great deal from the BBC and Microsoft about the importance of process. Microsoft was particularly instructive. There was a reason why it’s the world’s most profitable company because it manages itself so well and so effectively and I am certainly hoping to bring across that discipline into my current job.”

Snoddy asks: "That presumably means more jobs will go at Johnston Press?"

He adds: "Too early to comment on that insists Highfield, although for 2011, like-for-like cost savings are expected to total £20 million - a process that is likely to continue."

As for the future, Highfield says: “I think within three years, I would expect all our titles, our brands to have a healthy, growing audience when looked at across print and online and to be profitable.

“I would also expect in three years to have confounded those who said this was a sunset industry and, along the way, thus transforming the share price."

IC: It would be 'phenomenal undertaking' to contact all those named in the Motorman files

2012-01-26T11:20:00.012Z

Information Commissioner Christopher Graham told the Leveson Inquiry today it would be a "phenomenal undertaking" to contact all those named in the Operation Motorman files as having been targets of private investigators acting for newspapers.

But he said individuals were able to make legal access requests for information.

Graham told Leveson that some of the information covered by Operation Motorman was "deeply obscure" and not everyone named was a famous celebrity.

Campaign group Hacked Off had written to Graham asking him to inform the thousands of people who are listed in the Operation Motorman files held by the Information Commissioner's Office as having been the targets of apparently illicit searches, including criminal-records checks, vehicle-registration inquiries and information 'blags'. (See post below)

The Hacked Off letter to Graham says: "We are writing to ask you to take steps to notify those who were subjects of data-mining by the national press where you are in possession of such knowledge by virtue of the information that you obtained in Operation Motorman. Such individuals should be told that information had been sought on them, possibly illegally; what information that was; and who (newspaper and journalist) procured it."

Graham told Leveson that a number of individuals have had access to the Motorman files as a result of court orders and "subject access requests" could be made via lawyers.

He suggested that to contact some people named in the files but about whom there was very little detail could be a greater breach of privacy because people would think "there's no smoke without fire".

Independent: 'Press faces new wave of legal action if Operation Motorman victims are named by ICO'

2012-01-26T09:05:00.012Z

News organisations responsible for more than 17,000 dubious personal information checks carried out by a disgraced private detective could face civil litigation under plans to notify victims that they were targeted, the Independent reports today.

It says Christopher Graham, the Information Commissioner, is facing a legal challenge to release details of victims identified in Operation Motorman, the investigation into the activities of private eye Steve Whittamore, who was convicted of illegally accessing personal data in 2005.

The Independent adds: "Acting on legal advice, the campaign group Hacked Off has written to Mr Graham, demanding he inform the thousands of people who are listed in Whittamore files held by the Information Commissioner's Office as having been the targets of apparently illicit searches, including criminal-records checks, vehicle-registration inquiries and information 'blags'.

"Newspaper groups have in recent months been given access to the files by the ICO. In its letter, seen by the Independent, Hacked Off argues that targets should be notified so they have an opportunity to challenge claims by the news groups that the searches were done in the public interest."

The Independent claims: "If the ICO refuses to notify the people who were targeted by Whittamore, Hacked Off and its supporters will likely seek to have that decision subjected to judicial review."

The Independent revealed in September that Whittamore's targets included victims of some of the worst crimes from the past 15 years.
You can read the Hacked Off letter to the ICO here.
Christopher Graham told the Leveson Inquiry today it would be a 'phenomenal undertaking' to contact all those named in the Motorman files.

UK's rating falls in RWB press freedom index

2012-01-26T00:01:00.003Z

The United Kingdom has dropped to 28th in the Reporters Without Borders annual International Press Freedom Index.

The press freedom campaign group raises concerns about the way the Government responded to last year's riots by threatening social media and urging tv companies to hand over unbroadcast film.

It is also concerned over moves to protect privacy in the UK and the country's continued role as a centre for libel tourism.

In 2010/2011, the UK was ranked 19th in the RWB Press Freedom Index.

RWB says: "Against the extraordinary backdrop of the News of the World affair, the United Kingdom caused concern with its approach to the protection of privacy and its response to the London riots.

"Despite universal condemnation, the UK also clings to a surreal law that allows the entire world to come and sue news media before its courts."

In the wake of the riots in the UK, Reporters Without Borders voiced concerns about police being provided with personal data of BlackBerry Messenger service users and possible restrictions on social media. It urged the British authorities to rule out any possibility of shutting down or drastically restricting the use of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

RWB also come out against David Cameron's request that tv companies should give police unbroadcast riot film, claiming: "this would turn them into police auxiliaries and seriously endanger their independence".

RWB says in a review of the index: “Crackdown was the word of the year in 2011. Never has freedom of information been so closely associated with democracy. Never have journalists, through their reporting, vexed the enemies of freedom so much. Never have acts of censorship and physical attacks on journalists seemed so numerous. The equation is simple: the absence or suppression of civil liberties leads necessarily to the suppression of media freedom. Dictatorships fear and ban information, especially when it may undermine them.

“It is no surprise that the same trio of countries, Eritrea, Turkmenistan and North Korea, absolute dictatorships that permit no civil liberties, again occupy the last three places in the index. This year, they are immediately preceded at the bottom by Syria, Iran and China, three countries that seem to have lost contact with reality as they have been sucked into an insane spiral of terror, and by Bahrain and Vietnam, quintessential oppressive regimes. Other countries such as Uganda and Belarus have also become much more repressive.

“This year’s index finds the same group of countries at its head, countries such as Finland, Norway and Netherlands that respect basic freedoms. This serves as a reminder that media independence can only be maintained in strong democracies and that democracy needs media freedom."

NUJ welcomes reduction in planned BBC local radio cuts but still wants licence fee renegotiated

2012-01-25T16:30:00.005Z

The NUJ has welcomed the BBC’s Trust move to reverse some of the cuts to local radio, but says its interim findings on Delivering Quality First, the director general’s plans to cut BBC funding by 20 per cent, do not go far enough and has called again for the licence fee to be renegotiated.

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said: “Local radio is for some sections of the population, particularly the elderly, a lifeline. I am pleased that the BBC Trust has made this small concession, but it has obviously not listened to the concerns of the many others who took part in the consultation.

"These cuts, which will result in the loss of 2,000 jobs, on top of the 7,000 jobs lost since 2004, will severely damage the quality of the service provided by the BBC. It will damage its ability to produce quality creative programming and investigative journalism. It will damage its function as a public service broadcaster.

"I am also amazed that the Trust is happy to agree to the 40 per cent cuts at the Asian Network, a launchpad for new Asian talent. Fifteen posts will go by 2013 and the news team will move out of Leicester to London. The Trust appears to have rubberstamped the BBC’s management plans, without listening to the concerns made in the consultation.

“The scandal is that the reason why the corporation is forced to make these cuts is because of the shocking deal, made behind closed doors, by Mark Thompson. He agreed to freeze the license fee until 2017, while agreeing to take on extra responsibilities, such as the World Service, which will cost an extra £340 million. NUJ research shows that licence fee payers are prepared to pay more to prevent a downgrading of the service. It is vital that the license fee settlement is renegotiated.”

The Trust’s interim report largely backs the DQF proposals, however it has asked the BBC management to scale back plans to make local radio stations share afternoon shows, to review plans to cut Radio 5 Live’s weekly current affairs and has asked for a rethink on the plans to merge the BBC’s local current affairs programme Inside Out, which faced cuts of 40 per cent, into super regions.

Costa Concordia disaster dominates national press

2012-01-24T17:33:00.005Z

The Costa Concordia disaster dominated the national press for the week ending Sunday 22 January, according to journalisted.

Costa Concordia running aground off the Italian coast, generated 413 articles; Newt Gingrich wins the Republican primary in South Carolina, 210 articles; Labour faces union criticism of its stance on cuts, 202 articles; the Leveson Inquiry continues, 169 articles; and Michael Gove calls for a new royal yacht to celebrate the Jubilee, 111 articles.

Covered little, according to journalisted, were China faces an economic growth slowdown, 19 articles; Croatia votes to join the EU, 13 articles; Arab League calls for Syrian reform, 10 articles; final results in Egyptian parliamentary elections show victory for Islamist parties, 5 articles; China sees 'dragon baby' boom, 4 articles; and Jon Huntsman withdraws from the GOP presidential nomination race, 3 articles.

Call for digital entries for Amnesty media awards

2012-01-24T14:37:00.010Z

Amnesty International UK is looking for entries for its digital media awards which show new and creative ways to bring human rights issues to growing online audiences.

There is more information on how to enter here.

The digital award forms part of the 2012 Amnesty International Media Awards which also has categories for documentary; Gaby Rado Memorial Award; international tv and radio; magazines; national newspapers; nations and regions; photojournalism; radio; television news and student award.

Last year's digital winner at the Amnesty awards was the Bureau Of Investigative Journalism: Iraq War Logs.

Redknapp tax trial is dogged by tabloid headlines

2012-01-24T08:51:00.009Z

Newspapers are usually careful about how they headline court cases but the Mirror and Sun could not help themselves when it was revealed in the Harry Redknapp tax trial that the Spurs manager had named a Monaco bank account after his dog.

Even the Independent joined in with its front page teaser "How much has that doggy got in Monaco?" (top).

Jon Snow: 'Phone hacking journalists took some weird pleasure in urinating on our world'

2012-01-24T00:01:00.001Z

Channel 4 News anchor Jon Snow was scathing about journalists who hacked phones when giving this year's Hugh Cudlipp Lecture at the London College of Communication last night.

Snow made a plea for media bosses to let their journalists get out in the real world, claiming: "We journalists are not a breed apart – we must be of the world we report. The hacking scandal reveals an echelon of hacks who removed themselves from the world in which the rest of us live – they took some weird pleasure in urinating on our world."

"Bosses must carve out time for journalists to get out of the newsroom," he said. "Leveson should recommend many of the people and institutions that have been before him find a way of allowing their staff to get stuck into the real world, it will vastly improve and deepen their journalism.

Snow gave an upbeat view of the media future, claiming: "We are poised for the golden age of journalism.

He said: "For the first time since Caxton, Alexander Graham Bell, Marconi, or Logie Baird – the entire media has been liberated; liberated in a way that allows the reader, viewer, listener the true capacity to answer back.

"We are in the age of answer back, better still we are in the age in which ‘we the people’ have their greatest opportunity ever to influence the information agenda…But above all we are in the age of more. More potential to get it right, to get it fast, to get it in depth. We have that illusive entity ‘the level playing field’; we can compete on equal terms and yet be the best. Sure, we are justifiably scared of ‘we the people’ – where will they lead us – we want control, order.

"Fear not! Our editorial control remains. It’s just that we no longer live in a vacuum – unknowing of the effect of our reporting. We know more about how to interest our consumers, how to engage, and what effect what we do have upon them.

"We can detect them switching on or off. We can see their comments surge on Facebook or Twitter: – they interact – they augment – and if we are open enough, we learn. In short, the democratisation of information through the web is providing journalists with opportunity to enter the gateway to the golden age."

Snow added: "So how do we make money out of our dawning golden age? Well not by selling newspapers, that’s clear. I believe it unlikely that many people will be turning paper pages in a decade’s time. But the brands will live on in our golden age."

In his lecture, Snow said there was no evidence anyone was harmed by revelations from WikiLeaks. "The Americans told us that WikiLeaks would result in the deaths of many agents and informers. Are we to suppose that if even one had died the Americans would not have broadcast the fact to prove their case? How about a challenge: I believe there is no evidence that anyone has died from a WikiLeak. WikiLeaks told us what we know: the most extraordinary quantity of stuff is kept from the citizenry because it’s easier that way – it’s the culture."

On Leveson, he argued: "Our secretive society is being opened up. Our media society is being opened up with it. If the Leveson Inquiry does nothing else it reveals the questionable values of key elements of the tabloid press – to the grave detriment of the very fine work that is done by other elements of that same tabloid press that help keep sport, politics, and business straight. Well instanced by both the cricket fixing story and key aspects of the Stephen Lawrence investigation. The tabloid street is not one way – but when it reaches the gutter it is devoid of proportion, care, and all too often, truth."

On regulation, Snow praised the way Ofcom had regulated broadcasting, claiming "they have done an excellent job regulating my end of television: firm, fair, intelligent" and asked: "What are these print guys afraid of – if their story is right, is justified, they have nothing to fear from a regulator.

"Even the most hardened of tabloid journalists must have been, mortified, embarrassed, even shocked at the rubbish that has tipped across Leveson’s desk; what age do these supposed journalists and editors, the agents of this stuff live in… what lives do they live?"

He said: "I see no reason why print journalism wouldn’t benefit from a credible regulator in the same way TV has. Alas thus far they have not enjoyed a credible regulator. I’m not suggesting Ofcom should take over. But an independent system with its own powers to investigate wrong-doing seems an essential given what has gone wrong in the past couple of decades.

"It should be at well over arms length from Government, exclude any serving editors from its ranks, and probably - a very long way down the line have recourse to the law to enforce its will. But I would hope that the mere spectre of the law would be enough to sort things out.

"By the way the establishment of the regulatory system should be accompanied by the wholesale abolition of the UK’s current libel laws and any recasting to ensure both free speech and the rights of the individual – it could probably be achieved within the Human Rights Act.

"If we can practice cutting edge journalism on television with regulation I see no reason why an Ofcom style regulator, although not necessarily an identical system, with full access for public complaint - should not be perfectly applicable to the print world too."

Ben Bryant, a City University journalism graduate, won this year's Cudlipp Student Journalist Award for features about gang culture published in the London Evening Standard. He is now with the Telegraph.

MP Tom Watson says Sunday Sun for April launch

2012-01-23T12:02:00.005Z

Tom Watson, the MP who has led the tough questioning over phone hacking, tweeted today that a News Corp source has told him the company is set to launch a Sunday version of the Sun to replace the News of the World in April.

New look Guardian: What the readers think so far

2012-01-23T09:06:00.012Z

Interesting Open Door column in the Guardian today on what reader reaction has been to the new smaller - or "streamlined" - newspaper.

Readers' editor Chris Elliott notes: "As I write more than 1,400 readers have been in touch via email and phone. There is more lament than downright anger among the bulk of those who responded. The majority of the responses are complaints, or demands for further explanation for specific changes. Most pertain to highly compartmentalised bits of the paper, rather than to the generality of change. High on the list are changes to the cryptic crossword, daily TV listings, the weather page, and the loss of a separate sport section in the Tuesday-to-Friday papers."

He notes: "The paper is smaller, but not by as much as people may think. The numbers of pages for comment and leaders, obituaries, and sport, have returned to 2005 levels, but there is still the extra reviews page, which didn't exist before then."

Elliott reveals there has been a more fundamental change to the paper rather than just reducing its size to save on production costs.

"Beyond the familiar theme of the need to save money at a time of declining newspaper advertising and sales, there is another aspect to the change. There is an unseen but important restructuring of the editorial staff to improve the workflow – to ensure stories go on to the web faster and in a more even flow. Planning has become a great deal more important."

Elliott quotes deputy editor Paul Johnson stating: "We are pre-planning more of the paper, partly by anticipating events but also laying an even greater emphasis on making our own news, our own bespoke content, be it investigations, reportage, interviews or profiles – this will be at the core of the paper we produce."

Elliott also writes: "Among those who feel the changes most keenly are the readers who have taken the paper for 40, 50 or even 60 years, who are more likely to be subscribers; they feel they are either being pushed towards reading online or subsidising the digital Guardian."

Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger tells Elliott: "People are very proprietorial and people get very comfortable with the way they use the paper. People have said they understand what we are doing but are making understandable pleas for their part of things not to change.

"We are not disguising the fact that we have brought the paper down in size. But in fact the total universe of what we are doing is expanding, not shrinking. We publish much more but decisions about limited resources are difficult; there is a fine balance between the production and expense of print versus digital.

"News and comment is not going back at all: one day last week we published 125 news stories. All the evidence shows that digital is growing and newspapers are in decline. If you care about the Guardian's future then you will understand why we are investing in the future and why it's vital."

Johann Hari quits Independent to write a book

2012-01-20T22:15:00.008Z

Columnist Johann Hari has quit the Independent to write a book just a few weeks before he was due to return to the paper following a period of retraining in the US after admitting plagiarism.

Hari says on his website: "I’d like to thank the Independent for the privilege of working for them over the past nine years, and for offering me my job back, starting in a few weeks. But after nearly six months living in New York City, and plenty of time to reflect, I’ve decided to not take them up on their kind offer.

"There are two reasons. I’m willing to take the flack for my errors myself: when you screw up, you should pay a price. But I’m not willing to see other people, who are played no part in those errors and are unimpeachably decent people, take the flack too. It’s not fair on them.

"The Independent has been great to me, and we need its principles in the public arena without distractions. Secondly, while doing some journalistic retraining in the US, I’ve started working on a book on a subject I believe is important and requires urgent action. To be done properly it needs international travel and the kind of in depth focus that’s not possible when you are writing a heavily researched column at the same time.

"So, while I’ll be writing occasional articles elsewhere, I’ll be mainly delving deeply into this one subject for now. Above all else, I’d like to thank all the readers of the Independent. Ever since I started as a columnist as a 23 year old I have learned so much from you. I often learned the most from the more critical messages – you have talked me out of a dozen positions – but your supportive letters and emails since last July have hugely moved me.

"I’ll continue to be a loyal reader and supporter of the Independent. It is one of the world’s great newspapers, and I feel privileged to have been part of it all these years."

Local paper has dig at council's £66k PR job ad

2012-01-20T10:38:00.012Z

The Islington Tribune today highlights that despite this being a time of "belt-tightening austerity" Islington Council is advertising for a temporary head of communications - at an annual salary of between £62,460 and £66,366 a year.

The Tribune says the job description "with no hint of irony in the online advert" describes how the successful candidate will be working in a borough which is "home to serious inequality and deprivation" and with "rich and poor living side by side."

And the local weekly dismisses the job as "pushing out positive reports about how well the council is doing."

The ad says the post is a fixed 9-12 month contract to cover the current communications chief who is on maternity leave.

Lib Dem opposition leader Coun. Terry Stacy is quoted by the Tribune saying the job should not be advertised at time when the council is making redundancies.

Pic: Islington Town Hall (Jon Slattery)

Quotes of the Week: From Sly Bailey on regional press ads to comparing MacKenzie to Shipman

2012-01-20T00:00:00.003Z

Trinity Mirror chief executive Sly Bailey on regional press advertising at the Leveson Inquiry: "At the peak, we had around £150m recruitment advertising supporting our titles, and last year we had less than £20m."

Spencer Feeney, editor of the South Wales Evening Post, at Leveson: “The local press is in a fragile financial state. Please don't make any recommendations ... to exacerbate that."

Daily Mirror editor Richard Wallace at Leveson: "Just after I was appointed editor of the Daily Mirror, the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, asked me to 10 Downing Street. One of the first things he asked me was when was I going to sack one of my journalists who had been a constant critic of the Government and Mr Blair in particular. Of course, I did not react to it."

Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger at Leveson on the newspaper industry: "We've been under-regulated and over legislated."

Brian Cathcart in the Independent on Leveson: "This is not a case of the press fighting an unending battle for its liberties. It long ago accepted the need for effective regulation and indeed it has long insisted that such regulation existed. It just cynically would not allow it to happen. If, after all that has happened in recent months, Leveson, or parliament, or the public, accepted the industry's latest promises, that would be to run an unacceptably high risk of joining a line of history's suckers – and of failing to learn from all that experience. This time we should ensure change is real and lasting."

The Times in a leader: "We make two points above all. The first is that we believe in the freedom of the press and argue that preserving this freedom requires resisting any form of statutory regulation. The second is a more ambitious, optimistic argument. The report of the Leveson inquiry, for all the inauspicious circumstances of its establishment, can prove to be a positive moment, one where Britain gains both a better and a freer press."

Nick Cohen in the Observer on the British libel laws (from his book You Can't Read This Book): "With an aristocratic prejudice against freedom of speech, the judges imposed costs and sanctions on investigative journalism that would have been hard to endure in the best of times, but were unbearable after the internet had undermined the media's business models. Instead of aiming its guns at the worst of British writing, the law of libel aimed at the bravest."

Andrew Neil, interviewed in the Independent on Sunday, on Rod Liddle's article about the Stephen Lawrence case which is under investigation for possible contempt of court: "It's quite clear it shouldn't have been published, but if you are going to be a magazine like The Spectator, and take strong positions and be controversial, every now and then you may do something stupid."

Chris Horrie, quoted in the Independent, on Leveson: "Kelvin MacKenzie is a national treasure and he's very funny, but asking him for advice on the ethics of journalism is like asking Harold Shipman for advice on medical ethics. This thing is just a circus."

First weekly Liverpool Post published today but Daily Post name lives on for revamped website

2012-01-19T09:45:00.010Z

The Liverpool Post, the new weekly version of the city's 156-year-old Liverpool Daily Post, was unveiled today with 100-pages and a £1 cover price - but the Liverpool Daily Post's name lives on in a revamped website.

The Liverpool Post’s companion website liverpooldailypost.co.uk has a new look and aims to keep readers up to date with breaking news.

It has retained the Liverpool Daily Post name, telling readers: "You'll have noticed that we haven't changed our name. That's not because we forgot, rather that our focus remains on keeping you right up to date with what's happening in Merseyside every day."

The new weekly Post has an extended 24-page POST Business section, a new 24-page weekly pull-out, POST Culture,covering the arts scene, together with full listings – and seven days of TV pages.

A new free daily email newsletter will be delivered direct to readers’ inbox every morning with links to the paper’s key breaking stories.

New free weekly newspaper launches in Norfolk

2012-01-19T09:11:00.005Z

The new independent free weekly newspaper the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Gazette has launched today in print and with a website.

The Gazette is published by MGMT Media based in Great Yarmouth which describes itself as Norfolk's "newest media company".

The Gazette has a planned distribution of 50,000 and will compete with Archant's long established paid-for Great Yarmouth Mercury and free Yarmouth Advertiser.

NUJ confirms it wants ombudsman to replace PCC

2012-01-19T08:00:00.006Z

The NUJ has confirmed it will tell the Leveson Inquiry that it wants a press ombudsman system to replace the Press Complaints Commission.

NUJ Irish secretary Séamus Dooley confirmed the union is in favour of the creation of the post of ombudsman as part of a new regulatory system to replace the PCC in his response to a charity for relatives of murder victims - Support After Murder and Manslaughter Northern Ireland - which has called for the appointment of an ombudsman to help relatives aggrieved by media coverage.

An ombudsman system was introduced in the Republic of Ireland four years ago.

Dooley said of Leveson: "The current inquiry represents an opportunity to see how we can improve and how journalism can become more accountable. We fully support the concept of a Press ombudsman based on the model which has proved so successful in the Republic of Ireland. We do not believe that the current PCC model is capable of reform.

"A new regulatory body and the creation of an Office of Press Ombudsman is something we are exploring and we will be giving evidence on this point to Lord Leveson. We do not at this stage see the need for a separate ombudsman for Northern Ireland. Part of the work of the new ombudsman would be to draw up new guidelines and to work with the media and civic society – that might include guidelines on the type of issues raised. We would welcome the opportunity to meet SAMM NI and will be in contacting the organisation in the coming weeks."

NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet will present the union’s proposal for a press ombudsman to the Leveson Inquiry.

Dooley in response to a report by SAMM NI said: “Journalists covering murder and manslaughter should always treat relatives, friends and colleagues with sensitivity. Throughout the Troubles reporters, photographers and editors have tried to demonstrate care and compassion in extremely harrowing circumstances.

"Certainly there may have been lapses of judgment but for NUJ members working on the ground covering the Troubles represented a daily challenge to act in the public interest while respecting the privacy of individuals. "

In a new report, SAMM NI is calling for a new code of conduct that would see journalists:

Recognise a family's fears that speaking to the media might prejudice a legal case.
Refrain from intrusion at funerals, or "door stepping" family members for information or interviews.
Be honest and not mislead anyone in pursuit of an interview with a family member.
Acknowledge it is not appropriate to attempt direct contact with families, but to use the official intermediaries, such as police family liaison officers.
Refrain from publishing unsubstantiated rumour and stick to known facts.
Ensure families have an opportunity before publication to satisfy themselves with the factual accuracy of stories, without prejudice to the editorial independence of the publication.
Seek approval for the use of all photography relating to the loved one and the circumstances of their death.
Not publish distressing photographs, such as the removal of a loved one's remains in a body bag.
Warn families if there is an intention to run stories or photography relating to the death of their loved one, weeks, months and years later.

Times and Sunday Times free home delivery deal

2012-01-18T19:06:00.004Z

The Times and the Sunday Times is to offer London readers a free home delivery deal for new subscribers.

Next week a marketing campaign launches which will offer new subscribers throughout London the opportunity of having their newspaper delivered free of charge for three months.

The Times has been running a home delivery service since 2008, however this is the first time the free trial will be offered along with a subscription price. Previously customers paid full cover price.

Under the new deal, copies of The Times are guaranteed to be hand delivered, couriered by branded vans, before 7am to addresses within the M25 area on a free three month trial.

Archant launches readers' community news site

2012-01-18T10:36:00.006Z

Archant has launched a community news platform iwitness24 that it says will transform the way it gathers news by allowing readers to contribute pictures and videos.

This material is published on a standalone website – but Archant says it is also a quick and easy way to promote the material into the company's own newspapers and websites.

Archant teamed up with Citizenside to build a platform that makes it easy for readers to connect with their local titles.

It says the technology will allow Archant’s readers to better connect with the group’s 64 local newspapers across the UK and via the iwitness24 site and iPhone and Android applications, readers have already begun sharing geotagged photos, videos and text articles directly with their local newsrooms.

James Foster, editorial director of Archant Norfolk, who led the project, said: “This is about reaching out to our readers and engaging with them directly. We know people are eager to share material with us but at the moment we just publish an email address and it’s hit and miss whether anybody sees their content.

“It’s about getting news and pictures we wouldn’t otherwise get, and also using our readers to send us stuff we would miss. Whether it’s a picture from a community group activity or a fire, we know that by engaging with our audience and telling them how much we value their contributions, we can add to the richness of the material that we produce.

“It’s not about replacing existing content but about adding to our huge mix of reader content – community news exists in every newspaper. This puts it into the digital age and tells our readers our serious we are about them.

“For example, our best reader picture of 2011 was of a burning bus. By the time our staff photographer got to the scene, the fire had been put out. Both pictures are great, but the flames made it so much more dramatic and unless we invent a time travel machine, we always risk missing those pictures.”

The website comes with smartphone apps. More than 100 people have signed up after just one day. And one picture has prompted an investigation after a reader sent in picture of litter dumped in a river in Norwich.

Foster said: “A reader sent us a picture of how bad the litter was in the river. We wouldn’t have thought of it, and we were able to harness our news journalists to write the story but the idea was prompted by a reader. It will certainly be an element on the front page.”

A dedicated room for readers has been created in Archant’s Norwich headquarters and there will shortly be launched an iwitness roadshow to tour the towns and villages to show people how it works.

The platform includes a social gaming element which means that reader’s contributions are measured and tracked and when they reach certain levels, different rewards are triggered.

“We offer a variety of different rewards, It could vary from a substantial cash commission on a scoop picture to asking a regular contributor to join a reader’s panel to meet the editor and shape the future of their title,” said Foster.

The platform is divided into 7 regional sub-communities, and the “Calls for Witnesses” tool allows Archant to send geotargetted news alerts to members within 1 km of breaking news events to ask for their help in coverage. Other features include a one-click sign in with Facebook Connect, and the ability to follow members in the community and see their updates in a Facebook-like activity feed.

Philippe Checinski, co-founder of Citizenside adds, “We are very excited to be launching with Archant as our first partner in the UK. They have really taken the platform and run with it, and we can’t wait to see what new ways they’ll find to get closer to their audience through iwitness24.”

The slogan of iwitness24 is “your news is our news”.

Archant's announcement comes at a time when it is planning to make a number of staff photographers redundant. (See posted comment below).

Scottish independence referendum tops the news

2012-01-18T00:01:00.001Z

Plans to hold a referendum on Scottish independence dominated the news for the week ending Sunday, January 15, according to journalisted.

First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond announces plan to hold independence referendum in autumn of 2014, was covered in 225 articles; Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney wins the New Hampshire primary, 146 articles; the Leveson Inquiry into press ethics and phone hacking continues, 124 articles; the cruise liner Costa Concordia capsizes off Isola del Giglio, Italy, 102 articles.

Covered little, according to journalisted, were MPs to hold an inquiry into racism in sport, and will hear evidence in March, 23 articles; Turkish authorities charge the Duchess of York with secretly filming orphans for 2008 TV documentary, 22 articles; TVShack student founder Richard O’Dwyer faces extradition to the United States, 21 articles; and French ferry firm SeaFrance goes into liquidation, 13 articles.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visits Venezuela as part of his Latin American tour, generated only 10 articles; dozens killed in bomb blast in Karbala, Iraq, 6 articles; boundary changes in Welsh constituencies proposed, cutting the number of Welsh MPs from 40 to 30, 6 articles; 15 arrests are made following clashes between English Defence League supporters and youths in East London, 3 articles; and police remove protestors from St. Peter’s Square, Rome, 1 article.

Rusbridger backs conscience clause for journalists

2012-01-17T16:15:00.010Z

Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger has backed the idea of a conscience clause in work contracts to protect journalists from being sacked if they refuse to do journalism which is unethical.

Asked today at the Leveson Inquiry if he supported a conscience clause, Rusbridger said he did and that he thought there was "unease" among a lot of journalists at the News of the World about what was going on at the paper.

He said there ought to be a way for journalists to say that unethical jobs did not fit with their professional code or conscience.

Lord Justice Leveson intervened to say he thought a conscience clause would be of "limited value" because, once their cover was out, while you could protect people in law it was quite difficult to protect them from insidious issues.

Rusbridger replied: "I hope a union or staff association could give protection to anyone who triggered that [conscience] clause."

He said of the newspaper industry: "We've been under regulated and over legislated."

The NUJ has long campaigned for a conscience clause in contracts to protect journalists who refuse to breach the union's Code of Conduct.

Trinity Mirror chief executive Sly Bailey told Leveson yesterday that she "might" consider whether a conscience clause should be inserted into Trinity Mirror employees' contracts.
See also, How a conscience clause could fill the ethical vacuum in the newsroom.

Belfast Tel holiday promo gets that sinking feeling

2012-01-17T15:23:00.006Z

Sometimes ads and front page news collide. Like this holiday promo from the Belfast Telegraph, the newspaper that covers the city that built Titanic. Via Steve Dyson.

Bauer behind wannabe journalists reality tv show

2012-01-17T14:29:00.011Z

Bauer Media has joined forces with production company Twofour to create a new reality show called The Exclusives for ITV2 in which six wannabe journalists compete for a one year contract with the magazine publisher, which produces titles such as Closer, heat and FHM.

According to a Bauer press release: "The Exclusives’ will showcase the fast-paced and competitive world of magazine publishing, plus the kind of talent needed to make it."

It adds: "Each trainee will learn to hone their skills working closely with the successful teams behind some of the UK’s best known magazines including heat, FHM, Closer, more!, Kerrang! and Empire. They will be given incredible backstage access to some of the most high profile and glamorous events of the year, and will be coached and mentored in the crafts of interviewing, organising photo shoots and connecting with their reader."

Bauer Media says it will cover and promote the programme across its magazine, online and radio portfolios. The series of seven one-hour programmes is made by the Twofour team behind Educating Essex and will be broadcast later this year.

Abby Carvosso, MD lifestyle & advertising, Bauer Media, commented: “This breakthrough media partnership will deliver an exciting new TV programme that shows what it really takes to create the most exciting magazines in the country. We’re on the hunt for a gutsy, fearless and talented individual who stands out from the crowd and we’re sure it will be a great watch!"

I asked Bauer if the six wannabe journalists would be paid, or was it like work experience? A spokeswoman told me: "The six journalists do not get paid during the show so in a sense yes, it can be seen as work experience but with the added opportunity to gain a full time contract with Bauer Media. The winner of the 12-month journalism contract with Bauer Media will of course be paid for their job."

Ian Hislop speaks up for the 'Street of Shame'

2012-01-17T11:00:00.008Z

Private Eye editor Ian Hislop spoke up for a free press when he appeared before the Leveson Inquiry today.

Hislop, asked what he thought of the inquiry so far, said when it started and heard evidence from celebrities "my overall feeling was that might be it for the press."

He said there was such revulsion from the public that there was a view to "close down the lot."

But Hislop told Lord Justice Leveson he wanted to "put in a plea for a free press" which was "not always very pretty."

Hislop urged: "I hope this inquiry does not throw out the baby with the bathwater."

The Private Eye editor also lashed out at journalism being given away free on the internet. He said he didn't see why journalism, which was at its best "a noble craft," should be given away for free.

Hislop told the inquiry that Private Eye's French equivalent, Le Canard enchaîné, had a website which just said "go and buy the paper."

Newsquest journalists take action over pay freeze

2012-01-17T10:20:00.007Z

NUJ members at Newsquest-owned Essex County Newspapers, based in Colchester, have voted in favour of strike action and action short of a strike over pay.

It comes as the NUJ reports that Newsquest journalists across the country are facing another pay freeze, with reviews due to be carried out later in the year.

The Essex journalists will take short of strike action tomorrow by holding an hour-long mandatory chapel meeting to protest at what the NUJ says is the company’s failure to adequately negotiate over pay and plans to introduce a single pay anniversary that will leave some staff waiting until June 2013 before any wage increases are considered.

Will Lodge, FoC at Colchester, said the chapel was still committed to talks with management but believed a potential third year out of four with no pay rise was unsustainable for members.

He said: “Members don’t want to take action but feel they have been left with little choice as their pay packets continue to shrink compared to the cost of living. Communication with management is on-going and we hope to avoid strike action. The chapel meeting discussions tomorrow will be about our next steps and is not intended to be disruptive.”

NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said: "The action in Essex is taking place as journalists at Newsquest centres around the country are hearing the news that their pay will be frozen, with reviews carried out later in the year.

"If no pay awards are made in 2012 it will be the third year in four that Newsquest journalists’ salaries have stood still. While thousands of staff were forced into the second year of a pay freeze in 2009, company accounts show that the pay of the firm’s chief executive Paul Davidson rose by 21.5% to £609,000."

Newspaper headlines: More great boobs exposed

2012-01-17T00:50:00.001Z

Here's some great newspaper headline mishaps from an old Private Eye book - the Bumper Book of Boobs. The collection covers 1962-73.

Found: The News of the World's greatest headline

2012-01-16T15:20:00.003Z

Found in an old copy of Private Eye's Bumper Book of Boobs, what many regard as the News of the World's greatest headline.

New paper launches this week in Great Yarmouth

2012-01-16T00:01:00.000Z

A new independent local newspaper is due to launch in Norfolk on Thursday (January 19) covering Great Yarmouth and Gorleston.

The Great Yarmouth & Gorleston Gazette is being produced by MGMT Media based in Great Yarmouth which describes itself as Norfolk's "newest media company offering a wide range of products and services to the local community".

The Gazette will be a free paper with a planned distribution of 50,000. It says it will contain classifieds, advertising for property, jobs and motors as well as local news.

It will be up against Archant's long established paid-for Great Yarmouth Mercury and free Yarmouth Advertiser.

Theatre claims East Anglian Daily Times editorial staff cuts will bring curtain down on arts coverage

2012-01-15T12:17:00.017Z

The New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich is urging readers of the East Anglian Daily Times to protest at cuts in arts coverage it says will come as a result of the latest round of 14 redundancies at Archant Suffolk, publisher of the EADT and the Ipswich Star.

It is believed that the role of EADT arts' editor will go in the cuts to editorial staff.

A posting on the the New Wolsey Theatre's website says it is concerned "to hear of an apparent strategy by the East Anglian Daily Times to abandon all arts coverage."

It continues: "The arts form a vital part not only of the Cultural Life of this region but of its economic prosperity as well. At a time of intense economic pressure Suffolk County Council recently protected the Arts from its programme of cuts precisely because it recognised the important contribution the Arts make to the region's economy.

"We know from our experience and research that our customers look to the EADT for information and features about the Arts, particularly from the popular Saturday edition of the paper. The removal of all informed cultural commentary, reviews and information can only make the paper a less attractive purchase for the customers of the EADT.

"At a time when arts activity in the region is growing in diversity, vitality and ambition, when its economic contribution is being recognised alongside its place in creating an attractive social and cultural environment, it seems a very retrograde step for the EADT to be removing itself from this vital and expanding area of, excitement, commentary and debate.

"For the health of the cultural scene within the region, the organisations like ourselves which rely on the coverage and commentary that EADT provide, and the future health of your own publication we urge the EADT to reconsider."

It then urges readers to write to EADT editor Terry Hunt.

The NUJ chapel at the Archant titles in Suffolk has called on the jobs of the editors and deputy editors at the EADT and Star to be merged to save some of the 14 editorial posts under threat.

Welcome Burnley fans: The answer is this...

2012-01-14T00:01:00.003Z

I noticed a lot of action on my website last night looking at a story about the first issue of the Sunday Times Magazine.

Published as the Sunday Times Colour Section on February 4 1962, the magazine featured 11 shots of model Jean Shrimpton by David Bailey, and one of Burnley football legend Jimmy McIlroy.

The reason for the sudden interest. A quiz question on the Burnley thread of the Footymad website asking: "What ground breaking event links Jean 'The Shrimp' Shrimpton and Jimmy McIlroy?"

Now you know.

Who at the Leveson Inquiry reads the red-tops?

2012-01-13T12:50:00.013Z

I've written an article for TheMediaBriefing wondering how many of those at the Leveson Inquiry, from Lord Leveson, his panel of experts and the lawyers downwards, are natural readers of the red-tops.

My guess is not many.

I think the time when newspaper readers happily consumed both posh papers and red-tops is over. This has led not just to a split between national newspapers but also their readerships.

Quotes of the Week: From Desmond to despair

2012-01-13T00:01:00.005Z

Richard Desmond at the Leveson Inquiry: "This inquiry is probably the worst thing that's ever happened for newspapers in my lifetime."

Kelvin MacKenzie at Leveson: "In the end newspapers are commercial animals; they try to make money... I would be in favour of fines – and heavy fines for newspapers that don't disclose the truth to the Press Complaints Commission."

Sun editor Dominic Mohan at Leveson: “One thing I would ask out of this inquiry is... that there’s a level playing field in terms of the way they’re dealt with [the internet and press], because I do think it could be a potentially mortal blow to the newspaper industry that’s already wounded. I think the combination of an over regulated press with an unregulated internet is a very, very worrying thought for an industry that employs many thousands of people.”

GingerElvis on Twitter: " If I was Leveson, the main conclusion I'd draw from the inquiry so far is the press is full of self-important liars with double standards."

Lord Justice Leveson: "There have been wake up calls in the past and everyone has just drifted off again...I hope that the business of journalists, and journalism, is considering it [regulatory reform] on the basis that it has to work for them but it will also have to work for the public...but it won't do just to think one can tinker around the edges."

Roy Greenslade on Leveson in the London Evening Standard: "It has the appearance of a judicial inquiry. Yet the reality is less credible. To be candid, it is one giant fishing expedition in which the participants seem to have no idea how to catch anything, let alone what they should be catching."

Toby Young on Leveson in the Spectator: "I hate to see the red-tops go down without a fight. Watching one tabloid editor after another abase themselves before the inquiry is a dispiriting sight, reminiscent of a Stalinist show trial in which those who've fallen out of political favour admit their guilt before being led off to the gallows. How much more satisfying it would be to see the red-tops engaging in a last hurrah, using every weapon at their arsenal to ridicule Lord Justice Leveson and his army of pompous lawyers."

Rupert Murdoch on Twitter: "Many questions and jokes about My Space.simple answer - we screwed up in every way possible, learned lots of valuable expensive lessons."

Northern Echo editor Peter Barron blogging about using Twitter to help design the paper's front page: "The interaction from followers has been remarkable and new followers have joined during the process. Some comments have influenced the look of the page, with suggested changes and ideas being taken on board."

AA Gill in the Sunday Times reviews Hacks, Channel 4's comedy on phone hacking: "This effort, even by the woe-begone standards of rushed comic parody, was pathetic, humourless, limp, predictable and toothless without anger, righteousness or even a point of view. It wouldn’t have passed muster as an episode of Drop the Dead Donkey. It looked like a skit at the Guardian’s Christmas party."

Guardian media editor Dan Sabbagh covering the Leveson Inquiry on Twitter: "Despair. My industry."

Toby Young: 'Leveson like a Stalinist show trial'

2012-01-12T12:17:00.010Z

Toby Young in this week's Spectator compares the Leveson Inquiry to a "Stalinist show trial" and urges the red-tops to fight back and make a glorious last stand.

He writes: "Maybe the internet will destroy the tabloid press willy-nilly, just as it will destroy the broadsheets in due course, and anyone who thinks otherwise is being naive.

"Nevertheless, I hate to see the red-tops go down without a fight. Watching one tabloid editor after another abase themselves before the inquiry is a dispiriting sight, reminiscent of a Stalinist show trial in which those who've fallen out of political favour admit their guilt before being led off to the gallows.

"How much more satisfying it would be to see the red-tops engaging in a last hurrah, using every weapon at their arsenal to ridicule Lord Justice Leveson and his army of pompous lawyers.

"Yes, it might have been tantamount to to signing their own death warrants, but if you're going to die anyway, why not go out in a blaze of glory?

"It would have been the tabloid version of Rorke's Drift. And perhaps it would have brought the public to their senses, and encouraged them to rally behind then tabloids and remember our national sense of fun."

Young concludes: "Meanwhile, the show trial continues, with another vanload of ink-stained wretches waiting in the dock."

Belfast court backs BBC over Real IRA parade film

2012-01-12T11:40:00.005Z

The NUJ has welcomed the decision of the Belfast Recorder not to order the BBC to hand over video shot at a Real IRA parade in Derry in April 2011 to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Judge Tom Burgess ruled that he had been given insufficient evidence by the police to prove the video could assist experts in identifying masked men and that the PSNI had failed to show that the video would be of substantial value in its investigation.

NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said the ruling was “extremely significant” and expressed the hope that it would “send a signal to the PSNI that trawling exercises had no place in police investigations.” The police had claimed it could be used to identify masked men by the way they walked or by facial features under balaclavas. The case arose after 10 men dressed in paramilitary uniform paraded in Derry's City cemetery at a 32 County Sovereignty movement commemoration.

The BBC challenged the application for the handing over of unbroadcast material, on the grounds doing so would endanger its staff. The BBC also claimed that the PSNI was fully aware of the likely nature of the parade and had failed to prevent it or film it themselves.

Off with their eds! NUJ's revolutionary cuts plan

2012-01-12T00:01:00.003Z

NUJ members at two Archant newspapers are calling for cuts to its team of editors as an alternative to proposals to reduce the rest of the editorial team by 14.

Archant Suffolk, which owns the Ipswich Evening Star and the East Anglian Daily Times, plans to change the Star from a six-day-a-week to a five-day-a-week operation, in order to cut costs. It also said that 14 editorial jobs will have to go.

Journalists are now arguing that as the editorial workforce of the two papers has been merged, so should the roles of the papers' two editors and two deputies.

NUJ members have suggested alternative proposals to management, that two of the editors’ jobs should go, and the remaining editors should work for both papers like the rest of the staff.

The NUJ Chapel claims this is the "lesser of two evils" and will have far less impact on the papers than the changes proposed by management.

In a statement it said: "Regrettably, we think merging the editors' posts is necessary, and is a viable alternative to what the company is proposing, which we think will be very damaging to both papers. We recognise the company has a difficult balancing act and we have welcomed its decision to try to keep the Star as close to a daily as possible. However, it has become a very top-heavy organisation and we believe that the current management structure is unsustainable given the costs of retaining it.

"This change is inevitable, and the current economic situation is unfortunately hastening the need for a brave decision by management to move to this point. If the papers need to become leaner, let's start at the top, not the bottom. We have already said we would accept the loss of three 'natural wastage posts' as long as it doesn't have an adverse impact on other staff's workloads, and that leaves 11 jobs at stake. Ultimately, it's 11 jobs versus two, and we believe those 11 are more vital to the future of the newspapers."

French tv journalist killed covering Syrian uprising

2012-01-11T17:28:00.012Z

Reporters Without Borders says French reporter Gilles Jacquier of the French TV station France 2 was killed today by a shell or rocket in Syria.

Jacquier was on a government-authorised reporting visit with other journalists in the city of Homs, one of the bastions of anti-government protest in Syria.

Reporters Without Borders said: “Jacquier is the first foreign journalist to be killed in Syria since the start of the uprising on 15 March 2011.

“Our thoughts are with his family and colleagues. We call on the authorities to shed all possible light on this tragic event with help from the Arab League’s observers.”

A witness said a shell or rocket landed on the group of journalists while they were at the border between the Akrama Al-Jedida and Al-Nuzha neighbourhoods in southern Homs, killing Jacquier on the spot and wounding many other people, including journalists. According to an AFP correspondent, dutch photographer Steven Visner sustained an eye injury.

A roving foreign correspondent for France 2 since 1999, Jacquier had covered fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo and Israel, and was in Syria to do a report for the France 2 programme “Envoyé Spécial.”

A Syrian professional journalist and two Syrian citizen journalists have also been killed since the start of the uprising in Syria, Reporters Without Borders says.

Pic: Reporters Without Borders

It's grim getting your own paper's address wrong

2012-01-11T11:49:00.013Z

Oh dear! It's good news that page production has returned to the Grimsby Telegraph but a pity the story about it managed to publish the wrong address for the paper.

My man on the Grimsby docks tells me that the Telegraph mangled its own address in the paper and on its website (top).

As its entry on the Newspaper Society database shows (bottom), the Grimsby Telegraph is based in Cleethorpe Road, Grimsby - not Grimsby Road, Cleethorpes.

Thank goodness the subs are back! Just hope they can find the office.

Stephen Lawrence murder verdict dominates news

2012-01-10T17:10:00.004Z

The Stephen Lawrence murder trial dominated the news for the week ending Sunday, January 8, according to journalisted.

Gary Dobson and David Norris found guilty of the murder of Stephen Lawrence, generated 336 articles; the faulty PIP breast implants debacle, 141 articles; Mitt Romney narrowly wins Iowa caucus in race for Republican presidential candidacy, 113 articles; Diane Abbott causes controversy on Twitter, 75 articles; and 100mph+ winds sweep across Britain, leaving thousands without electricity, 71 articles.

Covered little, according to journalisted, were Jamaican Prime Minister vows to drop British monarch as head of state, 20 articles; dozens killed in suicide bomb attack in Damascus, 17 articles; in Hungary, thousands take to the street to protest against new constitution, 16 articles; David Cameron apologises after Tourette’s jibe, 15 articles; in Nigeria, thousands protest against the scrapping of fuel subsidies, 15 articles; jury acquits Michael Peacock in landmark obscenity trial, 4 articles; and the world’s first ‘chimeric’ monkeys are born, 4 articles.

NUJ opts for press ombudsman to replace PCC

2012-01-10T00:01:00.011Z

The NUJ's national executive wants an ombudsman and a new press regulatory body containing working journalists to replace the Press Complaints Commission.

The union's National Executive Council has outlined its preference for how the press should be policed as the NUJ prepares to make a detailed submission to the Leveson Inquiry on what future regulatory regime it wants.

The NUJ will argue that the PCC should be scrapped and be replaced by an ombudsman backed by a new regulatory body made up of working journalists, publishers and members of the public.

The ombudsman model is seen by the NUJ as a success in Ireland where the Press Council of Ireland and a press ombudsman system was established four years ago.

Under the Irish system, the ombudsman is appointed by the Press Council of Ireland, whose members include working journalists, academics, lawyers and an NUJ official. The Press Council of Ireland aims to resolve complaints that have not been settled by the ombudsman. The current Irish press ombudsman is an NUJ member.

Although the PCC includes editors among its members it does not, unlike its predecessor the Press Council, include NUJ representatives.

Another major plank of the union's submission to Leveson is its long standing call for a "conscience clause" for journalists which would protect them from being sacked for refusing to do unethical journalism that was in breach of the NUJ's Code of Conduct.

An NEC member said the NUJ's proposals for Leveson are still at the outline stage with lots of detail needed to be added.

MacKenzie: 'Fine newspapers that lie to the PCC'

2012-01-09T11:05:00.015Z

Former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie told the Leveson Inquiry today that publishers who lied to the Press Complaints Commission should face "heavy fines".

He said: "I would be favour of heavy fines for newspapers that didn't disclose the truth to the PCC...they were lied to by News International, that was quite wrong and they should pay a commercial penalty for that.

"The threat of a financial penalty will have a straightforward effect on newspapers."

MacKenzie used his appearance to have another bash at the Guardian. He said that the Guardian had got the story claiming News of the World journalists deleted Milly Dolwler's phone hacking messages "completely wrong" and had buried the fact on page 10.

MacKenzie suggested if the Sun had got the same story wrong it could have come very close to being shut down. He also claimed: "People view the Sun at the bottom of the pile and papers like the Guardian as the top of the pile."

MacKenzie said if phone hacking had been used show that Tony Blair was circumventing his Cabinet with plans to go to war it would have a different impact depending which paper published it.

"If you publish it in the Sun you get six months' jail and if you publish it in the Guardian you get a Pulitzer prize," he claimed.

Robert Jay QC, counsel for the Leveson Inquiry, denied a claim made by ex-News of the World journalist Neville Thurlbeck on his blog that he told him in private that the NoW was "smut". Jay said he was referring to a particular NoW story and not the paper as a whole.

New media awards launched by TheMediaBriefing

2012-01-09T09:08:00.004Z

Online media industry website TheMediaBriefing is launching the British Media Awards.

They are claimed to be the first pan-industry media awards celebrating modern news, information and entertainment publishing and designed to reward and recognise innovation and ingenuity from titles, people, teams and projects across the UK media.

The awards will take place at Arsenal FC’s Emirates Stadium in London on April 26th.

TheMediaBriefing says the awards will highlight how media business managers are solving the big questions affecting the media industry both online and offline, such as how to charge for content? What to do with new platforms for content distribution? How to use the explosion in social marketing and social communities? How to reinvigorate the old media brands and formats? How to create new organisation and cost structures to meet the needs of this new media age?

The awards categories include Overall Media Innovation of the Year; Social Media Marketing Innovation; Paid Content Innovation; Online Advertising Innovation; Best use of Mobile; Most Innovative New Technology for Media Owners; B2B Innovator of the Year; Consumer Magazine Innovator of the Year; Newspaper Innovator of the Year; Broadcast Industry Innovator of the Year; Digital Media Innovator of the Year; Marketing Innovator of the Year; Commercial Team of the Year; Media Innovator of the year; and Media Company of the Year.

Ed: 'Hold the front page while Twitter has a look'

2012-01-08T20:25:00.015Z

Peter Barron, the editor of the Northern Echo, has blogged about how he used Twitter to help design Saturday's front page of his paper.

Saturday's splash about the threat of Darlington Football Cub - "The Quakers" - being forced to close after 128 years was based on Baron's idea for a graphic incorporating a ref's whistle.

The front page was shown for comments on Twitter while it was being designed.

Barron blogged: "It's been a really interesting experiment tonight - building the Northern Echo front page in stages on Twitter.

"The interaction from followers has been remarkable and new followers have joined during the process.

"Some comments have influenced the look of the page, with suggested changes and ideas being taken on board.

"I'm not sure if it's been done elsewhere but it's been fun and I'll definitely do it again. Sports editor Nick Loughlin followed suit with the sport front page and has also had good reaction."

Barron added: "I had the idea to incorporate the whistle in the early hours of the morning when I couldn't sleep and remembered I had one in a drawer somewhere.

"My special thanks to front page sub-editor Jo Kelly who put up with her work being in the Twitter spotlight...Thanks also to graphic artist Chris Moran for working on the central graphic."

Sunday Times' AA Gill: 'I was phone hacked'

2012-01-08T12:34:00.011Z

Sunday Times critic AA Gill reveals in the paper that he was a victim of phone hacking.

Gill in a scathing review of Channel 4's Hacks, the comedy about the hacking scandal, writes: "Hacks was TV’s satirical response to the phone-hacking scandal. I should admit to a personal interest here: I am paid by News International and have been interviewed by the constabulary as apparently my phone was hacked."

Gill goes on to trash Hacks: "This effort, even by the woe-begone standards of rushed comic parody, was pathetic, humourless, limp, predictable and toothless without anger, righteousness or even a point of view. It wouldn’t have passed muster as an episode of Drop the Dead Donkey. It looked like a skit at the Guardian’s Christmas party.

"In the end, apparently, hacking was everyone’s fault — but mostly yours for electing politicians and buying papers. Nothing it produced was as entertaining as the simultaneous news that Rupert Murdoch has started tweeting."

The Sunday Times is behind a paywall.

Barry Fitzpatrick elected NUJ Deputy Gen Sec

2012-01-06T11:31:00.008Z

Barry Fitzpatrick, the NUJ's head of publishing, has been elected deputy general secretary of the NUJ beating Helen Gavaghan and Coventry freelance Chris Youett.

Fitzpatrick has long experience working for unions and was a Sogat official at the time of the bitter Wapping dispute when Rupert Murdoch sacked his Fleet Street printers.

Fitzpatrick got 2,444 votes; Youett 1,326; and Gavaghan 473. Total votes: 4,243.

The ballot had to be re-run at a cost of around £20,000 after problems emerged over membership data.

The ballot came after the former deputy Michelle Stanistreet took over as NUJ general secretary from Jeremy Dear, who decided not to seek re-election, last year.

Four front pages: Press pays tribute to Eve Arnold

2012-01-06T09:36:00.009Z

It is a fantastic tribute to Eve Arnold, the celebrated Magnum photographer who died yesterday aged 99, that she has pictures on the front of all four quality newspapers in the UK today.

While the Telegraph, The Times and the Guardian opt for her famous shots of Marilyn Monroe (top), the Independent goes for an Arnold picture of Malcolm X.

Magnum has a collection of Eve Arnold's pictures on its website.

Media Quotes of the Week: From the Mail's 'finest hour' to is it time to try a conscience clause?

2012-01-06T00:01:00.007Z

Jonathan Freedland in the Guardian: "He made an unlikely anti-racist campaigner, but there were few voices more critical in the demand for justice for Stephen Lawrence than Paul Dacre and the Daily Mail. It was the Mail's 1997 front page headline, branding Lawrence's alleged killers "Murderers", that helped make the case impossible to ignore. It was, without question, the Mail's finest hour."

Northern Echo editor Peter Barron on Twitter: "If I could nominate one front page which sets the bar in being proactive, campaigning and daring, The Mail's 'Murderers' would be it."

Daily Mirror associate editor Kevin Maguire on Twitter: "I remember the 1997 Daily Mail "Murderers" splash. Every journalist wished their paper had carried it."

Ex-News of the World political editor David Wooding on Twitter: "Congrats to D Mail on great campaign which brought killers of Stephen Lawrence to justice. Tabloids as force for good."

Tom Watson MP on Twitter links to the Mail's Lawrence victory story: "And here's a story involving the Daily Mail that should make you proud."

Tony Parsons on Twitter: "Congratulations to Hugh Grant and Steve Coogan for bringing Stephen Lawrence's killers to justice - oh, sorry, I mean the British press."

Richard Orange in a post on Press Gazette: "Dacre and crew should remember that no one is above the law. Exposing miscarriages of justice and unsafe convictions is a noble pursuit for investigative journalists. Branding suspects as guilty before any trial is to supplant the rule of law with the rule of the mob."

Ex-News of the World journalist Neville Thurlbeck on his blog writes about his appearance at the Leveson Inquiry: "The biggest sneer of all was reserved for the meeting room immediately before my appearance when Robert Jay QC introduced himself and announced that in his opinion, the News of the World was ‘nothing but smut’."

Sally King, MoC of the Newsquest South Essex chapel, on pay: “No-one takes voting for industrial action lightly, but members feel they have been ignored for too long. It is ridiculous that staff, who are graduates with post-graduate training and years of experience, are having to take second jobs just to meet bills. This year alone at this centre, we have had two members of staff leave the profession because they felt they just couldn’t afford to work here."

The Independent on investigations of email hacking: "The links discovered from the seized computers suggest that the email investigation could involve as many victims as those involved in the News of the World phone-hacking scandal."

Guardian's Josh Halliday on Twitter: "News Int tells me @Wendi_Deng is fake. It is an imposter. @rupertmurdoch is genuine."

Grey Cardigan in Press Gazette: "I've never understood office Secret Santas. Buy something for somebody you don't know that they won't want. Sounds like a Johnston Press business plan."

Tim Crook, senior lecturer in media law and ethics and head of radio at Goldsmiths, University of London, on the possible jailing of journalists for phone hacking: "I have argued for many years that human communication generates harm that is largely emotional and immaterial and that civil legal remedies and criminal sanctions should be proportionately restorative and avoid the temptation for popular penalism. Our penal institutions are overfull with young offenders and no useful social purpose would be served by feral youths being joined by the feral beasts of journalism."

Tony Harcup, teacher and researcher of journalism at Sheffield University: "A conscience clause will not heal all of journalism’s ills. It is a fairly modest proposal, addressing just one element of the complex relationship between ethics and journalism. But, given the ethical vacuum that appears to have been created in certain newsrooms by the almost totally unconstrained management prerogative that followed Rupert Murdoch’s victory at Wapping in 1986, isn’t it time we gave it a try?"

NB. Last two quotes are taken from articles in THE PHONE HACKING SCANDAL; JOURNALISM ON TRIAL': Edited by Richard Lance Keeble and John Mair, Arima Publishing, Bury St Edmunds, which will be published in February 2012. Available via Amazon.

Colin Myler made editor-in-chief of NY Daily News

2012-01-04T20:36:00.013Z

Colin Myler, the last editor of the News of the World, has been appointed editor-in-chief of the New York Daily News. He replaces Kevin Convey, who was appointed in 2010.

According to The New York Times, in an e-mail to the staff, Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman said: “The New York Daily News is a great institution of American journalism which will only get better under the leadership of Colin.”

Myler was appointed executive editor of the New York Post in 2001 but left in 2007 to take over as editor of the News of the World after Andy Coulson resigned folowing the royal phone hacking affair.

Or as the New York Daily News reported it at the time: 'TOP EDITOR FLEES POST FOR LONDON TABLOID.'

Tim Crook: 'Jailing journalists over phone hacking scandal would serve no useful social purpose'

2012-01-04T10:41:00.003Z

Sending journalists to jail over phone hacking would serve no useful social purpose, academic and journalist Tim Crook (left) argues in one of the articles in a forthcoming book on the hacking scandal.

Crook, senior lecturer in media law and ethics and head of radio at Goldsmiths, University of London, also claims that anger and prejudice directed at British journalists and journalism as a result of the hacking scandal is in danger of "consuming the oxygen of libertarian tolerance".

He writes: "The Hackgate scandal and Leveson Inquiry are profoundly humiliating experiences for any British journalist. The charge, with compelling evidence, that reporters and media institutions with the help of private detectives and corrupt police officers obtained scandalous stories about celebrities and head-start ‘scoops’ in murder inquiries by snooping on mobile phone messaging, planting viruses to hack computer email accounts, and passing wads of cash to bribe public servants, is shameful.

"British journalism is considered socially so bad it needs scores of detectives in multiple police inquiries, parliamentary committees, and a team of lawyers headed by an Appeal Court Judge to investigate and fashion regulatory solutions. Crimes may well be prosecuted at the Crown Court. There is the approaching vista, should arrests lead to charges, of journalists and their former editors appearing for trial in the dock of the Old Bailey."

But Crook adds: "I have argued for many years that human communication generates harm that is largely emotional and immaterial and that civil legal remedies and criminal sanctions should be proportionately restorative and avoid the temptation for popular penalism. Our penal institutions are overfull with young offenders and no useful social purpose would be served by feral youths being joined by the feral beasts of journalism."

He writes: "My late father always used to say there was nothing wrong with the offensive, embarrassing and uncomfortable breeze of truth apart from the halitosis of social attitude. I gladly quoted him in Comparative Media Law and Ethics as stating that ‘There are only two steps from tyranny: the first is when you deny a journalist the right to ask unpopular questions: the second is when you deny a lawyer the right to defend unpopular causes’.

"Campaigning Guardian journalist Nick Davies and tenacious solicitor Mark Lewis had every right to think they might have been in these positions when they stood strong against a tide of political and legal skepticism and condemnatory pressure.

"However, I fear that the aggression and retributive atmosphere of the Hackgate scandal and Leveson Inquiry, the white heat of anger and prejudice directed at British journalists and journalism is consuming the oxygen of libertarian tolerance and confidence in giving the media a necessary though potentially uncomfortable freedom without responsibility.

"Could it be that inquiry, negotiation, mediation, arbitration, conciliation, apology, forgiveness and emotional restitution are solutions that prey too greatly on the egos of the high and mighty? Surely restorative justice and media freedom are preferred options to the multi-million pound adjudicatory sequestration and incarceration of the scoundrels and miscreants of British journalism?"

Crook also argues that a "conscience clause" in journalists' contracts is "a low-cost and constructive reform measure that might be seen as a threat to the body politic, political establishment and media institutions.

"The individual journalist’s conscience clause if made mandatory in all employee contracts (whether staff, contract or casual) would challenge editorial autocracy and oppressive, unlawful, unethical, immoral media professional cultures that serve extremist and cynical business and political agendas.

"The conscience clause has always been advanced and campaigned for by the NUJ – in the past an effective frame for ethical and professional mentoring and the first self-regulator. The clause would move the battleground on irresponsibility and criminality to the employment tribunal. Journalists and media employees would have the right to say no to breaking the law and breaching codes of ethics, a right to compensation for reprisal by sacking, and black-listing, and proper employment law protection."

Crook claims: "Year by year statutes and case law have cumulatively bitten on and restricted the tactics and content of the tabloid market. Leveson might be invited to consider whether the harsh English libel laws, so expensive and claimant friendly, drove scandal mongers to break the law in the pursuit of information that could be guaranteed to be the truth rather than merely provable on the balance of probabilities."

He warns: "Hackgate is sapping News International of tens of millions of pounds instead of investing in new openings for journalism students at university, and the high quality investigative journalism seen as the holy grail of the fourth estate’s democratic function."

THE PHONE HACKING SCANDAL; JOURNALISM ON TRIAL': Edited by Richard Lance Keeble and John Mair, Arima Publishing, Bury St Edmunds, will be published in February 2012. Available via Amazon.
See also: Tony Harcup: How a conscience clause for journalists could help fill the ethical vacuum in the newsroom

Guardian praises the Daily Mail's 'finest hour'

2012-01-04T08:32:00.012Z

The Guardian in an editorial today praises the Daily Mail for the stand it took over the murder of Stephen Lawrence.

The paper says: "The turning of the tide on the Lawrence case clearly owes more to Stephen Lawrence's parents than to anyone else. Their reactions to yesterday's result differed – Mrs Lawrence less reconciled, her former husband more relieved. Yet their common determination to win justice for their murdered son was the key, assisted, it should be said, by bold journalism from the Daily Mail. It did not simply keep the case in the public eye. It also became a national reprimand to the criminal justice and political system in a wider sense."

Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland also praises the Daily Mail today in an article defending the tabloids.

Freedland writes: "He made an unlikely anti-racist campaigner, but there were few voices more critical in the demand for justice for Stephen Lawrence than Paul Dacre and the Daily Mail. It was the Mail's 1997 front page headline, branding Lawrence's alleged killers "Murderers", that helped make the case impossible to ignore. It was, without question, the Mail's finest hour.

"The reminder is timely, after a year in which the reputation of tabloid newspapers has been battered. The phone-hacking scandal, and the subsequent Leveson inquiry which resumes next Monday, has painted a picture of a press that has slipped out of the gutter and into the sewer."

Freedland ends his article: "For a true democracy cannot leave knowledge in the hands of the elite few; it has to be spread widely. So, yes, it has made the most gruesome mistakes and, yes, those will require severe remedy – but Britain needs its popular press, now more than ever."

The Mail was also celebrated on Twitter for its campaign:

Northern Echo editor Peter Barron: "If I could nominate one front page which sets the bar in being proactive, campaigning and daring, The Mail's 'Murderers' would be it."

Daily Mirror associate editor Kevin Maguire: "I remember the 1997 Daily Mail "Murderers" splash. Every journalist wished their paper had carried it."

Ex-News of the World political editor David Wooding: "Congrats to D Mail on great campaign which brought killers of Stephen Lawrence to justice. Tabloids as force for good."

Tom Watson MP: "And here's a story involving the Daily Mail that should make you proud."

Journalist and novelist Tony Parsons: "Congratulations to Hugh Grant and Steve Coogan for bringing Stephen Lawrence's killers to justice - oh, sorry, I mean the British press."

The Daily Mail's campaign highlights

North Korea succession dominates news coverage

2012-01-03T16:26:00.005Z

The succession of Kim Jong-un in North Korea dominated the news in the week ending Sunday, January 1, according to journalisted.

The naming of Kim Jong-un as Supreme Commander of the military, generated 118 articles; Ronnie Corbett, Lorraine Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter and Alex Crawford among those who were awarded New Year Honours, 114 articles; Arab League observers monitor Syrian regime, 99 articles; and police investigate the murder of Anuj Bidve, 97 articles.

Covered little, according to journalisted, were 35 Kurdish civilians killed in a Turkish air strike, 11 articles; UK police to trial lie detector tests, 4 articles; and Egypt bans virginity tests used on female detainees, 4 articles.

Newsquest journalists in ballot for action over pay

2012-01-03T13:36:00.007Z

NUJ members at two Newsquest local newspaper centres are being balloted for industrial action over pay as the union claims experienced staff are leaving journalism because they can't manage on the low salaries.

The NUJ chapels at Essex County Newspapers in Colchester and Newsquest South East Essex say Newsquest has failed to negotiate adequately over pay.

The union says members are also concerned at plans by the company to impose a single pay anniversary for all editorial staff, which it claims would leave some members waiting until June 2013 before even being considered for a wage increase.

The announcement of the ballots in Essex comes as journalists at Newsquest centres around the UK are being their pay will be frozen, with reviews carried out later in the year, the NUJ says.

If no pay awards are made in 2012 it will be the third year in four that Newsquest journalists’ salaries have stood still.

The NUJ claims that while thousands of staff were forced into the second year of a pay freeze in 2009, company accounts show that the pay of Newsquest's chief executive Paul Davidson rose by 21.5% to £609,000.

Sally King, MoC of the Newsquest South Essex chapel, said: “No-one takes voting for industrial action lightly, but members feel they have been ignored for too long. It is ridiculous that staff, who are graduates with post-graduate training and years of experience, are having to take second jobs just to meet bills. This year alone at this centre, we have had two members of staff leave the profession because they felt they just couldn’t afford to work here.

“We recognise the economy is in a bad way and the company is not making the profits it has enjoyed in the past, but it is still a very profitable business, owned by one of the world’s most successful publishing companies. We believe more money could be made available to editorial staff.”

Will Lodge, FoC of the Newsquest North Essex chapel, added: “After two years of a pay freeze and a paltry two per cent rise last year, members are feeling the squeeze on their wallets. Wages are now 13 per cent below what they would be if they had matched inflation, equalling a £2,670 real-terms pay cut for someone on a £20,000 salary in 2008. This is without taking into account other factors such as increased tax contributions.

“Members are not opposed to standardising their pay dates, but are extremely concerned that people with a pay review in the second half of the year face waiting until June 2013 to be considered for a pay rise."

Harcup: How a conscience clause for journalists could help fill the ethical vacuum in the newsroom

2012-01-03T08:15:00.019Z

In a forthcoming book of articles on the phone hacking scandal, journalist and academic Tony Harcup (pictured) argues that given the "ethical vacuum" in some newsrooms post-Wapping it is time to give the NUJ's proposal for a conscience clause a try.

The NUJ argues that journalists need a conscience clause in their work contracts to protect them from being sacked if they refuse to do unethical journalism.

Harcup, who teaches and researches journalism at the University of Sheffield, writes: "The NUJ – under the leadership of former Express MoC Michelle Stanistreet, who in 2011 became the union’s general secretary – has used its presence at the Leveson Inquiry to once again raise the issue of a conscience clause.

"Given the climate created by Hackgate it is possible that the NUJ may now be pushing at a door that, if not exactly open, might be unlocked. Or at least less heavily bolted to keep it out. That being so, it is worth asking whether adding such a clause to journalists’ codes of practice could help to protect ethical journalism. The short answer is that we will never know unless we try it; the slightly longer answer is that the evidence points towards a qualified yes.

"It is not that a conscience clause would be a magic solution to what are perceived as journalism’s ethical shortcomings; it is not that all citizens nor indeed all journalists would necessarily agree on what those shortcomings might be; and it is not that such a clause would eliminate the grey areas of interpretation that are often where the real choices are made.

"Such a clause would be very unlikely to be ‘top of mind’ for the vast majority of journalists the vast majority of the time, and the chances are that it would be used very, very rarely if ever. But – and this certainly is a big but – its mere existence could help contribute to a healthier workplace culture within newsrooms in which questions can sometimes be asked and objections can occasionally be voiced without the foot soldiers of journalism (lowly reporters and photographers) fearing a verbal onslaught at best and being shown the door at worst."

Harcup adds: "The Leveson Inquiry heard allegations that a culture of bullying at the News of the World may have been one factor in the creation of a climate of fear and silence where ethical malpractice may have been concerned. In contrast, a workplace in which ethical concerns can be discussed by journalists both informally and formally if felt necessary, on either an individual or collective basis, can surely only be good for journalism and ethics alike. Isn’t the essence of journalism supposed to be about asking questions?"

He concludes: "A conscience clause as proposed by the NUJ, offering journalists some form of contractual protection, might be one small step in the direction of making such questioning more possible for more journalists than it has been in recent years.

"Such a clause could be added to the existing PCC editors’ code or to the code of any successor body that emerges post-Leveson and, while we are at it, why not to the Ofcom Broadcasting Code, the BBC Editorial Guidelines, and to the internal codes of those news organisations that issue their own? Precisely how it would be framed, worded and enforced would clearly require careful thought. However, it might be that the precise details could turn out to be of less significance than the symbolic value of such a clause because, even if it were to be rarely invoked, knowledge of its existence could help to empower journalists.

"Such knowledge could provoke a moment of reflection by any or all involved in the editorial process and that moment could turn out to have been a crucial one. You never know, such a pause for reflection might just be enough to prevent the next distasteful, unseemly or repugnant outrage at source before any damage is done either to the target or to journalism. It might facilitate the nipping in the bud of what could have grown into unethical journalism, before anyone is harmed, before it becomes a crisis, before judges and lawyers are once again brought in to pick through journalism’s dirty laundry basket in public.

"A conscience clause will not heal all of journalism’s ills. It is a fairly modest proposal, addressing just one element of the complex relationship between ethics and journalism. But, given the ethical vacuum that appears to have been created in certain newsrooms by the almost totally unconstrained management prerogative that followed Rupert Murdoch’s victory at Wapping in 1986, isn’t it time we gave it a try?"

Harcup also notes: "Back in 1931, the NUJ had appealed to newspaper proprietors and editors alike to refrain from instructing staff to use ‘distasteful and unseemly’ methods of covering stories or getting pictures, and the union went on to promise ‘to treat the case of a member who was dismissed for refusing to carry out instructions repugnant to his sense of decency, as one of victimization, ie to maintain him while getting fresh employment’.

"Shortly afterwards the NUJ established its code of ethical conduct for journalists, becoming the first body in the UK to do so; a good half century before national newspaper editors gathered in the backroom of the ‘last chance saloon’ to write their own code."

'THE PHONE HACKING SCANDAL; JOURNALISM ON TRIAL': Edited by Richard Lance Keeble and John Mair, Arima Publishing, Bury St Edmunds, will be published in February 2012. Available via Amazon.

Email hacking will be big story of 2012, says Indy

2012-01-02T09:42:00.004Z

The Independent is claiming in an exclusive today that email hacking will be this year's big story and may involve as many victims as the News of the World phone hacking scandal.

In a page one story, The Independent reports: "Police investigating computer hacking by private investigators commissioned by national newspapers have uncovered evidence that emails sent and received by Gordon Brown during his time as Chancellor were illegally accessed.

"Mr Brown's private communications, along with emails belonging to a former Labour adviser and lobbyist, Derek Draper, have been identified by Scotland Yard's Operation Tuleta team as potentially hacked material. They are currently looking at evidence from around 20 computers which hold data revealing that hundreds of individuals may have had their private emails hacked.

"The links discovered from the seized computers suggest that the email investigation could involve as many victims as those involved in the News of the World phone-hacking scandal.

"The eight-strong Tuleta team is looking at the possibility that several Fleet Street titles commissioned specialist private detectives to access computers."

Media Quotes of the Week: From Rod Liddle on Morgan and Mills to Quentin Letts on Coogan

2011-12-30T00:01:00.004Z

Rod Liddle in the Sunday Times: "The most difficult question for me right now is this: whose side should one take in the spat between Piers Morgan and Heather Mills? A hard one to call. It’s like a war between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan: you sort of half hope that both countries annihilate the other and nothing remains but a slightly toxic dust. Or you do if, like me, you are a singularly unpleasant individual with no notion of moral responsibility."

Roy Greenslade on his blog on Sun managing editor Richard Caseby's note to Alan Rusbridger accompanied by a toilet roll : "Caseby's squalid, scatological note plumbs new depths. It was a wholly disproportionate and disgusting response by a senior editorial executive to a single error. If people were to adopt a similar tactic when complaining about The Sun's catalogue of factual errors on any given week its office would be overflowing with toilet rolls."

Dan Sabbagh in the Guardian: "A million iPads and Kindles may have been unwrapped on Sunday – according to tentative analyst estimates – an influx of portable technology that is expected to hasten a decline in the already faltering sales of printed newspapers, adding pressure on traditional business models that have traditionally supported so many titles around the country."

Daily Mirror editor Richard Wallace on columnist Sue Carroll, who died on Christmas Day: "Although we knew this moment would come, it is still a great shock. Sue had faced her long and painful illness with enviable fortitude. Until the final few days she was still doing what she loved the most: reading the papers and giving her inimitable thoughts on the world around us - with, of course, the odd no-nonsense rant thrown in. Sue was part of the heart and soul of the Daily Mirror - and had a direct line to our readers. But she was also very close to some of us personally. So first and foremost we grieve a great friend."

JakeReesMogg on Twitter: "The longer one lingers on the pages of twitter the more one becomes aware of the number of frankly bonkers people on this delightful planet."

The Guardian in a leader on its Milly Dowler story:"We should have qualified our original reporting with an additional four words: "Reliable sources claim that." This would have been an accurate statement of the unchallenged position at the time, as opposed to the assertion of a fact that has, five months later, been questioned, if not actually disproved or denied. We doubt whether the inclusion of those words would have changed much. But not to have qualified the statement in this way was an error that we regret."

Fleetstreetfox on Twitter:"BREAKING NEWS: There isn't any. Go back to bed."

The Daily Mail's Quentin Letts suggests a New Year resolution for Steve Coogan: "Drop the self-pitying, victim-of-the-Press routine and stick to Alan Partridge."

The Best Media Quotes of the Year 2011

Guardian 'regret' over Milly Dowler hacking story

2011-12-23T09:12:00.009Z

The Guardian, in an editorial today, says it regrets that four additional words were missing from its original story (top) claiming that News of the World journalists had deleted the voicemails on Milly Dowler's phone that gave her family false hope that she was alive.

The editorial says: "That the Leveson inquiry has not been more full of surprises hitherto is down to the fact that there was such thorough and accurate reporting of the story in advance and from numerous civil court actions. Doubt has lately been raised about one key aspect of one story – whether News of the World journalists deleted the voice messages that gave Milly Dowler's parents false hope that their daughter might still be alive.

"We should have qualified our original reporting with an additional four words: "Reliable sources claim that." This would have been an accurate statement of the unchallenged position at the time, as opposed to the assertion of a fact that has, five months later, been questioned, if not actually disproved or denied. We doubt whether the inclusion of those words would have changed much. But not to have qualified the statement in this way was an error that we regret."

The editorial also says: "Now that Leveson is in full swing there are two mistakes the press can make. One is denial: that merely exacerbates the threat. An industry which can't see that something went seriously wrong self-evidently can't be trusted with self-regulation. The second mistake is to see Leveson merely as a threat rather than an opportunity. Of course, all journalists are anxious about restrictions that might hinder work which is genuinely in the public interest. But the judge has repeatedly said he is looking for constructive solutions and has no wish to restrict a free press. There may be a historic chance to address some of the hindrances and obstacles which genuinely do chill the press in this country. But that can only be done on the front foot – not from a defensive crouch."

The Independent yesterday published an editorial questioning if the Leveson Inquiry should proceed as it was built on a misapprehension of the way Milly Dowler's phone was hacked.
GOTCHA! Best Media Quotes of the Year

Quotes of the Week: From Piers Morgan and Jeremy Clarkson to a toilet roll from the Sun

2011-12-23T00:01:00.004Z

Piers Morgan on the Leveson Inquiry: “It's almost like a rock star having an album brought out from his back catalogue with all his worst-ever hits”.

Jeremy Clarkson in the Sunday Times on the Daily Mail: "It has no sense of remorse or humility. It’s fuelled by hatred. It hates people who are successful. It hates people who are not. It hates people who are fat just as much as it hates people who are thin. It hates everybody. But for some reason it seems especially to hate me."

Kelvin MacKenzie in the Daily Mail:"High Streets cannot go back to the good old days — online and out-of-town shopping have seen to that. It’s the same story with local papers and corner shops — people increasingly don’t want them. And as every business person knows, the customer is always right."

The Independent in a leader on the Leveson Inquiry: "One conclusion might be that the Leveson Inquiry is doing the right thing, even if it was set up for the wrong reason. But this would be to make the best of what is, at root, a bad job. The question must be faced squarely: is it right that this inquiry, which could transform regulation of the British press, should proceed at all, now it is clear that it was built on a misapprehension?"

Steven Nott on his Hackergate blog after being described as 'one sandwich short of a picnic' by Piers Morgan at the Leveson Inquiry: "Defamatory comments from former editors like Piers Morgan insulting a member of the public, doesn't bode well for the press not to be regulated"

Michael Wolff, Rupert Murdoch's biographer, on Twitter: "Leveson reform could well produce US-style newspapers in UK. Of course US-style newspapers have all gone (or will shortly go) bankrupt."

Grey Cardigan on Twitter in Press Gazette: "No-one is safe from the faux outrage of the liberal Lefties who can blow a minor gaffe up out of all proportion. They are like the villagers storming Frankenstein’s castle, only they’re armed with hashtags and pixels instead of blazing torches and pitchforks."

Private Eye reports the contents of a note from Sun managing editor Richard Caseby to Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger, sent along with a toilet roll after the paper wrongly accused the Sun of doorstepping a member of the Leveson Inquiry team: “I hear Marina Hyde’s turd landed on your desk. Well you can use this to wipe her arse.”

Also, don't miss: The Best Media Quotes of the Year 2011

The Independent: 'Should the Leveson Inquiry be going ahead as it was built on a misapprehension?'

2011-12-22T10:08:00.006Z

The Independent in a leader today questions whether the Leveson Inquiry should proceed given the recent revelation that police do not believe that News of the World journalists hacked the voicemails on Milly Dowler's mobile which gave her parents false hope she was still alive.

Headlined 'This inquiry looks less substantial by the day', the leader states: "Even as danger seems to be lapping around the upper reaches of the popular press, however, the rationale for instituting the Leveson Inquiry in the first place suddenly looks shaky. It was The Guardian's claim about NOTW journalists deleting Milly's messages that revived public indignation about phone hacking and convinced politicians they had to "do something". That something became the inquiry headed by Lord Leveson.

"It was not just the politicians who were spurred into action. When he learnt of the distress to the Dowler family – who had interpreted the deleted voicemails as evidence that Milly was alive – Rupert Murdoch made public and personal apologies to her parents, agreed a £3m payment, and summarily closed the NOTW. Yet that report, as The Guardian now admits, was based on assumption, not fact. While journalists indeed hacked the messages, the deletions were probably made automatically.

"The 'what ifs' that follow are legion. What if The Guardian had reported only the hacking and not the deleting, would the public outcry have been as great? Would the Prime Minister have felt compelled to respond? Would there have been an inquiry at all, on top of the police investigation already in train? After all, if phone-hacking was going on – which it was – it was a breach not only of ethics, but the law.

"One conclusion might be that the Leveson Inquiry is doing the right thing, even if it was set up for the wrong reason. But this would be to make the best of what is, at root, a bad job. The question must be faced squarely: is it right that this inquiry, which could transform regulation of the British press, should proceed at all, now it is clear that it was built on a misapprehension?"

BBC cuts will hit UK creative sector says NUJ

2011-12-22T00:01:00.002Z

Proposed BBC cuts – which will result in the loss of 2,000 jobs – will have a huge adverse impact on the UK’s creative industries sector, research commissioned by the NUJ claims.

An analysis carried out by Howard Reed of Landman Economics says that the cuts outlined in the BBC’s Delivering Quality First are likely to lead to a reduction in UK economic output of between £1.1 and £1.7 billion pounds per year at current (2011) prices.

His research concluded that there is a strong case for re-opening the licence fee deal and that people would be prepared to pay extra for a quality service.

The report, The BBC’s Delivering Quality First proposals: an assessment of the economic and social impact, and the potential for revisiting the licence fee settlement, says: “It is clear that the BBC cuts will have a huge adverse impact on the UK’s creative industries sector, just at the time when the country is relying on world-leading sectors such as this to spearhead economic recovery from the most serious economic crisis for seventy years. Economically, cutting the BBC by this much, at this time, looks like a dangerous and wrongheaded strategy.”

The report also found that the pattern of cuts to TV and radio services places into doubt several aspects of the BBC’s ability to meet its wider social objectives, in particular:

Smaller channels such as BBC Three and BBC Four which account for much of the wide diversity of the BBC’s output are being cut by more than average.
Older people are likely to be disproportionately affected by the planned cuts to BBC local radio services.
Currently, households outside London and the South of England are less likely to say that the BBC offers good value for money. The pattern of cuts to regional radio services is likely to exacerbate these regional imbalances.

The report said: “There is a clear danger that the harshness of the licence fee settlement will make it difficult for the BBC to drive the uptake of new technologies for media consumption in the way it did with Freeview in the 2000s, because it will lack the resources to invest in new technologies.

Howard Reed looked at the recent polling evidence of people’s willingness to pay extra on the licence fee and believes there is a solution to the BBC’s situation.

He said: “My analysis concludes that an alternative settlement where (for example) the BBC licence fee rose in line with inflation for the next six years, rather than being frozen in nominal terms, would have been viable, based on the headline polling evidence. In short, there is a clear case for revising the terms of the current BBC funding settlement.”

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said: “This report shows that the cuts to the BBC are not only putting the corporation’s future as a quality broadcaster in danger. The repercussions to the UK’s wider creative industries sector will also be adversely affected.

"Equally worrying is Howard Reed’s analysis which shows that the cuts will put in doubt the BBC’s ability to meet its wider social objectives laid out in its charter. The report also makes a compelling case for re-opening the licence fee deal.”

The report forms part of the NUJ’s submission to the consultation on Delivering Quality First.

'Barking' Nott bites back at Piers Morgan's jibes

2011-12-21T09:39:00.017Z

Steven Nott, the man who tried to alert the national press to the ease with which voicemails on mobile phones could be hacked, has hit back at Piers Morgan who described him as "barking" at the Leveson Inquiry yesterday.

Nott said he is taking legal advice about "defamatory" comments by Morgan who also described him at the inquiry as "one sandwich short of a picnic."

Nott contacted the national press, including the Daily Mirror when Piers Morgan was editor, in 1998 about the way mobiles could be easily hacked but could not interest the newspapers in the story.

He later wrote on his Hackergate website: "It didn't take me long to realise 'What had I done ?' I couldn't believe I was so stupid to tell a National newspaper how to get hot news for free just by hacking into someones phone". The story was picked up by the local press and published by the South Wales Argus.

Nott says Morgan: "Made some very defamatory remarks towards me and thinks because he's above the law, he can do what he wants, when he wants and to whom he wants.

"I am just a member of the general public, who should not be vulnerable to such attacks by the likes of Mega celebs are who careless with their choice of words. I am seeking legal advice.

"Whether he was Phone Hacking or not, that's his problem. I only submitted my evidence to Lord justice Leveson as I felt it was important that everyone knew. It was important enough for Operation Weeting to interview me for 3 hours in July of this year.

"Whether people treat it as mere coincidence or something more sinister, that's up to them. Lord Justice Leveson will decide on all of the evidence submitted by everyone what the outcome will be and what may happen to the freedom of the press. With defamatory comments from former editors like Piers Morgan insulting a member of the public, doesn't bode well for the press not to be regulated."

He has also posted a message to Morgan on Hackergate: "Mr Piers Morgan said he looked at this website in a lot of detail and studied it well. Maybe, there's some chance he may come back here to read this.

Piers Morgan, you will no doubt be feeling quite happy with yourself that you 'slated' a member of the general public yesterday in front of your global fan club. That's a BIG WIN for you then Piers. I hope you feel proud of yourself. Thankyou so much for calling me 'barking' and 'psychotically obsessed'. A 'sandwich short of a picnic'. Your true colours are showing. Opening your mouth and insulting me yesterday has done you far more harm than you think. You had no right to behave in such a manner. To reiterate, I am seeking legal advice and NOT mental advice.

Guardian journalist James Ball tweets that Morgan's comments at the Leveson Inquiry are covered by absolute privilege.

Political blogger Guido Fawkes has published a letter sent to him by the Leveson Inquiry asking a number of questions. Guido says his response will be “you have no chance of trying to regulate the worldwide web.”

Pic: Piers Morgan at the Leveson Inquiry

Sally Murrer proposed Webb for NUJ membership

2011-12-20T14:39:00.019Z

Sally Murrer, the Milton Keynes Citizen reporter who was cleared of obtaining police information illegally in a high profile court case in 2008, proposed private investigator Derek Webb as an NUJ member.

She was asked to do so after Webb, a co-defendant in the case in which the judge said he should be treated like a journalist because he was engaged in journalistic activities, was also cleared.

Murrer walked free from court after a judge ruled that prosecution evidence against her was inadmissible. She was due to face trial along with Webb and a former Thames Valley police detective sergeant, Mark Kearney, who was also cleared.

There has been growing concern within the NUJ about how Webb, who spied for the News of the World on the solicitors acting for phone hacking victims, got a union card.

Murrer told me: "I proposed Derek as an NUJ member. He was desperate for money and wanted to continue working for the News of the World.

"I'd heard the judge in our case give him journalist status which was the reason the case against him was dropped. I was consumed by the case and because of that I proposed him on the form.

"It wasn't until this all came up recently that I questioned it and wondered if more private investigators had become NUJ members. At the time I just felt sorry for him, he told me the News of the World said he had to have a press card to continue working for them.

"If I did anything wrong I am really sorry. I believe the NUJ should be for journalists and they had a chance to examine this before it was seconded and approved. I've got nothing to hide and neither should the NUJ."

Murrer was accused of three offences of aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office. Webb pleaded not guilty to five offences of aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office.

In a landmark ruling judge Richard Southwell said that any evidence gathered by police using a a bug should be excluded under European laws that protected the rights of journalists and their sources.

So how easy it to become a member of the NUJ?