Online users finish more stories than print readers

In a surprise finding, online readers finish news stories more often than those who read in print, according to the Poynter Institute’s Eyetrack study released Wednesday at the American Society of Newspaper Editors conference here. When readers chose to read an online story, they usually read an average of 77 per cent of the story, compared to 62% in broadsheets and 57 per cent in tabloids. The survey, in which 600 newspaper readers from six different newspapers were studied, utilized electronic eyetracking equipment that readers wore while they read broadsheet, tabloid and online editions of newspapers. The research, conducted last year, focused on 100 readers from each newspaper. Among the findings: that more text was read online than in print. In addition, nearly two-thirds of online readers read all of the text of a particular story once they began to read it, the survey revealed. Findings also revealed that news event photos received more attention than staged or studio images, while colour got more interest than black and white.

Freedom Fighters launch independent radio and television station in Iraq

With jumper cables and a 12-volt battery, a Saddam era radio station roared to life last week and now four Iraqis are doing what has never been done as they launch independent radio and television in war-torn Iraq. ‘We respect the Maliki government and all religious leaders,’ says Rafed Mahmood, general manager of the Independent Radio & Television Network (IRTN). ‘But our voice is independent. No one tells us what to say.’ Four Iraqis - two Sunnis and two Shia - are becoming the voices of sectarian reconciliation, unity and freedom. Their 3000kw Italian radio transmitter is cabled up the 350-meter tower that the Japanese built for Saddam in 1986. As al Qaeda and insurgent forces gather in the neighbouring towns of Buhriz and Ba’qubah, Coalition Forces are protecting the media centre while rooting out the terrorists. On March 25th, IRTN launched their UHF television broadcasts. IRTN radio is on the air 14-hours a day and reaches nearly 11m Iraqis. They launched their website this week (www.IRTNiraq.com) and hope that through a combination of advertising sales, licensing and eCommerce they can generate enough revenue to sustain their operations while producing enough courage to unleash freedom in Iraq. (Elitestv.com)

Time Inc. to end Life magazine but keep it online

Time Inc. said on Monday it would stop publishing Life, the iconic photography magazine that has been a weekly newspaper insert since 2004. It is the latest magazine to shut down as more readers desert print publications for online news and photos. Time is laying off 15 editorial workers and 27 in its business department in connection with the shutdown, said spokeswoman Dawn Bridges. Time will make Life’s collection of 10m images available online, with ‘the most important collection of imagery covering the events and people of the 20th century’ available for free for personal use, it said. The announcement comes after the company launched a redesigned version of its US newsweekly Time. Earlier this year it announced plans to cut 289 jobs from its estimated 11,300 work force to lower costs as it invests more in the internet.

EU takes Greece back to court over broadcast liberalisation T

The European Commission on Thursday announced it would take Greece to court over its failure to liberalise its broadcasting services, seeking heavy fines as punishment. ‘The European Commission has decided to refer Greece to the European Court of Justice for failure to fully comply with the court’s ruling of April 14, 2005,’ the EU’s executive arm said in a statement. That ruling confirmed that Greece had failed to implement EU competition law for its television and radio services, particularly digital broadcasting. The Commission is therefore referring Greece back to the court, seeking fines, consisting of daily lump sums totalling EUR 48,442.80 for Greece’s continued infringement. A 2002 EU directive aims at ensuring that competitive market conditions prevail across the European Union in electronic communications networks and services. All member states except Greece have notified measures to implement it. (AFP via EU Business,March 26, 2007)

How did you get here?

Today the number of visitors to www.newspaperindex.com is nearly 10 times higher than usual. I have no idea why and my stats show no new links, so www.newspaperindex.com must have been displayed in a newspaper, on TV or maybe mentioned in a radio show?

Please help me solve this, how did you end up here?

Send me a mail or post a comment.

Palestinian daily reaches Israel

The Palestine Times is the only English-language Palestinian daily newspaper and as of last Saturday, it is being distributed throughout Israel, The Jerusalem Post reports. The founder and editor-in-chief of The Palestine Times, Othman Haj Mohammed, says his purpose is to show the ‘real image of Palestinians.’ The first edition of the daily was published last November. It includes sections on business, food, sports, health and the environment, as well as news and opinion pieces. According to Othman, the paper is a ‘very moderate liberal newspaper.’ He added, ‘Our bias, if we have one in any way, is to represent the Palestinian people completely.’ There are three Arabic daily newspapers currently in circulation in the Palestinian Authority, including Al Quds, Al Ayyam and Al Hayat Al Jadida. (Israel insider via Ifra executive news,March 20, 2007)

Other Palestinian news sources and newspapers 

Insiders say Google Phone in the works

Google is developing its own mobile phone, according to industry insiders and analysts, while a Google official in Spain last week acknowledged the company is ‘investigating’ such a project. Google isn’t commenting directly on leaks from Europe and the United States which describe a low-cost, internet-connected phone with a colour, wide-screen design. Richard Windsor, a phone analyst in London, said late last week that unspecified Google representatives at a major European conference in Germany had confirmed the company is working on its own phone device. ‘Google has come out of the closet at the CeBIT trade fair admitting that it is working on a mobile phone of its own,’ Windsor said in a note entitled ‘Google Phone: From myth to reality.’ Lending further clues, Isabel Aguilera, head of Google’s Iberian operations, was quoted last week in Spanish news site Noticias.com as acknowledging the existence of a part-time project by some Google engineers to develop a mobile phone. (Reuters,March 19, 2007)

Putin decrees creation of a media and internet regulator

President Vladimir Putin has decreed the creation of an agency to regulate the media and the internet, sparking fears among some Russian journalists of a bid to extend tight publishing controls to the relatively free web. Putin signed a decree this week merging two existing agencies into one that will license broadcasters, newspapers and websites and oversee their editorial content. The step, taken with national elections due next year, unites the organisation supervising media and culture, Rosokhrankultura, with the federal body controlling telecommunications and information technology, Rossvyaznadzor. Officials said this would improve efficiency by putting a single entity in charge of media content and technology, but some of Russia’s top journalists expressed concern. Under Putin’s rule, independent publishers have mostly been taken over by Kremlin-friendly businessmen. The domestic media are under heavy pressure not to criticise the government, making journalists suspicious of any official initiative. (Reuters via The International Herald Tribune,March 16, 2007)

China to put all blogs under state control

China plans tighter control of blogs and webcasts under a new Internet publishing law, state media on Tuesday quoted the country’s top media supervisor as saying. ‘Advanced network technologies such as blogging and webcasting have been mounting new challenges to the government’s ability to supervise the Internet,’ then official Xinhua news agency quoted Long Xinmin, the head of China’s Press and Publications Administration, as saying. The government is drafting a law to bring blogs and webcasts under Internet publication regulations to ensure a ‘more healthy and active Internet environment’, Long said. Long gave no details of specific measures but said the new law would ‘fully respect and protect Chinese citizens’ freedom of speech’, the agency said. LOL (The Jakarta Post via Asia Media,March 15, 2007)

Banned cartoons appear in print for the first time

Cartoons can provoke demonstrations, even spark riots. Which is why, especially lately, many newspapers have been cautious about running provocative cartoons, especially ones likely to offend specific religious groups. Now there is a new book out in the US - a collection of cartoons that over the years have been banned. This is the first time they have been seen in print. The book is the work of a David Wallis, who heads an America news syndicate. It’s called ‘Killed Cartoons. Casualties from the War on Free Expression.’ It contains nearly 100 editorial cartoons and other works of art that American newspaper editors have declined to publish. They include Hitler serving as a Nixon adviser during the bombing in Vietnam, President Bush and his famous ‘Bring ‘em on’ taunt in front of flag-draped coffins of soldiers who died in Iraq, and even Pope John Paul II ascending into heaven inside his famous Popemobile. All considered at the time too controversial to print. (Press Gazette,March 13, 2007)

US military defends deleting AP images from Afghanistan

The US military asserted that an American soldier was justified in erasing journalists’ footage of the aftermath of a suicide bombing and shooting in Afghanistan last week, saying publication could have compromised a military investigation and led to false public conclusions. The comments came March 9 in response to an Associated Press protest that a US soldier had forced two freelance journalists working for the US-based news agency to delete photos and video at the scene of violence March 4 in Barikaw, eastern Afghanistan. At least eight Afghans were killed and 34 wounded. ‘Investigative integrity is one circumstance when civil and military authorities will reluctantly exercise the right to control what a journalist is permitted to document,’ Col. Victor Petrenko, chief of staff to the top US commander in eastern Afghanistan, said in a letter March 9. He added that photographs or video taken by ‘untrained people’ might ‘capture visual details that are not as they originally were.’ The Associated Press disputed the assertions. (AP via Editor and Publisher,March 12, 2007)

Turkish military’s media ‘black list’ prompts probe

A revelation by a Turkish magazine of the existence of a list that classified journalists on the basis of their perceived attitude towards Turkey’s powerful military establishment has prompted a judicial inquiry as well as widespread outrage in the country’s media. The 17-page report listing journalists depending on their alleged ‘pro-military’ or ‘anti-military’ bias was published on Thursday by the magazine Nokta. The Turkish military has not denied the existence of the document and has launched a judicial probe to discover who leaked the ‘black list’ to the magazine. The document, dated November 2006, was prepared by the Office of the Chief of General Staff Public and Press Relations Bureau and is entitled ‘A reassessment of accredited press and media organs’. Journalists and media organisations that want to follow the activities of the Office of the Chief of General Staff need to be accredited by the office. The document lists all the country’s mainstream national broadcast and print media outlets and journalists, categorising them according to their comments and reports on the Turkish military. It also includes comments and recommendations on whether the media accreditation handed out to individuals should be granted, denied or revoked. (AKI News,March 12, 2007)

Hollywood to produce new TinTin movie.

Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks company has committed to produce at least one movie on the famed Belgian cartoon journalist Tintin, the head of the Tintin studio announced Thursday. Nick Rodwell of Herge Studios said the Hollywood company will go into preproduction on a film, which should be in theatres in about two years. It was unclear which of the 24 cartoon books of Tintin’s adventures would be picked for a first movie script, he said. ‘If movie No. 1 works, we will continue.’ Talks about a Hollywood movie on the intrepid reporter who saves the lives of countless people and makes sure criminals end up behind bars has been talked about for a quarter-century. The first plan surfaced just before Tintin’s creator, Georges Remi, aka Herge, died in 1983. But financial and production issues have kept Tintin from landing a role in a Hollywood production.

In the meantime you can watch some newly re-edited and dubbed TinTin cartoon.
Warning coarse language!

More at www.dubtoons.com and http://youtube.com/results?search_query=tintin&search=Search

Aftonbladet defiant over gambling ad ruling

Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet has said it intends to publish an advertisement for Maltese gambling company Expekt, despite a court ruling on Thursday authorising stiff penalties if it goes ahead. The Södermanland district court confirmed on Thursday the right of the Gaming Board to fine Aftonbladet SEK 150,000 (about EUR 16,000) for every foreign gambling advertisement published. The paper has three weeks to appeal, after which the Gaming Board will be able to start imposing the fines. Aftonbladet is far from being the only major media organisation to accept foreign gambling advertisements. They can now be seen on a wide variety of newspapers, television channels and websites. The Gaming Board calculates that Swedish media make around SEK 500bn (EUR 54bn) a year from the adverts. Under Swedish law, gambling companies are not breaking the law by advertising. The newspapers, TV companies and websites that publish the adverts are, however, breaking a law that prohibits them from promoting non-authorised gaming companies. The only authorised gambling companies are Svenska Spel and ATG, both big earners for the Swedish state, and certain lotteries linked to voluntary organisations. Media claim that the ad ban contravenes both the freedom of the press as guaranteed by the Swedish constitution and European Union rules. (The Local,March 09, 2007)

Thailand’s coup government will take over iTV

At midnight on Tuesday, Thailand’s coup government took over the country’s only independent television station for failure to pay USD 2.8bn (EUR 2.1bn) in licensing fees. The station was to temporarily stop broadcasting and over 1000 employees were to be let go. Broadcasts were suspended, but on Wednesday morning the station was still running stories about iTV’s 10-year history and the fees it was ordered to pay, according to the website of the Bangkok Post. The station’s staff objected to the government’s plan to suspend the station’s broadcasts and filed an for an injunction until the court hears the matter on Wednesday morning. The government is facing heavy criticism for the move, which now makes all six of Thailand’s broadcast networks state-run. The station was once owned by deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, but was sold as part of the telecommunications company Shin Corp to Temasek, the investment arm of the Singapore government. The coup government has been battling with iTV for its licensing fees for some time. (Asia Media newsletter,March 07, 2007)

Reporter planned story on arms deal

Before his mysterious death, Kommersant journalist Ivan Safronov was on the verge of reporting a story about sensitive arms deals with Syria and Iran despite warnings that he would be prosecuted for disclosing classified information, it was reported Tuesday. Kommersant reported that Safronov planned to file a story on the sale of Iskander surface-to-surface missiles and SU-30 fighters to Syria, and S-300 air defence systems to Iran. The newspaper added that the story was sure to have prompted a Federal Security Service, or FSB, investigation into disclosure of classified information. The journalist had been warned that the investigation into his story ‘would be completed,’ Safronov was reported to have told fellow journalists Feb. 27, Kommersant reported. Safronov apparently never said who had issued the warning, but he did say he had been dissuaded from writing his article. He later changed his mind, telling his editors he planned to file a story. Three days later, Safronov fell out of a fifth-floor window of his apartment building. (Moscow Times,March 07, 2007)

China bans new internet cafes for a year

Fearful of soaring internet addiction and juvenile crime, China has banned the opening of new internet cafes this year, state media reported on Tuesday. ‘In 2007, local governments must not sanction the opening of new internet bars,’ Xinhua news agency on Tuesday quoted a directive jointly released by 14 government departments, including the Ministry of Culture, as saying. The notice comes as lawmakers at China’s annual session of parliament, the National People’s Congress, called for stricter regulations to keep teenagers away from internet cafes, which are often seen in China as hotbeds of juvenile crime. There are currently about 113,000 internet cafes and bars in China, Xinhua said, citing the Ministry of Information Industry. China has banned minors from cybercafes and levies heavy fines on operators who defy regulations in a bid to curb soaring rates of addiction that have accompanied the rapid spread of the internet in recent years. Last year, a report from the China National Children’s Centre, a government think-tank, said that 13 per cent of China’s 18m internet users under 18 were internet addicts. (Reuters,March 06, 2007)

EU considers going virtual

The European Union is looking into entering the virtual world and opening up an office in Second Life - an increasingly popular internet-based virtual world - which the Swedish government and the French presidential candidates have already entered. ‘It is certainly an idea we are looking into,’ commission spokesman Mikolaj Dowgielewicz told EUobserver. Second Life is a virtual world in 3D-format built and owned by its virtual residents - called ‘avatars’ - where they can explore, meet other avatars, socialise, participate in individual and group activities, and buy virtual items and services from one another. It was launched by the Linden Lab company in 2003 and resident number 4m moved in last week. Several real-world companies have already created virtual shops in Second Life while Reuters has a correspondent there. Dowgielewicz, spokesman for EU communication commissioner Margot Wallstrom, explained that an EU office in the virtual world would be part of the commission’s effort to get closer to the EU citizens and communicate better with them, adding that the EU institutions are still quite weak on communication in some areas. No details have been suggested on how the commission could involve itself in Second Life but Dowgielewicz said it was more likely to be a project of the commission’s communication department rather than of the entire EU executive. (EU Observer,March 06, 2007)

Russian journalist who angered country’s military falls to death

A senior Russian journalist who embarrassed the country’s military establishment with a series of exclusive stories has been found dead outside his flat in mysterious circumstances. The body of Ivan Safronov, 51-year-old defence correspondent for the newspaper Kommersant, was discovered on Friday. He apparently fell from a fifth-floor window. Although prosecutors say they suspect that Safranov committed suicide, his colleagues yesterday insisted that he had no reason to kill himself. ‘For some reason, it is those journalists who are disliked by the authorities who die in this country,’ the mass-selling daily Moskovsky Komsomolets observed Monday. ‘Ivan Safronov was one of those. He knew a lot about the real situation in the army and the defence industries, and he reported it.’ Moscow’s prosecutor’s office said its inquiry into the death included the possibility that he had been forced to jump. But they said the exact nature of their investigation would become clearer once autopsy results were known Tuesday. Safronov had previously worked for Russia’s strategic nuclear missile force, with the rank of colonel. He left the army after the collapse of the Soviet Union and retrained as a journalist before joining Kommersant in 1997. (The Guardian,March 06, 2007)

BBC nets YouTube deal

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) announced Friday a ‘ground-breaking’ deal with YouTube owners Google to make clips of its news and other programs available on the popular video-sharing website. The BBC hopes to reach YouTube’s monthly audience of over 70m viewers and generate wider interest in its programs, its own website, and eventually related content on its proposed BBC iPlayer commercial download service. The tie-up means the BBC joins the likes of US broadcasters NBC, CBS, and Fox in agreeing deals with YouTube. However, some have accused the corporation of straying from its public service remit into commercial internet activities. The BBC will receive a slice of the advertising revenue made by traffic to the three new YouTube channels to be set up. (AFP, Middle East Times,March 05, 2007)