Top stories in this week's Press Gazette – Journalism Weekly (click links to read the stories in full):
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1 The Sun faces fresh claim that information was taken from a stolen mobile phone
The Sun is facing a claim for damages of £50,000 from an individual who claims that a journalist for the title took information from a stolen mobile phone.
3 Guardian’s move into journalism training delayed
The Guardian’s move into journalism training has been pushed back by at least a year.
“The Guardian and Cardiff originally intended to launch an MA in Journalism with Digital Media this year, however, as we worked through the proposal for what is a very innovative course we realised it was better to postpone for a year rather than compromise the plan to meet that deadline.
“We are still discussing what we will do with the Guardian and as soon as anything is firmed up we will announce it.”
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4 Guardian, Indy and FT move closer to press Charter deal
Newspaper and magazine publishers have agreed a subtle change to their press regulation Royal Charter which has been interpreted as ending the industry veto over appointments to the board of a new press regulator.
The rival Royal Charter for press regulation put forward by the newspaper industry in April has been attacked for not creating a genuinely independent regulator.
This led to the Financial Times, Independent and Guardian refusing to give the document their backing.
6 Murder inquiry will probe News of the World links with corrupt police
An Independent Panel, set up along similar lines to the Hillsborough inquiry, is to probe the extent to which corruption involving the News of the World was a factor in one of the UK’s most notorious unsolved murders.
“As Daniel’s family, we were aware of that corruption within three weeks of the murder: we said so then, and we have been saying so ever since. Through almost three decades of public protests, meetings with police officers at the highest ranks, lobbying of politicians and pleas to the media, we have found ourselves lied to, fobbed off, bullied, degraded and let down time and time again. What we have been required to endure has been nothing less than mental torture. It has changed our relationship with this country forever."
8 Tower Hamlets blogger ignores councillor’s ‘threat’ of legal action
Tower Hamlets blogger Ted Jeory says he has been threatened with legal action over a story about one of his local councillor’s taxi expenses.
“I am in discussion with my lawyers and would like to offer you an opportunity to correct this claim in a prominent position on your blog.
“I would also ask that you now aplogise [sic] for making this claim.”
9 Daily Mail sued over Samuel’s Tevez agent claim
A football agent responsible for bringing Argentinian striker Carlos Tevez to the Premier League is suing the Daily Mail and columnist Martin Samuel for unlimited libel damages.
Kia Joorabchian took issue with a February article questioning why football club chairmen have continued to employ him despite his alleged role in bringing Tevez and fellow Argentinian midfielder Javier Mascherano to West Ham United from Brazilian club Corinthians.
Commenting on Tevez’s “illegal” move in 2006, Samuel highlighted the “advisory role” in a deal that “ended up costing £23m in fines and compensation alone”.
10 Two Sun journalists in court over alleged bribes paid to public officials
Sun royal correspondent Duncan Larcombe has vowed to fight the bribe charges he is facing “with every breath in my body”.
He was one of two Sun journalists to appear in court this week over alleged bribes paid to public officials. And he is one of five Sun journalists so far who are set to face trial over corruption allegations.
“I have been a journalist since the very week Princess Diana died.
“During my career, 12 years of which have been spent at The Sun, I have had the privilege to cover the Royal Family and have also risked my own life reporting on the work of our brave servicemen and women on the front line in Afghanistan."
12 We can all learn from Auto Trader’s switch to being digital-only
Going digital-only was once seen as a last desperate throw of the dice for a dying print brand. But not any more. (Declaration of interest: Press Gazette went digital-only at the end of last year).
The downside of all this is that many sub-editors and production staff have lost their jobs as Auto Trader’s print edition has dwindled over the years to be finally extinguished next month.
And thousands of journalists have lost their jobs as a result of the movement of classified advertising from print to online which Auto Trader has cashed in on.
But nonetheless it may be the only old media brand which has made the transition to the digital world so well, and we can all learn from its example.
14 Press freedom left behind in China’s great leap forward
Ranked number two according to size of economy but 179th for press freedom out of 196 countries, China has made great leaps forward in economic terms, but it falls way behind in terms of freedom of press.
In its latest country report on China, Freedom House reports that “conditions for foreign media in the country remained highly restrictive, and harassment and violent assaults against foreign reporters escalated during the year [2012]”.
16 Journalist invests personal savings into launching new women’s magazine
The recent closure of More and this week’s announcement that Easy Living is going digital only could lead some to believe that the specialist women’s magazine market was already beyond saturation point.
“The idea’s been brewing for about eight years, but the market wasn’t quite ready until now.
“Recently though, there’s been a bit of a cultural shift – and we’re seeing far more complex, powerful women rise to prominence in business and the media.
“It’s time for a title that really does justice to that complexity, and the support we’ve had so far proves the market.”
17 Guardian: High Court made legal error by vetoing Charles letters
The Attorney General wrongly overrode the decision of “an independent and impartial tribunal” when he blocked public disclosure of letters the Prince of Wales wrote to Government ministers, the High Court has been told.
The claim was made yesterday at a hearing at which Guardian newspaper journalist Rob Evans is attempting to overturn Dominic Grieve’s controversial decision last October to veto the release of correspondence between Charles and seven Government departments.
Evans’ application for judicial review is being heard over two days by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, with Lord Justice Davis and Mr Justice Globe.
22 Axegrinder
£50 from The Times? 'I would be ashamed'; How Grazia beat the press to Obama's state dinner; Question? No, sorry; Daily Mail's report on BBC bullying
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