Highlights of this week's Press Gazette – Journalism Weekly (click on the links to activate the digital magazine):
1 Princes William and Harry may testify in Sun payments trial
Princes William and Harry may be approached to provide victim impact statements in the trial of a journalist accused of paying an army officer for information about their time at the Sandhurst Military Academy.
It would be the first time a senior Royal has been asked to assist a criminal case since the Queen was called in 2002 as a witness in the £1.5 million theft trial of butler Paul Burrell. That trial collapsed when Her Majesty revealed he had told her he was looking after the belongings of Princess Diana.
Related
3 Alex Thomson: TV reporting affected by Leveson as well
Channel 4 News chief correspondent Alex Thomson believes the post-Leveson environment is affecting broadcast journalism as well as newspapers.
He said there is a “sense of trepidation” in television journalism at the moment, with broadcasters feeling pressure in the current political climate.
4 Irish Daily Mirror site aims for 0.5m monthly readers
The editor of the Irish Daily Mirror has said he wants the title’s first stand-alone Republic of Ireland website to attract half a million monthly unique users before the end of the year.
The website and new e-edition of the seven-day title were launched this week, marking the first time the online version of the Irish Daily Mirror had a distinct presence separate from its UK sister paper.
6 ‘I was talking in terms of regulation’: Monty hits back at interface criticism
Local World chairman David Montgomery caused quite a stir when he told MPs this month that much of the “human interface” will disappear from local journalism in future years.
Suffice to say that when he said, “We will have to harvest content and publish it without human interface”, many journalists (or human interfaces, if you prefer) were not too impressed.
8 More than two years on, ‘vindicated’ Times sex abuse investigation nearing end
In January 2011, The Times published an explosive story revealing the sexual abuse of girls in the north of England by gangs made up of mostly Muslim men.
The story so outraged and appalled the British public that the Government ordered a national inquiry within days. At that point, five months after beginning work on the story, Andrew Norfolk thought, “job done”.
He was wrong.
9 Agency suing worker for £100,000
Press agency Barcroft Media is suing a former employee alleging that she paid herself £92,032.75 from the company account.
10 Liverpool Echo: Secret of Hillsborough story was to stop people getting bored
“The single most moving experience I have had in 30 years in journalism.”
That’s how Liverpool Echo editor Alastair Machray describes the moment, last September, when the Hillsborough Independent Panel (HIP) announced its findings, finally absolving Liverpool fans of responsibility for a disaster that claimed the lives of 96 of their own.
12 Telegraph suggests metered paywalls are a no-brainer
If declining print newspapers don’t find better ways to monetise their growing digital audiences they will go out of business, it’s as simple as that.
Luckily, there appears to be a way to do that which – in the words of one media analyst – has “no downside”.
14 How is it acceptable to treat transgender people in this way?
In March this year Lucy Meadows, a primary school teacher who had undergone a sex-change, killed herself.
She had been the subject of extensive media attention and the coroner was highly critical of the way her story had been portrayed in the press – particularly in a column by Daily Mail journalist Richard Littlejohn which suggested she was in the wrong job.
However, press attention was not among the reasons given for taking her own life in a suicide note.
Here a journalist, who is also transgender, gives her view. Joanna Cee is not her real name.
16 Guardian Australia gets mixed reception as traffic figures exceed estimates
The Guardian is claiming traffic for its new Australian website has been at least double the figure anticipated five days in.
A spokesperson told Press Gazette it was too soon “to talk about specific traffic” and did not give any figures.
17Harry Whewell: We shall not see his like again
Harry Whewell’s old man was a dustman. As a child on Friday nights he sat at the kitchen table with the family, sorting through the likely rubbish brought home by his father, searching for valuables.
Daily grind; Don't Menschn it; Return to sender
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog
