1 Toon’s tantrum: How football clubs use access to buy favour
The Telegraph journalist who sparked a paper-wide ban from Newcastle United says the prospect of being shunned by football clubs is an industry-wide threat.
“Writing stories like these as a football reporter you are accused of deliberately shit-stirring.
“This is a story I wrestled with writing… Because, I thought, what is it going to do? But my whole rationale for writing it was that this was a boil that needed to be lanced. That there were problems behind the scenes, that there was a resentment growing.”
3 12 PA journalists to launch BT site
A team of 12 Press Association journalists are set to work on a new website being developed by British Telecoms this summer.
“Our position at the heart of the UK media industry enables us to provide and manage a high level of premium content for BT and we’re delighted they have chosen to work with us.”
4 Agencies blast nationals for ‘19th century’ online rates
National newspapers have been condemned for paying as little as £25 for online stories.
“Some newspapers, to their credit, have increased payments as their sites have become more successful. Others, however, have not.
“They are using 21st century technology but think it is okay to pay suppliers 19th century wages.”
6 Launching papers seek to fill ‘gaping hole’ left by Welsh journalism cut backs
Two local news websites in Wales are set to launch in print this month as they seek to fill the “gaping hole” in regional coverage caused by editorial job cuts.
“I am proud to be reporting on my patch and believe there is a real need to provide this service to the community because of the huge gap in local news.
“The response to the website from readers and businesses alike has been overwhelmingly positive, but the question they kept asking us is when are we going into print?”
8 Treasury to reveal details of Budget embargo release
The Treasury is set to release details about an embargoed copy of this year’s Budget, which the London Evening Standard is known to have had this year.
Press Gazette sent Freedom of Information request to the Treasury.
It was rejected, with the department saying Osborne had ordered “a review into the practice of the proactive pre-releasing of Budget information under embargo which has operated in recent years” and so the information would be released within a few weeks – that statement was recieved on 19 April.
9 Independent sued over libel report
An author is suing The Independent after it reported he had failed in an attempt to sue for defamation over comments left on retail website Amazon.
“By insinuating falsely that [McGrath] had an illiberal claim in suing for a book review, a matter of free speech, [The Independent] clearly intended to whip up additional public support for Libel Reform.
"[McGrath’s] case was, as a result of The Independent’s manipulation of the facts, wrongly cited as yet another example of the poor state of the country’s libel laws that allowed such illiberal claims to go forward.”
10 Does employee ownership offer a way to reverse the decline of local papers?
The demise of local newspapers is well documented.
Many have floundered in the face of competition from the internet or simply delivered insufficient profit for their corporate shareholders to view them as viable and have shut up shop.
I firmly believe it has relevance and application to newspapers of all sizes because aligning individual success with company success delivers a highly motivated workforce.
Making journalists shareholders in their own paper sounds radical, but in fact it provides them with stability and motivation – at a time of difficulty for the industry.
12 This is not secret justice but an effort to set clear standards
The stage is set for a historic clash between Parliament and the press as the majority of the newspaper industry rejects the cross-party press regulation Royal Charter just weeks before it goes to the Queen for approval.
An awful lot has been written about secret arrests and secret justice over the last few weeks. Should the police name people who have been arrested, even though they have not been charged with any criminal offence and may never be? By NOT naming them, are police, under cover of the Leveson Inquiry, placing free speech and democracy at risk?
14 MPs need to a deal with publishers – for the sake of victims
Various peace deals have collapsed over the years because of a refusal to compromise and I fear the ongoing tussle over press regulation could go the same way.
But peace is in our grasp if only publishers, MPs and the victims of past press excesses as represented by Hacked Off can move a little from their current positions.
The Government needs to give the publishers more of a stake in the new regulator
16 The Independent website launches Voices in Danger
The Independent this week launched a new section of its website – Voices In Danger – to coincide with World Press Freedom Day today.
“Cases such as the Iranian blogger Sattar Beheshti, killed while in custody, make headlines in the international news.
“But there are thousands of others under threat who receive little or no publicity. In places like the Paradise Islands of the Maldives to the economic hot-houses of India and Brazil, intimidation, censorship and imprisonment are present."
17 Reviving a lost style of court reporting, by Fleet Street veteran John Dodd
A book that revives a "lost" journalistic style of reporting has been published by a veteran court reporter.
“Nobody does it any more. I've even had two feature executives telling me it's actually against the law NOT to give people's names in court. God knows what they're teaching them in journalism colleges these days. But then, of course, the lecturers wouldn't know, either."
22 Axegrinder
Is that you, Louis? 'No, maybe, yuh'; Mail's poisoned chalice passed on
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