MEDIABLAB DAILY DIGEST MAR 3: DRUDGE REPRT NEW IDEA PRINCE HARRY TIME OUT SHORTLIST UK MRRM
March 3rd 2008 08:16
AUSTRALIAN REGULATOR TO EXAMINE SEVEN NETWORK AND WESTERN AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPERS BOARDROOM BIFF
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will examine claims Seven Network that it is not seeking to control the board of West Australian Newspapers Holdings, despite moves last week to wage war on the organisation's current directors.
The Australian reports that Seven director Peter Gammell, said Seven's move to call an extraordinary general meeting – with resolutions to remove all WAN non-executive directors – was "not about controlling the board", but "refreshing the board".
"I have noted Mr Gammell's comments that the moves made in respect of the WAN board are designed to result in a situation where Seven nominees have a minority position on the board," he said. "We need to look at the reality of those moves and the reality of what the outcome would be - rather than accepting at face value Mr Gammell's comments as to Seven's intentions."
Mr Samuel said his interest in the possible Seven board positions at WAN followed a rise in its shareholding last year to 19.4 per cent now.
He said the ACCC would work back from an initial assumption of total control of WAN by Seven, and the relevant implications for media competition. "
BLACK DAY FOR CONRAD AS HE HEADS TO PRISON
AAP reports disgraced media mogul Conrad Black must report to jail by the end of today to begin his six-and-a-half-year jail term.
Black has been convicted of three counts of fraud and one of obstruction of justice after he was found guilty of illegally receiving almost US$3.5 million.
The US Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals denied his emergency bid to remain free on bail pending his appeal on Thursday, dashing his last hope of escaping jail.
The start of the 63-year-old billionaire's jail sentence marks a new low in the flamboyant media baron's life.
At his peak, he was the publisher of the third-biggest group of newspapers in the world.
But last year, a jury at the Dirksen federal courthouse in Chicago found Black “violated” his duty to shareholders when he swindled them out of more than $US6 million in a fraud conspiracy with three colleagues.
DEATH OF NEWSPAPERS: UK MEDIA MAN SAYS DEATH SENTENCE FOR NEWSPAPERS PREMATURE
Press Gazette reports that UK Trinity Mirror chief executive Sly Bailey has railed against "dinosaur-like media commentators" who have predicted the death of newspapers, and said there is still "a market for well-targeted print launches".
In an analysts' presentation, Bailey said Trinity Mirror was "better positioned than ever" and announced plans to hire a further 100 staff this year to work on new digital publishing projects.
She said, "If you listen to the industry's armchair critics and dinosaur-like media commentators, you'd be forgiven for thinking it's all over for newspapers. But it's been an encouraging year which demonstrates the power and possibilities of print."
Bailey pointed to Trinity Mirror's experimental ultra-local websites in the north-east of England – and the ultra-local newspapers created from them –
as "a real success story".
"We've devised what we believe is an attractive low cost digital publishing model. Our goal is to substantially increase digital revenues in the next two years."
The company is set to hire around 100 staff this year to work in digital. Bailey said that although most of these jobs would be in sales, there would also be a number of editorial and production vacancies.
DEATH OF NEWSPAPERS: SCOTTISH MEDIA MAN SAYS SCOTS PRESS DOOMED
Controversial Scottish media man Andrew Neil has set the cat amongst the pigeons again with his claim that the Scottish press will be dead within the next ten years.
The Drum website questions whether this is just a vindictive rant, “or does he have a serious point as both The Scotsman and The Herald continue to struggle with circulation decline.”
The Scottish press had a particularly painful 2007, which saw the first walkouts by newspaper staff for a generation, against a climate of cost cutting, rising profits, declining circulation and overseas ownership.
Sales of Scottish stand-alone titles are in decline and the advertising revenue stream is hard to maintain, despite the increasing penetration of newspapers online presences
Scottish editions of the Daily Mail and The Sun consistently outperform sales figures for The Herald and The Scotsman. As Neil puts it, “On current trends, if Scotland ever did divorce from the UK, it could end up the only independent country in the world without vibrant independent newspapers of its own; its citizens preferring instead the tartan editions of the newspapers of another country.”
Neil, former editor in chief of Press Holdings, formerly owners of The Scotsman, backed up his prophecy by quoting the research of US journalism professor Philip Meyer, who predicted that the last printed newspaper in America will roll off the presses in 2044.
“In the case of The Scotsman and The Herald, it will be around 2018. These newspapers, as we know them today, have 10 years left, probably less,” Neil concluded.
However, talking to The Drum, Michael Johnson, managing director of Scotsman Publications, claimed Andrew Neil was being overly pessimistic, and says he is absolutely certain that the press landscape will adapt as technology and markets evolve.
he said, “What Andrew Neil fails to understand is that the reach of the Scottish indigenous media – principally The Scotsman and The Herald – has never been greater. While circulations of the print product are down, and I cannot avoid that, the growth of digital is such that The Scotsman in all its forms touches more Scots today than ever before.
“Just as the free revolution changed the balance between paid and frees, similarly digital has come along and we are taking a holistic audience approach, and offering the people who want to connect with The Scotsman as many opportunities as possible.”
PHOTO ‘PROVING’ THAT CHINESE RAILWAYS DO NOT ENDANGER TIBETAN ANTELOPES EXPOSED AS FAKE
Nature reports that an award-winning photograph of a herd of endangered Tibetan antelopes apparently undisturbed by a passing train on the controversial Qinghai–Tibet railway has been exposed as a fake.
The image was widely hailed in China as a symbol of harmonious co-existence between man and nature and strong testimony against any adverse effect of the new railway on the animals.
Photographer Liu Wei-qiang admitted the fabrication last week after comments on the Chinese online photography forum Without Fear questioned the picture's authenticity. Liu was promptly dismissed from the Daqing Evening News, based in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, where he was the deputy director of its photography department.
The newspaper has also issued a public statement apologising for the incident and announcing the resignation of its chief editor.
“The train was real, and so were the antelopes,” said Liu in a posting on the photography forum. “But the magic moment just didn't happen even after I had waited for two weeks.”
Therefore, he decided to merge together one picture of a passing train with another of the migrating animals “to raise the public awareness of antelope protection.”
The merged picture was published by more than 200 media outlets around the world and won Liu a bronze medal in the 2006 Most Influential News Photos of the Year competition, sponsored by CCTV, China's state television.
“The truth is probably the opposite of what the picture was trying to claim,” says Su Jian-ping, a zoologist at the Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in Xining, Qinghai province.
GOVERNMENT CRACKDOWN ON CAMEROON MEDIA
Police in the Cameroon capital Yaounde forced a popular radio station off the air on Thursday and confiscated its equipment over commentary critical of the government during a call-in program.
Magic FM is the third broadcaster summarily closed by authorities within a week in response to critical coverage of public demonstrations fueled by a rise in prices and President Paul Biya’s bid to seek another term in office, according to the Committee to protect Journalists.
As security forces raided Magic FM, Communications Minister Jean-Pierre Biyiti Bi Essam summoned representatives of the national media to his office, warning journalists to moderate the tone of their coverage, according to local journalists.
Magic FM, a leading station in Yaounde that partners with the US government-funded Voice of America. It is known for its pointed political coverage, according to Janvier Njikam, local coordinator of the Cameroon Employed Journalists Trade Union.
The closure of Magic FM followed last week’s back-to-back closures of leading broadcasters Equinoxe Television, and its sister station Radio Equinoxe, in connection with their coverage of Cameroon’s national crisis.
AUSSIE RADIO AD AWARDS ANNOUNCES TWO WEEK EXTENSION FOR ENTRIES
RA Commercial Radio Australia has announced an extra two week call for entries for any radio ad made at any time in the 2008 Siren Awards yearly cycle to be considered for the 2008 Siren Awards.
The Siren Final Call will allow agencies and radio stations to submit work previously not entered, or re-enter work that had not been recognised in the quarterly rounds.
TUNISIAN JOURNALISTS LAUNCH NORTH AFRICAN ORGANISATION
The National Union of Tunisian Journalists will launch a regional organisation that will represent journalists across North Africa. The new group, sponsored by the union and its Moroccan counterpart, is intended to better represent members and play a more effective role on the level of the International Federation of Journalists.
Magharebia reported that at a meeting held on Friday in Tunis, the National Union of Tunisian Journalists executive board and the Moroccan National Press Syndicate chief Younes M'jahed agreed ‘on the need to promote press freedoms and enhance the negotiating capacity of press unions in the Arab Maghreb region.
The two groups also “explored the possibility of exchanging expertise and visits between the Tunisian and Moroccan unions until the initiative is expanded to include all unions in the Maghreb region.”
The National Union of Tunisian Journalists decided last October to transform from its previous structure of forty years – the Association of Tunisian Journalists – into a union able to negotiate wages and defend press freedoms in Tunisia.
This change led to new discussions on the expansion of such groups to the regional level. A source in the Arab Union of Journalists told Magharebia that Egypt will not join the group because “the Egyptians have their own agenda, and they wouldn't want to relinquish their hegemony over the Arab Union of Journalists,” which is headquartered in Egypt and headed by an Egyptian.
Maghreb journalists are expected to discuss the future league during their next conference in March.
WEB SITE TO EXAMINE ASIAN MEDIA ETHICS
The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility and the Asia Media Forum launched a blog on Asian journalism ethics in January to generate discussion on the ethical issues confronting journalism in Asia.
The site, Eye on the Asian Media: Asia Media Forum (http://www.eyeonethics.org), features stories and analyses. Readers may comment on articles, offer opinions, as well as contribute content to encourage dialogue. The site also contains various journalism codes of ethics from across the region, and links to other media ethics resources.
Luis V Teodoro, Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility deputy director and journalism professor at the University of the Philippines, is the editor of the site.
HONG KONG PAY-TV REVENUE DOWN; FREE-TO-AIR UP
Marketing reports that ad spend in the Hong Kong pay-TV sector dropped 3 percent to HK $4.5 billion in 2007 and terrestrial TV increased only 2 percent to $15.8 billion, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Helen Pemberton, director Nielsen Media Research, said that despite an improved economy in Hong Kong in 2007, the ad market only grew 6 percent compared to 2006.
Year-on-year ad spend for 2006 was 8 percent.
"Competition in newspapers and TV was extremely keen, with the introduction of additional free newspapers and pay-TV, which may have impacted media buyers' planning and advertising receipts for the respective mediums", she added.
DISCOVERY NETWORK AND READERS DIGEST LAUNCH ASIAN MAGAZINE
Discovery Networks Asia has launched a bimonthly magazine in partnership with Reader’s Digest Asia, covering science and technology, adventure, animal behaviour, history and the future.
Discovery Channel Magazine will have an initial circulation of 100,000 primarily in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines comprising both subscriptions and newsstands.
It will also be on sale in China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. There are plans to roll out to other Asia-Pacific markets later in 2008.
HEARST MAGAZINES IN US ADOPT RADICAL ONLINE POLICIES
Mediawire Daily reports that Hearst Magazines US digital chief Chuck Cordray is pushing buttons, announcing deal after deal.
The latest push is with Yahoo Buzz, which allows readers to vote on the popularity of online stories. Yahoo then posts the winners on its homepage. Hearst has signed on ten of its titles as Buzz content partners, including Esquire, Cosmopolitan and Redbook.
In other Hearst Magazines Digital Media news, the company says it is killing the stand-alone websites of 13 of its including Good Housekeeping and Country Living, and will roll up their content into one huge portal called Allaboutyou.com.
CHAD GOVERNMENT’S NEW PRESS LAW INCREASES PRISON SENTENCES FOR JOURNALISTS
The Chad government has adopted a new press law by decree which does not abolish prison terms for press offences, but instead makes the sentences much longer and makes it harder to launch a newspaper.
Under the new law, the maximum penalty for publishing false news and defamation is increased to three years in prison, while the maximum penalty for "insulting the president" is increased to five years.
Under the old law, anyone wanting to launch a newspaper just had to file a declaration with the ministry of commerce. Now they have to appear before the prosecutor's office and the High Council of Communication. Previously, anyone publishing a newspaper only had to have a university degree. Now both the publisher and editor have to have graduated from a school of journalism.
The government has promised several times that the press law would be liberalised.
Last September, the Union of Chadian Journalists and other media organisations recommended decriminalising press offences.
Meanwhile, two communiqués issued on February 18 and 21 by the High Council of Communication and the government have banned the media from reporting "the activities of the armed opposition in any form" and "any information jeopardising national cohesion and inciting unrest."
RAPIDLY EXPANDING RADIO AND TELEVISION STATIONS IN AFRICA ATTRACT INTERNATIONAL INVESTOR INTEREST
Bizcommunity.com reports that a rapid increase in the number of radio and TV channels in Africa over the last three years has piqued interest by international media players.
A recent report, African Broadcast and Film Markets, published jointly by Balancing Act and InterMedia, has documented this growth.
The report is a detailed look at broadcasting in 40 African countries, including 17 in-country audience surveys.
The report finds that the liberalisation of radio broadcasting in many countries has led to an explosion in the number of radio stations, particularly those broadcasting in local languages. Known in East Africa as the "vernaculars," these stations have been a high growth area over the last five years. The most striking example is Uganda, where there are now more than 150 radio stations, 69 percent of which cater to audiences in the country's 38 different languages.
Television broadcasting outlets have also increased steeply; out of 40 markets surveyed in sub-Saharan Africa, the report finds nearly half (18) have licensed free-to-air TV channels.
"African broadcasting is undergoing a period of major growth as more countries are liberalising and increasing the number of channels," says Russell Southwood, author of the report.
"The level of radio and television ownership has kept pace, also increasing very rapidly. International media players are paying close attention to the new opportunities that are opening up."
There is a huge appetite for FM music radio in Africa, but listeners also hunger for news.
But the report finds they tend to trust either the new private broadcasters or NGO-run radio and TV stations for news more than they do government-run broadcasters. This is particularly true in North African countries such as Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt, where channels like Al Jazeera attract large audiences.
Additionally, the report finds that with the introduction of competition into the pay TV market, there are an increasing number of people with access to a wider range of programs than are available on terrestrial television, particularly sports events, such as the UK Premiership and the recent Africa Cup of Nations.
These services are largely delivered by satellite, although there are now a small number of IP-TV and cable operators. The majority of pay TV subscribers are found in Africa's urban areas. This trend towards pay TV is likely to receive a further boost when a number of operators introduce "triple play"– a combination service that includes voice, internet and TV programming services – later in the year.
HONG KONG’S NEW PUBLISHING COMPANY RELAUNCHES MEN’S MAGAZINE
Hong Kong’s MRRM Publishing, formerly known as Men’s Uno International Publishing, will launch the first issue of new men’s title MR, after ending its five-year licensing deal for Men’s Uno.
MRRM managing director Mabel Leung told media that the first ‘evolution issue’ will continue to target 25-40 year-old trendy, affluent male yuppies.
She said, “We believe our readers have evolved psychologically over five years.
“With our early editions of Men’s Uno, our content was more Greater China focused, as it is very common for Hong Kong residents to go to China for business.”
“With the new MR Magazine, we are trying to break down the geographical barrier with the marketing tagline ‘In Search of Better MR’, as our readers have more sophisticated and moved on in life, and they are not into impulse shopping.”
The debut issue features high-end advertisers like Cartier, Sony Ericsson, Lane Crawford, LAB Series and Vacheron Constantin.
MRRM has launched print and outdoor advertising campaigns, which are running across Apple Daily, MTR, and outdoor bus shelters.
MYANMAR MAGAZINE EDITOR AND MANAGER JAILED FOR ILLEGAL PUBLISHING
Myanmar authorities have charged the editor-in-chief and manager of the Yangon journal Myanmar Nation with illegal printing and publishing.
The two, who had been detained in Thingangyun police station for 15 days, were charged on February 25 and were shifted to Myanmar’s notorious Insein prison.
"They were interrogated by the Military Affairs Security while in Thingangyun police station. We learnt they were charged under the Printers and Publishers Act. The authorities said they were charged for possessing a copy of the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, Mr. Pinheiro, a copy of Unbreakable Union written by U Shwe Ohn and CDs of the Saffron Revolution," Daw Khin Swe Myint, wife of editor-in-chief U Thet Zin told Mizzima news service.
The employees of Myanmar Nation are reportedly facing difficulties as they no longer have jobs after the authorities closed the journal's office and stopped its publication.
"I told reporters to continue their work. I told them I would try my best to print their news stories in other journals to earn some money. But it's not an easy job. I feel sorry for the staff and their families who are dependent on the journal at a time when many people are facing economic hardships," Daw Khin Swe Myint said.
TIME OUT EXPANDS ITS WEBSITE PRESENCE ACROSS US CITIES
Mediawire Daily reports that Time Out New York is expanding across more big cities in the US via the web, adopting a similar format to the popular Gothamist.com which has websites targeting major cities in the US and overseas.
Time Out’s Tony Elliot wants to stretch his brand to the following US cities: Los Angeles, Dallas, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle and Miami.
He is looking to sell a small piece of his empire in an effort to raise US$40-$60 million.
Press Gazette reports that UK Trinity Mirror chief executive Sly Bailey has railed against "dinosaur-like media commentators" who have predicted the death of newspapers, and said there is still "a market for well-targeted print launches".
In an analysts' presentation, Bailey said Trinity Mirror was "better positioned than ever" and announced plans to hire a further 100 staff this year to work on new digital publishing projects.
She said, "If you listen to the industry's armchair critics and dinosaur-like media commentators, you'd be forgiven for thinking it's all over for newspapers. But it's been an encouraging year which demonstrates the power and possibilities of print."
Bailey pointed to Trinity Mirror's experimental ultra-local websites in the north-east of England – and the ultra-local newspapers created from them –
as "a real success story".
"We've devised what we believe is an attractive low cost digital publishing model. Our goal is to substantially increase digital revenues in the next two years."
The company is set to hire around 100 staff this year to work in digital. Bailey said that although most of these jobs would be in sales, there would also be a number of editorial and production vacancies.
TWO NEW FREE ENTRANTS INTO UK MEN’S MAG MARKET BOOST FIGURES
Circulations for Britain's men's magazines have rebounded after years of falls, according to just-released circulation data.
Media Life quoted Dan Pimm, head of print media at Universal McCann's London operation, as saying, “The men’s market was up something like 11 percent. For the men’s market that’s amazing.”
But the gains are being enjoyed mostly by only two of the newest publications, and both are free and with hefty distributions: ShortList, an upscale men's weekly, and Sport, also a weekly.
The figures question conventional wisdom that men were drifting off to the internet and away from print titles.
Mike Soutar, ShortList's founder and a former editorial director at IPC, a major UK publishing house, said, “"For those that say men are moving away from magazines and going online, this shows the opposite. If you get the content right, men’s magazines have never been more engaging. There has never been a greater number of men’s magazines read than today.”
The figures also reveal the potential for free magazines.
In just the last 18 months, three free titles have launched in the UK: two men's and one women’s magazine.
Sport, a British reworking of a successful French concept that launched in 2006 as a weekly, distributes 317,209 copies each week in London on Friday mornings.
ShortList debuted in London and five other cities last September, and each Thursday it hands out close to 500,000 copies. ABC figures for second-half 2007, its first audit period, show that ShortList averaged 462,731 copies a week. It aims to reach 500,000.
Shortlist and Sport are now the two largest circulation men’s magazines in the UK.
Earlier this month, Dare, a women's monthly, went free, upping its distribution to 750,000. It's handed out at London tube and train stations.
The free men’s magazines also seem to be eating into the circulations of the
paid-for weeklies.
Circulation at Bauer Consumer Media’s Zoo was down 12.5 percent, to 179,006 from July to December 2007 compared to the same period the year before, while IPC Media’s Nuts was down 8.5 percent, to 270,053.
ShortList and Sport solve a problem for marketers by offering the sort of mass distribution that was difficult with paid titles. As Alan Brydon, head of press communications at Media Planning Group, notes, most existing men’s titles were either too small or their content too salacious for a lot of advertisers.
Both titles say they think their concepts could work in other countries.
BUSINESSWEEK HAILS THE POWER OF BLOGS
Businessweek again hailed the power of blogs in commerce in its February 14 issue announcing that “Social Media Will Change Your Business.”
“Look past the yakkers, hobbyists, and political mobs,” it added, “Your customers and rivals are figuring blogs out. Our advice: Catch up…or catch you later.”
The magazine ran an editor’s note which read, “When we published ‘Blogs Will Change Your Business’ in May, 2005, Twittering was an activity dominated by small birds. Truth is, we didn't see MySpace coming. Facebook was still an Ivy League sensation. Despite the onrush of technology, however, thousands of visitors are still downloading the original cover story.
So we decided to update it. Over the past month, we've been calling many of the original sources and asking the Blogspotting community to help revise the 2005 report.
First, the headline. Blogs were the heart of the story in 2005. But they're just one of the tools millions can use today to lift their voices in electronic communities and create their own media. Social networks like Facebook and MySpace, video sites like YouTube, mini blog engines like Twitter—they've all emerged in the last three years, and all are nourished by users.”
NEW YORK TIMES FALSELY ACCUSES HILLARY CLINTON OF CALLING FOR NEWS MAN’S FIRING
Media Matters reports that a March 1 New York Times article falsely asserted that Senator Hillary Clinton's campaign had "released a letter signed by Mrs Clinton calling on MSNBC to fire a reporter who had made an off-colour reference to her daughter."
In fact, the letter did not "call on" NBC News president Steve Capus to fire the reporter, David Shuster. In fact, Clinton's letter did not seek any specific action against Shuster for his February 7 comment that the Clinton campaign had "pimped out" Chelsea Clinton.
Shuster apologised for the comment and was suspended by NBC News.
The following is Clinton's letter to Capus:
“Dear Mr. Capus,
“Thank you for your call yesterday. I wanted to send you this note to convey the depth of my feeling about David Shuster's comments.
“I know that I am a public figure and that my daughter is playing a public role in my campaign. I am accustomed to criticism, certainly from MSNBC. “I know that it goes with the territory.
“However, I became Chelsea's mother long before I ran for any office and I will always be a mom first and a public official second.
“Nothing justifies the kind of debasing language that David Shuster used and no temporary suspension or half hearted apology is sufficient.
“I would urge you to look at the pattern of behavior on your network that seems to repeatedly lead to this sort of degrading language.
“There's a lot at stake for our country in this election. Surely, you can do your jobs as journalists and commentators and still keep the discourse civil and appropriate.
Sincerely,
Hillary Rodham Clinton”
Meanwhile the Advocate in the US reports that Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign is spending in gay media. Targeted ad buys in the two states ahead of the March 4 primaries feature full page print ads in gay newspapers which began appearing on Friday in four large markets: Columbus, Cleveland, Dallas, and Houston.
The campaign is trying to cut into the long-standing ties between gays and lesbians and Senator Clinton.
DRUDGE TAKES CREDIT FOR NEW IDEA’S UNWITTING SCOOP ABOUT PRINCE HARRY SERVING IN AFGHANISTAN
Online reporter Matt Drudge has again been making international headlines for making headlines with his news reports.
This time he’s being credited for breaking the embargoed news that Prince Harry has seen action in Afghanistan.
The Adrian Monck blog reported, “On 7 January, 2008, an Australian magazine reported, ‘Prince Harry has joined his regiment on a covert mission to Afghanistan and his unit has already seen front line action.
’Not seen in public since the middle of December, New Idea can exclusively reveal that despite opposition from senior members of the British government and the royal family itself, Harry now joins his uncle Prince Andrew as a royal who has been to war.”
As one commenter said on 10 January, 2008 in reaction to New Idea’s story, “It seems that a ‘hot’ news story is more important than the secrecy needed to protect lives. Shame on you!”
Monck then points out that the story exploded internationally only after Drudge picked it up.
This is the initial Drudge report:
PRINCE HARRY FIGHTS ON FRONTLINES IN AFGHANISTAN; 3 MONTH TOUR
Thu Feb 28 2008 11:01:34 ET
They're calling him "Harry the Hero!"
British Royal Prince Harry has been fighting in Afghanistan since late December -- and has been directly involved in gun battle, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
The prince, a junior officer in the Blues and Royals, and third in line to the throne, has been a "magnificent soldier" and an "inspiration to all of Briton."
Prince Harry is taking part in a new offensive against the Taliban.
Ministry of Defense and Clarence House refuse all comment. Army chiefs have managed to keep the prince away from media and have encouraged fellow soldiers in his squadron to stay quiet.
Developing...”
Crooks and Liars then reported that Prince Harry was pulled from Afghanistan because of Drudge.
Crooks and Liars reported, “The 23-year-old prince was posted in mid-December to the restive Helmand province of southern Afghanistan under a cloak of secrecy following an unusual agreement reached between the media and the army.
However, the arrangement collapsed after news was leaked on the US website, the Drudge Report, yesterday.
The ministry said the decision to withdraw the prince, who is third in line to the throne, was taken primarily because “the worldwide media coverage of Prince Harry in Afghanistan could impact on the security of those who are deployed there, as well as the risks to him as an individual soldier.”
The Press Gazette in the UK reported, “Prince Harry has been fighting the Taliban on the front line in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed. The news became public today despite a news blackout observed unanimously by UK journalists. Editors have known for months that the royal was serving on the frontline but made an agreement with the MoD not to publish this fact to protect both Harry and the soldiers he is serving with. “But the arrangement has broken down after news was leaked out on the US website the Drudge Report.”
Presumably, the editorial staff at Australian’s New Idea magazine will be relieved that Drudge has taken the credit for their snafu.
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