MEDIABLAB DAILY DIGEST SEPT 19: CZECH MTV IRAQ FINANCE PAPER LAUNCH CANADIAN NEWSPAPERS STRONG
September 20th 2008 02:54
INDIAN GOVERNMENT OKAYS LOCAL EDITIONS OF FOREIGN NEWS MAGAZINES
Exchange4media News Service reports that India’s Union Cabinet on September 18 gave approval to Indian editions of foreign magazines publishing news and comments on public news, that is, periodicals falling in the news and current affairs category.
Publishers of such editions will continue to be eligible for attracting 26 percent foreign investment. The decision will provide Indian readers access to foreign magazines at cheaper rates in comparison to the same magazines imported at much higher rates.
STEVE DUNLEAVY FADES NOT SO GENTLY INTO THE TABLOID NIGHT
Former Australian wild man journalist, Steve Dunleavy – the problem-drinking right wing tabloid-hack New York Post columnist who's been called “Murdoch's fiercest, most loyal, and longest-running attack dog" – is finally officially quitting.
In reality, Dunleavy’s career finished month ago due to health problems, but the Post is throwing him a retirement party on October 1, because, well, parties are a part of Dunleavy’s lurid legend.
FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND BUSINESS NEWSPAPER LAUNCHES IN MOSUL, IRAQ
The debut edition of al-Madina al-Iqtesadiya, Mosul’s first business and economics paper was published on Monday.
Emad al-Din al-Amin, the editor-in-chief, told Voices of Iraq, that, “The edition (in the name of god) from the newspaper was published today as the first newspaper concerned in economic and trade affairs in the city of Mosul.
"The Iraqi market witnessed construction, economic and trade activities," he added, explaining that this encouraged him to publish the specialist newspaper.
Mosul, the capital city of Ninewa, is 405 km north of Baghdad.
LOCALISED MTV CHANNEL TO BE LAUNCHED IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC
Central European Media Enterprises Ltd, a leading television broadcaster in Central and Eastern Europe, and MTV Networks International, a division of Viacom Inc, have announced a multi-year licensing agreement granting CME rights to launch a localised MTV channel in the Czech Republic, as well as the opportunity to distribute the channel via cable and satellite in the Slovak Republic.
MTV Czech, scheduled to launch in the first half of 2009, will operate as a fully-localised, 24-hour youth lifestyle channel, providing the very best in international and local music and long-form programming. MTVNI will work closely with CME and TV Nova to give viewers a mix of locally produced content, Czech adaptations of MTV formats and internationally renowned programs such as Pimp My Ride and Cribs subtitled in Czech. MTV Czech will be available as part of TV Nova’s family of terrestrial and cable entertainment and thematic channels.
Bhavneet Singh, managing director and executive vice president, Emerging Markets, MTVNI said, “The Czech Republic has been a priority market for us for some time now and we’re delighted to announce this deal and the extension of our strategic partnership with CME. This is the very first MTVNI service to launch in the Czech Republic, marking a real milestone in our network’s history, and further strengthens our MTV brand footprint across Central and Eastern Europe. Our aim is to provide the best content across multiple media platforms and create the ultimate go-to entertainment destination for Czech youth.”
MTVNI’s Emerging Markets group is one of the fastest growing regions in MTVNI’s portfolio of multi-platform businesses. The Emerging Markets group manages 26 television channels, 24 websites, one broadband channel and three mobile TV channels encompassing the MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, VIVA and Comedy Central brands in Central & Eastern Europe, Russia, Africa and the Middle East. MTVNI is owned by Viacom Inc.
CME operates 22 broadcast networks, as well as pay-TV channels, Internet properties and other media businesses in seven countries – Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine – with an aggregate population of 97 million people. In the past five years CME has been one of the fastest growing media companies in the world.
CONDEMNATION OVER CLOSURE OF NIGERIAN TV CHANNEL WHICH REPORTED THAT THE PRESIDENT WAS CONSIDERING STANDING DOWN
AFP reports that Nigeria's opposition and media groups on Wednesday condemned the closure of one of the country's independent television stations which ran a story that President Umaru Yar'Adua was planning to step down.
Security authorities on Tuesday night shut down Channels, one of Nigeria's largest private broadcasters, and arrested five of its journalists, after it ran a story purportedly lifted off the state News Agency of Nigeria wires.
The wire service distanced itself from the story, which said Yar'Adua was contemplating resigning on health grounds.
The President's aides said he had no plans whatsoever to resign. The closure sparked a storm of criticism as media watchdogs urged the authorities to probe the story's source instead of closing down media houses or arresting journalists.
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT’S NEW TV CHANNEL CAUSES SOME CONCERN AMONG JOURNALISTS
The European Parliament is beaming itself live to the four corners of the continent and beyond via a new web-based TV channel, in a new initiative aimed at raising the profile of the institution and allowing citizens instant internet 'oversight' of their deeds and misdeeds.
Journalists' organisations in the European capital however have given the new media instrument a guarded welcome, saying on the one hand it will be a great new tool for them in their research, but also that they worry about political interference in the content that is being delivered to Europeans over the heads of traditional media outlets.
Europarl TV goes beyond providing live coverage of the parliament's plenary sessions and committee meetings, but will also offer a range of news programming via four themed channels-within-the-channel, targeting the general public, EU legislative stakeholders and school children in particular. All programs are to be translated into 22 languages, with some programs dubbed and others subtitled.
Michael Shackleton, the head of the Europarl TV unit within the parliament said journalists have nothing to worry about, pointing to the new channel's 'Editorial Charter,' which reads that the channel will be governed by principles of 'public service' for 'informational and educational purposes.'
THE ECONOMIST OPTS FOR TELEVISION ADVERTISING IN INDIA
The Economist has launched its first ever television commercial in India, after decades of relying mainly on outdoor media and the occasional press ads.
According to Suprio Guha Thakurta, associate publisher, The Economist, India, the publication has hardly ever used television even internationally. The closest it came to TV was in a campaign in the US, but that was a short period promotion and, hence, experimental and tactical in nature.
Unlike some other major advertisers, The Economist will use television as a supplementary medium, while outdoor and press will continue to run the show for the brand in cities such as Mumbai, Delhi and Bengalur.
Eight months ago, O&M, The Economist’s agency in India, had launched the thought, ‘Interpret the World’, using press and outdoor ads. Each ad made use of a single alphabet and showed an image next to it to denote what that alphabet could represent. For instance, the letter ‘A’ and the word ‘Addiction’ were inscribed beside the image of a credit card, implying that ‘A’ stands for addiction and credit cards symbolise the word perfectly.
Now, O&M has been given the specific brief of juxtaposing the outdoor and print campaign launched eight months ago with television, with the intent of creating awareness about the magazine in India.
CAMBODIA MINISTRY OF INFORMATION TO BUILD INTERNET CAFÉ FOR JOURNALISTS
Cambodia’s Ministry of Information will build an internet cafe at it offices next year, to give journalists access to information and resources.
Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said, "Some media institutions do not have the ability to connect to the internet for their staff to do research.
"We will put 20 computers in the internet cafe and make available many important government documents for reporters."
The Phnom Penh Post reported that journalists would be required to pay the ministry a small fee to use the resources, but Khieu Kanharith said it would be cheaper than commercial cafes.
Seng Thai, a journalist for Radio Voice of Democracy, welcomed the idea, saying it would open up a wealth of information previously unobtainable to journalists.
But he was hesitant about paying to use a publicly-owned service.
"If reporters have to pay, they will go to other internet shops that are better rather than spending time at the Ministry of Information."
MURDOCH SAYS HE AIN’T BUYING NO MORE NEWSPAPERS – OH YEAH?
Rupert Murdoch has announced that for the time being, he’s no longer buying newspapers
But he has said similar things before.
He told a media conference in New York on Wednesday, “We’re not doing anything while the economic future is as murky as it is now. We’re not interested in buying any more newspapers. We have what we have. And they’re undervalued, which means we probably can’t sell them.”
He also noted that local TV stations are not in great shape either, because of the auto sector’s greatly reduced spending.
But then he added, “Hard times are good for big companies, if you think of the long term at all.”
He also said that cable channels were a principal growth engine, and said they now offer a "great chance ... to get a bigger share.”
This perhaps means he might buy one or two of them if the price is right.
ZIMBABWE TO OPEN UP ITS MEDIA AND POSSIBLY ALLOW THE RETURN OF BANNED NON-GOVERNMENT NEWSPAPERS AND TV STATIONS
Zimbabwe has agreed to open up its media and this could see the return of banned privately run newspapers and TV stations, while criminalising the use of hate language in the media, according to the African Press Agency.
The country's three main political parties have resolved to ensure the immediate processing of all applications for “re-registration and registration in terms of the Broadcasting Services Act and the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
The Broadcasting Services Act was used to close at least two private television stations in 2001 and led to the creation of the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe whose main mandate was to process applications for licences by non-state players in the industry. No broadcasting licence has been awarded during the seven years of authority’s existence, resulting in allegations that the authority was frustrating prospective private broadcasters to maintain the monopoly of the state-run Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation.
The freeing of media could also see the re-registration of major Western television networks such as the BBC, CNN and Sky News which have been banned from operating in Zimbabwe, though some reporters have managed to get into the country.
The political parties also said the public and private media should refrain from using abusive language that may incite hostility, political intolerance and ethnic hatred or that unfairly undermines political parties and other organisations.
NEWSPAPERS NEED TO REDISCOVER THEIR SOULS SAYS MEDIA CONSULTANT
Juan Senor, partner with the Innovation International Media Consulting Group told the news industry that newspapers needed to "innovate or die," if not they will face "death by a thousand cuts."
Senor focused on the reinvention of newspapers, stating that newspapers need to reinvent the formula of the medium and "rediscover the soul of their business".
Senor compared the newspaper industry to the Ringling Brothers circus, which he said died in 1967 "because television could bring you those elephants up close."
He believes that Cirque du Soleil, established in Montreal in 1984, is an excellent representation of reinventing an industry, "they reinvented the formula completely -- most importantly, they got rid of the elephants." He uses this comparison to demonstrate the ability of newspapers to reinvent the industry.
CRITICS ACCUSE US JOURNALISTS OF BEING PUSSIES TO FAILED CEOS
CBC News reports that critics were disappointed with the reaction of the press during a recent press conference for the proposed acquisition of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America,
John Friedman of MarketWatch wrote, "the media were so polite and deferential to the two ceos, they behaved as if the press conference were a victory lap for the financial services industry."
He noted the clear absence of 'in-your-face" questions and went further to comment on the fact that journalists seem to treat ceo’s like "heroes." Friedman credited one journalist for the courage to ask John Thain, chairman and CEO of Merrill Lynch, if he judged himself to be a success or a failure.
According to Friedman, Wall Street journalists did a better job of analysing the crisis than they have previously, however he criticizes the fact that many failed to explain how the crisis started in the first place.
CANADIAN NEWSPAPER DELIVER HEALTHY READERSHIP FIGURES
Canada’s Newspaper Audience Databank released the 2007/08 NADbank Readership Study for selected markets, which includes autumn 2007 and spring 2008 readership data from the country's most competitive markets: Toronto, Ottawa-Gatineau, Montréal, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. The Calgary and Edmonton readership reports include 24 hours and Metro results for the first time.
Ottawa-Gatineau led the pack with an 82 percent over-18 readership of printed or online edition of a daily newspaper. Calgary followed with 79 percent, Vancouver at 78 percent, Montreal and Edmonton respectively at 77 percent, and Toronto at 76 percent.
The Toronto Star led its city’s weekly readership in the Big Smoke, La Presse in Montreal, the Ottawa Citizen in Ottawa-Gatineau, the Calgary Herald in Calgary, the Edmonton Journal and The Province in Vancouver. The full study, NADbank 2007, provides readership for 85 Canadian daily newspapers and two Detroit dailies in 54 urban markets across Canada, and also includes readership data for 57 community newspapers in 33 markets and product/retail/lifestyle information in 19 markets.
SOCIAL NETWORKING SUPPLANTS PORNOGRAPHY IN WEB POPULARITY
Reuters reports that in his new book, Click: What Millions of People are Doing Online and Why it Matters, general manager of Global Research Bill Tancer reveals that social networking sites are internet's biggest attraction, surpassing pornography.
"There are some patterns to our internet use that we tend to repeat very specifically and predictably, from diet searches, to prom dresses, to what we do around the holidays," Tancer told Reuters. He conducted his research by analysing consumers' searching habits
One of the biggest shifts in web use he found over the past decade has been the fall of interest in pornography or adult entertainment sites. Searching for porn has dropped to about 10 percent of searches from 20 percent a decade ago. "As social networking traffic has increased, visits to porn sites have decreased," Tancer said, adding that 18- to 24-year-olds were searching less for porn. "My theory is that young users spend so much time on social networks that they don't have time to look at adult sites."
Tancer added that celebrity searches remain enormously popular, as do searches for political figures. However, he notes that most searches for the presidential candidates in particular were not about issues. "A lot of the focus around the candidates in general is image based. People want to know how tall Barack Obama is and also to search for their families," Tancer said. "You have to get far down in the search terms to link the search for a candidate with any issue."
AUSTRALIA’S ONLINE ADVERTISING MARKET CONTINUES TO INCREASE CONSIDERABLY AFTER A FALTER
Computer World reports that revenues from Australia's online advertising market will increase to over A$481 million in 2008, according to Frost & Sullivan predictions.
This represents a 24 percent increase over last year's market value of $387 million, and Computer World regards this is as particularly surprising considering the current overall slowdown in media budgets.
The online advertising industry has been affected by this slowdown, with revenues increasing by less than one percent in the first half of the year.
But according to a recent Frost & Sullivan report, the industry is back on track, and growth is expected to increase strongly throughout 2009.
The biggest market drivers are the shift in advertiser focus away from traditional media outlets and towards online sources and the increasing emphasis on creating brand awareness online.
Frost and Sullivan predicts that in the future the adoption of integrated content and video advertising models will be one of the market's biggest growth areas.
CANBERRA TIMES APOLOGISES TO MIDDLE EAST FORUM DIRECTOR OVER ALLEGEDLY DEFAMATORY ARTICLE
Middle East Forum reports that Irfan Yusuf and the Canberra Times have issued an apology to Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, concerning a defamatory article written by Yusuf.
On August 18, 2008, the Canberra Times, an Australian newspaper, published Yusuf's "Justice the remedy required to help Bosnia heal."
In it, Yusuf mentioned a speech Mr. Pipes delivered to a dinner hosted by Quadrant magazine earlier this year which was subsequently published as “Europe or Eurabie” in the newspaper. Yusuf incorrectly stated that in his speech, Pipes had predicted Europe's next holocaust victims would be Muslim migrants. Frighteningly, Pipes suggested that Muslims thoroughly deserved such slaughter.
Upon receipt of Pipes' protest, Irfan Yusuf and the Canberra Times agreed to issue a public correction, retraction, and apology, which appeared in the newspaper’s print and online editions.
The Canberra Times and Irfan Yusuf accept that Pipes never predicted nor has he ever endorsed a holocaust of European Muslims, and they unreservedly apologise to him for the errors.
Pipes said. "Irfan Yusuf has a history of writing inaccurately about me, something I have already noted and corrected. His having embarrassed the Canberra Times should send a signal to responsible media everywhere to decline his tendentious writings."
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