MEDIABLAB DECEMBER 6
December 6th 2007 00:20
From MediaBlab daily media news service compiled by Peter Olszewski for Dow Jones' Factiva
NORWAY’S DEMOCRATIC VOICE OF BURMA BROADCASTER WINS MEDIA OF THE YEAR AWARD
Reporters Without Borders and the Fondation de France have awarded the media of the year prize to the Democratic Voice of Burma TV and radio, for being one of the most reliable sources of news during the crisis in Myanmar.
Founded in 1992 by a group of pro-democracy students who escaped the 1988 massacres, the Norwegian-based TV and radio managed to send out images of the crackdown on the demonstrations in September 2007.
The other 2007 nominations in the category were for Echo of Moscow (Russia), Agos (Turkey), Umuseso (Rwanda) and Tu do Ngon Luan (Vietnam).
Eritrean journalist Seyoum Tsehaye was named Journalist of the Year 2007.
The other 2007 nominations in this category were for Iqbal Athas (Sri Lanka), Hollman Morris (Colombia) and Jila Baniyaghoob (Iran).
The Press freedom Defender award was won by the Journalistic Freedom Observatory in Iraq. This body was set up in 2004, after numerous journalists were imprisoned and maltreated by the Iraqi security forces.
The other 2007 nominations in this category were for the Institute for Reporters Freedom and Safety (Azerbaijan), Abraji (Brazil) and Beatrice Mtetwa (Zimbabwe).
The Cyber-Dissident prize was awarded to Kareem Amer of Egypt, a young blogger who wrote from his prison cell, in September 2007 after being sentenced to four years in prison for criticising the authoritarian tendencies of President Hosni Moubarak and condemning the running of the Sunnite unversity of al-Azhar, where he was studying law.
The other 2007 nominations in this category were Nguyen Van Dai (Vietnam), Roger Santodomingo (Venezuela) and Yang Zili (China).
A special ‘China’ prize was awarded to Hu Jia and Zeng Jinyan, a husband and wife human rights team who are under house arrest but "nevertheless continue to do their best to keep the entire world up to date with damaging effects on the Chinese people of the preparations for the Olympic Games".
Since it was founded 16 years ago, the Reporters Without Borders - Fondation de France prize has been awarded to:
Zlatko Dizdarevic (Bosnia-Herzegovina - 1992), Wang Juntao (China - 1993), André Sibomana (Rwanda - 1994), Christina Anyanwu (Nigeria - 1995), Isik Yurtçu (Turkey - 1996), Raúl Rivero (Cuba - 1997), Nizar Nayyouf (Syria - 1998), San San Nweh (Buma - 1999), Carmen Gurruchaga (Spain - 2000), Reza Alijani (Iran - 2001), Grigory Pasko (Russia - 2002), Ali Lmrabet (Morocco - 2003), Hafnaoui Ghoul (Algeria - 2004), Zhao Yan (China - 2005) and U Win Tin (Burma - 2006).
RELIEF ALL AROUND AS THE BULLETIN’S PARSIMONIOUS PUBLISHER FINALLY QUITS AUSTRALIA’S OLDEST WEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE
Staff at The Bulletin magazine are rejoicing at news their publisher, Paul Myers, is leaving after a short 18-month reign, according to The Australian.
It said Myers had control over the budgets of the 127-year-old The Bulletin, Australia's oldest weekly news magazine, and under his watch staff were not replaced and budgets were slashed.
Myers came from the RM Williams Outback magazine where, under his reign, payments to freelancers were pitiful.
Bulletin editor-in-chief John Lehmann will now report to ACP's men's and specialist publisher Phil Scott.
Myers is believed to have resigned because he found himself increasingly distanced from his old Rural Press ally, now PBL Media chief executive officer, Ian Law. Myers was unpopular as he was seen as the public face of private equity.
RUPERT WATCHETH OVER THE OPPOSITION AT FAIRFAX’S SWANK NEW SYDNEY OFFICES
Fairfax Media staff at their new offices in inner-Sydney Pyrmont, were being watched – by Rupert Murdoch.
The giant glass panels featured a photograph of News Corporation chairman and chief executive Rupert Murdoch, Fairfax’s arch rival and publisher of The Australian, which of course delighted today in running this story.
The discovery was not made until after a grand tour of the new offices, housing the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian Financial Review and the Sun-Herald, by the chairman of the board, Ron Walker, ceo David Kirk and the rest of the board yesterday morning.
Management was last night ripping them down about 50 panels before the glue dried. Some staff members were souveniring the panels, and there is debate about how and why the Murdoch image came to be there.
Last month, the Herald was produced for the first time from the new building, and to mark the occasion, the Herald published an editorial which read, "Dear Mr Rupert Murdoch. We note your remarks in relation to the shape of journalism to come... You are most welcome to come and view what your newspaper, The Australian, called ‘the newsroom of tomorrow’; it is here today at the Herald."
FAIRFAX COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER JOURNALISTS WOO NEW UNION IN AUSTRALIA
The Australian Workers Union has received an approach from journalists at Fairfax Media's community newspapers in Melbourne requesting to sign up as members because of discontent with the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance.
The Australian reported that unhappiness among journalists from Fairfax Community Newspapers is based on fallout from an enterprise agreement negotiated by MEAA's Victorian secretary Louise O'Connor with management in June.
NEWSPAPER POOFTER BASHERS IN AUSTRALIA BASHED BY TRIBUNAL FOR VILIFICATION
The publisher of a small north Queensland newspaper and an elderly correspondent who wrote a letter headlined ‘Poofters Beware’ yesterday made legal history in Australia.
Mission Beach Advertiser publisher Michael Wicks and 73-year-old Ross Woodley have became the first people to be prosecuted by Queensland's Anti-Discrimination Tribunal on the basis of a complaint brought by an organisation, rather than an individual.
The Australian reports that the tribunal found Wilks, 63, and Woodley guilty of vilification and ordered them to acknowledge homosexuals were important to north Queensland's tourism economy and should be welcomed to the area.
The pair will also pay substantial legal fees and have to publish apologies.
FREE WEEKLY TABLOID TO BE LAUNCHED INTO DUNEDIN, NEW ZEALAND
Stuff.co reports that “the ‘one-horse’ newspaper town of Dunedin in New Zealand s in for a shake-up as a new joint venture firm launches a glossy-cover tabloid weekly giveaway.”
It is a sister publication to Queenstown's Mountain Scene and will be distributed early in 2008 in a city where the Otago Daily Times has dominated since being founded in 1861.
The new newspaper will be owned by Scene Media, a joint venture between the majority owner, Mountain Scene, owned by the family of Barry Thomas, and Ashburton's Guardian Print and Guardian newspaper.
Other cities, including Christchurch and Invercargill, had been considered.
Scene Media will print 45,000 copies of the hard-edged, editorially-driven city newspaper along with an integrated website.
AUSTRALIA’S GOCONNECT NON-RENOUNCEABLE RIGHTS ISSUE SHORTFALL NOTICE
Australian-listed GoConnect Ltd, an internet publishing and gaming company with business connections to mainland China, said that its 1:10 ASX non-renounceable rights issue closed on November 30, 2007 with a good support from the shareholders.
The total number of valid entitlements received and accepted under the offer was 28,876,232 ordinary shares at an issue price of $0.03 per share for a total consideration of $866,286.96, leaving a preliminary shortfall of 11,109,910 ordinary shares.
The company has decided to let the above shortfall lapse.
MACQUARIE MEDIA HOLDING DIRECTOR ACQUIRES ALMOST $2 MILLION WORTH OF HIS COMPANY SHARES
Macquarie Media Holdings Ltd director Nicholas Moore has acquired almost $2 million worth of the company’s shares on-market.
Before the November 30 acquisition, Moore held interest in the following parcel of Macquarie Media shares:
Moore & Moore Investments Pty Ltd <The Moore Family a/c> - 584,424 shares.
Nicholas Moore – 1,909,008
He has now acquired a further 464,000 shares for his ‘Nicholas Moore’ holdings.
The stapled securities were valued at $4.2998 each at time of acquisition, giving them a value of just under $1, 995,200.
His combined holdings are now:
Moore & Moore Investments Pty Ltd <The Moore Family a/c> - 584,424 shares
Nicholas Moore – 2,373,008
Total – 2,957,432 fully paid Macquarie Media stapled securities
Valuing the full total of his holdings at the same value per share of his latest acquisition, Moore’s holdings are worth $12.7 million.
On November 29, Macquarie Media director Leon Pasternak also collected a parcel of shares, although significantly smaller than Moore’s acquisition.
The number of securities held by Pasternak, either directly or indirectly, before the change were:
Commercial Custodian Nominees P/L <Pasternak Supefund a/c> - 35,000 stapled securities
Leon Pasternak - 40,000 stapled securities
Total: 75,000 fully paid MMG stapled securities
The number of shares he acquired on November 29 in on-market trade was 10,000 fully paid stapled securities valued at $4.28 each.
This bought his number of shares after the change to
Commercial Custodian Nominees P/L <Pasternak Supefund a/c> - 35,000 stapled securities
Leon Pasternak - 50,000 stapled securities
Total: 85,000 fully paid MMG stapled securities
KOREAN JOURNALISTS WORK BY CANDLELIGHT AFTER REFUSING TO MOVE INTO GOVERNMENT CENTRAL PRESS ROOM
The Korean Ministry of National Defense issued an ultimatum on Tuesday for its press corps to leave the existing pressroom, and move to a new central pressroom where the ministry has been giving press briefings since November 1.
But the Korea Times said most journalists have boycotted the briefings, saying they oppose the government's media policy. The ministry will stop providing services for the press such as internet lines and press releases unless the journalists move into the new pressroom.
President Roh Moo-hyun has sought what he calls media reform by creating a central pressroom after closing all other government pressrooms. He wants to abolish the press corps system where each ministry or agency runs its own pressroom. Most presidential candidates promised to restore the pressroom system if elected.
The defense ministry's ultimatum came a day after the National Police Agency in Seoul cut electricity and heating in its pressroom in order to move reporters out of the agency.
Korea Times reports that journalists work by candlelight at night at the agency's pressroom now. The agency also warned reporters that it will shut down the pressroom and remove all furniture and other facilities tomorrow.
BERTELSMANN TIPPED TO BUY REST OF LUXEMBOURG-BASED EUROPEAN BROADCASTER RTL
Bertelsmann AG, Europe's biggest media company, is considering buying the 10.2 percent it doesn't already own in broadcaster RTL Group to take full control of its most profitable division, according to Bloomberg.
A purchase of the remaining shares in RTL would give closely held Bertelsmann access to the growing cash flow at Luxembourg- based RTL. The broadcaster, which operates 42 TV channels and 32 radio stations in 10 European countries, said on August 28 that earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation rose 7.7 percent in the first half.
EURONEWS AND THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION SIGN MOU WITH CHINA’S CCTV FOR PROGRAM DEAL
EuroNews channel, CCTV China, and the European Commission have signed a memorandum of understanding for the broadcast in Mandarin on CCTV of a EuroNews program about science, space activities and technology, according to Famagusta Gazette.
The show, called Futuris, is a co-production between EuroNews and European Commission DG Research and Information Society.
If the deal goes ahead, it will be the first time EuroNews will be present in the Chinese market.
CCTV is China’s leading broadcaster and only national network, and with 16 TV channels, reaches audiences of over 500 million viewers for its nightly news.
AUSTRALIAN ANNUAL RADIO REVENUE TIPPED TO TOP $1 BILLION IN 2008
Australian Radio Network chief executive Bob Longwell predicted that the solid growth in the radio advertising market this year will continue into next year, according to the Australian Financial Review.
Annual radio ad per year is also tipped to top that magic billion buck level in 2008.
The finance paper said that most ad industry executives predicted a softening next year, with the capital city ad market tipped to increase 4-5 percent next year as opposed to 6-7 percent this year.
Steve Allen, managing director of Fusion Strategy said radio ad revenue will hit 992.8 million this year, an increase of 6.8 percent.
He said it will then increase a further 4.8 percent to $1.04 billion in 2008.
DMG managing director Cathy O’Connor also has a positive view for 2008 revenues, pointing out to the Australian Financial Review that the company’s bookings for January are 10 percent higher that the January bookings at this time last year.
GREENSPAN LIVES UP TO HIS REPUTATION AS THE WONK’S WONK IN HIS DREARY MEMOIR SAYS AUSSIE REVIEWER
Australian media personality Gideon Haigh has analyses the “dreary and cliché-ridden” memoir of former US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, The Age of Turbulence.
Haigh gives this quaint little insight into author Greenspan: "The book, for which the publisher paid an advance of US$8 million, finds Greenspan still playing up to his role as the wonk's wonk, all owlish specs and oracular pronouncements, a man who once jested of himself, 'I guess I should warn you, if I turn out to be particularly clear, you've probably misunderstood what I said.'
“On the first date with his future wife, he talked about monopolies and asked her back to his flat to read an essay he'd written on anti-trust. So dense is his expression, even in repose, that it later took five attempts before she realised he had proposed; on their honeymoon in Venice, he exasperated her with remarks like, 'What is the value-added produced in this city?'"
NO SIGNIFICANT DIMINUTION IN AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER BUYING PATTERNS, REPORT SAYS
In a just-published 2007 supplement to the State of the News Print Media in Australia Report 2006 report, the Australian Press Council said Australian newspaper buying patterns are holding up more than US and European counterparts.
The report supplement said, “There appears to have been no significant diminution of public interest in buying and reading national and metropolitan newspapers in the last year.”
It continued by saying, “There have been the usual increases and decreases in the audited circulation and polled readership of individual titles but overall the figures remain fairly robust. Additionally, the accessing of newspapers via their on-line sites, with greater information becoming available about the number of visitors to such news sites, suggests that any losses in circulation through lesser sales of the printed version has been exceeded by gains through on-line visits
“There have been significant changes in the methods used by the Audit Bureau of Circulation in assessing the number of newspapers sold in the interest of greater accuracy. The Bureau is now auditing circulation more frequently and analysing those figures to show more clearly the types of sales. While these changes appear to have met the demands for greater accuracy in the auditing of circulation, debates about methods of assessing ‘readership’ continue.
“Similarly, there are now questions about how best to assess the number of visitors to newspaper websites, and how to assess their usage of those sites, so that a more complete set of data on ‘circulation’ as a whole can be put together. One question that remains unanswered is: do visits to newspaper websites indicate additional readers, so that the total is taken to indicate a greater level of ‘circulation’? Or are those accessing newspaper websites supplementing their print experience.
“Overall the proportion of the national population over 14 years of age reading newspapers continues to be around 54 percent for Monday to Friday editions, and 63 and 65 percent for the Saturday and Sunday editions respectively.
“A large proportion of the Australian reading-age public continues to buy and read national, metropolitan and regional newspapers regularly. An even bigger number reads the (mostly) free community newspapers.”
NEW INDIAN FREE TABLOID AIMED AT YOUNG URBANE PROFESSIONALS LIVING IN IT CORRIDORS
The Hindu newspaper in India will launch a free tabloid titled Ergo next Monday, targeted at the young affluent readers in the age group of 20-35. A website for the tabloid will also be launched simultaneously, and the new paper will be distributed from Monday to Friday.
Exchange4media said Ergo will have a quick read format for the time-starved readers and will combine news, lifestyle, sports, entertainment in an easy to read manner.
“The content and layout have actually been arrived at after extensive interviews with the target group. Ergo will have local and international news, apart from regular career advice, money management tips, section on comics, crossword Sudoku, music, restaurants, movies, weekend getaways, shopping spots, etc,” N Murali, managing director of the Hindu told Exchange4media.
The paper will initially be launched in Chennai (formerly Madras) with a print run of 50,000 before being rolled out into other cities.
Although Ergo will not be an IT-based tabloid, it will be distributed in Chennai’s IT corridor, and will not be available throughout the city.
N Murali said, “The key lies in the controlled distribution. In due course, in this IT corridor and such places you will have almost 200,000 people working, and they are transported to different places of the city in thousands of buses. So we will distribute Ergo in those buses as well.”
LOOP MOBILE IN DEAL WITH SINGAPORE’S OPTUS IN AUSTRALIA TO LAUNCH MOKO MOBILE PHONECOMMUNITY
Loop Mobile Ltd has entered into a new agreement with Optus for the launch of its award-winning Moko Mobile Community, one of the world’s leading mobile chat and user content generated communities.
Scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2008, Moko on Optus will be an advanced version of Loop’s mobile chat and social networking platform to date and will introduce major new initiatives as Moko Music.
The Moko Optus service will feature new search facilities for users to connect instantly across Australia and around the world, based on a range of shared interests.
Moko also includes instant chat, personal profiles, building a friends list, as well as uploading and sharing photos and videos.
Moko Music connects artists with their fans within its mobile community, including streaming music, video and audio. Artists can host live chat sessions with their fans, all via the mobile device. It will focus on amateur and unsigned bands as well as the major labels.
At the time of the Optus launch, Moko will also incorporate an online version that is in development, allowing Moko users to interact with each other whether they are accessing Moko via the mobile or the web.
The Moko community on Optus Zoo is a monthly subscription based service with day pass use also available.
The Optus contract comes just over a month since the successful launch of Moko on Virgin and demonstrates its growing appeal to both the carriers and their users.
Loop Mobile’s Moko community has already generated over 4.5 million MMS, over 76 million instant messages, over 3 million private messages and over 35 million video downloads.
In the last 12 months, the average user session time has doubled to reach 75 minutes per user session.
Loop was the winner of the 2007 Best User Generated / Social Networking Service ‘MEFFY’ international award by the Mobile Entertainment Forum for Moko.
EUROPE AND US MOBILE PHONE MARKET TO ECLIPSE BOOMING ASIAN MARKET BY 2011
The latest report from London-based media analysts, Screen Digest, examines the market for mobile TV in 25 countries worldwide including Europe, the US and Asia.
The report, Mobile TV: Business Models and Opportunities, provides two perspectives on the market: one from the TV industry and the other from the mobile content industry.
There are currently more than 15 million subscribers to mobile TV in Asia where the majority of broadcast networks are offered free-to-air.
Italy has 850,000 paying subscribers, and France has more than half a million subscribers to Unicast services.
Screen Digest predicts significant growth in subscriber numbers globally, with 140 million subscribers and revenues of Euro4.4bn by 2011.
North America will experience the biggest increase, growing its subscriber base 20 fold to 28.8 million and revenues as much as 50 fold to Euro1.8 billion by 2011,
But subscriber numbers do not equate to revenue; despite its large subscriber numbers and longevity of mobile TV services, Screen Digest believes that by 2011 the Asian market will generate less revenue than Europe and the US.
Europe will lead with a 42.5 percent share of global revenues, followed by the US at 40.5 percent and Asia accounting to the remaining 17 percent.
Screen Digest analysis reveals that in the short term network operators don’t stand to make much profit from offering mobile TV services – yet they must offer it to remain competitive. Operators who do not offer mobile TV will simply lose their subscribers to other operators or other media devices, such as the in-car devices so popular in Asia.
The lion’s share of the income from offering mobile TV services will be shared between the handset manufacturers, software companies, content creators and network owners.
However, the experience in Italy does offer mobile network operators an opportunity and that is to upgrade pay-as-you-go customers to contracts in order to access the rich content. By doing this, operators can enjoy up as much as three times the revenue per unit, without increasing the already-saturated subscriber base.
MORE PUBLICATIONS ENTER MYANMAR MARKET BUT OVERALL CIRCULATIONS DECLINE DUE TO STIFLING GOVERNMENT NEWS RESTRICTIONS
The good news for Myanmar publishers is that it’s much easier now to obtain a publishing licence from the government.
The bad news if that is that people have stopped reading local publications because there’s either no news, or the news that’s proffered as news is simply government propaganda and not really worth reading, even on a slow day.
Obtaining a journal publishing license has become relatively easier with the Myanmar Information Ministry loosening its tight control, but declining readership has hit several news journals hard, leading to loss of revenue. However, the decline in readership has caused several journals to suffer losses, Rangoon based editors and journal producers said.
An editor of a news journal told Mizzima news service, “In Yangon there are more than 100 news journals and each sell for 300 to 500 kyat (roughly 25c to 45c). With the people weathering general economic hardship, they cannot afford to buy journals.”
And even as the government issues more journal publishing licenses, the censorship board stopped two Yangon-based weeklies 'Snap Shot and News Watch, from publishing for a week.
"What I heard about the Snap Shot journal is that it translated Daw Suu's (Aung San Suu Kyi) statement and published it. That's why they were stopped for a week," a journalist said.
"I also heard that Snap Shot had been given a warning. And about two weeks earlier, during a meeting of the censorship board, officials said Snap Shot violated censorship rules.”
News Watch journal was also been stopped from publishing its November 15 issue, for using an article on the meeting between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her party leaders as its cover page article.
AUSTRALIA’S FACILITATE DIGITAL WINDS UP YEAR WITH SIGNIFICANT GLOBAL CLIENT WINS
Facilitate Digital Holdings Ltd, a leading independent provider of digital marketing technology, is winding up 2007 with significant client wins in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe and the UK.
Recent signings include ACP, IBM, Coles, Derwent Howard, Pixel Media, Young & Rubicam, Quicksilver and Advantage Media.
The September 2007 global rollout of the first fully integrated platform FacilitateOne has brought about interest and success for the company internationally. Its single tag solution, Fusion Performance Tracking is also creating strong interest for the significant return on investment it produces for advertisers.
"We have finished the year on a high note with some very satisfying wins" said ceo Ian Lowe. "Particularly pleasing is the extent to which our offshore operations are contributing to sales pipeline and revenue growth, and our ability to secure clients of significance across both agency and corporate channels.
"Next year promises very strong growth for the group, in particular the UK market where we have invested considerable effort in recent months. Being one of the most sophisticated markets in the world of digital marketing, we have experienced overwhelming validation of our technology, in particular our key differentiators of data integration and workflow automation.
"2008 is going to be very busy, and we expect to make further announcements in the New Year."
Since creation in 1999, Facilitate Digital has consistently expanded its product range, customer base, and global presence to its current status of six core products, seven offices across three continents – Australia, Europe, and Asia – and in excess of 500 clients.
PHOTON FURTHER EXPANDS INTO US MARKET WITH ACQUISITION OF FINDOLOGY INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Australia’s Photon Group has further expanded into the US market and strengthened its internet marketing communications division with the acquisition of leading search engine and online advertising company, Findology Interactive Media, Inc and Way Internet, Inc.
The purchase price comprises an initial cash payment of $19.25 million and the issue of 516,590 Photon shares plus deferred payments tied to performance targets.
The initial payment was funded from Photon’s acquisition facility.
Over the next 12 months, the acquisition of Findology is expected to be positive to Photon’s earnings per share.
Executive chairman of Photon, Tim Hughes said, “Findology has a strong track record of revenue and earnings growth since its inception in 2001. “Findology matches internet traffic with products and information for publishers, specific sites and direct advertisers, and represents an excellent fit with our other internet marketing and communications companies such as iMega and OB Media.
THE HEAVENS OPEN FOR MURDOCH WITH NEWS CORP ACQUISITION OF RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY SITE BELIEFNET
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp has acquired New York-based religious community site Beliefnet, which was founded in 1999 to provide a service that offers commentary and community discussion on various religious beliefs.
TechCrunch reports that the company has a checkered history, having declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2002, then restructuring and emerging from bankruptcy in October the same year.
TechCrunch said, “According to earlier reports, around 70 percent of the site’s traffic is related to Christian interests, with around 70 percent of users being females, and the most popular age group being 35 to 45. Beliefnet raised US$7 million from Softbank Capital in 2005.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Australia’s Crikey.com reported that “the religion-centric site will become part of Fox Digital Media, which consists mostly of News Corp's popular social networking site, MySpace. The move may be part of News Corp's efforts to expand its reach onto the internet, where Wall Street sees the best growth opportunities for media conglomerates.
“Beliefnet has around three million unique visitors each month and a daily email newsletter that reaches nearly 11 million subscribers. The company is not affiliated with any spiritual organization or movement.”
Crikey, known for attitude, predictably added, “We can sense the strategic thinking here. After a life of using media power to influence politics and business, an aging Rupert Murdoch, a man suddenly sensing the extremities of his own mortality, will now use media power to influence God. This is only logical.”
Online Media Daily said the site is an online outlet that complements News Corp’s faith-centered properties in traditional media. They include HarperCollins' HarperOne and Zondervan religious-oriented book units and Fox Faith Films, which produces family-oriented films and TV programs.
"We do have content from various divisions within News Corp. and Fox that mesh well together with Beliefnet," said Dan Fawcett, president of Fox Digital Media, under which the site will be grouped. "We view Beliefnet as a stand-alone operating business as well as creating a whole host of corporate opportunities for Fox and News Corp."
The Beliefnet company had 2006 revenues of US$12.6 million, and its advertisers include national marketers such as Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Disney and Fox. Health-related advertising has been a strong category for Beliefnet since it emerged from bankruptcy in 2002 following the dot-com bust. Religious advertisers now make up only a small part of its marketing base.
BRAZIL LAUNCHES LAND-BASED DIGITAL TV USING JAPANESE TECHNOLOGY
Brazil started airing terrestrial digital television programs Sunday night, becoming the first nation to adopt Japan's technological specifications for such TV broadcasts, accruing to a report in Japan Times.
Brazil marked the occasion with a ceremony in Sao Paolo attended by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and 30 Japanese officials and industry representatives, including Kiyoshi Mori, vice minister for policy coordination at the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry.
Brazil's six major commercial TV broadcasters launched their land-based digital services to households in and around Sao Paolo. The number of Brazilian households subscribing to such broadcasts is currently limited to 1,000 because receivers for digital signals are relatively expensive.
But Brazil is intent on disseminating terrestrial digital TV broadcasts across the nation by 2013.
NEWSPRINT COSTS TO RISE SIGNIFICANTLY IN THE US FOLLOWING PRODUCTION TONNAGE CUTS
AbitibiBowater Inc, the largest North American newsprint maker, formed in October following Bowater's purchase of Abitibi-Consolidated, will reduce annual newsprint production by about 600,000 tonnes by the first quarter of 2008.
Reuters said the company plans to restructure its business and drastically reduce newsprint production to help cut excess capacity in North America and underpin a newsprint price rise next year.
The North American newsprint industry has been weighed down by high wood, energy and labor costs, coupled with falling newsprint prices and declining demand.
Reuters said that in a bid to tackle the issues, the industry has been consolidating and reducing production capacity. It also plans to raise newsprint prices by US$60 a tonne in the first quarter of 2008, following this quarter's $25-per-tonne price rise.
OMINOUS PREDICTIONS FOR NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY AT UBS MEDIA WEEK CONFERENCE IN NEW YORK
Oh dear. According to Followthemedia the basic view for the newspaper industry in 2008 as given at UBS Media week presentations on Tuesday was that “newspaper print advertising revenue will continue to fall, that newspaper internet revenue will continue to climb, that combined the total revenue will still continue to decrease, and the only real question is by how much?”
The 32nd Annual UBS Media Week Conference opened in New York on Monday and runs until tomorrow. The conference will feature presentations by chief executives and other senior managers of 70 leading companies representing advertising, broadcasting, publishing, multi-channel television distribution, entertainment and new media companies from the Americas, Europe, Australia, and Asia.
The four-day conference kicked off with its traditional analysis of the outlook for advertising in the coming year, and is moving on to marketing services, entertainment, broadcasters, publishing, pay television, video games and the large, vertically-integrated media giants.
Keynote presenters include:
Dick Parsons, chairman and chief executive officer, Time Warner Inc.
Ken Lowe, president and chief executive officer, The E.W. Scripps Co.
Randall Mays, chief financial officer, Clear Channel Communications
John R. Alchin, executive vice president, treasurer & co-cfo, Comcast Corporation
Dave Watson, executive vice president - operations, Comcast Cable
Miles Groves, president, MG Strategic Research Ltd.
James Conaghan, vice president, Media Association of America
Bob Coen, director of Forecasting, Universal McCann
Steve King, chief executive, Zenith Optimedia
WIKILEAKS LEAKS MORE DOCUMENTS ABOUT DETAINEE ABUSE AT GUANTANAMO
Crooks and Liars reports that Wikileaks has published s second leaked Standard Operating procedures manual that provides detailed instructions about how guards at Guantanamo’s Camp Delta were instructed to treat detainees at the military prison in 2004.
Crooks and Liars said, “Like the 2003 Gitmo manual that Wikileaks published last month, this document is unclassified but still contains significant information about the isolation of prisoners, the use of dogs at Guantanamo, and forms of punishment for detainees. Wikileaks editor Julian Assange has put together a handy side by side comparison showing changes between the 2003 and 2004 documents.”
Wikileaks also published a second document this week that details instructions for dealing with rendition flights involving the air transport of detainees.
NORWAY’S DEMOCRATIC VOICE OF BURMA BROADCASTER WINS MEDIA OF THE YEAR AWARD
Reporters Without Borders and the Fondation de France have awarded the media of the year prize to the Democratic Voice of Burma TV and radio, for being one of the most reliable sources of news during the crisis in Myanmar.
Founded in 1992 by a group of pro-democracy students who escaped the 1988 massacres, the Norwegian-based TV and radio managed to send out images of the crackdown on the demonstrations in September 2007.
Eritrean journalist Seyoum Tsehaye was named Journalist of the Year 2007.
The other 2007 nominations in this category were for Iqbal Athas (Sri Lanka), Hollman Morris (Colombia) and Jila Baniyaghoob (Iran).
The Press freedom Defender award was won by the Journalistic Freedom Observatory in Iraq. This body was set up in 2004, after numerous journalists were imprisoned and maltreated by the Iraqi security forces.
The other 2007 nominations in this category were for the Institute for Reporters Freedom and Safety (Azerbaijan), Abraji (Brazil) and Beatrice Mtetwa (Zimbabwe).
The Cyber-Dissident prize was awarded to Kareem Amer of Egypt, a young blogger who wrote from his prison cell, in September 2007 after being sentenced to four years in prison for criticising the authoritarian tendencies of President Hosni Moubarak and condemning the running of the Sunnite unversity of al-Azhar, where he was studying law.
The other 2007 nominations in this category were Nguyen Van Dai (Vietnam), Roger Santodomingo (Venezuela) and Yang Zili (China).
Since it was founded 16 years ago, the Reporters Without Borders - Fondation de France prize has been awarded to:
Zlatko Dizdarevic (Bosnia-Herzegovina - 1992), Wang Juntao (China - 1993), André Sibomana (Rwanda - 1994), Christina Anyanwu (Nigeria - 1995), Isik Yurtçu (Turkey - 1996), Raúl Rivero (Cuba - 1997), Nizar Nayyouf (Syria - 1998), San San Nweh (Buma - 1999), Carmen Gurruchaga (Spain - 2000), Reza Alijani (Iran - 2001), Grigory Pasko (Russia - 2002), Ali Lmrabet (Morocco - 2003), Hafnaoui Ghoul (Algeria - 2004), Zhao Yan (China - 2005) and U Win Tin (Burma - 2006).
RELIEF ALL AROUND AS THE BULLETIN’S PARSIMONIOUS PUBLISHER FINALLY QUITS AUSTRALIA’S OLDEST WEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE
Staff at The Bulletin magazine are rejoicing at news their publisher, Paul Myers, is leaving after a short 18-month reign, according to The Australian.
It said Myers had control over the budgets of the 127-year-old The Bulletin, Australia's oldest weekly news magazine, and under his watch staff were not replaced and budgets were slashed.
Myers came from the RM Williams Outback magazine where, under his reign, payments to freelancers were pitiful.
Bulletin editor-in-chief John Lehmann will now report to ACP's men's and specialist publisher Phil Scott.
Myers is believed to have resigned because he found himself increasingly distanced from his old Rural Press ally, now PBL Media chief executive officer, Ian Law. Myers was unpopular as he was seen as the public face of private equity.
RUPERT WATCHETH OVER THE OPPOSITION AT FAIRFAX’S SWANK NEW SYDNEY OFFICES
Fairfax Media staff at their new offices in inner-Sydney Pyrmont, were being watched – by Rupert Murdoch.
The giant glass panels featured a photograph of News Corporation chairman and chief executive Rupert Murdoch, Fairfax’s arch rival and publisher of The Australian, which of course delighted today in running this story.
The discovery was not made until after a grand tour of the new offices, housing the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian Financial Review and the Sun-Herald, by the chairman of the board, Ron Walker, ceo David Kirk and the rest of the board yesterday morning.
Management was last night ripping them down about 50 panels before the glue dried. Some staff members were souveniring the panels, and there is debate about how and why the Murdoch image came to be there.
Last month, the Herald was produced for the first time from the new building, and to mark the occasion, the Herald published an editorial which read, "Dear Mr Rupert Murdoch. We note your remarks in relation to the shape of journalism to come... You are most welcome to come and view what your newspaper, The Australian, called ‘the newsroom of tomorrow’; it is here today at the Herald."
FAIRFAX COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER JOURNALISTS WOO NEW UNION IN AUSTRALIA
The Australian Workers Union has received an approach from journalists at Fairfax Media's community newspapers in Melbourne requesting to sign up as members because of discontent with the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance.
The Australian reported that unhappiness among journalists from Fairfax Community Newspapers is based on fallout from an enterprise agreement negotiated by MEAA's Victorian secretary Louise O'Connor with management in June.
NEWSPAPER POOFTER BASHERS IN AUSTRALIA BASHED BY TRIBUNAL FOR VILIFICATION
The publisher of a small north Queensland newspaper and an elderly correspondent who wrote a letter headlined ‘Poofters Beware’ yesterday made legal history in Australia.
Mission Beach Advertiser publisher Michael Wicks and 73-year-old Ross Woodley have became the first people to be prosecuted by Queensland's Anti-Discrimination Tribunal on the basis of a complaint brought by an organisation, rather than an individual.
The Australian reports that the tribunal found Wilks, 63, and Woodley guilty of vilification and ordered them to acknowledge homosexuals were important to north Queensland's tourism economy and should be welcomed to the area.
The pair will also pay substantial legal fees and have to publish apologies.
FREE WEEKLY TABLOID TO BE LAUNCHED INTO DUNEDIN, NEW ZEALAND
Stuff.co reports that “the ‘one-horse’ newspaper town of Dunedin in New Zealand s in for a shake-up as a new joint venture firm launches a glossy-cover tabloid weekly giveaway.”
It is a sister publication to Queenstown's Mountain Scene and will be distributed early in 2008 in a city where the Otago Daily Times has dominated since being founded in 1861.
The new newspaper will be owned by Scene Media, a joint venture between the majority owner, Mountain Scene, owned by the family of Barry Thomas, and Ashburton's Guardian Print and Guardian newspaper.
Other cities, including Christchurch and Invercargill, had been considered.
Scene Media will print 45,000 copies of the hard-edged, editorially-driven city newspaper along with an integrated website.
AUSTRALIA’S GOCONNECT NON-RENOUNCEABLE RIGHTS ISSUE SHORTFALL NOTICE
Australian-listed GoConnect Ltd, an internet publishing and gaming company with business connections to mainland China, said that its 1:10 ASX non-renounceable rights issue closed on November 30, 2007 with a good support from the shareholders.
The total number of valid entitlements received and accepted under the offer was 28,876,232 ordinary shares at an issue price of $0.03 per share for a total consideration of $866,286.96, leaving a preliminary shortfall of 11,109,910 ordinary shares.
The company has decided to let the above shortfall lapse.
MACQUARIE MEDIA HOLDING DIRECTOR ACQUIRES ALMOST $2 MILLION WORTH OF HIS COMPANY SHARES
Macquarie Media Holdings Ltd director Nicholas Moore has acquired almost $2 million worth of the company’s shares on-market.
Before the November 30 acquisition, Moore held interest in the following parcel of Macquarie Media shares:
Moore & Moore Investments Pty Ltd <The Moore Family a/c> - 584,424 shares.
Nicholas Moore – 1,909,008
He has now acquired a further 464,000 shares for his ‘Nicholas Moore’ holdings.
The stapled securities were valued at $4.2998 each at time of acquisition, giving them a value of just under $1, 995,200.
His combined holdings are now:
Moore & Moore Investments Pty Ltd <The Moore Family a/c> - 584,424 shares
Nicholas Moore – 2,373,008
Total – 2,957,432 fully paid Macquarie Media stapled securities
Valuing the full total of his holdings at the same value per share of his latest acquisition, Moore’s holdings are worth $12.7 million.
On November 29, Macquarie Media director Leon Pasternak also collected a parcel of shares, although significantly smaller than Moore’s acquisition.
The number of securities held by Pasternak, either directly or indirectly, before the change were:
Commercial Custodian Nominees P/L <Pasternak Supefund a/c> - 35,000 stapled securities
Leon Pasternak - 40,000 stapled securities
Total: 75,000 fully paid MMG stapled securities
The number of shares he acquired on November 29 in on-market trade was 10,000 fully paid stapled securities valued at $4.28 each.
This bought his number of shares after the change to
Commercial Custodian Nominees P/L <Pasternak Supefund a/c> - 35,000 stapled securities
Leon Pasternak - 50,000 stapled securities
Total: 85,000 fully paid MMG stapled securities
KOREAN JOURNALISTS WORK BY CANDLELIGHT AFTER REFUSING TO MOVE INTO GOVERNMENT CENTRAL PRESS ROOM
The Korean Ministry of National Defense issued an ultimatum on Tuesday for its press corps to leave the existing pressroom, and move to a new central pressroom where the ministry has been giving press briefings since November 1.
But the Korea Times said most journalists have boycotted the briefings, saying they oppose the government's media policy. The ministry will stop providing services for the press such as internet lines and press releases unless the journalists move into the new pressroom.
President Roh Moo-hyun has sought what he calls media reform by creating a central pressroom after closing all other government pressrooms. He wants to abolish the press corps system where each ministry or agency runs its own pressroom. Most presidential candidates promised to restore the pressroom system if elected.
The defense ministry's ultimatum came a day after the National Police Agency in Seoul cut electricity and heating in its pressroom in order to move reporters out of the agency.
Korea Times reports that journalists work by candlelight at night at the agency's pressroom now. The agency also warned reporters that it will shut down the pressroom and remove all furniture and other facilities tomorrow.
BERTELSMANN TIPPED TO BUY REST OF LUXEMBOURG-BASED EUROPEAN BROADCASTER RTL
Bertelsmann AG, Europe's biggest media company, is considering buying the 10.2 percent it doesn't already own in broadcaster RTL Group to take full control of its most profitable division, according to Bloomberg.
A purchase of the remaining shares in RTL would give closely held Bertelsmann access to the growing cash flow at Luxembourg- based RTL. The broadcaster, which operates 42 TV channels and 32 radio stations in 10 European countries, said on August 28 that earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation rose 7.7 percent in the first half.
EURONEWS AND THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION SIGN MOU WITH CHINA’S CCTV FOR PROGRAM DEAL
EuroNews channel, CCTV China, and the European Commission have signed a memorandum of understanding for the broadcast in Mandarin on CCTV of a EuroNews program about science, space activities and technology, according to Famagusta Gazette.
The show, called Futuris, is a co-production between EuroNews and European Commission DG Research and Information Society.
If the deal goes ahead, it will be the first time EuroNews will be present in the Chinese market.
CCTV is China’s leading broadcaster and only national network, and with 16 TV channels, reaches audiences of over 500 million viewers for its nightly news.
AUSTRALIAN ANNUAL RADIO REVENUE TIPPED TO TOP $1 BILLION IN 2008
Australian Radio Network chief executive Bob Longwell predicted that the solid growth in the radio advertising market this year will continue into next year, according to the Australian Financial Review.
Annual radio ad per year is also tipped to top that magic billion buck level in 2008.
The finance paper said that most ad industry executives predicted a softening next year, with the capital city ad market tipped to increase 4-5 percent next year as opposed to 6-7 percent this year.
Steve Allen, managing director of Fusion Strategy said radio ad revenue will hit 992.8 million this year, an increase of 6.8 percent.
He said it will then increase a further 4.8 percent to $1.04 billion in 2008.
DMG managing director Cathy O’Connor also has a positive view for 2008 revenues, pointing out to the Australian Financial Review that the company’s bookings for January are 10 percent higher that the January bookings at this time last year.
GREENSPAN LIVES UP TO HIS REPUTATION AS THE WONK’S WONK IN HIS DREARY MEMOIR SAYS AUSSIE REVIEWER
Australian media personality Gideon Haigh has analyses the “dreary and cliché-ridden” memoir of former US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, The Age of Turbulence.
Haigh gives this quaint little insight into author Greenspan: "The book, for which the publisher paid an advance of US$8 million, finds Greenspan still playing up to his role as the wonk's wonk, all owlish specs and oracular pronouncements, a man who once jested of himself, 'I guess I should warn you, if I turn out to be particularly clear, you've probably misunderstood what I said.'
“On the first date with his future wife, he talked about monopolies and asked her back to his flat to read an essay he'd written on anti-trust. So dense is his expression, even in repose, that it later took five attempts before she realised he had proposed; on their honeymoon in Venice, he exasperated her with remarks like, 'What is the value-added produced in this city?'"
NO SIGNIFICANT DIMINUTION IN AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER BUYING PATTERNS, REPORT SAYS
In a just-published 2007 supplement to the State of the News Print Media in Australia Report 2006 report, the Australian Press Council said Australian newspaper buying patterns are holding up more than US and European counterparts.
The report supplement said, “There appears to have been no significant diminution of public interest in buying and reading national and metropolitan newspapers in the last year.”
It continued by saying, “There have been the usual increases and decreases in the audited circulation and polled readership of individual titles but overall the figures remain fairly robust. Additionally, the accessing of newspapers via their on-line sites, with greater information becoming available about the number of visitors to such news sites, suggests that any losses in circulation through lesser sales of the printed version has been exceeded by gains through on-line visits
“There have been significant changes in the methods used by the Audit Bureau of Circulation in assessing the number of newspapers sold in the interest of greater accuracy. The Bureau is now auditing circulation more frequently and analysing those figures to show more clearly the types of sales. While these changes appear to have met the demands for greater accuracy in the auditing of circulation, debates about methods of assessing ‘readership’ continue.
“Similarly, there are now questions about how best to assess the number of visitors to newspaper websites, and how to assess their usage of those sites, so that a more complete set of data on ‘circulation’ as a whole can be put together. One question that remains unanswered is: do visits to newspaper websites indicate additional readers, so that the total is taken to indicate a greater level of ‘circulation’? Or are those accessing newspaper websites supplementing their print experience.
“Overall the proportion of the national population over 14 years of age reading newspapers continues to be around 54 percent for Monday to Friday editions, and 63 and 65 percent for the Saturday and Sunday editions respectively.
“A large proportion of the Australian reading-age public continues to buy and read national, metropolitan and regional newspapers regularly. An even bigger number reads the (mostly) free community newspapers.”
NEW INDIAN FREE TABLOID AIMED AT YOUNG URBANE PROFESSIONALS LIVING IN IT CORRIDORS
The Hindu newspaper in India will launch a free tabloid titled Ergo next Monday, targeted at the young affluent readers in the age group of 20-35. A website for the tabloid will also be launched simultaneously, and the new paper will be distributed from Monday to Friday.
Exchange4media said Ergo will have a quick read format for the time-starved readers and will combine news, lifestyle, sports, entertainment in an easy to read manner.
“The content and layout have actually been arrived at after extensive interviews with the target group. Ergo will have local and international news, apart from regular career advice, money management tips, section on comics, crossword Sudoku, music, restaurants, movies, weekend getaways, shopping spots, etc,” N Murali, managing director of the Hindu told Exchange4media.
The paper will initially be launched in Chennai (formerly Madras) with a print run of 50,000 before being rolled out into other cities.
Although Ergo will not be an IT-based tabloid, it will be distributed in Chennai’s IT corridor, and will not be available throughout the city.
N Murali said, “The key lies in the controlled distribution. In due course, in this IT corridor and such places you will have almost 200,000 people working, and they are transported to different places of the city in thousands of buses. So we will distribute Ergo in those buses as well.”
LOOP MOBILE IN DEAL WITH SINGAPORE’S OPTUS IN AUSTRALIA TO LAUNCH MOKO MOBILE PHONECOMMUNITY
Loop Mobile Ltd has entered into a new agreement with Optus for the launch of its award-winning Moko Mobile Community, one of the world’s leading mobile chat and user content generated communities.
Scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2008, Moko on Optus will be an advanced version of Loop’s mobile chat and social networking platform to date and will introduce major new initiatives as Moko Music.
The Moko Optus service will feature new search facilities for users to connect instantly across Australia and around the world, based on a range of shared interests.
Moko also includes instant chat, personal profiles, building a friends list, as well as uploading and sharing photos and videos.
Moko Music connects artists with their fans within its mobile community, including streaming music, video and audio. Artists can host live chat sessions with their fans, all via the mobile device. It will focus on amateur and unsigned bands as well as the major labels.
At the time of the Optus launch, Moko will also incorporate an online version that is in development, allowing Moko users to interact with each other whether they are accessing Moko via the mobile or the web.
The Moko community on Optus Zoo is a monthly subscription based service with day pass use also available.
The Optus contract comes just over a month since the successful launch of Moko on Virgin and demonstrates its growing appeal to both the carriers and their users.
Loop Mobile’s Moko community has already generated over 4.5 million MMS, over 76 million instant messages, over 3 million private messages and over 35 million video downloads.
In the last 12 months, the average user session time has doubled to reach 75 minutes per user session.
Loop was the winner of the 2007 Best User Generated / Social Networking Service ‘MEFFY’ international award by the Mobile Entertainment Forum for Moko.
EUROPE AND US MOBILE PHONE MARKET TO ECLIPSE BOOMING ASIAN MARKET BY 2011
The latest report from London-based media analysts, Screen Digest, examines the market for mobile TV in 25 countries worldwide including Europe, the US and Asia.
The report, Mobile TV: Business Models and Opportunities, provides two perspectives on the market: one from the TV industry and the other from the mobile content industry.
There are currently more than 15 million subscribers to mobile TV in Asia where the majority of broadcast networks are offered free-to-air.
Italy has 850,000 paying subscribers, and France has more than half a million subscribers to Unicast services.
Screen Digest predicts significant growth in subscriber numbers globally, with 140 million subscribers and revenues of Euro4.4bn by 2011.
North America will experience the biggest increase, growing its subscriber base 20 fold to 28.8 million and revenues as much as 50 fold to Euro1.8 billion by 2011,
But subscriber numbers do not equate to revenue; despite its large subscriber numbers and longevity of mobile TV services, Screen Digest believes that by 2011 the Asian market will generate less revenue than Europe and the US.
Europe will lead with a 42.5 percent share of global revenues, followed by the US at 40.5 percent and Asia accounting to the remaining 17 percent.
Screen Digest analysis reveals that in the short term network operators don’t stand to make much profit from offering mobile TV services – yet they must offer it to remain competitive. Operators who do not offer mobile TV will simply lose their subscribers to other operators or other media devices, such as the in-car devices so popular in Asia.
The lion’s share of the income from offering mobile TV services will be shared between the handset manufacturers, software companies, content creators and network owners.
However, the experience in Italy does offer mobile network operators an opportunity and that is to upgrade pay-as-you-go customers to contracts in order to access the rich content. By doing this, operators can enjoy up as much as three times the revenue per unit, without increasing the already-saturated subscriber base.
MORE PUBLICATIONS ENTER MYANMAR MARKET BUT OVERALL CIRCULATIONS DECLINE DUE TO STIFLING GOVERNMENT NEWS RESTRICTIONS
The good news for Myanmar publishers is that it’s much easier now to obtain a publishing licence from the government.
The bad news if that is that people have stopped reading local publications because there’s either no news, or the news that’s proffered as news is simply government propaganda and not really worth reading, even on a slow day.
Obtaining a journal publishing license has become relatively easier with the Myanmar Information Ministry loosening its tight control, but declining readership has hit several news journals hard, leading to loss of revenue. However, the decline in readership has caused several journals to suffer losses, Rangoon based editors and journal producers said.
An editor of a news journal told Mizzima news service, “In Yangon there are more than 100 news journals and each sell for 300 to 500 kyat (roughly 25c to 45c). With the people weathering general economic hardship, they cannot afford to buy journals.”
And even as the government issues more journal publishing licenses, the censorship board stopped two Yangon-based weeklies 'Snap Shot and News Watch, from publishing for a week.
"What I heard about the Snap Shot journal is that it translated Daw Suu's (Aung San Suu Kyi) statement and published it. That's why they were stopped for a week," a journalist said.
"I also heard that Snap Shot had been given a warning. And about two weeks earlier, during a meeting of the censorship board, officials said Snap Shot violated censorship rules.”
News Watch journal was also been stopped from publishing its November 15 issue, for using an article on the meeting between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her party leaders as its cover page article.
AUSTRALIA’S FACILITATE DIGITAL WINDS UP YEAR WITH SIGNIFICANT GLOBAL CLIENT WINS
Facilitate Digital Holdings Ltd, a leading independent provider of digital marketing technology, is winding up 2007 with significant client wins in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe and the UK.
Recent signings include ACP, IBM, Coles, Derwent Howard, Pixel Media, Young & Rubicam, Quicksilver and Advantage Media.
The September 2007 global rollout of the first fully integrated platform FacilitateOne has brought about interest and success for the company internationally. Its single tag solution, Fusion Performance Tracking is also creating strong interest for the significant return on investment it produces for advertisers.
"We have finished the year on a high note with some very satisfying wins" said ceo Ian Lowe. "Particularly pleasing is the extent to which our offshore operations are contributing to sales pipeline and revenue growth, and our ability to secure clients of significance across both agency and corporate channels.
"Next year promises very strong growth for the group, in particular the UK market where we have invested considerable effort in recent months. Being one of the most sophisticated markets in the world of digital marketing, we have experienced overwhelming validation of our technology, in particular our key differentiators of data integration and workflow automation.
"2008 is going to be very busy, and we expect to make further announcements in the New Year."
Since creation in 1999, Facilitate Digital has consistently expanded its product range, customer base, and global presence to its current status of six core products, seven offices across three continents – Australia, Europe, and Asia – and in excess of 500 clients.
PHOTON FURTHER EXPANDS INTO US MARKET WITH ACQUISITION OF FINDOLOGY INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Australia’s Photon Group has further expanded into the US market and strengthened its internet marketing communications division with the acquisition of leading search engine and online advertising company, Findology Interactive Media, Inc and Way Internet, Inc.
The purchase price comprises an initial cash payment of $19.25 million and the issue of 516,590 Photon shares plus deferred payments tied to performance targets.
The initial payment was funded from Photon’s acquisition facility.
Over the next 12 months, the acquisition of Findology is expected to be positive to Photon’s earnings per share.
Executive chairman of Photon, Tim Hughes said, “Findology has a strong track record of revenue and earnings growth since its inception in 2001. “Findology matches internet traffic with products and information for publishers, specific sites and direct advertisers, and represents an excellent fit with our other internet marketing and communications companies such as iMega and OB Media.
THE HEAVENS OPEN FOR MURDOCH WITH NEWS CORP ACQUISITION OF RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY SITE BELIEFNET
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp has acquired New York-based religious community site Beliefnet, which was founded in 1999 to provide a service that offers commentary and community discussion on various religious beliefs.
TechCrunch reports that the company has a checkered history, having declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2002, then restructuring and emerging from bankruptcy in October the same year.
TechCrunch said, “According to earlier reports, around 70 percent of the site’s traffic is related to Christian interests, with around 70 percent of users being females, and the most popular age group being 35 to 45. Beliefnet raised US$7 million from Softbank Capital in 2005.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Australia’s Crikey.com reported that “the religion-centric site will become part of Fox Digital Media, which consists mostly of News Corp's popular social networking site, MySpace. The move may be part of News Corp's efforts to expand its reach onto the internet, where Wall Street sees the best growth opportunities for media conglomerates.
“Beliefnet has around three million unique visitors each month and a daily email newsletter that reaches nearly 11 million subscribers. The company is not affiliated with any spiritual organization or movement.”
Crikey, known for attitude, predictably added, “We can sense the strategic thinking here. After a life of using media power to influence politics and business, an aging Rupert Murdoch, a man suddenly sensing the extremities of his own mortality, will now use media power to influence God. This is only logical.”
Online Media Daily said the site is an online outlet that complements News Corp’s faith-centered properties in traditional media. They include HarperCollins' HarperOne and Zondervan religious-oriented book units and Fox Faith Films, which produces family-oriented films and TV programs.
"We do have content from various divisions within News Corp. and Fox that mesh well together with Beliefnet," said Dan Fawcett, president of Fox Digital Media, under which the site will be grouped. "We view Beliefnet as a stand-alone operating business as well as creating a whole host of corporate opportunities for Fox and News Corp."
The Beliefnet company had 2006 revenues of US$12.6 million, and its advertisers include national marketers such as Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Disney and Fox. Health-related advertising has been a strong category for Beliefnet since it emerged from bankruptcy in 2002 following the dot-com bust. Religious advertisers now make up only a small part of its marketing base.
BRAZIL LAUNCHES LAND-BASED DIGITAL TV USING JAPANESE TECHNOLOGY
Brazil started airing terrestrial digital television programs Sunday night, becoming the first nation to adopt Japan's technological specifications for such TV broadcasts, accruing to a report in Japan Times.
Brazil marked the occasion with a ceremony in Sao Paolo attended by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and 30 Japanese officials and industry representatives, including Kiyoshi Mori, vice minister for policy coordination at the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry.
Brazil's six major commercial TV broadcasters launched their land-based digital services to households in and around Sao Paolo. The number of Brazilian households subscribing to such broadcasts is currently limited to 1,000 because receivers for digital signals are relatively expensive.
But Brazil is intent on disseminating terrestrial digital TV broadcasts across the nation by 2013.
NEWSPRINT COSTS TO RISE SIGNIFICANTLY IN THE US FOLLOWING PRODUCTION TONNAGE CUTS
AbitibiBowater Inc, the largest North American newsprint maker, formed in October following Bowater's purchase of Abitibi-Consolidated, will reduce annual newsprint production by about 600,000 tonnes by the first quarter of 2008.
Reuters said the company plans to restructure its business and drastically reduce newsprint production to help cut excess capacity in North America and underpin a newsprint price rise next year.
The North American newsprint industry has been weighed down by high wood, energy and labor costs, coupled with falling newsprint prices and declining demand.
Reuters said that in a bid to tackle the issues, the industry has been consolidating and reducing production capacity. It also plans to raise newsprint prices by US$60 a tonne in the first quarter of 2008, following this quarter's $25-per-tonne price rise.
OMINOUS PREDICTIONS FOR NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY AT UBS MEDIA WEEK CONFERENCE IN NEW YORK
Oh dear. According to Followthemedia the basic view for the newspaper industry in 2008 as given at UBS Media week presentations on Tuesday was that “newspaper print advertising revenue will continue to fall, that newspaper internet revenue will continue to climb, that combined the total revenue will still continue to decrease, and the only real question is by how much?”
The 32nd Annual UBS Media Week Conference opened in New York on Monday and runs until tomorrow. The conference will feature presentations by chief executives and other senior managers of 70 leading companies representing advertising, broadcasting, publishing, multi-channel television distribution, entertainment and new media companies from the Americas, Europe, Australia, and Asia.
The four-day conference kicked off with its traditional analysis of the outlook for advertising in the coming year, and is moving on to marketing services, entertainment, broadcasters, publishing, pay television, video games and the large, vertically-integrated media giants.
Keynote presenters include:
Dick Parsons, chairman and chief executive officer, Time Warner Inc.
Ken Lowe, president and chief executive officer, The E.W. Scripps Co.
Randall Mays, chief financial officer, Clear Channel Communications
John R. Alchin, executive vice president, treasurer & co-cfo, Comcast Corporation
Dave Watson, executive vice president - operations, Comcast Cable
Miles Groves, president, MG Strategic Research Ltd.
James Conaghan, vice president, Media Association of America
Bob Coen, director of Forecasting, Universal McCann
Steve King, chief executive, Zenith Optimedia
WIKILEAKS LEAKS MORE DOCUMENTS ABOUT DETAINEE ABUSE AT GUANTANAMO
Crooks and Liars reports that Wikileaks has published s second leaked Standard Operating procedures manual that provides detailed instructions about how guards at Guantanamo’s Camp Delta were instructed to treat detainees at the military prison in 2004.
Crooks and Liars said, “Like the 2003 Gitmo manual that Wikileaks published last month, this document is unclassified but still contains significant information about the isolation of prisoners, the use of dogs at Guantanamo, and forms of punishment for detainees. Wikileaks editor Julian Assange has put together a handy side by side comparison showing changes between the 2003 and 2004 documents.”
Wikileaks also published a second document this week that details instructions for dealing with rendition flights involving the air transport of detainees.
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