MediaBlab NOVEMBER 19
November 19th 2007 01:29
NOV 19
From MediaBlab news service compiled for Dow Jones' Factiva
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY DECLINES TO COMMIT TO NEW ABC TV CHILDREN’S’ STATION ON EVE OF ELECTION
The Australian Labor Party, seemingly set to resoundedly win the federal election on the coming weekend, has declined as yet to commit itself to the establishment of the advertising-free channel, ABC3.
Last week, the ABC committed itself to having the channel on air by April 2008 after the government announced last week that it would provide $82 million over four years to fund it if re-elected on November 24.
But the opposition has been surprisingly intransigent on the dedicated free-to-air children's television channel, and this has surprised an industry that broadly welcomed the government's decision, according to a report on today’s The Australian.
CHINA BANS LONELY PLANET OVER DEPICTING TAIWAN AS A SEPARATE COUNTRY ON ITS MAP
The Chinese Government has banned Lonely Planet's popular China Travel Guide over what it deems controversial content, the Sydney Morning Herald today reported.
It said that after repeated reports of confiscations from travellers, China's ministry of foreign affairs confirmed that the guide was banned last year because of a map that depicts the People's Republic of China and Taiwan as separate countries.
A spokesman said the book has some errors concerning the Taiwan issue, such as marking the Chinese mainland and Chinese Taiwan in different colours on the map. These practices breach Chinese law.
Lonely Planet general manager Tony McKimmie said the company was unaware of the ban although it had received about 30 reports of confiscations in the past 18 months.
DUBAI SHUTS DOWN ITS PAKISTANI TV NETWORKS AFTER PERSONAL PRESSURE FROM MUSHARRAF
ArabianBusiness.com reports that when two of Pakistan's leading private television networks were ordered off the air during emergency rule, they went on broadcasting via their offices in the United Arab Emirates.
But Geo TV and ARY One World have now been shut down on the orders of Dubai media city, and according to the Geo TV website came after personal pressure from President Pervez Musharraf.
The director general of Dubai's media council, Ibrahim Al Abed said the censorship is an example of the United Arab Emirate’s "neutrality" and to its commitment to international law, and to peace and stability in the region.
DAILY MAIL GROUP IN UK APPOINTS NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE
The UK’s mighty Daily Mail & General Trust has been reported as underlining “the growing importance of its business outside print” by choosing the head of its information division as its next chief executive.
Sunday Times reports that Martin Morgan will replace Charles Sinclair as head of the company next year. Morgan has overseen strong growth at DMG Information, which last year had the biggest operating margins in the group.
HEY, WE DIDN’T DO IT SAYS FORMER KHMER ROUGE STRONGMAN IN NEW BOOK
In a move that makes Holocaust-deniers look tame, the former head of state during the rule of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, Khieu Samphan, dismisses accusations by historians that the movement killed up to 2 million people.
Pity about all those skulls that litter Cambodian sites but.
The former Khmer Rouge head-of-state also writes that Pol Pot was a patriot concerned about social justice and fighting foreign enemies, according to the International Herald Tribune.
Khieu Samphan denied that the Khmer Rouge had a policy of starving people or had ordered mass killings during its 1970s rule, but added that Pol Pot was responsible for all its policies, right or wrong.
The book, Reflection on Cambodian History Up to the Era of Democratic Kampuchea, offers a possible preview of what Khieu Samphan might offer as a defense if he is charged soon, as expected, by Cambodia's UN-backed genocide tribunal, says the Tribune.
SHORT FILM DOCUMENTS HOW SAUDI PETRO DOLLARS SILENCE WESTERN MEDIA
The Libel Tourist is a short-form documentary film produced by the Moving Picture Institute, which seeks to provide filmmakers with the opportunities to display their filmmaking skills while making an impact on behalf of human freedom.
The eight-minute documentary reveals how Saudi petrodollars have cowed, silenced, and almost broken freedom of speech in the West.
It documents how an American-Israeli author Dr Rachel Ehrenfeld was ordered to destroy all copies of her book in England, after a notoriously litigious Saudi billionaire sued her in a British court.
Ehrenfeld's book Funding Evil; How Terrorism is Financed – and How to Stop It, accuses the Saudi billionaire of funding of terrorism.
Now Ehrenfeld is fighting back, counter-suing him in the New York, to defend US First Amendment rights.
Jared Lapidus, the film’s director, said, “It deals directly with the issues of terrorism, Islamo-fascism, and how it is infringing on our rights in the West, and the US in particular.”
NEWS LTD NAMES THE AUSTRALIAN AS ITS NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR FOR A SECOND TIME IN A ROW
The Australian was named Newspaper of the Year for the secod year in a row at News Ltd News Awards in the Great Hall at Parliament House, Canberra on Friday night. This may allay rumours that the paper’s editor-in-chief Chris Mitchell was due for the axe and indeed last week, when Mitchell was reportedly walking around the Australian’s office “cock-a-hoop,” Crikey.com, famous for getting the news wrong, got it wrong again late last week by announcing Rupert Murdoch has already sacked Mitchell.
Not surprisingly, News Ltd prestigious flagship national mostly won the juiciest awards.
The Australian also picked up three other major awards, including Young Journalist of the Year, Feature Writer of the Year and Business Journalist of the Year.
The Herald Sun's Keith Moor was named Specialist Writer of the Year for his crime reporting, and David Riccio, from Sydney's The Sunday Telegraph, was named Sports Journalist of the Year.
The Chairman's Award went to Michael Harvey and Gerard McManus from The Herald Sun.
The most prestigious honour of the night, the Sir Keith Murdoch Award for Journalism, was won by Colleen Ryan of The Sunday Times in Perth for her eight-year-long investigation into the jailing of an innocent man for murder.
The Courier Mail in Brisbane won Magazine of the Year for its glossy publication, QWeekend, published on Saturdays, and the paper also won Website of the Year.
AUSTRALIAN INTERNET MOVIE START-UP COMPANY REELTIME TRIES TO SAVE ITSELF WITH A NEW MAN AT THE HELM
A new managing director will today sign on at troubled Australian internet movie start-up ReelTime Media to fill the vacancy left by last week's sudden exit of chief executive John Karantzis.
The Australian reported that ReelTime had announced that the company had accepted Karantzis’s resignation, amid growing signs that the online movie business is struggling to gain momentum, and when questions marks are hanging over the online movie business in Australia.
The future of Volt, Fairfax and iiNet's national video-on-demand joint venture launched in March, has also reportedly become clouded, and Volt has generated fewer than 3000 movie downloads since its launch.
The service's Singapore-based movie content supplier Anytime may also be facing financial difficulties fuelled by souring relations with its main financier, YTC Group. The Macquarie Group has also invested in Anytime, and Sony, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros and Intel have given the venture in-kind backing. Earlier this month, iiNet said that Anytime's executives had reported that they were seeking "alternative" funding arrangements.
HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD FOR PROJECT GIVING ABORIGINAL FORTNIGHTLY FULL PAGE SPACE IN THE AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER
A project giving Aboriginal people space in a voice in The Australian newspaper has been nominated for human rights award.
The Warlpiri Media Association of the Northern Territory has been nominated for the 2007 Human Rights Award in the print media category, in partnership with Reconciliation Australia and News Ltd, by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
The project involves Aboriginal people from the remote community of Yuendumu, northwest of Alice Springs, being given a page in The Australian each fortnight to speak about life in the community and how they feel.
The Warlpiri Media Association interviews the participating locals.
The series, Voices from the Heart of the Nation, began 12 weeks ago following the federal government's intervention in the Northern Territory.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS AGENCY BOYCOTT OF AUSTRALIAN CRICKET NOW OVER
International news agencies have ended a boycott of Australian cricket after striking an agreement with the governing body allowing their photographers and reporters to cover matches.
This was helped along no doubt by poor attendances at the first test against Sri Lanka and criticism of poor marketing on behalf of Cricket Australia.
Perhaps Cricket Australia finally realised that it needed the media more than the media may have needed its second-rate Test series.
After the decision on Friday the agencies began coverage of the second Test against Sri Lanka, which started in Hobart on Thursday.
The agencies, including Agence France-Presse, Reuters, Associated Press and Getty Images, had suspended coverage of the 2007-08 season due to a dispute over restrictions imposed on them, and formed the News Media Coalition, which has now reached an agreement with Cricket Australia regarding news coverage during the current season.
CAMBODIAN JOURNALISTS NOW FACE LEGAL INTIMIDATION INSTEAD OF MURDER
Murders of Cambodian journalists may have decreased in recent years, but the threat is increasingly becoming one of legal intimidation, the country's most powerful journalist union said Friday.
The Club of Cambodian Journalists held a two-day meeting of local and international journalists, government officials and representatives of the Konrad Adenhauer Foundation in Siem Reap.
Earthtimes reported that the union said, "Cambodia is not a perfect place for journalists. There were six journalists killed between 1993 and 1997. In recent years, while there have been no killings, arrests, threats and legal intimidation have become of increasing concern.
"The trend against press freedom has turned from violence to legal means as politicians and others become more sophisticated."
A spokesman said while the 2003 shooting of royalist radio journalist Chour Chet Tharith was perhaps the latest murder of a journalist, in 2006 alone there were seven lawsuits and arrests and 12 serious threats recorded against member journalists.
But Ministry of Information secretary of state Srey Channy said Cambodia respected press freedom, but no journalist had the right to abuse their position for personal or financial gain.
"Press freedom without responsibility can also put democracy in danger. Therefore I appeal to Cambodian journalists to stick to the principals of journalism and perform their duties ethically and professionally," he told the meeting.
AUSTRALIA’S SEVEN NETWORK ALL CASHED UP BUT WON’T SAY WHERE IT WILL GO ACQUISITIONS-WISE
Australia’s Seven Network and its partner in the Seven media business, US private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts are cashed up to buy media companies but have no immediate plans, according to a report in Friday’s Australian Financial Review.
Seven Network supremo Kerry Stokes, who owns 40.7 percent of Seven said on Thursday that he would not reveal when and where Seven would spend the $2.5 billion it has sitting in its coffers.
FIJI BROADCASTING CORPORATION APPOINTS NEW CEO
Fiji Broadcasting Corporation Ltd a new ceo, former Fiji Television and New Zealand-based journalist Riyaz Saiyad-Khaiyum, brother of interim Attorney-General Aiyaz Saiyad-Khaiyum.
He replaces Francis Herman who resigned in June.
Public Enterprise Minister Poseci Bune said Saiyad-Khaiyum should take up his new job soon, and added, "The Prime Minister has endorsed the recommendation that the board put up to me that Riyaz Khaiyum be appointed as the new ceo of Fiji Broadcasting Corporation Ltd.
Radio Fiji Online said Saiyad-Khaiyum made his mark in Fiji's media as senior reporter and presenter for Fiji Television's political show "Close Up", and is associated with TVNZ-New Zealand's "Asia Downunder" program.
He has won numerous awards including Fiji Journalist of the Year, and Pacific Islands' Young Journalist of the Year and Journalist of the Year.
KOREAN TELEVISION NETWORKS TO BE ALLOWED TO RUN MID-PROGRAM AD BREAKS
The Korea Herald ran an editorial on Saturday criticising the decision by the Korean Broadcasting Commission to allow mid-program commercial breaks by the country's three television network broadcasters
The Korea Herald said the decision should be reconsidered as it promotes the interests of broadcasters at the expense of the television viewing public, and pointed out, “It is already an anomaly that the Korea Broadcasting System, a public broadcasting company, carries commercials. Seoul Broadcasting Station is the only truly commercial broadcaster as the government is a shareholder of Munhwa Broadcasting Corp.
“Any plan to permit mid-program commercial breaks should have considered this difference in the status of various broadcasters.”
Program commercial breaks would allow the television broadcasters to rake in as much as 459.3 billion won (US$500 million) in additional income, according to a report by the Korean Broadcasting Commission said
The commission argues that additional revenues are necessary for the transition to digital broadcasting systems, which is expected to be completed by 2013.
MYANMAR JOURNAL SUSPENDED OVER EDITOR’S WRANGLE WITH A PRO-JUNTA JOURNALIST
A Myanmar journal has been suspended by the Burmese authorities over its editor’s personal conflict with a pro-junta journalist, according to the Irrawaddy Journal.
The Middle Line Journal was told by the board of censors that the journal must cease publication for the time being.
“There was a conflict between the Middle Line’s editor, Oo Swe, and the pro-junta editor of Snap Shot Journal, Myat Khine. Oo Swe claimed that other journals could not reprint photos which had been used in the Snap Shot Journal. Oo Swe told the board of censors that giving special favors to some journalists was a double standard,” a Yangon-based journalist said.
Myat Khine apparently is close to the ruling generals, particularly Minister of Information Kyaw Hsan. Myat Khine apparently advises the authorities on who are anti-junta journalists.
After the conflict with the editor of the Middle Line Journal, the board of censors placed his name on the black list within Myanmar’s press. The board of censors also called on the journal to have Oo Swe removed from his role as editor.
The journal took his name out of the publication, but later the board of censors claimed that Oo Swe still steered the journal. They ordered the journal to cease its publication.
INDIAN MEDIA GOLD RUSH: TIME LICENSES PEOPLE MAGAZINE TO LAUNCH IN INDIAThe Outlook Group has reached an agreement with US-based Time Inc to licence People, one of its most successful and popular editorial magazine, in India in 2008.
Maheshwer Peri, president & publisher, The Outlook Group said, “We are excited to be associated with one of the world’s largest magazine publishers and to bring our this fascinating editorial mix to India.
“We are pleased by Time Inc’s decision to license an Indian edition of this important brand, and we believe that this speaks a lot about the Indian market. We are committed to its success.”
Exchange4media reported that he said that about 75 percent of the content of the Indian edition of People would be skewed toward Indian tastes.
Jim Jacovides, Time’s vice president, licensing and syndication said, “The economic growth and opportunity in India right now makes this an ideal time to bring one of Time Inc.’s signature brands into the country,” said The group is also responsible for the licensing and syndication of Time Inc.’s leading brands globally.
Time Inc. publishes 39 editions in more than 19 countries under licence.
In June, the Outlook Group, in partnership with Groupe Marie Claire of France, launched Marie Claire in India.
INDIAN MEDIA GOLD RUSH: THE NEW ELDORADO FOR GLOBAL TRADITIONAL MEDIA COMPANIESIndia has become the global frontier for print media organisations, who are almost stampeding the booming market in that country, bolstered by last week’s launching of Brian’s Daily Mail partnership involvement in the launch of the English-language daily, Mail Today.
As the US Media Life points out, there are 9 million in the Delhi area who speak English.
Media Life quotes Bhaskara Rao, chairman of the Centre for Media Studies in Delhi, who says, “The potential market in India is so big. That’s why everyone wants to get into the Indian market. The future is here and it is growing fast.”
Later this year, another major British newspaper, the Sun, a downmarket tabloid, is teaming up with an Indian partner to launch another daily.
Magazines with established Indian editions include OK!, Maxim and Vogue, which launched two months ago.
Plus there have been English-language launches from Indian publishing houses without British or American involvement.
The lure of India to foreign publishing houses is the country’s rapid economic growth. GDP is expected to grow 8.6 percent this year, following 9 percent-plus growth last year.
This growth has meant a booming advertising economy, with media spending forecast to grow by 21.6 percent next year. That's compared to 5.1 percent for Britain and 3.1 percent for the US, according to GroupM.
Jonathan Barnard, head of publications at ZenithOptimedia, says, “India is one of the fastest-growing media economies in the world. The overall economy is growing well. The media economy grew 28 percent last year.”
Also growing is the consumption of media, reflecting the rise of a new middle class.
To date, print's reach is not even 50 percent of India's literate population.
It's an attractive market for British and US publishers because English is the language of business and of the educated classes. The Indian government has also encouraged foreign investors, though it still restricts their ownership share to 26 percent for publications focusing on news and current affairs.
INDIAN MEDIA GOLD RUSH: HUGE POTENTIAL FOR INDIAN NEWSPAPER REACHThe International Newspaper Marketing Association, an international provider in best practices and marketing ideas for newspapers companies, conducted its first South Asia two-day conference in Delhi last week.
The conference was convened to introduce the association to India, and at the same time, to project India to rest of the world.
The conference began on the positive note that, unlike in the west where the newspaper industry is being considered as a setting sun, Indian newspapers still have a huge potential in terms of reach and thereby revenue.
Earl J Wilkinson, executive director, International Newspaper Marketing Association, US, said “We see tremendous opportunities in India as there are 360,000,000 literate consumers who do not read newspapers. Only 0.34 percent of India’s GDP is spent on advertisements, while the global norm is 1-2 percent. Also, the influx of foreign capital in India is one of the prime reasons for the Indian print media to be happy about.”
FORBES.COM’S NEW AUDIENCE NETWORK WILL GIVE MARKETERS BIGGER REACH IN THE ASIA PACIFIC REGION
Forbes.com has introduced the Forbes Audience Network, comprising five of Forbes premium sites aimed at marketers keen to increase reach globally and regionally.
This will also deliver larger reach in Asia pacific region.
The network sites include ForbesTraveler.com, ForbesAutos.com, Investopedia.com, RealClearPolitics.com and Clipmarks.com.
Bill Flatley,vice president and managing director of Forbes.com, said advertisers keen to reach business decision makers would benefit from the new option.
He added that advertisers include those from the B2B, travel and tourism, economic development, corporate as well as technology and telecom services.
The new ad service also includes a ‘Brand Increase Guarantee’ program where advertisers that spend a minimum amount are guaranteed an increase in at least one of the four brand metrics measured.
IRISH MEDIA TYCOON DENIS O’BRIEN CALLS THE INDEPENDENT A ‘VANITY PROJECT’ AND RENEWS CALL TO SELL IT
Denis O'Brien, an 11 percent shareholder in Independent News & Media, has renewed his call for the company to sell The Independent newspaper and has demanded the resignation of Sir Anthony O'Reilly as chief executive.
O'Brien first called for the sale of the company's loss-making title, along with a group of Australian radio stations, in June.
The Times said that the Irish telecoms and media tycoon renewed his call yesterday and said O'Reilly was too old to run a modern newspaper business and that, by leaving, he would save millions of euros.
He said: "The Independent has to go, as do other vanity projects. If he goes, and The Independent is sold, shareholders will save money. This is a company that is going nowhere."
Brand republic said that Citigroup estimates that selling The Independent and its Sunday title would save £13.4 million (A$31 million) a year.
In June this year, O'Reilly threatened to sue O'Brien for publishing an allegedly defamatory report about Independent News & Media, which raised concerns about governance issues within the company. It did not allege malpractice by the board nor the executives of the company.
Independent News & Media operates in publishing, radio and outdoor advertising with its main interests in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and India, as well as the UK.
TOP 20 US NEWSPAPER WEB SITES
Editor & Publisher has listed the 20 most popular US newspaper sites for October as:
NYTimes.com
USAToday.com
washingtonpost.com
Wall Street Journal Online
LA Times
Boston.com New York Post
Chicago Tribune
SFGate.com/San Francisco Chronicle Daily News Online Edition
The Houston Chronicle
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Newsday
Chicago Sun-Times
Village Voice Media
The San Diego Union-Tribune
NJ.com
Azcentral.com
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
DallasNews.com - The Dallas Morning News
The Seattle Times
International Herald Tribune
AMERICAN EXPRESS TO LAUNCH TRAVEL LEISURE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
Marketing-interactive reports that American Express Publishing will launch its luxury lifestyle magazine Travel Leisure in Southeast Asia in partnership with Bangkok-headquartered Media Transasia from December.
The magazine will cover 12 countries around the region, and will launch with a print run of 50,000 copies with the bulk to hit Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand.
The monthly title, now one of the world's largest travel magazines, will have access to American Express database to target high spending and the affluent travels.
In Australia, the magazine is published by Fairfax and a New Zealand edition has only recently been announced.
Media Transasia is one of the world’s most diversified and
vertically integrated publishing houses, it commands the entire gamut of publishing activities: from creating new markets to conceiving new publications, from editorial and design to
printing. The group is
TOP TEN ONLINE FINANCE NEWS SITES IN US ATTRACT MAINLY READERS OVER 45
The Centre for Media Research reports that more than half of online financial news readers in America are over 45, and lists the top ten finance news sites as:
Top 10 Online Financial News & Information Destinations (Week ending October 14, 2007 US, Home and Work)
Brand or Channel Unique Audience (000) Active Reach (%)
Yahoo! Finance 7,379 5.42
MSN Money 7,168 5.27
AOL Money & Finance 5,361 3.94
Wall Street Journal Digital 4,236 3.11
CNNMoney 3,223 2.37
Reuters 2,453 1.8
Forbes.com 2,231 1.64
Motley Fool 1,282 0.94
TheStreet.com 1,205 0.89
FreeCreditReport.com^ 1,021 0.75
Source: Nielsen Online, NetView
BALIBO FIVE INQUEST IN AUSTRALIA CALL TO INDICT INDONESIAN MILITARY OFFICERS AS WAR CRIMINALS
Reporters without Borders said it hailed the work of New South Wales coroner Dorelle Pinch, who issued an inquest report on Friday that establishes with great detail that the Indonesian army was responsible for the death of five British, Australian and New Zealander journalists in East Timor in 1975.
The report clearly shows they were eliminated because they too much about Indonesia's invasion of East Timor, which was just getting under way.
Reporters without Borders said, “The detailed and courageous inquest conducted by Dorelle Pinch shows that Indonesian army officers, including former special forces captain Yunus Yosfiah, are war criminals. It is deplorable that the Indonesian government immediately dismissed the findings of the Australian inquest
"We call on the next Australian prime minister to do everything possible to ensure that those who carried out these killings and those who gave them their orders are brought to trial on Australia. Although more than 30 years have gone by, this inquest shed light on every aspect of this multiple murder. It is vital that justice should now be done."
The report detailed the findings of a six-week inquest into the death of British cameraman Brian Peters on 16 October 1975 in the East Timor town of Balibo. Four other journalists were killed with him - Australian reporter Greg Shackleton, Australian soundman Tony Stewart, New Zealander cameraman Gary Cunningham and British reporter Malcolm Rennie.
Pinch has urged the Australian government to bring war crimes charges against those who killed them.
The Indonesian army has always refused to punish those responsible for their deaths and the deaths of other foreign journalists killed around the same time in Timor including Australian Roger East and New Zealander Sander Thoenes.
According to Pinch's report, the five journalists killed in Balibo, known as the Balibo Five, were arrested after filming the start of the Indonesian invasion and then executed.
"The journalists were not incidental casualties in the fighting, they were captured, then deliberately killed despite protesting their status," Pinch wrote in her report.
The inquest established that they were executed by Yosfia and Christoforus da Silva, another member of the Indonesian special forces, on the orders of their commander, Major General Benny Murdani.
The report also describes how the Australian, British and New Zealand governments helped cover up these murders by accepting the Indonesian version and by refusing to disclose relevant information they had obtained.
An Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman today said the Pinch's findings would not change his country's position.
"This court has a very limited jurisdiction and its decision will not change our stance about what happened," he said.
The dozens of witnesses who gave evidence at the inquest included former government ministers, ambassadors and intelligence officers. They also included former Australian prime minister Gough Whitlam. But former Indonesian military officers such as Yosfiah refused to testify to the inquest.
BBC, CNN AND SOME LOCAL TELEVISION STATIONS RESUME BROADCASTING IN PAKISTAN
Pakistani authorities allowed BBC, CNN, and local stations Aaj and Dawn to resume broadcasting on Thursday after private television channels were banned under emergency rule.
But TV news executives and editors around the world have come out in support of the privately-owned Pakistani TV news stations that had been banned from broadcasting.
In a joint statement, they have condemned the fact that "millions of Pakistanis have been deprived of independent news" since the declaration of a state of emergency on November 3.
Reporters Without Borders said the signatories include Mark Wood, chief executive of Britain's ITN; Chuck Lustig, foreign news director of ABC News in the US; Torsten Rossmann, head of the executive board of Germany's N24; Jorg Harzem, N24's chief editor; Nik Niethammer, chief editor of Germany's Sat.1; and Guillaume Dubois, deputy director-general of France's BFMTV.
Signatories also include Peter Kloeppel, news editor of Germany's RTL; Yves Bigot, regional service director of Belgium's RTBF; Saad Mohseni, chairman of Afghanistan's Moby Media Group, which operates Tolo TV; Stephane Rosenblatt, head of the Belgian station RTL-TVI; and Gilles Marchant, head of the Swiss TV station TSR.
The signatories said, "We, executives and editors of TV stations in Europe, Asia and the Americas, call on President Pervez Musharraf to immediately rescind this decision, which is contrary to free enterprise and the freedom to report the news, and we express our solidarity with the Pakistani TV stations and their staff." they said.
The ban on cable distribution for the privately-owned TV stations has been lifted yesterday for two of the stations, Aaj TV and DawnNews, but Aaj TV was forced to drop two of its talk-shows. The government has also imposed a new broadcast media law and a code of conduct for the TV stations.
US AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATION AGREES TO SWEEPING CHANGES
Affter a two-year planning process by a joint industry task force representing nearly two dozen leading newspaper and ad agencies, the US Audit Bureau of Circulations has agreed to what it terms "sweeping strategic recommendations for US newspapers that aim to provide marketers with more useful information, streamline ABC rules and audits, and modify key circulation standards."
The changes follow the successful launch of Audience-FAX, a new US initiative that provides for broader reporting of newspaper distribution, print readership and online audience measurements.
ABC's board has agreed to implement the changes over the next three years in the US, and it will consider adopting similar strategic changes for the Canadian newspaper market following further input from its Canadian members.
The ABC board agreed to increase the number of magazine copies that can be distributed to hotels and airlines under its "verified circulation" rule. Effective immediately, consumer magazines published monthly or less frequently may provide a maximum of four copies per room to each hotel location. The previous limit was two. The provision for distribution of weekly magazines remains one copy per room.
ABC also agreed to create a new section of the verified rule to govern distribution of consumer magazines to airlines. Effective immediately, publishers may distribute up to two copies per flight, based on a monthly average of flights. The magazines may be distributed on board aircraft or at airport clubs, at the discretion of each airline. As with hotels, airlines must select the specific titles they want to receive.
From MediaBlab news service compiled for Dow Jones' Factiva
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY DECLINES TO COMMIT TO NEW ABC TV CHILDREN’S’ STATION ON EVE OF ELECTION
The Australian Labor Party, seemingly set to resoundedly win the federal election on the coming weekend, has declined as yet to commit itself to the establishment of the advertising-free channel, ABC3.
Last week, the ABC committed itself to having the channel on air by April 2008 after the government announced last week that it would provide $82 million over four years to fund it if re-elected on November 24.
CHINA BANS LONELY PLANET OVER DEPICTING TAIWAN AS A SEPARATE COUNTRY ON ITS MAP
The Chinese Government has banned Lonely Planet's popular China Travel Guide over what it deems controversial content, the Sydney Morning Herald today reported.
It said that after repeated reports of confiscations from travellers, China's ministry of foreign affairs confirmed that the guide was banned last year because of a map that depicts the People's Republic of China and Taiwan as separate countries.
A spokesman said the book has some errors concerning the Taiwan issue, such as marking the Chinese mainland and Chinese Taiwan in different colours on the map. These practices breach Chinese law.
Lonely Planet general manager Tony McKimmie said the company was unaware of the ban although it had received about 30 reports of confiscations in the past 18 months.
DUBAI SHUTS DOWN ITS PAKISTANI TV NETWORKS AFTER PERSONAL PRESSURE FROM MUSHARRAF
ArabianBusiness.com reports that when two of Pakistan's leading private television networks were ordered off the air during emergency rule, they went on broadcasting via their offices in the United Arab Emirates.
But Geo TV and ARY One World have now been shut down on the orders of Dubai media city, and according to the Geo TV website came after personal pressure from President Pervez Musharraf.
The director general of Dubai's media council, Ibrahim Al Abed said the censorship is an example of the United Arab Emirate’s "neutrality" and to its commitment to international law, and to peace and stability in the region.
DAILY MAIL GROUP IN UK APPOINTS NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE
The UK’s mighty Daily Mail & General Trust has been reported as underlining “the growing importance of its business outside print” by choosing the head of its information division as its next chief executive.
Sunday Times reports that Martin Morgan will replace Charles Sinclair as head of the company next year. Morgan has overseen strong growth at DMG Information, which last year had the biggest operating margins in the group.
HEY, WE DIDN’T DO IT SAYS FORMER KHMER ROUGE STRONGMAN IN NEW BOOK
In a move that makes Holocaust-deniers look tame, the former head of state during the rule of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, Khieu Samphan, dismisses accusations by historians that the movement killed up to 2 million people.
Pity about all those skulls that litter Cambodian sites but.
The former Khmer Rouge head-of-state also writes that Pol Pot was a patriot concerned about social justice and fighting foreign enemies, according to the International Herald Tribune.
Khieu Samphan denied that the Khmer Rouge had a policy of starving people or had ordered mass killings during its 1970s rule, but added that Pol Pot was responsible for all its policies, right or wrong.
The book, Reflection on Cambodian History Up to the Era of Democratic Kampuchea, offers a possible preview of what Khieu Samphan might offer as a defense if he is charged soon, as expected, by Cambodia's UN-backed genocide tribunal, says the Tribune.
SHORT FILM DOCUMENTS HOW SAUDI PETRO DOLLARS SILENCE WESTERN MEDIA
The Libel Tourist is a short-form documentary film produced by the Moving Picture Institute, which seeks to provide filmmakers with the opportunities to display their filmmaking skills while making an impact on behalf of human freedom.
The eight-minute documentary reveals how Saudi petrodollars have cowed, silenced, and almost broken freedom of speech in the West.
It documents how an American-Israeli author Dr Rachel Ehrenfeld was ordered to destroy all copies of her book in England, after a notoriously litigious Saudi billionaire sued her in a British court.
Ehrenfeld's book Funding Evil; How Terrorism is Financed – and How to Stop It, accuses the Saudi billionaire of funding of terrorism.
Now Ehrenfeld is fighting back, counter-suing him in the New York, to defend US First Amendment rights.
Jared Lapidus, the film’s director, said, “It deals directly with the issues of terrorism, Islamo-fascism, and how it is infringing on our rights in the West, and the US in particular.”
NEWS LTD NAMES THE AUSTRALIAN AS ITS NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR FOR A SECOND TIME IN A ROW
The Australian was named Newspaper of the Year for the secod year in a row at News Ltd News Awards in the Great Hall at Parliament House, Canberra on Friday night. This may allay rumours that the paper’s editor-in-chief Chris Mitchell was due for the axe and indeed last week, when Mitchell was reportedly walking around the Australian’s office “cock-a-hoop,” Crikey.com, famous for getting the news wrong, got it wrong again late last week by announcing Rupert Murdoch has already sacked Mitchell.
Not surprisingly, News Ltd prestigious flagship national mostly won the juiciest awards.
The Australian also picked up three other major awards, including Young Journalist of the Year, Feature Writer of the Year and Business Journalist of the Year.
The Herald Sun's Keith Moor was named Specialist Writer of the Year for his crime reporting, and David Riccio, from Sydney's The Sunday Telegraph, was named Sports Journalist of the Year.
The Chairman's Award went to Michael Harvey and Gerard McManus from The Herald Sun.
The most prestigious honour of the night, the Sir Keith Murdoch Award for Journalism, was won by Colleen Ryan of The Sunday Times in Perth for her eight-year-long investigation into the jailing of an innocent man for murder.
The Courier Mail in Brisbane won Magazine of the Year for its glossy publication, QWeekend, published on Saturdays, and the paper also won Website of the Year.
AUSTRALIAN INTERNET MOVIE START-UP COMPANY REELTIME TRIES TO SAVE ITSELF WITH A NEW MAN AT THE HELM
A new managing director will today sign on at troubled Australian internet movie start-up ReelTime Media to fill the vacancy left by last week's sudden exit of chief executive John Karantzis.
The Australian reported that ReelTime had announced that the company had accepted Karantzis’s resignation, amid growing signs that the online movie business is struggling to gain momentum, and when questions marks are hanging over the online movie business in Australia.
The future of Volt, Fairfax and iiNet's national video-on-demand joint venture launched in March, has also reportedly become clouded, and Volt has generated fewer than 3000 movie downloads since its launch.
The service's Singapore-based movie content supplier Anytime may also be facing financial difficulties fuelled by souring relations with its main financier, YTC Group. The Macquarie Group has also invested in Anytime, and Sony, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros and Intel have given the venture in-kind backing. Earlier this month, iiNet said that Anytime's executives had reported that they were seeking "alternative" funding arrangements.
HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD FOR PROJECT GIVING ABORIGINAL FORTNIGHTLY FULL PAGE SPACE IN THE AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER
A project giving Aboriginal people space in a voice in The Australian newspaper has been nominated for human rights award.
The Warlpiri Media Association of the Northern Territory has been nominated for the 2007 Human Rights Award in the print media category, in partnership with Reconciliation Australia and News Ltd, by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
The project involves Aboriginal people from the remote community of Yuendumu, northwest of Alice Springs, being given a page in The Australian each fortnight to speak about life in the community and how they feel.
The Warlpiri Media Association interviews the participating locals.
The series, Voices from the Heart of the Nation, began 12 weeks ago following the federal government's intervention in the Northern Territory.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS AGENCY BOYCOTT OF AUSTRALIAN CRICKET NOW OVER
International news agencies have ended a boycott of Australian cricket after striking an agreement with the governing body allowing their photographers and reporters to cover matches.
This was helped along no doubt by poor attendances at the first test against Sri Lanka and criticism of poor marketing on behalf of Cricket Australia.
Perhaps Cricket Australia finally realised that it needed the media more than the media may have needed its second-rate Test series.
After the decision on Friday the agencies began coverage of the second Test against Sri Lanka, which started in Hobart on Thursday.
The agencies, including Agence France-Presse, Reuters, Associated Press and Getty Images, had suspended coverage of the 2007-08 season due to a dispute over restrictions imposed on them, and formed the News Media Coalition, which has now reached an agreement with Cricket Australia regarding news coverage during the current season.
CAMBODIAN JOURNALISTS NOW FACE LEGAL INTIMIDATION INSTEAD OF MURDER
Murders of Cambodian journalists may have decreased in recent years, but the threat is increasingly becoming one of legal intimidation, the country's most powerful journalist union said Friday.
The Club of Cambodian Journalists held a two-day meeting of local and international journalists, government officials and representatives of the Konrad Adenhauer Foundation in Siem Reap.
Earthtimes reported that the union said, "Cambodia is not a perfect place for journalists. There were six journalists killed between 1993 and 1997. In recent years, while there have been no killings, arrests, threats and legal intimidation have become of increasing concern.
"The trend against press freedom has turned from violence to legal means as politicians and others become more sophisticated."
A spokesman said while the 2003 shooting of royalist radio journalist Chour Chet Tharith was perhaps the latest murder of a journalist, in 2006 alone there were seven lawsuits and arrests and 12 serious threats recorded against member journalists.
But Ministry of Information secretary of state Srey Channy said Cambodia respected press freedom, but no journalist had the right to abuse their position for personal or financial gain.
"Press freedom without responsibility can also put democracy in danger. Therefore I appeal to Cambodian journalists to stick to the principals of journalism and perform their duties ethically and professionally," he told the meeting.
AUSTRALIA’S SEVEN NETWORK ALL CASHED UP BUT WON’T SAY WHERE IT WILL GO ACQUISITIONS-WISE
Australia’s Seven Network and its partner in the Seven media business, US private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts are cashed up to buy media companies but have no immediate plans, according to a report in Friday’s Australian Financial Review.
Seven Network supremo Kerry Stokes, who owns 40.7 percent of Seven said on Thursday that he would not reveal when and where Seven would spend the $2.5 billion it has sitting in its coffers.
FIJI BROADCASTING CORPORATION APPOINTS NEW CEO
Fiji Broadcasting Corporation Ltd a new ceo, former Fiji Television and New Zealand-based journalist Riyaz Saiyad-Khaiyum, brother of interim Attorney-General Aiyaz Saiyad-Khaiyum.
He replaces Francis Herman who resigned in June.
Public Enterprise Minister Poseci Bune said Saiyad-Khaiyum should take up his new job soon, and added, "The Prime Minister has endorsed the recommendation that the board put up to me that Riyaz Khaiyum be appointed as the new ceo of Fiji Broadcasting Corporation Ltd.
Radio Fiji Online said Saiyad-Khaiyum made his mark in Fiji's media as senior reporter and presenter for Fiji Television's political show "Close Up", and is associated with TVNZ-New Zealand's "Asia Downunder" program.
He has won numerous awards including Fiji Journalist of the Year, and Pacific Islands' Young Journalist of the Year and Journalist of the Year.
KOREAN TELEVISION NETWORKS TO BE ALLOWED TO RUN MID-PROGRAM AD BREAKS
The Korea Herald ran an editorial on Saturday criticising the decision by the Korean Broadcasting Commission to allow mid-program commercial breaks by the country's three television network broadcasters
The Korea Herald said the decision should be reconsidered as it promotes the interests of broadcasters at the expense of the television viewing public, and pointed out, “It is already an anomaly that the Korea Broadcasting System, a public broadcasting company, carries commercials. Seoul Broadcasting Station is the only truly commercial broadcaster as the government is a shareholder of Munhwa Broadcasting Corp.
“Any plan to permit mid-program commercial breaks should have considered this difference in the status of various broadcasters.”
Program commercial breaks would allow the television broadcasters to rake in as much as 459.3 billion won (US$500 million) in additional income, according to a report by the Korean Broadcasting Commission said
The commission argues that additional revenues are necessary for the transition to digital broadcasting systems, which is expected to be completed by 2013.
MYANMAR JOURNAL SUSPENDED OVER EDITOR’S WRANGLE WITH A PRO-JUNTA JOURNALIST
A Myanmar journal has been suspended by the Burmese authorities over its editor’s personal conflict with a pro-junta journalist, according to the Irrawaddy Journal.
The Middle Line Journal was told by the board of censors that the journal must cease publication for the time being.
“There was a conflict between the Middle Line’s editor, Oo Swe, and the pro-junta editor of Snap Shot Journal, Myat Khine. Oo Swe claimed that other journals could not reprint photos which had been used in the Snap Shot Journal. Oo Swe told the board of censors that giving special favors to some journalists was a double standard,” a Yangon-based journalist said.
Myat Khine apparently is close to the ruling generals, particularly Minister of Information Kyaw Hsan. Myat Khine apparently advises the authorities on who are anti-junta journalists.
After the conflict with the editor of the Middle Line Journal, the board of censors placed his name on the black list within Myanmar’s press. The board of censors also called on the journal to have Oo Swe removed from his role as editor.
The journal took his name out of the publication, but later the board of censors claimed that Oo Swe still steered the journal. They ordered the journal to cease its publication.
INDIAN MEDIA GOLD RUSH: TIME LICENSES PEOPLE MAGAZINE TO LAUNCH IN INDIAThe Outlook Group has reached an agreement with US-based Time Inc to licence People, one of its most successful and popular editorial magazine, in India in 2008.
Maheshwer Peri, president & publisher, The Outlook Group said, “We are excited to be associated with one of the world’s largest magazine publishers and to bring our this fascinating editorial mix to India.
“We are pleased by Time Inc’s decision to license an Indian edition of this important brand, and we believe that this speaks a lot about the Indian market. We are committed to its success.”
Exchange4media reported that he said that about 75 percent of the content of the Indian edition of People would be skewed toward Indian tastes.
Jim Jacovides, Time’s vice president, licensing and syndication said, “The economic growth and opportunity in India right now makes this an ideal time to bring one of Time Inc.’s signature brands into the country,” said The group is also responsible for the licensing and syndication of Time Inc.’s leading brands globally.
Time Inc. publishes 39 editions in more than 19 countries under licence.
In June, the Outlook Group, in partnership with Groupe Marie Claire of France, launched Marie Claire in India.
INDIAN MEDIA GOLD RUSH: THE NEW ELDORADO FOR GLOBAL TRADITIONAL MEDIA COMPANIESIndia has become the global frontier for print media organisations, who are almost stampeding the booming market in that country, bolstered by last week’s launching of Brian’s Daily Mail partnership involvement in the launch of the English-language daily, Mail Today.
As the US Media Life points out, there are 9 million in the Delhi area who speak English.
Media Life quotes Bhaskara Rao, chairman of the Centre for Media Studies in Delhi, who says, “The potential market in India is so big. That’s why everyone wants to get into the Indian market. The future is here and it is growing fast.”
Later this year, another major British newspaper, the Sun, a downmarket tabloid, is teaming up with an Indian partner to launch another daily.
Magazines with established Indian editions include OK!, Maxim and Vogue, which launched two months ago.
Plus there have been English-language launches from Indian publishing houses without British or American involvement.
The lure of India to foreign publishing houses is the country’s rapid economic growth. GDP is expected to grow 8.6 percent this year, following 9 percent-plus growth last year.
This growth has meant a booming advertising economy, with media spending forecast to grow by 21.6 percent next year. That's compared to 5.1 percent for Britain and 3.1 percent for the US, according to GroupM.
Jonathan Barnard, head of publications at ZenithOptimedia, says, “India is one of the fastest-growing media economies in the world. The overall economy is growing well. The media economy grew 28 percent last year.”
Also growing is the consumption of media, reflecting the rise of a new middle class.
To date, print's reach is not even 50 percent of India's literate population.
It's an attractive market for British and US publishers because English is the language of business and of the educated classes. The Indian government has also encouraged foreign investors, though it still restricts their ownership share to 26 percent for publications focusing on news and current affairs.
INDIAN MEDIA GOLD RUSH: HUGE POTENTIAL FOR INDIAN NEWSPAPER REACHThe International Newspaper Marketing Association, an international provider in best practices and marketing ideas for newspapers companies, conducted its first South Asia two-day conference in Delhi last week.
The conference was convened to introduce the association to India, and at the same time, to project India to rest of the world.
The conference began on the positive note that, unlike in the west where the newspaper industry is being considered as a setting sun, Indian newspapers still have a huge potential in terms of reach and thereby revenue.
Earl J Wilkinson, executive director, International Newspaper Marketing Association, US, said “We see tremendous opportunities in India as there are 360,000,000 literate consumers who do not read newspapers. Only 0.34 percent of India’s GDP is spent on advertisements, while the global norm is 1-2 percent. Also, the influx of foreign capital in India is one of the prime reasons for the Indian print media to be happy about.”
FORBES.COM’S NEW AUDIENCE NETWORK WILL GIVE MARKETERS BIGGER REACH IN THE ASIA PACIFIC REGION
Forbes.com has introduced the Forbes Audience Network, comprising five of Forbes premium sites aimed at marketers keen to increase reach globally and regionally.
This will also deliver larger reach in Asia pacific region.
The network sites include ForbesTraveler.com, ForbesAutos.com, Investopedia.com, RealClearPolitics.com and Clipmarks.com.
Bill Flatley,vice president and managing director of Forbes.com, said advertisers keen to reach business decision makers would benefit from the new option.
He added that advertisers include those from the B2B, travel and tourism, economic development, corporate as well as technology and telecom services.
The new ad service also includes a ‘Brand Increase Guarantee’ program where advertisers that spend a minimum amount are guaranteed an increase in at least one of the four brand metrics measured.
IRISH MEDIA TYCOON DENIS O’BRIEN CALLS THE INDEPENDENT A ‘VANITY PROJECT’ AND RENEWS CALL TO SELL IT
Denis O'Brien, an 11 percent shareholder in Independent News & Media, has renewed his call for the company to sell The Independent newspaper and has demanded the resignation of Sir Anthony O'Reilly as chief executive.
O'Brien first called for the sale of the company's loss-making title, along with a group of Australian radio stations, in June.
The Times said that the Irish telecoms and media tycoon renewed his call yesterday and said O'Reilly was too old to run a modern newspaper business and that, by leaving, he would save millions of euros.
He said: "The Independent has to go, as do other vanity projects. If he goes, and The Independent is sold, shareholders will save money. This is a company that is going nowhere."
Brand republic said that Citigroup estimates that selling The Independent and its Sunday title would save £13.4 million (A$31 million) a year.
In June this year, O'Reilly threatened to sue O'Brien for publishing an allegedly defamatory report about Independent News & Media, which raised concerns about governance issues within the company. It did not allege malpractice by the board nor the executives of the company.
Independent News & Media operates in publishing, radio and outdoor advertising with its main interests in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and India, as well as the UK.
TOP 20 US NEWSPAPER WEB SITES
Editor & Publisher has listed the 20 most popular US newspaper sites for October as:
NYTimes.com
USAToday.com
washingtonpost.com
Wall Street Journal Online
LA Times
Boston.com New York Post
Chicago Tribune
SFGate.com/San Francisco Chronicle Daily News Online Edition
The Houston Chronicle
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Newsday
Chicago Sun-Times
Village Voice Media
The San Diego Union-Tribune
NJ.com
Azcentral.com
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
DallasNews.com - The Dallas Morning News
The Seattle Times
International Herald Tribune
AMERICAN EXPRESS TO LAUNCH TRAVEL LEISURE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
Marketing-interactive reports that American Express Publishing will launch its luxury lifestyle magazine Travel Leisure in Southeast Asia in partnership with Bangkok-headquartered Media Transasia from December.
The magazine will cover 12 countries around the region, and will launch with a print run of 50,000 copies with the bulk to hit Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand.
The monthly title, now one of the world's largest travel magazines, will have access to American Express database to target high spending and the affluent travels.
In Australia, the magazine is published by Fairfax and a New Zealand edition has only recently been announced.
Media Transasia is one of the world’s most diversified and
vertically integrated publishing houses, it commands the entire gamut of publishing activities: from creating new markets to conceiving new publications, from editorial and design to
printing. The group is
TOP TEN ONLINE FINANCE NEWS SITES IN US ATTRACT MAINLY READERS OVER 45
The Centre for Media Research reports that more than half of online financial news readers in America are over 45, and lists the top ten finance news sites as:
Top 10 Online Financial News & Information Destinations (Week ending October 14, 2007 US, Home and Work)
Brand or Channel Unique Audience (000) Active Reach (%)
Yahoo! Finance 7,379 5.42
MSN Money 7,168 5.27
AOL Money & Finance 5,361 3.94
Wall Street Journal Digital 4,236 3.11
CNNMoney 3,223 2.37
Reuters 2,453 1.8
Forbes.com 2,231 1.64
Motley Fool 1,282 0.94
TheStreet.com 1,205 0.89
FreeCreditReport.com^ 1,021 0.75
Source: Nielsen Online, NetView
BALIBO FIVE INQUEST IN AUSTRALIA CALL TO INDICT INDONESIAN MILITARY OFFICERS AS WAR CRIMINALS
Reporters without Borders said it hailed the work of New South Wales coroner Dorelle Pinch, who issued an inquest report on Friday that establishes with great detail that the Indonesian army was responsible for the death of five British, Australian and New Zealander journalists in East Timor in 1975.
The report clearly shows they were eliminated because they too much about Indonesia's invasion of East Timor, which was just getting under way.
Reporters without Borders said, “The detailed and courageous inquest conducted by Dorelle Pinch shows that Indonesian army officers, including former special forces captain Yunus Yosfiah, are war criminals. It is deplorable that the Indonesian government immediately dismissed the findings of the Australian inquest
"We call on the next Australian prime minister to do everything possible to ensure that those who carried out these killings and those who gave them their orders are brought to trial on Australia. Although more than 30 years have gone by, this inquest shed light on every aspect of this multiple murder. It is vital that justice should now be done."
The report detailed the findings of a six-week inquest into the death of British cameraman Brian Peters on 16 October 1975 in the East Timor town of Balibo. Four other journalists were killed with him - Australian reporter Greg Shackleton, Australian soundman Tony Stewart, New Zealander cameraman Gary Cunningham and British reporter Malcolm Rennie.
Pinch has urged the Australian government to bring war crimes charges against those who killed them.
The Indonesian army has always refused to punish those responsible for their deaths and the deaths of other foreign journalists killed around the same time in Timor including Australian Roger East and New Zealander Sander Thoenes.
According to Pinch's report, the five journalists killed in Balibo, known as the Balibo Five, were arrested after filming the start of the Indonesian invasion and then executed.
"The journalists were not incidental casualties in the fighting, they were captured, then deliberately killed despite protesting their status," Pinch wrote in her report.
The inquest established that they were executed by Yosfia and Christoforus da Silva, another member of the Indonesian special forces, on the orders of their commander, Major General Benny Murdani.
The report also describes how the Australian, British and New Zealand governments helped cover up these murders by accepting the Indonesian version and by refusing to disclose relevant information they had obtained.
An Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman today said the Pinch's findings would not change his country's position.
"This court has a very limited jurisdiction and its decision will not change our stance about what happened," he said.
The dozens of witnesses who gave evidence at the inquest included former government ministers, ambassadors and intelligence officers. They also included former Australian prime minister Gough Whitlam. But former Indonesian military officers such as Yosfiah refused to testify to the inquest.
BBC, CNN AND SOME LOCAL TELEVISION STATIONS RESUME BROADCASTING IN PAKISTAN
Pakistani authorities allowed BBC, CNN, and local stations Aaj and Dawn to resume broadcasting on Thursday after private television channels were banned under emergency rule.
But TV news executives and editors around the world have come out in support of the privately-owned Pakistani TV news stations that had been banned from broadcasting.
In a joint statement, they have condemned the fact that "millions of Pakistanis have been deprived of independent news" since the declaration of a state of emergency on November 3.
Reporters Without Borders said the signatories include Mark Wood, chief executive of Britain's ITN; Chuck Lustig, foreign news director of ABC News in the US; Torsten Rossmann, head of the executive board of Germany's N24; Jorg Harzem, N24's chief editor; Nik Niethammer, chief editor of Germany's Sat.1; and Guillaume Dubois, deputy director-general of France's BFMTV.
Signatories also include Peter Kloeppel, news editor of Germany's RTL; Yves Bigot, regional service director of Belgium's RTBF; Saad Mohseni, chairman of Afghanistan's Moby Media Group, which operates Tolo TV; Stephane Rosenblatt, head of the Belgian station RTL-TVI; and Gilles Marchant, head of the Swiss TV station TSR.
The signatories said, "We, executives and editors of TV stations in Europe, Asia and the Americas, call on President Pervez Musharraf to immediately rescind this decision, which is contrary to free enterprise and the freedom to report the news, and we express our solidarity with the Pakistani TV stations and their staff." they said.
The ban on cable distribution for the privately-owned TV stations has been lifted yesterday for two of the stations, Aaj TV and DawnNews, but Aaj TV was forced to drop two of its talk-shows. The government has also imposed a new broadcast media law and a code of conduct for the TV stations.
US AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATION AGREES TO SWEEPING CHANGES
Affter a two-year planning process by a joint industry task force representing nearly two dozen leading newspaper and ad agencies, the US Audit Bureau of Circulations has agreed to what it terms "sweeping strategic recommendations for US newspapers that aim to provide marketers with more useful information, streamline ABC rules and audits, and modify key circulation standards."
The changes follow the successful launch of Audience-FAX, a new US initiative that provides for broader reporting of newspaper distribution, print readership and online audience measurements.
ABC's board has agreed to implement the changes over the next three years in the US, and it will consider adopting similar strategic changes for the Canadian newspaper market following further input from its Canadian members.
The ABC board agreed to increase the number of magazine copies that can be distributed to hotels and airlines under its "verified circulation" rule. Effective immediately, consumer magazines published monthly or less frequently may provide a maximum of four copies per room to each hotel location. The previous limit was two. The provision for distribution of weekly magazines remains one copy per room.
ABC also agreed to create a new section of the verified rule to govern distribution of consumer magazines to airlines. Effective immediately, publishers may distribute up to two copies per flight, based on a monthly average of flights. The magazines may be distributed on board aircraft or at airport clubs, at the discretion of each airline. As with hotels, airlines must select the specific titles they want to receive.
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