MEDIABLAB NEWS DIGEST DECEMBER 7: PSSST, WANNA BUY A CHEAP NEWSPAPER? STRIKE NOW
December 7th 2008 11:43
INDONESIAN NEWSPAPER AND MAGAZINE REVENUE UP BUT NEWSPAPER READERSHIP DOWN
The Jakarta Post reports that Indonesian newspapers, and magazines showed ad revenue, but recorded a year-on-year drop in reader numbers in the third quarter of 2008, ACNielsen Indonesia said in its latest media survey.
"As shown by the Nielsen Media Index, in terms of readership decline, magazines are experiencing the worst of it," Asia-Pacific regional director Mark Neely said.
The survey, carried out in nine major Indonesian cities and projected to represent a population of 42 million, showed magazines had a 24 percent readership decline compared to last year.
But mass media, including television, showed a 22 percent increase in advertising revenue during the first nine months of the year, totalling rupee 31 trillion (US$2.6 billion).
Newspapers recorded the biggest boost of 34 percent, and television increased by 16 percent.
Magazine ad revenue rose by 25 percent.
The major advertisers were telecommunication firms, which spent 75 percent more than the same time last year.
Government and political organizations came in second, 74 percent higher than in 2007.
BARGAIN-BASEMENT VALUING OF MEDIA COMPANIES COULD SPARK SPATE OF DEAL MAKING IN THE NEW YEAR
Reuters reports that the media and technology sector, which has seen a spate of failed merger attempts in 2008, should brace for more aggressive deal making next year spurred by bargain-basement valuations.
Top executives at the Reuters Media Summit in New York last week said they saw increased opportunities for the strong to buy the weak, as the recession causes share prices to tumble further.
IAC/InterActiveCorp chief executive Barry Diller said he was building a US$2.2 billion stockpile of cash and could swoop in on a "cascade of acquisition opportunities" in t media and entertainment.
THAI JOURNALISTS WANT EXTRA TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT TO ENTER THE WAR ZONE THAT IS POLITICS IN BANGKOK
Thailand’s journalists claim that covering politics in Bangkok is now like entering a war zone and they want extra training and equipment to cope.
Some journalists injured during recent skirmishes in the capital said they had not been provided with any protective equipment such as helmets and flak jackets.
They said they also had never been trained by experts and experienced war correspondents on what to do and how to go about during violent confrontations.
The Bangkok Post reported that Roby Alampay of the Southeast Asian Press Alliance said it was important that all news agencies provide training and protective gear such as helmets and flak jackets to journalists before dispatching them on dangerous missions.
''The most basic thing is training for journalists, so they know how to behave and how to move about,'' he said.
INDIAN GOVERNMENT RELEASES MORE DETAILS ABOUT FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN LOCAL EDITIONS OF FOREIGN NEWS MAGAZINES
The Indian government has unveiled guidelines for permitting the publication of Indian editions of foreign news and current affairs magazines, which are allowed 26 percent foreign direct investment as long as all key executives and editorial staff are Indians.
The guidelines issued by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry made it clear that these foreign magazines can only be published by an Indian company, which will be eligible for attracting 26 percent foreign direct investment and will be free to add local content and advertisements.
“An Indian company wishing to publish such foreign magazines has to fulfill a range of criteria. Three-fourth of the directors of the applicant company and all key executives and editorial staff should be resident Indians, according to the guidelines.
The proposed publication must have a circulation of 10,000 paid copies and must have been published continuously for a period of at least five years.
The Ministry will decide on all new applications for publication of Indian editions of foreign magazines on the basis of inter-ministerial consultation.
The Home Ministry, External Affairs Ministry, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Corporate Affairs and other ministries and departments will be involved in the decision-making process.
In a landmark decision, the Indian government allowed Indian editions of foreign news and current affairs magazines over two months ago. The decision will provide Indian readers access to foreign magazines at cheaper rates than imported copies.
RUPERT MURDOCH SON LACHLAN TIPPED TO RETURN AS A MEDIA PLAYER IN AUSTRALIA
Lachlan Murdoch has re-emerged as a player in the Australian media with a bid for Fairfax Media's Southern Star group, the production house behind television programs such as Big Brother and Deal or No Deal.
The Weekend Australian said it understands that Murdoch has made representations to the Fairfax board and remains in contention for the deal.
It is understood the board will examine tenders made by a number of bidders, including a consortium led by Murdoch's private company Illyria, at a meeting next week. That meeting will also discuss Fairfax's next chief executive officer after the resignation yesterday of David Kirk.
The bid for Southern Star represents the first time Murdoch has ventured back into the Australian market in a search for media assets since his A$3.3 billion bid to privatise Consolidated Media with James Packer and private equity firm Providence Equity Partners failed in April.
Since then, Murdoch, eldest son of Rupert Murdoch, has kept a low profile in Australia.
DOW JONES TO LAUNCH JAPANESE LANGUAGE WEB SITE NEXT YEAR
Robert Thomson, the managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, has said that parent company Dow Jones expects to launch a Japanese-language web site in the first half of next year.
But, reports The Guardian, Dow Jones has no plans to make an acquisition in the country, according to Thomson.
Dow Jones has a foreign exchange information service in Japan that is the fastest-growing revenue source for the company.
Press Gazette said the News Corp-owned financial newswire already has a foreign exchange information service in Japan which Thomson said is the fastest-growing revenue source for the company.
AFRICA’S NATION MEDIA GROUP SPREADS ITS REACH AND INFLUENCE
Nation Media Group, a multimedia house in East and Central Africa, is the latest broadcaster to become associated with A24 Media, joining K24, a 24-hour Kenyan news channel, and Royal Media Services, an electronic media house in Kenya.
Other African broadcasters who have joined forces with A24 Media are: Ethiopia's Gem TV, Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation and the Southern African Broadcasting Association, a membership organisation representing public service and other broadcasting organisations in 13 countries in the Southern African Development Community region. The partnership with Southern African Broadcasting Association has expanded A24 Media's capacity to source content from the continent.
Since its launch in September, A24 Media has incorporated 66 freelancers spread over 17 countries, and eight NGOs spread over three countries. Some of the NGOs include AMREF, UNICEF, UNEP, Action Aid and the Mohamed Amin Foundation.
NEW YOUTH-ORIENTED TV STATION TO LAUNCH IN CAMBODIA ON NEW YEAR’S DAY
Cambodia’s CTN TV will launch a new station, named My CPP TV on January 1, 2009.
Cambodge Soir Hebdo reports that according to Som Chaya, CTN director, “We offer a new station to the public because right now, we have to manage too many programs and too many sponsors. With only one station, we cannot fulfil the demand, in particular for the advertisements.”
He said My CPP TV will broadcast programs youth-aimed programs.
Khieu Kanharith, minister of Information, said, “In 2009, we will benefit with one additional station. More stations bring more job opportunities for students, and this new station will help reduce CTN’s operation cost.”
Cambodia has nine national TV stations and more than 40 FM radio stations.
DENVER’S 150-YEAR-OLD ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS TO CLOSE DOWN
AP reports that EW Scripps Co in the US says it's putting the Rocky Mountain News up for sale after losing US$11 million on the Denver operation in the first nine months of the year.
Cincinnati-based Scripps has owned the News since 1926, and since 2001 it has been in a joint operating agreement with The Denver Post, owned by Denver-based MediaNews Group Inc.
Rich Boehne, president and ceo of Scripps, says the company's 50 percent share of the joint operating agreement's cash flow "is no longer enough to support the Rocky, leaving us with no choice but to seek an exit."
The News was founded in 1859 and is Colorado's oldest newspaper. It has won four Pulitzer Prizes since 2000.
RUPERT MURDOCH TALES ON ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER OVER DOUBLING OF TAX ON PAY-TV SUBSCRIPTIONS
The acrimony between Rupert Murdoch and the Italian prime minister is increasing.
Bloomberg reports that Murdoch's Sky Italia, Italy's biggest pay-television broadcaster, is mounting an on-air attack against media owner and prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's plan to double the tax on TV subscriptions.
Sky Italia is airing commercials urging viewers to complain to the government that their bills will rise.
AUSTRALIAN CONSOLIDATED PRESS MAGAZINE QUEEN LOSES HER CROWN
The Australian reports that Pat Ingram's 10-year reign as “queen bee” of ACP Magazines has ended.
Ingram's protégé Lynette Phillips will take over as group publisher as well as sales director of the women's lifestyle titles in the New Year.
Ingram will work four days a week for nine months of the year as editorial director of the women's lifestyle titles.
She denied rumours she had been sacked, saying the new, part-time role came at her own request.
The women's lifestyle group is the powerhouse of ACP, including top-selling magazines The Australian Women's Weekly, Woman's Day, TV Week, Take 5, Cosmopolitan, Dolly, Madison, Shop Til You Drop and NW.
It is understood ACP made the announcement earlier than planned after irreverent website Crikey.com published a rumour implying Ingram had been sacked.
Ingram joined ACP in 1988 as editor of Cosmo and was promoted to editor-in-chief and then editorial director before becoming group publisher in 1999.
This year she has had to defend her latest launch, weekly fashion magazine Grazia, against widespread reports it was not performing as well as hoped.
She will stay on the board of ACP's joint venture companies, including Hearst International.
CHINA, CUBA AND MYANMAR HEAD LIST OF NATIONS THAT HAVE THE WORST RECORD FOR JAILING JOURNALISTS
Mizzima News reports that with at least 14 journalists detained, China is the worst and neighbouring Myanmar is the third worst country that has imprisoned journalists for disseminating information to the people, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The committee’s 2008 annual census shows that as of December 1, Myanmar along with 28 other nations across the world have detained a total of 125 journalists and for the first time the number of online journalists being detained surpasses journalists in other media.
The number of imprisoned online journalists has steadily increased since the first jailed Internet writer was reported in 1997. With 53 journalists' detained, print reporters, editors, and photographers make up the next largest professional category in 2008, while Television and radio journalists and documentary filmmakers constitute the rest.
Of the 29 countries that have jailed journalists, China tops the list having had 28 journalists thrown behind bars. With 21 detained journalists, Cuba is second, while Myanmar with a total of 14 journalists detained comes across as the third.
Eritrea closely follows Myanmar with 13 journalists and Uzbekistan with six and is ranked fifth.
TWO TELECOM EXECUTIVES NAMES AS NEW HEADS OF HONG KONG’S ASIA TELEVISION
Two big names from Hong Kong’s telecom industry, Ricky Wong Wai-kay and Linus Cheung, have taken the helm of Asia Television (ATV).
Media Asia reports that City Telecom chairman Wong wil replace ex-ceo Louis Page, and Cheung, former deputy chairman of PCCW, will be executive chairman of ATV.
GroupM ceo KK Tsang told Media Asia that the station has always positioned itself wrongly – portraying itself as competitor to TVB, the only other free-to-air station in Hong Kong – and needs to head in a new direction.
“ATV doesn’t have the scale of resources TVB has to compete in areas such as drama,” said Tsang. “It should concentrate on niche programming.”
ATV recently launched six digital channels and a new logo after a change in shareholders last year.
FORECAST WARNS THAT UK MEDIA WILL FARE THE WORST IN 2009 OF ANY DEVELOPED COUNTRY
The Guardian reports that UK media will fare the worst of any developed country in 2009 with total advertising spend set to fall by nearly 6 percent year on year, according to a new report. T
The forecast from WPP's media buying subsidiary Group M makes for grim reading, with UK national newspaper advertising set to be down 12 percent year on year in 2009, regional titles down 13 percent, and the business-to-business magazine sector down 14 percent.
. TV advertising will be down 6 percent year on year, a solid performance in line with the overall downturn in total ad revenue next year, radio ads down 8 percent and the consumer magazine market down 8.5 percent.
Group M has revised down its original forecast for total UK ad spend in 2008 from growth of 4 percent, reported in May, to a decline of 3 percent.
Similarly the deteriorating advertising climate has led Group M to revise its initial forecast of 3 percent growth in total UK ad spend in 2009, made earlier this year, to a fall of 5.6 percent.
If the effect of internet ad spend is taken out of the total UK figures, traditional media will be down 10 percent year on year in 2008 and 9 percent next year.
Group M has also revised its growth rate for internet ad spending in 2009 down from 20 percent to just 4 percent.
Group M now expects zero growth in global ad spend in 2009, down from a 5 percent year-on-year rise forecast earlier this year.
ISRAEL LIFTS BAN ON INTERNATIONAL JOURNALISTS ENTERING GAZA
AP reports that Israel has lifted a four-week ban on international journalists entering Gaza and temporarily eased a blockade on shipments of goods to the coastal strip. Israeli military spokesman Peter Lerner said an entry ban on international aid workers was also lifted.
The announcement followed weeks of pressure from foreign governments and the leaders of major news organisations urging Israel to reopen Gaza to the media.
The Foreign Press Association in Israel had condemned the ban as a violation of press freedoms.
DISCOVERY NETWORKS TO BROADCAST ‘HIP KOREA’ SERIES EARLY NEXT YEAR
Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, with the support of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, will broadcast a new series called Hip Korea early next year on Discovery Channel internationally.
Marketing magazine reported that the two-hour series will focus on the rising global popularity of Korean pop culture through the stories of Korean pop-idol and actor Jihoon Jung, or Rain as he is popularly known as, and veteran film superstar Byung Hun Lee.
Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific says the program also offers viewers a look at the changing face of the city of Seoul.
Vikram Channa, vice president, content, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, said, "Korea is a dynamic place for content, something the world is just now beginning to understand. Part of the attraction of this series is the ongoing success of this home grown talent crossing over into Asia and to the rest of the world."
BIGGEST SHAREHOLDER OF FAIRFAX MEDIA IN AUSTRALIA TO BACK DIVIDEND REDUCTION
Australia’s Fairfax Media's biggest shareholder, the Fairfax family's private investment company Marinya Media, has signalled it would back a dividend reduction, following calls from other big shareholders to use the money to lower the company's debt burden.
"We would have no problem with the reduction in the dividend," Nicholas Fairfax told the Fairfax newspaper, the Sydney Morning Herald.
"In principle it will come as no surprise to anyone who followed Rural Press that Marinya has a conservative view on balance sheet structure. We would be supportive therefore of any action to reduce Fairfax's debt if it was in the best interests of shareholders."
His comments came after major shareholders, including 452 Capital and Perpetual Investments, called for a lower payout to ease market concerns about the company's A$2.5 billion in debt that weigh on the stock. They argued that a dividend yield of 15 percent was unsustainable.
Fairfax shares have fallen 23 percent over the past month. The publisher is regarded as a target for short sellers tapping into the market's aversion to debt.
AL-JAZEERA LAUNCHES ARAB REGION’S FIRST ARABIC LANGUAGE CITIZEN JOURNALIST’S PORTAL
Al Jazeera has launched the Arab region's first Arabic-language edited citizens' journalism portal, reported The National.
Called Sharek, the Arabic word for participation, the online portal gives readers and viewers an opportunity to submit writings, photographs and videos for publication on the channel's websites and broadcast on the satellite network.
IMPRISONED CUBAN WINS REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR AWARD
Reporters Without Borders Prize jury chose Ricardo Gonzalez Alfonso of Cuba as 2008 Journalist of the Year for helping an independent press to survive in Cuba.
After challenging the state's monopoly of news and information, Gonzalez was arrested on March 18, 2003 along with 26 other dissident journalists during the crackdown known as the Black Spring,” and given a 20 year prison sentence.
The 2008 Media prize to Radio Free NK's North Korean journalists “in order to pay tribute to their courage and determination. Kim Jong-il's totalitarian regime has Radio Free NK, North Korea's first dissident radio station, in its sights.
“Obsessed by the desire to control news and information, the regime has on several occasions threatened to suspend dialogue with South Korea if this Seoul-based station is not banned. The North Korean journalists who produce Free NK's programs are often threatened and the South Korean police have been protecting its manager since a plot to kill him was foiled.”
Two Myanmar bloggers, Zarganar and Nay Phone Latt, two Burmese bloggers, were chosen as joint winners in the Cyber-dissident category.
Comedian Zarganar, dubbed the Myanmar Charlie Chaplin defended human rights and denounced the military government's abuses in sketches and entries in the blog he had been keeping since August 2007. Until his arrest in June of this year, he had become a reliable source of information in a country strangled by censorship and repression.
A special court in Insein prison sentenced 28-year-old blogger Nay Phone Latt on November 10, 2008 to 20 years and six months in prison on a charge of violating the Electronic Act, which provides for severe penalties for those who use the internet to criticise the government.
VARIOUS AMERICAN CITIES TO LOSE THEIR DAILY NEWSPAPERS NEXT YEAR
Editor & Publisher reports that various US newspaper groups are likely to default on their debt and go out of business next year, leaving "several cities" in America with no daily newspaper at all, says a new report from Fitch Ratings. F
Fitch rates the debt of two newspaper companies, The McClatchy Co and Tribune Co as junk, with serious possibilities of default.
The ratings report is generally pessimistic, assigning negative outlets to nearly all sectors, from Yellow Pages to radio and TV and theme parks. But newspapers are the most at risk of defaulting, Fitch says.
On a macro basis, Fitch believes the world economy faces a severe global recession in 2009. While other forecasters are saying the advertising environment will be as bad as it was in 2001, Fitch predicts economic weakness continuing into 2010 could depress advertising by 6 percent to 9 percent in inflation-adjusted terms.
KOREAN STATE-RUN BROADCASTER LAUNCHES ENGLISH-LANGUAGE RADIO STATION
Korea’s state-run Traffic Broadcasting System launched an English-language radio station on December 1 to broadcast the latest news, entertainment and culture for foreign residents of Seoul.
“Foreign nationals will be kept updated on what’s going on in the metropolis through the various programs,” program manager Kim Nam-il said. “But it’s not just offering information but also entertaining them just like the radio programs they enjoy in their own countries.”
The station, named eFM, will air programs for 20 hours daily.
The Korea Times reports the station operators will also consider loaning portable radios to tourists at international airports for them to listen to the station.
PROTESTS AGAINST THE DIRECTOR OF KYRGYZ NATIONAL TV
Dozens of employees at the Kyrgyz National TV and Radio Broadcasting Corporation are protesting against the company’s director.
The protesters are demanding the dismissal of director Melis Eshimkanov for failing to transform the state company into a public television and radio station and for his “poor management.”
Prominent TV producer Assol Moldakhmatova, an organiser of the picket, told RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service that protesters may begin a hunger strike if Eshimkanov is not fired.
Four of the protesting staffers are meeting with Kyrgyz State Secretary Dosbol Nur-uulu, who deals with cultural issues.
Eshimkanov, a former opposition lawmaker, was appointed Kyrgyz National TV and Radio Broadcasting Corporation director by President Kurmanbek Bakiev in October 2007. He has been criticized by media watchdog groups for failing to carry out promised reforms.
RENTAL CAR RADIO SERVICE FOR TOURISTS IN NEW ZEALAND
Tourists in New Zealand will benefit from a new rental car radio service designed to entertain, educate and navigate.
NZPA reports that Tourism Radio will feature New Zealand music, entertaining radio shows with a distinctive local flavour and area information relevant to the region a tourist is travelling through.
Tourism Radio’s managing director New Zealand and Australia Hayden Braddock said the innovative service would act as a “virtual tour guide”, using integrated GPS to broadcast content in real time relative to the location of the listeners.
“Primarily aimed at the tourist rental market, the hardware is fitted into rental vehicles. When it launches this month, Tourism Radio will include some 1600 points of interest throughout the country and around 80 hours of programming. The programs have been written to capture the essence of the country using common phrases and kiwi voices for an authentic listening experience, Mr Braddock said.
Tourism Radio was originally started in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2005.
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