Reuters report provides background for UK press reform

Posted by Michael Wise in Media Policy on May 15, 2012

A new report by Reuters Institute visiting fellow Laura Fielden shows that incentive programs and increased penalties for news outlets may help rehabilitate the oft-criticized UK media regulatory system.

In response to recent critiques from both the government and the public, the UK’s Press Complaints Commission announced their intention to launch a new media regulatory system this past March. Yet as journalists and officials attempt to map their new regulatory path, the complexity of the task grows more apparent.

In her report, titled, “Regulating the Press: A comparative study of international press councils,” Fielden suggests the heart of the UK press council debate is the issue of whether regulation should be voluntary or mandatory. Read the rest of this entry »

Biased Journalism Strains Polish-Lithuanian Relations

Posted by Linas Jegelevicius in Ethics & Quality on May 11, 2012

Article contributed by the European Journalism Centre

What do you do when a long time friend invites you to come over for a chat?

Surely, you perk up and hurry to meet your buddy. But when in mid-April  Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski personally invited Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite to join him in a meeting with the other two leaders of the Baltic States, Andris Berzins of Latvia and Toomas Hendrik Ilves of Estonia, Grybauskaite snubbed the courteous offer, arguing that she had already discussed Baltic issues and the agenda of the upcoming NATO summit with him. Did the media play a role in the presidential refusal?

Very likely so, as the relations between Lithuania and Poland, already strained over the amended Lithuanian language law – enforcing the use of Lithuanian in the country’s ethnic minorities’ schools – have soured lately, with media on both sides exchanging jabs and taking threatening lunges. Read the rest of this entry »

Drones Flying Into Newsrooms

Posted by Philip Di Salvo in Ethics & Quality, New Media & Web 2.0 on May 6, 2012

Originally created for military and intelligence purposes, flying drones are becoming an everyday reality thanks to recent commercial success.

For roughly €300, customers can purchase the AR Drone 2.0, a quadricopter capable of shooting high quality video from great heights in the sky. Cameramen and robotics geeks can now buy a user-friendly drone for shooting video or images, making it easy to see the many ways in which flying drones could be used to serve journalistic purposes. Pilots and newsmen can forget having to risk life and limb with helicopter flights, in the future the sky may be full of drone journalists.

The potential of flying drones for journalism has grown from humble beginnings last winter. The movement began when spectacular video surfaced of a Warsaw riot shot by a semi-pro cameraman using a RoboKopter drone. The video went viral on YouTube and showed the event from a unique perspective no other reporter could have captured Read the rest of this entry »

Survival is Success

Posted by Pier Luca Santoro in New Media & Web 2.0 on May 2, 2012

The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism recently released a study focused on nine different digital startups from Germany, France and Italy.

Conducted by Nicola Bruno and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, the report is aptly titled “Survival is Success: Journalistic Online Startups in Western Europe.”

Focusing on nine “pure players” (i.e. Netzeitung, Mediapart and Il Post), research indicates that for digital startups dealing with information, surviving is already a success in this phase of the market. Among the nine online news outlets analyzed, only Mediapart and Perlentaucher broke even with a balanced budget while others, the Italian Il Post, Linkiesta and Lettera 43 included, are in the red and only surviving thanks to external contributions.

The analysis of different business models and placements of media outlets is also very interesting. In France, Mediapart publishes high-quality niche content for a specialized readership and adopted a paywall with very low subscription fees Read the rest of this entry »

Terror Law Interpretations Shape Future for Turkish Journalists

Posted by Michael Wise in Press Freedom on April 22, 2012

Journalists in Turkey face increasing harassment and imprisonment due to a handful of loosely interpreted anti-terrorism laws.

As publicity of the intimidation continues, convincing the Turkish government to enact reforms proves to be a delicate task. A new report published early this month by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) reveals the number of working journalists imprisoned in Turkey has nearly doubled in the past year, bringing the total to 95.

The report, published in conjunction with Reporters Without Borders, details how Turkey has become one of the world’s worst offenders when it comes to jailing journalists. According to the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović, the number of imprisoned journalists raises serious questions about the level of free Read the rest of this entry »

Vis à Vis Wants to be Forever Free

Posted by Gina Gulberti in New Media & Web 2.0 on April 16, 2012

*Article courtesy of the European Journalism Centre

In a small office in the centre of Madrid, a team of seven young entrepreneurial journalists are working overtime to produce the next issue of the digital magazine Vis à Vis.

Conceived exclusively for the iPad and launched in January 2012, Vis à Vis is an interactive, visual publication that wants to reinvent journalism.

The first edition of the magazine recorded up to 42,000 downloads. The third edition was released on 1 April and the team’s expectations are very high.“Journalism is going through a phase in which either you undertake your own idea or you have to conform to the reality of market,” explains Laura Blanco, the magazine’s editor in chief.

Together with Ángel Anaya, she holds the reins of this initiative that forged its roots during their first year at university. The seven editorial staff members are between 23 and 25 years old and studied together in the Spanish city of Valencia. After working on a Read the rest of this entry »

Approachability: Responsibility, Transparency, Friendliness

Posted by Ievina Ancena in Newsroom Management on April 9, 2012

Latvian media is more transparent than ever, but some outlets find that translucence doesn’t always translate to vitality.

In an attempt to attract new readers and retain existing audiences, various types of media outlets encourage audience participation. In addition to increasing levels of approachability, editorial boards hope to show users their opinions are important while also stressing that the media is no longer something distant and abstract.

But why is the media becoming more accessible, and how will audiences be addressed using new forms of communication? More importantly, how do media representatives feel about the transition and what are the benefits for consumers?

Barriers Fall – Congratulations!

Media expert Anda Rozukalne, chair of the Riga Stradins University Communication Studies Department, advocates breaking down editorial walls to encourage society to take a more active role in their media.  Rozukalne explains that newspapers must Read the rest of this entry »