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.

The report, which examines regulatory systems in six countries, draws on information gathered via interviews with press council members, media ombudsmen, and journalists from participating countries. The purpose is not to provide a broad overview of press regulation, but rather to present shared experiences – both positive and negative – to help inform future decisions concerning press regulation in the UK.

Countries following a voluntary system are discussed at length using the story of Richard Desmond, who in 2011 withdrew several of his newspapers from the UK’s Press Complaints Commission while simultaneously joining the Irish Press Council.

In what has now come to be known as “the Desmond problem,” Fielden hints in her report that Desmond’s withdrawal from the UK regulatory body was motivated by a lack of tangible benefits provided by the commission. Fielden frequently refers to the Desmond case to show that for press councils to be voluntary, an incentive system must be created in order to promote adherence and prolonged membership.

Sweden, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Ireland, and Australia were selected for analysis due to similarities with the UK as far as governmental makeup, size, and breadth of media oversight.  In addition, the report called on specific experiences from Canada, New Zealand, and Norway in order to highlight areas of press freedom in those particular countries.

Drawing on examples from Canada and Germany, Fielden backs a unique system that uses media consumers as bait to encourage outlets to increase their compliance.  Fielden points out that current regulatory systems largely leave readers in the dark, making it difficult for consumers to identify press outlets that are affiliated with credible regulatory commissions.

Fielden suggests media outlets be forced to carry some type of “standards mark” on their front page, in order to indicate their participation in a press council. This type of system, Fielden explains, will allow members to promote their affiliations to customers and distinguish themselves from less compliant outlets. She also recommends strict oversight designed to punish media outlets for failing to adhere to a press council ruling through fines and suspension from regulatory commissions.

Fielden explains that UK press regulators should attempt to align their new system with one that shares similarities with the Irish.  Fielden touts the superiority of the Irish model of press regulation, which legally recognizes publications with clean compliance records thus providing protection from future ligation. Ultimately Fielden feels that ethical incentives will eventually translate to revenue incentives, especially if stigma is attached to papers that fail to appropriately satisfy their regulatory commissions.

The report’s complexity portends that developing a new media regulatory system in the UK will be extremely difficult. Not only are current media regulations becoming outdated, but press councils are also finding it difficult to provide incentives for newspapers to uphold memberships. Ultimately, Fielden suggests that UK press councils transition “towards a model where there are robust incentives to ensure that ethical compliance is viewed as a commercial selling point.”

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.

The question of loyalty

Kurier Wilenski, the newspaper of the Polish community in Lithuania, has gone to extremes, striking nationalistic chords and publishing insulting remarks against Lithuanians. “Lithuania’s ethnical policies are all about the assimilation of the Poles, stripping them off their language, history and cultural heritage,” reads a recent article in the paper, which is traditionally known for its vociferous and belligerent stance against Lithuania.It is estimated that the Polish community in Lithuania represents 6,7 percent of the Lithuanian population. The newspaper’s position even triggered a broader discussion on the “loyalty” that can be expected from a minority publication.

“If you go to Germany or the United Kingdom, you won’t find any local Polish, Lithuanian, Romanian or Bulgarian minorities newspaper instigating readers against their host country,” said Martynas Vilkiunas, a freelance journalist and political analyst. Robert Mickiewicz, the editor of Kurier Wilenski, retorted: “Do our critics expect us to drum according to their tunes or the melody of the state? Isn’t Lithuania a free country with a free press?”

“We are simply reflecting the concerns and burdens of the Polish minority in Lithuania,” he added.

He who pays the piper calls the tune

Back in 2007, the Polish newspaper instigated Lithuanian animosity when it published an article by Krysztof Buchowski entitled “Poles’s views on Lithuanians between the world wars”. The Journalism Ethics Ombudsman ruled in 2008 that Kurier Wilenski had violated the ethics of journalism and breached the law.The immediate financial fallout was severe for the Polish publication: according to the rules, the paper was not eligible in 2008 for funding from the Lithuanian Media, Radio and TV Fund (LMRTF), a state organisation in charge of distributing budget money for educational programmes to newspapers, radio and TV stations.

As it turned out, the ethical violation had far-reaching consequences for Kurier Wilenski, since its quest for funding continued to be declined in the following years, including in 2012. “This is the ultimate price we are paying for the firm stance we take on Polish issues in Lithuania. In others words, it is a state-ordered persecution,” commented Mickiewicz.

For many small newspapers such as Kurier Wilenski, LMRTF funding is a matter of life or death.

Depending on a newspaper’s subscription and circulation figures, funding allocations can range from a mere several thousand litas to substantial five-digit payouts. This year, the LMRTF shared LTL 6,2 million ( EUR 1,8 million) over a hundred media outlets, but no Polish publication or radio in Lithuania received any funding. “Obviously, we are being ignored because of political reasons. Basically, the Fund is saying: beware that he who pays the piper calls the tune. Certainly, we don’t fit in those state-ordered tunes,” said Mickiewicz.

Kurier Wilenski appealed numerous times against unfavourable LMRTF decisions, so far to no avail.

Last year, the Polish newspaper filed a complaint at the European Court of Human Rights, urging it to overturn the Lithuanian court decision which chose to uphold the adverse ruling of the Lithuanian Journalism Ethics Ombudsman.The Strasbourg Court has not announced its verdict yet.

Who should fund minority media outlets?

The topic of the refusal of funding is awkwardly surfacing on the political stage and LMRTH heads are in defense mode. “The speculations of the editor of Kurier Wilenski that the newspaper isn’t receiving funding because of political reasons are absolutely unfounded. The experts we hire to evaluate the projects submitted for funding say that they notice the same thing every year:  Kurier Wilenski’s projects don’t meet the required standards in terms of preparation, thematic depth and outreach. That is the reason why the newspaper’s projects are turned down,” said LMRTH director Mykolas Karciauskas.

Mickiewicz fired back: “Lithuania’s claims that it takes good care of its ethnic minorities go against the facts. On the contrary, when it comes to supporting ethnic minorities media, Poland has been much more supportive,” he said. He noted that Poland, unlike Lithuania, allocates funding to minorities’ media outlets not through a state fund and its “biased” experts, but directly through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“The bottom line is that whoever applies for funding, gets it. Lithuanian language newspaper publishers in Suwalki – harbouring a large Lithuanian community – are well aware of this as they rake up Polish state money every year. Nothing like the LMRTH lottery in Lithuania and the political game surrounding budget money distribution,” the Polish editor stressed.

Petras Maksimavicius, the chairman of the board of Lietuvos namai (Lithuanian Home) that publishes Ausra (Dawn), the biggest publication of the Lithuanian minority in Poland, agreed that the uninterrupted annual financial assistance of the Polish government is “crucial” for his newspaper.

“Besides, we receive funding from the LMRTH too,” the chairman added. Refusing to elaborate on the two states’ differing approach to local minorities’ media organisations, he nevertheless acknowledged “the political factor”: “Ethnic minorities newspapers both in Poland and Lithuania have long gone beyond being keepers of ethnic heritage as they have become very important political tools.”  He also noted that “Kurier Wilenski goes into extremes.”

Dainius Radzevicius, the chairman of the Lithuanian Journalists Union, does not approve the allocation of state money through a government-established fund to minorities’ newspapers. In his opinion, it is hard to avoid raising the suspicion that governments want something back for their money –  loyalty.

“Newspapers have to stand firm on their feet, regardless of their subscription, sale and advertising money. This is the bottom line,” Radzevicius explained.

To alleviate Kurier Wilenski’s heavy financial burdens, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs agreed to grant it EUR 30 000 at the end of 2011.Thanks to the money, the newspaper has hiked its periodicity – from three to five times a week – and ramped up the fringe rhetoric.

Original article appears here at the European Journalism Centre.

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 without the technology.

The first examples of drone usage in journalism began to surface last December when stunning images were captured of demonstrations in Moscow; the BBC was among several news outlets worldwide to use the images in reporting about the event.

In another more recent example from January 2012, an amateur photographer stumbled upon a possible illegal dumping site while shooting images outside of a Dallas slaughterhouse.  After noticing extreme discolorations in a river running adjacent to the slaughterhouse, the cameraman contacted authorities and an investigation ensued, with images from the photographer used in local reports.  While this story fits into the citizen journalism category used by mainstream media outlets, it is an indication of the technology’s versatility.

The Australian news outlet Channel Nine was among the first news channels to utilize drone technology in reports.  The Australian news team recently used drone technology to conduct an investigative piece on an immigrant detention center located on Christmas Island. The group gained access to the building by using a drone to fly over the structure, enabling the team to capture footage despite being refused entrance to the compound.

Justin Gong, a 24-year old Australian businessman, sees the potential of drone journalism and founded Xaircraft, a company specialized in manufacturing drones. Gong, whose father is a retired Chinese Air Force fighter pilot, has worked as a news cameraman and filmmaker and understands the potential of the technology. “I think this stuff is definitely going to change how we do video and photography,” says Gong. Channel Nine, along with many other companies in Australia and China, currently use Gong’s drones for journalistic purposes.

The biggest incentive for drone usage in journalism arrives from the academic world, namely the University of Nebraska’s Drone Journalism Lab. The lab is led by Matt Waite, a journalism professor and designer of PolitiFact, an online fact-checking platform awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2009. The research lab is tasked with combining literature studies and hands-on experimentation using the Parrot Air Drone to uncover practical uses for drones in journalism. The lab ultimately hopes to build their own drones, designed to incorporate the functionality needed to make the technology more newsroom friendly. Waite is convinced that technology gaps in the field will soon be filled and drones will become a permanent fixture in many newsrooms.

Still, some legal and ethical issues have emerged regarding the use of flying drones – with privacy being the most frequently discussed. The possibility of citizens appearing in video shot by drones without their authorization could compromise personal privacy or be seen as surveillance. This aspect of the technology could slow its implementation.

On the bright side, a new law recently passed in the United States has “opened” the sky to privately owned and commercial drones. The law, which sets standards on size and technical limitations, stipulates that flying robots must not weigh more than 2 kg and must not fly higher than 120m.

Surely, this law should help drones improve their journalistic careers, however many observers still point out the possible dark sides of these new rules – chief among them are fears that drones could become a new tool for Big Brother or to transport weapons designed to harm people.

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. The German Perlentaucher is the other outlet with a balanced budget, surviving due to savvy attention to costs a highly diversified business model.

The report also suggests there are two core issues driving the struggle of digital news outlets. One is that the market is dominated by online editions of major traditional newspapers which can rely on pre-established brands and investment capability, and the other is the problem of ad revenue generated by a few major players like Google. It is still very difficult for smaller companies to gain significant income from online advertising in this scenario.

According to Nicola Bruno, research co-author and journalist for Effecinque, “European newspapers should look beyond American models like 2012 Pulitzer Prize winners the Huffington Post or Politico. Those models seem to work pretty well in huge markets like the U.S. but it is not proven that they can be applied in Europe.” He goes further, saying, “Even in France, where an explosion of digital-only newspapers occurred, the majority of digital journalism startups still struggle to survive.”

In order to thrive, the newcomers must avoid direct competition with online editions of mainstream media, trying instead to differentiate like Mediapart did in proposing high-quality investigative journalism. This newspaper has no competitors in the French media landscape.

For the full report, visit Reuters.

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 expression in Turkey.

Most agree that a handful of broadly interpreted laws are to blame for the majority of the convictions, namely Articles five and seven of Turkey’s anti-terror law and Article 314 of Turkey’s criminal code.

Both legal provisions are designed to target individuals who knowingly create or distribute propaganda on behalf of a known terrorist group, and to punish individuals who join or participate in an armed organization with the aim of harming individuals or conspiring against the state.

Mijatović, who recognizes the right of governments to fight terrorism and protect national security and their citizens, is fearful of government intimidation and its effects on Turkey’s budding democracy. “Objective reporting about all issues, including sensitive topics such as terrorism, is a fundamental part of democratic societies and journalists play an indispensable role by providing information to the public.”

Also at issue is the manner in which journalists are jailed. Turkish courts have been known to impose exceptionally long prison terms, with many journalists facing double life sentences. In addition, journalists often face several trials and are regularly convicted for multiple offences.

Turkey dealt with scrutiny over failing to protect press freedom from numerous organizations within Europe without ever formally acknowledging the accusations. Last November the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said that among all 47-member states in the Council of Europe, Turkey had the worst press-freedom record. In addition, the ECHR received almost 9000 complaints against Turkey in 2011 for infringing on the rights of the press, compared with 6,500 in 2009. More recently a Columbia Journalism Review poll placed Turkey in the top 10 of countries jailing the greatest number of journalists per capita, ahead of both Iran and Yemen.

While numerous officials have been named in reports, a New York Times article published in January 2012 took a particularly hard line with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, claiming Erdogan is actively seeking to silence his opponents after a failed attempt by opposition members to ban his party in 2008.

The Times article used reports from government officials and Turkish media members who feared Prime Minister Erdogan was “repressing freedom of the press through a mixture of intimidation, arrests and financial machinations, including the sale in 2008 of a leading newspaper and television station to a company linked to the prime minister’s son-in-law.”

What remains to be seen are the long-term effects of the added publicity from the European Union and foreign media outlets in promoting alterations to Turkish law. Reports of released journalists are few and far between, with the last high profile report coming in early March 2011 when four journalists were released pending their upcoming conspiracy trial.

With government officials denying accusations of press intimidation and downplaying the legitimacy of reports of jailed journalists, mediators will need to tread lightly when convincing officials to modify their anti-terror law interpretations.

International Press Institute’s Freedom Manager Barbara Trionfi said this month, “While we welcome Turkey’s rise on the world stage, we are concerned that press freedom in the country is coming under ever greater threat. Turkey has an extraordinary opportunity to shine as an example of a healthy democracy – but this can only be accomplished if the country respects its citizens’ right to information via a free press.”

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 project involving the editing of a print magazine, they decided to launch their own publication… online.

“With the emergence of digital platforms, the entire printed press industry started wobbling,” Laura says.

When the iPad appeared on the market, she and her colleagues realised that it would be a suitable support for a lifestyle magazine, because it could combine quality content with interactive features.

“In August [2011] we reached Madrid with much uncertainty, but with a lot of hope and enthusiasm,” says Ángel in an emotional tone. He confesses that the magazine is “his creation” and passionately narrates the gestation process of the idea. In the beginning, the group of friends had to rely on family support to fund their project. When they asked for a small bank loan, they were told that they were “too young to take that risk.”

“Free Forever”

Compared to other magazines for iPad, Vis à Vis’ specificity is that it is exclusively edited for this support, with all the possibilities that it offers and the distinctive feature of being free of charge. “Free forever” reads its motto.

“Nowadays, it is very difficult to ask people to pay for something they know they can have for free,” Ángel says. That is why he bet fully for the digital environment from the start. “In addition we had observed over the years that tablet readers’ profiles were moving from executives with high purchasing power to young readers.”

The magazine’s content consists of interviews with prominent figures in the arenas of sports, television, fashion or gastronomy, presented in a personal “vis à vis” (face to face) setting. “We try to create a special atmosphere with each character. Interviews are always done in a kind of ‘petit comité’,” explains Laura.

Vis à Vis runs on a basic concept: all content types must be able to be consumed at different times of the day. “From extensive articles that you can read calmly at home during the weekend, up to short and more visual articles that you can rapidly go through on the bus or on the underground, that’s what Vis à Vis is all about: a magazine that escapes the ephemeral concept of the paper,” Laura adds.

The editorial team relies fundamentally on the power of social networks for its advertising strategy. “Word of mouth worked very fast,” says Ángel. The first issue of the magazine launched on 4 January and recorded about 42,000 downloads. In February the second issue had already reached approximately 38,000 readers within two weeks.

By the time of the third edition, the team has already secured the first advertisements that will finance the project. “Brands are seeing a great advertising potential in the interactivity offered by the iPad,” says Ángel. “They are contacting us directly!”

Reinventing journalism

Thanks to their enthusiasm, Ángel and his colleagues have gradually overcome, step by step, the challenges posed by a society very anchored in the printed press medium. Some people have praised the magazine as a great initiative promoting journalism, while others have shown more scepticism with regards to a long-term development of the project.

Other times though, some people have become so excited with the project that they have offered help of all kinds.

“It is a risky venture to undertake a business in times of crisis. But if you don’t do it, you will never be able to aspire to anything better,” says Laura.

While she and her colleagues do not see that their magazine’s only for iPad design as a restriction, they do not reject the possibility of producing future versions of the magazine for other supports. “We are covering a market in full expansion,” Ángel says.

The figures seem to prove it: Last February Apple registered 25.000 million downloads from its App Store and the recent launch of the iPad 3 or New iPad has beaten records worldwide with more than 3 million sales in the first four day.

In a media world in full change, Vis à Vis relies on two crucial elements for its success: the enthusiasm in reinventing a distribution model and the obstinate belief in the possibility of a new way of doing journalism.

Original article written by Gina Gulberti and published by the European Journalism Centre April 10, 2012.

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 increase transparency and create more opportunities for readers to take a hands-on role in the publishing process. Rozukalne is convinced that receptiveness can be seen as a positive trend, allowing consumers to feel like equal collaborators, but she also understands that marketing plays a role.

“The warmth of [this] relationship is easier to sell. Transparency is the new definition of objectivity: when we know how it works and what methods form the basis of the specific activity, it will be possible to evaluate how fair and responsible the process is,” Rozukalne emphasizes.

Building close cooperation with readers has been the pathway to success for the Latvian weekly women’s magazine Ieva. Summer camps organized by the magazine have helped to promote interactions between the audience and the magazine’s developers – allowing staff to better understand their readers.

Rozulakne also points out that newspapers that collaborate with their consumers are able to obtain vital information. “According to international studies, editorial boards have very little knowledge of their audience in general; they live with presumptions of what society expects from them, in addition to meeting the requirements set by their advertisers, but it has nothing to do with the reality.”

By fostering close relationships with readers, publishers are able to increase their media responsibility and place emphasis on the quality of information and content produced.

Radio in 3D

In Latvia, Radio 101 is considered the leader in terms of approachability.  Not only are their broadcasts delivered from inside a walled glass studio located in the middle of a public square, they also stream content for free via their webpage. “From the very beginning, when the idea of the radio was born, it was pretty clear that it should be located in the middle of the city,” says Zane Peneze, developer of morning programming for Radio 101.

Peneze and colleague Edwards Svans both see transparency as a vehicle for success in radio, a vehicle that has the potential to be implemented across the globe. Nevertheless, they do not see themselves as pioneers, pointing out that there have been other attempts to create open studios in Latvia.  Radio station Rietumu radio was the first followed by Hakizaka, which transmits four live broadcasts a day from a studio in the club Kalku varti featuring contests and viewer participation.

Journalists – “Universal Soldiers”

Daily newspaper Diena (The Day) is one of a few Latvian newspapers to create new channels of communication with readers, thanks to a solid Internet platform providing readers with breaking news, video content, and live broadcasts (currently – the daily video program Dienas rits), creating serious competition for television.  Guntis Bojars, editor-in-chief of publishing house Dienas Mediji, explains, “The media looks for different ways [to increase intimacy with] their readers throughout the world. They should be unique and different. It is the most sensitive and a permanent issue, which is important for all editorial boards.”

Bojars has been called a pioneer in Latvian publishing, namely due to his new weekly magazine PiektDiena (The FriDay).  The e-magazine, available for both iPad and Android OS users, is one of a kind in Latvia and rivals many competitors worldwide. Articles are supplemented by photographs, videos and active links to external resources or social networking profiles. By offering traditional content paired with audio, video, commentary, photos and more, Bojars is offers the ultimate interactive news experience.

The Fear of Losing the Audience

While many assert this is the beginning of the transparency movement, others see current trends as the swan song of open editorial offices. Media and public relations expert Sandra Veinberga is among the researchers who disagrees with her colleagues, claiming that the period of open editorial offices has ended in most Western countries. “Their zenith was in the ^‘90s, when public podiums were made, which allowed people to express themselves for free with the hope of gaining popularity and increasing their audience. Unfortunately the majority of media outlets stopped this practice.”

Veinberga is convinced that such media activities do not develop real feedback. “Being afraid of losing their audience, media outlets begin giving gifts to their listeners by organizing concerts, offering free books and cinema tickets, organizing travel lotteries and other activities.”

New report reveals mounting print revenue losses take a toll on the newspaper industry.

As digital news consumption grows, can salvation really be found in a new business model? A new report released this month by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) paints a bleak picture for the future of the newspaper industry.  The report, titled, “The Search for a New Business Model: An in-depth look at how newspapers are faring trying to build digital revenue” gathered information by interviewing executives from 13 different media companies in addition to surveying 38 newspapers from the United States. 

While many newspapers struggle to recover from staggering print losses, the report suggests some papers find success in augmenting profit loss with digital revenue projects.

Unfortunately time may be running out for many of the newspapers included in the study. Of the 38 newspapers providing data for the report, overall newspaper revenue had fallen by 40 percent in the last decade and print advertising dollars were lost at an average of seven times the rate digital ad revenue was growing.

Authors of the PEJ report attribute these losses to the fact that 92 percent of the advertising revenue generated by the newspapers included in the study still come from print sources.

But not all newspapers are struggling.  Several examples of individual successes can be found in the PEJ report, with most of the newspapers attributing their achievements to business model revisions and an emphasis on digital assets. 

For example, one newspaper included in the report saw significant revenue growth by selling targeted advertising based on individual browsing histories. Another newspaper grew digital revenue by building a consulting business which functioned as a guide in order to help other businesses market themselves digitally.

Newspapers which began transitioning their business models also receive a boost from promising new data pointing to an overall increase in digital news consumption.  National Public Radio now reports that 1 in 4 Americans access news via mobile devices, and marketing research firm comScore reports smart phones have increased news site traffic between 7 to 10 percent this year alone.  

Unfortunately it appears as though many newspapers are dragging their feet in making the decision to transition. For example, PEJ authors found that among the papers providing data for the study, “the number of print-focused sales representatives outnumbered digital-focused reps by about 3-1.”  

One news executive put it best when explaining how a transition to a digital business model is potentially dangerous to a fledging newspaper: “There might be a 90 percent chance you’ll accelerate the decline if you gamble, and a 10% chance you might find the new model. No one is willing to take that chance.”

Media managers confront a new branding dilemma concerning the Twitter “behavior” of their employees.

Many media leaders are now asking whether tweets should be accredited to their publishing houses and if so, how should this be done? In Latvia, one of the largest national publishing houses – Žurnāls Santa – faced a new branding obstacle when developing a common concept for the promotion of magazines on social media platforms.  Žurnāls Santa’s editor-in-chief of homepages, Ilze Olšteina, reveals the key issues that surfaced during the course of development, directed primarily at media marketing and editorial management.

What do we already have?

For starters, regulation of journalists and media employees can be tricky.  If journalists are already active on Twitter, can they be forced under contract to actively promote their employers?  Conversely, if a popular media personality is not tweeting, can a publishing house force him or her to tweet for marketing purposes? 

One option is to tweet using the name of the specific brand, be it a magazine, radio station, or television program.  Another option would be to encourage employees of popular media to tweet on behalf of their employers. For example, an editor-in-chief could tweet about her magazine, or a meteorologist about his news broadcast.

The best option would be to develop a system similar to the one used by Deko editor-in-chief Agnese Kleina. Kliena is thought by many to be the most popular Latvian fashion blogger, with nearly 5000 followers on Twitter.  While the majority of Kleina’s followers focus on tweets generated from her fashion blog, she also tweets about her magazine, thus generating traffic and interest among a new and diverse audience.

The strategy utilized by Deko and Kliena could work for other types of media as well. By modifying the employment agreement and specifying loyalty expectations for employees, publishing houses could protect their content and journalists. Examples of regulations could include a clause stipulating that employees avoid promoting content not produced by their own publishing house.

Should we use the media name?

One popular method to promote print publications on Twitter is to promote specific editions, covers, or issues on or near their release date.  While this again relies on linking directly back to the magazine or newspaper site (thus increasing traffic), the downside is that pay preview features often block direct links to stories.  An answer to this problem would be to create a media website similar to Draugiem.lv or Facebook, with more extensive information in order to provide added value to tweets.

In the meantime, Žurnāls Santa continues moving forward with their innovative Twitter design.  By compiling a large library of digital offerings, the content of all magazines can be purchased both in the printed and digital format; therefore the Twitter messages and their included links let users see if content is worth buying.

Great concept or spontaneous self-activity?

If a media group decides that the publishing house, television or radio station will tweet under its own brand, another question arises; will followers be interested in these tweets? This is doubtful considering most readers have no idea which publishing house publishes the material s/he reads.

In Latvia, the weekly magazine IR managed to adjust the loyalty of their employers in order to align their collective social networking power to benefit their publication. Tweeting under the name IR, the magazine has amassed 10,000 followers, in addition to the private accounts of many of the magazine’s biggest personalities. In order to become a leader in this niche, the journalists and editors of IR have made every effort to understand how their media can be promoted using social networks.

The obvious drawback of investing employee time for Twitter would be low numbers of followers and loss of productivity for the publication. On the other hand if employees foster motivation and an understanding of how to attract attention on Twitter, the activities of successful social networking employees can attract a great deal of attention. However, there should be a couple of conditions set for these motivated employees, for instance, that they do not lead their followers to other media with their messages and do not encourage discussions about the content developed by other media.

Discussions are ongoing at the publishing house Žurnāls Santa, but nevertheless all Twitter accounts tied to the publisher total nearly 18,000 followers. Although the policy of the publishing house is still in development, their momentum is growing.

New report claims women journalists have a long way to go in closing the gender pay gap.

German newspaper Bild was in a giving mood this International Women’s Day. While providing 300 female staffers with the day off, the paper’s male staff members made the decision to drop their 28-year tradition of stocking the front page with scantily clad or nude women. In light of a March report showing that female journalists in the European Union (EU) are paid 17 percent less than their male counterparts, perhaps Bild’s gesture would have been more apt had they simply paid their female journalists more money.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) released the report early this month in order to raise awareness about the increasing pay gap in journalism. IFJ General Secretary Beth Costa says, “The struggle for equality in media remains the reality, [this] report proved that little progress has been made to end [the] gender pay gap.”

The global report, titled “Gender Pay Gap in Journalism” used data collected from nearly 2000 journalists from 16 countries who responded to the Wage Indicator Salary Survey from 2009 to 2011. The Wage Indicator Survey not only polled journalists on their salary amounts but also employee benefits, working hours, job satisfaction, and overall life satisfaction.

Details of the report included grim statistics that pointed to disparities in nearly all aspects of employee compensation, with 14 of the 16 nations included in the study showing that male wages were higher than female wages.

Fortunately the IFJ report is more than a collection of gloomy statistics, with the authors providing strict guidelines to follow in order to promote gender equality. Mindy Ran, chair of the IFJ Gender Council said that the report should be used as a tool, “In order to fight wage inequality – both as a weapon against those who believe the fight for equality has been won, and for policy makers, governments and trade unions to plan further.”

With nearly 40 percent of all working journalists being women, the IFJ went to lengths to show that females are not just paid less but that their benefits are lower as well, leading to increased inequality. Not surprising were the findings that women journalists described less satisfaction with their work than men in the EU and the former Soviet Union.

In Germany, where Bild is published and circulated, the discrepancies between male and female workers in all sectors have become so vast that a public debate erupted. A report published last week by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that Germany has the widest wage gap between male and female workers among all countries in the EU.  The report also pointed out that Germany has far fewer female workers holding management positions in comparison to other developed nations.

With most critics charging shrinking circulation rates and a low female readership as motive behind Bild’s front-page makeover, perhaps the IFJ report will accomplish what Bild’s small gesture failed to do – promote lasting change by collecting support from governments and other prominent decision makers in order to permanently stop this problem.

Source: Gender Pay Gap in Journalism, Wage Indicator Global Report 2012. Central European Labour Studies Institute, Wage Indicator Foundation, International Federation of Journalists, 8 Mar. 2012.