Shaping the Future of the Newspaper Blog - Ownership and Regulations

Tribune forms committee to oversee reorganisation plan

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:13:58 -0600

Lawyers for the publisher told a Delaware bankruptcy judge weeks ago that JPMorgan Chase and distressed-debt specialist Angelo, Gordon & Co. had dropped out a settlement agreement, which would have left them among the company's new owners, Philly.com reported.

UK ad authority expands control to social networks, corporate sites & mobile apps

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 07:36:58 -0600

The UK-based Advertising Standards Authority will be expanding control to corporate websites, social networks and mobile applications from March 2011, the Financial Times reports. The ASA will have the right to ask that paid-for links leading to banned ads be removed and will be able to include ads announcing that certain advertisers are not complying with regulations, according to MediaGuardian.

The new guidelines will permit the ASA to give ads on sites like YouTube and Facebook the same attention as ads on TV, radio or in newspapers. Google is supplying the ASA with £200,000 funds for the extension and the rest will come from the 0.1 percent voluntary levy on paid-for ads, MediaGuardian explained.

Dominican Republic's oldest newspaper changes owner

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:10:48 -0600

A group of Dominican investors have bought the 121-year-old Listin Diario and its radio stations, The Associated Press revealed yesterday.

Although the value of the Aug. 10 transaction was not disclosed, the president of the Central Bank, Héctor Valdez Albizu, said the operation had covered the $51.8 million debt that the media company had with the government, ElMasacre.com reported. The group of investors include media mogul José Luis Corripio and Juan Bautista Vicini Lluberes, whose family owns the sugar giant Vicini Group, ABC.es reminded.

Google and AP: How to make friends and licensing deals

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:54:06 -0600

Yesterday The Associated Press reported that Google and the AP have updated their licensing deal for online content. Specifics of the arrangement were not released to the public, although there are two main factors in the deal: Google will purchase the AP's content for an undisclosed amount, and the two companies will also collaborate to increase the AP's online revenue. The terms of the contact may not be dramatically different from previous licensing contracts, yet the recent announcement marks a shift in more diplomatic relations between the AP and Google.

Originally Google and the AP signed a multi-year licensing contract in 2006, but the conditions of the agreement left the AP decrying that Google was publishing entire articles without sufficiently compensating the newswire. Google retaliated, claiming it was in full adherence to international copyright laws. The negotiations for a suitable contact came to a standstill around the time that the original licensing deal was to expire. From December to February of 2010, Google news did not host any material from the AP. The two companies started collaborating again in February, and the recent announcement of a new contract implies that the rocky relationship between Google and AP is being smoothed over.

For more on this story, visit our sister publication, editorsweblog.org.

Monster completes acquisition of HotJobs

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:33:51 -0600

Global online recruiting site Monster has completed its acquisition of Yahoo!'s HotJobs for $225 million (£145 million), Recruiter reported.

Monster also inked a three-year commercial traffic agreement with Yahoo!. According to the deal, Monster will become Yahoo!'s provider of career content and will pay $20 million to $31 million a year to Yahoo! for the redirected traffic, Boston Herald reported.

U.S. media ask South Africa's president to shelve tribunal

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 14:34:06 -0600

A committee representing U.S. media groups is calling on South African President Jacob Zuma to end legislative proposals they say would "severely restrict" media in the country, Times Live reported yesterday.

"We call on you as the head of state and leader of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) to ensure that such proposals are either amended in line with constitutional safeguards for freedom of the press and access to information, or withdrawn altogether in the interest of preserving the transparency, accountability, and democracy gained after apartheid," the Committee to Protect Journalists wrote. The committee includes The New York Times, NBC News, the Washington Post and others.

Image: blackchristiannews.com

U.S. newspaper group spent $290,000 lobbying in 2Q

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 14:25:37 -0600

In the second quarter, The Newspaper Association of America spent US$290,000 lobbying the federal government on issues such as the future of media, privacy and legislation aimed at making government information public, according to The Associated Press article posted on Business Week.

The amount was up from $250,000 in the previous quarter, as well as $278,000 in the same quarter of 2009, according to a Congressional disclosure form.

Photo: Media Bistro

South Africa debates media controls

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 08:57:53 -0600

The South African government is debating the role of the press and government control over keeping federal information secret after the country's ruling political party, the African National Congress, has backed proposals to tighten controls on the media, Reuters Africa reported yesterday.

The proposed tribunal would control print media in order to "enhance accountability and improve reporting," a senior ruling party official said, the article explained. The Media Appeals Tribunal would investigate complaints against print media, and decide on punishments when it deems irresponsible reporting has taken place, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Image: ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu. Photo via Times Live

Ofcom considers further relaxing media ownership rules

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 13:52:54 -0600

UK communications regulator Ofcom has recommended relaxing cross-media ownership rules so that the only restriction left would be that one body cannot own local newspapers with more than a 50 percent market share, the ITV licence for the area and a local radio station. Now, however, Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport Secretary Jeremy Hunt is asking the regulator to consider further liberalising that rule as well, The Press Association reported today.

Because local media is facing "significant economic pressure," Ofcom has said it will review the rules.

Google, Verizon and the FCC: Why net neutrality matters

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 17:00:15 -0600

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission today called off closed-door talks it was having with lobbyists on network neutrality, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The announcement came a day after news reports broke that an unannounced deal between mobile phone giant Verizon Communications Inc. and Google Inc. on their own network management practices had been made. Under the agreement, Verizon would have been able to prioritize some broadband traffic.

Image: A protester shows support for network neutrality in Canada in 2008.

Rwanda closes 30 media outlets a week before elections

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 10:24:40 -0600

Rwanda's regulatory body has suspended 30 media organisations for not meeting requirements set by the new media law, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) denounced on Monday, Agence France-Presse reported.

"With just a week to go to a presidential election on 9 August, the Rwandan authorities are openly flouting the rules of the democratic game," the organisation stated in a press release. Last week, the Media High Council published a list of 22 newspapers and 19 TV and radio stations that "meet the requirements of the law and therefore [are] legally recognized in Rwanda," the authorities said in a statement, allAfrica.com quoted.

Photo: Umuseso and Umuvugizi are among the banned newspapers

Azerbaijan includes 77 newspapers in its press blacklist

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 12:55:45 -0600

Azerbaijan's Press Council today published its newest list of "racketeer" publications, which includes 77 newspapers and journals that the group says have violated the country's Journalists' Professional Behavior Rules, the Azerbaijan Press Agency reported.

"This list is a tool for public condemnation of the press, which ignore the professional principles, publish materials, affecting the honor and dignity of people, slander, and commit other such illegal actions," the chairman of the Press Council Aflutun Amashov said, Trend News Agency quoted.

Irish newspaper group seeks new owner

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:20:23 -0600

Dunfermline Press Ltd., which publishes more than 30 local newspapers in the UK and Ireland, has put its Irish subsidiary Celtic Media Group up for sale, according to the Sunday Times, The Guardian reported.

The company's fate has been in a limbo since May, when its chief executive and majority shareholder Deirdre Romanes died.

The Westmeath Independent is one of the newspapers on sale

Italian law would fine nearly anyone up to €25,000 for publishing 'incorrect facts"

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:14:30 -0600

The Italian government has extended its provision within the Media and Wiretapping Bill, "obbligo di rettifica", or rectification obligation, a law dating back to 1948 that requires newspapers or anyone "responsible for informative websites" to publish corrections, and passed a new law aimed at restraining online freedom of speech under the Berlusconi leadership, TheInquirer.net reported.

This law requires Italian bloggers, podcasters and users of social networking sites like Facebook to rectify "incorrect facts" published, and post corrections within 48 hours of receipt of complaint. Any failure to abide by the law within the timeline provided would result in the imposition of a fine of up to €25,000 to be paid by the author or publisher.

Image: Italian President Berlusconi

Murdoch puts the Fiji Times up for sale

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 09:31:47 -0600

A month after Fiji's military regime gave News Limited 90 days to sell The Fiji Times to a local or close it, PricewaterhouseCoopers is calling for expressions of interest from parties wanting to acquire the daily, The New Zealand Herald reported today.

"Interested parties must be able to provide evidence of their ability to meet the requirements of the Media Industry Development Decree 2010 and demonstrate financial capacity to make this acquisition," said PWC, which was hired two weeks ago by Rupert Murdoch's company to value the newspaper, The Fiji Times quoted.