News Corporation chief seemingly tries to break with 2011's annushorribilis by tweeting 'with his own voice, in his own way'
A new year, a new you: even if you're an 80-year-old media magnate, it appears the transformative allure of 1 January can prove irresistible.
Rupert Murdoch, the chairman and CEO of News Corporation – who may have more reason than usual to want to make a break with 2011 – has apparently joined Twitter.
Users of the microblogging site have reacted with a mixture of incredulity and unabashed horror to a declaration by its executive chairman Jack Dorsey that Murdoch had set up a verified account and would be gracing the site with his unique observations. "With his own voice, in his own way, @RupertMurdoch is now on Twitter," wrote Dorsey.
Within hours, the media tycoon had amassed more than 14,000 followers and was giving them his views on everything from the US presidential election to his family holiday in the Caribbean.
A cursory glance at his output reveals that he considers Steve Jobs's biography to be "interesting but unfair", that thoughts are best kept private in St Barths ("like London!"), and that George Clooney deserves an Oscar for his performance in The Descendants (whose distributor is News Corp-owned Fox Searchlight Pictures).
Murdoch's latest tweet, posted late on New Year's Eve and betraying a certain technological unease with punctuation, reads: "Huge NY eve do. Oligarchs and silicon valley biggies(like Jack) . May. Learn something".
The arrival on Twitter of one of society's most divisive figures was welcomed by some, but pilloried by many others. Piers Morgan, former editor of the News of the World, wrote: "Now this is going to be fascinating … welcome to Twitter my old boss @RupertMurdoch."
But the former deputy prime minister John Prescott captured the reaction of many when he made indirect reference to the phone-hacking scandal which saw Murdoch come under huge pressure in 2011. "Welcome to Twitter … @rupertmurdoch," he wrote. "I've left you a Happy New Year message on my voicemail!"
Another tweet suggested Murdoch follow Tom Watson, the Labour MP whose dogged pursuit of the scandal has won him many fans.
Despite a blue and white tick appearing next to the Murdoch account – the sign Twitter uses to show that an account has been "verified" as belonging to the right person – many remained dubious as to its authenticity.
Michael Wolff, a contributing editor of Vanity Fair and biographer of Murdoch, declared the account to be "fake, fake". Another user,@factor50, commented: "It can't be him, because all he should be tweeting is SORRY in every single breath." But Dorsey's tweet seems to prove the doubters wrong.
Friday, 6 January 2012
iPads and Kindles force newspapers further away from print
Economics of the digital world are only too evident to the press as handheld devices strike a death knell for old business models
A million iPads and Kindles may have been unwrapped on Sunday – according to tentative analyst estimates – an influx of portable technology that is expected to hasten a decline in the already faltering sales of printed newspapers, adding pressure on traditional business models that have traditionally supported so many titles around the country.
Publishers, preparing for the handheld arrivals, took the chance to break with a tradition that dates back to 1912, when publishers agreed not to produce Christmas Day papers to give paperboys, among others, a day off. For the first time in its 190-year history the Sunday Times published a digital-only edition on 25 December – with the normally paid for product given away in the hope of luring sought after digital subscribers.
Boxing Day publication, for dailies like the Guardian, has also become a necessity – to ensure digital editions for new Kindle and iPad owners to read. The result is that what was a traditionally quiet period for news has become a critical moment to showcase new work, at a time when an industry already riven by the phone-hacking scandal and under judicial examination, is facing what can be described as an existential crisis.
Fifty years ago two national dailies – the Daily Mirror and the Daily Express – sold more than 4m copies each; today the bestselling Sun sells 2.6m. In the last year alone, printed sales declined by 10% for daily broadsheets and by 5% for daily tabloids – and when the News of the World stopped printing last July 600,000 copy sales simply disappeared.
The knock-on impact of the decline has been a push for digital readers that have seen newspapers like the Daily Mail win 5m unique visitors a day – compared with its printed sale of 2m – but struggle to generate revenues to match. The Mail generated £16m from its website last year, out of £608m overall.
Some specialist titles, such as the Financial Times, are managing the transition well – it has 260,000 digital subscribers – up 40% this year – compared with 337,000 buyers of the printed product, where sales are down by 12%. Digital subscribers generate £180 a year and the paper, priced at £2.50 on the newsstand on a weekday, is profitable.
John Ridding, the managing director, says that 30% of the FT's revenues come from digital sales and that "within two or three years" digital readers and revenues will account for more than those from the printed business. During a typical week the number of people signing on digitally is "five to 10 times" what it was a year earlier, as the newspaper looks to a future beyond print.
Others, though, are under pressure. Local newspapers have been hit particularly hard, with 31 titles closing in the last year. Most of those shutting are freesheets – with titles distibuted in Yeovil, Scarborough and Harlow lost. Historic paid for titles have seen their frequency cut: the Liverpool Daily Post is to go weekly in print in the new year, after sales dropped as low as 6,500. Its website, however, will update in real time. Daily titles in Birmingham and Bath have also gone the same way in recent years – while pre-tax profits at Johnston Press, the owner of the Scotsman and the Yorkshire Post, fell from £131.5m five years ago to £16m last year.
Roger Parry, chair of Johnston Press since 2009, believes the party has been over for several years, since Craigslist and Google began to take classified advertising away from local press.
"I think the future is for local multimedia companies which focus on signing up 50% plus of the households in their area on some form of subscription – that's what happens in Scandinavia," he says. For journalists there will have to be a shift from acting as "print writers to multimedia curators. There will be more content created by local people. The National Union of Journalists will hate this but it is fact of life."
With the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, wanting to license local television stations in 20 cities, that gives local media a new way to reach audiences, although some – such as Witney TV in Oxfordshire – have already made a start with a daily offering of local video news. David Cameron, the local MP, regularly appears, but the site is staffed by volunteers, and its content limited – underlining how tough the digital economics are.
There are commercial pressures in national media too. Although the tabloid media have faced criticism at the Leveson inquiry, not least from the likes of Hugh Grant or Steve Coogan, popular titles remain in fair commercial health. Trinity Mirror's stable of nationals – the Daily and Sunday Mirror, the People, and the Record titles in Scotland – will earn about £70m this year, although they made £86m the year before. The profit margin at the Daily Mail hovers at around 10%.
The challenge for the popular press is retaining printed sales – but the financial pressure is acute elsewhere. Three of the traditional broadsheets – the Independent, the Times and the Guardian – all lose money in a market where five titles compete for 1.3 million print buyers. Their readers are more likely to make the digital transition too, leaving newspapers no option but to embrace new forms of reporting – such as the live blog – and seed content at digital hubs, such as Facebook.
The Guardian may generate £40m in digital revenues from its largely free offerings, but some of that comes from its dating sites. The Times titles have gone for a low price subscription model, which has attracted 111,000 takers, but which generates £11m a year against an editorial budget estimated at £100m.
Some, like Paul Zwillenberg, from Boston Consulting Group, says serious newspapers "will have to cut their cloth because there will be a smaller pool of revenue and profit". But he acknowledges that by pursuing different business models, they may increase their chances of success. The result, though, is that was once an industry of one business model: a printed product sold on the newstand is fracturing into very different types of mainly digital content companies.
A million iPads and Kindles may have been unwrapped on Sunday – according to tentative analyst estimates – an influx of portable technology that is expected to hasten a decline in the already faltering sales of printed newspapers, adding pressure on traditional business models that have traditionally supported so many titles around the country.
Publishers, preparing for the handheld arrivals, took the chance to break with a tradition that dates back to 1912, when publishers agreed not to produce Christmas Day papers to give paperboys, among others, a day off. For the first time in its 190-year history the Sunday Times published a digital-only edition on 25 December – with the normally paid for product given away in the hope of luring sought after digital subscribers.
Boxing Day publication, for dailies like the Guardian, has also become a necessity – to ensure digital editions for new Kindle and iPad owners to read. The result is that what was a traditionally quiet period for news has become a critical moment to showcase new work, at a time when an industry already riven by the phone-hacking scandal and under judicial examination, is facing what can be described as an existential crisis.
Fifty years ago two national dailies – the Daily Mirror and the Daily Express – sold more than 4m copies each; today the bestselling Sun sells 2.6m. In the last year alone, printed sales declined by 10% for daily broadsheets and by 5% for daily tabloids – and when the News of the World stopped printing last July 600,000 copy sales simply disappeared.
The knock-on impact of the decline has been a push for digital readers that have seen newspapers like the Daily Mail win 5m unique visitors a day – compared with its printed sale of 2m – but struggle to generate revenues to match. The Mail generated £16m from its website last year, out of £608m overall.
Some specialist titles, such as the Financial Times, are managing the transition well – it has 260,000 digital subscribers – up 40% this year – compared with 337,000 buyers of the printed product, where sales are down by 12%. Digital subscribers generate £180 a year and the paper, priced at £2.50 on the newsstand on a weekday, is profitable.
John Ridding, the managing director, says that 30% of the FT's revenues come from digital sales and that "within two or three years" digital readers and revenues will account for more than those from the printed business. During a typical week the number of people signing on digitally is "five to 10 times" what it was a year earlier, as the newspaper looks to a future beyond print.
Others, though, are under pressure. Local newspapers have been hit particularly hard, with 31 titles closing in the last year. Most of those shutting are freesheets – with titles distibuted in Yeovil, Scarborough and Harlow lost. Historic paid for titles have seen their frequency cut: the Liverpool Daily Post is to go weekly in print in the new year, after sales dropped as low as 6,500. Its website, however, will update in real time. Daily titles in Birmingham and Bath have also gone the same way in recent years – while pre-tax profits at Johnston Press, the owner of the Scotsman and the Yorkshire Post, fell from £131.5m five years ago to £16m last year.
Roger Parry, chair of Johnston Press since 2009, believes the party has been over for several years, since Craigslist and Google began to take classified advertising away from local press.
"I think the future is for local multimedia companies which focus on signing up 50% plus of the households in their area on some form of subscription – that's what happens in Scandinavia," he says. For journalists there will have to be a shift from acting as "print writers to multimedia curators. There will be more content created by local people. The National Union of Journalists will hate this but it is fact of life."
With the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, wanting to license local television stations in 20 cities, that gives local media a new way to reach audiences, although some – such as Witney TV in Oxfordshire – have already made a start with a daily offering of local video news. David Cameron, the local MP, regularly appears, but the site is staffed by volunteers, and its content limited – underlining how tough the digital economics are.
There are commercial pressures in national media too. Although the tabloid media have faced criticism at the Leveson inquiry, not least from the likes of Hugh Grant or Steve Coogan, popular titles remain in fair commercial health. Trinity Mirror's stable of nationals – the Daily and Sunday Mirror, the People, and the Record titles in Scotland – will earn about £70m this year, although they made £86m the year before. The profit margin at the Daily Mail hovers at around 10%.
The challenge for the popular press is retaining printed sales – but the financial pressure is acute elsewhere. Three of the traditional broadsheets – the Independent, the Times and the Guardian – all lose money in a market where five titles compete for 1.3 million print buyers. Their readers are more likely to make the digital transition too, leaving newspapers no option but to embrace new forms of reporting – such as the live blog – and seed content at digital hubs, such as Facebook.
The Guardian may generate £40m in digital revenues from its largely free offerings, but some of that comes from its dating sites. The Times titles have gone for a low price subscription model, which has attracted 111,000 takers, but which generates £11m a year against an editorial budget estimated at £100m.
Some, like Paul Zwillenberg, from Boston Consulting Group, says serious newspapers "will have to cut their cloth because there will be a smaller pool of revenue and profit". But he acknowledges that by pursuing different business models, they may increase their chances of success. The result, though, is that was once an industry of one business model: a printed product sold on the newstand is fracturing into very different types of mainly digital content companies.
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
James Murdoch
BBC News
James Murdoch 'knows nothing'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15677171
James Murdoch's reputation took a "further battering" as he was questioned by MPs about whether he knew about the phone hacking
If there was evidence that James Murdoch was aware of the phone hacking, it would end his career
Three former News International employees say that he knew about the phone hacking
Later this month, shareholders of BSkyB will vote on whether or not James Murdoch should stay as chairman, but BSkyB don't believe that there will be a rebellion to that extent
The Guardian
James Murdoch claims truth about phone-hacking was hidden from him
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/nov/10/james-murdoch-phone-hacking-myler-crone?CMP=EMCMEDEML665
War of words erupts as two ex-News of the World executives refuse to take the blame
A two and a half hour session saw James Murdoch fighting for his reputation
He didn't rule out the possibility of The Sun closing if more evidence of phone hacking emerged
The Sun
Murdoch: I didn't see hacking email
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/politics/3928507/Murdoch-I-didnt-see-hacking-email.html
James Murdoch insisted "I behaved reasonably, given the information I had"
"It is not something that I would condone, it is not something I had knowledge of, and it is not something I thing that has a place in the way we operate"
James Murdoch 'knows nothing'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15677171
James Murdoch's reputation took a "further battering" as he was questioned by MPs about whether he knew about the phone hacking
If there was evidence that James Murdoch was aware of the phone hacking, it would end his career
Three former News International employees say that he knew about the phone hacking
Later this month, shareholders of BSkyB will vote on whether or not James Murdoch should stay as chairman, but BSkyB don't believe that there will be a rebellion to that extent
The Guardian
James Murdoch claims truth about phone-hacking was hidden from him
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/nov/10/james-murdoch-phone-hacking-myler-crone?CMP=EMCMEDEML665
War of words erupts as two ex-News of the World executives refuse to take the blame
A two and a half hour session saw James Murdoch fighting for his reputation
He didn't rule out the possibility of The Sun closing if more evidence of phone hacking emerged
The Sun
Murdoch: I didn't see hacking email
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/politics/3928507/Murdoch-I-didnt-see-hacking-email.html
James Murdoch insisted "I behaved reasonably, given the information I had"
"It is not something that I would condone, it is not something I had knowledge of, and it is not something I thing that has a place in the way we operate"
Friday, 11 November 2011
Newspapers
Newspapers: In Decline
“It is becoming increasingly difficult for paper-based news forms to compete with the
rise in e-media news services”
“Over the last decade, the UK’s daily newspapers have lost some 2.25 million readers”
“In the last 10 years, advertising revenues have fallen by about 20%”
Circulation has fallen due to new and digital media forms, so the revenue of paper sales has fallen. Less circulation means that advertisers are not willing to pay as much, so advertising revenues have also fallen, meaning that newspapers are struggling to make profit.
Why is the newspaper industry in crisis?
Ignoring signs of change
Dismissing unconventional competitors
Experimenting too narrowly
Giving up on promising experiments too quickly
Embarking on a ‘crash course’
As newspaper institutions did not adapt quickly enough to the rise of new and digital media, they are now in crisis. They were too slow to try new things.
Should news be free?
“Expansion of state-sponsored journalism is a threat to the plurality and independence of
news provision” – James Murdoch
“It is essential for the future of independent digital journalism that a fair price can be charged for news to people who value it” – James Murdoch
News on the web provided by the BBC makes it “incredibly difficult” for private news organisations to ask people to pay for their news.
As the BBC is a public service broadcaster, it can offer news for free as it does not need to make profit. However, other news institutions are profit driven so need to find a way for people to be willing to pay for news.
The democratisation of news?
“The internet has given readers much more power” – Rupert Murdoch
“The world is changing and newspapers have to adapt to that” – Rupert Murdoch
“Most compelling pictures come from eyewitnesses, and not from journalists” – Chris Cramer
“Passive audiences are gone forever. Today, media owners need to embrace the ‘digital conversations’ with their news, activist, audiences” – Chris Cramer
Advances in technology mean that audiences offer news to news institutions for them to be
able to make a story
News institutions
have to recognise the validity of eye-witnesses
The role of a professional journalist has changed as rather than finding and researching news stories, they now just check the content of a citizen journalist
Audience power?
Through social media such as Twitter, audiences now have increasing power.
“It is becoming increasingly difficult for paper-based news forms to compete with the
rise in e-media news services”
“Over the last decade, the UK’s daily newspapers have lost some 2.25 million readers”
“In the last 10 years, advertising revenues have fallen by about 20%”
Circulation has fallen due to new and digital media forms, so the revenue of paper sales has fallen. Less circulation means that advertisers are not willing to pay as much, so advertising revenues have also fallen, meaning that newspapers are struggling to make profit.
Why is the newspaper industry in crisis?
Ignoring signs of change
Dismissing unconventional competitors
Experimenting too narrowly
Giving up on promising experiments too quickly
Embarking on a ‘crash course’
As newspaper institutions did not adapt quickly enough to the rise of new and digital media, they are now in crisis. They were too slow to try new things.
Should news be free?
“Expansion of state-sponsored journalism is a threat to the plurality and independence of
news provision” – James Murdoch
“It is essential for the future of independent digital journalism that a fair price can be charged for news to people who value it” – James Murdoch
News on the web provided by the BBC makes it “incredibly difficult” for private news organisations to ask people to pay for their news.
As the BBC is a public service broadcaster, it can offer news for free as it does not need to make profit. However, other news institutions are profit driven so need to find a way for people to be willing to pay for news.
The democratisation of news?
“The internet has given readers much more power” – Rupert Murdoch
“The world is changing and newspapers have to adapt to that” – Rupert Murdoch
“Most compelling pictures come from eyewitnesses, and not from journalists” – Chris Cramer
“Passive audiences are gone forever. Today, media owners need to embrace the ‘digital conversations’ with their news, activist, audiences” – Chris Cramer
Advances in technology mean that audiences offer news to news institutions for them to be
able to make a story
News institutions
have to recognise the validity of eye-witnesses
The role of a professional journalist has changed as rather than finding and researching news stories, they now just check the content of a citizen journalist
Audience power?
Through social media such as Twitter, audiences now have increasing power.
Friday, 21 October 2011
Citizen Journalism
Ian Tomlinson
When Ian Tomlinson died, it was a video filmed by a member of the public that showed that he was hurt by a police officer. The video is different from professional journalism as it was filmed on a video phone so it is of poor quality. Without citizen journalism, the reason for the heart attack which caused his death would have never been known.
Arab Spring
Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter helped citizens of Arab countries to organise protests as they could spread information quickly and to large groups of people at one time. Social networking offers freedom of speech, whereas it is less likely for a professional journalist to publicise things that would go against their government, such as the protests. The Arab Spring has meant that many countries that have been under dictatorship have been able to start a revolution as social networking has given them the power to overthrow these dictators.
When Ian Tomlinson died, it was a video filmed by a member of the public that showed that he was hurt by a police officer. The video is different from professional journalism as it was filmed on a video phone so it is of poor quality. Without citizen journalism, the reason for the heart attack which caused his death would have never been known.
Arab Spring
Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter helped citizens of Arab countries to organise protests as they could spread information quickly and to large groups of people at one time. Social networking offers freedom of speech, whereas it is less likely for a professional journalist to publicise things that would go against their government, such as the protests. The Arab Spring has meant that many countries that have been under dictatorship have been able to start a revolution as social networking has given them the power to overthrow these dictators.
Wednesday, 19 October 2011
The Rise and Rise of UGC
1. Citizen journalists are members of the public who create their own news. This could be by posting articles online through UGC such as blogs, but it also involves any footage that has been created. Citizen journalists often film big events and send the footage into news institutions.
2. One of the first examples of citizen journalism was in 1991 when Rodney King was beaten by the police, and a member of the public filmed it. The footage was shown on news channels around the world.
3. News organisations now allow audience participation through voting (phone and online), surveys, questioning people in the street, online forums.
4. The main difference between professionally shot footage and UGC is that professionally shot footage is of a better quality as the professionals were prepared as they were expecting to be filming, but UGC is filmed on the spot and would be of a poorer quality as people are trying to get in on the action and whatever is happening may have been unexpected. Also, professionally shot footage is filmed on expensive camera equipment, where UGC is usually filmed on video phones.
5. A gatekeeper is someone who controls what is and isn’t going to be published depending on the popularity of the story.
6. Gatekeeping roles have changed because it is harder to control the news that people hear about due to citizen journalism. Gatekeepers now have to try to regulate the internet.
7. The primary concern of journalists over UGC is that citizen journalists are taking their jobs so there is no longer as much need for professional journalists. Audiences often trust citizen journalism more than media institutions as citizen journalism has no bias or gatekeeping.
2. One of the first examples of citizen journalism was in 1991 when Rodney King was beaten by the police, and a member of the public filmed it. The footage was shown on news channels around the world.
3. News organisations now allow audience participation through voting (phone and online), surveys, questioning people in the street, online forums.
4. The main difference between professionally shot footage and UGC is that professionally shot footage is of a better quality as the professionals were prepared as they were expecting to be filming, but UGC is filmed on the spot and would be of a poorer quality as people are trying to get in on the action and whatever is happening may have been unexpected. Also, professionally shot footage is filmed on expensive camera equipment, where UGC is usually filmed on video phones.
5. A gatekeeper is someone who controls what is and isn’t going to be published depending on the popularity of the story.
6. Gatekeeping roles have changed because it is harder to control the news that people hear about due to citizen journalism. Gatekeepers now have to try to regulate the internet.
7. The primary concern of journalists over UGC is that citizen journalists are taking their jobs so there is no longer as much need for professional journalists. Audiences often trust citizen journalism more than media institutions as citizen journalism has no bias or gatekeeping.
Friday, 30 September 2011
Wikipedia
Wikipedia was launched by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger
The owners of Wikipedia don't own any traditional media businesses
I don't think the owners of Wikipedia own any other internet companies
Wikipedia is a non-profit organisation, so they make no revenue
Three key facts about Wikipedia:
The owners of Wikipedia don't own any traditional media businesses
I don't think the owners of Wikipedia own any other internet companies
Wikipedia is a non-profit organisation, so they make no revenue
Three key facts about Wikipedia:
- Registered users can write articles
- Over 270 languages
- Articles about recent events appear quickly on Wikipedia, so some people consider it to be like a news resource
Linked articles - Democratisation of knowledge and User-generated content
Democratisation of knowledge:
- Spread of knowledge among everyone, not just the elite
- The printing press and industrial revolution
- 400 million viewers worldwide
- Google Book Search
User-generated content:
- 'Conversational media' encourages people to publish their own content
- Citizen journalism is now a significant part of broadcast news
Quote from Larry Sanger, co-founder of Wikipedia - "Professionals are no longer needed for the bare purpose of mass distribution of information and the shaping of opinion"
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