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Media trends digest – 2006

UK web ad spend to overtake press (May 31)
From the Financial Times, via Benton: In the UK, the Internet will this year overtake national newspapers to become the third biggest advertising medium. By the end of 2007, Internet advertising will close the gap on regional newspapers, the number two medium, but will still be well short of television, the biggest outlet in the £12bn-a-year media advertising market.
Financial Times home; Story; Benton

Planted stories under scrutiny (May 31)
From the The Independent, via Benton: The Federal Communications Commission is actively investigating dozens of American television stations for broadcasting items produced by the Bush administration and major corporations, and passing them off as normal news. Some of the fake news segments talked up success in the war in Iraq, or promoted the companies' products. Among items provided by the Bush administration to news stations was one in which an Iraqi-American in Kansas City was seen saying "Thank you Bush. Thank you USA" in response to the 2003 fall of Baghdad. The footage was actually produced by the State Department, one of 20 federal agencies that have produced and distributed such items. The controversy over the use of VNRs by television stations first erupted last spring. At the time the FCC issued a public notice warning broadcasters that they were obliged to inform viewers if items were sponsored. The maximum fine for each violation is $32,500.
Independent home; Story

Journos on top (May 31)
Media Alliance Federal Secretary Christopher Warrren writes in his blog: The appointment of the new managing director of the ABC marks a continued march of journalists to the top of media organisations.
With the exception of Fairfax, senior managers in almost every media organisation were once hands-on journalists, from Mark Scott at the ABC to John Hartigan at News Ltd.
There’s no doubt that this has strengthened the understanding at a corporate level of the practical challenges that face journalists and other media workers.
Of course, having been a journalist doesn’t necessarily qualify you for management. There are plenty of experiences of media workers promoted to mahagony row who have failed to adapt to their new roles. And plenty who have assumed that they knew more about how the media works than the journalists and program makers they’ve left behind.
Nor should we forget how recent this trend is. It’s only really been in the past quarter of a century that the people who actually came out of the creative engine room were likely to end up with the top job.
And the current practices of the Fairfax company Mark Scott is leaving indicate that there is no certainty this trend will endure.
Warren’s blog

Making sense our of dollars (May 31)
From the Media Alliance:Freelance writers, photographers, journalists, broadcasters, students and staffers are invited to Making Sense of out of Dollars. This no-nonsense, hands-on guide to money and how to make it work with you will be held on Tuesday, June 6, 8.00pm, SA Writers' Centre - 2nd Floor, 187 Rundle St, Adelaide. Tickets for Alliance members $15, non-members $18. RSVP by June 2 on (08) 8223 6055 or sa@alliance.org.au

With all due respect… (May 26)
Internet newspaper Crikey yesterday decided to have a go at double-speak in journalism, highlighting a few of the more common euphemisms and asking readers to contribute more. The initial offerings included:
"Close personal friend" – lover
"Assisting police with inquiries" – guilty
"Sources close to Michael Kroger" – Michael Kroger
"Colourful character" – a crook
"Flamboyant" – gay
"Tired and emotional" – drunk
"I've decided to spend more time with the kids" – sacked
"The CEO has full support of the board" – about to be sacked
Crikey home page

Australian internet service embarrassing – Packer (May 26)
The head of PBL, James Packer, recently called for a rethink on government policy regarding broadband.
According to a report from Bloomberg: “Australia's position in this area is embarrassing,” Packer, 38, told advertisers and Internet executives at a conference in Sydney today. “We need faster broadband in order to stay competitive with the rest of the world.”
Click to see the full Bloomberg report.
Meanwhile the Communications Minister Senator Helen Coonan flagged an update on the government’s broadband policy, approximately 10 days ago. The details have yet to be defined, but the Minister suggested that the current government funding model will change. Click here to read the text of that speech.

Danish journos face state secret charges (May 26)
The ABC’s Media Report (Radio National) recently covered a story which has international resonance – the charging of two Danish journalists with releasing state secrets. Laws in many nations have altered since the 9/11 attack on New York, with the consequence that there are now greater restrictions on what media can report. Australia is as good an example as any, with its revised sedition laws.
The Danish case is concerns a 2004 report by Michael Bjerre and Jesper Larsen, who published a series of stories in a major Copenhagen daily (Berlingske Tidende) based on intelligence reports that questioned the existence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
Hans-Henrik Holm, who is Professor of International Relations at the Danish School of Journalism, was interviewed by the Media Report and said: “Danish laws governing State secrets were changed after 9/11, and one of the ways they were changed was that it was now possible to charge journalists that were releasing State secrets, and the precursor to the present set of charges was that a government official, somebody working for the intelligence service actually, by the name of Frank Grevil, released a number of documents that revealed something about the extent of the knowledge that the government had prior to the decision to go into Iraq and these documents were all secret and he was charged in the courts, and he was convicted.
“After that conviction, the prosecution decided that they were also going to charge the journalists under this new law, for further disseminating this information that was secret.”
Link to the full report.

Plus…
The same program recently interviewed the ABC’s new Managing Director Mark Scott. See this link.

Net neutrality creates strange bedfellows (May 26)
There is an ongoing debate in the USA which potentially could spill over to Australia, if telecommunications companies get their way. They want to be able to set up tiered charges for internet access – effectively billing publishers/webhosts for access to the super-quick downloads to customers and readers and providing slower service to anyone unable to pay. Here are some of the recent postings on the topic -- you’ll find more at our Benton news page.
What do Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails have in common with the Christian Coalition, Gun Owners of America and Google? They are all working in support of network neutrality. In the past, if Reznor and Christian groups were mentioned in the same sentence in Washington, the topic likely was labelling to warn parents about raunchy lyrics -- and they were on opposite sides of the issue. While all is not entirely forgiven, the battle to ensure net neutrality has created an atmosphere where the lion can lie with the lamb.
Source: Technology Daily
Telephone and cable companies would like to transform our Internet from a medium that allows people to connect to one another, engage in debate, and learn about the world into little more than a portal to sell goods and transmit television programs, films and games. And they’re likely to get their way…
Source: Common Cause
When the telcos argue against network neutrality, one central theme is that without tiered pricing plans, they won't be able to "recoup their investment" in all these great new services they plan to build. The question to ask is, from where will that "recouping" come? The answer can be found in your wallet.
Source: Paul Kapustka's Blog

Is Scott great for ABC? (May 23)
Who is this Mark Scott, that is taking over the ABC? As might be expected, he is getting mixed reviews from various media outlets, some of  whom express reservations about a CV which emphasises management experience over editorial. Here is a selection of  what is being said…
The Australian editorial: Mark Scott is an elegant operator. In little more than a decade he has risen from being a mature-age cub reporter to editorial chief of John Fairfax newspapers, including those tarnished jewels in the company's commercial crown, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. And yesterday, Mr Scott accelerated his rocket-ride to the firmament of media power with his appointment as managing director of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It is an extraordinary achievement. While he has no working experience in TV and radio – or of the ABC's indulgent, incestuous corporate culture – Mr Scott will now run the largest electronic media organisation in the country. Yet only the closest observers of the media have noticed his remorseless rise. Mr Scott supervised no scoops in the newspapers he ran that have memorably changed public life. Rather, he focused on administration – managing his mastheads' decline, as circulation slipped. He has cut costs and run retrenchments. And he did it all without getting into many public brawls with the old guard of Fairfax journalists, who appear to think their papers would be better run as workers' collectives than the businesses they are.
The Age editorial: Previously, Mr Scott had been editorial director of John Fairfax Holdings, owner of The Age. This largely unseen role was the last of several he had fulfilled at Fairfax, including editor-in-chief of metropolitan newspapers. Although he has plenty of experience in the print medium, he has none in broadcasting. This should not be seen as a negative. The managing director's role cuts across many areas and platforms, not least being the ability to defend the corporation's integrity and independence… perhaps the crucial challenge he faces is to withstand whatever political pressures may come to bear on this institution that could impinge on its ability to do its job properly.
Crikey online: What the ABC actually needs is the ability to do what it's supposed to do and what The Australian admits it can do excellently - program making. This isn't a question of the amount of resources. It's a question of allocation of resources.
The men and women who do the actual work at the ABC - the program makers - are demoralised. They see an increasing amount of resources swallowed up by an ever burgeoning administration - an administration that places constraint after constraint on what they can and cannot do and how they can and cannot do it.
We're told today that Scott's office at Fairfax is "crammed with books on management theory". Yeah. Right. And we know how good Fred Hilmer was for Fairfax.
Here's some advice for Scott. Put the books on eBay and use the proceeds to buy a few rounds for the program makers. They'll teach you more than any tome.
Sydney Morning Herald profile: Mr Scott says he did not open the champagne after the ABC's chairman, Donald McDonald, rang him last week to say he had the job. "It was a sobering moment. Like many, many Australians I grew up on the ABC."
Australian editorial; Age editorial; Crikey website; Sydney Morning Herald profile; ABC media release

What does $2.6 million buy? (May 23)
The $2.6 million paid to rescued Tasmanian miners Todd Russell and Brant Webb by the Nine TV network paid off in an audience boost for the night it aired its ‘exclusive’ interview with the men, but it seems unlikely to have a lasting effect.
Sunday night’s show scored 3.037 million viewers at its peak, averaging 2.58 million. To put that in context, the top 10 ratings for 2006, prior to the miners broadcast were:
1. Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony (Nine) 3.561 million
2. Australian Open Men's Tennis Final (Seven) 2.748 million
3. Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony (Nine) 2.736 million
4. Dancing with the Stars final (Seven) 2.665 million
5. The Biggest Loser final (Ten) 2.310 million
6. TV Week Logie Awards (Nine) 2.260 million
7. Desperate Housewives first episode (Seven) 2.246 million
8. Commonwealth Games Opening Countdown (Nine) 2.229 million
9. Australia v South Africa Cricket 20/20 (Nine) 2.179 million
10. Lost first episode (Seven) 2.125 million

Walkley Book Award Opens (May 23)
From the Media Alliance: The 2006 Walkley Award for Best Non-Fiction Book is now open for nominations. It is open to non-fiction titles produced by a journalist or writer, published in the year from August 2005 to September 2006. The 2006 intake deadlines are: First round - Friday, May 26, Second round - Friday, August 25. See www.walkleys.com.

Plus…
A case of mistaken identity at the BBC has brought a smile to audiences across the world. Taxi driver Guy Goma was mistaken by producers for Guy Kewney, a technology expert, scheduled to do a live interview on BBC News 24. While Kewney was astonished to see his apparent on-screen transformation, no one was more shocked than Goma himself. Interview footage available at this link.

Plus…
In yet another attack on the Chinese media, freelance writer Yang Tianshui was sentenced to 12 years prison on Tuesday. The New York Times researcher has been in custody since 2004 accused of posting articles on foreign websites, receiving money from abroad, and helping a would-be opposition party. Full story at this link; Media Alliance link

Fairfax Ed Chief to run ABC (May 22)
Mark Scott, the editorial director of Fairfax, which owns the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, is to become managing director of the ABC. He will replace Russell Balding, who left the post last January.

Microsoft chases gamer eyeballs (May 18)
Microsoft has recently announced the acquisition of Massive, an ad agency which specialises in embedding advertising into online video games, while they are being played.
According to Microsoft: Massive’s solution depicts brands in various forms within the game — on soft-drink cans and pizza boxes, on billboards and posters, and in images on TV screens — where gamers would expect to see them in real life, adding realism to the overall gaming experience.
“Advertisers are having a tough time connecting with the elusive 18- to 34-year-old male demographic because this group continues to spend less time watching TV and more time playing video games,” said Joanne Bradford, corporate vice president of Global Sales and Marketing and chief media revenue officer at Microsoft. “Massive and Microsoft can help lead with our shared vision of delivering more targeted, measurable and effective opportunities for advertisers to reach today’s youth audience in a largely untapped market."
Massive online

$100,000 for Children’s Court breach (May 18)
Channel 7 and the Herald & Weekly Times have been fined $50,000 each for contempt of court after revealing the name of one of the parties in a Children’s Court case in Victoria.
Several journalists/presenters, producers and execs were parties to the action. Channel 7 news chief Peter Meakin is reported as saying his company will appeal the convictions. He also expressed surprise at the outcome after his organisation had sought legal advice before publication.

Bloggers' bite is worse than their bark (May 18)
From the Christian Science Monitor, via Benton: Blogs have developed in the past few years into a cultural force. A study done for Jupiter Research says that blogs have a "disproportionately large influence" on society. The reason? It's not how many people read a blog, it's who reads it. The Jupiter study, which focused on blog use in Europe, found that while "active users" of the Internet make up a small portion of overall Internet users, they were starting to dominate public discussions and even have an impact on people's buying habits. AOL Music, for example, recognizing that blogs can make or break a music artist, is letting bloggers use its music charts and information for free. Using RSS feeds, a music fan's blog can now offer readers the latest music trends and news, helping them (and AOL Music) sell more music. "We're seeing this growing," Julian Smith, an online advertising analyst with Jupiter Research and author of the report, told the Guardian newspaper in London. "The strongest part of their influence is on the media: If something online suddenly becomes a story in the local press, then it matters." Mr. Smith added that while media organizations who follow blogs should not overestimate the power blogs have, it's hard to ignore the impact they have on public discussion.
CS Monitor report; Benton media news

Bono turns red (May 16)
Bono, lead singer of the band U2, edited today’s edition of the British newspaper The Independent, the profits of which went to his preferred charity -- the fight against AIDs in Africa.
The Bright red cover of that edition boldly declared  “No news today”. Then, underneath was the kicker line, "Just 6,500 Africans died today as a result of a preventable, treatable disease".
Several corporate sponsors were signed up to assist the edition, which is being sold for 10 pounds per copy on The Independent’s website.
The Independent online

UN nominates 10 top stories (May 15)
The United Nations has unveiled its annual list of 10 stories it believes the world should hear more about.
According to the organisation’s release: The media and the UN share an interest in getting information about what is happening in our world to the public," says Shashi Tharoor, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information. "But journalists are often inundated with stories, all competing for their -- and the public's -- attention. Our aim is to make it easier for them to see that important issues do not fade from the headlines."
The stories include Liberia’s emergence from war and the challenges faced by asylum-seekers as they attempt to navigate increasing efforts to stem migration flows.
Use this link to see the full list.

Copyright reforms underway (May 14)
The Federal Attorney General, Mr Phhillip Rudddock, has announced a package of reforms to Australian copyright law. “These are commonsense amendments which will maintain Australia’s copyright laws as the best in the world for the benefit of our creators and other copyright owners and for the many Australians who enjoy their creative works,” Mr Ruddock said.
According to the Minister’s office, the changes will, for the first time:
Make it legal for people to tape their favourite TV or radio program and play it at another time;
Legalise ‘format shifting’ of material such as music, newspapers, books – meaning people can put their CD collection onto iPods or MP3 players;
Provide new exceptions allowing schools, universities, libraries and other cultural institutions to use copyright material for non-commercial purposes;
Provide new exceptions for people with disabilities to allow access to copyright materials;
Allow the use of copyright material for parody or satire;
Provide new enforcement measures to combat copyright piracy including on-the-spot fines, proceeds of crime remedies, a change in presumptions in litigation to make it easier to establish copyright piracy.
Research also will be undertaken by the Australian Institute of Criminology on the nature and the extent of piracy and counterfeiting in Australia and how best to respond to the problem.
“Copyright is important and should be respected,” Mr Ruddock said. “That is why the Government is updating our laws to keep pace with technology.”
Follow this link to the AG’s website for full details.

Border Mail to Fairfax (May 4)
The iconic Border Mail, produced for the Albury Wodonga district on the NSW/Vic border, is likely to be sold to Fairfax for $162 million. Rural Press was the next bidder and is said to have offered $120 million.
The newspaper has been owned and run by the Mott family for 103 years. Chairman Mr Robert Mott said “the time was right for the Mott family to move on’’.
“We are in the 21st century with the circumstance that the shareholding in The Border Morning Mail Limited has become quite diverse through many branches of the family and through inheritance,’’ he said.
“We now have 72 shareholders and it is no longer the close-knit family group as it was when my father and my grandfather and grandmother were shareholders.
“As an independent newspaper, we are finding it more difficult to compete in the 21st century without the sort of resources the likes of the Fairfax organisation have available to them.’’
Border Mail

Buried miners worth $2 mill? (May 4)
The Media section of today’s Australian newspaper speculates that inecvitable chequebook battle for the stories of the two buried miners in Tasmanai could reach as high as $2 million.
It reports: "The battle between Channel Seven and Channel Nine means TV alone could be worth $500,000," a media expert says.
"That would include magazines. But then there could be another half-million for international rights and a book, and possibly even some form of endorsement and a movie; $1.75 million to $2 million may not be out of the question."
The Australian home; Media story; Update on the miners

BBC opens up electronic delivery (May 2)
The UK’s BBC is beginning trials on internet-delivered TV, where views can download and watch whole programs several days after they have been broadcast.
The public-funded organisation is also in the throes of digitising and opening up its massive archives for public use.
See this BBC link

Microsoft & Google in arms race (May 2)
From the NY Times via Benton: The rivalry between Microsoft and Google is growing more combative, and with good reason: the outcome is likely to shape the future of competition in computing and the way people use information technology. A measure of how seriously Microsoft takes the challenge came last Thursday when it announced that its spending would rise sharply next year, about $2 billion higher than previous estimates. Much of the extra money, analysts say, is going to meet the threat from companies offering advertising-supported Internet services and software, led by Google. To succeed, Microsoft has to make strong inroads into Internet services and software, where Google is a leader. Microsoft enters that battle from a stronghold: its lucrative, powerful business in personal computer software. Google has asserted that Microsoft's next Web browser typically steers users to Microsoft's search service, limiting consumer choice and potentially hurting Google, the leading Internet search engine.
NY Times home; Story; Benton

Chinese internet activists fight back (May 2)
From Reuters, via Benton: A coalition of Chinese Web activists has launched a petition decrying censorship of the Internet and challenging the legality of government information controls on China's more than 100 million net users. Hundreds of citizens signed the petition along with representatives of 13 local Chinese Web sites recently closed or targeted by censors. It began circulating on Saturday via email and overseas Chinese-language Web sites unaffected by domestic censorship. The signatories said China's constitution grants citizens freedom of expression and publication, and those rights "should be respected and protected, and should not be subject to any unlawful restrictions and obstructions."
Reuters story

Media muzzled – Alliance report (May 1)
The Media Alliance has released an annual report on media freedom.
While it welcomes national uniformity in defamation laws, and the possibility of qualified privilege for journalists unwilling to reveal sources, it says the overall picture is not rosy.
It says: “On balance the last 12 months has seen a continuation of the dramatic decline in press freedom in Australia. Indeed, attacks on the media are becoming less subtle as governments, courts, police, gangs of thugs and large corporations openly contravene rights of free expression to manipulate, hide and block the release of information into the public domain.
“In a serious step back, new sedition clauses were pushed hastily through Parliament as part of the Anti-Terrorism (No 2) Act. This act also restricted coverage of security operations with threat of jail and widened the ability to chase down confidential sources. This year, the parliament expanded wire-tapping powers which, again, place journalists’ sources under threat.”
A PDF version can be downloaded at this link.

Orwellian winners (May 1)
The Media Alliance has announced the winners of its tongue-in-cheek Orwell Award winners for those who tried hardest to deceive the media and the public.
The winners were…
Australia: Australian Wheat Board (AWB) and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) for excellence in deceit, deception and determined distraction which saw nearly $300 million in kickbacks funnelled to Iraq while Australia was preparing to go to war.
International: US Vice President Dick Cheney. The pin up boy for the US National Rifle Association snatched the Gold Orwell from a packed field of contenders with his impressive effort in shooting his friend Harry Whittington, 78.
See this link on the Alliance website.

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