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Media trends digest – 2006

Court order stumbles over web (June 29)
The ongoing management troubles at the Nine TV network have resulted in an intriguing legal puzzle for media watchers. As the result of a dispute with one of its ex-staff, Channel Nine successfully sought a Supreme Court of NSW order quashing publication in that state of an affidavit containing highly embarrassing reports of internal conversations.
The order came after website Crikey.com.au had already emailed much of the content to several thousand subscribers, forcing it to send a subsequent email saying: “This evening lawyers acting for Publishing and Broadcasting Limited have obtained orders from The Supreme Court of NSW that we send you the following message. Crikey was unrepresented in court and at this stage we’re unsure of the legal reasoning behind this, but there’s another court hearing at noon tomorrow and hopefully by then all will become clear. We’ll keep you posted and in the meantime have a good night and enjoy The World Cup… on SBS.
‘The Supreme Court of NSW has ordered that until further order there be no publication or dissemination of any part of the contents of the affidavit of Mark Llewellyn sworn and filed on 23 June 2006 or any document referring to or recording the substance or effect of any part of affidavit.’”
It was a stunning case of shutting the gate after the horse had bolted.
Crikey removed the material from its website but of course could not recall the emails, which were inevitably passed on by subscribers.
Today The Australian newspaper has run with the material in all states except NSW, which has received a different version of the publication. It is in the peculiar position of being able to publish the details in its majority print version, but not on the web.
Legal commentators have also questioned whether the injunction was given too quickly and freely, without sufficient consideration of the public interest.

July 1 note: The Nine Network has since withdrawn its request for protection via an injunction, effectivelty making the affidavit -- the content of which it hotly disputes -- public.

Murdoch named most influential Australian (June 28)
The Bulletin magazine has nominated media proprietor Rupert Murdoch as the most influential Australian ever, despite the fact his News Ltd is a rival to the magazine’s own company – PBL.
Outgoing Bulletin Editor in Chief Gary Linnell wrote: “The last will and testament of Sir Keith Murdoch made it abundantly clear. He knew no other way. ‘I desire that my said son Keith Rupert Murdoch should have the great opportunity of spending a youthful, altruistic and full life in newspaper and broadcasting activities and of ultimately occupying a position of high responsibilities in that field.’
“…No matter your opinion of the man – his potent mix of ruthlessness and ambition has never inspired a high level of public affection – his rise has been achieved by shrugging off the straitjacket of corporatism and the advice of consultants, preferring gut instinct and unashamed pragmatism.
A solo act in an era of committees in suits, his skills of persuasion are legendary. Few leave his office holding the opinion they entered with. Here we see the genes at work. His father understood the art of manipulation (he virtually ran Billy Hughes during World War I) but the son has come closer to perfecting it. Perhaps other genes go back further, for there are also glimpses of Napoleon in Rupert Murdoch when it comes to the thrill of the chase, the bluff and feint of negotiation, the capture of the deal and the conquering of the perceived foe. It has never solely been about the accumulation of wealth – in the early ’90s, a debt-stricken Murdoch understood what it was like to stand on the precipice and no longer be able to see forever. Once again, however, he relied on gut and chance, even if he had to swallow the bitter advice and ultimatums of the suits.”
The magazine also nominated its founding Editor, JF Archibald, prominently in a list of 100 most influential Australians. It says: “The Bulletin, which he co-founded in 1880 as an organ of revolt’, is widely credited with creating the sense of Australian identity that made Federation possible. It reached the peak of its style, seriousness, popularity and influence under his editorship from 1886 to 1903.”
From The Bulletin: Murdoch; Archibald.

Guardian offers 15-minute net paper (June 27)
The Guardian newspaper in the UK is launching a new service providing readers with a rapid overview of news that will be updated every 15 minutes.
G24 will be a free service featuring news content from the Guardian Unlimited website across five areas: general news, international, economics, sport and media.
Users will be able to log on to Guardian Unlimited and download an eight to 12-page A4 pdf document, which can then be printed off. They can select any of the five news streams.
The Guardian hopes the service will to appeal to lunchtime and evening commuters wanting a live print-based update of the day's events.
G24 will be launched later in the summer with telecoms giant BT as the launch sponsor.
Full story

Elusive teens chased by BBC (June 26)
From the Guardian in the UK: When BBC director general Mark Thompson announced last month that the corporation would launch a new "teen strategy" for young viewers, it was criticised as yet another land grab by the country's publicly funded broadcaster…At the moment, 60 per cent of 16 to 24 year olds watch less than three hours of BBC television a week, and their younger siblings are following in their footsteps. Online entertainment and communication services such as MSN, MySpace, Bebo, YouTube and Flickr, as well as iPods, podcasts and mobile phones, mean young teens do not regard the BBC as a must-use media destination - as last week's axing of Top of the Pops confirms. And while younger children have been well catered for with Cbeebies and CBBC, the corporation believes it has neglected 12 to 16 year olds. The BBC is in danger of losing touch with tomorrow's licence fee-payers.
Guardian story

Media shake-up to halt (June 23)
There is wide speculation that Communications Minister Senator Helen Coonan will be forced to put her planned reformation of media ownership laws on ice, probably until the current analogue TV signal is due to be switched off in 2012.
There has been a split within the industry over the desired outcome and, to make things worse politically, within the coalition government. The National Party has been making noises that it may object to the relaxation of ownership restrictions.
Prime Minister John Howard made it clear right from the start of the discussion that he was not prepared to invest any political capital in this issue which, given the dissent within the coalition, is likely to be the final decider.
Further reading:
The Age newspaper business section commentary;
Federal Government Meeting the Digital Challenge discussion paper & index of submissions.

ACCC concerned over regulation (June 21)
From the Adelaide Advertiser: Relaxation of media ownership laws would raise more concerns about competition in the bush than in big cities, Australia's competition watchdog said today. See this link

New phone media struggles in USA (June 21)
From the Wall Street Journal, via Benton: Setting the stage for another round of losses in the volatile telecom sector, a wave of cellphone start-ups that were counting on TV, music and other premium services to attract users is floundering. Among the companies struggling to sign up customers: Mobile ESPN, a venture backed by Walt Disney Co, and Amp'd Mobile, a youth-oriented wireless start-up backed in part by Viacom Inc. and Vivendi SA. The companies are among about 30 wireless operators and hundreds of related wireless-technology companies that have been launched over the past four years. They hope to carve out a profitable niche in the mobile-phone business with networks leased from the nation's major phone carriers and new services pushed by heavy marketing. Not since the late 1990s has the telecom sector seen such a wave of investment. In the past 16 months, start-up cellular carriers have raised at least $1 billion, according to San Francisco investment bank Rutberg & Co, compared with just $100 million in the three years from 2002 to 2004. But many of the new carriers are struggling as they fight over a relatively thin slice of the market. While the number of U.S. cellphone users has doubled over the past six years to 215 million, only around 1% of them regularly use cellphones to watch videos, for example. Cellphones also are facing competition from iPods, Blackberries and other multimedia devices.
Wall Street Journal; Benton media news

Guardian goes web first (June 15)
England’s The Guardian newspaper last Monday announced it would begin giving its website first run at news, instead of the printed paper, on a regular basis. The announcement was hastily followed by a similar one from The Times.
This is an admission of a significant shift in thinking by print publishers as they struggle with the changing shapes of  their businesses.
The Guardian wrote: “We have come to one of those forks in the road that affect the direction of the entire newspaper industry. From tomorrow, the Guardian will publish stories first to the web, ending the primacy of the printed newspaper…
“For a newspaper to say that the website comes first is a big, big step. Ever since the second coming of the internet -- the first coming ended around 2001, to the delight of all those newspaper executives who didn't like the look of it -- there has been a given in newspaper offices: we will take the internet seriously, but we must not let it get in the way of our primary business, which is publishing a paper each night…
“The symbolism of making website publication the primary purpose is hugely important. It immediately raises a fascinating question about readers. Are they the 360,000 people who buy the paper or the 13.3 million unique users who see it free on the internet? Has a reader more right to insult a writer on the Comment is Free website when he has paid 70p for the paper or clicked on the website for nothing? It raises too the biggest internet question of them all, which is how to make money -- enough money to fund proper journalism -- out of that online readership. That last is the question that taxes all managements.”
Full story

Flexible e-paper back on the agenda (June 14)
Reuters reports that e-papers are very much back in the minds of publishers: The newspapers of the future -- cheap digital screens that can be rolled up and stuffed into a back pocket -- have been just around the corner for the last three decades.
But as early as this year, the future may finally arrive. Some of the world's top newspapers publishers are planning to introduce a form of electronic newspaper that will allow users to download entire editions from the Web on to reflective digital screens said to be easier on the eyes than light-emitting laptop or cellphone displays.
Flexible versions of these readers nay be available as early as 2007.
Full story

Product placement – coming to a book near you (June 13)
From the New York Times, via Benton: By now, television and movie viewers have become used to product placements: when they see sneakers or cars on a show or in a film, they generally assume that these appearances have been paid for by the companies that make the brands. But product placement in books is still relatively rare. The use of even the subtlest of sales pitches, particularly in a book aimed at adolescents, could raise questions about the vulnerability of the readers.
New York Times home; Story; Benton

Precarious employment threatens quality – IFJ (June 13)
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has released a research report entitled The Changing Nature of Work: A global survey and case study of atypical work in the media industry, which surveyed 41 journalist member organisations across 38 countries, and which raises fresh concerns over the effect on media quality as the work of journalists is changing.
IFJ General Secretary Aidan White, launching the report at the 95th International Labour Organisation Conference in Geneva, said that atypical workers — freelancers, casuals, short-term workers on rolling contracts and temporary workers — make up around 30 per cent of the membership of IFJ affiliates and this rising trend was setting new challenges in the battle to maintain high-quality journalism.
“The relationship between journalists and work is particularly important given the relationship between media and democracy,” he said. “If journalists’ employment is precarious and threatened, it is harder for them to resist pressure to shape stories to satisfy governments or commercial interests, it harder for them to carry out investigative journalism and harder to challenge management’s editorial line.”
Source: IFJ website

Media ownership changes by 2007 – Coonan (June 9)
In an interview with The Australian newspaper, Communications Minister Helen Coonan said she wanted sweeping changes to media ownership laws introduced next year, far earlier than industry expectations. And she confidently predicted the Prime Minister would back the major elements of her proposals, to be put to cabinet within weeks.
Full story

Mobile TV a revenue bonanza? (June 9)
The Media section in The Australian newspaper yesterday reported the federal government may be planning to auction off bandwidth suitable for mobile digital TV.
The article says, “It is believed one key decision is to apply different licensing protocols for spectrum to be released for new digital services, previously known as datacasting. It is understood she favours auctioning spectrum to be used for new mobile TV services - called 'snack TV' -- in a move likely to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for the government.”
Mobile television has been under trial in Australia since last year, and was used as a highlight for the Melbourne Commonwealth Games earlier this year.  Technology magazine CNet reported during the games, “When the signal did work, however, the video was impressive: quite smooth and very watchable, it well demonstrated the potential appeal of DVB-H for bringing live video to handhelds. Broadcasts of game venues were sharp and detailed given the screen size; on a sample channel with a live feed of the colourful beach boxes and Brighton Beach, the detail of small waves was clearly visible.”
Australian article; CNet report

Microsoft weighs in to net neutrality debate (June 9)
From Broadcasting & Cable, via Benton: On Monday, Microsoft sent a letter to House members advising them to vote for a network neutrality amendment to the national video franchise bill, saying that decision "could dictate whether or not the United States will continue to lead the world in Internet-related technologies, communications, content and services over the next decade." Meanwhile, academics, led by David Farber, former chief technologist at the FCC and dubbed "grandfather" of the Internet by net neutrality opponents, argued that neutrality is not a plus in all cases, citing traffic management, where prioritizing is important: i.e. moving VoIP faster than e-mail, or blocking viruses and spam. They also argued that, if companies can't charge more for security and speed, they might not be able to provide key services that depend on those additional features.
Source: Broadcasting & Cable; Benton

Shake-up for 9 (June 7)
The inevitable shake-up of Channel 9’s staffing is underway, with Bulletin magazine Editor Garry Linnell taking over the network’s news and current affairs. Overall the TV operation, which was recently taken over by football and quiz show host Eddie McGuire, is expected to make 100 positions redundant, with news and current affairs in Sydney expected to lose 80 positions.
More: Eddie's axe hangs over Nine's stars – The Australian

$310,000 for reporter's deception (June 7)
A variation of the classic foot-in-door interview technique has landed Channel 9 reporter Ben Fordham and his network with a monster bill.
Fordham and a research assistant were accused of pretending to be a couple interested in buying a home, in an effort to do a 2002 story on builder Fred Cox for A Current Affair. The researcher carried a hidden camera in her handbag.
Cox successfully sued --- the station and reporter have been ordered by the NSW Supreme Court to pay $310,000 (plus legal costs), consisting of $230,000 for trespassing and $80,000 for false and misleading conduct.

Newspaper Circulation & Advertising Increase -- WAN (June 6)
Newspaper circulations world-wide rose slightly in 2005 while newspaper advertising revenues showed the largest increase in four years, the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) has announced.
WAN said global newspaper sales were up 0.56 per cent over the year, and had increased 6 per cent over the past five years. Much of the sales growth last year was again in Asia.
When free dailies are added to the paid newspaper circulation, global circulation increased 1.21 per cent last year, and 7.8 per cent over the past five years. Free dailies now account for 6 per cent of all global newspaper circulation and 17 per cent in Europe alone.
Advertising revenues in paid dailies were up 5.7 per cent last year from a year earlier, and up 11.7 per cent over five years, WAN said. No figures were available for free daily advertising revenues. (Click for the full story)

Yahoo & eBay get married (June 6)
From the Online Publishers Association (OPA): Better late than never, Yahoo and eBay made an extensive marketing and advertising alliance -- a deal that had been rumored or expected for years. Yahoo will become the exclusive provider of paid search and display ads on eBay, while eBay's PayPal mechanism will become the exclusive third-party provider for Yahoo Wallet.
"It's not earth-shattering, but this could be a first step," analyst Philip Remek told IDG. "I think there will be ongoing collaboration in their research and development." Despite merger rumors surrounding eBay and Microsoft or Yahoo, Smart Money's Nicole Ridgway points out that such mergers were impossible because of Google.
"A marriage to Yahoo or Microsoft could alienate eBay from Google -- something eBay unfortunately can't afford to do right now," Ridgway wrote.
"Google may be stepping all over eBay's toes with its Google Base classified listings and yet-to-be-unveiled electronic payment service, but eBay relies heavily on Google to advertise its auction listings."
Red Herring reported that while Yahoo and eBay were making peace in the US, competition between the two companies was still fierce in China, where Alibaba (of which Yahoo owns a huge stake) leads the market in auctions, and has its own payment system called AliPay. Meanwhile, Yahoo also made hay with the revamp of Yahoo Video, letting users pick among "channels" for video and upload their own video a la YouTube, Google Video and the plethora of other user-generated video services. Paid Content does the tongue-in-cheek headline: Yahoo Launches Video Sharing; Becomes Like 50 Other Sites. Yahoo will try to use an editorial layer for user-submitted videos, especially those featured on Yahoo Video's front page, and plans to include pre-roll video ads.
IT World story; Red Herring story; OPA

Plus…
Talk about living life under a media microscope. When Google unveiled its video ad service for AdSense, you would have thought it had produced a peace plan for Iran by all the analysis it birthed. Google will let advertisers upload video ads up to two minutes long, allowing them to target the ad and pay for it on a pay-per-click or CPM basis. News.com took a balanced view of the new offering, saying the dearth of video ad inventory could play in its favor, though Google is inexperienced in the video arena vs someone like Yahoo.
TechCrunch's Michael Arrington came out swinging against Google, saying the company wasn't willing to "eat its own dog food" by not serving the video ads on its own site. Arrington questioned whether people would click on video ads. But MarketWatch's Bambi Francisco predicted the service would be popular with advertisers and publishers despite its early flaws.
Other than the brouhaha over its video ad service, the news on Google was otherwise underwhelming. On an analyst and press conference call, Google leaders admitted that its push into selling print ads was one of the company's biggest disappointments in the past six months, according to MediaPost.
The search kingpin also shot down rumors that it was developing a web browser, and pointed out the success of Google Maps and Google Earth. The LA Times' Chris Gaither reported that Google is all about helping people find information on the Internet -- as long as it's not about Google's inner workings.
"Google's unwillingness to disclose little more than the legally required basics of how it does what it does -- and where it's headed -- has left advertisers puzzled, partners confused, competitors nervous and investors frustrated," Gaither wrote.
News story; Market Watch story (News.com)

USA newspapers go for web make-over (June 6)
Also from OPA: For newspaper publishers, there is a new reality: Interactive ventures are no longer a side dish, but are becoming part of the main meal. Many newspapers such as the New York Times have decided to merge their online and print operations. And now Tribune Co is taking even bolder steps to reinvigorate its newspaper business, announcing a buyback plan for 25 per cent of its outstanding stock and a sale of non-core assets. The company says its revenue growth will be primarily driven by interactive, and will "expand existing interactive businesses and invest in building national interactive networks," according to a press release. Tribune will increase its 33 per cent stake in CareerBuilder.com, and likely has an opportunity to increase stakes in online operations it formerly shared with Knight Ridder (now owned by McClatchy). Also making plans for a digital makeover is L Gordon Crovitz, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal, who expects "Journal 3.0" to launch in January. Crovitz told AdAge the newspaper will have conducted up to 80 focus groups on a new smaller-format design that will take into account readers' new digital reading habits. The paper will likely focus more attention on analysis and themed reports and less on just-the-facts reports in print. "Navigation and being able to benefit from content in context are very much themes of the digital age," Crovitz told AdAge. "There is a great opportunity for the newspaper to help us overcome information overload by helping us, once a day, put the content in context." PaidContent story

The continuous newsroom (June 4)
From the Media Alliance: Increased workload, repackaged news and who gets the scoop first are just some issues facing journalists in the web-print "convergence". Panellists at a US media conference held in May addressed these and other questions about the global trend of a "continuous newsroom". Full story at this link.
Media Alliance

Sedition laws under review (June 4)
Australia’s hastily introduced sedition laws are currently under review.
The term ‘sedition’ should be removed from the federal statute book, and offences urging force or violence against the government or community groups should be redrafted, the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) said last week.
Releasing a Discussion Paper (DP 71) on federal sedition laws, ALRC President Professor David Weisbrot said the proposals aimed to ensure “there is a bright line between freedom of expression—even when exercised in a confronting or unpopular manner—and the reach of the criminal law.
“Australians place a very high value on free speech and robust political debate. There is no reason these offences, which properly target the urging of force or violence, cannot be framed in such a way to avoid capturing dissenting views and opinions or stifling the work of journalists, cartoonists, artists and film makers, either directly or through the ‘chilling effect’ of self-censorship.”
The Attorney-General has asked the ALRC to consider whether the sedition laws ‘modernised’ in the Anti-Terrorism Act 2005 (Cth) effectively address the problem of ‘intentionally urging others to use force or violence’ and whether ‘sedition’ is the appropriate term to describe these offences.
“Given its history, the term ‘sedition’ is much too closely associated in the public mind with punishment of those who criticise the established order,” said Prof Weisbrot.
The review invites submissions, which close July 3.
Sedition law review home page

SBS to increase ads (June 2)
Australia's public-owned Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) will increase the number of its TV ad breaks, running some in mid-program. The broadcaster says it is doing this as a means to raise revenue for additional local programming.
SBS said: The new program break structure will allow for limited program promotion and advertising within programs while maintaining the legislated cap of five minutes of advertising per hour.
The Chairman of the Board, Carla Zampatti said: “This decision has been under consideration for some time as part of SBS’s on-going review of its business model and reflects the significant changes in the broadcast market.
“The Board has directed management to ensure that the new regime, which will be implemented over the next 6 to 12 months, be constructed so as to preserve the SBS viewing experience and be consistent with the Act and obligations of the Charter.”
The Managing Director, Shaun Brown said the precise guidelines for program promotions and advertising placement within programs are being drafted.
“For half hour programs, there could be two short advertising breaks of 60 seconds duration and for one hour programs, there may be three short breaks, each no longer than 90 seconds duration.
“This clearly maintains the difference between SBS and the commercial broadcasters that show up to 15 minutes of advertising in any one hour.
“The new structure will reduce the lengthy, between-program breaks currently in the SBS schedule.
“These lengthy breaks – sometimes up to 10 minutes – are clearly unpopular with viewers.  On average we lose more than half our audience during these breaks, this is 30 per cent more than other broadcasters.
The new break structure will raise an estimated additional $10m in the first full year of operation.  With additional advertising revenue, SBS will:

• Launch an expanded one hour nightly news bulletin (6.30pm-7.30pm), with increased Australian and international news coverage, commencing in early 2007; and
• Increase its commissioning of Australian multicultural drama and documentaries and other programs in accordance with its Charter obligations.

“SBS has ambitious plans to expand the range of quality programs commissioned from independent Australian filmmakers,” Shaun Brown said.
SBS website

US web ads hit new record (June 1)
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) have announced that Internet advertising revenues reached a new record of $3.9 billion for the first quarter of 2006.  The 2006 first quarter revenues represent a 38 per cent increase over Q1 2005 at $2.8 billion and a 6 per cent increase over Q4 2005 total at $3.6 billion.
“The steady growth of online advertising is a clear indication that marketers continue to believe in the opportunities and effectiveness that this medium delivers in reaching and engaging their consumers,” said Greg Stuart, of the IAB. 
“The Internet continues to shape the media landscape as more advertising dollars are going online,” said Peter Petrusky, of PwC. “It is abundantly clear that marketers are seeing a compelling opportunity to leverage the Internet as a powerful medium that drives both branding and sales results.”
“Consumer habits are continuing to change and mature,” adds David Silverman, of PwC. “Companies are effectively learning to devote more of their advertising budget to this fast-growing advertising platform in order to reach the right audience at the right time.”
Source: IAB

Free speech versus religion (June 1)
From the Centre for Independent Studies Policy magazine: The protests triggered earlier this year by Danish cartoons of the prophet Mohammed put the religious sensibilities of Muslims into conflict with Western freedom of speech.
Jeremy Shearmur argues that we should see this dispute differently. While believing that there should be few legal restrictions on freedom of speech, there is a moral case for taking into account the sensibilities of others, either through avoiding offensive speech entirely or restricting it to forums where those who are likely to be offended will not be exposed to it.
In the Danish cartoons case, as Muslims now make up about 5 per cent of Denmark's population, newspaper editors ought to have known that the cartoons would cause serious offence. We should not offer uncritical support for their actions on the grounds of freedom of speech.

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