Our other mags
Main Guidomedia index

Media trends digest – August 2006

Journalism’s greatest flaw: short attention span (31 August)
Commentary from the CS Monitor, via Benton: The first anniversary of hurricane Katrina in the USA has once again attracted an army of journalists to New Orleans, site of the worst natural disaster in American history. While Tuesday's anniversary promises to bring even more attention to one of the most documented events in national journalism, many residents of the flood- ravaged Crescent City continue to insist that reporters are missing the story. The locals frequently complain that even after months of coverage by TV, print, and Internet outlets, the full dimension of the disaster has somehow eluded the media's yardstick. Although some sloppy reporting has figured into the distortion, the divide between Katrina's perception and its substance seems to have less to do with negligence or intentional bias, and more to do with the inherent limits of journalism as a craft. Journalism is frequently derided for its embrace of mindless repetition, but the industry's understandable desire for what is new and interesting has not inclined it to capture the frequent monotony of existence in post-Katrina New Orleans. If the everyday challenges of post- Katrina Louisiana fail to register in the global media machine, it is perhaps because journalism, by its nature, sees the world as a series of dramatically packaged episodes rather than the dry continuum that a recovery from disaster can be.
Full story

Spiralfrog to take on iTunes (30 August)
New York start-up company Spiralfrog has just completed a deal with Universal Music that will allow it to offer the latter’s catalogue of some 300,000 music tracks as free downloads, in return for which Universal gets a major slice of the web site’s advertising revenue.
And here’s the killer aspect -- the downloads will be legal and free.
This is a development which will be watched very closely by Apple Computer, whose iTunes online store currently has around 80% market share of the music purchased via the internet. Apple sells the tracks for around US$1.00 each.
Universal has many high-profile acts, including U2, Texas and the Scissor Sisters.
The Scotsman newspaper reports: Robin Kent, SpiralFrog's chief executive, said the company was talking to other labels, including EMI, Sony-BMG and Warner, about joining its service.
He said, "Offering young consumers an easy-to-use alternative to pirated music sites will be compelling."
However, a source at Universal Music told The Scotsman that the US venture was "an experiment" to see if free legal downloads worked.
Spiralfrog says the music will be offered in a Windows Media Player format, which is incompatible with iPods, and will not be transferable to any device other than the one it is initially loaded on. The company also says consumers will be unable to burn CDs from the files.
Sprialfrog is due to launch in the USA and Canada in December, then into Europe in the first quarter of 2007.

The great newspaper eclipse (30 August)
From the New York Times, via Benton: Many people in the newspaper industry are still scratching their heads over how and why Knight Ridder, a company with relatively high profit margins and a trophy case of 85 Pulitzer Prizes, allowed itself to be wiped off the media landscape. The dismantling of Knight Ridder is a study of the hurdles facing publicly traded newspaper companies in a time of seismic change in the industry. The migration of readers and advertisers to the Internet, as well as rising costs and falling revenue, are threatening the financial well-being -- even the very existence -- of some of the industry’s most storied brand names.
New York Times home; Story; Benton media news

Ad channels? (30 August)
Via Benton: As digital video recorders advance viewers’ habit of skipping past commercials, advertisers must create new ways to increase product awareness and purchasing. There is one easy solution: Let consumers choose the commercials they want to see. Automatic skipping could be reduced by including a listing of ads in the beginning of the break so viewers could choose which to watch. In the future. advertisements on digital channels will likely be automatically matched to customer profiles and/or self predefined interests. Furthermore, entire channels dedicated solely to commercials may even emerge.
Full op-ed piece at Multichannel News

Papers defy the death notices (29 August)
(Opinion) Reports of the death of the newspaper have been greatly exaggerated. Fear for the survival of the printed paper has become a popular topic, triggered by a surge of readers going online for their news. But it seems that for now, anyway, this fear is misplaced. (By Clare Chapman) Click here for the full story.

Media war reporting dishonest -- Downer (29 August)
Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer (pictured) yesterday told a newspaper conference on the Gold Coast that media coverage of the recent Lebanon conflict was dishonest.
“What concerns me greatly is the evidence of dishonesty in the reporting out of Lebanon,” he said.
“For example, a Reuters photographer was forced to resign after doctoring images to exaggerate the impact of Israeli air attacks.
“There were the widely-reported claims that Israel had bombed deliberately a Red Cross ambulance.
“In subsequent weeks, the world has discovered those allegations do not stand up to even the most rudimentary scrutiny.
“After closer study of the images of the damage to the ambulance, it is beyond serious dispute that this episode has all the makings of a hoax.
“Yet some of the world's most prestigious media outlets, including some of those represented here today, ran that story as fact -- unchallenged, unquestioned.
“Similarly, there has been the tendency to report every casualty on the Lebanese side of the conflict as if a civilian casualty, when it was indisputable that a great many of those injured or killed in Israeli offensives were armed Hezbollah combatants.
“My point is this: in a grown-up society such as our own, the media cannot expect to get away with parading falsehoods as truths, or ignoring salient facts because they happen to be inconvenient to the line of argument - or narrative - that particular journalists, or media organisations, might choose to adopt on any given controversy or issue,” said Downer.
Full text of the speech

Computers take over writing (28 August)
Computers have taken over writing some basic kinds of news stories, particularly for financial services where speed rather than elegance is the priority.
The Financial Times reports that business information publisher Thomson Financial introduced the idea several months ago and is so far happy withy the results, saying basic stories can be generated in a third of a second, freeing up reporters for more complex tasks.
A senior Thomson staffer, Matthew Burkley, to the Financial Times the results so far were accurate, but dull. “We might try and write a few more adjectives into the program,” he said.
The need for speed is a reflection of how the financial markets have changed, where automated trading has become normal and greatly reduced the time spent on decision-making.
Reuters is also reported to be using some computer-generated writing.
Financial Times home; Story

Complacency can kill (28 August)
From FreePress.net: Even the most confident of newspaper bosses now agree that they will survive in the long term only if they can reinvent themselves on the internet and on other new-media platforms such as mobile phones and portable electronic devices. Most have been slow to grasp the changes affecting their industry — “remarkably, unaccountably complacent,” as Rupert Murdoch put it in a speech last year — but now they are making a big push to catch up. Internet advertising is growing rapidly for many and is beginning to offset some of the decline in print.
Click here for the full story

Media Alliance Regional Journalism Convention (25 August)
From the Media Alliance: Registrations are open for the 5th annual Regional Journalism Convention, 21 October in Brisbane. Speakers include David Fagan, Hedley Thomas, Tony Koch and Chris Graham. Register at: regional.alliance.org.au. See our events page for more dates.

MySpace launches music careers (24 August)
If you haven’t heard of MySpace yet, then you’re just not cool. As Pete Cashmore of the Mashable website put it so eloquently, “if you don’t get MySpace, you’re a lametard.”
For those in the know, MySpace is the latest forum for all things hip and not-so-hip. Popular music artists such as Jet, The Strokes and Justin Timberlake are using the site to promote themselves and their forthcoming singles and albums.
But it is not just the popular bands using MySpace; young artists waiting to be discovered also use MySpace as a launching pad for their music careers. Case in point is Lily Allen, described on her site as “the 21 year old strange glint in her eyes singer/writer who has been tearing up the web at a rate of knots.”
Allen set up a MySpace profile and used it to publicise her music. Through MySpace and word of mouth, Allen subsequently acquired a recording contract and has recently visited Australia on a promotional tour for her album, which features her hit single, Smile.
MySpace Music is the section dedicated to promoting up and coming artists and includes a ‘featured artist’ segment. Artists are also able to play whole songs, not just snippets.
By Lauren Maserow
Mashable; Lilly Allen; MySpace

Comical obsessions (23 August)
What would make fifteen people dress up in fuschia turtlenecks, tie their hair up in buns and take pictures of themselves making finger quotes? Why, The Finger Quotin’ Margo Look-alike Contest! Wait -- you never heard of it?
The contestants were asked to recreate a comic strip panel. Specifically, the Apartment 3-G comic strip where the character Margo Magee makes a “finger-quotin’” gesture. The winning picture now decorates a coffee mug sold worldwide.
Josh Fruhlinger is the contest’s creator and sole juror. He wanted to use the  “finger quotin’ Margo” panel to decorate merchandise for his blog, but worried about copyright infringement. “We can’t use this drawing, but is there any reason we can’t … dress up like Margo and re-enact this scene? I’m betting the answer is ‘No’!” he posted.
Josh’s blog is called The Comics Curmudgeon. In it, Josh posts observations on whichever comic strip – or strips – catch his eye that day. (By Deni Rico Mateos) Click here for the full story.

One-click police to deter internet stalkers (23 August)
New editions of Microsoft’s MSN Messenger and Windows Live Messenger will incorporate a one-click contact for to a global police taskforce, as a means of combating child-stalking.
According to the UK government news service: Microsoft's partnership with the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre - the UK's first dedicated organisation focused on tackling child sex abuse - has brought about a new 'safer-by-design' element to the UK's most popular instant messenger product.
The move sees the incorporation of a new Messenger tab and features the CEOP Centre's distinctive "report abuse" icon which links users in the UK directly to online police services. This allows young people and adults to report suspicious behaviour and instances of inappropriate contact of a sexual nature they have encountered whilst chatting in this virtual environment.
And the service doesn't end there. Through the icon and link to the CEOP web site, users from anywhere in the world can access the Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT) - an international alliance of law enforcement agencies - of which the CEOP Centre is the UK's representative.
The tab will appear on both MSN Messenger, and its replacement, Windows Live Messenger. As well as a 'one click' link through to a report to the police, each week, CEOP and Microsoft will provide a new safety tip as part of the tab, for example, how to safeguard your personal details or to how to spot a potential threat.
Jim Gamble, Chief Executive of the CEOP Centre and Chair of the VGT takes up the story.
"What Microsoft and the CEOP are doing today is saying is 'enough is enough'. By working together in a very clear and tangible way we can safeguard children from online sexual predators.
"Behind the report abuse button will sit police and intelligence officers who have been specially trained to tackle child sex abuse. We will tell you how to capture information and how to seize online discussions and then proactively do all we can to track down the perpetrator.”
Full story at the UK government news service

Tom & Jerry give up the fags (23 August)
Turner Broadcasting is scouring through some 1500 Hanna Barbera cartoons such as Tom & Jerry to remove any scenes showing the characters smoking.
This is after a single complaint from a British consumer, who took offence at two episodes of the series on a pay TV channel. Ofcom, the British government broadcasting regulator, said, "While we appreciate the historic integrity of the animation, the level of editorial justification required for the inclusion of smoking in such cartoons is necessarily high."
Meanwhile the Telegraph newspaper in England gleefully pointed out that while the cartoon characters were not allowed to smoke, it was okay if they chased each other with an axe… (Pic: Warner Bros/Turner Broadcasting; Sory source: Online-Publishers.org)
Hanna Barbera cartoon home

AOL suffers Data Valdez (23 August)
While Google continues on its winning streak, AOL continues to stumble. The online service has suffered another customer service nightmare with the release of search strings from more than 600,000 users. That comes on the heels of "The Call," an audio recording of a man trying to cancel his AOL service, with the representative arguing endlessly without canceling it.
With the data release, the Washington Post and New York Times were able to track down people who made the searches, even though the search queries were grouped by random ID numbers. In some cases, people put in Social Security numbers, home addresses and other ways to identify themselves.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation called the mistake the "Data Valdez," and has filed a complaint against AOL with the FTC.
Ironically, the Post found that one of the most popular search terms on AOL was "Google" and the top sites visited by AOL searchers were Google and MySpace.
Washington Post report; Electronic Frontier Foundation

Neutrality follows casualties in media war (22 August)
(Opinion) Is Israel protecting itself against terrorism, or is Hezbollah resisting Israeli aggression?  The UN-brokered truce may have silenced the missiles, but the public relations campaigns from both sides continue to sound as loud as ever. (By Leah Craven) Click here to read the full piece.

JonBenet who? (22 August)
(Background briefing) The Australian media may have collectively breathed a sigh of relief last Friday morning when Melbourne newspaper The Herald Sun uncovered a local angle to the JonBenet Ramsey case. It appears that new prime suspect, John Mark Karr, had applied for an Australian tourist visa and may have even visited Sydney at some point, unleashing a new wave of inspiration on the ten-year-old case for Australian journalists. (By Anne Treasure) Click here for the full story.

Online ads disrupting advertisement business (22 August)
According to a recent survey led by the Internet research firm Frost & Sullivan, Internet advertising grew by 59.4 per cent in 2006 and surpasses the all other forms of advertising for growth this year. Indeed, Internet advertising will overtake the $978 million magazine advertising industry by December. The growth of the Internet (up 46.4 per cent) far outpaced all other media such as TV, newspapers, magazines, radio, and billboards.  (By Claire Leraudat) Click here for the full background briefing.

Google’s plans for world domination (21 August)
(Opinion) With the recent News Corporation deal to provide search and advertising services for popular websites such as myspace.com, Google is extending its reach, again. This is not the first time Google has made a deal to provide its services to a large corporation. In 2005, Google paid US $1 billion to provide search for AOL. (By Siang Wey Lim) Click here to read the full piece.

Bloggers 'break' the news (21 August)
(Background briefing) Thick, black plumes of smoke pour from buildings in Beirut, an Israeli jet drops three missiles over Southern Lebanon, an elderly woman gazes wistfully at the remains of an apartment building after a missile attack – these are the types of dramatic wartime images we have almost become used to seeing on a daily basis. Except that these particular photographs have sparked an internet crusade by bloggers determined to expose bias in traditional media. (By Kylie Nicholson) Click here to read more.

TV is a protectionist freak show  -- Telstra (18 August)
Free to air television has too long enjoyed a protectionist regime which allows it to produce products of dubious quality. That’s according to Telstra's Andrew Maiden, who a week ago delivered a speech to a Media Alliance PR conference.
He said, in part: “Today's Australian television news is, mostly, married to what the networks still insist is ‘current affairs’. These are programs that have all the credibility of freak shows, and none of the fun. They serve a diet that's low in news protein and high in voyeuristic calories. The relationship between prime-time news and current affairs is a sham marriage between the anodyne and the incredible.
"Perhaps that's why Tony Blair said sharing his life with the news media is ‘kind of like sharing an apartment with someone who is somewhat deranged’.”
Click here to see the full text.

Read a good blook lately? (15 August)
Amateur writers looking to get published are now turning to electronic journals in hopes that they will be turned into blooks.
Said to be the next revolution in publishing, blooks are books that started out their existence as a blog, the content of which has been significantly developed. 
The hugely popular Blogger, LiveJournal and MySpace have become the new goldfields as publishing talent scouts are increasingly mining the e-journals for new material. (By Jana Raus) Click here for the full story

Google’s dominance powered by AdWords (15 August)
Far from its humble college-room beginnings, Google is now flexing its digital muscle as it contends for domination in online services.
Last week’s deal with Rupert Murdoch’s media behemoth News Corporation will see Google power MySpace.com’s search engines and keyword advertising, in a three-year contract worth $US900 million ($A1.2 billion). It’s not just the cash that Google is interested in, though – the deal will allow them advertising access to the majority of the News Corp/Fox Interactive Media sites. (By Kate Freeth) Click here to see the full background briefing.

Media, politics and the question of trust (15 August)
Media or government -- who would you trust? It’s a question that has unearthed some surprising results and shed light on the credibility of traditional news sources versus the internet.
A recent ten-country opinion poll conducted by Globescan on behalf of the BBC, Reuters and The Media Center, found more people trust the media than their governments – especially in developing countries. (By Kate Hanlon) Click here for the full story.

Internet still an international defamation minefield (15 August)
When Philip Ruddock called for uniform defamation laws across Australia six months ago, confusion and dilemmas were supposed to decrease. For web publishers, it was only the beginning.
Half a year after Australia’s brand new uniform defamation laws, there might still be more problems for internet authors than for traditional media outlets. (By Lindsay Shoff) Click here for the full story.

ACCC details how it would apply new media merger laws (15 August)
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) last week released a 53-page document detailing how it will use its power to regulate media mergers if the Federal Government's media reform laws are passed.
Prepared at the request of Communications Minister Helen Coonan, the document is a response to widespread fears that the laws would concentrate media ownership in fewer hands, leading to less diversity in news and opinion.
The laws reduce the minimum number of major media players -- by three or more -- to five in cities and four in rural areas, and allow companies to own print, radio and television interests in the one market.
ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel claims he would be tough on mergers and argues that the new laws are necessary to accommodate the rise of online media. "In the past, the ACCC has regarded the media as four distinct products - free-to-air television, pay TV, radio and print. Convergence of technology means we can no longer take that view."
Labor Senator Stephen Conroy previously questioned why the Government would want to give more power to News Limited and PBL, Australia's richest and most powerful media organisations. "Labor will vigorously oppose the Government's attempts to undermine media diversity," he said.
Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce has also expressed concern about media concentration, particularly in rural areas, and could vote against the laws. He says he will not be pressured by the Government's agenda to get some of the legislation through Parliament by the end of the year.
If he sides with Labor, the Greens and the Democrats in opposing the laws, the Government will need to win the support of Family First Senator Steve Fielding, who is still undecided.
A recent survey conducted by pollster Roy Morgan showed that journalists are largely opposed to the laws, with 80% believing they would have a negative effect on journalistic integrity and 85% believing they would reduce diversity. 
By Anna Lycett
ACCC document; Roy Morgan survey

Plus...Politicians jockey over media reforms and diversity (15 August)
Senator Helen Coonan announced a package of media reforms on 13 July, sparking debate among politicians about whether new laws will threaten diversity for newspaper readers, radio listeners and television watchers.
In her media release, the Communications Minister said the new laws will create “more diversity and choice for consumers” and open up possibilities for new players to enter media markets.
The reform package includes: a Digital Action Plan encouraging the take up of digital television and the phasing out of analogue; A relaxation on restrictions on cross-media ownership subject to safeguards that will mean that no less than five independent “voices” remain in metropolitan markets and four in regional markets; And the removal of existing foreign ownership restrictions.
“By allowing new entrants into the Australian media industry, the Government will encourage increased diversity and new sources of information and entertainment,” Senator Coonan said.
The PM has said that these new laws depend on general support from media players.
But politicians from the Coaltion’s backbench, the opposition and other parties, believe the new laws will limit diversity of ideas, views and voice, unlike Senator Coonan, who uses the term to mean diversity of ownership.
The National party opposes cross and foreign ownership on the grounds that mergers and takeovers would limit diversity in the bush, despite regional safeguards. Nationals federal MP Paul Neville said that the failure to put in safeguards would leave the media more concentrated than the retail sector.
"We wouldn't end up with a Woolworths and a Coles Myer. We would end up with a Woolworths and a corner store," Mr Neville told The Australian.
Opposition communications spokesman Stephen Conroy is also concerned about the effect of the laws on the bush.
“The changes to media laws would particularly hit consumers in rural and regional areas,” he told The Australian.
But Conroy is not only concerned about limiting diversity in the bush. "The Government's media ownership proposals will inevitably result in a massive concentration in media ownership and reduce diversity of opinion, not just in the regions but also in the state capitals."
The ALP argues that changes to ownership laws would further entrench the power of News Limited and limit media ownership.
Labor leader Kim Beazley said these new laws were “not good for democrarcy”. Greens leader Bob Brown agrees. “These changes will throw open Australia’s media to foreign ownership and will diminish our country’s identity, as well as diversity of opinion, news coverage and programming,” Senator Brown said.
Family First senator, Steven Fielding also argues the new laws will constrain diversity. Senator Fielding’s vote in the Senate will be important for the Government as Nationals senator Barnaby Joyce has indicated he may vote against elements of the legislation, with some suggestion he may even cross the floor.
Former Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke is responsible for the current media laws, which his government developed in 1987.
Parliament is expected to vote on the package early next year.
By Ellen Fish
Links: Senator Coonan’s homepage; Australian Labor Party website; Australian Green’s website; Family First website

Read between the lines: media reform missed the real issues (15 August)
(Opinion column) As the Federal Government carefully puts the finishing touches on its media reform package, the real proposals of the reform are buried deep beneath a deluge of information for Australians to digest about our transition into the digital world. (By Ryan Mason) Click here to read the full column.

Plus... Who is the king of the media monopoly game? (15 August)
Games always have winners and losers. No one can predict who will win the latest game, sparkled by new federal media ownership proposals.
The Federal Government plans to loosen up cross-media ownership law and limitations on foreign ownership by next year. 
"This package of reforms will allow the Australian media sector to move from the old analogue-based regime into the dynamic new world of digital content, where traditional media co-exist and compete with new delivery platforms," Communications Minister Helen Coonan said.
Under the reforms, companies can own print, radio and television interests in one market. However, media firms are not allowed to own more than one TV station or two commercial radio stations. As a result, there will be no fewer than five independent media groups in capital cities and four in regional areas. (By Keiichi Onodera) Click here to read the full story.

No News is good news in US (14 August)
Although they are still tuning in for their nightly news fix, it seems fewer Americans are believing what they see, hear and read in the media.
TV still tops the list of preferred news media, but Americans are becoming increasingly sceptical of what they are seeing -- a trend which began in the mid 1980s.
A recent study by the Pew Research Centre for People and Press has indicated that whilst TV news is watched, it is increasingly distrusted, and no major news outlet has escaped this trend. Less than a quarter of Americans believe all or most of what they see on the three major broadcast networks: NBC, ABC and CBS. In 2000 these figures were around 30% and in 1998 they were over 40%.
Only the Fox News channel has avoided a credibility decline, maintaining a figure of around 25% since 2000. However, this figure also indicates that the cable channel is somewhat polarised in its views, with increasing numbers of Republicans giving Fox the highest rating for believability. Some Democrats have accused Fox News of being the mouthpiece for the Bush Administration.
Print media is also experiencing the same trend; numbers are down for The Walls Street Journal with 41% of Americans believing all or what they read in the paper in 1998, down to only 26% this year. Similarly, Time is down to 21% from 27% in 1998. A 2004 study by Gallup reported that journalists rank somewhere between mechanics and car salesmen for ethics and credibility. Almost 60% of those polled believe journalists use unethical practices such as fabricating sources and events and are careless about inaccuracies.
However, on a worldwide scale, trust in the media is high. In May a poll conducted by Globescan on behalf of the BBC, Reuters and The Media Centre took into account the responses of over 10 thousand people in 10 different countries. Results indicated that most people (over 80%) consider the media to be a more trustworthy source of news and information than their own governments.
By Melissa Chrys
Pew report; Globescan report; National Review story

Plus... Readers graze online – Pew report (14 August)
Online readers graze online news rather than use it as an in-depth source of information, a US media-use survey says. Most people who read news online will also access other news sources the same day.
The Pew Research Centre for the People and the Press survey found that just 4% of the public relies on the web alone for news. In fact, the average online news consumer spends far more time per day getting news on TV, newspaper and radio than they do getting news online.
“For the most part, online news has evolved as a supplemental source that is used along with traditional news media outlets. It is valued most for headlines and convenience, not detailed, in-depth reporting,” the report said.
Of those who access news on the internet, only a minority visit newspaper websites such as that of The New York Times. Instead, the report noted, “Websites that include quick updates of major headlines, such as MSNBC, Yahoo, and CNN, dominate the web-news landscape.”
Newspaper websites overall are used about as frequently as each of the main network news sites. However, while a few major players lead the network website category, readers visit a wide variety of national and local newspapers online.
And an increasing number are getting news inadvertently – about three-quarters of internet users say they “bump into” the news by accident when online for another purpose.
By Siobhan Brophy
Pew project; Full report; New York Times

Fauxtography: Revelling in media bias online (14 August)
Revelations that a Reuters photographer released a digitally doctored image of a bomb strike in Lebanon shows how the ongoing debate about propaganda in news coverage is being driven online –- not through lofty ideals of objectivity but opinion and outrage.
The doctored image, circulated during the weekend of 5 August, during the Lebanon-Israel conflict, depicted plumes of smoke over buildings in the aftermath of an Israeli air strike on Beirut. The plumes of smoke were obviously exaggerated. (By Daisy Hoffmann) Click here to read the full story.

Singapore brings foreign media to heel (14 August)
Singapore has recently made international news for putting pressure on foreign publications to censor themselves.
The Far Eastern Economic Review has been given until 11 September to comply with an Act that demands it must have a legal representative in Singapore and pay a security deposit of S$200,000. Four other publications—the International Herald Tribune, the Financial Times, Time Magazine, and Newsweek, have been advised to follow suit when their current permits expire. (By Thomas Danny Jeyaseelan) Click here to see the full background briefing, which includes an addition story by Ian Findlay.

Singapore media rules have echoes in China (14 August)
International media is finding it hard to survive in some foreign markets. On 6 August, 2006, the Singapore government ordered the Far Eastern Economic Review to comply with an Act demanding a legal representative in the country and a hefty deposit for licence renewal (see story above). Another four publications have been required to do the same in the earlier time. Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said the new rule is a form of censorship. Singapore's moves are reminiscent of the new, more harsh, Chinese government restrictions on foreign media. (By Qian Xie) Click here to read the full story.

Over 37% of ads wasted – book (14 August)
From AdAge via Benton: A new book -- What Sticks: Why Most Advertising Fails and How to Guarantee Yours Succeeds -- finds that 37.3 percent of advertising budgets are wasted. The book traces $1 billion in spending and finds that it is at least possible to find out exactly what's wasted -- and how to get better performance from the other 62.7%, offering hope that battered business can rise from the mat.
AdAge home; AdAge story; Benton

Phone tap lands journo in court (13 August)
UK tabloid newspaper News of the World has seen its Royal Editor, Clive Goodman, arrested and charged with conspiring to intercept phone messages after allegations were made that he had hacked into the phone message system of a royal aide.
Relations between the Royal family and media were put on a then new, and somewhat icy, footing after the death of the Princess of Wales in 1997 in a car crash when being chased by paparazzi. Since then, rules have been more strict and there has been a greater mood to enforce them.
However Guardian commentator Roy Greenslade claims the practice of hacking into telecommunications – particularly mobiles because of their vulnerability – has become common practice for journalists.
He writes in his blog: “The obtaining of information about people's telephone calls is not confined to the News of the World. Many papers pay informants to discover phone records, the content of text messages and the recordings of voicemails. And it is considered, within those papers, as routine stuff. Mike Jarvis, a former investigative reporter with The People and the News of the World, told Radio 4's The World at One that receiving phone records is commonplace. ‘Everybody knows it goes on,’ he said. ‘And everybody turns a blind eye’.”
Locally the most notorious case of this was in 1987 when a former Victoria Premier Jeff Kennett and former Federal Liberal leader Andrew Peacock were recorded conducting a borderline feral mobile phone conversation. The transcript and recording (not for the easily offended) can be found at Australian Politics.com.
Guardian blog

TV money buys Olympic schedule (13 August)
From Reuters via the Benton news service: How much does US$1.18 billion buy you these days? Well, would you like to schedule the time for the swimming finals for the 2008 Olympic games? Heated discussions can be expected when the controversial competition schedule for the 2008 Olympics is hammered out at a meeting of broadcasters in Beijing this week. A draft schedule leaked to the Australian media last weekend had the finals of the swimming, gymnastics and men's basketball pencilled in for the morning sessions, prime-time for American television audiences. NBC paid US$3.55 billion for the rights to three Olympic Games, including Beijing, and many are convinced the early starts are the result of the American broadcaster looking to ensure they get their money's worth. The proposed shifting of the swimming finals from their traditional evening slot has caused uproar in Australia, whose strong swimming team has a great rivalry with the Americans. Six-times Olympic medallist Michael Klim slammed the move as "pandering to the American dollar" and said leading swimmers planned to petition the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Reuters story; Benton news service at Guidomedia

ABC warms up the crystal ball (12 August)
The ABC’s Media Report has warmed up the crystal ball and made some predictions about how the media industry might develop over coming years. In the local market, the program suggests a 6% growth in advertising and a significant leap in the take-up of pay TV are on the cards.
Click here to read or listen to the full report.

News reaps bumper crop (11 August)
News Corp is reaping a bumper crop from its investments, reporting a record US$3.9 operating income (pre-tax and pre-interest profit) on the back of a string of very successful movies plus good times for its cable TV investments.
There has been more positive news for investors in the company: it has just signed a deal with the Google internet search company which sees News repaid much of its original investment for exclusive advertising access to recently acquired internet properties such as MySpace. The latter is said to have signed up nearly 100 million members.
According to News Corp: under the terms of the agreement, Google will be obligated to make guaranteed minimum revenue share payments to Fox Interactive Media of $900 million based on Fox achieving certain traffic and other commitments. These guaranteed minimum revenue share payments are expected to be made over the period beginning in the first quarter of 2007 and ending in the second quarter of 2010.
“Our partnership with Google underscores News Corp’s continued evolution to become a powerful force in the digital media marketplace. To have come this far and gained this much momentum in just over a year is truly remarkable,” said Peter Chernin, President and Chief Operating Officer of News Corporation. “This is an exciting time in our history as a forward thinking media company and this is just the first of many steps we plan to take with Google. We look forward to expanding our relationship into many new areas over years to come.”
News Corp: Financial year results; Google announcement

Pacific launches unique digi mag (10 August)
Pacific Magazines has launched an innovative young women’s magazine, called Redzero. The online-only mag is currently 60 pages and says it will go through major updates each quarter with minor updates on a monthly basis.
Backed by the Target retail chain, it will also be selling subscriptions which promise buyers exclusive stories and offers.
The presentation of the mag is highly animated and requires reasonably fast web access to work. It’s navigation is unique, offering the entire pagination in one screen as a contents page, plus a time-consuming but interesting presentation which replicates someone flicking through printed pages.
See redzero.com.au plus the Pacific mags corporate page

Did bloggers swing an election? (9 August)
Bloggers may have claimed their first victory in a high-profile USA election campaign, according to online magazine C-net.
It reports: “At least that's how liberal bloggers are likely to tell this story, which climaxed Tuesday night when anti-war challenger Ned Lamont bested pro-war incumbent Joe Lieberman to become Connecticut's Democratic nominee for the United States Senate.”
C-net home; Story

Story note, 10 August: Subsequent reports suggest that Lieberman's campaign ran off the rails once President George Bush endorsed the candidate. However this Reuters story also points to net activism.

Bloggers shoot down Reuters snapper (9 August)
From the NY Times via Benton: As of yesterday afternoon, Adnan Hajj was the most-searched term on the Technorati Web site, which tracks what is being discussed in the blogosphere. And a rendering of his work was one of the most viewed videos on YouTube. Mr Hajj, a Lebanese photographer based in the Middle East, may not be familiar to many newspaper readers. But thanks to the swift justice of the Internet, he has been charged, tried and convicted of improperly altering photographs he took for Reuters. The pictures ran on the Reuters news service on Saturday, and were discovered almost instantly by bloggers to have been manipulated. Reuters then announced on Sunday that it had fired the freelancer. Executives said yesterday that they were still investigating why they had not discovered the manipulation before the pictures were disseminated to newspapers. The matter has created an uproar on the Internet, where many bloggers see an anti-Israel bias in Mr Hajj's manipulations, which made the damage from Israeli strikes into Beirut appear worse than the original pictures had.
NY Times home; Story (requires registration)

Federal reforms opposed by journalists (9 August)
The Federal Government’s media reform package has failed to attract support among the vast majority of Australian journalists, with 82% believing the changes to the media laws will have a negative impact on the integrity of reporting and 85% saying the reforms will reduce diversity.
The findings are from a Roy Morgan survey of 374 Media Alliance members, conducted earlier this month for online newspaper Crikey!
An overwhelming majority of journalists (87%) oppose the plan to drop cross-media restrictions and 74% oppose the plan to relax foreign ownership restrictions.
In addition, 70% of journalists oppose maintaining the current limit of three free-to-air commercial TV networks in capital cities.
More than half (53%) claim they are unable to be critical of the media organisation they work for. In addition, 38% of journalists say they have been instructed to comply with the commercial position of the company for which they work and 32% say they feel obliged to take into account the political views of their proprietor when writing stories — 32% of those who have ever worked in print; 34% in TV; 34% in radio.
Of journalists surveyed 63% believe Australian media companies/owners have “too much influence” in deciding how Australians vote and 71% say media companies/owners have “too much influence” in determining the political agenda.
See this link for the full results

Online ads to outstrip mags by end of year (9 August)
Business analysis agency Frost & Sullivan has reported that web ads have grown over 59% in value in the year to June 2006, with a total value of $778 million. It expects the market to outstrip the print magazine market – valued at $978 million -- by the end of this year. Meanwhile internet ad booking agency Emitch also reports strong interest in the medium, saying some 74% of 150 major companies surveyed now regarded the platform as an established component of their marketing.
Frost & Sullivan; Emitch (Chart: Emitch)

Coonan defends media reforms (8 August)
Communications Minister Senator Helen Coonan recently gave a speech defending the Federal Government’s media ownership reform package and revealing more of her thinking behind its design.
She said, in part: As this week’s Pricewaterhouse Coopers media and entertainment report notes, the balance of power in the dynamic communications sector is fundamentally shifting from those who own it to those who consume it.
And so, what is being proposed is an integrated and far-reaching package to transition the current industry settings to the new digital environment by encouraging new players and new services for Australian consumers.
The cross media rules, for example, are almost 20 years old. While Paul Keating may be very publicly nostalgic about the old Labor days of the Princes of Print and the Queens of the Screen, he has obviously missed a few technological turns of the wheel!
For instance, when Paul Keating was Prime Minister the Internet was mainly confined to academics, pay-TV was in its infancy in Australia, there was no framework for digital radio , IPTV had not been thought of, let alone 3G mobile phones, video Ipods or television over a mobile device otherwise known as DVB-H.
The Government’s package of reforms will allow the Australian media sector to move from the old analogue-based regime into the dynamic new world of digital content, where traditional media co-exist and compete with new delivery platforms.
See this link for the full speech

Telstra pulls pin on proper broadband (7 August)
Telecommunications giant Telstra has ditched plans to build a $4 billion highspeed broadband network (called fibre-to-the-node or FTTN) after negotiations with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) broke down.
The dispute was over what Telstra could charge its rivals, such as Optus, for access to the network and highlights the difficulties faced by a company which is in part private and government ownership.
Opinion on the move varies widely, with the Federal Communications Minister expressing disappointment.
“Telstra has consistently said publicly that there were very few issues left to be resolved, so to pull out of talks when the issue was so close to resolution is very disappointing, particularly as the company cited the ACCC’s unwillingness to recognise the actual costs incurred by Telstra with its FTTN investment as the key reason for the breakdown,” Senator Coonan said.
“The facts show that Australians are now taking up broadband at a rapid rate, with Australia the fifth fastest growing broadband market in the OECD. We are now fast approaching 4 million broadband subscriptions in Australia,” she added.
Some commentators see it as a shrewd move by the company – which coincidentally saw its share price rise a little on the back of this news – either as a political ploy or on the grounds that it could achieve similar results with cheaper technologies that upgrade the existing networks.
Others see the announcement as a disaster, given Australia’s broadband speeds are shamefully slow by international standards – the Australian Financial Review recently highlighted this in a feature entitled Fraudband. The current network also has limited reach, while costing subscribers what seems like rip-off prices.
There is also talk that the decision will allow competitors market room to develop their networks, including wireless technology.
Pundits credit broadband with transforming a number of industries -- particularly media and advertising -- and that it is of sufficient national economic importance that the Federal Government should establish a new body which builds a network then leases it back to telecommunication companies.
See this Charles Wright blog on the Financial Review article

Plus: In other news Telstra subsiduary Sensis, which among other things owns the Trading Post classified group, is rumoured to be in the throes of building up significant editorial resources to build up its online publishing business.

Online news props up print – Pew Research (4 August)
The USA-based Pew Research project has analysed the latest version of its news consumption survey and has discovered evidence that online newspapers are helping to prop up their print counterparts.
The report also found: “As internet news has gone more mainstream, its audience has aged. Since 2000, nearly all of the growth among regular internet news users has occurred among those ages 25-64. By contrast, virtually the same percentage of 18-24 year-olds say they get news online at least three days a week as did so six years ago (30% now, 29% then). Currently, about as many people ages 50 to 64 regularly get news on the internet as do those in their late teens and early 20s.
“To some degree, news consumers are drawn to the internet for the very reason that it does not take much time to get news online. Most users say what distinguishes web news is its format and accessibility ­ the ease of navigation, speed with which information can be gathered, and convenience "at my fingertips." Convenience is a factor for newspapers and television as well, but more readers and viewers refer to the subject matter and journalistic and editorial qualities of the content than is the case among web users.”
See this link

Broadcasters in the mist? (4 August)
From the ABC Radio’s Media Report: Georgina Born, an anthropologist, spent years inside the BBC observing its inner workings during some of its most tumultuous times. In Australia to deliver a series of lectures about public broadcasting, she talks at length to the Media Report.
A transcript and audio version of this wide-ranging interview is at this link. The show also offers an interesting overview of the Federal Government's proposed new media ownership regulations at this link.

The life of an IT journo (4 August)
From the State Library of Victoria: Fancy the life of an IT journalist? Chasing the next big technology story, road-testing the latest devices and meeting the biggest brains in the business?
Hear about the real experiences of an IT writer, what makes for good journalism, and changes in the IT news and publishing industry on 16 August, 6.00-8.00pm.
Featuring:
Charles Wright (freelance journalist);
Stephen Hutcheon (Online Technology Editor, The Age and Sydney Morning Herald);
Colin Wood (Publisher, Design Graphics)
Venue: Experimedia, State Library of Victoria
328 Swanston Street, Melbourne.
Inquiries (03) 8664 7113 or jfelstead@slv.vic.gov.au.
Bookings are not required and the session is free.

Internet is cesspool of pagiarism (2 August)
From USA Today, via Benton: The Internet is becoming a cesspool of plagiarism. In some quarters, plagiarism remains a serious offense. But where it involves the Internet, an acceptance of plagiarism is taking hold, and when confronted, offenders often shrug it off as hardly newsworthy. Pew Research two weeks ago said it found that of the 12 million adults who blog, 44% say they have taken songs, text or images and “remixed” them into their own artistic creation. A new twist is software used by spammers to automatically and intentionally grab original content to post on blogs and Internet sites. Authors are byproduct victims of an attempt to draw traffic to the content so that readers will click on deceiving links that take them to advertising. It's going to take a high-profile legal case to slow it down, says Howard Kaushansky, president of Umbria, which companies hire to monitor the Internet and report back what is being said about them and competitors.
USA Today home; Full story; Benton news service

Return to top

See our media trends archive for earlier stories. See our Benton index for USA media stories.

Use this tool to search our site or the web.

WWW Guidomedia.com

Job Watch
See our jobs page.

Free Newsletter

Try our newsletter. Each week (more or less) we email a free summary of media trends stories in an easy-to-read interactive PDF. See our subscription page.

Movers & shakers
See our selection of speeches & papers on media issues... click

Spin City
The Editor's occasional blog… click