Media news digest archive for June 2005

Oz bank buys BBC group (June 29)
When the BBC announced a major shake-up of its structure some months ago, few might have predicted that a substantial slice of the venerable broadcaster would end up in the hands of an Australian investment bank -- but that's exactly what has happened. The Macquarie group, using the Creative Broadcast Services moniker, was the successful bidder (at £161 million) for BBC Broadcast. The BBC lists its key services as: promotions, design & branded content, navigation services (electronic programme guides), access services (subtitling, signing and audio description), content playout ('video-on-demand' -- video via broadband and mobile phones) and interactivity. See this link for the BBC media release.

Portals shape up as TV.com (June 29)
From the Online Publishers Association in the USA: The walls are down, and AOL.com is now ready for the masses -- or at least for beta testing. The new free portal strategy was unveiled, and most of the reaction has been pretty flattering for the revamped AOL portal. "They've taken the right steps, and they have the opportunity to create something that's interesting and compelling," Beyond Interactive's Nick Pahade told ClickZ. USA Today called it a "bold move" that could help boost AOL's online ad revenues beyond the $1 billion mark it hit last year. In a separate report, USA Today looked deeper at AOL's coming "Video Hub" strategy, an alternative entry-way that is heavy on personalized video clips. The upshot? The big four portals are trying to become nouveau TV networks online. The New York Post speculated that AOL might join Time Warner Cable in a spin-off IPO from Time Warner slated for next year, though a company rep denied that to AdAge.
AOL drops walls as it turns into media player (Reuters)
AOL takes bold step: Content's now free (USA Today)
Major sites hope to keep users 'tuned in' (USA Today)
Media Buyers Welcome AOL's New Portal (ClickZ)
AOL's Well Again (NY Post)
Time Warner Denies AOL/Cable Spin-Off (AdAge)

Blogging their way to a going concern (June 29)
Andrew Madden of Technology Review has published a lengthy piece reviewing the commercial and publishing progress of blogs, and speculating on their future. It asks: “Blogs are the soapboxes of the Internet era -- independent platforms for everything from personal diatribes to political discourse to tech-gadget reviews. But with their growing popularity, could blogs also become media platforms capable of making money?” See this link.

Pew points to political bias (June 27)
The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press in the USA has released a survey of attitudes to, and use of, mainstream media which points to an increased perception of political bias. It also finds that a quarter of the people surveyed now see the internet as a primary news source. Click here for the report.

Fleeting but not forgotten (June 24)
The decision by the Reuters news agency to vacate its Fleet Street offices in London marks the end of the district's long association with the media -- decades after it lost its status as Britain's newspaper hub. Bill Hagerty has written one of the better reminisces on the topic, for the BBC. See this link.

Legally bland (June 24)
According to Variety magazine, lawyers working for Angelina Jolie and/or the producers of her recent movie release, Mr & Mrs Smith, have tried to break new legal ground in tying media into a pre-interview agreement. Among the terms were no personal questions and no use of the material for critical purposes -- which suggests a mild rework of the film's publicity hype was about the only thing that was allowed. Not surprisingly, the contracts went down like a lead balloon. See this link.

Mixed blessing from Canterbury (June 24)
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, recently delivered his analysis of current media practice in a speech at Lambeth Palace. It was a mixed review for the profession, including the advice: “If the profession is to perform its necessary job, some aspects of current practice are lethally damaging to it, and contribute to the embarrassingly low level of trust in the profession (especially in the UK) shown in most opinion polls.” Click here for the full text of the speech, or visit the Archbishop's website via this link.

Reporters without democracy (June 24)
Reporters Without Borders is incensed that Microsoft is censoring the Chinese version of its blog tool, MSN Spaces, at the behest of the government. The system is automatically rejecting words including "democracy" and "Dalai Lama". Yahoo agreed some years ago to a similar form of censorship. See this link for the RSF report.

Suffrage debate livens up Kuwait media (June 24)
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) reports that Kuwait's decision to grant women full political rights has livened up the political debate in that country's media. However, somewhat predictably, it has also turned into a debate over religion. We've reproduced MEMRI's analysis at this link.

Google patents the truth (June 21)
The Guardian in the UK reports that the Google search engine company has applied for a patent on a technology which is designed to rank online news stories on the criteria of accuracy and topicality – something which will no doubt attract considerable interest from publishers. This is one of a number of changes the company is undertaking, which are outlined in the story at this link.

Comms Law in upheaval (June 16)
The Communications Law Centre based at the University of NSW has discovered the uni is withdrawing its support. The centre is now seeking alternative backing after providing several years of useful service to the media, law and academic professions. See this link.

What is a journo? (June 15)
From Benton.org: A new Annenberg Public Policy Center poll released Monday finds a split on the perceived goals of big media corporations. While 48 percent of the public said their first priority is to generate high profits for the owners, 46 per cent said it is to deliver high-quality news coverage. Among journalists, only 12 per cent said the top priority of corporate owners is to provide factual and timely coverage. 49 per cent say that the owners do try to provide quality coverage but that business realities sometimes prevent this from happening. Ask members of the press whether Rush Limbaugh and Bob Woodward are journalists and the answers are somewhat predictable. But the public has a different view. About the same percentage considers the radio talk show host and the author and Washington Post editor to be journalists, says the survey by Annenberg. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, the center's director, said the findings provide "disturbing evidence that the public defines the word very differently from the way that most journalists do, a conclusion buttressed by the fact that 40 percent said Bill O'Reilly... was a journalist and only 19 percent said that George Will, the columnist and commentator, was one."
[Source: Washington Post, Author: Howard Kurtz] See this link.

Media conference for Melbourne (June 14)
The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance is hosting News Media and the Law Conference in Melbourne, Australia, on June 23-24. It promises to bring together Australia's media to discuss the future of media and changing definitions of journalism in the face of the Australian governments proposed changes to media ownership laws. Contact www.alliance.org.au

How to make compelling webs (June 14)
From the OPA: The Online Publishers Association today unveiled the results of its latest research project, the "Online User Experience Study." Conducted in partnership with the Media Management Center at Northwestern University, the study identified 22 experiences that describe and define of how people interact with and relate to digital media, and determined how each of those specific experiences impact site usage. "Experience is a critical concept to understand, particularly in a crowded environment where media constantly compete for consumers' attention," said Michael Zimbalist, president of the Online Publishers Association. "It goes beyond providing content that gets good user satisfaction ratings, to involving and engaging users' minds and emotions. Properly implemented, it can elevate a product from something that satisfies a basic need to something that compels repeat usage and loyalty." See this link.

China puts lid on bloggers (June 9)
From the NY Times: In its latest measure to tighten policing of the Internet, China has begun requiring bloggers and owners of personal Web sites to register with the government or be forced offline. The new regulations, announced in March, took effect this week, with a warning on the Web site of the Information Ministry that the sites of those who failed to comply would be shut down. The measures come against the backdrop of explosive growth of Internet use in China, and the development of Web logs and personal sites as alternative sources of news, as in many other countries. (Benton.org)
New York Times article – click here

Vloggers start networking (June 8)
From Mercury News.com: The Internet's now-ubiquitous text-based Weblogs and its audiocentric podcasts are being upstaged by newfangled video blogs consisting primarily of moving imagery… Google, the Web-search giant, recently solicited home-brewed footage for use online. Open Media Network, a Net firm backed by Web-browser pioneer Marc Andreessen, aims to provide a mixture of professional and vlog-based video. Current, a cable-TV network co-founded by former Vice President Al Gore, is focusing on ``short form'' shows. It has staged a series of video-submission contests, offering the winners money to develop programs for the network. The report goes on to outline how vloggers are setting up formal newscasts online and recruiting regular correspondents. See this link for the full story.

Censored by fear (June 7)
Defecting Chinese diplomat Chen Yongli said that the Chinese media in Australia conducted self-censorship because they were afraid of retaliation by the Chinese government. The Epoch Times reports Chen said that when he worked for the Chinese Consulate in Sydney, part of his work involved restricting media freedom. Click here for the report.
http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/5-6-6/29348.html

Map Wars: Google Earth vs MSN Virtual Earth (June 6)
There's a certain megalomanical bent to the portal sites that are trying to capture and deliver the whole world to Web users -- one small business and residence at a time. The most recent escalation in the map wars came when Google formally announced its Google Earth effort, and Microsoft unveiled MSN Virtual Earth. Google Earth will combine the Keyhole 3-D mapping technology with Google's local search and driving directions -- with the possibility of seeing an animation of your potential drive. Microsoft is countering with oblique imagery from Pictometry, and the future ability to look at buildings from four different angles. What's the prize in mapping? Local advertising. "When you can not only put a dot on the map to show where the Starbucks is, but also show a picture of the sign in front of the store to let you know you have the right building, that's a unique competitive advantage," says Directions magazine, a geotechnology publication. Meanwhile, more entrepreneurial types aren't waiting for the portals to combine local listings and maps. Wired News reports on hacked services such as HousingMaps, which combines Google Maps with Craigslist listings across the U.S. and Canada. Plus, there's a service that combines Google Maps with traffic reports, and another that combines Google Maps with Flickr photos. (Online-Publishers.org)

NY Times Digital charges – a sign of things to come? (June 5)
The writing was on the wall for months, and finally the wall came up. The pay wall, that is. Execs at the New York Times Co. had decried the state of free content on NYTimes.com and finally got their wish -- a new TimesSelect program due in September that will put a smorgasbord of features behind a $49.95 annual fee (but will remain free for print subscribers). On the all-you-can-eat menu are Op-Ed columnists, archives, exclusive multimedia, a first look at articles, and the Newstracker service. While the Motley Fool liked the new revenue stream for NYTimes.com, many other critics like Poynter's Steve Outing predicted the columnists would lose online cachet and might go free again in due time (follow the PaidContent link, below, for more reaction). While bloggers loudly complained about the move, the Times plans to give commissions to blogs that help sell people on TimesSelect. (Online-Publishers.org)
NY Times media release – click here
Editor & Publisher report – click here
Click Z news -- click here

Deep Throat revealed (June 2)
Now that we’re all at a safe historical distance, the Washington Post has revealed the identity of Deep Throat – or the government source who helped to unravel the Watergate scandal which saw US president Richard Nixon booted from office.You can read about it via this link.

Media reform drafts this month (June 2)
Communications Minister Senator Helen Coonan has signaled that draft reforms to media ownership laws, plus digital TV regulations, are likely to be revealed late this month.MInisterial web page -- click here.

IPTV gains momentum (June 1)
The emerging technology of Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) seems to be gaining a momentum of its own, helped in no small part by the fact telecommunications and internet companies see it as a way of raising revenues. Are we in for a future where Telstra and Google are major television players? These two links provide some useful info on IPTV.
IPTV Forum - click here
IPTV News - click here

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