News

No news is good news for South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma

In an address to journalism students visiting Parliament from Tshwane University of Technology, South African President Jacob Zuma bemoaned the “overly negative” image of the country portrayed in the media, suggesting it deterred foreign investment and painted a stay-away image. Citing a trip to Mexico as deputy president, he lauded the “patriotic reporting” that kept bad news out of the country’s press. What President Zuma failed to acknowledge is that the Mexican media has been under constant violent attack for its attempts to cover the ongoing consequences of the “War on Drugs”, and that the silence he so praised is a desperate sign of the country’s democratic failings.

Breathe new life to content archives at Media Hack Day in Berlin

Berlin’s credentials as a creative city, particularly for media, technology and startups, make it an ideal place to harness the imagination and ideas of the tech community and invest this in the future of news media.

Telegraph Media Group appoints new editor-in-chief as part of focus on digital

In the latest step in its journey to become “the foremost English-language multimedia news and content provider,” The Telegraph Media Group has recruited the services of PBS’s general (digital) manager Jason Seiken, the Guardian reports.

Transformation at the Deseret News: separate teams and redefined focus

While the recent tendency for newspaper publishers has been to integrate their digital efforts into their traditional operations, Clark Gilbert has become known for challenging conventional logic. Having joined the Salt Lake City, Utah-based Deseret News Publishing Co. in 2009, he is now president and CEO of this company and of Desert Digital Media. Gilbert was formerly a professor at Harvard Business School and elsewhere and a consultant on innovation and disruption.

Le Figaro looks to magazines to raise revenue

Le Figaro, one of France’s top-selling national newspapers, is dedicating a lot of energy to its magazine output – and with good reason.

Rise of adblock technology could prove troublesome for online news titles

Even as digital news consumption begins to grow online, news titles have yet to solve the puzzle of boosting their revenue. Released in March, Pew Research Centre’s 2013 State of the Media report reveals that news publications are failing to monetise their growing digital audience. Though digital advertising grew by 17 percent in 2012, the revenue generated in this sector increased by only 3 percent. Now, as the popularity of adblock technology continues to grow, newspapers find themselves faced with fresh online challenges.

New Editor-in-Chief at Helsingin Sanomat, while Sanoma begins redesign of media operations

Helsingin Sanomat has a new editor-in-chief, Kaius Niemi, Sanoma announced. 2013 has so far been an exceptionally eventful year at Finland’s largest daily, while news from the newspaper’s publishing company Sanoma speaks of a need for a wider restructuring.

Dearth of independent sources makes news organisations cautious with Syria footage

On Wednesday 21 August, in the hours following the alleged chemical attack in the suburbs of Damascus, YouTube and Facebook were awash with videos footage and photographs reportedly documenting the event. The problem encountered by news agencies, faced with a wealth of supposed visual evidence, was how to verify the authenticity of these images.

Have you heard the one about the prosecutor, four cops and an award-winning journalist?

Neuchâtel, Switzerland, 6:40am, 13 August 2013. A prosecutor, four criminal investigators and an IT expert enter the apartment of award-winning journalist, Ludovic Rocchi. Working on assignment, the journalist’s wife is home alone and reportedly interrogated in his place. Computer equipment and notebooks are seized before the dawn squad retreat, taking along with them a good chunk of Switzerland’s press freedom.

Washington Post develops native advertising for print

The Washington Post is developing its BrandConnect programme by selling native advertisements for print, AdAge reports. Since March, the Post has been rolling out its sponsored content platform, which allows advertisers to tailor their message to the paper’s audience.