Justice Department target Fox News reporter in North Korea leak case

Just a week after the AP/Department of Justice affair, the White House has become involved in a second potential scandal involving the alleged surveillance of Fox News journalist, James Rosen, as part of an inquest into a leak of classified information regarding North Korean nuclear test plans in 2009.

In Switzerland, NZZ paywall nets few subscribers

Leading Swiss quality paper Neue Zürcher Zeitung has attracted only a handful of website subscribers since erecting a metered paywall last autumn, according to another Swiss paper’s website.

Kenyan elections: Uchaguzi revolutionises crowdsourcing

Launched just before the Kenyan general election of 2013, new online platform Uchaguzi gave Kenyan internet users the unique opportunity to report on violence and other disturbances unfolding as members of the public cast their votes. It is hoped that this latest development of iHub will continue facilitating a form of citizen journalism that will lead to calmer, more transparent elections in the future.

Are you ready for a hack attack?

On May 17, between 12.38pm and 12.42pm London time, the Financial Times was attacked by the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA), becoming the latest news outlet to be hacked by supporters of the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, the paper reported.

The New Yorker launches ‘Strongbox’ to protect privacy of sources

On Wednesday (15 May), The New Yorker launched ‘Strongbox’, a new way to share information with the magazine’s writers and editors that provides “a greater degree of anonymity and security than afforded by conventional e-mail.” The formation of this anonymous information-sharing platform means that members of the public need not hesitate about sharing sensitive information, given that their identities will remain protected from magazine staff.

French newspapers catch on to ‘augmented reality’

“Augmented reality” is a digital concept that the news industry has been familiar with for some time now. Already tried and tested by a host of national newspapers in the US and UK including The Independent, The Times, The Telegraph and The Los Angeles Times to name but a few (see previous Editors Weblog article on the varying ways in which these newspapers have been using AR), the past few weeks have seen a flourish of French newspapers hopping on board, embracing this new technology as a useful way to bridge the gap between their print and online content.

Paywall imminent for Axel Springer’s Bild.de

Germany’s Axel Springer publishing house, which in December instituted a metered paywall for mainstream title Die Welt, will follow up with a paid-content offer for Bild.de by the end of May, according to media site Horizont.net.

UK’s Sun to introduce paywall for online content… but will people pay?

In a move which completes News International’s strategy of placing all of its national newspapers behind paywalls, The Sun will begin charging £2 per week for its online content in August this year. The imposing of a weekly charge follows the newspaper’s £30 million deal to gain rights to all Premier League matches, meaning that paid subscribers will have access to Premier League clips as well as a number of “exclusive offers and promotions.”

AP: US Justice Department secretly accessed phone records

The US Justice Department is being accused of carrying out “a serious interference with AP’s constitutional rights to gather and report news” by secretly obtaining two months’ worth of telephone records of the Associated Press’ reporters and editors. As some are seeing it, that infringes on the news cooperative’s rights to maintain the confidentiality of their sources and newsgathering operations.

El País: how to keep a focus on quality journalism in tough times

2012 was a difficult year for El País, which cut a third of its newsroom staff due to financial pressures. For some weeks at the end of the year, journalists were counting to 129 before the evening editorial meeting each day, to remind editors of the 129 colleagues who had to leave.