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TV reporters’ apartment bombed
jumped out window
Journalists regularly face tough critics, some with deadly intent. As Phil Stone mentioned below, being a reporter is a tough business. We’ve come to expect nasty things happening to diligent news gatherers in nasty places…but not Stockholm.
Early Wednesday morning (May 20) a bomb went off, planted by the door of a TV4 reporter’s apartment in suburban Stockholm. In the ensuing fire the reporter dove out a window, reported The Local (May 20). Police consider the bombing deliberate and are treating the case as attempted murder. The bombing target may have been a previous resident of the apartment, said police sources reported by Expressen (May 21).
Ad self-reg group returns
not a moment too late
Yet another affect of the advertising business restructuring is renewed interest in self-regulation frameworks. EASA - European Advertising Standards Alliance - promotes self regulation as an alternative to nasty laws. EASA has a new member in Luxembourg. Actually, an old member reborn. (See EASA presser here) (JMH)
Another French radio association formed
‘multivilles’
Owners of six French radio networks have formed Les Réseaux Indépendants, to “bring diversity and pluralism to radio broadcasting.” Networks involved in the association – Skyrock, Radio Nova, Radio Classique, MFM, Jazz Radio and TSF Jazz – are distinct from the four big radio network owners, RTL, Lagardere, NRJ Group and NextRadioTV, which formed their own radio association in March.
The ‘multivilles’ are multi-city stations lacking national coverage. Skyrock covers almost all of France, the others much less.
Broadcasters – and perhaps the public – are preparing for the roll-out of digital radio. and the smaller national networks and ‘multivilles’ fear the big companies political power in allocation assignments and disputes. (JMH)
Journalism’s Killing Fields Continue
Rodney Pinder, director of the International News Safety Institute, reminds us that as we approach the mid-point of 2009 at least 28 journalists have been killed covering the news in 19 countries.
INSI counts an additional 13 deaths in 10 countries where it is not yet clear whether the victim died as a result of their work as a journalist. The worst countries are Pakistan (first with 3 deaths and equal first with Russia and Palestine in cases still under investigation), and Somalia, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Libya and Iraq with 2 deaths each.
If there is any good news to report on such as story it has to be the drop in journalist casualties in Iraq which has been the worst killing ground in the world for journalists and support staff every year since 2003.
And Pinder notes that Pakistani journalists covering the war in the Swat Valley are coming under increasing pressures. According Mazhar Abbas, the former Secretary General of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ). "Pakistani journalists required to cover the war in the Swat valley face dire security threats. Every other day, there is news of journalists being killed or kidnapped, or threats to their families in the war-torn areas."
No Bailout For Newspapers In Texas
The state of Washington recently enacted legislation giving newspapers there some tax breaks so a natural question being asked of governors everywhere is whether they will step in and help the newspaper industry in their state. Well we now know in Texas it ain’t going to happen, partner.
Governor Rick Perry responding to a question put to him by a high school newspaper editor on whether Texas will help newspapers: “I don't think it's government's role to pick winners and losers. We need to make our tax policies, our regulations, our legal system fair and balanced so you have the opportunity to go out there and risk your capital.” In other words, No.
To which a reader on the Trail Blazers Web site asked, “Don't we offer tax breaks for offshore drilling, dirt cheap leases for gas/oil companies, credits for some businesses to relocate to Texas? Providing corporate welfare is Texas tradition!"
Maybe, but apparently not for newspapers.
Orange Sport wins appeal
Let the marketing resume!
France Telecom can continue marketing its Orange Sport channel, ruled the Paris Court of appeal (May 18). In February Orange was ordered to suspend marketing of the exclusive offer by the Paris Court of Commerce. Telecom competitors SFR and Lliad (Free), which brought the unfair competition suit, were dutifully fined €10,000 each. They, obviously, can appeal.
And, too, the French Competition Authority will rule on the entire idea of triple-play exclusivity. The French government asked the competition authority for its opinion of the relationship between an internet provider and content supplier.
More and more, telecoms have a deep interest in being content suppliers, bidding for sports and movie rights. The result is upward pressure on rights fees, bad news for broadcasters suffering from downward pressure on ad rates.
Everybody has an opinion on whether or not on exclusivity as a marketing strategy. Said Vivendi CEO Jean-Bernard Levy, quoted by Reuters, “It seems a bad idea, in general, to make subscription to an internet service necessary to watch a particular television program.” (JMH)
Might Conrad Black Return Sooner Than We Think?
The US Supreme Court in a terse one sentence statement says it is going to review the broadly written fraud law upon which Conrad Black was found guilty of depriving his company and shareholders of “honest services”. (More on Conrad Black going to jail here)
Black was found guilty in 2007 of three counts of mail fraud and one count of obstruction of justice for allegedly skimming $5.5 million from his Hollinger International and the Chicago-Sun-Times to support a lavish lifestyle. Black said the money was a “management fee” but the government said the payment had not been approved by the Hollinger Board.
Black was sentenced to 6 ½ years in federal prison and last year in short shrift a three-panel federal appeals court upheld the conviction.
But the Supreme Court doesn’t like broadly written law. Black’s lawyer said this “vaguely worded criminal prohibition was not fraud in the old-fashioned sense of the word.” The defense hopes for at least a new trial.
The Court will take up the case in October and probably won’t give its ruling until the spring of next year, so Black will continue for at least a few more months yet to enjoy the Florida sunshine at his near Orlando federal penitentiary.
A Reader Pleas For Her Newspaper
Journalists are pontificating about why newspapers need to survive, but leave it to a reader to put it into words better than most journalists can, so hear is a letter that appeared in The Washington Post under the headline, “Please Don’t Let The Newspaper Go Extinct.”
I am suffering anxiety about newspapers. The book section has been cut back, but the obituaries have gained space. Are people dying from book review deprivation? I read of cutbacks in staff and features because newspapers are suffering along with the rest of the economy. I fear the possibility of losing my best source of entertainment and news.
I've always been impressed with the way newspapers overcome adversity to get their product to their customers. I am an early riser and like having my morning paper with my first cup of coffee. I appreciate how early the paper deliverers must rise to get my paper to me even in bad weather. I was living in Houston some years ago when a hurricane came through. I went out to check on my yards when the eye of the storm was passing over early in the morning. In my back yard, I saw a limb of a pecan tree about four inches in diameter resting atop my car. I went to the front of the house and smiled upon seeing that the Houston Chronicle had been delivered.
I remember the thrill of the one time I heard the paperboy shouting, "Extra!" It was the surrender of Japan that brought a close to World War II.
But it is the day-to-day service that I love and do not want to be without. I like my news from the paper rather than television. I enjoy the coverage of more items and the depth of coverage. I want to be able to go back and reread, to skip over the sports section because it does not interest me as much, to check all the stock market -- not just the top most-active stocks -- and to study the ads and clip coupons at my leisure. I appreciate the variety of styles and tones of the writing. I look forward to the satire of the cartoons and the different opinions in the op-ed section and letters to the editor. (I especially enjoy Page Three).
I remember the worry about the shortage of newsprint during World War II, but I was a child and was satisfied with the headlines and the comics. Now I am retired, with enough time to read every line I am interested in, reread it if I wish, work the crossword puzzles and Sudoku, study the advertising and scan the obituaries. Please don't deprive me of my newspaper.
-- Anne Sadler, Rockville , USA
The Telegraph Still Owns The UK Parliament Expenses Story…
Surely there is no more competitive national newspaper market than the UK with its 11 daily AM newspapers and yet it is only The Daily Telegraph that each day for the past week has been breaking more and more details on the UK Parliamentarians fiddling of expenses. And according to The Guardian, The Daily and Sunday Telegraph titles are seeing big circulation increases for their trouble. Today’s revelations, for instance, concern the expenses of senior members of Parliament called the “whips” for their responsibility to ensure Parliamentarians vote as their party wishes.
How does the Telegraph keep an exclusive going for so long on what is undoubtedly the biggest story to hit the UK in many years. It’s not saying how it came by the information although the word on the street is that a worker in the Parliament’s office that deals with expenses made a disk of the past four years expenses and was trying to sell it to newwspapers with no takers until The Telegraph. If that story is true then the thinking is the Telegraph got its exclusive of the century for a cost of around £100,000 (€125,000, $150,000)for the best marketing the newspapers have ever enjoyed.
But The Telegraph is not actually saying how it came by the information. Its assistant editor Benedict Brogan told a BBC political program, “The first rule of journalism [is that] you don't discuss your sources, or how you got things." He continued, "The fact is that the Telegraph has been working on this story for weeks; we've got 25 journalists working on it, lawyers, all sorts of experts looking at it, and I can assure you that a newspaper like the Telegraph, which is a serious newspaper, has not entered into this exercise lightly. The things we satisfied ourselves about, were one, that the information is genuine; and two, that it is in the public interest that we publish it," Brogan said.
It’s a lesson for the world’s newspapers – get hold of an exclusive that has legs to run for a week or more and just watch your circulation soar. What everyone wants to see, however, is once The Telegraph’s series has ended, will it hold onto that enlarged circulation?
…And All The Sun Can Do Is Lower Its Newsstand Price Again
Rupert Murdoch’s UK Sun tabloid is so desperate to get its circulation up again over the 3 million mark that it has again lowered its price in the London area to just 20 pence while its main competitor, The Daily Mirror, remains at 45 pence.
For several months last year The Sun had lowered its price in London and surrounding areas in its bid to stay above 3 million, a trick that worked, but once the price went back to the regular 30 pence circulation dropped again.
In the April ABC numbers The Sun dropped to 2,957,690 but the expectation is that the London lower price will add some 50,000 additional copies, so that would bring the tabloid up again over 3 million.
The Daily Star, which is even more of a rag than The Sun, dropped its price from 35 pence to 20 pence last November and has seen sales steadily grow – indeed it was the only tabloid to show a slight increase in April circulation to 822,646. The Star’s circulation over the past year is up 12.65% while The Sun’s is down 5.56%.
Public TV posts positive results
Less advertising, more government subsidy
Spanish public TV RTVE reported first quarter 2009 financial results, including a net income gain. How can that be?
RTVE has been on a cost cutting spree, deleting €5.2 million from its operating budget. And, then, the Spanish government increased its contribution by nearly 12% to €139.6 million. That helped the public broadcasters bottom line by €179,000.
The Spanish government is peeling back ads from RTVE, dismal economics and the ad slump pushing the remaining ad time down 23.1% for the quarter compared to 2008 to €115 million. (More on Spain's TV advertising here)
"During this first quarter, RTVE has continued its active policy to reduce and control spending,” said president Luis Fernández in a statement (May 18), “without sacrificing the quality and public service function as required by law.” (JMH)
Online advertising just keeps growing
What crisis?
Figures released by Bitkom, the German Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and new Media, released first quarter 2009 online advertising results for Germany, €340 million. Year on year, that’s an 11.2% increase. What crisis?, asks Bitkom vice president Achim Berg in a release (May 18).
Telecoms and online services are, unsurprising, the biggest online advertisers in Germany.
The 2008 total online ad spending in Germany was €1.3 billion. (See more on ad spending here) (JMH)
Eurovision on to Norway
New rules and a new sound
The 54th Eurovision Song Contest is history. New rules adding ‘expert’ juries to the popular vote made an impact on the final telecast. And so did spending €30 million.
Norway’s public broadcaster NRK, if they choose, will host the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest. Almost no PSB refuses. NRK will not, certainly, spend as much as the Russian State TV Channel One, the city of Moscow and the Russian government. (See Eurovision press release here)
The venue, Moscow’s Olympic Stadium, was spectacular. Obviously, to Channel One size mattered. With that in mind, the art direction – all the visuals, lights and effects – was also well done… and huge. The dozens of short graphic break elements showed taste and style.
Staging the music, however, felt remote. A big stage in a very big hall doesn’t lend well to intimacy, something television needs. The music – even with performers jumping around – felt cold.
Critics of the Eurovision Song Contest – itself an odd idea – have complained about the winning and losing, saying it should be more ‘about the songs’ than perceived socio-political dynamics. They got their wish. There were lots of nice songs nobody will remember. And, to be expected, neighbors and friends voted – largely – for neighbors and friends. (See more on the Eurovision Song Contest here)
That Norway’s contestant Alexander Rybak – after a lively performance of a decent tune – won more tele-votes then ever recorded in a Eurovision Song Contest was no surprise. Rybak tipped that question when he thanked the audience at the closing in near perfect Russian. He grew up in Norway of a Belarusian family.
The Channel One directors and crews kept everything moving along, only the closing suffered – it was after 2 in the morning Moscow time – and looked like an afterthought.
And so, the massive new Telenor Arena in Oslo is expected to be next years’ venue. (JMH)
Ad response falls
“marketing wastage rate” up
A timeless gem of marketing wisdom holds that consumers thinking about buying a product or service are more likely to pay attention to ads for those things. The opposite is also true: when not in need (or in the mood) to buy, people are less likely to “see” ads. A London researcher tracking ad response around the world found that dismal economics is having a dismal effect.
Tracking online and offline advertising against sales, retail traffic, prospects captured and “positive target audience conditioning,” Fournaise Marketing Group found 21% decline in response to advertising in the first quarter 2009 compared with the same period in 2008. Response rates in Europe, Australia and the US fell 28%, in China and India 14%.
“Despite the stimulus packages released by the local governments, consumers and businesses in recession-hit countries in Europe, the US and Australia have been tightening their belts and controlling their expenditures, and this makes them much less receptive to the campaigns targeting them,” said company CEO Jerome Fontaine in a press statement.
Quite initiatively, Fournaise reports consumers least responsive to ads from the automobile, travel and financial sectors. Response rose to ads from the retail and fast moving consumer goods sectors. (See more on ad spending here)
“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half,” said retailer John Wanamaker long ago. According to Fournaise, the “Marketing Wastage Rate” it tracks rose 13% to 61% in the first quarter. (JMH)
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