2005-2014

2 May 2005

IFJ expresses concern over harassment of senior journalist

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the global organisation representing over 500,000 journalists worldwide, today condemned the harassment of senior journalist Anand Swaroop Verma by the Central Bureau of Investigation in India. "Harassment of journalists for their truth telling represents a curtailment of press freedom that must be resisted," said IFJ President Christopher Warren...

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30 April 2005

Google searches for quality not quantity

Google has plans that will dramatically improve the results of internet news searches, by ranking them according to quality rather than simply by their date and relevance to search terms. The ambitious system is revealed by patents filed in the US and around the world (WO 2005/029368) by researchers based at the company's headquarters in Mountain View, California. At the moment the company's...

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29 April 2005

Hindustan Times to go for a design makeover

Come May 1, Hindustan Times' Delhi edition will have a completely new look. While none of the HT executives were available for comments, industry sources informed that Hindustan Times will now have a new-look masthead for its Delhi edition. Other significant changes include overall design in each of the pages, inclusion of more pictures. Sources said, the newspaper's pages will now be more photo...

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29 April 2005

Taxi Screens Set To Compete With Newspapers

London, New York, China, and Australia all have cabbies equipped with in-taxi networks designed to leverage a captive audience and entertain fares in the process. Analysts expect that troubled newspapers will be dealt yet another blow as passengers turn to technology for news and entertainment on the move. Cabvision, a "broadcast style" In–Cab TV system using digital audio broadcasting (DAB)...

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29 April 2005

Yahoo! News Director Foresees Friendly Coexistence With Media Companies

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PUBLISHERS, ADVERTISERS, and readers that at one time sustained news companies is now obsolete, according to Neil Budde, the founding editor of The Wall Street Journal Online, who was hired by Yahoo! as its news director in November. Budde spoke to OnlineMediaDaily Thursday about Yahoo!'s revamped news site, and the company's role in the evolving news business. "The days...

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28 April 2005

The New Old Journalism

We've been having a spirited discussion in the journalism department at New York University. With newspapers hemorrhaging readers and people migrating to the web for their daily news fix, should we consider changing the way we teach journalism? For as far back as anyone can remember, New York University has used introductory courses to drill students on the basics: "ledes," "nut grafs," the...

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28 April 2005

Print learns to love the web

As newspaper websites mark their 10th anniversary in Australia this year and online advertising surges, publishers are being forced to take stock of their place in the new media revolution. Nic Jones, the managing director of News Interactive, says the internet's cannibalising effect on newspaper circulation has been overstated. "I don't think the web is the magpie in the nest that maybe some...

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28 April 2005

How Google is affecting newspapers

A phenomenon that is becoming impossible to live without, Google has facilitated the rapid expansion of the Internet in ways no other digital entity could ever dream. It may even be safe to say that practically no one goes online without consulting the simply designed page, giggling at whatever witty costume the famous logo might be wearing depending on the day. With features such as AdWords and...

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28 April 2005

Can Blogging Ever Become Big Business

When I had the temerity to poke around Nick Denton's weblog business model in the pages of Business 2.0, the Gawker Media impresario responded with an entry on his personal weblog that dismissed my findings as a "blog fantasy." My contention that Denton, who had founded and flipped companies before, wasn't just indulging in a hobby and might someday sell Gawker to the highest bidder seemed to...

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28 April 2005

Adulterer's Death Highlights Lack Of Rights For Women

Human right groups are expressing concern over the killing of an Afghan woman accused of committing adultery. The 29-year-old was reportedly sentenced to death by local religious leaders after she was found in the house of a man other than her husband. As contradictory reports emerge as to the specific cause of death, many observers say the Afghan government must do more to protect women from...

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