Launches and Strategies

Rival Australian newspaper publishers Fairfax Media and APN News & Media have agreed on an alliance combining Fairfax’s online classified advertising with the print classified sections of 90 regional daily and local newspapers published by APN in Queensland and Northern New South Wales. The deal, bandt.co.au reported, will allow Fairfax to promote its classified websites – Drive.com.au, Domain.com...

The first Sanskrit newspaper in Gujarat christened Sanskritvartmanpatram will roll out on Sunday. It is only the third of its kind in the country and is the result of enthusiasm of three persons connected with teaching the language and dealing with ancient scriptures. Their effort will now be to provide current affairs and news in Sanskrit, says a Times of India report. A faculty at Baroda...

South Africa’s The New Age newspaper, a daily that plans to start production in September, said the Times of India Group has taken a stake in the business and it will have an initial print-run of 170,000 copies, Bloomberg News has reported. The details: [ Link] The Gupta Group, the family which controls Sahara Computers Ltd., control the newspaper, which will compete with at least five large daily...

The Advertising Standards Authority in the UK has censured the Daily Mail, The Sunday Telegraph and The Sun over “misleading” ads for reader offers, the Press Gazette has reported. A reader complained to the ASA over The Sun’s offer of a free USB wristband questioning if a charge for post and packaging represented the actual cost. The offer told readers they could claim “free” wristbands by...

Gannett, the largest US newspaper publisher, and Yahoo! have announced a local advertising partnership that brings together Gannett's strong local media organization brands, sales capabilities, and leading website audiences with Yahoo!'s high quality audience and display advertising leadership. All of Gannett's 81 local publishing organizations and seven of its Broadcasting Division sites will...

Media giants Network 18 Media & Investments and Sun Network Ltd have announced a strategic alliance to launch one of the country's biggest distribution entities by name Sun18. The alliance also marks the entry of Network 18 Group into the Indian television distribution space. Sun18 was the first pan-India distribution company and aims to become one of the dominant players in the around Rs 16,000...

All 18 Journal Register Co dailies in the US published a print newspaper and website content on Sunday July 4 using only free tools available on the Internet, according to Editor & Publisher. The Independence Day editions were the next step in Journal Register’s “Ben Franklin Project,” which began in April when a small daily and a weekly produced newspapers using free social media tools to...

An upstart online news service has led the way in investigating France's latest political funding scandal, defying President Nicolas Sarkozy's efforts to stamp his influence on the media, says a Reuters report. The Mediapart website has published a stream of embarrassing reports of alleged cash donations by France's richest woman, Liliane Bettencourt, to conservative politicians, and meddling in...

China's biggest national news agency launched its global, English-language television news network on Thursday as part of efforts to expand the communist government's influence abroad, the Associated Press (AP) has reported. Experts say China's media expansion also results from unhappiness with much of the international coverage of sensitive events in China such as Tibet and human rights. The...

Jagran Prakashan, the publishers of Dainik Jagran, will take over all the print businesses of Mid-Day Multimedia, which publishes the afternoon tabloid Mid-Day, the Hindu Businessline has reported. According to the agreement announced on Wednesday, a Mid-Day shareholder will get two shares of Jagran for every seven owned in the company. Mid-Day's publication business operated by its arm, Mid-Day...