Media UK

News International staff get 3.8% pay rise
From Media Guardian. Posted May 14 2008, 2.54pm
News International staff will receive a 3.8% pay rise from July 1. By Stephen Brook (more)

Newsquest staff poised for five-day strike action
From Hold the Front Page. Posted May 14 2008, 1.00pm
Editorial departments could be slashed as 34-strong NUJ membership votes overwhelmingly for walkout (more)

Five-day strike planned at York Press and Gazette & Herald papers
From Media Guardian. Posted May 14 2008, 12.37pm
A five-day strike will hit the York Press and Gazette & Herald titles from Thursday next week. By Stephen Brook (more)

Johnston Press to sell shares to manage £700m debt
From Hold the Front Page. Posted May 14 2008, 10.40am
Latest management statement shows decline in print advertising but digital revenues continue to blossom (more)

Media Guardian: 15m UK users visted newspaper, claims ComScore
From Journalism.co.uk. Posted May 14 2008, 10.24am
Nearly 15 million people - 44 per cent of UK internet users - visited newspaper sites during March, according to ComScore web metrics. The Guardian says that ComScore figures suggest that Sun Online was the most visited UK newspaper site by residents of this country, recording 4.3 million unique users, with Guardian.co.uk second with at 3.6 million. Telegraph.co.uk had 2.8 million users and Times Online 2.6 million. (more)

BBC dot.life blog: Twitter and the China earthquake
From Journalism.co.uk. Posted May 14 2008, 10.20am
BBC Technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones muses on Robert Scoble's claim that Twitter broke the news of the earthquake in China quicker than United States Geological Survey, which provides early warnings of seismic events. "Let's see, as this story unfolds, whether this is the moment when Twitter comes of age as a platform which can bring faster coverage of a major news event than traditional media, while allowing participants and onlookers to share their experiences," suggests Mr Cellan-Jones. (more)

Inflection Point: Pay per performance for online journos
From Journalism.co.uk. Posted May 14 2008, 10.09am
Journalism.co.uk wrote a story last week about comments RBI managing director Jim Muttram made to the PPA conference about performance related pay for journalists. Back on his own blog Jim has posted about the hubbub surrounding the issue. "If any pay for performance scheme were ever to be implemented in a blanket fashion that very well might be the result - which, for the record, would be a bad thing! "However, in an online world where attention is firstly more valued and more difficult to get, and secondly increasingly measurable it surely comes as no surprise that questions about how to maximise it arise from time to time." I recommend a click through to read the whole post. (more)

Johnston Press to Stage Rights Issue
From allmediascotland - Spike. Posted May 14 2008, 8.37am
The publishers of The Scotsman newspaper has announced it is hoping to raise over 200 million pounds by issuing new shares. This morning, Johnston Press, issued a statement saying that, subject to the approval of shareholders, it intends to raise £212.3 million by means of an... (more)

Duchess of York defends Princess Beatrice from Daily Mail's 'Miss Piggy' jibes
From Media Guardian. Posted May 14 2008, 8.35am
The Duchess of York has attacked Allison Pearson after the Daily Mail columnist made jokes about Princess Beatrice's weight. By Stephen Brook (more)

Johnston Press launches £200m rights issue
From Financial Times. Posted May 14 2008, 8.34am
The regional newspaper owner launched an emergency £212m rights issue to stave off financial collapse and unveiled a new Malaysian shareholder to shore up its finances (more)

Malay group takes 20% Johnston Press stake
From Financial Times. Posted May 14 2008, 8.34am
The regional newspaper owner launched a rights issue and a subscription to raise £212m to stave off a breach in the media group's covenants, which will see a new Malaysian investor take a 20% stake (more)

Magee Makes Awards Roster
From allmediascotland - Spike. Posted May 14 2008, 8.03am
A Scots freelance business writer has been nominated for an UK-wide journalism prize celebrating the best work on the specialist subject of information security. Bill Magee, a regulator contributor to Scotland on Sunday, has been shortlisted in this year’s BT Information Security... (more)

Olympic chance for budding young sports reporter
From Hold the Front Page. Posted May 14 2008, 6.10am
Newsquest runs once-in-a-lifetime competition, NUJ receives police apology and more news in brief (more)

Long-serving Echo reporter dies aged 61
From Hold the Front Page. Posted May 14 2008, 6.10am
Brian Redhead spent many years covering his hometown in North Yorkshire (more)

Top industry award for Weekly News man
From Hold the Front Page. Posted May 14 2008, 6.10am
Newbury Weekly News boss John Robertson awarded Newspaper Society honour (more)