30 September 2009

France:First Assesment of Free  Distribution of Newspapers for Young Readers
Faced with the economic crisis and the drop of young readership in France, the government launched  free nationwide subscriptions as part of the government subsidies to the French press  which were agreed last year during the "Etats généraux de la presse écrite" . The French government will inject a total of €600 million over three years in the French press. In return, publishers will provide the newspapers for free  to young people aged 18 to 24 and the government will pay for distribution. According to the newspapers which experimented the concept, more than 10% of young people continue their subscription after the period of free newspapers.
http://www.editorsweblog.org/newspaper/2009/09/restoring_newspaper_readership_among_fre.php

UK: Online Advertising Overtakes TV
As advertising revenues continue to fall among traditional media, a recent study by the Internet Advertising Bureau and PricewatherhouseCoopers shows that online advertising grew 4.6% to £1.752 billion between January and July this year. Justin Pearse, editor of industry website New Media Age, said the tough economic times had led to a significant fall in TV advertising spending. The report concludes that the recession had accelerated the migration of advertising spending to digital technology from the traditional media to online media.  
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8280557.stm

29 September
UK and Spain: Revenues Continue to Drop
In Spail, advertising revenue  of  newspapers fell by 20% from 2007 to 2008, according to the latest statistics from PRNoticias. Among all Spanish newspapers, advertising revenues of the provincial newspaper La Provincia Las Palmas dropped most rapidly by 45.4%. The paper with the lowest loss is Metro (- 7%) closed down at the beginning of 2009.
http://www.newspaperinnovation.com/index.php/2009/09/29/spanish-papers-lose-20-ad-revenue-in-2008/   
http://www.prnoticias.es/index.php/component/content/10039144?task=view 

In the UK, after a series of cost-effective measures by the Daily Mail which included cutting 200 jobs in June this year, the newspaper's prospects do not seem to improve. It is disclosed today that the advertising revenues in the national newspapers have fallen by 16% while the regional advertising has fallen by 31% in the past 11 months.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/sep/29/ad-revenues-tumble-daily-mail

France: Satirical Website Turns to Print
As many newspapers go online, the French satirical website, Bakchich, is reversing the trend by launching its paper edition. Bakchich publishes four satirical weeklies and the launch of Bakchich Hebdo together sold 630,000 copies a week in 2008.
http://www.bakchich.info/Jour-J-Un-nouveau-canard-Dans-les,08755.html

28 September

US: The Washington Post Issues Social Media Guidelines to Staff
Following the Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press (See Monitoring Change Archives in May and June), the Washington Post issued ‘Newsroom Guidelines for Use of Facebook, Twitter and Other Online Social Networks' to its staff. Some of these guidelines include restrictions on talking about newsroom or the paper's business activities and criticising ‘competitors or those who take issue with our journalism or our journalists'.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ombudsman-blog/2009/09/post_editor_ends_tweets_as_new.html?wprss=ombudsman-blog   

China: State-owned Chinese Newspapers are Immune from ‘Media Crisis'
Despite the structural change and technological advancement that are taking place in the media around the world, Chinese newspapers seem to be immune from such fear and crisis that the western media are facing. Chinese newspapers are thriving and their circulations are expanding like their economy. The People's Daily, the largest government-owned newspaper in China prints 2.8 million copies daily that are sold to subscribers. Editors from the People's Daily consider online news as parasites rather than threats.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20090928-227239/Chinese-newspapers-dont-fear-extinction

25 September

UK: Trinity Mirror to Cut 13 Jobs at Media Wales
The UK media group, Trinity Mirror announced it plans  to cut 13 jobs at Media Wales, a Trinity Mirror-owned subsidiary. It also stated that there will be no guarantee of non compulsory redundancies. The company also announced the closure of the Neath and Port Talbot Guardian paid-for weeklies on 1 October. In response to the announcement, union members at Media Wales plan to hold a strike ballot.
http://blogs.journalism.co.uk/editors/2009/09/24/13-2-jobs-to-go-at-trinity-mirrors-media-wales-nuj-members-to-hold-strike-ballot/

US:
-‘Research -for-Hire' Investigative Journalism
The online news service, GlobalPost introduces a new businesses model by selling its investigative journalists on a ‘research-for-hire' basis. Under the scheme, customers can pay $104 ($50 for students and senior citizens) for a premium passport service, which will enable them get access to special content, join conference calls with reporters abroad and vote on stories. Customers can also pay an additional fee to hire ‘Passport Custom Research', which will investigate subjects of their own interest. However, this seemingly promising business model leads to the question of journalistic ethnic and editorial independence.
http://www.editorsweblog.org/newsrooms_and_journalism/2009/09/globalpost_hires_out_journalists_to_boos.php
http://www.ojr.org/ojr/people/davidwestphal/200909/1779/

-NAA Says No to Bailout Plan
Following the US president Obama's initiative to consider legislation to help US newspapers, John Strum, president of the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) said, "The newspaper industry is not seeking a financial bailout or any other kind of special subsidy." He added that the solution to the current crisis lies the marketplace and newspaper companies should be aggressively examining news business model.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hvESyBOAHq4ts1NQYLWm30-hm5aQ
 
24 September

Netherlands: Newspaper Income is to Drop by 17% This Year
According to a report by the accountants group PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), newspaper company income will drop by 17% this year as the advertising market continues to contract. Following the report, the Dutch finance and economic magazine, FEM announced that it will face closure as it can no longer make any profit. Eighteen jobs are under threat. One PWC media specialist added, ‘It is not so much the economic crisis but the changing behavior of consumers which is forcing the sector to change.'
http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2009/09/tougher_times_ahead_for_newspa.php

UK: ‘1p per Article', PCUK Poll Suggests
A recent poll conducted by paidContent: UK (PCUK) and Harris Interactive suggests that only 5% of 1,188 respondents would pay for their preferred news websites. When asked how much they are willing to pay, they only want to pay between 1p to 2p per article, under £0.25 for a day pass and under £10 for an annual subscription. Robert Andrews from PCUK warned that ‘most of these readers said they did not want to pay - their answers suggest they may pay even less or not at all'.
http://blogs.journalism.co.uk/editors/2009/09/23/pcukharris-poll-readers-want-to-spend-as-close-to-nothing-as-possible-for-online-news/

US:
-US Congress to Discuss the Future of Newspapers
The chair of the House Joint Economic Committee, Carolyn B. Maloney is to hold a hearing on ‘the Future of Newspapers' on 24 September to examine the economic impact on the changing media landscape in the US. The hearing will also review alternative funding options for newspapers and the role of the state in the play of the newspaper industry.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2009/sep/24/downturn-us-press-publishing

-68% Americans Think ‘Old-style Traditionally Objective and Fair Journalism is Dead'
In a recent poll on news media trustworthiness, it shows a majority (68%) of Americans' belief that ‘Old-style traditionally objective and fair journalism is dead' while only 26.5% believe they can still get ‘good journalism'. The poll also shows that nearly 8 out of 10 Americans would oppose any tax-rescue plan to aid failing newspapers. The lack of public support for newspaper industry is contributed by the prevailing conception that 83.6% of Americans think national news media organisations were ‘very or somewhat biased'.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004015442

23 September

UK:
- Trinity Mirror to Close Three More Weekly Newspapers
Following Trinity Mirror's announcement in July to close nine newspapers across the midlands, the Group today confirmed that three more weekly newspapers in the north-west of England and Wales will cease publications next week. The closures are due to the ‘challenging economic condition affecting the local advertising markets', said Sara Wilde, managing director of Trinity Mirror Regional North West and Wales. Eleven  jobs are under threat.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/sep/22/trinity-mirror-weekly-closures

- ITV Faces  £64m Loss by 2012, Warned OfcomOfcom, the UK media watchdog warned that ITV will need more funding as its regional news service face £64m loss by 2012 in the growing competition from digital rivals . Ofcom also proposed a rescue plan by setting up independent consortiums, including television producers, broadcasting companies or newspaper groups to bid for regional news contracts. Pilot schemes are expected to start next year.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/more-funding-needed-for-itv-regional-news-warns-ofcom-1791677.html

Spain: No More Ads on Spain's Public TV by 2010
The two public TV channels in Spain, TVE1 and TVE 2 will screen out all advertisements by 1 January 2010, according to Luis Fernandez, president of broadcaster RTVE. This announcement came after the introduction of a bill to axe advertising on the public channels in May by the ruling Socialist Party. It is expected that there will be ‘a significant reduction of advertising space' by around 50% in the following months.
http://www.expatica.com/es/news/spanish-news/Advertising-to-disappear-from-Spain_s-public-TV_56586.html

22 September

US:
- Obama Considering Legislation to Help US Newspapers 
Speaking in a meeting with editors of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Toledo Blade, the US President Obama expressed his concern about the health of the newspaper industry. Obama also expressed that he would look at possible legislation to help support the declining newspapers industry. This led to the speculation and debate of the tax-break bill, called Newspaper Revitalisation Act, which was introduced by Senator Ben Cardin, D-Maryland in March. According to the act, newspapers have to restructure into a non-profit corporation and fulfill its ‘educational purpose'.
http://www.minyanville.com/articles/newspapers-government-ap-independence-press-mclatchy-gannett-scripps/index/a/24584/from/yahoo
http://www.editorsweblog.org/newsrooms_and_journalism/2009/09/obama_reiterates_concern_about_health_of.php
 
- Journalists Lose Jobs Three Times Quicker Than Average Workers
Recent jobs losses among US journalists have confirmed that the economic downturn has hit the news industry ‘very, very hard'.  According to the Unity's 2009 Layoff Tracker Report, there is an average of 22% monthly increase in journalism jobs lost from September 2008 to August 2009. This rate is three times higher than the average workers (a monthly increase of 8% in job losses). In the past year, news media, including newspapers, broadcast and digital have cut 35, 885 jobs, of which the newspaper industry has the most job cuts.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004014096

Asia: The Far Eastern Economic Review is to Close
The 63-year-old magazine, the Far Eastern Economic Review will cease publication in December due to drop of advertising avenues. In a statement made by Todd Larsen, chief operating officer at Dow Jones Consumer Media Group said, ‘the decision to cease publication of the Review is a difficult one made after a careful stuffy of the magazine's prospects in a challenging business climate'. In 2004, the Review changed from a monthly to a weekly, cutting 80 jobs which is about 10% of Dow Jones' staff in Asia.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090922/media_nm/us_dowjones_feer

21 September

US: Citizen Journalism Will Be Part of Changing News Models
As news organisations are looking for new business models, a recent report from Oxford University's Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism concludes that citizen journalism will remain part of changing news models. John Kelly, a Washington Post columnist who is in charge of the report said the business and newsgathering models of existing news organisations change, user-generated study content will continue to be a part of their operations. Further, a US-based representative body for city journalists - the National Association of Citizen Journalist (NACJ) is established.
http://www.journalism.co.uk/5/articles/535873.php

Global: Google: Paid Online Content Won't Work for All News
As the media industry sees a glimpse of optimism for paid content model online, Google CEO and a recent audience research just give a blow to this new business model. Talking in the Royal Television Society Convention in Cambridge, UK, Google CEO Eric Schmidt, said publishers of general news will find it hard to charge for their online content given the abundance of free news available. His view seems to be further confirmed by a recent poll of UK readers' attitude on paid online news content. It shows that only 5% readers said they would pay while a majority (74%) said they would look for a free site for news.
http://www.editorsweblog.org/multimedia/2009/09/google_ceo_says_paid_online_content_wont.php
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-pcukharris-poll-only-five-percent-of-uk-readers-would-pay-for-online-ne/

18 September

Germany: "Nachrichten.de" is Online
A new automatic news aggregator with 478 journalistic sources has been launched by the media company Burda on 17 September. The news content come from other online sources such as "Spiegel Online" and from regional newspapers. Advertisements are the main source of income; Burda shares the profit with the participating media houses. According to Burda, the rights of sources' authors are respected.
http://www.kress.de/cont/story.php?id=130326

UK:  The Spectator Introduces Online Charge
Following the recent announcement of the weekly news magazine the Economist to charge for its online version, the UK weekly current affair magazine, the Spectator, has also started charging for its online content. Editor-in-Chief Andrew Neil declared that the idea of giving away free content over the internet was never particularly logical. The Spectator will offer an annual subscription to the digital edition of the magazine online of £67.50 for UK readers, as well as a Kindle subscription for 4.99 a month for its US readers.
http://www.editorsweblog.org/multimedia/2009/09/uk_current_affairs_weekly_the.php

17 September

Europe: Survey Shows a Pessimistic Outlook among European Journalists
Journalists across Europe express a pessimistic outlook in a time of economic recession and changing media landscape. The European Digital Journalism Survey 2009 shows that journalists most worry about the drop of editorial quality due to the lack of resources. They believe that the economic and technological changes in the media landscape have taken their toll on the media industry. They also expect the number of printed media to shrink dramatically in the near future.
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=44306&c=1

France: Agence France Presse in Turmoil as Workers go on Strike against Reforms
As press agencies are severely affected by deep structural changes of the media sector and by the current crisis, staff at AFP headquarters in Paris called for a strike for Thursday 17 September from 2pm to 8pm. For several months, the AFP management has been pushing ahead with far-reaching changes without any consultation of the staff. The most dangerous proposal concerns the amendment of  the original charter of AFP which dates back to 1957 and the transformation of  the agency into joint-stock company.
http://www.sos-afp.org/en

US: BusinessWeek to Fire 20% Staff for Sale
BusinessWeek plans to fire about 20% of its staff this year as part of the pitch to prospective buyers, according to the pitch book obtained by the New York Times. The cut is expected to cause 85 job losses among the departments of editorial, sales, marketing, technology and circulation in BussinessWeek.
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-businessweek-promising-to-fire-20-percent-staff-in-sale-document-employ/

16 September

US: Wall Street Journal to Charge Mobile Access
Rupert Murdoch, owner of the Wall Street Journal announced plans to charge for access  the newspaper on mobile devices. Within a month or two, people will be able to access the newspaper online through their Blackberry or iphone for a two-dollar per week subscription.
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE58E5D320090915

UK: GNM Expects Further Cut Jobs
The managing director of Guardian News & Media (GNM), Tim Brooks has told staff that more cost-cutting measures will be introduced for the company to operate at a sustainable level. It is expected that the cost-cutting measures will lead to further job cuts as the biggest portion of the costs is staffs' salaries. ‘We have to review staffing levels,' Brook added.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/sep/15/guardian-observer-cuts-tim-brooks

15 September

UK:
- TV Product Placement Back on Screens
The UK government plans to lift the ban on TV product placement to allow product placement in ‘certain circumstances' as the economic climate has changed. A three-month consultation will be announced this week and the decision is an attempt to boost advertising revenues of struggling broadcasters. However, the ban will  remain for the BBC and children's programmes.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/6178957/Ban-on-TV-product-placement-to-be-lifted.html

- BBC Considering Selling off Worldwide
The BBC is considering selling off its 1 billion turnover business Worldwide. The decision came after the parliamentary debate on its licence fee and the attack by News Corporation for its ‘dominant' market position. The plan, according to the director general Mark Thompson, includes a stock market listing of the business and offering a stake to a rival broadcaster or even an international partner.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/09/14/business/business-uk-bbc-privatise.html


11 September

Global: Could "Extermination" of News Aggregators Be Radical Plan to Save Old Media?
Are rules of the Internet becoming "stupid"? This is the question raised in Newsweek by Daniel Lyons, who wants to "exterminate the parasites" and proposes to block incoming links from news aggregators to traditional media. It may be the future, but how many people would read his articles without news aggregators?
http://www.newsweek.com/id/214832/page/2

US: Google to Launch Micropayment Next Year, But no Solution for Management of Rights
Following many newspapers' move to a paid-content model, Google has announced plans to introduce its micropayment system through Google Checkout to both Google services and non-Google properties within the next year. However, this announcement still leaves many open questions about right-holders. How will  journalists, creators and publishers manage these micropayments?
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-proposals-for-newspaper-publishers-include-google-micropay/

9th September

South Africa: SABC Closes Five International News Bureaus
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is closing down its international news bureaus in Beijing, Dakar, Brussels, Sao Paulo and one of its two offices in New York. The move, according to the SABC  interim board chairperson, Irene Charnley, is to cut operation costs down to R37 million from R60 million to compensate the loss in revenue . The SABC also plans to contract local-based reporters from Kenya and Nigeria to file reports to cut costs.
http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/sabc-closes-5-international-news-bureaus

US: Houston Spanish-language Daily El Dia Ceases Publication
The Spanish-language daily El Dia was forced to close on 28 August after serving its Spanish community for 30 years in Houston.
http://www.editorsweblog.org/newspaper/2009/09/us_houston_spanish-language_daily_el_dia.php\

UK:  
-  RBI Undergoes Additional Cost-Cutting and Boosts 50% Online Sales
Reed Business Information (RBI), the business magazine division of Reed Elsevier which publishes titles such as New Scientist and Variety announced that it needs ‘additional cost-cutting fast' to compensate its 37% fall in operating profit. In addition to these cost-cutting measures, RBI also plans to increase sales of online publications by more than 50% of its total revenue in the next three years.
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=44260&c=1 

- Economist to Charge Readers for Online News Content
The Economist will charge for news content across its website, following the decision of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation to introduce a paid-for model for its online news content. This is a clear U-turn in the paper's online strategy, since it previously decided to make its online content free in September 2006. The move to the paid-for model is expected to be introduced within the next six months.
http://www.mediaweek.co.uk/news/936610/Economist-charge-readers-its-online-news-content/

8 September

Global: News Corporation to Launch its Internal Global Service
Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation plans to launch a global wire service to link all its media outlets including TV, print and online media all over the world. The service, called NewsCore, will enable News Corporation to distribute text, video, audio and user generated content around the world in real time. 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/sep/07/news-corporation-newscore-wire

US: East Coast National Newspapers to Launch Local Editions in California
The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times plan to introduce local editions in San Francisco Bay Area to balance the contraction of local papers. The new editions are expected to attract new readers and advertiser by offering more local news to local people and businesses.  
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/05/business/media/05journal.html?_r=1&ref=media

7 September

Germany/Europe: Losses for Bertelsmann in 2009
The German-based media conglomerate Bertelsmann made a net loss of €333 millions in the first half of the year, against a profit of €372 millions in the same period last year. Bertelsmann's chief executive Hartmut Ostrowski says the advertising marked "remains difficult", making it "impossible" to forecast 2009 results. The company, the biggest media group in Europe, could record a full-year loss.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ba6f9b10-9690-11de-84d1-00144feabdc0.html

4 September

Canada: La Presse Has to Cut Costs or Face Closure
Following a number of bankruptcies among the US newspapers, the 125-year old Canadian La Presse is also facing the possibility of closure. Caroline Jamet, vice president of communications for La Presse announced that the management and the union have only three months to reach an agreement on cutting costs, otherwise the publication will cease operation. The cost-cutting plan includes 100 job cuts.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Canada-newspaper-threatens-to-apf-2049688636.html?x=0&.v=3
 
France/Canada: Rue89.com to expand into Quebec89.com
French online daily news media rue89.com has announced its plan to launch a Canadian version on 1^st October. Rue89 was founded two years ago by former journalists from French national daily Liberation and claims it has attracted over 1.5 million unique users since June. It is one of the few successful online daily news media in France. The expansion in Canadian comes after attempts for a similar venture in Belgium failed.
http://www.journalism.co.uk/2/articles/535693.php

3^rd  September

US: Newspapers Start Charging Web Access to News
Following the success of the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times, some small-to-medium size newspapers in the US started charging readers to access their news websites. These newspapers include the Daily Gazette, the Valley Morning Star, the Newport Daily News, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the Albuquerque Journal, the Bend Bulletin, the Tribune, the Idaho Press and the Herald Times.
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-taking-the-plunge-how-newspaper-sites-that-charge-are-faring/

UK: The Independent is Called for Closure
Denis O'Bien, the major shareholder of the Independent News & Media (INM) called for the closure of the Independent and the Independent on Sunday, however the INM's chief executive, Gavin O'Reilly rejected this proposal. Although INM made a loss of €3.8m between January and June this year, O'Reilly believes that the Independent could breakeven by 2010, and the closure would incur ‘significant cost'.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/media/6128000/Denis-OBrien-calls-for-closure-of-Independent-titles.html

2nd September

North America:
- User- Generated Media Start to Consolidate
American user generated media Examiner.com announced on 1st September that it had acquired its Canadian competitor NowPublic.com. Examiner.com operates in over 100 US cities and relies on the reporting of 16,000 people it calls "Examiners". NowPublic was launched over three years ago and claims to have 185,000 contributors in more than 160 countries. Both platforms will continue to operate as independent brands but will share content and advertising.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5grbidSVhqaZHnDjChJ8PabeoMM9w

-Young Reporters Suffer Most in Newspapers' Changes
According to a survey by the Associated Press Managing Editors (APME), young reporters and photographers are among the most vulnerable to newspapers' reshuffle. Most of the 95 editors responding to the survey said their newsroom staffs had shrunk by more than 10% in the past year and employees between 18 and 35 years old were most affected by the layoffs, buyouts, and restructurings.
http://www.apme.com/news/2009/083109newspaper_younger.shtml

-US Media Group Filed for Bankruptcy
The US media group, Freedom Communications Inc., the owner of more than 30 daily local newspapers and 8 television stations filed for bankruptcy on 1^st September after a rapid drop in ads sales over the past months. It is the tenth American publisher to do so in the last year.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=apIXEkpypZXI

UK:
-Windows Messenger (MSN) Makes Deal with NewspaperDirect for News Aggregation
NewspaperDirect, the largest newspapers and magazines distributor partners with MSN UK to deliver digital copies of news and magazines through the web, smartphones and iPod Touch to the UK readers. MSN UK users will have free access to every front page and another two stories from any newspapers on the day of the publication. But access to more stories and archives will require the subscription fees of £8.95 per month for 31 issues or £22.95 per month for unlimited access.
http://www.editorsweblog.org/web_20/2009/09/msn_uk_partners_with_pressdisplay_for_di.php
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Newspaperdirect-Inc-1037955.html

-Cost-cutting Measure - Last Evening Paper to Switch to Overnight Printing
The North Wales evening newspaper, Wrexham Evening Leader, announced its plan to switch to a morning paper as a cost- cutting measure. The Evening Leader is the latest evening paper among regional dailies to switch to overnight printing following the same move by other local dailies like Plymouth Evening Herald, Portsmouth Evening News, Southend Evening Echo and Evening Telegraph.
http://blogs.pressgazette.co.uk/wire/5510
 
1^st September

US: Newspaper Ad Sales Plunged 29%
According to the Newspaper Association of America, the total newspaper ad sales have fallen by 29% in the second quarter of 2009 from $9.6 to $ 6.8 billion. Online ad sales have also fallen by 16% to $653 million. The print newspapers have suffered the most and experienced the worst decline in newspaper history, said Media Buyer Planner.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/159179-q2-newspaper-ad-sales-plunge-online-falls-16?source=yahoo

 UK: Battle over Survival in the Media Market
 -  The chairman of News Corporation, James Murdoch, has accused BBC of dominating the media industry as "state-sponsored journalism ", but former BBC director general Greg Dyke rejected the claim. He believed that journalism is going through a very difficult time because of the recession. He said declining advertising revenues during recession, rather than the corporation, were to blame for the problems facing the commercial media.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8227915.stm
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article6814178.ece

 -  UK newspapers have called for actions to tackle the problem of free news content given away by the news aggregators and PR monitors and asked   that news monitoring companies pay 10% of their revenues for giving away their news content freely to readers.  The Newspaper Licensing Agency (NLA)   estimates that aggregators and PR monitors can make £10 million in annual revenue, which means that £1 million would be distributed back to NLA's 1,400 member newspapers if the measure was implemented.
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-uk-newspapers-want-1-million-from-aggregator-businesses/