AG rewrites rules on contempt for Russell Brand | FT boosts revenue to £458m
And the Bristol Cable invites prospective subscribers to proffer an obscene gesture to Rupert Murdoch
Good morning and welcome to your daily media news briefing on Tuesday, 26 September, brought to you today in association with Beeler.Tech, whose Base Camp event for publisher revenue leaders has a small number of tickets left.
Any journalist knows that Contempt of Court risk does not begin until someone has been arrested and/or charged.
It was a vaguely threatening statement which seemingly sought to rewrite the media law rules for journalists.
As Times journalist Sean O'Neill put it: "Is the Government telling reporters to stop interviewing women who have courageously come forward, stop pursuing legitimate and important public interest journalism? Meanwhile, Brand is free to pontificate on social media channels.”
The Met Police yesterday confirmed it is investigating a number of complaints against Brand in a departure from its normal policy nowadays of only confirming the identity of suspects when they have been charged (for fear of breaching their privacy).
These are confusing times to be a crime reporter.
The FT's latest accounts reveal revenue up 5% to £458m last year driven by events and advertising.
Operating profit would have been up year on year had it not been for a £1,800 cost of living payment given to all staff in September which cost the company nearly £5m.
The FT may be the house newspaper of capitalism, but it has been leading the way amongst news publishers in terms of looking after its workers.
And finally… one of the UK's more successful independent local news start-ups of recent years, The Bristol Cable, has launched a campaign to become less reliant on grant funding with the catchy slogan "Give Murdoch the Finger".
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Over three days, we will convene to address critical issues, discuss valuable solutions to our most demanding challenges, identify growth opportunities, and build meaningful relationships with peers in the community.
Attendees will participate in collaborative sessions led by some of our industry's top thought leaders.
Session Provocateurs:
Rob Beeler, Founder & CEO, Beeler.Tech
Tom Bowman, Consulting Partner, CoLab Media Consulting
Gordon Eldret, Media Director, UK, Circana
Lauren Faber, Head Of Business Operations, Roku Inc
Chris Kenna, Chairman & Founder, Brand Advance Group
Dora Michail-Clendinnen, Chief Strategy Officer, The Ozone Project
Richard Nicholson, Head of Dentsu Media Exchange, Dentsu
Mike Racic, President, Board Member, Prebid
Are you interested in attending? Request an invite here today – this event is almost sold out.
New from Press Gazette
Online subs, events and advertising fuel FT revenue boost for 2022 to £458m
The Financial Times had its strongest year for advertising since 2015 in 2022 and its best ever year for events revenue.
Bristol Cable launches campaign to boost member income by £60,000 in a year
“We really want people to understand that if you give £3 a month and then you bumped it up to £5 – if 50% of our members did that, we’d meet our campaign target overnight.”
Attorney General makes Russell Brand contempt warning despite no active proceedings
Times journalist Sean O’Neill wrote in response in a column on Monday: “The Attorney General is either poorly informed about the law of contempt or has taken it upon herself to issue a thinly veiled threat intended to have a chilling effect on reporting of the Brand allegations.”
News in brief
Ofcom has expanded its investigations into campaigns by GB News and Greatest Hits Radio. Yesterday the regulator added five new investigations into GB News' 'Don't Kill Cash' campaign, as well as three into the 'Face the Family' campaign by Greatest Hits. (Ofcom)
Press freedom groups have called on Rishi Sunak to "take immediate and decisive action" to secure the release of Jimmy Lai, a British citizen and the founder of Hong Kong pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, who has been detained for 1,000 days. (Committee to Protect Journalists)
Separately, the chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association has been sentenced to jail for obstructing police. He was covering a story when he was asked by police for his personal identity card, but he wanted to see their warrant cards first. (Reuters)
PA Media Group topped £100m in revenue in 2022 - reaching £105.7m, up 7% year-on-year. Pre-tax profit was up 6% to £5.5m. (Companies House)
And Hearst UK (National Magazine Company Ltd) has reported revenue of £121.6m in 2022, down 5%, as print revenue contracted and was hit by rising paper and printing costs, although digital revenue grew. Pre-tax profit was £6.1m, up from a £3.5m loss in 2021. (Companies House)
The editor of Northern Ireland's Impartial Reporter newspaper Rodney Edwards has revealed he received a death threat from an anti-vax protestor two years ago but said the police did not consider this to be a crime. (Edwards on Twitter)
The Telegraph has launched a new money advice channel at telegraph.co.uk/money which editor Chris Evans says "represents a significant investment in our award-winning journalism" and is "designed to be a complete guide for all our subscribers' financial needs".
DC Thomson’s The Courier is revamping its Saturday edition to counter what it described as growing weekend news avoidance. It said local news, politics and crime stories drive engagement/subscriptions in the week but at the weekend it's features, longer reads and celebratory pieces.
Podcast 56: Is the future looking brighter for Future? Jon Steinberg CEO interview
CEO of Future plc Jon Steinberg explains why he believes his company still has the right ingredients for success (whatever the stock market may currently seem to think).
He also talks about how he has tackled taking over from a highly successful predecessor, what he thinks about AI in publishing and how the company is just starting to generate revenue from digital subscriptions.
Previously on Press Gazette
Reach puts 13 staff at risk of redundancy, including Express royal correspondent
FT launches new app to recreate print edition for international readers
NCTJ’s fight to save Community News Project after ‘heartbreaking’ Meta decision
Journalists fear ‘secret justice’ over proposed one-reporter limit in sex trials
Rupert Murdoch to step down as News Corp and Fox Corp chairman
Is regional press approaching print decline tipping point?
