BBC to cut 185 more jobs in news | How The Economist is 'future-proofing'
Plus the latest national newspaper ABCs and Charlie Elphicke successfully argues for a reduction of his Sunday Times legal bill
Welcome to your daily newsletter from Press Gazette on Wednesday, 16 October, 2024 in association with Papermule - the UK’s leading Publisher Digital Asset Management provider. AdDesk, their leading product, has been revamped and recently gone live, with Bauer Media being one of the first adopters. More information below.
Golf is a maddeningly hard sport to learn and prohibitively expensive, yet the UK countryside is covered in golf courses.
Part of the reason for this is the fact that the Illuminati in charge of spoiling good walks make membership of their elite clubs incredibly cheap for children. They then step up the cost of membership through early adulthood so that by the time people can actually afford to play golf they are addicted to the dubious pleasures of hitting small white balls around a field with sticks.
This is a marketing trick which The Economist has now embraced by giving students free access to its expensive journalism.
Vice president of performance marketing for The Economist Tom McCave talked through the business title's discounting strategy and also explained why it is important for publishers to invest in marketing their brands, even if the returns may not be measurable for years.
The BBC has made more deep cuts to its on-air journalistic coverage with BBC World News staple Hardtalk among the shows on the chopping block.
Cuts are needed because of a freeze to the BBC licence fee and a reduction in the number of households paying the charge. In all 185 roles are being cut in the latest purge at BBC News. We have all the details here.
From the High Court we have a cautionary tale from a case involving The Sunday Times and former Conservative MP Charlie Elphick.
The politician sued over reporting of allegations of sexual assault against him (and didn't let the fact he was serving time in prison after being convicted of the allegations stop him from continuing his expensive litigation).
Not surprisingly the MP dropped his action before it went to trial.
However, he has managed to secure reduction in the costs he must pay to Times Media because it failed to preserve evidence (including "a journalist's electronic telephone information").
We also have the latest national newspaper ABC figures which show the Financial Times down just 2% year on year helped by free copies and international circulation.
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New from Press Gazette
BBC News and Current Affairs CEO Deborah Turness. Picture: BBC
BBC News to close Hardtalk and Asian Network news service in latest round of 185 job cuts
Hardtalk currently airs nightly Monday to Thursday on the BBC News Channel and has a podcast. It had been described as the “flagship” current affairs interview programme for BBC World News (one of the two previous TV channels that merged into the current BBC News Channel last year).
Economist ‘future-proofing’ bid brings back brand advertising and targets students
“We often see brand marketing is the first thing to get cut because its impact is not immediately visible. But pulling back on brand investment leads to problems down the road.”
Newspaper ABCs: FT up month-on-month, but picture of decline continues
The biggest annual decline was at Reach tabloid the Sunday People, down 20% to an average of 50,394 weekly copies sold. The Daily Star Sunday (64,645) and Scottish title Sunday Mail (44,144) were both down 18%.
Charlie Elphicke’s legal bill cut after Sunday Times libel battle
In a 51-page ruling on Monday, former judge Victoria McCloud found Times Media failed to “preserve evidence” in the case and that it was “appropriate to mark the seriousness” by reducing the amount that Elphicke must pay to 80%.
News in brief
Future plc has launched a Future Content Hub with half a million articles and images from brands like PC Gamer, Wallpaper*, Woman & Home, FourFourTwo, TV Times, Country Life and Guitar World available to search and license for editorial and commercial use. (Future Content Hub)
The New York Times has sent a "cease and desist" letter to Perplexity over the "unauthorised" use of its content to generate AI results. Perplexity's chief executive said they are "very much interested in working with every single publisher, including the NYT". (The Wall Street Journal)
Wales Online app users spotted adverts with "disturbing" AI-generated images of Alex Jones and Rachel Reeves showing in the middle of genuine news articles. The adverts reportedly sent people to fake BBC News articles about cryptocurrency. (BBC News)
Washington Post chief executive Will Lewis has reportedly told confidants that he has been given the go-ahead to scout for acquisitions by proprietor Jeff Bezos. The New York Times says Lewis is particularly interested in deals around video, politics and opinion content. (NYT)
Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for governor of North Carolina, is suing CNN over an investigation that suggested he was behind a porn site account that had self-described as a "black Nazi" and expressed support for reinstating slavery. (NC Newsline)
Worker-owned local New York City publisher Hell Gate has reported monthly recurring income has more than doubled since its first annual report last year to $42,000, although it is not yet enough to cover monthly running costs of approximately $55,000. (Hell Gate)
Community media organisation West Leeds Dispatch has been awarded almost £149,000 by the National Lottery Community Fund to continue publishing in print and online for the next three years. (West Leeds Dispatch)
British photojournalist Paul Lowe was found stabbed to death in California and his son has been charged with his murder. King's College London, where he was a visiting professor, said he "had a huge impact in shining a spotlight on the Siege of Sarajevo". (BBC News)
Previously on Press Gazette
Kent Online publisher Iliffe rolls out metered paywalls across group
Former Scott Trust member speaks out over plan to sell Observer to Tortoise
Observer falls outside Scott Trust’s ‘core responsibilities’, minutes from 1993 suggest
Diversification and acquisitions fuels revenue growth for PA Media
IPSO rejects complaint over ‘insulting’ Mail article linking businessman to suicides
Top 50 news websites in the US: All but four sites saw traffic fall in September
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The event is open to all journalists producing work targeted at a UK audience. The criteria stipulate that reports must bring important new information to light, show journalistic skill and rigour and make a difference for the better.
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