Boris Johnson signs for GB News | 29 journalists killed in Gaza conflict
And all eyes will be on the Covid Inquiry this week as Dominic Cummings testifies
Good morning and welcome to your daily media news briefing on Monday 30 October.
The BBC is now only the fifth biggest online publisher in the UK with the big-tech quartet of Alphabet, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft taking the four top spots in a new Press Gazette ranking of top digital publishers.
It is an astonishing level of power and revenue for foreign-owned companies and underlines the fact that, in online media terms, the UK is now the 51st US state.
The only commercial publisher in the top ten is Reach, which is reckoned to have a monthly UK audience of 35 million. Google and Meta's monopolistic control of social media and of the advertising technology that underpins the internet means that whatever the size of their audience, publishers must subsist on a dwindling slice of the revenue pie (crumbs from the table really).
This table underlines the urgent need for action from the government in the long-awaited Digital Markets Bill to ensure that verified professional news still has a meaningful place in the future online ecosystem.
Our latest top-50 UK news websites ranking reveals Mail Online is in the top spot as the most popular commercial news brand with traffic down just 2% compared with much steeper year-on-year falls for most other big titles. The Mail’s resilience suggests it is less vulnerable to shifts like Meta’s decision to downgrade news on Facebook.
GB News is the fastest-growing news website in the UK (currently on the edge of the top-25) and the signing of Boris Johnson as a presenter will likely fuel that rise even further.
We have more horrifying news from the Israel-Gaza war where at least 29 journalists are now estimated to have been killed in just a few weeks. Some 25 of them appear to have died at the hands of the Israeli Defence Forces. In several cases, journalists have lost their entire families in air strikes.
The two big talking points in our news diary are the global summit on AI at Bletchley Park on Wednesday and the testimony of Dominic Cummings before the Covid inquiry tomorrow.
New from Press Gazette
GB News signs Boris Johnson as presenter
“I’m going to be giving this remarkable new TV channel my unvarnished views on everything from Russia, China, the war in Ukraine, how we meet all those challenges, to the huge opportunities that lie ahead for us, why I believe our best days are yet to come.”
UK’s biggest online publishers in September 2023: News UK and Mail Metro Media fall out of top ten
Press Gazette's ranking of the biggest online publishers in the UK, using Ipsos iris data.
Top 50 UK news websites: GB News, Unilad and LBC see biggest growth in September
GB News was the fastest-growing news website in the UK for the sixth consecutive month, according to Press Gazette’s monthly ranking.
Israel-Hamas war: 29 journalists killed in conflict so far
The dead include 24 Palestinians either bombed or shot by the Israeli military in Gaza Strip, many of whom were killed alongside family members. A number of others are missing.
News diary 30 October–5 November: Lee Cain and Dominic Cummings at Covid inquiry, AI summit at Bletchley Park
“On Tuesday (October 31), controversial former No.10 chief strategist Dominic Cummings appears for what’s likely to be a blockbuster session on the inner workings of the Johnson government at the very height of the pandemic in early 2020.”
News in brief
Sad news this morning that Byline Times's James Doleman has died, ten years after first being diagnosed with cancer. We are putting together a piece about him - if you have any tributes you would like to share, please send them to pged@pressgazette.co.uk.
The Cabinet Office has apologised after describing TalkTV presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer as a "vaccine sceptic" in a vaccine-hesitancy report. The Times reported she was merely voicing concerns on Twitter about children not attending face-to-face lessons. (The Times)
Three former senior Lib Dem figures (Vince Cable, Chris Huhne and Norman Lamb) are suing the Sun and News of the World's publisher over alleged phone hacking. (The Guardian)
Buzzfeed is in "advanced talks" to sell digital media company Complex Networks, which it bought two years ago, for less than half the price ($140m) it paid then ($300m). (New York Times)
Tory MP Danny Kruger, who is a former chief leader writer of The Daily Telegraph, is urging the Culture Secretary to investigate the Barclay family's bid to regain control of The Telegraph with anonymous funding from the Middle East. (Sky News)
The Sunday Times has reported on a slew of errors and deceptions in David Beckham's officially sanctioned Netflix documentary, including some photoshop work to change the intro on Mirror front page about the footballer's affair. (The Sunday Times)
Podcast 59: From subscriptions to membership at Elle UK
Elle UK editor Kenya Hunt talks to Press Gazette about why she hopes readers will pay £150 a year to become fashion industry insiders as members of Elle Collective.
She also talks about the future of magazines, diversity and why magazine editors have a duty to present images of female beauty responsibly.
Previously on Press Gazette
British Journalism Awards shortlist 2023: Best public interest reporting of last year revealed
How the FT’s online visual storytelling playbook gives readers ‘lightbulb’ moments
Actor Noel Clarke faced ‘trial by media’ after Guardian reports of misconduct, High Court told
Martin Clunes wins IPSO complaint versus Mail after reporter failed to take notes
Elle UK’s move from subscriptions to membership shares access to editors’ ‘daily joys’
Half of top newsbrands see fall in search visibility after latest Google core update