Case for modernising contempt of court laws | Plymouth monthly sees bright future for print
Plus Observer now officially in Tortoise's hands and national papers go all in on Pope Francis coverage
Good morning and welcome to your daily media briefing from Press Gazette on Tuesday 22 April, brought to you today in association with INMA - the world's leading provider of global best practices for news media companies. Register now for INMA's World Congress of News Media in New York May 19-23.
It's easy to feel a bit glum about the state of modern journalism as AI-written mush merges with human-written clickbait in the morass of aggregated headlines on social media.
And then the Pope dies and eye-catching front pages, in-depth obituaries and thoughtful backgrounders about his legacy and possible successors remind you that there is still plenty of depth and quality underneath the foam.
Pope Francis features on every UK national newspaper front page today with the Mirror, i and Daily Star all opting for the alliterative "People's Pope" headline. The Daily Mail opted to quote the Vatican statement in its headline: "He's returned to the house of the Father" and The Sun resisted the temptation to find a pun, opting simply for the words "Truly blessed".
The most widely used front-page picture was a 2013 photo taken by Buda Mendes of Getty Images, depicting Pope Francis waving to the crowds while being driven towards Copacabana beach in Brazil with a single flashlight appearing like a star over his left shoulder.
The big media news development of the weekend was the transfer of ownership of The Observer from The Scott Trust to Tortoise. There was a mass banging-out of Observer staffers from The Guardian's King's Place offices on Thursday (around half of the 70 Observer staff have taken voluntary redundancy).
While many insiders viewed the sale of The Observer as a betrayal, the move promises to be an exciting one for the UK news landscape, heralding the launch of a major new standalone online quality newsbrand with 100-plus staff and promised investment of £25m.
Today Press Gazette reports on a print journalism success story - the Plymouth Chronicle - which is finding an audience for positive news delivered to 92,000 homes.
And we have analysis from legal consultant Gill Phillips on why the UK's 44-year-old law on contempt of court needs a major update for the digital age (citing complications around coverage of accusations against Lucy Letby when made by UK-based publications versus those from the US).
Scroll on for news from elsewhere rounded up in our news in brief section.
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On Press Gazette
The cover of the Waterside & West edition of the Plymouth Chronicle for May 2025, taken from the e-reader on its website. Screenshot: Press Gazette
Positive news monthly Plymouth Chronicle sees bright future for print
The editor of monthly free newspaper the Plymouth Chronicle said the success of his title shows there’s “a good future for print”, likening the medium to resurgent vinyl record sales.
Comment: Why UK’s contempt of court laws need reform for digital age
“There is a need for a specific ‘public interest’ defence where contempt by publication is alleged, which would allow for questions of proportionality and balance to be asked. There is also an argument to be made for moving the point at which criminal proceedings are considered ‘active’ away from the moment of arrest and forward to the point of charge.”
News in brief
US private equity firm Redbird Capital has reportedly been approaching potential investors to help it solely acquire The Telegraph from Redbird IMI, taking out the Emirati ownership that meant the deal was blocked by the UK government. (Daily Telegraph)
Analysis from software company Ahrefs found that having an AI Overviews in Google search results "correlated with a 34.5% lower average clickthrough rate (CTR) for the top-ranking page, compared to similar informational keywords without an AI Overview". (Ahrefs)
Meanwhile head of Google search Elizabeth Reid says of user behaviour with AI Overview: "We see the clicks are of higher quality, because they’re not clicking on a webpage, realising it wasn’t what they want and immediately bailing. So, they spend more time on those sites.” (Financial Times)
A second federal judge has found Google acted illegally to maintain an online advertising monopoly, following on from a similar ruling in August that said the company had a monopoly over online search. (The New York Times)
And a class action on behalf of thousands of advertisers has been launched against Google in the UK accusing it of abusing its dominant market position in the online search industry, enabling it to charge higher ad prices. (Reuters)
Speaking to Vogue about her departure from the BBC for Bloomberg, Mishal Husain said: “I think I have a new sense of public service journalism now. What kind of journalism do I want to create and be part of?” (Vogue)
Gisèle Pelicot is bringing a privacy lawsuit against Paris Match magazine after its most recent edition carried pictures of her walking in her new home town with a man described as her companion. (Agence France-Press/The Guardian)
Business Insider co-founder Henry Blodget has launched Regenerator on Substack, which he says will analyse "the most important questions in innovation". It is starting free, written by him, but will add staff and start charging for full access in a "freemium" model. (Regenerator)
Former New Yorker editor Tina Brown says she no longer buys magazines and her Substack earns her "certainly more than if I was writing a column for a newspaper". (Semafor)
Columbia Journalism Review executive editor Sewell Chan was fired last week after eight months in the job. He claims staff complained about "pointed interactions in which I provided fair and critical feedback rooted in editorial rigor" in a statement. (Columbia Spectator)
The University of Sheffield has added liveblogging into its Journalism Studies BA as it's "a crucial skill for modern journalists in today’s fast-paced media landscape" and will teach students how to "report quickly and accurately under pressure". (Prolific North)
Last week on Press Gazette
Facebook increasing as part of social traffic mix after algorithm change, data shows
‘Unsustainable status quo’: AI companies and publishers respond to Govt copyright consultation
AI scraper violations and what we can do about them: New research reveals scale of problem
Cision closes journalism jobs board and sells expert enquiry service
Newspaper ABCs: Sunday People sees biggest annual print circulation decline
Global ad spend against news down by a third since pre-Covid
Digital publisher display revenues stabilise for first time in two years
UK ‘at risk of evolving into propaganda regime’ with unenforced FOI rules and official secrecy
Reach digital pioneer Belfast Live marks 10 years: ‘We’re positive and proudly non-partisan’
Latest podcast: Jim Mullen's legacy at Reach | Value of news to Google | Sun losses, Times profits
Press Gazette's editorial team share their insights into big stories from the world of news. Charlotte Tobitt talks us through the latest News UK accounts, which show losses at The Sun shrank in the year to June 2024 while The Times reported a £60m profit.
We react to news that Jim Mullen, the divisive CEO at Reach, is stepping down. And Bron Maher looks at the arguments and counterarguments being made by publishers and Google over what news is really worth on its platforms.