Dan Wootton sacked and suspended | Top 50 UK news websites
Laurence Fox tirade tips Dan Wootton over the edge as GB News suspends him and Mail Online terminates contract
Good morning and welcome to your daily media news briefing on Friday 29 September, brought to you today in association with Norkon, the company behind the live-blogging platform Live Center. Watch their new webinar - Unlocking The Gen Z Code - for strategies to successfully engage with the next generation.
The BBC has produced a useful lists of dos and don'ts as it set out new impartiality guidelines on social media for high-profile presenters.
They restrict Gary Lineker's political pronouncements during the football season (so around ten months of the year).
But I'd say they don't go quite far enough. If you're a paid-up employee then publication on your public Twitter account should be treated with exactly the same amount of care as anything you publish on your publication's own website.
And they include the golden rule: Never use social media post wine-o'clock (“when your judgement may be impaired”).
Dan Wootton has been suspended by GB News and sacked by Mail Online for allowing Laurence Fox to engage in a sexist on-air rant about a female journalist. Two months after serious allegations about Wootton were first aired on Byline Times it seems he has now run out of road. Though given the severity of the claims made against him it is somewhat surprising that it has taken so long for both publishers to act.
The latest top-50 UK news websites data shows GB News continuing its exponential growth with 7.7m users per month (up 564% year on year putting it in the top 25 UK sites).
And finally we have another useful data deep-dive into the world of online subscriptions.
Research by the Reuters Institute reveals that 17% of news subscribers cancelled their subscription last year, a rate of churn that's greater even than print decline.
It means publishers must constantly lure in new readers to replace those exiting. The prevalence of cheap trial offers helps explain the high online news churn rate (as does pressure on incomes due to high interest rates and fuel prices).
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New from Press Gazette
Ofcom opens offence investigation into GB News show that led to suspension of Laurence Fox and Dan Wootton
Ofcom has received about 7,300 complaints about the exchange.
Mail Online ends Dan Wootton’s contract following GB News suspension
“DMG Media can confirm that Dan Wootton’s freelance column with Mail Online – which had already been paused – has now been terminated, along with his contract.”
BBC says ‘flagship’ hosts like Lineker and Lord Sugar must be impartial when shows are on air
New guidance “balances freedom of expression, the responsibilities of freelances to the BBC and the expectations of audiences, while also ensuring our rules are clear, simple, transparent, and enforceable”.
Who pays for news? Discounts lure in new subscribers but many cancel rather than pay more
At least one-third of news subscribers cancelled or renegotiated their price in the past year.
News in brief
Future plc has said its adjusted operating profit for the year to 30 September is expected to be about £254.1m, in line with expectations despite "challenges in consumer spending and the digital advertising market" plus currency fluctuations (LSE)
Conservative MP David Davis has written that a DMGT purchase of The Telegraph would endanger the free press. (The Guardian)
A new law has come into force in Northern Ireland which bans media from naming sex offence suspects prior to charge. Anonymity applies once a complaint has been made to police. (Mail Online)
News/politics is the 4th most popular podcast genre according to a new Yougov survey, regularly listened to by 22% of Britons who listen to podcasts at least once a week.
The Spectator saw revenues rise by 2% to £20.8m in 2022. Operating profit dropped 10% to £2.6m which editor Fraser Nelson said could be put down to investment in the US, Australia and sister fine art magazine Apollo.
Podcast 57: What is the Murdoch Factor?
Press Gazette editor in chief Dominic Ponsford discusses The Murdoch Factor with Peter Jukes (author of Fall of the House of Murdoch and co-founder of Byline Times). What is the key quality which has enabled Murdoch’s success and what does the future of media look like without him?
Previously on Press Gazette
What is ‘the Murdoch factor’? News Corp insiders reveal secrets to KRM’s success
Nick Davies, Peter Jukes, Roy Greenslade and more on ‘the Murdoch factor’
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Online subs, events and advertising fuel FT revenue boost for 2022 to £458m
Isn’t the point about Lineker that he *isn’t* a formal employee but a freelancer?