Highest-paid BBC journalists revealed | CNN's Clarissa Ward gets death threats 'all the time'
Local news arrives on Nextdoor and how streaks and gamification can engage Gen Z in the news.
Welcome to your daily Press Gazette media briefing on Wednesday, 16 July.
You don't go into journalism or join the public sector to get rich. But for a lucky few these two career choices combine to put them among the UK’s top earners.
Today we name the 59 BBC journalists paid more than Prime Minister Keir Starmer as the corporation publishes its annual report.
Nick Robinson and Fiona Bruce are now the BBC’s top BBC journalism earners (that we know about) with salaries in excess of £400,000. Note this ranking does not include payments from independent production companies or income from paid corporate gigs.
Gamified app Newsreel has revealed success turning US university students on to news.
Social media app Nextdoor has unveiled a new shop window for local news publishers.
And we report from a London conference on journalism and mental health in which CNN foreign correspondent Clarissa Ward revealed that Instagram has become more traumatic for her than some war zones.
On Press Gazette
Nick Robinson and Fiona Bruce are top-paid BBC journalists after Huw Edwards exit
On-air pay figures for year to 31 March 2025 include 50 journalists earning above £178,000.
‘Streak mechanism’ found to be key with Gen Z on gamified news app
Newsreel provides similar experience to language app Duolingo.
Local news to be integrated into neighbourhood app Nextdoor
The new functionality is launching with more than 3,500 local news titles in the UK, US and Canada.
‘I get death threats all the time’, CNN’s Clarissa Ward tells conference
London conference brings discussion of newsroom mental health to the fore.
News in brief
New research from Muckrack estimates there has been a 75% fall in local journalist numbers in the US since 2002. One in three US counties have no local journalists and the total is said to be around 27,000. (Muckrack)
US local newspaper company Lee Enterprises has added a "temporary" surcharge of $4.99 per month to subscriptions which the publisher said would help it amid inflation and Trump's tariffs. (Axios)
A CNN crew was attacked in their car in the West Bank at the weekend but "managed to escape unharmed". A Deutsche Welle team was chased in the same area earlier this month. (Deadline)
News Corp is starting a new $1bn stock buyback scheme, building on an existing programme authorised in September 2021 of which $303m remains outstanding. CEO Robert Thomson said they believe the stock "is trading at a significant discount to its intrinsic value" with its four most profitable years in 2021-2024. (News Corp)
Reuters has launched AI-voiced video content in Spanish and Portuguese, checked by human producers, for its news agency customers globally. The tech translates videos originally voiced in English with the aim of meeting a growing demand for in-language video from Reuters' Latin American customers. (Reuters)
WeTransfer has said it does not use files shared via its service to train AI after a backlash to a change in its terms and conditions saying it could use content for purposes "including to improve performance of machine learning models that enhance our content moderation process". (BBC News)
Ex-footballer Joey Barton will pay £203,000 of Jeremy Vine's legal costs, on top of £110,000 agreed in damages, after settling a libel claim brought against him last year. (Daily Star)
Also on Press Gazette
World’s biggest news websites: Japan and Brazil sites top ranking
Indian news websites are fastest growers in global English language top 50
BBC wrong to use child narrator for Gaza documentary, review finds
Gay Times raises £150k from supporters after advertiser diversity backlash
Prince Harry lawyers told to disclose details of payments to witnesses in Mail trial
Journalist says 4,000 fake AI news websites created to game Google algorithms
Mail defended inaccurate immigrants story by saying Telegraph was source
Reach to ‘streamline’ sports teams into one hub with ‘around 50’ redundancies
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Latest podcast: On the front line of the reality wars with Rob Waugh
Fictional experts and non-existent case studies are conning their way into UK news media with the help dodgy PR companies. It's a lucrative business providing search engine juice to gambling sites and dubious online retailers. And it won't stop until publishers raise their game in terms of verifying the sources they quote, warns reporter Rob Waugh.