Lib Dems renew Leveson regulation pledge | Future gets into adtech market
And Informa closes two B2B titles
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The Liberal Democrats won't win the general election but could conceivably hold the balance of power again in a hung parliament.
Their manifesto includes an increase in the Digital Services Tax to 6% of turnover for the likes of Google and Facebook. And they remain wedded to Leveson-compliant press regulation, which means a statute-backed system.
Of more interest of course is the Labour Party manifesto, which launches on Thursday. So far Labour leader Keir Starmer has had a relatively easy ride in the Daily Mail and The Sun and my hunch is he will want this to continue and ditch the party's previous commitment to tougher press regulation.
Today we also report on a move from specialist publishing giant Future into the world of adtech. It has put its own adtech solution on the market and is selling it to smaller publishers who may not have the resources or expertise to run their own tech stack.
And we report on two B2B brand closures from Informa as it merges many of its digital media brands with Tech Target, which it acquired a majority stake in earlier this year.
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The Press Gazette Future of Media Awards celebrate the best websites, apps, newsletters, podcasts and commercial innovation in the world of digital journalism. They are free to enter and previous winners have included The Guardian, Telegraph, FT and Business Insider. This year there are separate categories for specialist/local and national media. Find our more and start your entry here.
New from Press Gazette
Future moves into adtech business with solution aimed at publishers
The new brand promises to help publishers sell their online advertising inventory through programmatic and direct sales and offers ad-serving technology such as its own high-impact ad units.
Informa closes two B2B news brands covering TV business
The decision came months after it was announced the digital brands forming the Informa Tech business, including the two TV titles, will be merging with the US-listed Tech Target amid a search for further scale and growth in B2B.
Media manifestos 2024: Lib Dems want to revive Leveson 2
The Lib Dems also want to raise the Digital Services Tax against search and social media giants and provide the BBC with more Foreign Office funding.
News in brief
Election plans latest
ITV has announced its plans for election night on 4 July, with Tom Bradby leading overnight coverage after doing so in 2015, 2017 and 2019. From 6am Good Morning Britain will take over, then Julie Etchingham will lead continued coverage after that.
Meanwhile Sky News says its leaders special programme tomorrow will see Beth Rigby interview Sunak and Starmer separately for 20 minutes each, after which they will each face audience questions for 25 minutes. A coin toss will decide who goes first.
In an apparent reference to last week's ITV leader debate, Sky News boss Jonathan Levy said: "People said they wanted to hear more from Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, so Sky News is giving them more time... Each candidate. 45 minutes - not 45 seconds.” (More on Press Gazette)
The Bristol Cable has said it is 60% of the way to its goal of increasing annual membership income by 50% (or £60,000) in a year, with three months left of the campaign. It has been offered a bonus grant of £40,000 if it can meet its goal by the deadline. (Press Gazette)
Staff at Nature and other science journals owned by Springer Nature will walk out on 20 June in a row over pay after rejecting an offer of 5.8%. The ballot saw a 90% turnout and support for strike action from 93% of staff. Other strike days are planned. (NUJ)
Israel's telecoms regulator has extended a ban on Al Jazeera's operations in the country by another 45 days. The broadcaster told a Tel Aviv court it did not incite violence or terrorism and the ban was disproportionate. (Reuters)
Editors have warned against Welsh government plans to remove council tax notices from printed local papers, fearing it would "deal a hammer blow to local journalism by removing a critical revenue stream... inevitably leading to title closures and a weakening in the provision of local news".
The Guardian is preparing to launch a "trusted recommendations section" this summer, with consumer reviews and advice around helping readers make sustainable product choices. (Adweek)
Business Insider chief executive Barbara Peng has told staff a new AI-powered smart paywall is driving 75% more subscriptions than its legacy hard paywall while it is ahead on some engagement metrics designed to boost the number of people on the site two or more days per week. (Talking Business News)
Apple has confirmed it will integrate ChatGPT into iPhones "later this year". Rather than outright replacing Apple's own assistant, Siri, The Verge reports Siri will pass requests on to ChatGPT if it cannot complete them itself — but only after seeking the user’s permission to do so. (The Verge)
The number of undergraduates on media, screen, journalism and communication courses fell by 2% between 2019 and 2021 after growth of 7% growth in the previous six years. But postgraduate numbers grew by 72% in 2019-21, many of whom were international. (The Guardian)
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Latest podcast
Podcast 72: Camilla Tominey and Kamal Ahmed on cracking a busy news podcast market
The Telegraph’s new daily news podcast, The Daily T, is the latest entrant to an increasingly crowded audio market.
But days after the show bagged the first election trail interview with Rishi Sunak, Press Gazette spoke with Daily T hosts Camilla Tominey and Kamal Ahmed about how they’re hoping to stand out from the competition with a right-of-centre viewpoint they feel is missing and by leaning heavily on the Telegraph newsroom.
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