Publishers pay out over Croydon arrest video | BBC defends Hamas language

And the insurance entrepreneur hoping to build a great British business mag

Oct 13, 2023

Good morning and welcome to your daily media news briefing on Friday 13 October, brought to you today in association with Reuters News Agency - where the news gets its news. Their latest report, Powering trusted news with AI, is available to download now.

I can remember being shouted at and called a vulture once when reporting on the aftermath of a house fire in Swindon.

Journalists, as the bearers of bad news, can often be an easy target for peoples' understandable rage.

I'd say anger directed at the BBC over the language used to describe perpetrators of violence might be better aimed at the people conducting the atrocities.

We have here the BBC's defence of its reluctance to use the word terrorist in its own reporting (as opposed to in quotes from other people) here.

Meanwhile, at least ten journalists have been killed so far in the conflict: nine as a result of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip and one following the Hamas raid on Kibbutz Nahal Oz in southern Israel. Whatever terminology you choose, we should be grateful to every journalist risking their life to ensure all innocent victims have a voice.

Today we also have a cautionary tale about the price for publishers of using video taken from social media without permission from the copyright owner.

And an entrepreneur who sold his insurance business for billions is hoping to build a great British business magazine to rival Forbes or Fortune in the US. We have the full story here.

You may have noticed a new look for our jobs page which is now powered by Amply. We have details of the new partnership here.

Jobs of the week

Human Dignity Trust: Programmes Associate (Africa) - London
Morning Star: Web Assistant - remote
Adwanted UK: Deputy editor/senior reporter - London

Find and post jobs on Press Gazette

Promoted report

Powering trusted news with AI

We’re entering a new era, one shaped by AI. There are uncertainties and risks around this new technology and its implementation within news and media. However, AI offers significant opportunities too.

Explore these opportunities and risks in an exclusive report from Reuters: Powering Trusted News with AI: Navigating the present and shaping the future.

Download the report to discover:

How to maintain trust and journalistic integrity in the AI era
Practical advice on how to integrate AI into workflows and streamline processes
What the future holds for AI in the media space

Download report

New from Press Gazette

Croydon bus stop arrest video shared on Twitter. Credit: Clment Benjamin

Publishers pay out thousands to owner of Croydon bus-stop arrest video

“None of them bothered to find out the video belonged to Clement, sought his permission to use pictures from it or credited him once they did.”

Read more

Homeserve founder plans to build ‘great British business magazine’

“Our ambition with Business Leader is to create something for the UK, I’d say like Fortune, Forbes, Fast Company… there’s an opportunity there for the UK to have its own publication.”

Read more

BBC defends decision not to use word ‘terrorist’ in Hamas reporting

“We should not adopt other people’s language as our own; our responsibility is to remain objective and report in ways that enable our audiences to make their own assessments about who is doing what to whom.”

“We’re confident it’s not just going to give us a commercial boost but also help fulfil our mission to support quality journalism in the digital age by connecting good companies with great people.”

News in brief

A BBC internal investigation has reportedly found it was fair to the 15 presenters who applied for five roles on the relaunched BBC News channel despite previous claims the five were pre-selected for their familiarity with international audiences. (Deadline)

The death toll of journalists in Israel and Gaza Strip has risen to ten over the last week. Nine killed in bombing and shooting in Gaza Strip, one Israeli killed in the Hamas attack on a Kibbutz. (CPJ)

Marina Ovsyannikova, the Russian journalist who denounced the invasion of Ukraine live on air, suddenly fell ill and was hospitalised yesterday. The Paris prosecutor's office said Ovsyannikova suspects she has been poisoned. (Telegraph)

The editors of the New York Times, Guardian, Le Monde, Der Spiegel and El Pais, which worked with Wikileaks in 2010, expressed "grave concerns" at the continued prosecution of Julian Assange, despite their previous criticism of the decision to publish unredacted cables. (NYT)

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been detained in Russia since March, has again lost an appeal to be released from prison. Currently the court has decided he will remain behind bars until at least 30 November. (WSJ)

Deadline reports that Newsnight editor Stewart Maclean has quit the current affairs programme as the BBC considers making cuts of up to £5m. (Deadline)

NPR traffic dropped by only one percentage point after leaving Twitter in April. (Nieman)

New Zealand news organisation Stuff will no longer post on Twitter/X except stories of health/safety emergencies, as it is "increasingly concerned about the volume of mis- and dis-information.. and the damaging behaviours we have observed, and experienced". (Stuff)

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer met with representatives from The Guardian, Telegraph, News UK, BBC, ITN, the FT and Sky News on Thursday to discuss risks and opportunities posed to the news industry by generative artificial intelligence.

Byline Times says it is to be stocked nationally in WH Smith and Waitrose from 26 October.

Right-wing US TV network Newsmax has launched in the UK, reaching 15 million Freeview Connect households on channel 287. In the US it has had huge ratings growth this year, especially after Tucker Carlson left Fox.

Barnet Post will return to print in December as a monthly newspaper. The outlet, published by Social Spider Community News, initially ran in print between July 2021 and February 2022 before going online-only. (Barnet Post)

Podcast 58: How the Daily Mail become a hit on Tiktok

Mail Online head of social video Phil Harvey, who joined the publisher in March, told Press Gazette how and why their Tiktok strategy has transformed this year and why it is worth the investment.

He also revealed which British politician and their dog has become an unlikely Tiktok star for the Daily Mail.

Listen Now

Also on Press Gazette this week

Press Gazette