links for 2007-08-13

What happened to Al Jazeera’s Sami al-Haj

“New Zealand Newspaper publisher APN News & Media began outsourcing editorial production work Sunday, a strategy being watched by media outlets in other countries”

A strange assumption Adam Tinworth faces when teaching journalists about blogs: “blogs=IT”, which is a bit like “magazines=printing press”.

“some of the harshest indictments of the press now come from the growing segment that relies on the internet as its main source for national and international news.”

Parting shots from an ex-hack, including these wise words: “Journalists report facts, not truth. Why? Because if you can read this you’re literate, if you’re literate you can decide the truth for yourself.”

“The quality British papers, particularly in their online editions, are much farther down the road toward what looks like the future of newspaper journalism, one that places a much higher premium on analysis and opinion than do serious American newspapers

“Metro is set to launch in Dundee and Perth in the next few weeks as part of a major expansion around the UK. … [T]otal daily distribution of the free paper is set to rise from 1.1 million to 1.35m copies as every UK edition is beefed up.”

Mike Soutar’s no-nudity pledge for Shortlist “reflects a minor revolution in the men’s magazine business in Britain, a proving ground for the “lads’ mag” phenomenon of the 1990s. The formula — a lowbrow blend of bare-breasted B-listers and bawdy

ISPs “are warning they may have to restrict customers’ access to the BBC’s new iPlayer service unless the corporation contributes to the cost of streaming videos over the internet.”

Pat Thornton: “Reporting the news with video isn’t exactly new. So, why would throwing some random video on your Web site all the sudden make you new media? It wouldn’t.”

“Indeed, US reporters might fare better in Britain. Both the Contempt of Court Act and European rights laws acknowledge the right to protect sources.”

“On Thursday, [Gannett] filed papers with the [SEC] that included a new change-of-control plan, one that would accelerate payments to top executives in the event of a corporate takeover.”

“Gannett, owner of 84 daily newspapers and 23 TV stations, announced Friday the launch of 100 [WAP] mobile sites of breaking news, sports, weather and other local information … produced by Gannett Information Centers.”

“Media professionals characterized it less charitably as an effort by engineers who do not understand the impracticalities of such a project on a large scale — for instance, how do you verify a source’s identity or screen for inaccurate statements?”

Seamus McCauley takes issue with Henry Blodget’s newsprint-is-doomed analysis.