In a move that strikes fear into the hearts of The Oz execs, News International in the UK, will stop distributing bulk copies of newspapers sold for a nominal amount to hotels and airlines, which give them to clients as complimentary offerings.
News Limited
Crikey Says: Poor Packer has had a gutful this morning
It was fat puns aplenty at News Limited this morning, with lots of unflattering photos running of rival media mogul James Packer. What point were they trying to make exactly?
Crikey Says: The big stories: monster sharks and porn stars
Here’s the top stories that Australians are reading today, according to News Ltd. Lots of sex, sharks, gangs and Penthouse scandals. Paywall time?
Chairman of Australian Press Council calls for accountability
Ken McKinnon, the departing boss of the Press Council, is criticising the media for failing to live up to its own rhetoric on ethics, privacy and independence. Namely, the Utegate scandal and fake Pauline Hanson nude photos.
Auntie gives Rupert a helping hand with Punch
Anyone watching the media over the past week might have been tempted to think that there was a war going on between News Limited and the ABC. Except, there is a big gap between rhetoric and reality.
When Fairfax moves, will Andrew Bolt be an outside broadcast?
Could management at Fairfax Media be so precious about rivals accessing its sparkling new Collins Street headquarters they are already hatching plans to bar News Limited employees from the premises?
Online pay battle: there’s no such thing a such a free …
News Limited have returned fire to Mark Scott’s speech last week about the future of paywalls. How will Rupert Murdoch’s paywall system work?
The secret plans of News Limited
News Limited have come out swinging against Mark Scott’s speech from last week, with reports in The Australian of how Rupert Murdoch is actually going to implement his paywall plans.
Why people will pay for News
News Limited’s plan to put online content behind a paywall has been considered by many as ridiculous. But there are many opportunities there (think sport and Andrew Bolt) and they shouldn’t be underestimated, says Dave Gaukroger.
Many unhappy returns for newsagents
News Limited has just purchased a multi-million dollar circulation software package that is giving The Age enormous problems and angering newsagents across Victoria.
Hong Kong now News Corp’s fading star
In this email, James Murdoch tells how he will shuffle the cards at News Corp’s Asian satellite TV operation.
Don Burke vs. Donna Hay: a storm in a vegie pot
It’s parsnips at 20 paces, with a war of words and whisks cooking between Don Burke and Donna Hay over that highly contentious issue of public interest: parsnips.
Circulations wrap: calm down Rupert, things aren’t that bad here
While Fairfax and News Ltd papers are suffering nasty falls in ad revenues, recent figures of Australian newspapers show small, but not fatal falls in some cases and small rises in others.
Darwin media inbreeding claims Paul Toohey
The incestuous nexus enveloping Northern Territory journalism and politics has claimed its second victim, writes Andrew Crook
Sales and Colvin cosy up at The Punch
ABC stars Leigh Sales and Mark Colvin have their taxpayer-funded ABC blogs reproduced by commercial rival News Limited on The Punch, in apparent breach of the national broadcaster’s editorial policies.
Invasion of privacy is not okay — even if it’s Kyle Sandilands’
Kyle Sandilands may have been one of the most repulsively cruel broadcasters in recent memory, but that doesn’t justify News Ltd tracking down and publishing the private financial arrangements between him and his banks, says Jeremy Sear
AUDIO: News Corp’s earnings conference call with Rupert Murdoch
News Corp just reported a fourth-quarter loss of $3.4b. Listen to the audio of Rupert Murdoch and his henchmen dealing with the fallout.
News Ltd and the cold shoulder of redundancy
The journalists’ union is taking a hard look at News Limited’s redundancies, writes Christopher Warren.
Google, Fairfax and News Ltd jostle for real estate online
Fairfax and News Ltd want to protect their online real estate cash cows now that Google will offer a free property listing service on Google Maps. Would they dare to stop paying for key search terms?
Tips and rumours: DFAT wants Turnbull and Bishop to butt out?
A Crikey tipster writes: A DFAT legal adviser told us the current case of Mr Hu is being compromised by ill informed megaphone behaviour of the Opposition leaders.
Why investigative journalism needs … investigating
The really shocking aspect of the News International phone hacking revelations is that they have appeared in public, argues Crikey publisher Eric Beecher. The cat is out of the bag.
Crikey Says: Newspoll can’t forget Peter Costello
Peter Costello has said he is leaving politics. No really. So why does Newspoll insist on including him in its question rating possible leaders of the Liberal Party?
Guy Rundle: News Ltd’s Devine interventions
What’s weird is the way in which Peter Coleman’s tribute to a friend is party-crashed by News Ltd’s suits, like a bunch of Brezhnevite stooges trying to get as close to the coffin as possible.
How the media trash important stories when their rivals scoop them
News Ltd’s handling of the six economists’ call for a new inquiry into the financial system was revealing.
