(82) Chris Evans slams Top Gear’s critics as catch-up viewing lifts ratings

Link: http://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/jun/06/chris-evans-top-gear-ratings-bbc?CMP=share_btn_tw

 

Summary:

 

The Sunday night audience for the long-running motoring show fell to 2.8 million at the weekend, down from 4.3 million viewers for the opening show the previous Sunday. But there was encouragement for Evans and his BBC bosses after the consolidated audience for the first outing, which includes people who recorded it and watched it in the subsequent seven days, boosted the opening show’s audience by nearly 50%, to 6.4 million. Evans accused his critics on Monday of living in the past for not taking into account catch-up viewing and how the show was “repositioning the way” people watch TV.

(81) Independent looks to the US to drive digital-only future

Link: http://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/jun/03/independent-us-digital?CMP=share_btn_tw

 

Summary:

 

The Independent is to ramp up its presence in the US as it becomes the latest news publisher to look across the Atlantic to drive revenue and readership. After the publisher imposed brutal staff cuts following the closure of the print editions in March, it boosted Independent.co.uk’s editorial operation from a core team of about 50 to about 90, creating about 25 new roles in the UK. More than 60% of the Independent’s monthly web traffic is from non-UK readers, some 38 million, with about half of that from the US, according to Audit Bureau of Circulations figures.

(80) Labour MP says she may leave Twitter over trolls' rape abuse

Link: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/may/31/labour-mp-jess-phillips-says-she-may-leave-twitter-over-trolls-abuse

 

Summary:

 

A Labour MP has said she may leave Twitter after trolls sent her more than 600 messages in one night about raping her. Jess Phillips spoke out after a wave of abuse was launched against her, apparently after she replied to one person who said: “I wouldn’t even rape you.” She said: “Until Twitter makes this sort of thing stop happening and stops accepting that this sort of dogpiling and mass bullying can happen, their business model is totally flawed. People who don’t like this feral side of the internet are just going to walk away.”

(79) EU referendum poster aimed at minority ethnic vote causes controversy

Link: http://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/may/25/eu-referendum-poster-minority-ethnic-voters?CMP=share_btn_tw

 

Summary:

 

Operation Black Vote, the campaign group that aims to persuade more minority ethnic people to get involved in politics, has produced a provocative poster with the slogan “a vote is a vote” as the deadline for registering to take part in the European Union referendum looms. The deliberately hard-hitting campaign depicts an aggressive-looking skinhead on a see-saw, jabbing his finger at an Asian woman – who nevertheless sits level with him, to convey the message that everyone’s vote carries equal weight. Designed by Saatchi & Saatchi, it is aimed at persuading adults from minority ethnic communities, who tend to be under-represented on the electoral register, to sign up before the 7 June deadline so they can cast their votes in the referendum. But the poster immediately sparked a row, with Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader campaigning hard for Britain to leave the EU, describing it as a “disgusting” example of “sectarian politics”.

Key data/statistical information:

• It estimates that there are 4 million BAME voters in the UK – plus 400,000 British Commonwealth voters who are eligible to vote in the EU referendum – but around 30% are not registered

(78) Twitter abuse - '50% of misogynistic tweets from women'

Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-36380247

 

Summary:

 

Half of all misogynistic tweets posted on Twitter come from women, a study suggests. Over a three-week period, think tank counted the number of uses of two particular words as indicators of misogyny. It found evidence of large-scale misogyny, with 6,500 unique users targeted by 10,000 abusive tweets in the UK alone. Abuse on social networks is not new and neither is the revelation that women contribute to the problem.

Key data/statistical information:

• The Demos study also looked at international tweets and found more than 200,000 aggressive tweets using the words, "slut" and "whore", were sent to 80,000 people over the same three weeks
• A 2014 study from cosmetics firm Dove found that over five million negative tweets were posted about beauty and body image. Four out of five were sent by women

 

(77) DMGT issues profit warning after double-digit fall in print ads

Link: http://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/may/26/dmgt-print-ads-daily-mail-mail-online-metro

 

Summary:

 

The owner of the Daily Mail has issued a warning to investors after reporting a 29% fall in profits, driven by a double-digit decline in print advertising, at its newspaper operation in the six months to the end of March. Daily Mail & General Trust, the parent company of the Daily Mail and Mail Online, said that overall financial results for the business are “broadly in line with expectations”. However, investors took fright at the performance of the newspaper operation sending DMGT’s share price down 9% in trading on Thursday morning. The company issued a warning to investors downgrading the performance of DMG Media, the division that houses the Daily Mail, Mail Online and freesheet Metro, which will miss its full-year targets.

Key data/statistical information:

• DMGT said that print ad revenues across all its titles declined 13% in the six months to the end of March and, worryingly for investors, worsened to 15% in the first quarter of this year
• The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday alone saw print revenues fall 16% in the six months to the end of March
• Total revenues at the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday fell 7% in the six months to the end of March from £260m to £242m
• Digital advertising grew strongly in the six months to the end of March, up 23% on an underlying basis with total revenues at Mail Online climbing to £44m, helping to limit the overall ad revenue decline to 4%
• The continuing tough market for newspaper led DMGT to warn investors that it will miss its stated 13% operating margin target for DMG Media this year that it set in November, instead expecting it to fall to 10%

(76) Suddenly, national newspapers are heading for that print cliff fall

Link: http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2016/may/27/suddenly-national-newspapers-are-heading-for-that-print-cliff-fall

 

Summary:

 

As advertisers turn their backs on newsprint, publishers who have been in denial about the digital revolution are confronted by an uncomfortable reality. Declining circulation figures tell us that people are switching week by week from print to screen. It is simply a matter of time before it becomes unprofitable to continue publishing newsprint papers. The EU referendum may have had a negative impact, but its effect has been marginal. The trend could not be clearer: advertisers have taken flight. It is time to recognise that the whole UK newspaper industry is heading for a cliff fall, that tipping point when there is no hope of a reversal of fortune. It does not mean the immediate closure of papers because the lesson from regional owners is that it is possible to continue publication through cost-cutting. Papers can be produced with skeleton editorial staffs. Indeed, Richard Desmond has been doing that at the Daily and Sunday Express and Daily Star for several years.

Key data/statistical information:

• The news that one of the strongest publishing companies, Daily Mail & General Trust, had to issue a warning to investors after its newspaper division reported a 29% fall in profits should be seen as a landmark moment
• It was largely due to a 13% decline in print ad revenues at its titles - Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and Metro - over a six-month period
• There was some compensation in the growth of digital advertising at Mail Online, up to very healthy £44m, which must be seen in the context of the Mail’s print advertising of £80m

What's my view?

This article shows the downfall that the newspaper industry are facing. Publishers are now facing reality that the digital revolution will shut down the newspaper industry in the very near future.