Evening Standard editor Sarah Sands has been appointed editor of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme January 30, 2017 Sarah Sands, the editor of the London Evening Standard, will take up a new role as the editor of BBC Radio 4's Today programme in "due time". Sands called it an honour to join the programme. "I've felt very close to the Today programme for more than 40 years: every listener does. It is an honour to [...]
NatWest backtracks on plans to freeze UK account of Russian state broadcaster RT January 30, 2017 NatWest has reversed its decision to freeze the accounts of Russian state broadcaster RT. RT, formerly known as Russia Today, revealed a letter from NatWest announcing the freeze in October, with the broadcaster’s editor-in-chief condemning the move as an attack on freedom of speech. RT said NatWest announced plans to close the UK accounts of the [...]
What exactly is fake news? And 11 more questions MPs will ask tech and media companies in a new inquiry January 30, 2017 What is fake news? That's just one of the 11 questions politicians will seek to answer in a fresh inquiry into the phrase du-jour favoured by Donald Trump MPs have set their sights on tech companies such as Facebook, Google and Twitter, warning they must tackle fake news in the same way as they fight online piracy and [...]
Free magazine Sport folds after 10 years following News Corp takeover January 27, 2017 Free magazine Sport is folding after more than 10 years. Next week’s issue, number 484, will be its last, the title announced on its Twitter page this afternoon. The closure comes shortly after Rupert Murdoch’s News UK, which publishes the Sun and Times, bought Sport’s owner, Wireless Group. Read more: How revenue woes are driving [...]
Celebrities take aim at Sky in bid to keep Discovery channels January 27, 2017 Celebrities including Ronnie O’Sullivan, Jimmy White, Katie Hopkins and Colin Murray have thrown their weight behind Discovery in its battle against Sky. It emerged earlier this week that Sky customers are set to lose 12 channels including Eurosport and Animal Planet after the Discovery Channel revealed details of a spat with the media giant. Read [...]
More jobs go in “extremely challenging and upsetting” cost-cutting at newspaper publisher Trinity Mirror January 27, 2017 Newspaper industry cuts are showing little sign of abating this year, with Trinity Mirror announcing more cuts. Shortly after the publisher announced it was making dozens of redundancies across its regional newsrooms, it has emerged there will be more jobs lost at its national newspapers operation. Read more: Trinity Mirror's cutting dozens of jobs in a [...]
Cinema chain Vue plans £6.6m refurbishment of Leicester Square flagship January 26, 2017 Cinema company Vue Entertainment is planning a £6.6m refurbishment of its Leicester Square flagship. The West End venue, which first opened in October 1938, is planning to upgrade its seating, sound systems and introduce new retail offerings. Read more: Cinema chain Odeon's owner AMC buys Nordic Cinemas Group Guests will have a choice of fully-reclining [...]
Ad giant Publicis Groupe has named top boss Maurice Levy’s sucessor January 26, 2017 The French advertising giant Publicis Groupe has named a successor to long-standing top dog Maurice Levy. Arthur Sadoun, a Publicis insider, will take over as chief executive and chairman at the firm from 1 June. He comes from leading the group's creative agencies under Publicis Communications, which include Saatchi & Saatchi and BBH. The nominating committee said there was no [...]
Three major changes Facebook’s made to trending topics in the fight against fake news January 26, 2017 Facebook has made some major changes to the feature which shows users what topics are trending after serious accusations of bias and amid the wider debate around fake news. The list of topics will no longer be personalised to users' interests, and will instead be based upon their location. Read more: Facebook steps up fake news [...]
Shares in the publisher of the Daily Mail have dived – here’s why January 26, 2017 Growth at the owner of the Daily Mail newspaper ground to a halt in the first quarter, sending shares diving seven per cent. The figures Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) revenue grew just one per cent in its b2b business and shrank one per cent on an underlying basis on the dmg media side, which [...]