Media firm Ascential expects more sales soon after discharging health service magazine for £19m January 19, 2017 Ascential, the media company formerly known as Emap, has announced the sale of one of its most high-profile titles for £19m. Publisher Wilmington has pounced to snap up the Health Service Journal (HSJ) just two weeks after Ascential put the magazine title, along with 12 others, up for sale. Overall, FTSE 250-listed Ascential is expected [...]
Ukip and Leave donor Arron Banks launches “pro-Brexit, pro-Farage, pro-Trump” news website January 19, 2017 Arron Banks, the tycoon who bankrolled a campaign for Britain to leave the European Union, has founded a new “pro-Brexit, pro-Farage, pro-Trump” news website. The “anti-establishment, anti-open borders, anti-corporatism” site launched last night and is co-owned and run by Nigel Farage’s former press adviser Michael Heaver. Read more: It may be all over for Ukip, according [...]
Pearson fails to make the grade as shares fall 30 per cent after firm cuts forecast January 18, 2017 Pearson's shares tumbled up to 30 per cent this morning, after the education company withdrew its profit goal for 2018. It has also announced plans to sell its stake in publisher Penguin House, after an "unprecedented period of change and volatility". A textbook perfect storm. Read more: These companies could start offering low-cost degrees The [...]
£4 million for England’s museums January 17, 2017 The Government and the Wolfson Foundation have awarded grants worth £4 million to 39 museums and galleries in England. The foundation put up half the funding for these improvements, which are aimed at increasing access, upgrading public spaces and updating displays. In London, the Natural History Museum is receiving £100,000 for improvements to their iconic [...]
Daily Mail publisher abandons national press project to take on advertising decline January 16, 2017 The publisher of the Daily Mail has abandoned a national newspaper project to pool advertising resources. Project Rio, formerly known as Project Juno, still involves the publishers of the Guardian, Sun and Daily Express among others. But Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) is now out, with the publisher said to hold concerns around legal [...]
Goodbye Piccadilly: A short history of the Piccadilly Circus advertising billboards January 16, 2017 On only a handful of occasions in its 100-year history has the hotchpotch of billboards at Piccadilly Circus been intentionally switched off during peacetime. Most famously, when Winston Churchill died, and later, Princess Diana. The advertising space, recognisable around the world, is symbolic of the national mood; it wears black when we mourn. But today, minus [...]
Mumsnet’s Justine Roberts talks community, the value of debate, and bursting the filter bubble January 16, 2017 Time poverty is clearly an issue for Justine Roberts. I have just 40 minutes on the phone with the Mumsnet founder and chief executive to disseminate a lifetime of achievement: PPE student at Oxford, a stint in the City, a journalist with a sports beat and, most recently, a recipient of a CBE for services [...]
Goodbye Piccadilly: It’s lights out for the Circus January 16, 2017 It's lights out for Piccadilly this morning, as the patchwork of billboards adorning the Circus is switched off for the last time, to be replaced with the biggest, most technically advanced, screen in western Europe. In its century long life, the advertising space has rarely been switched off during peacetime, bar a handful of notable [...]
Newspaper industry steps up fight against official press regulator Impress January 13, 2017 The newspaper industry has moved a step forward in its bid to challenge the status of the UK’s officially-recognised press regulator, Impress. The News Media Association (NMA) is in the process of applying for a judicial review of the Press Recognition Panel’s (PRP) decision to recognise Impress. The NMA said today that it had issued [...]
Under Press-ure: Activist takes 19 per cent stake in regional press group January 12, 2017 Regional newspaper group Johnston Press could come under pressure after an activist investor took a 19 per cent stake in the company. Crystal Amber today increased its stake from 6.7 per cent to 18.6 per cent. Read more: Johnston Press reduces debt woes by flogging papers for £17m Johnston Press was among many newspaper companies [...]