Media News - Monday, April 14, 2008

Pakistan government proposes lifting media restrictions

Pakistan’s newly elected government introduced a bill in Parliament on Friday to lift the controversial curbs on the independent media imposed by President Pervez Musharraf last year. Lifting restrictions on the media was one of the main campaign promises of the parties opposed to Mr. Musharraf that won an electoral majority on Feb. 18 and now control Parliament. Those parties have also pledged to revoke other aspects of the state of emergency President Musharraf imposed on Nov. 3 in an effort to control the political fallout from his hugely unpopular moves to oust the independent judiciary and muzzle an independent media. The emergency decree allowed the government to seal the offices of independent television networks, confiscate their equipment, revoke licenses arbitrarily and stop live coverage. Television journalists also faced heavy fines and up to three years in jail for broadcasting anything deemed to defame or ridicule the head of state or the army. The bill seeks to repeal these measures. As part of the clampdown, Mr. Musharraf took all independent television networks off the air and allowed them to resume broadcasting only after signing a controversial code of conduct. The crackdown was condemned widely within and outside the country, and spurred months of protests by media organizations and civil society groups. (New York Times)

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Bahrain preparing new radio and TV bill

Bahrain is moving towards attracting investment in the broadcasting media through a bill that gives full freedom to television and radio stations, including the right to tackle all topics except those against God, Islam or His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. The bill does not interfere in the administration affairs of TV or radio stations, except stressing on the recruitment of Bahrainis who are above the age of 30 and having journalism degrees and five years experience in the media sector as executive managers. The broadcasting media draft law, which will be discussed by the Consultative Council (Shura) after the approval of the Parliament, aims to regulate the activities of public and private TV channels and radio stations based in Bahrain. According to the bill, the licences for new TV and radio stations will be approved by the Cabinet, while registration will be completed by the Ministry of Information. The frequencies and airwaves of TV and radio stations would be leased to networks and not sold to ensure that there are no violations. Unlicensed stations would be banned. (Khaleej Times via Media Network Weblog)

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China unblocks CBC websites

China has unblocked the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s websites, a week after the broadcaster’s president formally complained to Chinese officials. French-language website Radio-Canada.ca had been blocked for six months while English site CBC.ca had been cut off since January. Hubert T Lacroix had formally complained about the blockage last week, writing the ambassador to ask why the websites were blocked and to ‘take steps to ensure that this policy is reversed.’ He wrote that Chinese government officials in 2006 promised to ‘provide services of an Olympic standard to athletes, officials, spectators and the media in order to facilitate their participation and enjoyment of the Games.’ Beijing will host the Olympic Games starting in August. CBC is the official Canadian broadcaster of the Games. (CBC News via Media Network Weblog)

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German publishers oppose Deutsche Post’s free newspaper plans

German newspaper publishing houses are strongly opposing plans by Deutsche Post World Net AG. to launch a free newspaper, said Wolfgang Fuerstner, managing director of VDZ, a publishers association. Deutsche Post's board member Juergen Gerdes Wednesday said in an interview with Financial Times Deutschland the German mail services company aims to grow its revenues from advertising as a way of offsetting declines in its core mail business, and to that effect will launch a free newspaper with a print run of 1 million. 'We won't take lying down that Deutsche Post, as a state-owned company with unique competitive edges, threatens press diversity in distribution', Fuerstner told Handelsblatt. He said VDZ will make use of all possible legal and political means, including legal action through the European Union courts. Gerdes, who heads Deutsche Post's mail operations and German parcel operations, said the company targets revenues in a three-digit million euro range from advertising by entering the free newspaper market. Fuerstner put the total market at EUR 820m. Gerdes said Deutsche Post is seeking to cooperate with publishing houses for printing and editorial content. (Thomson Financial News via Forbes)

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Madeleine suspect to sue media

A suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann is to sue 11 leading British newspapers and one TV station over allegedly libellous stories. London-based law firm Simons Muirhead & Burton said it was representing Robert Murat against Sky, the Sun and others. The 34-year-old Briton, who lives near the Algarve holiday apartment from which Madeleine went missing, denies any involvement in her disappearance. Reports suggest the action could lead to a record payout of more than GBP 2m. In a statement, the solicitors, who are specialists in media litigation, said they were taking action against Sky, the Sun, the Daily Express, the Sunday Express, the Daily Star and the Daily Mail. They also listed the Evening Standard, the Metro, the Daily Mirror, the Sunday Mirror, the News of the World and the Scotsman. Last month Kate and Gerry McCann won a libel settlement and apology from Express Newspapers for suggesting they were involved in their daughter's disappearance. The newspaper group paid the couple GBP 550,000 in damages. (BBC News)

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Books tool to boost literary web offering

A new digital book-browsing tool is to make the full works of about 500 authors available to read and search online. Launched Monday at the London Book Fair, the application by the publisher Random House will eventually be expanded to include as many as 5,000 books by the end of the year. Online retailers including Play.com, Lovereading.co.uk and BookRabbit will be featuring the application, which also includes links through to the Random House retail site. Random House wants the tool to be picked up by book fans and bloggers who can modify it for their own sites. Random House has been ramping up its digital offerings with the rollout of the digital store rbooks.co.uk, marketing campaigns on social networking sites MySpace and Bebo and promotions in the virtual world Second Life. The publisher is also working on a ‘digital warehouse’ that will store its entire literary archive, past and present. Random House is following a now common strategy by major media firms, who recognise that distributing their content online can increase interest and engagement among new audiences and ultimately increase sales. Music site Last.fm recently claimed that since introducing free, streamed music the clicks through to its retail partner Amazon had increased by 119 percent. (The Guardian)

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