Media News - Tuesday, May 13, 2008

French left accuses Sarkozy of intimidating media

France’s opposition Socialists have accused the ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party of intimidating the media, in the latest of a series of debates on press freedom since President Nicolas Sarkozy took office a year ago. Sarkozy last week accused five media organisations, including the French news agency AFP, of showing bias against him by giving insufficient coverage to a court ruling that went against his former rival for presidency, Socialist Segolene Royal. Following the comments by Sarkozy, other members of his party have also criticised AFP and the row has intensified. Sarkozy has close friendships with the heads of several major French media companies, and some critics have long accused him of seeking to influence coverage, a charge he denies. His accusations come at a time when his popularity ratings have plunged to a record low, due to economic trouble and perceived excessive focus on his personal life. The press has widely reported and commented on the poll ratings. The media branches of two major unions, CFDT and CFTC, issued statements, saying they were worried Sarkozy was trying to use journalists as scapegoats for his low popularity. But UMP spokesman Frederic Lefebvre insisted that all the ruling party was asking for was a ‘neutral’ press. Lefebvre accused AFP of ‘censorship’ because it did not report on several press statements by the ruling party on the issue of the Royal court ruling, which concerns a decade-old dispute between the two associates over unpaid wages. AFP rejected the accusation, saying it was free to decide what was newsworthy. The two unions also defended AFP, saying it had repeatedly covered the court ruling and was not required to cover every single UMP statement. (Reuters)

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Vietnam arrests two journalists for alleged false reports on soccer gambling scandal

Vietnamese authorities have arrested two journalists who reported aggressively on a major gambling and bribery scandal that prompted the resignation of the transportation minister, state media reported Tuesday. The two journalists were taken into police custody Monday and accused of reporting ‘false information’ on the case, in which ministry employees gambled millions of dollars on European soccer matches, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reported Tuesday. The case led to the conviction of nine people, including several government officials, and the resignation of Transport Minister Dao Dinh Binh. Gambling is illegal in Vietnam. Nguyen Van Hai, 33, of Tuoi Tre and Nguyen Viet Chien, 56, of Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper, were accused of ‘abuse of power and authority’ for their reporting on the case, which first surfaced in late 2005, Tuoi Tre reported. The specifics of the charges against the two remained unclear Tuesday. Tuoi Tre and Thanh Nien, two of Vietnam's most popular newspapers, were among the most aggressive in covering the scandal. Tuoi Tre reported Tuesday that over the past year, dozens of local journalists have been summoned by police questioning where they obtained information on the case that authorities claimed was incorrect. (AP via International Herald Tribune)

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Record digital revenues for Norwegian newspaper giant

Norwegian media company Schibsted Friday reported that 61 per cent of its operating revenues now comes from its network of websites. At the end of 2007, analysts predicted that digital revenues for Schibsted, which owns newspapers all over Europe, would rise to 60 per cent during 2008. Friday's first quarter results reveal that the newspaper publisher has met this target already. The company earned 51 per cent of its revenue from its online activities in 2007. Its latest set of financial figures show the company now earns 61 per cent from its market leading news and classifieds sites. The year-on-year increase in digital revenues from first quarter 2007, was 29 per cent. Schibsted is often cited as a global example of a successful online transition, but its success is hard to emulate in markets such as the US, where the media landscape is much more fragmented and sites like Ebay and Craigslist have a stronghold on the classifieds market. Another factor in Schibsted's online profitability is its willingness to cannibalise its own products. Executives and editors talk candidly about how the company's online success is slowly eroding its print audience. (Journalism.co.uk)

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Israel’s parliament removes hallway cameras from press wing

Security cameras recently installed in the renovated part of the Israeli Knesset where journalists now have their offices have been removed, following a request by the chairman of the Knesset journalists and a number of reporters. The chairman of the Knesset journalists, Ya'akov Eichler, wrote Knesset director general Avi Balashnikov that the Knesset reporters were ‘stunned’ to find the two security cameras when they returned from recess. The reporters offices were moved two months ago to more spacious quarters. Eichler noted that there had been attempts to install cameras in the old office corridor, ostensibly for security purposes, but the attempt was stopped due to journalists' privilege. Cameras are installed in Knesset corridors and record everything that happens there. The films are stored for an extended time in the computers of the Knesset Guard. (Haaretz)

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Hacker splashes data from six million Chileans on Internet: report

A hacker broke into Chile's government sites mining data from six million people which he then posted on the Internet on two popular servers for several hours, the El Mercurio daily have said. The personal data included names, street and email addresses, telephone numbers, social and educational background, and was taken from Education Ministry, Electoral Service and state-run telephone companies' websites from late Saturday to early Sunday. The data was displayed for several hours before authorities removed it on the technology information website ‘FayerWayer’ and community website ‘ElAntro.’ The hacker said on the websites he splashed the data ‘for the whole world to see ... (to) show how unprotected personal data is in Chile ... nobody bothers protecting that information.’ (AFP)

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Web start-up unveils semantic Wikipedia search tool

Powerset on Sunday unveiled tools for searching Wikipedia that use conversational phrasing instead of keywords, marking the first step of its challenge to established Web search services such as Google. Powerset's technology breaks down the meaning of words and sentences into related concepts, freeing users from always needing to type the exact words they want to find. The closely watched Silicon Valley start-up is offering a way of searching millions of entries in Wikipedia's online encyclopedia, helping users find detailed answers to questions rather than isolated links that require further research. San Francisco-based Powerset is looking to leapfrog the current generation of services that rely on keyword searches such as Google Inc, Yahoo Inc, Microsoft Corp and IAC InterActiveCorp's Ask.com. While still a far cry from letting users search the World Wide Web, Powerset is using Wikipedia as a trial showcase for how its technology can be used to search a vast number of other websites using natural language phrases or questions. Over time, it aims to partner with other high-quality data sites where information can be organized in a question and answer form that lends itself to Powerset search techniques. Examples might include financial or patent filings, the CIA Factbook or Wikipedia-inspired clones, company officials said. Powerset, which can be found at www.powerset.com/, looks beyond words to try to understand conceptual relationships that get closer to what a user may be searching for. It analyzes each sentence and whole documents to do so. (Reuters)

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