Media News - Thursday, September 04, 2008

EU to propose 11-cent price cap for cross-border texts

The EU's telecommunications commissioner has drafted plans to regulate the price of sending cross-border text messages by mobile phones in the bloc with a cap of 11 euro cents, an official said Wednesday. Commissioner Viviane Reding aims to get backing for the proposal, part of a package on mobile services, from fellow commissioners in late September or early October before it is submitted to member states and the European Parliament for approval. Reding is aiming to build on her success last year in pushing through caps on the price of mobile voice calls between EU countries with he plan to limit the cost of sending cross-border text messages, as well as surfing the internet on a mobile phone. In July, she suggested that the cap on the price of sending a text message from one country to another could range from 11 to 15 cents before tax, but eventually settled on the lower limit in her proposal, the EU official said. If the cap is approved, it would make sending cross-border text messages much cheaper in Europe, where it currently costs 29 cents on average, 10 times what it costs to send a message domestically. (AFP via EU Business)

Bookmark this : | Listen to this article | Sphere: Related Content

Microsoft, 12 others buying into NHK broadcaster, Nikkei says

Microsoft Corp. and Itochu Corp. are among 13 companies buying shares in Japan's first 24-hour English-language broadcast service, Nikkei English News reported, without saying where it got the information. The wholly owned unit of Japan Broadcasting Corp., or NHK, plans to increase its capital by JPY 190m (EUR 1.2m) in October by issuing new shares to the companies, the news service said. The business is currently capitalized at JPY 200m. The broadcast service is scheduled to begin operations in February, Nikkei said. (Bloomberg)

Bookmark this : | Listen to this article | Sphere: Related Content

New York Sun newspaper could close by end of September

The New York Sun, a daily newspaper launched six years ago as an often conservative-leaning alternative to The New York Times, may stop publishing by the end of September unless it gets additional financial backing. The paper, which began publishing in 2002, has been losing substantial amounts of money, Sun editor Seth Lipsky wrote in a letter to readers published on the paper's website on Wednesday. The losses reflected advertising declines that are hurting nearly every U.S. newspaper amid wider economic problems such as the U.S. housing market slump and the global credit crisis. The letter did not say how much the privately held paper needed, but a source at the paper said the editors told employees Wednesday that it required a commitment of at least USD 10m (EUR 6.9m). Managing Editor Ira Stoll declined to comment on that figure. The paper publishes five days a week and has a circulation of about 70,000, far lower than the million or so copies that the Times has. Unlike the Times, which covers the United States and the world with large reporting teams, the Sun focuses more on the New York City area, though it also covers politics, foreign policy and the arts. (Reuters)

Bookmark this : | Listen to this article | Sphere: Related Content

Finnish public TV plans to introduce Russian newscasts

Finnish national broadcasting company YLE intends to start up Russian-language TV newscasts, YLE editor-in-chief Atte Jääskeläinen confirms. 'YLE has the readiness to add to the programme supply, but it is a question of money,' Jääskeläinen told YLE News. Several politicians are now calling for the broadcasting company to extend its Russian services. YLE already offers services in Russian on radio and the Internet. According to the most modest plan on the table, YLE would offer Russian-language television newscasts once or twice a day. (BarentsObserver.com via Media Network Weblog)

Bookmark this : | Listen to this article | Sphere: Related Content

EU Parliament wants to end sexism advertisements

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) on Wednesday adopted a new report that calls on member states to make a greater effort to monitor how gender is portrayed in advertising. The lawmakers adopted the report with 504 votes in favor, 110 against and 22 abstentions. 'MEPs call on the EU institutions and member states to develop awareness actions against sexist insults or degrading images of women and men in advertising and marketing,' lawmakers said in a statement. Left-wing Swedish MEP Eva-Britt Svensson, who drafted the non-legally binding report, said such gender stereotyping by advertisers was particularly worrying since not everybody realises how much they are influenced by such advertisements. (DPA via Expatica Netherlands)

Bookmark this : | Listen to this article | Sphere: Related Content

UK: Journoworld.co.uk gives young journalists advice

Young journalists may now get advice from UK journalist Richard Evans' website Journoworld. The site aims to guide young and future journalists who are working on regional and local reporting. 'JournoWorld will tell you how to become a journalist on the local and regional press, how to do a good job once you get there, and suggestions for next career steps,' reads the homepage. The site is divided into sections like 'Becoming a journalist', 'Being a journalist', 'News stories', 'Finding stories', 'Specialist reporting' and job offers. (The Guardian via Editors Weblog)

Bookmark this : | Listen to this article | Sphere: Related Content

• Home |
• Seminars  |
• Events |
• Media Landscape |
• Newsroom|
• Media News|
• Resources

Terms of service and Privacy policy.

Copyright © 1992-2007 European Journalism Centre. All rights reserved.

Valid XHTML and CSS.

European Journalism Centre

Sonneville-lunet 10
6221KT Maastricht
The Netherlands

Tel. : +31 43 325 40 30
Fax : +32 2 400 42 20

E-mail: info[at]ejc.net