Contents September – 2009

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Welcome

Three years feels like an age in the journalism business these days.

Back in the summer of 2006 two of Britain’s biggest newspaper publishers – Associated Newspapers and News International – were gearing up to fight it out by launching rival free daily newspapers on the streets of London. And The Observer was riding high after feeling the effects of a circulation-boosting Berliner-size relaunch.

In September 2009 the world is a very different place. Barring a miracle we will say goodbye to NI’s thelondonpaper, which found a readership but not enough ads to stay afloat (pages 9 and 10). And despite keeping its sale robustly above the 400,000 mark, The Observer is being considered for closure by Guardian Media Group to staunch escalating losses at its national newspapers division. While it would be no surprise for a national newspaper to fall victim to the current recession, it is astonishing that this paper could be our oldest Sunday title.

GMG is bound by the remit of its owners the Scott Trust to do everything it can to protect the journalism of The Guardian in perpetuity. But Press Gazette believes that sacrificing The Observer should be the last possible option. MP Denis MacShane makes a compelling case for saving the title on page 7. We’ve also launched a campaign online aimed at urging the Scott Trust not to consign one of Britain’s greatest media brands to the dustbin of history. Press Gazette will be holding a public meeting later this month. Please go to www.pressgazette.co.uk/observer_sos for more details. Dominic Ponsford, Press Gazette editor

Contacts.

Editor Dominic Ponsford dominicp@pressgazette.co.uk 020 7753 4291 News editor Oliver Luft oluft@pressgazette.co.uk 020 7753 4290 Associate Editor (production) Pamela Horne phorne@ progressivemediagroup.com 020 7915 9767 Features assistant Martina Booth Editorial contributors Conrad Quilty-Harper Martin Dominguez Studio manager Karen Townsend ktownsend@progressivemediagroup.com 020 8269 7793 Production Dave Stanford dstanford@progressivemediagroup.com 020 8269 7722 Head of Sales: Matt Dowsett matt@newstatesman.com 020 7915 9603

All subscription enquiries: 01858 438872 Incorporating Magazine Week and Media Reporter. Press Gazette is published by Progressive Media Group, John Carpenter House, John Carpenter Street, London EC4Y 0BS. ISSN number: 0041-5170

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NEWS & ANALYSIS. COVER STORY: THE FUTURE’S LOCAL Why ultra-local online news could provide salvation for unemployed journalists 04-06 OBSERVER’S END? Former Europe minister and president of the NUJ Denis MacShane issues an impassioned plea for GMG not to close The Observer 07 CLOSING TIME The end of the line for thelondonpaper – special report 09-10 MAGAZINE ABCs We talk to the editors who swam against the tide to put on sales 11-12

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INSIDE THE MAIL Ciar Byrne has the inside story on Paul Dacre’s Daily Mail 13-15 ADVERTORIALS Where to draw the line on commercial content 16 COMMENT. GREY CARDIGAN 21 DAVID BANKS On the press 22 DAVID SINGLETON On PR and power 23 CAMILLA WRIGHT On digital media 23 PETER KIRWAN On Media Money 24 FEATURES. THE BIG INTERVIEW Bullivant and Bullivant on why local news has a bright future 26-27 DESIGN The PPA award winners 40-41

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PHOTOGRAPHY Hazel Thompson’s greatest images 42-43 TIPS & TRAINING. MEDIA LAW Reporting family courts 39 FREELANCE Greenshoots? We ask a cross section of freelances whether the recovery is here 44-45 THE KNOWLEDGE Reporting on sport, how to cover politics, and the inside story of exposing a smuggling ring 48-50 REGULARS. GLOBAL REPORT Iraqi journalist Dana Asaad Mohammed on why he fled his homeland 17 EARLY ADOPTER Stuff editor Tom Dunmore 29 GADGETS PA’s multimedia kitbag 30 BOOKS The FT’s man in Nigeria tells all 47 NUMBERS Magazines and national ABCs 52 EXIT INTERVIEW Morning Advertiser editor Andrew Pring 61 AXEGRINDER Gossip and free whisky 62-63

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FREELANCE DIRECTORY 54-55 NEWS CONTACTS 56-57 ESSENTIAL SERVICES 58-59

www.pressgazette.co.uk / NEWSDESK 020 7936 6433

PRESS GAZETTE — JOURNALISM TODAY / SEPTEMBER 2009