I bought a copy of the first edition of the Sun on Sunday to see what the fuss is all about. A multiple first – it’s also the first time I’ve ever bought The Sun. It looks and feels like the Monday-Saturday paper – one of their goals, I would imagine, not to look different. As for the content, well, ditto I guess. Overall impression on me? Yawn :) If I want the Sun on Sunday content in future, I’ll just look at the website – unless it becomes paywalled. There’s nothing I find compelling, not even the columnists (which is a specific reason why I am willing to pay for content elsewhere, eg, the FT and The Economist). Yet […]
#NoTW
How to hack a phone like News of The World journalists did
Via Reuters: World renowned computer hacker, Kevin Mitnick, shows you step-by-step how the News of the World journalists hacked into private voicemails. Shockingly easy to do with some open source software as Mitnick explains. If you access your mobile phone voicemail without a password, is that a risk worth taking? (Background: News International phone hacking scandal) Related post: Can they handle the truth?
Seeing PR sense behind latest News International events
The announcement this morning that News International CEO Rebekah Brooks had resigned provoked near-universal applause on Twitter, from what I could see in my content stream. It was also reported in mainstream media around the world, illustrating quite clearly how significant this is beyond the UK. This and related events today look like the result of some wise counsel that must include public relations advice by PR firm Edelman which was appointed by News Corporation on July 13 to provide "general comms support and public affairs counsel." The phrase "fast-moving events" is nowhere more applicable at the moment than to what’s happening in relation to this still-unfolding story that began with the News of The World newspaper and illegal phone […]
Making some drama from the NOTW crisis
Last week, the focus was on the News of The World and phone hacking, culminating in the newspaper’s final edition on Sunday July 10. This week, attention has shifted dramatically as events have moved up level by level to embrace the ultimate owner of the British newspaper, News Corporation, in a genuine crisis that could engulf Rupert Murdoch’s media conglomerate in a demolition of reputation and trust that threatens the very structure of the organization. The most significant development this afternoon was that Murdoch had withdrawn his £8 billion bid for the outstanding shares of pay-TV satellite broadcaster BSkyB, ahead of a united move by government and opposition to formally call for him to withdraw that bid. Much speculation and […]
A tipping point sets a milestone for mainstream media evolution
I’ve been reading through the News of The World today. It’s the first time I’ve ever bought this newspaper – and the last time, too, as this was its last edition. The closure that concludes 168 years of newspaper publishing is a sorry end to a popular tabloid that consistently served up the type of fare that captured the attention of 7.5 million Britons every Sunday. At its peak in recent years, it claimed to enjoy the world’s biggest readership for an English-language newspaper, a view supported by circulation and readership figures for 2010. The demise of the News of The World (NoTW) came about as a consequence of the phone hacking scandal which has dominated the news in the […]