"Newspapers forced to self-censor on Ergenekon coverage ...
Newspapers forced to self-censor on Ergenekon coverage
Journalists and newspaper editors who want to cover in depth the course of an investigation into Ergenekon, a shady gang whose members allegedly perpetrated a number of attacks and bombings to create chaos that would eventually lead to the overthrowing of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government, are increasingly hesitant about being bold in sharing details with their readers as prosecutors have immediately been launching investigations into virtually all news stories on the topic.EU: Protecting editorial independence, new report from Culture Committee
There is "considerable risk," warns a new report adopted by the EU's Culture and Education Committee, that private media's pursuit of profit could compromise its ability to act as a watchdog for democracy.Media relations: still a big slice of the pie
In follow up to the previous post (about students in the workplace) and spurred by a rather heated internal discussion about the extent to which PR students should be steered towards or away from media relations in their first year at university, I've done some counting.
US: NYT: Copy editor's role diminished in digital newsroom
The copy editor's role in the newsroom, as the last set of eyes to read a story before it is published, is becoming obsolete, writes Lawrence Downes of the New York Times.iPhone v. Other Smart Phones: Still No Clear Winner
On the All Things Digital site I have a piece today about tools that will help transform journalism. This one’s called “iPhone 2.0–Good, Fast, Cheap: Pick Two” — and the debate is still on.
US: The troubled economics of online advertising
It isn't a secret that the American newspaper industry is experiencing difficult times, as core print revenues and circulation are falling. Many think that online news, which has been accompanied by double-digit online advertising growth in recent years, can make up for the decline in print. But several studies and articles think otherwise."The Web audience is growing at a great clip, while print circulation is not. And online revenues are growing faster, too, albeit from a smaller base. If the trend continues, there's little doubt that -- "eventually" -- online becomes the main business," said Bill Keller, the New York Times Executive Editor, in a 2007 interview with IwantMedia.
Citizen Media Business Issues - Getting Your Voice Out
(This is the eleventh in a series of postings about citizen media business issues. See the introduction here. All of these entries are considered to be in “beta” and will be revised and refined as they find a home on a more permanent area of the Center for Citizen Media web site. To that end, your comments, additional examples, and criticisms are welcome and will be invaluable contributions to this process.)
US: LA Times magazine controversy
The Los Angeles Times' monthly magazine is undergoing a series of changes, transferring control from its newsroom to its business operations and replacing its entire editorial staff. Editors and reporters have objected to the proposed changes, fearing that the magazine "would become less a work of journalism than a lightweight vehicle for currying favor with advertisers," writes Richard Pérez-Peña of the New York Times.Covering Islam: A Challenge for American Journalism
Local coverage: newspapers vs. Google
Publishing 2.O's Scott Karp argued in his article "What Newspapers Still Don't Understand About The Web", that online newspaper formats are inhibiting viewers' ability to find the news they want.His article outlined a simple test that he had completed to support his argument. While a storm hit the Washington area, Karp searched The Washington Post's homepage for information about the storm. But editors, Karp argues, did not find the story worthy of a prominent position on the homepage. Instead Karp found an article about the storm on a list of most viewed articles in the corner of the homepage. Still, the article failed to give Karp the information he sought.
SuperMedia: the future of journalism , Charlie Beckett
From bloggers in China to "netroots" activists in the United States, new forms of journalism are reshaping political communications - and therefore politics itself. The success of Barack Obama's campaign for his party's nomination in the US presidential election has depended crucially on internet mobilisation.US: AP admits to being "heavy-handed," will define standards for fair use on blogs
After the Associated Press filed take down notices against community-created Drudge Retort, arguing copyright violations for quotes from 33 to 79 words long, the blogosphere responded with vehemence.Bloggers boycotted referencing or linking to Associated Press articles and a website for the "UnAssociated Press" was founded.
Press Roundup
Some 1.53 million high school graduates who plan to pursue higher education took the three-hour, 15-minute Student Selection Examination on Sunday. Turkish Press Scanner
VATAN Erbakan goes bankrupt Former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, who has been under house arrest for embezzling funds that the now-defunct party he led received from the state treasury for 10 years, is on the verge of bankruptcy, wrote daily Vatan yesterday. After the confiscation of Erkaban's summerhouse and three other homes, the former Welfare Party, or RP, leader still had not fully repaid his debt to the treasury so his pension was seized. Erbakan was sentenced to two-and-a-half years of prison and has been serving his sentence in his summerhouse in Altınoluk, a resort town in Turkey's Aegean region. Erbakan, 82,Turkish Press Scanner
Turks favor big cars – Radikal Turkish consumers favor bigger, more flashy cars over smaller, less fuel consuming, and cheaper “city cars,” daily Radikal reported yesterday. Fuel is considered an expensive commodity in Turkey. Moreover, Turkish consumers pay 37 percent special consumption tax, or ÖTV, and an 18 percent value added tax, or KDV, over the regular price of a car. The fact that consumers still strain themselves to buy upper-level B or C-class vehicles, instead of A-class cars, which are cheaper, consume less fuel, and do not cause parking problems due to their modest sizes, amazes the automobile sector's professionals.Press Roundup
Police officers, firefighters and Japanese Self-Defense Ground Force soldiers search for missing persons at the site of a landslide caused by an earthquake at the Komanoyu Hot Springs Hotel in Kurihara, northern Japan. Turkish Press Scanner
Agricultural waste to save money – Tercüman A new project will utilize agricultural waste worth nearly $500 billion, daily Tercüman reported Friday. The project was developed throughPress Roundup
Cpl. Hasan Tarkan, who had escaped an attack by PKK terrorists near the Turkish-Iraqi border in October 2007 in which 12 soldiers were killed, died earlier this week in a land mine blast in the Yüksekova district of eastern Hakkari province. Tarkan was buried Thursday amid tears in his hometown in Samsun province. Press Roundup
An 8-year-old boy who on Monday was prevented by gendarmerie officers from hugging his father whom he hadn't seen for 22 months visited the latter yesterday in an Edirne prison after special permission was granted to the family by Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Şahin. The two embraced and kissed each other several times. Press Roundup
A group of students who will take the Student Selection Examination this Sunday staged a demonstration in Mersin on Wednesday to protest the exam, which they say should not be a determining factor in the lives of people who want to attend university. "If I die, you are the reason," read a placard carried by the students.Turkish Press Scanner
Deadly workshops take 20 lives in six years – Radikal Many workers in textile workshops in the process of grinding jeans are suffering from “silicosis,” a disease that leads to lung failure and gradually to death, daily Radikal reported yesterday. The disease is caused by exposure to the sand sprayed from the compressors used for bleaching jeans, a process publicly known as “grinding.” Using this process was banned in Europe in the 1990s, while in Turkey it is still exercised in small textile workshops. Professor Dr. Zeki Kılıçarslan from Istanbul University's Çapa Medicine School was among the first to thoroughly diagnose the disease. “Twenty workers out of 150 diagnosed haveTurkish Press Scanner
Donkey prices increase – Zaman Due to the surge in petroleum prices, Turkish farmers have started to prefer riding donkeys to their fields instead of driving there, resulting in an increase in the price of donkeys, daily Zaman reported yesterday. Rising petroleum prices in the world have put Turkish farmers in a difficult situation. Most of the farmers in Yozgat's Lök Village stopped using tractors. Some put their tractors up for sale, while others invested in a donkey. The number of donkeys in the village increased to more than 100, from 50 in previous years. The number of donkeys sold in Yozgat rose to 4,410 by the end of 2007, from 2,500 in 2006. Lök resident Cafer Delibaşı said almostTurkish Press Scanner
Businessmen's affection for universities – Takvim Not only numerous companies, but also organizations, are racing to establish universities around Turkey, daily Takvim reported yesterday. The trade and industry chambers of the cities of Konya, Erzurum, Kayseri, and Gaziantep are getting ready to establish a number of new universities. The Konya Chamber of Commerce is about to finalize its plans. With the Technology University, established in Ankara, the Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchanges of Turkey, or TOBB, became a pioneer among founding universities chambers. One of the companies concluding the work already is Altınbaş Holding. The company has founded KemerburgazPress Roundup
Gendarmerie forces prevented a young boy from hugging his father, whom he hadn't seen for 22 months as the latter is serving time in prison on charges of gang involvement. Although the boy and his father pleaded with gendarmerie officers to allow them to embrace each other, they were not given permission, greatly upsetting the boy. Press Roundup
The Bicycle Riders' Association organized a bicycle tour on Sunday between İstanbul's Taksim and Harem areas to mark World Environment Day. Minister of Environment and Forestry Veysel Eroğlu rode a bicycle from Taksim to the Bosporus Bridge.Turkish Press Scanner
Doctor saves $80 million – SabahTurkish workers and businessmen in Azerbaijan were exempted from a tax increase thanks to a Turkish doctor who saved the life of an esteemed Azerbaijani bureaucrat, reported daily Sabah yesterday.Azerbaijani minister Hüseyin Ağababa's artery located over his kidney ruptured on the evening of Dec. 31, 2007. He was taken to hospital immediately. In an effort to find a doctor who could operate on Ağababa's complicated case, the U.S., Russian, French, German and Israeli consulates were contacted. However, none of the doctors dared to hold an operation on New Year's Eve.Finally, Azerbaijani authorities asked for Turkey's help. The demand was conveyed toPress Roundup
President Abdullah Gül and his wife, Hayrunnisa Gül, attended a memorial ceremony on Saturday in the Japanese town of Kushimoto, near where the Ottoman frigate Ertuğrul sank in 1890 while returning from a goodwill trip to Japan. A total of 553 sailors lost their lives in the accident. Turkish Press Scanner
Time for peacemaker students – Zaman The “mediator student” project has proved successful, daily Zaman reported yesterday. The project aims to prevent conflicts among students. Applied in a high school in İzmir for the first time, the project's success rate reached 95 percent. Out of the 244 disputes, 231 resulted in settlement. The Aybers-Hikmet Karabacak High School in İzmir was chosen as the “pilot school” for the project. A total of 1,150 students were trained to become peacemakers. Out of these, 210 were appointed as mediators. These students act as peacemakers in disputes both between students and teachers and students and other fellow students. The project is plannedPress Roundup
President Abdullah Gül, left, and his wife, Hayrunnisa, are escorted by Japanese Empress Michiko, center, to a photo session with Japanese Emperor Akihito, right, at the imperial palace in Tokyo. Gül is on an official four-day visit to Japan.Turkish Press Scanner
Turkish pharmaceuticals market grows 17 pct – Hürriyet At the European Generic Medicines Association (EGA) Annual Conference in Paris it was announced that the world pharmaceuticalsTurkish Press Scanner
Grand Bazaar faces collapse – TakvimOne of the oldest bazaars in the world, Istanbul's Grand Bazaar is at risk of collapse unless necessary measures are taken, Takvim daily reported yesterday.The Grand Bazaar's Tradesmen Association president, Hasan Fırat, said he was worried that the walls of the bazaar have started resembling a "spongy cheese." He said that even though the 547-year-old building had withstood numerous disasters such as earthquakes and fires, it currently is at risk of collapsing at any moment. Fırat explained this was due to diggings and excavations carried out to enlarge or conjoin shops in the bazaarPress Roundup
İstanbul's Bağcılar Municipality marked World Environment Day with a series of activities aimed at raising awareness about environmental protection. The UN marks every June 5 with efforts to stimulate global awareness of environmental issues.Turkish Press Scanner
Eco-friendly power plants in Çeşme – TarafThe Energy Market Regulatory Agency (EPDK) finally decided to built renewable and eco-friendly power plants in Çeşme on the Aegean coast, daily Taraf reported yesterday.The private sector increased the number of investments in the renewable and environment-friendly energy sector, anticipating a considerable energy shortage in Turkey in the upcoming years. This drew attention to Çeşme, a town on the west coast of Turkey and a districts in İzmir province. The town is known for its strong winds.Çeşme Peninsula is considered the most efficient area in terms of wind. A total of 15 new wind plants worth 460 million euros are plannPress Roundup
Foreign tourists visiting Cappadocia, a prime Turkish tourist attraction famous for its unusual geological formations, start the day by going for a balloon ride over the area. 