International panel of experts to debate the future of UK press regulation at UCLAN

The head of the Global Forum for Media Development Bettina Peters, author of Journalism Ethics and Regulation Prof Chris Frost and Director of the Media Standards Trust Martin Moore will also be joining the 14th Journalism Leaders Forum in Preston on October 20th to debate, "UK Press Regulation: Is there a Third Way?".

Bettina Peter of GFMD

Peters will be drawing specifically on her contribution to the recent report, “European Media Governance – The Brussels Dimension”, while Prof Frost of Liverpool John Moores University will contribute from his perspective as chair of the National Union of Journalist’s Ethics Council. 
Moore, long a critic of the PPC, is also a founder of the pressure group Hacked Off.

The panel, chaired by the University of Central Lancashire’s head of journalism ethics Michael Williams, also includes Bob Satchwell, the chief executive of the UK Society of Editors, Martin Wainwright, northern editor of The Guardian  and Prof Peter Cole, a former head of journalism at UCLAN and Sheffield universities and co-author of Newspaper Journalism. 

"This will be more than just an interesting discussion," said François Nel,  convenor of the forum which is a joint activity of the School of Journalism, Media and Communications at UCLAN and the Digital Editors Network.  "We intend the panel to work towards a submission to the Leveson Inquiry which we'll forward via the Coordinating Committe for Media Reform ."

To attend the open Forum at 6 pm in Greenbank Lecture Theatre on UCLAN's Preston Campus - as well as the reception from 5pm - please register soonest. There is no charge (though donations are most welcome), but seating is limited.

If you can't be there in person, there are other ways to join the discussion. You can post your questions and comments on this site, or you can participate in the live Webcast by logging in here as a "guest". Online participants will be able to post questions to panellists and each other in a text chat room. Follow the conversation on Twitter  at#14jlp .

Also in Preston earlier on the day of the Forum is the Truth Telling master class and the autumn meeting of the Digital Editors Network, with speakers from the Manchester Evening News, the BusinessDesk.com and Paul Ekman International. The following day, Grig Davidovitz of RGB Media will also lead the News Show! master class on innovative design online, on mobile and on tablets.

For more information about these and other activities of the UCLAN's Journalism Leaders Programme, which partners with media companies to develop leadership talent and innovative digital business solutions, contact François Nel by email (FPNel [at] uclan.ac.uk ), or @francoisnel on Twitter. Follow @denupdates to keep in the loop on Digital Editors Network activities.  

14th Journalism Leaders Forum - UK Press Regulation: Is there a Third Way?

These have been bruising times for the Press.

Scandals about the conduct of some journalists have not only brought down journalists, senior executives and one of the largest newspapers in Britain, but it has also prompted the resignation of the head of the Press Complaints Commission and raised questions about  the future of press regulation. Those who seek to simplify the issues usually offer two options: press self-regulation, or government regulation. But others are looking further afield and so we're asking, "Is there a Third Way?"

To debate that issues the Society of Editors and the Digital Editors' Network will be co-presenting the 14th Journalism Leaders Forum at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston. Bob Satchwell, executive director of the SoE, will anchor the panel which will be chaired by Michael Williams, head of journalism ethics at the School of Journalism, Media and Communication. Other participants will be confirmed. We intend the panel to work towards a submission to the Leveson Inquiry, which we'll forward via the Coordinating Committe for Media Reform .

To attend the open Forum at 6 pm in Greenbank Lecture Theatre - as well as the reception from 5pm - please register soonest. There is no charge (though donations are most welcome), but seating is limited.

If you can't be there in person, there are other ways to join the discussion. You can post your questions and comments on this site, or you can participate in the live Webcast by logging in here as a "guest". Online participants will be able to post questions to panellists and each other in a text chat room.

Also in Preston earlier on the day of the Forum is the Truth Telling master class and the autumn meeting of the Digital Editors Network, with speakers from the Manchester Evening News, the BusinessDesk.com and Paul Ekman International. The following day, Grig Davidovitz of RGB Media will also lead the News Show! master class on innovative design online, on mobile and on tablets.

For more information about these and other activities of the UCLAN's Journalism Leaders Programme, which partners with media companies to develop leadership talent and innovative digital business solutions, contact François Nel by email  (FPNel [at] uclan.ac.uk ) or Skype (francoisnel).

Play it again: 13th Forum on paywalls

If you missed 13th Journalism Leaders Forum discussion, Paywalls: build them, break them - or look beyond them, you can view an unedited recording of the discussion here.

The international panellists were:

• Robert Andrews, UK Editor of paidContent.com, for the 13th Journalism Leaders Forum in Preston.
• Peter Bale is the Executive Producer of Microsoft UK, responsible for content on platforms including MSN UK – the largest commercial portal in the UK. He joined Microsoft from News Corporation where he was online editorial director of The Times and The Sunday Times.
• Frédéric Filloux, editor for the international division of the Norwegian media giant Schibsted ASA and co-author of the Monday Note .
• Martha Stone, director of the Shaping the Future of the Newspaper project of the World Association of Newspapers-IFRA
• Gordon Crovitz, the former Wall Street Journal publisher behind the paid-content startup, JournalismOnline

François Nel, director of the Journalism Leaders Programme at UCLan, was in the chair.

Diary note: the next meeting of the Digital Editors' Network and the 14th Journalism Leaders Forum is scheduled for the autumn 2010.

For updates: Follow us on Twitter @jleaders / @francoisnel

13th Forum: Norwegian media giant Schipsted editor Frédéric Filloux joins international paywall panel on 29th October

" 'Free', as a business model, is a figment of the imagination.

"In itself, 'Free' is not a business model, it is only a component of a broader revenue system," says Frédéric Filloux, editor for the international division of the Norwegian media giant Schibsted ASA and co-author of the Monday Note .

"Unlike Chris Anderson, author of the book 'Free' ($18.00) — a bestseller not a bestfreebie — I happened to actually practice the free 'model'," continues Filloux, a former managing editor of Liberation who was also a founder of one of the most successful free quality daily newspapers in the world. 20 minutes is now the most read newspaper in France with 2.7m readers in eight major cities.

On 29th October, Filloux will join the discussion the 13th Journalism Leaders Forum discussion, Paywalls: build them, break them - or look beyond them.

Also on the international panel are:

• Gordon Crovitz, the former Wall Street Journal publisher behind the paid-content startup, JournalismOnline
• Peter Bale is the Executive Producer of Microsoft UK, responsible for content on platforms including MSN UK – the largest commercial portal in the UK. He joined Microsoft from News Corporation where he was online editorial director of The Times and The Sunday Times. He was a founder of FTMarketWatch.com and was a Reuters correspondent and editor for most of his career.
• Martha Stone, director of the Shaping the Future of the Newspaper project of the World Association of Newspapers-IFRA
• Robert Andrews, UK Editor of paidContent.com, for the 13th Journalism Leaders Forum in Preston.
• François Nel, director of the Journalism Leaders Programme at UCLan, will be in the chair.

To attend the open Forum at 6pm in Greenbank Lecture Theatre - as well as the reception from 5pm - please register HERE soonest. There is no charge, but seating is limited.



If you can't be there in person, you can also participate online. The Forum will be Webcast live. More details here. [Log in as a guest].

Gordon Crovitz, ex-WSJ publisher and co-founder of start-up Journalism Online, joins paywall panel on 29th October

Arguably, the Holy Grail for newspapers has been how to get consumers to pay a reasonable price for online content. An increasing number of publishers in the US and internationally think that Gordon Grovitz and his partners at the technology start-up Journalism Online may just have found it.

In August, four months after setting up business, the company announced that more than 500 newspapers, magazines and online-based news sites in the United States and around the world had signed "Letters of Intent" with them. “Just one month later, we have passed 1,000, reaching more than 100 million online users, and the pace is accelerating," said Crovitz in a company statement.

On 29th October, Crovitz, who had walked out of this jobs as Publisher of The Wall Street Journal, Executive Vice-President of Dow Jones & Company, and president of the Company’s Consumer Media Group, when News Corp took over, will discuss his new project in greater detail when he contributes to a panel discussion about online paywalls at the 13th Journalism Leaders Forum in Preston.

Other confirmed panellists are:

• Frédéric Filloux, editor for the international division of the Norwegian media giant Schibsted ASA and co-author of the Monday Note .


• Martha Stone, director of the World Association of Newspapers-IFRA’s Shaping the Future of the Newspaper project


• Robert Andrews, UK Editor of paidContent.com.

François Nel , director of the Journalism Leaders Programme at UCLan, will be in the chair discussion on, 'Paywalls: build them, break them - or look beyond them"

To attend the open Forum at 6pm in Greenbank Lecture Theatre - as well as the reception from 5pm - please register soonest. There is no charge, but seating is limited.



If you can't be there in person, you can also participate online. The Forum will be Webcast live. More details here.

13th Forum: Paywalls - build them, break them or look beyond them?

The newspaper business has never been simple, but the business model has typically been straightforward: compile news and information for which readers pay in time and money, and then also sell their attention on to advertisers looking to connect with customers.

It's not surprising then that when print publications migrated online, they brought their traditions with them. Those on the editorial side of the business, soon found out it wasn't as simple as it seemed. Those on the commercial side of the business are finding that out, too.

With advertising revenues collapsing, Rupert Murdoch hopes readers will pay to read his websites. Research commissioned by the American Press Institute showed that 58% of publishers in the US and Canada are considering following suit. And technology giants Google, Yahoo and IBM , as well as start-ups like JournalismOnline, are stepping up to help them do so.

It's not been difficult to find detractors. Amongst them are leading UK news executives and commetators who are adament that the free-to-pay transition won't work. And a recent paidContent UK / Harris Interactive study shows that UK readers would resist the move, too.

Other have suggested alternative non-commercial and commercial business models.

So, what is the way forward on paywalls? Do we build them, break them - or look beyond them?

Leading a discussion on that question at the 13th Jouranlism Leaders Forum on 29th October will be Martha Stone, director of the World Association of Newspapers-IFRA's Shaping the Future of the Newspapers project, and Robert Andrews, the UK Editor of paidContent.

François Nel, director of the Journalism Leaders Programme at UCLan, will be in the chair.

To attend the open Forum at 6pm in Greenbank Lecture Theatre - as well as the reception from 5pm - please register soonest. There is no charge, but seating is limited.

If you can't be there in person, there are other ways to join the discussion. You can post your questions and comments on this site, or you can participate in the live Webcast by logging in here as a "guest". Online participants will be able to post questions to panelists and each each other in a text chat room.

Also in Preston earlier on the day of the Forum is autumn meeting of the Digital Editors Network, with speakers from Microsoft, UCLan, The Guardian and the Press Association (This event is now Fully Booked).

For more information about these and other activities of the UCLAN's Journalism Leaders Programme, which partners with media companies to develop leadership talent and innovative digital business solutions, contact François Nel by email or Skype (francoisnel).

12th Forum: Replay lively debate on the future of journalism

It was always going to be lively.

And the debate on the issues facing the future of journalism, in general, and the shape of the industry in the North West, in particular, with BBC factual radio editor in Manchester Ian Bent, ITV Granada news chief Richard Frediani, The Times' development editor Joanna Geary and the Media City UK developers spokesman Paul Newman, was certainly that - and a stark reminder that an industry consensus about whether news is a lecture or conversation is still a long way off.

I you missed the 12th Journalism Leaders Forum chaired by Mike Ward, head of the School of Journalism, Media and Communication at UCLan, you can watch an unedited recording of the webcast here. You'll also find the Twitter stream at #JLP.

For more information or an invitation future events (which are free and open to the public), email Francois Nel, director of the Journalism Leaders Programme.