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Media update: 'Fools' disregard wearables, warns FT; Sunday Mirror was justified in Tory sexting story; Scottish media backlash intensifies

By Angela Haggerty, Reporter

September 30, 2014 | 6 min read

This week's media round-up sees FT CTO John O'Donovan warn that only "fools" of the publishing world would disregard the potential of wearable technology; Chris Boffey explains why the Sunday Mirror should "stand its ground" over publishing sexting Tory MP story; historic phone-hacking at Trinity Mirror is creeping further into the news following the conclusion of the News International phone-hacking trial; the Guardian's Anne Gowan spoke of the title's ambitious membership scheme; Bauer Media revealed it was getting a "positive" reaction to its commercial restructure; and the backlash in Scotland against mainstream media in the wake of the independence referendum intensified with a 'buycott' call aimed at the BBC.

Publishers would be ‘fools’ to disregard wearables

Publishers would be “fools” to disregard wearable technology, according the Financial Times CTO John O’Donovan.

O’Donovan was speaking to The Drum a month after the FT announced the launch of its fastFT service on the Samsung Gear S. The CTO said the move was a major step in building a wider contextualised, API-based digital portfolio, and talked of the FT’s strategy of creating more personalised experiences for consumers and clients.

The FT isn’t the first publisher to move into wearables; the Guardian revealed in July that it was exploring branded content opportunities for Google Glass.

Sunday Mirror controversy around sexting MP story

Former Sunday Telegraph and Observer news editor Chris Boffey waded into the debate around the Sunday Mirror’s exposé on sexting Tory MP Brooks Newmark, who sent a picture of his genitals to an undercover reporter he thought was a young a woman.

Critics say the Mirror should have rejected the story on the basis of entrapment, however, Newmark’s immediate resignation after the story came out put the paper in a more comfortable position.

According to Boffey, the investigation was a “blatant fishing exercise that struck gold”.

“The Sunday Mirror should stand its ground and if necessary refer to a former Mirror editor, the late Richard Stott, who always believed in the principle that the relationship between politicians and the press should be like that of that lamppost and the dog,” he concludes. “In fact ‘Lampposts and Dogs’ was the title of his autobiography.”

Trinity Mirror phone-hacking cases

The extent of phone-hacking at Trinity Mirror titles will likely become more apparent in the time ahead after lawyers admitted last week at the Royal Courts of Justice that there are nearly 50 cases of alleged phone-hacking against the publisher pending – and it’s speculated that the final number will be higher.

So far, the phone-hacking scandal has been focused on the News of the World culminating in the trial of former editors Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks, and a number of other employees. Coulson was the only one found guilty and is currently serving a prison sentence.

Costs associated with settling phone-hacking claims and legal costs have cost Rupert Murdoch in excess of £200m.

It’s unclear how much the phone-hacking fallout will cost Trinity Mirror, a comparatively much smaller business.

Guardian membership scheme

Uptake of the Guardian’s new membership scheme is "ahead of target" according to head of direct Anna Gowan – but so far there are no official figures.

Guardian News and Media soft-launched the scheme earlier this month and revealed details of an ambitious plan encouraging readers to be more involved with the brand, part of which includes paying a monthly membership fee – although content on the Guardian.com will remain free, the model is not a paid-content offering.

According to Gowan, 10 per cent of those who’ve signed up so far have opted for the highest-tier membership which commits them to a monthly fee of £60.

Bauer Media major restructure getting ‘positive’ response

Bauer Media’s recent commercial restructure is getting a “positive” response from clients, head of creative and brand solutions Clare Chamberlain told The Drum this week.

The restructure was designed to simplify cross-platform selling and make Bauer’s sales desks more digital-friendly. According to Chamberlain, the change will also enable Bauer to get more creative and ambitious with its native advertising proposition.

“We’ve had a really positive response from our agencies and our customer. We had a big win from Cancer Research UK, re-engaged Sky and Wickes with Absolute Radio, and Sony is sponsoring the breakfast show on Kiss. We’ve had early indicators that this is a good way of doing business and can deliver what customers need,” she said.

Scottish media indyref backlash continues with ‘buycott’ call

If you thought the conclusion of the Scottish independence referendum would put the issue to bed for a while, you were probably wrong. Since the vote, Yes-supporting political parties in Scotland have seen a massive upsurge in membership and a backlash against an allegedly ‘bias’ media has intensified.

Now, one of the new media websites to make a place for itself within the Scottish politics debate, Bella Caledonia, has issued a plea for readers unhappy with the mainstream offering to re-direct their BBC licence fee into new media alternatives instead in a ‘buycott’.

Bella editor Mike Small announced the move on the BBC’s own Scotland 2014 programme last week, and followed up with a post on the site outlining Bella’s future plans which will, among other things, involve taking on more paid editorial staff for a site which has so far mostly been run on a voluntary basis.

And Bella isn’t the only one – Scottish political organisation the Common Weal has launched a fundraising drive to begin another ambitious plan to create everything from a policy unit to a series of café bars where likeminded people can meet, talk and socialise.

Also in the works is a plan for a "powerful social media engine called CommonSpace" and a news and TV service.

For Common Weal, instead of a one-off donation fundraiser, the organisation is hopeful that supporters will sign up for a relatively small monthly donation which would give the organisation a regular monthly income of £25,000.

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