in brief... news


PRIVATE EYE ENJOYS A JUMP IN SALES Private Eye saw its biggest ever print circulation in the second half of last year with a rise of nine per cent, according to ABC. The Christmas issue recorded the biggest sale in the magazine’s 55-year history at 287,334 copies. The rise followed the Brexit vote and coincided with Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president.


CASH CALL BY NEW INTERNATIONALIST The New Internationalist magazine, which focuses on global poverty and development issues, has launched a £500,000 crowdfunding campaign. It wants the money to relaunch the print edition, invest in online video and boost the title’s book publishing arm and its shop.


SCOTTISH PAPER HAS NEW MONTHLY MAG Scotland’s The National newspaper has launched a monthly magazine covering politics and culture with the pro-independence Bella Caledonia website. The two publishers say that the magazine will provide a “counterpoint to Scotland’s increasingly Unionist mainstream media agenda”.


STANDARD RECRUITS FROM NUMBER 10 London’s Evening Standard has hired Downing Street’s head of digital David Tomchak as digital director for editorial. He was the head of digital for the Prime Minister’s Office and Cabinet Office since May 2015. He was previously at the BBC, where he was a digital manager before working on the launch of the BBC Global Content Hub.


ENERGY ASSESSOR MAGAZINE FOR SALE Longstanding NUJ member Terry Wardle is selling the only UK publication for energy assessors, seven years after he founded it as an online title. A reporter, subeditor and editor, he worked on local and national titles before deciding that there was a gap in the market for Energy Assessor Magazine. Email Terry Wardle on: MTCEnergy@aol.com


6 | theJournalist


Print still takes the lion’s share of readers’ time


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Of the time British readers spent reading the news, 88.5 per cent was spent with newspapers and 11.5 per cent online


eople spend more time reading news in print than online,


according to research by Munich’s Ludwig-Maximilians University. Professor Neil Thurman found that, of the time UK readers spent reading news, 88.5 per cent was spent with newspapers and 11.5 per cent online. The findings, based on data


from the British National Readership Survey, the Audit Bureau of Circulations and comScore, a company that compiles internet audience data, focused on the short amount of time spent reading news online compared with reading print publications. For The Mail, the most popular online newspaper, the average time spent reading online per visitor per day was two minutes compared with 43 minutes for print reading time per reader per day. For The


Guardian, the rates were 0.68 minutes for online and 39 minutes for print. The Sun scored 0.67 minutes for online and 32 minutes for print. The Times and The Telegraph were both viewed for 0.29 minutes online and for 47 minutes and 53 minutes in print. For The Scotsman, online viewing was 0.16 minutes and print reading 38 minutes and, for The Herald, online viewing took 0.15 minutes and print


reading 50 minutes. Online viewing included reading on computers and mobiles. The report says: “Looking


at newspaper consumption through the lens of reading time reveals a very different picture from that drawn by the traditional reporting measures – print readership and online visitor numbers – where the wide reach of online channels disguises the relatively shallow engagement they inspire.”


PAY RISE AT THE EXPRESS – AT LAST


taff at Express Newspapers have secured their first


pay rise in eight years after a prolonged freeze at the group. The company, which is owned by Richard Desmond, has also


backdated the increase to January. The company has agreed to a two per cent increase for staff earning less than £60,000 per year, a £1,200 increase for staff earning above that and a two per


cent rise to casual shift rates up to and including £153. Michelle Stanistreet,


NUJ general secretary, said: “After eight years of pay freezes at Express Newspapers, this offer is a welcome result of our pay


negotiations, and testament to the hard work put in by Father of Chapel Richard Palmer. Our chapel will discuss the offer and we hope this marks the start of an improvement in industrial relations at the group.”


Journalists face jail under secrecy law plan T


he union is strongly objecting to proposed changes to the Official Secrets Act that could put journalists at risk of imprisonment if they receive or disclose sensitive information. The Law Commission has recommended that journalists


could be jailed for up to 14 years under a new definition of espionage that includes obtaining such information as well as passing it on. Other recommendations undermine the right of journalists


to disclose information in the public interest. Whistleblowers could also receive tough punishments for disclosing information in the public interest.


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