Google Recognises Palestine

Internet search behemoth Google has recognised Palestine’s upgraded United Nations status, placing the name “Palestine” on its search engine instead of “Palestinian Territories,” the US company said, raising the ire of Israel. The domain name www.google.ps, Google’s search engine for the territories, now brings up a homepage with “Palestine” written underneath the Google logo.

In November last year the UN general assembly upgraded Palestine to the status of non-member observer state by a vote of 138 votes in favour, 9 against and 41 abstentions.

Palestinian authorities have since begun to use the “State of Palestine” in diplomatic correspondence and issued official stamps for the purpose. The google recognition took effect this week, Google spokesman Nathan Tyler said in a statement :: Read the full article »»»»

Fairfax Kills OFF Broadsheets and Lifts Profits

Fairfax Media’s familiar broadsheets have been consigned to the history books, with the first tabloid editions of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age rolling off the printing presses this morning.

In what is more of a survival strategy than a cosmetic overhaul, the larger broadsheet layout has been dumped for the weekday editions as Fairfax Media fights to hold onto readers and advertisers in a digital media world that has forced the closure of papers around the globe.

Apart from just size – which Fairfax amusingly refers to as compact rather than tabloid -  one of the biggest changes puts sport on to the back pages, with the very back page taken up by an advertisement, nice work.

Fairfax’s head of advertising strategy, Sarah Keith, says the company put in some very serious research. Brain imaging was used to track what readers really wanted during the entire redesign process, with some resounding plus’ for the new tabloid sized compact papers :: Read the full article »»»»

Three Decades of Minitel, French Proto Internet Dead

More than three decades after it’s 1978 launched, Minitel, a French forerunner to the internet we know and love today – at its height was installed in 9 million French homes – will shut down for good tomorrow.

Once at the cutting edge of technology, the Minitel allowed users in France to check the news, search phone directories, buy train and plane tickets, make restaurant reservations and even take part in online sex chats long before similar services existed elsewhere.

The advent of the internet made the Minitel’s dial-up connection and black-and-white screen obsolete, despite some pretty vocal protests, Minitel’s operator France Telecom-Orange has decided to finally pull the plug.

Developed by France Telecom in the 1970s and freely distributed, the Minitel reached its height in the early 1990s, with 26,000 services available and annual revenues of about a billion euros, about $AU1.2 billion.

Today only about 400,000 terminals are still in use, many of its services – including booking Air France and railway tickets – have been discontinued and in 2010 the system brought in only 30 million euros in revenues. With 85 per cent of those revenues going to service providers, France Telecom has decided the cost of maintaining the network is no longer financially viable  :: Read the full article »»»»

UPDATED: News Limited Shakes It ALL Up

Australia’s media landscape has been through the ringer over the past few weeks, the ground is changing at a pace not seen since the eighties. The latest shake-up comes from the ever stoic News Limited – the Australian arm of News Corporation – the company has announced a massive restructuring of the way it delivers news.

The announcement on last week, which included job cuts and a reduction in east coast operations from 19 divisions to five, came days after Fairfax Media outlined plans to axe 1,900 staff, move jobs offshore, close two major printing presses and downsize its flagship newspapers to tabloids, as well as it’s ongoing boardroom battles with billionaire Gina Rinehart.

Despite the cuts, News Limited CEO Kim Williams has told staff that the organisation remains committed to print :: Read the full article »»»»

World of the News! Australia’s Fairfax Media Sends Jobs Offshore

That shrinking Australian media behemoth that is Fairfax Media, is apparently planning to send jobs offshore by relocating production of its regional newspapers to New Zealand.

The proposed changes will affect 66 Fairfax staffers, Media, Ethics & Arts Alliance – MEAA – said via statement today.

Fairfax said the affected staff would be offered voluntary redundancies or redeployment, however, some staff may also be forced into redundancy.

The affected newspapers include the Illawarra Mercury, Newcastle Herald and seven associated community titles including the Lake Times, Kiama Independent, Newcastle Star, Myall Coast Nota, Port Stephens Examiner and Lakes Mail.

Workers were told about the plans this afternoon and Fairfax has announced the move on the papers’ websites.

Fairfax says the changes are part of a “wider company strategy to pursue operational efficiencies while strengthening the focus on audience growth and producing quality content”.

Fairfax says no reporting or photographic positions would be affected :: Read the full article »»»»

World Wild Web: Tajikistan Blocks Facebook

The Republic of Tajikistan has blocked local access to Facebook and two Russian-language sites that published an article critical of its long-serving president -Emomalii Rahmon. The shutdown was ordered by the state-run communications service, the local Internet providers told Reuters, requesting anonymity. Users who tried to access Facebook or the two websites, which published a story critical of President Imomali Rakhmon, were automatically re-directed to the home page of their provider.

Freedom of the press is officially guaranteed by the government, although independent press outlets remain restricted, as does a substantial amount of web content. According to the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, access is blocked to local and foreign websites including avesta.tj, tjknews.com, ferghana.ru and centrasia.ru and journalists are often obstructed from reporting on controversial events. In practice, no public criticism of the regime is tolerated and all direct protest is severely suppressed and does not get reported in the local media. Read the full article »»»»