✍️ Journalism Jobs and Media News Update ✍️ October 24
551 new jobs; X could be banned from EU; BBC changes Hamas position; ITV's strict new relationships policy; How BILD grew from 0 to 680k subscribers; Europe's oldest newspaper saved
Hello folks and welcome to a Tuesday edition of Inside The Newsroom. Hope we all had good weekends. We added a whopping 551 total openings to the jobs and internships board yesterday, and we probably could have added hundreds more.
And today I received a nice text from a friend saying she has an interview tomorrow at a UK-based newsroom for a job I sent her only yesterday. All this to say that no matter what you read or hear about the doom and gloom of the job market, no less within journalism, I promise you there are still hundreds, if not thousands, of new openings each week.
And there are also plenty of other forms of funding including new fellowships and grants, of which you can apply to 19 in Friday’s Journalism Calendar edition. And a heads up that we currently have another eight lined up for this Friday’s update.
New opportunities aside, today we have another roundup of the most interesting and insightful news from the journalism world below. Before we get to that, some quick housekeeping…
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That’s it from me today. Remember to take a look at our calendar and hope you enjoy this week’s news round up. Speak soon! 👋
✍️ Job Corner ✍️
The below postings are just a sample of the hundreds of deadlines we have coming up at the biggest names in journalism. Job categories include Audio, Broadcast, Data/Viz, Design, Editing, Photo, Product, Social Media, Strategy and Video.
If you are a paid subscriber and can’t find the link to the job board, reply to this email or message daniellevitt32@gmail.com.
📰 Media News Roundup 📰
BBC Drops Hamas ‘Militant’ Description
The BBC will now describe Hamas as “a terrorist organisation proscribed by the UK government and others” amid criticism over how it reported on the Israel-Gaza conflict. The backlash in recent weeks came as the broadcaster refused to call Hamas ‘terrorists’, but said it changed its position as it had “been finding this a less accurate description for our audiences as the situation evolves”. The BBC’s World Affairs Editor John Simpson outlined the reasons behind the original decision, stating that “Terrorism is a loaded word, which people use about an outfit they disapprove of morally… Our business is to present our audiences with the facts, and let them make up their own minds.”
ITV Requires Staff to Declare Relationships and Friendships
ITV has launched “Personal Relationships at Work Policy” requiring staff to declare all relationships with colleagues, including friendships, according to The Sunday Times. Employees who breach the policy could lose their job. The new rules come after presenter Phillip Schofield resigned earlier this year over a workplace affair with a younger colleague. The affair and resignation led to ITV CEO Carolyn McCall being questioned by MPs about the episode and the wider culture at the broadcaster. According to The Times, one ITV staff member described the document as “properly mad”, while another said it looked a “step too far”.
From 0 to 680,000
Next up is an interview by the International News Media Association with Daniel Mussinghoff, director of premium at Axel Springer, on how the media company grew German tabloid BILD’s subscription base to 680,000 people. I recommend reading the whole piece, but some of the keys to their growth include: Launch with unique added value; Distribution partnerships drive early growth; Developing the “money can’t buy” experience; and optimising prices for lifetime value.
Elon Musk Considers Removing X From EU
Elon Musk is considering stopping users in the European Union from being able to access X, after growing increasingly frustrated over the new Digital Services Act. The new legislation, which took effect in August, “bans targeted advertising based on a person’s sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, or political beliefs and puts restrictions on targeting ads to children. It also requires online platforms to provide more transparency on how their algorithms work,” according to The Verge. Failure to comply could result in fines worth 6% of the company’s annual revenue. Elsewhere, Meta is considering charging Facebook and Instagram users $14 a month to circumvent the changes, if they don’t agree to let it use their data to serve them ads.
Europe’s Oldest Student Newspaper Saved From Closure
And lastly, The Student, the free student newspaper founded at the University of Edinburgh in 1887 and Europe’s oldest of its kind, has raised more than £5,500 ($6,700), to keep its doors open. The newspaper, which was created by the novelist Robert Louis Stevenson — the author of Treasure Island and Kidnapped — has found it increasingly hard since the pandemic to raise enough funds to keep running, but a £730 donation from Scottish newspaper publisher DC Thomson took care of the majority of the initial £1,000 fundraising target. Per The Guardian, the paper has been home to several prominent journalists and public figures, including the former Labour leader Gordon Brown, BBC presenter Laura Kuenssberg; and the Guardian’s North of England Editor, Helen Pidd.