/ An Investigative Journalist who has covered many of the major stories of the last 30 years, Paul Lashmar is now freelance, working for many organisations and also as a TV Producer, film and programme consultant, author and journalism lecturer. His key specialist areas are terrorism, intelligence, organised crime, offshore crime, business fraud and the Cold War. en-gb 2010-09-06T05:50:26+01:00 support@nospam.com hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://www.paullashmar.com/news.php?item.389.4 2010-09-06T05:50:26+01:00 Paul By CLAIRE CAIN MILLERPublished: September 2, 2010SAN BRUNO, Calif. — Last month, a YouTube user, TomR35, uploaded a clip from the AMC series “Mad Men” in which Don Draper makes a heartfelt speech about the importance of nostalgia in advertising.Viewers wouldn’t notice, but that clip also makes an important point about modern advertising — YouTube is an increasingly fruitful place for advertisers. In the past, Lions Gate, which owns the rights to the “Mad Men” clip, might have requested that TomR35’s version be taken down. But it has decided to leave clips like this up, and in return, YouTube runs ads with the video and splits the revenue with Lions Gate.Remarkably, more than one-third of the two billion views of YouTube videos with ads each week are like TomR35’s “Mad Men” clip — uploaded without the copyright owner’s permission but left up by the owner’s choice. They are automatically recognized by YouTube, using a system called Content ID that scans videos and compares them to material provided by copyright owners.to read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/03/ technology/03youtube.html?ref=technology http://www.paullashmar.com/news.php?item.388.4 2010-09-06T05:50:26+01:00 Paul Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said in an interview with the Associated Press yesterday that paid apps like those found on the iPhone, Android and iPad could help financially troubled news organizations, but he didn’t have anything positive to say about charging for content on the web.On the other hand, he’s not optimistic about other micropayment plans wherein publications would charge users to access individual articles because at present there is not a centralized and widespread payment system as there is with Apple’s services (iTunes, iBooks and the App Storeor the Android Market.“If I just click on my iPad, and it’s billed on my normal bill, that micropayment model makes it possible for people to have an impulse purchase,” he said. Apple already has his payment information from the get go, and the creator of each app can use Apple’s billing system for in-app purchases.That’s one of the reasons Wales believes app stores could be beneficial for the news industry. “The apps model — the iPad app, the Kindle — does provide new and interesting opportunities for newspapers.”We’ve heard rumors in the past that Google has a unified micropayments system in the works that could do the same for desktop content, but it hasn’t happened yet.Wikipedia is not a commercial enterprise, but Wales’s current venture Wikia is ad-supported.http://mashable.com/2010/ 09/04/jimmy-wales-apps-news/? utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&ut m_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable% 29 http://www.paullashmar.com/news.php?item.387.4 2010-09-06T05:50:26+01:00 Paul Toby Helm and Jamie Dowardguardian.co.uk, Saturday 4 September 2010 22.39 BST  John Prescott tonight demanded the Metropolitan police reopen its investigation into the News of the World phone-hacking scandal as the Observer revealed that Scotland Yard holds News International documents suggesting that he was a target when deputy prime minister.Two invoices held by the Met mention Prescott by name. They appear to show that News International, owner of the NoW, paid Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator at the heart of the scandal, for his help on stories relating to the deputy PM. Lord Prescott spoke of his anger that the information, spelled out in a letter from the Yard's legal services directorate, emerged only after he was given a series of personal reassurances by detectives at the highest level that there was "no evidence" his phone may have been hacked.The invoices are both dated May 2006, at a time when Prescott was the subject of intense media scrutiny following revelations that he had had an affair with his secretary, Tracey Temple. There is also a piece of paper obtained from Mulcaire on which the name "John Prescott" is written. The only other legible word on this document is "Hull".The name "Prescott" appears on two "self-billing tax invoices" from News International Supply Company Ltd to Mulcaire's company, Nine Consultancy.The Yard's letter, obtained by the Observer, states: "One appears to be for a single payment of £250 on 7/5/2006 labelled 'Story: other Prescott Assist -txt.' The second, also for £250, on 21/5/2006 contains the words 'Story: Other Prescott Assist -txt urgent'."To read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/ sep/04/john-prescott-phone-hacking- scandal http://www.paullashmar.com/news.php?item.386.4 2010-09-06T05:50:26+01:00 Paul By Andy McSmith, Robert Verkaik, Ian Burrell and Mark HughesSaturday, 4 September 2010Hackers illegally tapped a mobile phone belonging to Tessa Jowell at least 28 times while she was a serving cabinet minister, it emerged last night.Until now, Ms Jowell, the former Culture Secretary, has not spoken publicly about the phone-tapping scandal.The scale of the hacking of a serving Cabinet minister’s telephone was uncovered by detectives who had been looking into the tapping of Prince Harry’s mobile phone.The offence was traced to a private detective hired by a reporter from the News of the World, which was edited then by Andy Coulson, who now works in Downing Street as David Cameron’s chief spin doctor.Further revelations yesterday placed pressure on Mr Coulson – and raised questions about Mr Cameron’s judgement in appointing him as Downing Street’s £140,000-a-year Director of Communications.Lawyers say that they are working for “dozens” of celebrities, politicians and journalists who would like to sue the News of the World after being told that they may also have had their voicemail messages illegally intercepted.Ms Jowell told The Independent yesterday: “I know I was tapped 28 times by May 2006 because the police told me. I had a call when I was on holiday in August 2006 from the Met to say that I had been tapped, but they asked me to do nothing except increase the security on my phone.“Later, they came back to me and said I wouldn’t be need to be a witness in this case. I also had a call from Vodafone about improving security.”to read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ politics/jowells-revelations-add-to- coulsons-discomfort--and-camerons-2070190.html http://www.paullashmar.com/news.php?item.385.4 2010-09-06T05:50:26+01:00 Paul Former deputy prime minister says police refused to tell him whether his phone was hacked by News of the World journalistsHaroon Siddique guardian.co.uk, Friday 3 September 2010 09.49 BST John Prescott today called for a judicial review of the conduct of the Metropolitan police force in relation to the allegations of phone hacking against the News of the World. The former deputy prime minister was speaking after the paper confirmed it had suspended a journalist while it investigates new allegations of the unlawful interception of voicemail.The police have come under pressure after the New York Times quoted unnamed detectives alleging they had cut short their investigation because of their close relationship with the News of the World.Prescott said the police had repeatedly refused to tell him whether his phone was hacked by News of the World journalists after a Guardian investigation revealed his name was on a list of public figures belonging to Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator jailed for stealing secrets from mobile phone voice messages.to read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/ sep/03/phone-hacking-claims-prescott- police-inquiry http://www.paullashmar.com/news.php?item.384.8 2010-09-06T05:50:26+01:00 Paul 1 September 2010By Dominic PonsfordTony Blair blames former Radio 4 Today journalist Andrew Gilligan for dealing a permanent blow to his integrity with his infamous report about the “sexing-up” of the dossier making the case for war with Iraq.In his memoirs published today, former Prime Minister Blair talks in detail about the BBC’s reporting of the “45-minute” claim on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and the creation of the September 2002 dossier.He admits that the intelligence on WMD was wrong, and that this was a “real story”. But he denies Gilligan’s implication of deceit which turned a “difficult situation” into one which “remains an ugly one” and "set the pattern for interaction between ourselves and the media in the years that followed".to read more: http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp? sectioncode=1&storycode=45933&c=1 http://www.paullashmar.com/news.php?item.383.4 2010-09-06T05:50:26+01:00 Paul  New York Times publishes allegations that PM's media adviser 'actively encouraged' unlawful practice while editor·            ·         Nick Davies·         guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 1 September 2010The prime minister's media adviser, Andy Coulson, freely discussed the use of unlawful news-gathering techniques while editor of the News of the World and "actively encouraged" a named reporter to engage in the illegal interception of voicemail messages, according to allegations published by the New York Times.Coulson, who resigned as editor of the News of the World in January 2007 after its royal correspondent was jailed for intercepting voicemail messages, has always insisted that he had no knowledge of illegal activity when he edited the paper or at any time as a journalist. He told a Commons select committee last year: "I have never had any involvement in it at all."The New York Times website published a trail to a story due to appear in its Sunday magazine. It made detailed allegations likely to bring intense new pressure on Coulson and the Metropolitan police force, which stands accused of favouring Rupert Murdoch's newspaper group by cutting short its investigation, withholding crucial evidence from prosecutors and failing to inform victims of the newspaper's crimes against them. Coulson declined to comment on the allegations. The News of the World and Scotland Yard have denied all the charges.Coulson resigned after the imprisonment of his royal reporter, Clive Goodman, and a private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, for "hacking" into the voicemail messages of eight public figures. When the Guardian revealed last year that the scandal involved other journalists at the paper and numerous other victims, Coulson said he had nothing to add to earlier denials of involvement, and the Conservative leader stood by him.David Cameron said: "I believe in giving people a second chance."The New York Times, which has had an investigative team at work on the story since March, is citing two former News of the World journalists who specifically claim that Coulson was directly aware of his reporters' use of illegal techniques.An unnamed former editor is quoted as claiming that Coulson talked freely about illegal news-gathering techniques, including phone-hacking, and that he personally had been at "dozens, if not hundreds" of meetings with Coulson where the subject came up. "The editor added that when Coulson would ask where a story came from, editors would reply 'We've pulled the phone records' or 'I've listened to the phone messages'."In addition, Sean Hoare, a former reporter who used to be a close friend of Coulson, is quoted as saying that when he worked with Coulson at the Sun, he personally played recordings of hacked voicemail messages for him and that later, when he worked for Coulson at the News of the World, he "continued to inform Coulson of his pursuits. Coulson 'actively encouraged me to do it', Hoare said".to read more see: www.guardian.co.uk http://www.paullashmar.com/news.php?item.382.13 2010-09-06T05:50:26+01:00 Paul Andrew Gilligan disputes Nick Cohen's comment on the politics behind the death of the government scientist caught up in the Iraq inquiryThe Observer, Sunday 29 August 2010Contrary to Nick Cohen's belief (Comment), neither I nor the BBC "betrayed" David Kelly. Neither I nor the BBC ever revealed him as my source, either in public or in emails to an MP, until after his death. It was his employer, the Ministry of Defence, that effectively leaked his name – after he came forward, having been promised anonymity – to his bosses. As Alastair Campbell put it in his diary: "The biggest thing needed was the source out", in order to "fuck Gilligan".As I've always said, I was wrong to email a member of the foreign affairs committee saying I thought David had spoken to Newsnight's Susan Watts. But that email made no difference to what David was asked. Watts had broadcast her report a few days after mine. The similarity between the statements of her anonymous source and mine had already been noted by the government and media. The questions prepared by the clerks for members of the committee (on the Hutton inquiry website as FAC/1/0021) shows they always intended to ask him about his contacts with Watts.It was Watts, not me, who made clear in her testimony to Hutton that David's "less than frank" answers to the committee about his contacts with her "relieved me of my obligation to protect his identity as a confidential source". But clearly even she cannot be blamed for his death, since she states that she did not see the transcript of David's testimony until after he died.No one involved in this sorry business, least of all me, behaved perfectly. But the people in the best position to know who David blamed for his predicament are those with whom he spent the last days of his life – his widow and daughters. Mrs Kelly did indeed say that her husband felt "betrayed" – by the MoD. In several hours of testimony to Hutton, his family made it quite clear who he and they blamed for his plight – and it wasn't me or the BBC.Andrew GilliganLondon SE10http://www.guardian.co.uk/ theobserver/2010/aug/29/david-kelly- nick-cohen-andrew-gilligan http://www.paullashmar.com/news.php?item.381.4 2010-09-06T05:50:26+01:00 Paul BBC Director General Mark Thompson delivered the James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the 2010 Edinburgh International Television Festival. Here are some of his key quotes.ON THE FUTURE OF THE BBC"In a year or so's time, there will be a debate about the future level of the licence fee. For the BBC, I believe this will be a moment for realism and a recognition of the scale of the challenge facing licence payers and the country as a whole." "Do not believe anyone who claims that cutting the licence fee is a way of growing the creative economy... A pound out of the commissioning budget of the BBC is a pound out of UK creative economy. Once gone, it will be gone forever." "Radical and rapid change inside the BBC is... essential." ON THE BBC'S CRITICS"Systematic press attacks on broadcasters, and especially on the BBC, are nothing new... but the scale and intensity of the current assaults does feel different." "But - perhaps surprisingly - there's no evidence that any of this is having any effect on public attitudes to the BBC at all." "The same commercial and political forces which are undermining the independence of the public broadcasters in other European countries - Italy and France spring to mind - are at work here as well. In the UK, they know that a frontal assault will fail so they adopt different tactics... Sometimes calls for transparency turn out to be a cloak for something else." ON THE BBC'S RELATIONSHIP WITH ITS AUDIENCE"On the Tuesday after the General Election, over 17 million viewers joined us on BBC One during the evening to see events unfold. They came to BBC One because, along with ITV1, it remains one of the nation's front rooms." "Across the UK population, 71% of people say they're glad the BBC exists." "[Audiences] want the best and they want it all year round, which is why nowadays at the BBC we play pieces like Sherlock, The Normans and Rev in high summer." "The public don't seem to want fewer or thinner services from the BBC. Indeed, as we've seen this year with 6 Music, proposals to remove even niche services can be greeted with real dismay. " ON SKY"Sky has an annual turnover of £5.9bn, of which £4.8bn is from its core retail subscription business. That revenue line alone is £1.1 billion more than the BBC's UK public service turnover." "Sky's marketing budget is larger than the entire programme budget of ITV1. As a proportion of Sky's own turnover and its profits, its investment in original British content is just not enough." "With Sky News and Sky Arts, the company has... shown a commitment to services which share many values with the BBC and the other PSBs. Sky is not the enemy of quality British Television - it's an important provider of it. "But when it comes to investing in original British production, it's a different picture. When ITV was the dominant commercial player in UK television, it poured money into original programming and often in key genres - like drama in the 1980s and 1990s - it did a better job than the BBC." "It's time that Sky pulled its weight by investing much, much more in British talent and British content. " to read more:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
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