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Blendle, the Dutch news kiosk website we've been following since it opened its doors, has started beta testing its service in the US. "Journalism should be less reliant on ads," says Blendle founder Alexander Klöpping, who published the announcement in a long article on Medium discussing the philosophy behind the news site.

Journalism needs a Spotify, a Netflix, an iTunes — whatever you want to call it. One website that houses the best newspapers and magazines in the country, that allows people to browse through everything and only pay for the stories they like, where you can see what your friends recommended. And where it’s really easy to just get the 8 or 10 best stories published every day, and discover those really great pieces.

Read the rest: With the biggest publishers in the country on board, we’re launching our journalistic startup in the US today

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The Investigatory Powers Bill (IPB) has its second reading in the House of Commons. Although there is much high level resistance to the Bill, relatively little of it has focussed on the impact on the media, in particular to the inadequate protection of journalists' sources. Read the rest at The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog.

See also

Investigatory Powers Bill - update NUJ, 17 March 2016

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The Polish parliament has recently agreed a new media law which journalist organisations throughout Europe fear threatens the independence of its public television and radio. The law allows the government to impose its candidates on the management and supervisory bodies of the public broadcasters.
 
The European Union is investigating whether the actions of Poland’s Law and Justice Party Government contravene EU law.
Meanwhile anti-government demonstrations have been held in Cracow and Warsaw. In Brussels, a demonstration in front of the Polish embassy was joined by among others the International Federation of Journalists to which the NUJ is affiliated. It says: “freedom to report and media independence are two essential pillars of democracy”.
 

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In a report to be released on International Women’ s day (8 March), the Gender Council (GC) of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) highlights high levels of gender discrimination and violence against women in the media across the globe.
 

In many regions issues of violence, safety, bullying and harassment continue to undermine  women’s role in the media. In some regions, women suffer from  outright sexism and discrimination in newsrooms and hiring practices, while in others it is the lack of access to promotions and jobs, or increasing unemployment – with women having the lowest rates of re-hiring and most often forced into unstable working conditions.  

Netherlands NUJ branch member and co-chair of the IFJ gender council Mindy Ran stated: “The aftermath of the financial crisis continues to impact many women journalists and their unions, with a return to the bad old days where equality is once again seen as a luxury item to be added on as an extra – not at the beating heart of our unions. It is a dangerous trend that will leave the most vulnerable forced out of the profession, or decision making posts in our unions, effectively erasing yet more of our voices.”  

 

Download the IFJ #IWD2016 report.

Read more

https://www.nuj.org.uk/news/iwd2016-gender-discrimination-and-violence-against-women-in-the/


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Blendle, the popular Dutch pay-per-view news website, is now offering access to major German newspapers and magazines. Some 37 are now accessible, including Der Spiegel, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Die Zeit, Die Welt and Handelsblatt. Over the next few weeks another 74 are coming online. One major exception is Bild, which according to Blendle fouder Alexander Klöpping, does not believe in the Blendle pay model. Blendle say that their online kiosk does not take readers away from the print editions, but reaches a target audience which hitherto did not read newspapers and magazines.

Source: Blendle voegt Duitse kranten en tijdschriften toe aan zijn kiosk

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