Your Noon Briefing: New P&J website, shortlist announced for RTS Scotland Programme Awards, etc

THE Press and Journal newspaper has launched a new subscription-based website, with the aim – says its publisher – “of providing readers with breaking news as it happens”.

Says DC Thomson, in an announcement (here): “The website has been designed for optimum functionality across web, phone and tablet platforms and will complement The Press and Journal’s print edition. It will focus on providing instant news to readers via a real-time stream of breaking news in the form of a timeline.”

It adds: “The Press and Journal’s website will operate on a metered paywall basis offering readers access to ten free articles per month after which time three subscription packages will be available.”

* * *

SOME very familiar names are to be found on the shortlist of an awards competition being run exclusively in Scotland by the Royal Television Society.

The first-ever RTS Scotland Programme Awards will be announcing its winners in Glasgow on the 11th of next month.

And the contenders can be found, here.

* * *

REPORT the energy sector? Interested in it? Check out our new twitter.com/allEnergyPR feed.

* * *

BEGINS Severin Carrell, in The Guardian: “The UK’s major cinema chains have banned all adverts on the Scottish independence referendum after customers inundated them with complaints.

“The pro-UK Better Together campaign said the vast majority of complaints had come from supporters of Scottish independence after Better Together and another pro-UK group, Vote No Borders, flooded Scottish cinemas with adverts urging a no vote.

“The Odeon and Vue cinema chains confirmed that all the major chains, including the Cineworld group and UCI, had taken a collective decision to ban all referendum advertising from 5 June, a week into the four-month-long official campaign.”

On Monday, David Leask, in The Herald, wrote of a not dissimilar ad ban taking place at the Glasgow Film Theatre.

* * *

FREE training for members of the National Union of Journalists – on (a) how to be an effective freelancer and (b) how to be an entrepreneurial freelancer – is to be held in Glasgow.

The ‘Effective Freelance’ course is taking place a week on Saturday, while the ‘Entrepreneurial Freelance’ one is on the following Saturday, the 14th.

For more details – with places allocated on a first-come, first-served basis – from  Joan Macdonald, training manager, NUJ Training Scotland – 0141 248 6648/7748 or 07730 513991 or joanm@nuj.org.uk

* * *

BEGINS a media release posted on allmediascotland: “After 25 years of London life, Young Films, the independent film and television company behind ‘The Inbetweeners’ has swapped the streets of the UK capital for a full-time base on the shores of Skye.”

Read more, here.

* * *

BEGINS radiotoday.co.uk: “Fifty-five per cent of new cars now come with digital radio as standard, up from 37 per cent a year ago.”

Read more, here.

* * *

WRITES Lori Anderson, in a column in today’s Scotsman: “Although my evening viewing lies in the genre of crime, I do find many of the graphic scenes in today’s dramas unpalatable. Screen violence is going further than it ever has before. In Ancient Greek drama, so much of the violence and cruelty occurred off stage and was then reported to the audience and I don’t see why writers can’t manipulate our imaginations instead of allowing directors to simply assault our eyes.”

Read more, here.

* * *

VIEWERS of the BBC show, Springwatch, will have seen, on Monday, live inserts from Scotland being presented somewhat courageously, as unperturbed as it is possible to get when being swarmed by midges.

And The Herald’s Jody Harrison finds out more, here (it’s one of the main stories on paper’s page three, today).

* * *

BEGINS pressgazette.co.uk: “The shareholders of Johnston Press [publishers of The Scotsman and several other Scots newspapers] have voted in favour of the company’s proposed £360 million refinancing package.

“The plan, unveiled earlier this month, will see the regional publisher slash its £300 million debt by a third to less than £200 million.”

* * *

SEEN anything you think readers of www.allmediascotland.com should be made aware of? Then just send the weblink to here and we’ll do the rest. All suggestions gratefully received. We’re back at noon tomorrow.

PS Your Noon Briefing is a relatively new venture for allmediascotland.com. We are no longer going to report news, story-by-story. Instead, we are going to find content we hope will be useful, in the belief it will prove to be a more comprehensive service.