Your Noon Briefing: Hollinshead to leave for new job, Tommy Sheridan, etc

A RECENT former managing director of the Daily Record and Sunday Mail newspapers – who has risen to become chief operating officer of media business at the titles’ publisher, Trinity Mirror – is to leave, in a year’s time.

Mark Hollinshead is next summer taking up the post of group chief executive at Nova International, which describes itself as the “organisers of the Great Run Series which includes Europe’s biggest mass-participation event, The Bupa Great North Run, and owners of the TV sports production company, Film Nova”.

Hollinshead is a former chair of Scottish Athletics Ltd and UKA council member.

Among the various media outlets reporting the news is pressgazette.co.uk, here.

When the news was announced yesterday, early afternoon, allmediascotland.com tweeted it, via allmedianews.

* * *

BEGINS the BBC (here): “Tommy Sheridan’s conviction for perjury is to be reviewed by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission.

“The former Scottish Socialist Party leader and Solidarity MSP was awarded £200,000 in damages after winning a defamation case against the News of the World in 2006.”

And adds The Herald (here): “Scotland’s miscarriage of justice watchdog is to review Tommy Sheridan’s conviction for perjury.

“The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission has confirmed it will investigate the former MSP’s conviction from 2010.

“The announcement came just as former News Of The World editor and No 10 spin doctor, Andy Coulson, was today expected to appear in court to face his own perjury allegations relating to Sheridan’s trial.”

The story is widely reported elsewhere.

* * *

BEGINS the website, holdthefrontpage, about Johnston Press – publisher of The Scotsman, several other Scots newspapers and which today published its interim financial results for the six months up to June 28 (here): “Regional publisher Johnston Press saw revenues fall by 4.3 per cent in the first half of 2014 while profits rose by 3.6 per cent.

“Overall revenues fell to £135.8million in the period January to June compared to £141.9 million in the same period in 2013.

“However, underlying profits grew from £27.3 million in the first half of 2013 to £28.3 million this year.”

Read more, here.

Meanwhile, The Guardian’s take (here) on the results, begins: “Johnston Press has reported an 11.5 per cent fall in revenue to £135.8 million and a £6 million loss in the first half of the year, but said that an economic ‘ripple-out effect’ is helping to drive a recovery at the newspaper group.

“The regional publisher said that on an underlying basis – stripping out exceptional items such as the impact of the sale of titles in Ireland and cancellation of a printing contract with News UK – total revenues fell just 4.3 per cent.

“This is an improvement over the 5.3 per cent fall in the first half of 2013.

“On an underlying basis, pre tax profits tripled to £6 million, with operating profits up 3.6 per cent to £28.3 million.”

* * *

THE company behind the radio stations such as Capital, Heart and Classic FM is inviting creative agencies to work with performers at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to script radio adverts, producing a demo or radio ‘scamps’, free of charge.

For the week beginning the 17th of this month, Global is to create a ‘pop-up recording studio’ at the Fringe.

Says a media release issued by Global: “The Open Studio Sessions will serve a dual purpose. For creative agencies, they offer a chance to address a difficult brief, or a demonstration of how best to bring the comedy or a new interpretation to a radio script. For emerging [Fringe] talent, the sessions will open up commercial opportunities and give them a platform to showcase their skills.”

Read more, here.

* * *

OF course, there is really only ‘one show in town’ in today’s Press: last night’s live TV debate, on STV, between Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling.

… including the slick performances of the journalists involved – mainly political editor, Bernard Ponsonby, and anchor, John MacKay.

And how it was so popular that live streaming of the show – to allow access to audiences outside Scotland – sometimes struggled to cope with the demand (as reported here).

* * *

REPORTS The Herald, about its publisher: “Media company, Gannett, is splitting its business into two, with one division focused on television and digital and the other on publishing.

“The publishing arm will include Newsquest, owner of The Herald, as well as 81 newspaper titles in the United States such as USA Today.”

Read more, here.

* * *

BEGINS the website, BrandRepublic: “Glasgow 2014 has paid tribute to the ‘vital contribution’ of sponsors such as SSE, Virgin Media, BP and Ford in making the Commonwealth Games a ‘success’.”

Read more, here.

* * *

A MEDIA awards competition has been launched, seeking to recognise the best work of advertising departments in newspapers.

Says the Scottish Newspaper Society, it has joined forces with The Drum media and marketing magazine, to set up the awards, which will be incorporated into the already existing Scottish Creative Awards.

Read more, here. And here.

* * *

A TRAINEE reporter is being sought by the Clydebank Post newspaper – as advertised here on the allmediascotland media jobs board and repeated on www.twitter.com/allmediajobs.

When replying to media job adverts you have seen on www.allmediascotland.com, do feel free to mention us.

* * *

BEGINS a media release posted on allmediascotland.com: “Lanark-based Border Biscuits has launched its biggest consumer advertising campaign to date, with a series of creative ads highlighting the brand’s personality and 30-year heritage.”

Read more, here.

* * *

LIVE commentary of the top flight of Scottish football is to become available across the several radio stations in Scotland operated by Bauer Media.

Says a media release posted on allmediascotland (here), the commentaries will be regionalised, tailored to the local stations involved.

* * *

STARTS the story on the website of the National Union of Journalists: “NUJ members at the BBC have voted to accept a revised pay offer by the BBC of £800 for those earning below £50,000 and £650 for those earning above.

The BBC originally offered an one per cent pay increase.The NUJ and sister unions Bectu and Unite voted for action, which threatened the first day of the Commonwealth Games, and the BBC came back to the negotiating table.”

Read more, here.

* * *

BEGINS The Herald’s foreign editor, David Pratt, in a feature today: “It is not a new debate and once again it has become a bone of contention.

“I am talking about the respective positions taken by two of Britain’s veteran news correspondents over how conflicts such as the one in Gaza should be reported.”

Read more, here.

* * *

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.