Your Noon Briefing: Celtic Media Festival, NFRN Scottish Awards, etc

BEGIN the organisers of the Celtic Media Festival – a celebration of broadcasting, digital etc media from the Celtic nations and regions, and which is taking place in Inverness next month: “Organisers of the Celtic Media Festival today revealed the first details of this year’s festival programme, due to take place in Inverness over 22nd – 24th April.

“The programme celebrates the influential media industry of the Celtic nations and regions and includes sessions on some of the biggest news stories in recent years.”

Read more, here.

* * *

THE responses of several Scots local authorities are included in an article on the website, pressgazette.co.uk, that begins: “Figures obtained by Press Gazette appear to show a sharp increase in the number of media leak investigations conducted by local councils in recent years.

“Formal investigations by local authorities into leaks to journalists – which they have disclosed – have increased from one each in the 2009/2010 and 2010/11 financial years to six in 2011/12.

“In the 2013/2014 financial year, there were at least 12 official leak probes.”

Read more, here.

* * *

SAYS the BBC, here, on its website: “More than 1,000 schools [including in Scotland] took part in the ninth annual School Report News Day [yesterday].

“School reporters had to finish their stories by a 14:00 GMT deadline – and get them online by 16:00.”

* * *

THE British Academy of Film and Television Arts in Scotland has announced the nominations for its New Talent Awards 2015.

Says BAFTA Scotland: “The annual awards ceremony recognises, inspires and celebrates emerging practitioners from all over Scotland and gives up-and-coming screen industry talent an all-important platform to showcase their work to the wider industry.

“Thirty-nine nominees have been selected across 13 categories by juries made up of industry professionals.”

Read more, here.

* * *

BEGINS The Courier newspaper: “DC Thomson has installed a revolutionary new system that turns the history of the printing press on its head — and Courier readers will be the first to benefit.

“Discovery Print, the company’s printing arm, has installed a new digital print head that makes it possible to randomise parts of the paper.

“This will be used for the first time on Saturday for a new competition where readers can win £500 simply by buying a copy of The Courier.

“Every single copy of the paper will have a unique code printed inside the Weekend magazine as part of our Courier Code competition.

“On Monday we will print 20 of these codes in the paper. If your code from Saturday matches one of those you have cracked the code — and won £500.

“It is only the new digital printing head that makes it possible to give every edition of the paper a different code inside.”

Read more, here.

* * *

SHOPS across Scotland have been hailed at an inaugural awards ceremony being run by the Scots division of the National Federation of Retail Newsagents.

Says the NFRN: “They comprised independent retailers from Kinross, Castle Douglas, Girvan and Edinburgh, a sales assistant from Aberdeen and a 15 year-old news deliverer from Falkirk.”

The 2015 winners were:

* HND Retailer of the Year – Gordon Baillie, Baillie’s, Kinross;

* Independent News Retailer of the Year – Norman Thomson, Thomson’s, Castle Douglas;

* Convenience Retailer of the Year – Ian Mitchell, Premier Your Store, Girvan;

* Community Retailer of the Year – Dennis Williams. Broadway Convenience Store, Edinburgh;

* Employee of the Year – Lee Downey, I&J General Store, Aberdeen; and

* News Deliverer of the Year – Abbie Gifford, C&M Sisman, Falkirk.

Read more, here.

* * *

BEGINS The Scotsman today, on page 35 of today’s edition: “Cello, the marketing group that owns the Leith advertising agency, has posted a 9.9 per cent rise in headline pre-tax profits to £9.4m for 2014.”

* * *

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 on Monday.