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IT is still the top global media group, but the imminent move into its new c o rp o r ate headquarters overlooking Central Park in New York has led to a name change. The merger (well it was a take over, really) of the ‘old media’ group, Time Warner, in 2000 with the glamorous ‘new media’ AOL has finally come full circle.It will go down as one of the great corporate disasters, costing between $50 billion and $80 billion dollars, and now AOL is to be dropped from the company title. TimeWa rner is now the name of the company. AOL is a division within it.
For anyone who wants to revisit the events, take a look at Stealing Time by Alec Klein. As a reporter on The Washington Post he first broke the stories about the fraudulent advertising bookings which AOL indulged into keep its share price high as it took over Time Warner.
Of course AOL should never have been allowed to merge with Time Warner. In an era of mega-mergers it may seem quaint to insist on a basic principle that those who control access to the net should not also control content. As John Naughton has pointed out, ‘AOL is still a gigantic ISP, providing a pipe to the internet for millions of people. If left to its own devices, it will try to ensure that the digital pap produced by its corporate owners slides more easily down that pipe than any other stuff coming off the net.’
Last modified: Saturday, December 6, 2003
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The Phillis Review on government information:
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Notices
Events & Announcements
World Press Freedom Day
More reporters are currently imprisoned in Turkey than in any other country in the world. Only a matter of weeks ago lawyers failed to persuade a Turkish court to release a 76-year-old journalist from a Turkish internet news station.
World Press Freedom Day on Friday May 3, 2013 is being marked in Britain by a rally to highlight the dangers facing journalists in Turkey and in this podcast, Nicholas Jones speaks to Barry White, Organiser at the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, and Sam Bamford, the TUC's policy officer for Eastern Europe and Africa about the importance of a campaign to highlight international press freedom.
The World Press Freedom Day rally is being staged by the National Union of Journalists at the NUJ head office, Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1 on Thursday May 2, 6pm-8pm.
DATELINE: 27/4/13
UK launch of EU media campaign
DATELINE: 13/3/13
The UK launch of a 'European Citizens' Initiative' calling for EU rules against concentration of media power will take place on Thursday March 21 from 11:00am – 12:30pm in Committee Room 4A at the House of Lords, London. Guest speakers will include actor and activist Hugh Grant (pictured), media consultant Claire Enders, Professor Steven Barnett, Barry McCall (President of the NUJ) and Marc Gruber (Director of the European Federation of Journalists).
A European Citizens' Initiative is an official petition, like a Downing Street petition. If it succeeds in gathering a million signatures across the EU, the Commission is obliged to respond.
This petition calls for the EU to act to protect media pluralism and press freedom.
CPBF Annual General Meeting
DATELINE: 1/3/13
Make a note in your diary
Saturday 13 July 2013 from 10.00am
NUJ HQ, 308/312 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1.
Leveson, media ownership, CPBF future work.
DOWNLOAD FREEPRESS NOW
DATELINE: 26/3/10
Download Freepress in PDF, ePub or mobi format. Issue 194 now available.
MEDIA FOR ALL CONFERENCE
DATELINE: 26/3/10
Papers from the Media for All Conference
MEDIA MANIFESTO
DATELINE: 26/3/10
The media’s job is to inform and entertain us but we rely on them too to tell us what our rulers and representatives are up to. In the run-up to the Iraq war the government used spin and disinformation in the media to create panic and mislead people. The truth is coming out now, but we need stronger, more independent media to be able to scrutinise governments and make informed choices.
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Previous stories
Miscellany
BENIGN DICTATORSHIP
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH AND BEEBWATCH
THE DOTTY & BARMY WATCHDOG
The Murdoch Dossier
BCT PIPELINE PROTEST
LAKENHEATH TRESPASS DAY
NO NEW OIL DAYSCHOOL
Oil, war and climate change: dismantling the oil economy.
FREE CAMPAIGN POSTCARDS
Weapons of Mass Deception - the uses of propaganda in Bush's war on Iraq
Free Press 135
Editorial: The Assault on the BBC
COMPETITIVE PRESSURES
PLATFORM: COMMERCIAL PRESSURES ON ITN
Television impartiality or Biased News?
Journalism Studies
ACCESS FOR ALL OR ACCESS DENIED?
No drinking up time at the Last Chance Saloon
Plaudits for Presswise
MEDIA MONITOR: Freedom of Information Blocked
MEDIA MONITOR: Gannett/Newsquest
NEXT ISSUE
CPBF NEWS: AGM HAS THE RIGHT INGREDIENTS
The Dotty & Barmy Watchdog
Editorial
CURBING CAMPBELL
The Phillis Review on government information:
Role of top PR Firms causes concern
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
CARLTON/GRANADA MERGER
NEWS FOR SCOTLAND
CROSS-MEDIA PROMOTION
