The ftm 2010 Greatest Hits

#1 - The BBC Shows The World – And CNN in Particular - How To Cover A Major Breaking World News Event And, Yes, Throwing Money At It Really Does Show
The BBC has been criticized at home for sending some 25 people to the Chile mine disaster and throwing money at its coverage but, no matter where you are in the world, if you really wanted to be “there” then there was just one channel to watch – BBC World. And it really put CNN’s so-called continuing coverage to shame!

#2 - British Politicians And Scotland Yard May Be Afraid To Take On Murdoch, But Not So The New York Times – It’s A Trans-Atlantic Newspaper War Aimed At The Jugular
Rupert Murdoch makes no secret the editorial changes he has made at his Wall Street Journal are intended to topple The New York Times as America’s newspaper of record. But the “Gray Lady” until now has mostly ginned and bared it but suddenly with an investigative report months in the making she has sunk her teeth viciously into Murdoch in the UK some 3,000 miles away from the main New York battlefield. The resulting hoop-la has the UK government, Parliament, Scotland Yard, politicians and celebrities all in a tizzy and for a change it is Murdoch’s News of the World tabloid finding itself defending itself from newspaper allegations.

#3 - Finger Jabbing, Faces Bursting Red With Anger, Asking Questions But Not Allowing Full Answers –The UK 24-Hour News Channels General Election Aftermath Had Everything And Most Of It Was Great
Let’s face it, repetitive news on the half-hour is, well, boring, but for the British, who are used to a losing prime minister immediately packing his bags and the moving trucks loaded outside 10 Downing Street, the political bargaining over the past five days was riveting and the UK’s two 24-hour news channels really came of age.

#4 - The Young French Are Attracted To Paid-For Newspapers – As Long As Someone Else, Like The Taxpayer, Does The Paying
French taxpayers subsidize newspapers to the tune of some €600 million annually – a government report said it’s like keeping the press in a state of “permanent artificial respiration” – but the newest initiative, aimed at getting the young to read print again, seems to be working.

#5 - Did The Mail On Sunday Expect Thanks From Its Readers For Skewering The English 2018 FIFA World Cup Bid?
Frankly, it was journalism at its most disgusting – a former girl friend invites the head of the English Football Association (FA) and leader of its 2018 World Cup bid to a private lunch, she carried a secret wire, he talked about some extremely damaging international football bribery allegations, she sold that to a Sunday newspaper for £75,000, he had to resign and justifiably the newspaper got lambasted for an exclusive story that may well have destroyed the 2018 bid.

#6 - No More NBC Nightly News On CNBC Europe
For expatriate Americans and for others staying up late who were into Americana, CNBC Europe had for many years the best daily American hour of TV starting at midnight CET with a half-hour commercial-free Tonight Show with Jay Leno followed by the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams on the half-hour live – which did unfortunately mean with all the commercial breaks. Leno’s monologue and NBC’s newscast -- about as diverse but accurate a read on what America is thinking as any you would likely find within an hour on the dial.

#7 - Politicians Vote To Kill Internet, Radio
The UK Parliament passed the long awaited Digital Economy Act, presumed to stimulate economic activity in and around the digital realm. Even the manner in which it was threaded through the political needle reveals more about ‘act’ than ‘digital’ or ‘economy.’ It’s the reason politicians and bankers are held in such high esteem.

#8 - Will Murdoch’s Pay Wall Work? It’s The Math, Stupid
So Rupert Murdoch has finally announced what the entire newspaper industry has been waiting for -- his pay wall scheme for his two UK quality newspapers. Success will be determined not by the hoards that leave the site, but rather by the resulting bottom line mix of subscription revenue and advertising. Or put another way, will the resulting subscription revenue much more than make up for the decline in the resulting advertising revenue?

#9 - A UK TV First Tonight – An Election Debate
For all the talk the Brits make about their democracy they have never held a nationally televised debate between the major party leaders during a general election campaign, but that comes to an end Thursday night when the ITV terrestrial commercial network hosts the first such event.

#10 - The Music Industry’s Favorite Song: Busted
A world record for street singing made the headlines during the German music industry trade fair Popkomm. Singing for ones supper, literally or figuratively, may be the norm for the lesser known artists and performers. Music industry executives and their lawyers have a different tune.