Russia/New Magazine

Publicitas: First women's weekly glossy magazine Gloria to be launched

Poland/New Daily

Reuters: Springer about to launch new Polish daily -sources

"German media giant Axel Springer will most likely launch a new upper-market daily in Poland soon after April 17, industry sources said on Friday. The newspaper - the Polish version of Die Welt - is designed to compete with daily Gazeta Wyborcza owned by Polish media group Agora and broadsheet Rzeczpospolita controlled by Norway's Orkla."

Russia/Growing Media profits

OpenDemocracy: Russia through the looking-glass

"The trend toward economic independence of the media has accelerated dramatically under Putin. Before he came to office, just 10% of local television stations were financially self-sufficient; that has risen to more than a third. This has occurred alongside annual growth rates in newspaper, journal and book production that exceed 10%. There is more privately-financed media in Russia under Putin than there has ever been in Russian history, both in absolute numbers and as a percentage of the whole. Over the past two years, media profits have grown by more than $2 billion."

Poland/Magazines

Publicitas: Hachette Filipacchi Medias and Burda to merge their editorial operations

"Hachette Filipacchi Medias and Burda Group signed an agreement to merge their editorial operations in Poland. This merge will see the creation of a new holding, operating under Polish law, with a management of 51% Burda Group and 49% Hachette Filipacchi Medias. The holding will manage 100% of all the editorial functions of both Burda Polska and Hachette Filipacchi Polska."

Russia/International Newspapers

The Moscow Times.com: IHT to Start Publishing in Russia

"The International Herald Tribune will start publishing in Moscow on Feb. 1 under an agreement with The Moscow Times, becoming the first international newspaper to be published daily in Russia. The newspaper will initially be sold by subscription and at about 40 newsstands in hotels, supermarkets, trade centers and BP filling stations. An annual subscription will cost $599, while single copies will cost 90 rubles. The newspaper, which is owned by The New York Times Co., will have The Moscow Times logo on its front page and a copy of The Moscow Times inserted inside."

Lithuania/New Supplement to Business Daily

Publicitas: New supplement to business daily Verslo Zinios

"Business daily Verslo Žinios is now taking an additional step forward. The newspaper, which is published in Lithuania, is launching a hefty, 160-page monthly supplement magazine Verslo Klase (Business Class). In addition to being distributed to the newspaper’s subscribers, nearly 2,000 copies will be printed for sale separately."

"Verslo Žinios is part of the Bonnier Business Press and Lithuania’s only business daily. It is one of the most important channels of information for many in industry. The newspaper has a steadily growing circulation, currently at slightly more than 11,000."

Russia/Media Markets

Reuters: Disney takes over Kremlin in Russian market drive

"A recent report published by PricewaterhouseCoopers said Russia's entertainment and media market is the fastest growing in Europe, surging 27.4 percent last year. That compares to flat growth in most Western developed countries."

"The Russian market including film, video, Internet products, print media, sporting events and theme parks hit $12.45 billion last year, PwC said in a study of global entertainment industry. That is just a fraction of the global $1.3 trillion market but growing fast, driven by the film and advertising industries and fuelled by higher disposable incomes on booming oil prices."

Russia/Copyrights

Interfax: Vedomosti backs news agencies' statement on copyright

"The business daily Vedomosti said it applauds a statement on intellectual property protection that was issued by Russia's three leading news agencies - Interfax, ITAR-TASS, and RIA Novosti - on Friday."

""All civilized market players understand that the intellectual property problem needs to be sorted out. I am very pleased with a statement in which these leading news agencies said that not only do they see this problem as a matter of concern, but they are also trying to join forces to find a solution to it as soon as possible," Vedomosti publisher Mikhail Dubik told Interfax on Saturday."

Russia/Copyright Lawsuits

The Moscow Times: Vedomosti Launches Copyright Lawsuit

"In one of the largest copyright lawsuits in the Russian media, Vedomosti said that it was suing online news agency RosBusinessConsulting for $9.7 million, alleging that the web site had posted 100 of Vedomosti's stories without giving the paper credit. RosBusinessConsulting, or RBC, denied the accusation, and asked Vedomosti's shareholders, three major Western publishers, to sell full control of the newspaper for $56 million."

Russia/Tv-News-Channel

The Guardian: Hacker halts Russian news channel

"A Russian computer hacker has brought down the country's first English-language news station just two days after its launch.Russia Today, a 24-hour, state-funded news channel, was launched on Saturday in a move aimed at improving Russia's image abroad.Before being forced off air on Monday, the satellite channel broadcast news packages on the Russian constitution and the new parliament in Chechnya."

Russia/TV-News-Channel

The Boston Globe: Russia reaches out to world with TV channel

"English-language, state-funded television channel went live from its Moscow studios yesterday, aiming to broadcast news from a Russian perspective around the globe."

Russia/New Law

RIA Novosti: Duma allows Public Chamber to monitor freedom of speech in media

"The lower house of the Russian parliament adopted a law in its third reading Friday that gives the Public Chamber the right to control the observance of freedom of speech in the mass media."

Bulgaria/News Corporation

The Independent: Murdoch targets Balkans for new News land grab

"Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of global media conglomerate News Corporation, is looking to Bulgaria for his next land grab. News Corp, through its subsidiary Balkan News Corporation (btv), is planning to spend an estimated £50m on bolt-on acquisitions such as radio and outdoor advertising businesses over the next months."

East Europe/Burda

The International Herald Tribune: Burda looks beyond printing

"The grease and machinery of the printing press have almost become a sideline to the tool that Burda sees as central to the next generation of publication: social software. This encompasses everything from Web logs to community-building Web sites that let readers create their own content through reviews and comments."

"Printing will not go away, but I do not plan to open a single new printing plant," Burda said. "We now concentrate on using social software to build closer relations with the communities of readers around our magazines."

Russia/Newspapers

The Guardian: Izvestia editor sacked by new owners

"The editor-in-chief of one of Russia's oldest broadsheet newspapers has been replaced by a tabloid veteran in a sign of the Kremlin's desire to silence press critics. Izvestia, which was bought in the spring by the media arm of the state-controlled energy giant, Gazprom, will be edited by Vladimir Mamontov."

Russia/Putin´s Opinion on Media Freedom

Ria Novosti: Putin says government does not want to control media

"Russian President Vladimir Putin told members of the Dutch media Monday (31.10.) that he does not have the intention, nor the possibility, of controlling the Russian media. There are currently 47,000 periodicals printed in Russia and about 3,000 radio and TV stations, the president said. "I am not even speaking about the Internet, which is developing with complete freedom, and entirely without control - and the number of Internet users is continually growing," he said. However, Putin did say Russia has significant problems with freedom of speech and that the country's rank of 138th in the Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom ranking should be noted."

Russia/Internet Advertising Outlook

ClickZNews: ZenithOptimedia Raises Internet Forecast

"ZenithOptimedia upgraded its outlook for Internet advertising on a global scale, saying it now expects the medium to hold a 4.3 percent market share in 2005, as compared to the 4.1 percent share it predicted in July. The company also increased its total global ad spend forecast. The nations with the highest growth rates are the "BRIC" countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, and China. The group will drive 27 percent of world ad growth for the year."

Bulgaria/"New" Business Magazine

Publicitas: BusinessWeek and CASH Media Group to Launch Bulgarian Language Edition of BusinessWeek

"Business Week, the best-selling global business magazine and CASH Media Group, a publishing company based in Sofia, have announced an agreement to publish a Bulgarian language edition of BusinessWeek. The first issue is scheduled for launch in January 2006."

"The BusinessWeek Bulgarian language edition will be published weekly and will be available on newsstands and via subscription. Editorial content will consist of selected material from the North American and international editions of BusinessWeek and original local editorial developed by CASH's journalists."

Poland/New Magazines

Publicitas: Edipresse Polska invests in parenting segment

"Edipresse Polska has launched two new parenting magazines; "Twój Maluszek" and "Przedszkolak ". Started from October 2005, 200'000 copies of Twój Maluszek will be distributed monthly for free to urban dwelling mothers with children up to the age of 2 years."

Russia/Prize for Courage in Journalism

Mediachannel.org: Russian Journalist Wins First Annual Paul Klebnikov Prize for Courage in Journalism

"The Paul Klebnikov Fund will award prominent Russian journalist Diana Kachalova the first annual Paul Klebnikov Prize for Courage in Journalism. The Prize honors the memory of the recently murdered editor of Forbes Russia."

"Diana Kachalova is the trail-blazing editor-in-chief of the weekly Moi Rayon newspaper in St. Petersburg, Russia. Moi Rayon is quite an unusual endeavor for Russia: a grass roots, independent and privately owned newspaper which publishes weekly editions in St. Petersburg’s 11 administrative districts."