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"The editor-in-chief of one of Russia's oldest broadsheet newspapers has been replaced by a tabloid veteran in a sign of the Kremlin's desire to silence press critics.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."