Newquest NUJ journalists in North back strike

Newsquest journalists in the North of England who are in the NUJ have voted for strike action in a bid to stop plans by the newspaper group cutting14 jobs in Darlington and York.

Management wants to transfer editorial production of Newsquest’s free weekly titles in Darlington and York, together with paid-for weeklies and magazines, to Bradford over the next six months. Sub-editing of the dailies would remain at the existing locations.

NUJ northern and midlands organiser Chris Morley said: “In addition to industrial action, we are also considering whether the proposed transfer of work may be in breach of employment law. This could have serious financial consequences for Newsquest."

The NUJ said it has sought region-wide consultation on the management proposals from Newsquest’s regional managing director but tit was turned down.

Photographers' freedom call: Flashmob at City Hall

I’m a Photographer, Not a Terrorist! (PHNAT), the campaign group set up to fight unnecessary and draconian restrictions against individuals taking photographs in public spaces, marked International Press Freedom Day today with a flashmob outside London’s City Hall.

The flashmob, supported by the NUJ and the union's London Photographers’ Branch, aims to highlight PHNAT's concern at restrictions on street photography in a public space.

It claims that many privately employed security guards are illegally preventing citizens from taking photographs and that areas designated as public realm are often privately managed spaces that are subject to rules laid down by the private management companies.

PHNAT also says photography is banned in some of our most widely enjoyed public spaces, such as Canary Wharf and the Thames Walk between Tower Bridge and City Hall.



PHNAT successfully campaigned for the repeal of Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (January 2011), however Section 47a has been drafted in by a remedial order to enable police to use stop-and-search powers when a senior police officer reasonably suspects a terrorist action will take place.

It is concerned that Section 47a will be used against amateur and professional photographers, stopping them taking photographs in public.

Pic: Jon Slattery

US front pages on news that Bin Laden is dead

Here are some more US front pages on the news that Osama Bin Laden is dead. I've already featured the 'Rot in Hell' front page from the New York Daily News. For more front pages see the newseum website.

Three 'Obama' fails on Bin Laden dead reports

Oh dear. Three mix ups between Obama and Osama in these news reports from Fox, El Pais and the BBC on the killing of Bin Laden.

How Twitter broke news that Bin Laden was dead

Michael Calderone on the Huffington Post has written about the role Twitter played in revealing that Osama Bin Laden was dead.

Calderone writes: "White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer notified the world via Twitter that Obama would be making a major announcement, but provided no details of what was to come.

"And it was over Twitter that the story exploded -- from word of a mysterious presidential announcement to early guesses to informed speculation and, eventually, to unconfirmed reports that bin Laden had been killed.

"Keith Urbahn, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's chief of staff, scooped the national press by tweeting around 10:25 p.m. that he’d been “told by a reputable person they have killed Osama Bin Laden.”

"Whether from non-journalists like Urbahn or mainstream reporters soon after, many people first learned of the U.S. firefight that killed the terrorist leader over social media sites like Twitter and Facebook and text-messaging. (Amazingly, IT consultant Sohaib Athar, who unknowingly lived near the bin Laden compound in Pakistan, actually live-tweeted the U.S. special forces attack on the al Qaeda leader without realizing what he had witnessed."

• piersmorgan Piers Morgan tweeted: "Sign of our times: I heard news of Bin Laden's death from Twitter when I landed in NY last night. Just a random tweeter "
• BBC News has a report on how the Bin Laden raid was revealed on Twitter
  

New York Daily News says 'Rot in Hell' Bin Laden

This is how the New York Daily News reported the news today that Osama Bin Laden had been killed in a US raid in Pakistan.

The story was too late for today's UK nationals but will the Sun be able to resist using its famous Gotcha! headline tomorrow?

• Some more US front pages here.
  

Is the royal bridesmaid really a Guardian reader?

Peter Higgins from Oxford writes in a letter to the Guardian today: "Could it be that the little bridesmaid to Kate's right on the balcony photographs – her face glum and hands over her ears – is a Guardian reader?"