Guto Harri, Boris Johnson's former director of external affairs, has taken a job as head on News International's communications team. Photograph: David Hartley/Rex Features A key former aide to Boris Johnson, the London mayor, has been appointed as head of News International's communications team to help the beleaguered media company restore its reputation in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal.The decision to appoint Guto Harri, a former BBC political correspondent who had served as Johnson's director of external affairs for four years until less than two weeks ago and was widely seen as the Tory mayor's most trusted adviser, will surprise many at a time when the close relationship between senior Tories and News Corporation has become a source of embarrassment for David Cameron.Harri confirmed ... Continue reading →
How do billion-dollar deals get made in Silicon Valley? In the case of Facebook's acquisition of Instagram, the negotiation period was a mere weekend at Mark Zuckerberg's house, where he and Kevin Systrom, Instagram's cofounder and CEO, thrashed out a mutually agreeable valuation for the photo-sharing service. This is according to a Wall Street Journal report, which goes on to say that Zuckerberg informed Facebook's board of directors that he intended to spend $1 billion on Instagram on Sunday morning, April 8th, approximately 24 hours before the takeover became official. The board reportedly did vote on whether to approve the decision, but sources close to these proceedings describe them as "largely symbolic." Facebook's COO, Sheryl Sandberg, is said to have been informed on Thursday of ... Continue reading →
by Mallary Jean Tenore Published Apr. 16, 2012 5:40 pm David Wood, who won the Huffington Post’s first Pulitzer Prize today, says it’s a testament to the newsroom’s willingness to let reporters spend time on stories that have an impact. “It’s an affirmation of what Arianna said: ‘You can do great journalism from any platform,’” said Wood, who started his career in 1970. “The [strategies] I used then were exactly the ones I used in this story — to think about your subject, to ask good questions, to be a continuously good listener and to go deep.” Wood — who joined the Huffington Post last year and is now its senior military correspondent — won the Pulitzer for national reporting for his “Beyond the Battlefield” ... Continue reading →
Online long-form video and ad insertions have begun to mirror TV viewing with higher rates of success, according to a study released Tuesday. The 2012 Adobe Digital Video Advertising Report suggests that completion rates on mobile devices at 94% indicate higher engagement from viewers more open to watching ads on the go in exchange for content. In-stream video ads show higher completion rates when viewed in long-form, 76%; compared with short-form content, 63%, defined as five minutes. The study also found that mid-roll ad formats at 87% completion rate in long-form video content perform nearly 30% better than pre-rolls. When it comes to post rolls, completion rates came in at 50%. This TV-like ad experiences, only online, presents opportunities for brands looking for another way ... Continue reading →
