At News, the eyes have it. Here at Crikey, we noticed something strange about the photo of Norway mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik that appeared next to the masthead of today’s News International newspaper The Sun:

The eyes, they’re devlish:

But has there been some demonish photoshopping done here? The same picture of Breivik leaving court was used by the New York Post (a fellow Murdoch publication), sans red eyes:

Crikey couldn’t help but think back to the Australian media’s coverage of the 1996 Martin Bryant Port Arthur massacre where Australian newspapers were accused of a similar touch up job. From Wikipedia:

“Newspaper coverage immediately after the massacre raised serious questions about journalistic practices. Photographs of Martin Bryant had been digitally manipulated with the effect of making Bryant appear deranged. However, this was not the intent on the part of the newspaper concerned[citation needed], but was an unanticipated side-effect of the standard image separation and enhancement methods in use at the time. Unfortunately, it was not caught until early editions had already hit the street.”

— Leigh Josey

Pay wars at Fairfax: new offer. The battle over pay continues at Fairfax, after Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance members voted overwhelmingly last week to unlock their right to take protected industrial action (65% of members took part in the ballot and 96% voted “yes”). Yesterday, Jack Matthews, CEO of the metro media division, dispatched the company’s latest offer:

I am writing to update you on the current status of the EBA negotiation.

You have received a lot of communication recently about the EBA, but I urge you to take a moment to read the Company’s latest EBA offer below.

The Company made a decision from the outset to make a very fair and reasonable offer. Despite the challenging economic conditions across the industry and the broader market, the Company did not propose to remove any terms or conditions from the current EBA. Our proposal was simple and, like the MEAA, we had the expectation of an agreement by the expiry date of the current EBA, June 30, 2011. This has unfortunately not occurred.
Since the initial proposal was made by the Company, a number of concessions have been made and I now want to remind you of the key aspects of the current Company offer.

Wages

The Company has made a fair and reasonable wages offer (see table below) which will:

  1. Deliver guaranteed pay rises to all staff.
  2. Deliver faster wages growth for the lowest paid.
  3. End the wages threshold cap.
  4. Enable high performers to gain greater rewards.
  5. Enshrine a more open and transparent merit based process.

This is a significant change from the current situation whereby lower grades do not have accelerated annual progression — and the higher paid do not have any automatic increases.

Proposed wage offer (excluding Newcastle and Illawarra)

Cadet to Grade three 2.5 per year, no merit budget.

It is proposed that cadet to grade 4 have accelerated progression after 12 months subject to satisfactory performance

  • Grade 4 – Grade 10 (<$150K*)
  • Year 1 2.5% with 0.5% merit budget
  • Year 2 2.5% with 1% merit
  • Year 3 2.5% with 1% merit
  • Grade 10 >$150K*
  • Year 1 2% with 1% merit
  • Year 2 1.5% with 2% merit
  • Year 3 1.5% with 2%

* $150k is the total package value (TPV)

Coverage
The Company wants the EBA to reflect the new alignment of the Company’s regional and metro mastheads into different groups. We have expressed a willingness to discuss the inclusion of Federal Capital Press and Fairfax Digital editorial staff into the Metro agreement, but we wish to move Newcastle and Illawarra into a separate agreement. The proposal to separate Newcastle and Illawarra is going to an informal vote this week to provide management an instructive view on how to progress this.

Other matters
1. The flexibility clause, consultation clause and disputes procedure clause will be consistent with the requirements under the Fair Work Act.
2. We have proposed a new training and equipment clause, which recognises the new environment in which our editorial employees are doing their work.
3. The EBA will also include any other changes required by the Fair Work Act.

Next steps

As we previously stated, our offer expired when the EBA nominal term expired (on June 30, 2011) and we reserved the right to submit a new proposal unless there was a realistic recognition of the compromises the Company has made to date.

We now propose the following:

  1. Await the result of the Newcastle / Illawarra vote proposed to be conducted on Wednesday July 27, 2011 which will impact on our approach to coverage.
  2. Have a small delegation from management and the MEAA (no more than 3 on both sides) to discuss the current Company and MEAA proposals later next week.
  3. The Company wages offer, if agreed, will be backdated to July 1, 2011 but only if in-principle agreement is made by September 1, 2011. After this date, there will be no back-dating.
  4. If there is no agreement, we reserve our rights to submit a new proposal.

We understand the need to resolve these negotiations in a timely manner in order to continue with our plans to transform the Metro division and build a sustainable future. Our proposal is designed to achieve that.
In the current economic environment I believe our proposal is both fair and reasonable.

I will keep you updated of any developments.

Jack Matthews
CEO Metro Media

Front page of the day. Norway’s newspapers continue to cover the aftermath of the weekend attacks. Tønsbergs Blad‘s headline simply says “Sammen” (together) …

Greens declared: there WILL be an inquiry

“The Greens have pre-empted the Prime Minister, declaring there ‘will’ be an inquiry into Australia’s media examining privacy, ownership and alleged ‘bias’ of news outlets.” — The Australian

Hack Work: a tabloid culture runs amok.

“On March 21, 2002, a thirteen-year-old English schoolgirl took the train home. Usually, she took it all the way to Hersham, seventeen miles from London, where she lived, but on that day she got off one stop before, at Walton-on-Thames, to get something to eat. From that decision flowed two events, one terrible and final, the other more ambiguous and by no means complete.” — The New Yorker

WSJ committee critical of Murdoch coverage

“The Wall Street Journal ‘could have done a better job’ when it published an interview with proprietor Rupert Murdoch in which he said News Corporation had made only “minor mistakes” in managing the phone-hacking scandal, according to the paper’s special editorial committee.” — The Guardian

How the NY Times got its groove back

“Though the Times’ circulation dipped during the crash years, much of the lost revenue was made up for by doubling the newsstand price, from $1 to $2 — evidence, the paper insisted, that its premium audience understood the value of a premium product. In March, after several years of planning and tens of millions in investments, the Times launched a digital-subscription plan — and the early signs were good.” — New York Magazine

Johann Hari, Orwell might wants his prize back

“The organisers of the Orwell Prize are investigating whether to withdraw the journalism award won by Johann Hari in 2008, after controversy surrounding his use of quotes. In a statement on its website on Thursday, the Orwell Prize’s organisers said: ‘Given the seriousness of the allegations that have been made, we feel we have no choice other than to investigate further.'” — The Telegraph

More Americans have Facebook page than a passport

“A fun new infographic from social travel platform Tripl that illustrates the ways in which social media is impacting the travel industry reveals this and other interesting facts.” — SocialTimes