NowPublic – Intellectual Property Rights ignored?

NowPublic was a crowd-sourced citizen journalism site based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, founded by Michael Tippett, Leonard Brody and Michael E. Meyers in 2005.

In addition to its contributors, NowPublic also had a content-sharing agreement with the Associated Press. The crowd-sourced site was so successful that Time Magazine called NowPublic one of the 50 Best Websites of 2007.

Maryanne Murray Buechner of Time Magazine stated:

Mainstream media types may gripe about the absence of safeguards ensuring the validity of news reported by the blogosphere, but nowhere are the merits of citizen journalism more apparent than at NowPublic. At this “participatory news network,” a.k.a. bastion of “crowd-powered media,” anyone can write a story, or upload images, audio or video. Whatever gets the most votes from the reading masses—the site gets about 1 million unique visitors per month—ends up as the lead story. (NowPublic has “guest editors,” “wranglers” and an “actual news guy” who keep an eye on things, giving advice to contributing reporters and shepherding the best, most timely stuff through, but nobody on staff makes actual editing changes to the content.)

NowPublic now counts nearly 97,000 contributing reporters in more than 140 countries around the world. During Hurricane Katrina, NowPublic was there; eight contributors filed on-the-scene reports from London’s Heathrow Airport during the August 2006 terrorism lockdown—while the regular press was forced to wait outside. On June 6 NowPublic’s coverage of a storm in Oman made it to the top of the AOL and Yahoo news sites.

In September 2009 NowPublic was acquired by Clarity Digital Group (CDG). Clarity is solely owned by the Anschutz company, an investment company located in Denver, Colorado. According to reports, Leonard Brody assumed the position of President of the Clarity Digital Group and Michael Tippet became the CEO of NowPublic after the sale.

In December 2013 Clarity closed the NowPublic site and redirected it to www.examiner.com.

Read the Rest at – NowPublic – Why were Intellectual Property Rights ignored? : Politisite.

Did YouTube allow Al Jazeera to steal viral video ‘Girls on Fox News’

By Albert N. Milliron

On June 1, 2013, the Arab network Al Jazeera program ‘Listening Post‘ featured viral video ‘The Girls on Fox News‘ by country music artist Austin Cunningham.  What happened after that is like someone borrowing your car and then registering the vehicle as their own.

Austin Cunningham, country music artist, is the rightful author of the viral video, ‘The Girls on Fox News’

Austin Cunningham was excited that his video was getting worldwide exposure but, when he went to his YouTube channel he noticed that he received a “false content ID” claim and a “Copyright strike” against him for using content that appeared on, you guessed it, Al Jazeera.  Cunningham further contends that YouTube allowed Al Jazeera to access his YouTube settings and monetize the video.

Cunningham, when speaking to Politisite, stated that he was careful to follow copyright laws and utilized Fox News footage under ‘Fair Use‘.  Fair use under copyright law is the doctrine that permits limited use of copyrighted material without acquiring permission from the rights holders providing that the work is properly attributed to the copyright holder.

“So if anyone were to have a copyright issue with my song, you would think it would be Fox News channel, not Al Jazeera” said Cunningham.

Cunningham has found himself in the middle of problems with YouTube policies that have been an issue for others for the last two years.  Artists who have a content ID or copyright strike against them didn’t have an adequate appeals process,  that is,  until last year.  In October 2012, the YouTube blog posted a story called, ‘Improving Content ID’ which outlined the appropriate procedures to appeal a content ID strike against a posted video on the YouTube platform.

But Cunningham is wondering if this process is working. Austin told Politisite, he appealed to YouTube some two weeks ago along with an email to Al Jazeera for initiating the copyright infringement claim.  He related he hasn’t heard back from either.

Austin says, he doesn’t know why his video, ‘Girls on Fox News‘ was singled out or the reasons Al Jazeera made this claim against him when he is the true author of the video.  “I wonder if some tech at Al Jazeera contacted some tech at YouTube and just made a poor decision”, “I certainly hope this is not standard practice on the internet”

Austin says, “I am just a musician trying to write songs for my fans”, “I am not an internet technological genius”, “I just want to entertain my fans.”

So until the Al Jazeera, YouTube problem is worked out, Austin Cunningham is currently entertaining those fans in Texas.

Aug 1, 2013	TBA	Courtyard Theater	Plano, TX	i
Aug 16, 2013	TBA	TBA	Midland, TX
Aug 17, 2013	TBA	Concho’s	San Angelo, TX
Aug 20, 2013	6:00 PM	North Texas State Fair	Denton, TX	i
Aug 27, 2013	7:00 PM	Cadillac Pizza Pub	Mckinney, TX
Sep 20, 2013	8:00 PM	Back Forty Smokehouse	North Richland Hills, TX

 See More at Austin Cunningham – Tour Page.

You can Follow Austin Cunningham on Facebook here or here and on Twitter at @AustinSongs

Related articles

• Look who just stole ‘The Girls on Fox News’ (wnd.com)
• Did Al Jazeera steal ‘Girls on Fox News’
• NowPublic: Al Jazeera and YouTube content ID problems

Facebook

 

Filmmakers Call on RNC to “Free Raffi Williams!”

GOP’s Minority and Youth Gaps Not Being Publicly Addressed or Solved

Trenton, NJ – July 30, 2013–Fear Of A Black Republican filmmakers, Kevin and Tamara Williams urge the Republican National Committee to free its Deputy Press Secretary in charge of communications outreach to African American and young voters. Raffi Williams (no relation to the two Filmmakers) was hired by the Republican National Committee earlier this year and charged with improving the Republican Party’s relationship with African American and other minorities.

Since that time, the RNC also hired other employees for its highly-publicized $10 million Growth & Opportunity campaign to make the Party more attractive to voters who look like the changing face of a diverse America. However, as the head of the minority outreach, Raffi Williams has made few national television media appearances and did not attend the annual NAACP Convention nor publicly speak to the assembled Urban League Convention held last week.Filmmaker Kevin Williams said, “Earlier this year, the Republican National Committee committed to spending $10,000,000 on outreach to minority groups but we’ve seen no real action. Instead, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus is back to the same passive routines, ignoring new voters and traveling to Iowa to prepare for the 2016 Presidential Campaign and the 2014 mid-term elections. If our Chairman won’t speak to African Americans in a public forum, why not let Raffi Williams?”

In January 2013, before the RNC’s Winter Meeting, Kevin and Tamara Williams asked the RNC to get serious about engaging minorities. “Soon the National Association of Black Journalists and National Association of Hispanic Journalists will be holding their annual conventions. Will the RNC blow off these important minority gatherings? Again, we call upon the RNC to lead from the front and send our Party’s Chairman or a qualified representative like Raffi Williams to speak to the Convention body and then meet with the journalists attending both Conventions,” said the filmmakers.

Producer Tamara Williams said, “With unemployment being as bad as it is for African Americans and minorities in cities like Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles and Trenton… it is inconceivable why the Republican Party would not forcefully take its message to as many people as possible.” Co-Producer, Kevin Williams, went further, “The clock is running on the RNC to do what they’ve been promising for six months to start earning the black, minority and youth votes. The RNC hired Raffi Williams to play a high-profile role, yet most of our country has never heard of him. Raffi and others were hired to bring the Party of Lincoln back to its roots of inclusion. Our message is simple… Free Raffi Williams!”

The Filmmakers also stated that they are issuing this call without Raffi Williams’ assent, knowledge or request. Producer Tamara Williams stated, “No one may have asked the RNC to attend African American-centric conferences, but the RNC should make every effort to show up at these events. During the RNC Summer Meeting next month in Boston, RNC staff should be publicly meeting with minorities in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood to show they are serious about inclusion and preparing our Party for the future America to come.”

For more information or to contact Kevin and Tamara Williams, Producers of FEAR OF A BLACK REPUBLICAN, please e-mail them at press@fearofablackrepublican.com or phone at (609).635.9750. The film’s website is www.fearofablackrepublican.com.

. . .

More Info:

To view FEAR OF A BLACK REPUBLICAN’s trailers or get more film information, please visit www.fearofablackrepublican.com. MEDIA ONLY – For interviews or stories, please contact the film’s Producer – Tamara Williams via e-mail at producer@fearofablackrepublican.com or (609)-656-7887. The filmmakers can also be contacted via social media on Twitter (@FearOfABlackRep) and Facebook (Fear Of A Black Republican).

The film and its filmmakers have received Print, TV and Radio coverage from the Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, Current TV’s The War Room With Jennifer Granholm, BET News, LA Weekly, Huffington Post Live, Christian Broadcasting Network’s The Brody Files, Al Jazeera’s INSIDE STORY, the Mark Davis Radio Show, Steve Deace Show, Michael Eric Dyson Show, Bob Grant Show, Chris Stigall Show, Victoria Taft Show, The Voice of Russia, Politisite and many others.

# # #

SHAMROCK STINE PRODUCTIONS, LLC

info@fearofablackrepublican.com · www.fearofablackrepublican.com

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney Foreign Policy debate Live

Tonight Politisite will be streaming the third and final Presidential debate live with a focus on Foreign Policy.

The debate between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney will begin at 9 p.m. eastern time and 6 p.m. pacific at Lynn University in Baca Raton, Florida.

The moderator will be Bob Schieffer of CBS News. Topics will include, but not limited to:

• America’s role in the world
• Our longest war – Afghanistan and Pakistan
• Red Lines – Israel and Iran
• The Changing Middle East and the New Face of Terrorism – I
• The Changing Middle East and the New Face of Terrorism – II
• The Rise of China and Tomorrow’s World

Comprehensive coverage of the debate can be seen at the following outlets:

Continue reading Watch the Foreign Policy Presidential Debate Live Online

 

Mastering Google Search – Inside the elusive Algorithm

Search engine, digital advertising, and now emerging social media powerhouse Google has always played its cards close to the chest in relation to the factors that influence search result positioning.

In the past few months, however, the company has made very public efforts to educate and inform the Web community about the hundreds of algorithm changes and tweaks it makes on a yearly basis.

November and December saw the first of these public notices, and while there is a great deal of room left for interpretation for search engine optimization professionals, few would disagree that many of the insights shared are actually quite actionable.

Let’s take a peek into Google’s black box and analyze what these changes mean for digital marketers.

■ Google indicated that it is now more likely to pick text from the actual page content, and less likely to use text that is part of a header or menu, for use in the snippets that appear on search results. While Google has long disregarded most page meta data (meta keywords, titles and description), this change indicates to many that spending more time optimizing page content and sitewide experience will yield better results on the search results pages.

■ Perhaps most significant, particularly for those responsible for link building, Google indicated that it has begun deprecating the value of anchor text within inbound links in the influence of search result page titles. This means that all of the work SEO professionals have put into varying the anchor text used in their link-building campaigns may ultimately be for naught. Instead of concentrating on the variations of relevant keyword anchor text, perhaps it is best to provide more in the way of strong calls to action.

■ As applications for mobile, the desktop and even the browser continue to become popular, Google has made strides in helping developers provide an additional layer of information. By extending coverage to include applicationrich snippets, consumers searching for different applications will begin encountering information about the apps such as reviews, ratings, offers (where it can be found), cost, date published, OS required and more, including file size, format and even the features provided.

Read more at  Mastering Search

General Interest Media Updates

Boston Globe loses reporter to POLITICO

12/21/2011

Donovan Slack (@donovanslack) has been named a senior reporter at POLITICO (@politico), where she will cover the White House and the Obama administration. She will also contribute to POLITICO 44 (@politico44), a blog that chronicles the Obama presidency. Slack most recently was a White House reporter for The Boston Globe (@globemetro) based at the Washington, D.C. bureau. For more information, call 703-647-7999.

BuzzFeed nabs politics reporter from Business Insider

12/21/2011

Zeke Miller will join BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) as a politics reporter in January 2012. He comes to the site from Business Insider (@BusinessInsider), where he was a reporter for the Politix vertical. Follow Miller on Twitter at @ZekeJMiller. For more information, visit www.buzzfeed.com.

Longtime Philadelphia Daily News sports columnist retires

12/21/2011

Bill Conlin retired from his post as a sports columnist at the Philadelphia Daily News, a position he held since 1987. He joined the paper in 1965, and served as a baseball reporter from 1966 to 1987. Conlin also appeared in more than 300 episodes of ESPN‘s Sunday morning roundtable show The Sports Reporters. To learn more, call 215-854-2000.

New beat for Arizona Republic reporter

12/21/2011

Reporter Rebekah L. Sanders joined The Arizona Republic politics team and is now covering the 2012 U.S. congressional elections. Previously, she covered business and enterprise in the West Valley region of Phoenix, as well as Glendale, Ariz. city hall and the Phoenix Coyotes hockey team. Sanders is available on Twitter at @RebekahLSanders and The Arizona Republic can be found at @ArizonaRepublic. For more information, call 602-444-6935.

KDEN-TV names news director

12/21/2011

Maria Rozman has been promoted to news director at KDEN-TV. She will continue to serve as evening anchor and executive producer. Before joining KDEN-TV in August 2011, Rozman was an anchor at KCEC-TV. To learn more, call 303-338-2390.

Star-News gains education reporter

12/21/2011

Pressley Baird joined the Star-News in Wilmington, N.C. as an education reporter covering higher education. Previously, she was the universal editor at The Charlotte Observer. Follow Baird on Twitter at @pressleybaird and the Star-News is available at @starnewsonline. To learn more, contact 910-343-2000.

KMGH-TV scores sports reporter

12/21/2011

Arran Andersen (@arranandersen) joined KMGH-TV (@DenverChannel), the ABC Television Network affiliate in Denver, as a sports reporter and weekend sports anchor. He previously served as host of MORE Access on KVVU-TV (@fox5vegas). Contact 303-832-0200 for further information.

Bloomberg News prepares for the 2012 election, staff changes

12/20/2011

Bloomberg News has announced various changes to staff at the Washington, D.C. bureau for upcoming 2012 campaign coverage. Albert R. Hunt (@AlHuntDC) has been named Washington editor, overseeing coverage of the U.S. elections. Executive editor based in San Francisco, Susan Goldberg (@susanbgoldberg), has taken over for Hunt as Washington executive editor. Michael Tackett (@tackettdc) is now managing editor for government. Cesca Antonelli has taken over for Tackett’s former position as Washington bureau chief and managing editor. Team leader for telecom, cable and media coverage, Peter Elstrom (@pelstrom), is now managing editor for company news. Joe Winski is now managing editor for government contracts. Lastly, editor at large Tim Franklin (@TimAFranklin), has been named managing editor for regulation and policy. To learn more, call 202-624-1956.

Reporter joins Talking Points Memo blog

12/20/2011

Nick Martin (@nickmartin) has joined TPMMuckraker (@tpmmuckraker) as a reporter covering corruption, crime and extremist groups in the U.S. The blog is affiliated with Talking Points Memo. To learn more, visit http://talkingpointsmemo.com.

Another staff change at DCist

12/20/2011

Aaron Morrissey is no longer a weekend co-editor at DCist. His departure is part of larger staff changes at the outlet, as previously covered by the Navigator. DCist can be found on Twitter at @DCist_Updates. To learn more, visit http://dcist.com.

via General Interest Media Updates.

CNN star Piers Morgan faces UK media inquiry

CNN star Piers Morgan faces UK media inquiry

via News from The Associated Press.

13 Android apps for mobile journalists

Contrary to popular belief, the 21st century journalist isn’t all that different to the hacks of days gone by. The skills required today are broadly similar to what was needed 50 years ago – they must have meticulous attention to detail, leave no stone unturned as they strive to unravel the truth behind a story. And above all else, they must be ethically-inclined…in theory, at least.

But the tools of the trade today are very different. Out is the payphone and little black book of contacts, and in is the Twitter account, smartphone and other gadgets that can transform a simple hack into an editor, reporter, cameraman, photographer…and whatever else may be required to submit a story.

And in a week it was revealed that Android has almost half of the total smartphone market sewn up, here’s a look at a handful of Android apps that can help journalists harness the power of their pocket rocket to get a story from the streets onto the Web.

Tape-a-Talk: A simple voice recorder

Any self-respecting hack will require easy, instant access to a recording device. Tape-a-Talk is a simple, but pretty good quality voice recorder.

You can set the app to record high quality (.wav/pcm) and low quality (3gp) recordings, and it will let you pause recordings too (for .wav files), something that many of the basic recorders don’t allow. And long-clicking on a recorded file gives you the option of sending, renaming or deleting the file. You can also set the sample rate (8-44khz) and sample format (8/16 bit). The basic version of Tape-a-Talk is free, but you can upgrade to a pro version for about £3.50, which has additional features such as fast-forward/rewind recordings, and you can also splice recordings too.

There are countless other simple audio recording apps too, such as Voice Recorder and VoiceTask, the latter of which is pretty good for easy emailing of recordings.

See the other 12 at  13 Android apps for mobile journalists – TNW Apps.

Media Job Postings

Media Job Postings

Education Reporter
Abilene Reporter-News – Abilene, TX
The Reporter-News in Abilene, Texas, is looking for an education reporter to join its staff. We need a… than 10) and a brief bio to Editor Barton Cromeens at…

Reporter
Media General, Inc. – Mechanicsville, VA
Full time reporter with report to the editor of Powhatan Today. Based in the Powhatan office. Required to… to directions from editor on deadline, assist in…

Reporter
Universal Studios – West Hartford, CT
NBC Connecticut WVIT is looking for someone a Reporter for its daily news programs. The successful… a General Assignment Reporter Experience as a News…

Reporter
Lee Enterprises – Decatur, IL
Reporter The Herald Review, a Lee Enterprises newspaper in Decatur, Ill., is looking for an ambitious general assignment reporter. We are looking for someone…

Reporter-Editor
Antelope Valley Press – Palmdale, CA
The successful applicant has some daily newspaper experience as a reporter and is equally skilled at crafting good headlines for the copy desk…

Reporter
FDAnews – Falls Church, VA
FDAnews seeks a highly motivated editor/reporter to report and write daily articles on regulatory issues affecting executives in the pharmaceutical…

Search all media job postings

 

Media Updates

Note: In order to access reporters’/journalists’ email addresses via the hyperlinks in the media updates below, you may need to view this email as a webpage.

Current TV taps former CNN veteran
David Bohrman has been named president of Current TV , overseeing programming, production, broadcast operations and digital for the channel. He comes from CNN/Cable News Network , where he most recently served as senior vice president and chief innovation officer. Before that, he was the Washington, D.C. bureau chief and senior vice president of news for the network. He had been with CNN since 1998. Current TV can be found on Twitter at @current. For further details, call 415-995-8200.

PBS names programming VPs
PBS/Public Broadcasting Service has named both Beth Hoppe and Donald Thoms to the role of vice president of programming, general audience. In this capacity, Hoppe and Thoms will be responsible for oversight of the present lineup as well as the generation of new primetime programming. Follow PBS on Twitter at @pbs . For additional details, phone 703-739-5000.

New managing editor at Us
Following the departure of managing editor John Kline at Us Weekly magazine, Lisa Broock (@ljbnyc) has been promoted to managing editor. She previously served as senior editor. Us Weekly offers the latest in celebrity and entertainment news and can be found on Twitter at @usweekly. For more information, call 212-484-1616.

GQ fashion veteran Cohen departs
Lisa Cohen , senior editor in fashion at GQ Gentlemen’s Quarterly , leaves the publication on August 9. She worked for the magazine for 28 years and specialized in men’s tailored wear, such as suits, ties and shirts. Follow GQ’s fashion news on Twitter at @GQfashion. For more information, call 212-286-2860.

Daily Beast editor returns to Forbes
Randall Lane (@randalllane) is slated to re-join the staff of Forbes (@Forbes) as editor after Labor Day. He returns to the publication after having most recently served as an editor at large and senior editor for The Daily Beast. During his first stint with the magazine, Lane served in a variety of roles, including reporter, staff writer and Washington bureau chief. He additionally founded P.O.V. magazine and was editor in chief of Trader Monthly. To learn more, call 212-620-2200.

WashPo names domestic policy reporters, expands tech coverage
Brad Plumer (@bradplumer) and Suzy Khimm (@suzykhimm) have been named domestic policy reporters at The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) and bloggers at Ezra Klein, its domestic issues blog. Also at the outlet, Joshua Topolsky (@joshuatopolsky), editor in chief of The Verge, has begun writing a technology column. The column, also titled The Verge, appears Wednesdays online and Thursdays in print and is part of a larger content share agreement between the paper and The Verge website. Call 202-334-6000 for additional details.

Wong leaves biz editor post at Chicago Trib
Lorna Lim Wong has left her position as business editor at the Chicago Tribune . She has previously served as the associate business editor and news editor at the Tribune. No replacement has been named. To learn more, call 312-222-3232.

Rose joins Gizmodo
Brent Rose has joined Gizmodo as a junior reporter covering a variety of technology topics, including consumer electronics, outdoor gear and software. He can be followed on Twitter at @brentrose and Gizmodo at @Gizmodo. For further details, visit www.gizmodo.com.

Writer jumps from ReadWriteWeb to TechCrunch
Sarah Perez has joined the staff of TechCrunch as a writer covering mobile technology and startups. She had previously been a writer for ReadWriteWeb since February 2008 as well as a contributor to now-defunct Microsoft Channel 10 blog. TechCrunch can be followed on Twitter at @TechCrunch and Perez is available at @sarahintampa. For more information, visit  www.techcrunch.com.

Finley to land at SiliconAngle.com
Klint Finley will join SiliconAngle.com on Aug. 22 as a senior writer where he will cover software, software development, enterprise and services. Finley is also a blogger at Technoccult and previously wrote for ReadWriteWeb. Finley can be found on Twitter at @klintron. To learn more, visit: http://siliconangle.com.

Fitbie acquires online editor
Mary Squillace has joined Fitbie as an online editor. She had previously been a Web assistant for Time Out New York Kids since March 2010. Fitbie can be found on Twitter at @Fitbie and Squillace is available at @squillace. To learn more, visit http://fitbie.msn.com.

White exits Women’s Health
Managing editor Scott White is no longer with Women’s Health . Prior to being promoted to managing editor at the magazine in May 2010, he served as assistant managing editor since he joined the staff in September 2009. To learn more, call 610-967-5171.

Free Resources from Cision

Update your media profile with your beats and contact preferences – and get the content you’re looking for. Find hot leads and new sources. Scout career opportunities. Be the first to hear industry buzz. All to make new headlines and boost your byline. Learn more

Don’t want to wait until Friday to get your media updates? Sign up for RSS Feeds.

 

Cision Weekly Media Updates for Journalists

Cision’s Weekly Media Updates for Journalists

Media Job Postings

Reporter
Media General, Inc. – Marianna, FL
Reporter position open at the Jackson County Floridan… beginning reporter at a weekly or a small daily looking to move on to a bigger challenge. The reporter is…

Reporter
Media General, Inc. – Mechanicsville, VA
Full time reporter with report to the editor of Powhatan Today. Based in the Powhatan office. Required to… to directions from editor on deadline, assist in…

Reporter
The Advertisor Democrat – Norway, ME
Ambitious, Hard-Working Reporter wanted to report and… Send cover letter, resume, clips to: A.M. Sheehan, Editor The Advertiser Democrat 1 Pikes Hill, Norway, ME…

Editor
Lee Enterprises – Schuyler, NE
Seeking a full time editor. The successful applicant… editor, reporter, photographer and supervisor of other editorial staff or correspondents. The editor…

Reporter/Photographer
Lee Enterprises – Muscatine, IA
Please send writing, photo and video work to Chris Steinbach, Editor for the Muscatine Journal via e-mail at chris.steinbach@muscatinejournal.com…

Managing Editor/Reporter
Intel – Hillsboro, OR
Managing Editor/Reporter with strong editin g… covering the technology industry either as an editor or reporter who can turn copy quickly and cleanly in…

Search all media job postings

Media Updates

Note: In order to access reporters’/journalists’ email addresses via the hyperlinks in the media updates below, you may need to view this email as a webpage.

CNN cancels Eliot Spitzer show
CNN/Cable News Network (@CNN ) pulled the plug on In the Arena , the ensemble format show hosted by Eliot Spitzer . Following its cancellation, several weekday programs will shift time slots beginning August 8: The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer will run from 4pm to 6pm ET; John King, USA will air at 6pm ET; Erin Burnett ‘s yet-to-be-titled show will broadcast at 7pm ET; Anderson Cooper 360 (@ac360 ) will air at 8pm ET and rebroadcast at 10pm ET; and Piers Morgan Tonight ( @PiersTonight ) will broadcast at 9pm ET. To find out more, contact 404-827-1500.

HuffPo UK debuts
The Huffington Post launched an international edition of its news and current affairs website: The Huffington Post UK . Based in London, the outlet offers breaking news, blogging and media commentary of interest to UK readers. Topics discussed include politics, business, entertainment, sports, religion, food, health, literature and technology. The site is led by editor in chief Carla Buzasi . The Huffington Post UK is available on Twitter at @HuffPostUK. To find out more, contact +44 (207) 092 2000.

WaPo announces staff changes
The Washington Post ( @washingtonpost ) named Claudia Townsend editor for health, science and environment on the national desk. She most recently served as the director of newsroom operations and has been on staff since 1981. Also at the paper, Dan Balz (@danbalz) was promoted from chief political writer to chief correspondent. He has worked for the publication since 1978 and previously held positions such as national editor, political editor and Southwest correspondent. To learn more, contact 202-334-6000.

New hire at People Style Watch
People Style Watch brought on Christa Lee as an editorial assistant. She most recently worked as a freelance beauty assistant for Glamour. Lee’s hiring comes on the heels of other staff changes at the title, as previously reported by the Navigator. People Style Watch can be followed on Twitter at @StyleWatchMag. Contact 212-522-7700 for additional details.

The Advocate appoints exec editor
Diane Anderson-Minshall was named executive editor of The Advocate. She previously served as editor in chief of Curve. Other outlets she has contributed to include People, The New York Times, USA Today and E! Online. The Advocate is available on Twitter at @TheAdvocateMag . Contact 310-943-5858 to learn more.

Cohen lands at Conde Nast Traveler
Billie Cohen will start as website editor for Conde Nast Traveler on July 11. She recently left Time Out New York, where she was the deputy features editor. Prior to that, she was a contributing columnist for The New York Times. To learn more, call 212-286-2860.

Dow Jones editor moves to LA Times
Joe Bel Bruno will join the Los Angeles Times as financial markets editor on July 11. He will be based in New York bureau until August, when he will relocate to Los Angeles. Bel Bruno most recently served as a news editor for the U.S. stock market team at Dow Jones Newswires . He also previously worked for the Associated Press . The Los Angeles Times is available on Twitter at @latimes and Bel Bruno can be followed at @joebelbruno . Contact 212-448-2839 for further information.

Changes at WSJ
Bryan Gruley, Chicago bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, is set to leave the paper in early fall. He has been with the Journal since September 1995, working in both the Washington, D.C. and Chicago offices. He will be replaced by Jason Dean, current deputy bureau chief at the Beijing bureau. Additionally, North American mining, steel and aluminum reporter Robert Guy Matthews has left the paper. He reported from the Pittsburgh bureau. For more information, call 212-416-2000.

Tech correspondent returns to National Journal
National Journal welcomed back Sara Jerome as a staff correspondent covering technology policy. Most recently, she was a technology policy reporter at The Hill and blogged for Hillicon Valley. She served her first stint at National Journal as a reporter and wrote for the Tech Daily Dose blog. Jerome can be followed on Twitter at @sarmje. Contact 202-739-8400 for further information.

New publisher at Mashable
Sharon Feder has been promoted from managing editor to publisher at Mashable . While at the blog, she has also worked as a features editor and assistant editor. Follow Mashable on Twitter at @mashable and Feder at @sharonfeder . For further information, visit www.mashable.com.

Editor promoted at Health
Frances Largeman-Roth was upped to food and nutrition director at Health. She previously served as senior food and nutrition editor since February 2007. Prior to joining the publication in April 2004, she was the managing editor for FoodFit.com. Health is available on Twitter at @goodhealth and Largeman-Roth can be followed at @feedthebelly. Contact 212-522-9400 for additional details.

Stacey named deputy editor at Shape
Michelle Stacey has been named deputy editor at Shape. She was previously acting executive editor for Whole Living. Prior to that, she was deputy editor and editor at large for Cosmopolitan. Stacey replaces Janet Lee. Follow Stacey on Twitter at @MichelleStacey2 and Shape at @Shape_Magazine. To learn more, call 212-545-4800.

Don’t want to wait until Friday to get your media updates? Sign up for RSS Feeds.