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"This wouldn't even happen in China": George Yang. Photo: Andrew Meares

Chinese journalists covering the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 from Canberra are furious at what they see as Australian government control of the media.

On Sunday, two Chinese crews decided to chase Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss into a car park at the Australian Maritime Safety Authority after being denied access to an AMSA briefing attended by Australian media.

The crews held an impromptu interview with Mr Truss but have complained at being ''locked out'' of any chance to put questions to AMSA boss John Young. On Monday, AMSA posted a security guard at the front of its headquarters.

George Yang, the chief correspondent for Hong Kong's Phoenix Satellite Television, said he had been asked to prove his credentials while he prepared to do a cross from public land. ''This wouldn't even happen in China,'' Yang said.

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''It's been very frustrating, there seems to be a Chinese media blackout. It is unbelievable that this is happening in Australia. There are relatives in China who are devastated and looking for answers.''

In a statement, AMSA said the security guard had been posted ''to prevent media vehicles from blocking access to the building and to prevent unauthorised access.

''AMSA rejects any claims that we are treating members of the Chinese media any differently to others. Yesterday's media event was a pool arrangement organised in conjunction with the federal press gallery committee to allow access to the Rescue Coordination Centre whilst minimising disruption to the operations.

''Chinese media requested to join the pool but the request was declined by AMSA and they were advised to contact the press gallery committee to arrange access to the pool content, which was also made available on our website.''

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We're being 'locked out': Chinese media

Finnish media company Sanoma Oyj (SAA1V) started selling its Russian assets, agreeing to divest a stake in a local publisher as the country restricts foreign ownership of magazines and newspapers.

Sanoma will sell its 50 percent stake in Fashion Press, which publishes Cosmopolitan and Esquire in Russia, the Helsinki-based company said today in a statement. Hearst Shkulev Media, a venture of entrepreneur Viktor Shkulev with U.S. media company Hearst Corp., is buying the stake.

President Vladimir Putin signed a law in October that requires media companies to reduce foreign ownership to 20 percent by 2016. Since becoming president in 2000, Putin has brought major TV stations under state control, pushing opposition discourse toward the Web. This year, as geopolitical tensions flared over the conflict in Ukraine, Putin has tightened control over the Internet and media.

Sanoma said the sale is part of a strategic review it announced in 2013 to redesign its consumer media operations. The company said it will continue to assess strategic options for the remaining assets of its Sanoma Independent Media unit, which oversees its Russian operations.

The companys holdings in the country include publisher of Mens Health and National Geographic and stake in the Vedomosti daily, published jointly with the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ilya Khrennikov in Moscow at ikhrennikov@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kenneth Wong at kwong11@bloomberg.net Ville Heiskanen

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Sanoma to Sell Stake in Russia Publisher Amid Media Law Changes

Weve all been there. Youre watching TV late at night and you start to nod off. Despite your valiant struggle to stay awake, your eyes close, and next thing you know, youve missed the end ofThe Blacklist again. Well, not anymore. With the help of Virgin Media, two teenagers created a wearable called KipstR that knows when youre falling asleep and starts to record your favorite show when you inevitably succumb.

Two students from the Manchester Creative Studio named Ryan Oliver and Jonathan Kingsley, teamed up with Virgin Medias Switched on Futures initiative, to make their dream a reality. The pair helped develop a 3D printed wristband that sports a pulse-oximeter that can tell is youre asleep. Once it sees youre asleep or dozing off, the KipstR turns into a TiVo remote that can pause or record a show. It can also resume play as soon as it sees youre awake again, if you were just resting your eyes for a moment.

Related:These smart specs can tell when youre not paying attention

KipstR is still in prototype status, but according to the Daily Mail, it features a spark core chip, pulse-oximeter, push button, sleep mode indicator, and a small LiPo battery. The KipstRs pulse-oximeter tracks your blood flow to determine your levels of alertness. When your blood flow slows to sleeping speeds, the spark core chip in the KipstR is triggered and tells your TiVo box to pause or record the show youre watching. Conversely, when you wake up, your blood flow speeds up, and KipstR sends a message to your TiVO to resume play.

The KipstR band was 3D printed with an Objet Connex 3D Printer a Polyjet resin, which is supposedly stronger than your average 3D printing material. It looks like any other small, wrist-bound wearable, and although it appears to be slightly bulky, its not much bigger than your average smartwatch. Youd also only have to wear it while youre at home watching TV, so looks arent exactly paramount.

Building KipstR with Virgin Media was a brilliant challenge for us but weve learnt so much and are really pleased with the end result, Ryan said in a writeup posted by Virgin Media. And to top it off I now know what to get my dad for Christmas as he is always nodding off in front of the TV!

Of course, KipstR only works for customers who have Virgin Medias TiVo boxes installed, so cord-cutters and non-TiVo customers are out of luck for now. However, seeing as the pulse-oximeter technology KipstR uses is readily available, its entirely possible that copy-cats could pop up assuming the trial period is successful. The wearable isnt available for sale yet, but you can sign up for a trial on Virgin Medias website.

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This wearable will pause or record your favorite show when you inevitably doze off

Googles data centre. What effect will data collection and privacy have in 2015? Photograph: KeystoneUSA-ZUMA / Rex Features

2014 saw a rapid increase in public awareness of digital privacy and identity. As a result, private organisations and policymakers everywhere are clambering to get-to-grips with the topic, as consumers take action (pdf). With this in mind, what can we expect from digital media and advertising in 2015?

Much is made of these two companies in the fight for brand cash, but lest we forget there is an ocean of difference between the two. Despite this chasm and increased scrutiny on Google and Facebook in the EU you wont see either cool their jets, particularly when it comes to mobile, which has a combined share of 75% of brand spend.

Data management platforms (DMPs) which collect, integrate, manage and activate data for marketers will struggle under Googles expanding directive prohibiting third parties from firing tracking pixels within the Google Display Network (GDN). This filtering process between those who can and cant understand consumer interactions with Google advertising can be seen as a tightening of controls on data collection, but it also means the marketers perspective of consumer activity will be further defined through Googles lens, leading to more money and power for Google.

This polarisation will only exacerbate with Facebooks development of Atlas, increasing the propagation of the Facebook identity into publishing environments, enabling them to garner more behavourial data . Never one to give without receiving, Facebooks audience platform will take a small cut from everything the publishers do along with their data, while allowing them to compete in the world of cross device. This will only superficially increase options for marketers seeking device agnostic solutions.

At the heart of both Google and Facebooks strategy is their ability to link interactions throughout the consumer journey to a single user profile and ID (known as Omniview capabilities a term well be hearing much more of). Their reliance on personally identifiable information (PII) to create a single consumer view becomes increasingly evident, and as advertisers and agencies open their minds to more privacy-friendly identification possibilities, the conversation around identification will take another dimension: how much do we need to know and how much are we allowed to know to promote a product?

The changing data protection laws in the EU, which aim to drive consumer choice and control to the forefront, help frame the discussion:

Respect opt-outs: Consumers must be able to decide who collects their data and have the ability to withdraw from such services. The upcoming rollout of AdChoices to mobile is a significant step. The move was described to us by Nick Stringer, Internet Advertising Bureaus UK director of regulatory affairs as, extending the principles of transparency and control to the mobile environment, and providing a consistent consumer experience across the devices they use.

Deliver anonymity: As our personal lives and digital identities further converge, consumers are increasingly aware of being tracked. According to Ipsos MORIs Global Trends Survey, 59% of British adults are happy for brands to hold information on them as long as its anonymised and cant be linked back.

Put data owners in control: Google and Facebook are starting to ring fence the industry, but they are not the audience owner in every scenario and it is up to media owners to take control, for the sake of their future.

Continued here:
How will data change the media and advertising landscape in 2015?

Ive written before about accidental PR disasters such as the McDonalds #McDStories campaign (instead of nostalgic memories it led to disgruntled customer tirades), government sites that went dark during the federal governments shutdown, or even a physical altercation between a PR lead and a heckling journalist, all recorded on video.

This month yet another PR gaffe is making national headlines: the Topps Company (maker of the Ring Pops jewel-shaped candy on a plastic ring) may beinvestigatedby the FTC for their most recent social media campaign #RockThatRock a promotion that invited teenagers to upload photos of themselves wearing Ring Pops to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.The complaint alleges the campaign violatestheChildrens Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting and disclosing personal data from children under 13 without their parents permission.

The R5 band featured Ring Pop photos in a music video (Image courtesy of fan site Ready5SetRock.com)

Not the outcome the company was looking for, clearly.

A blog article in the New York Times reports the company launching the campaign earlier this week inviting teens to submit pictures of the ways they rock their edible bling with submissions going up on the companys Facebook and Twitter pages along with contestants social media names. Winning pictures were also featured in a music video by R5, a pop-rock band that is popular with teen and pre-teen girls.

But some of the photos featured teenage girls and some who appear even younger in provocative poses with their lips wrapped around the Ring Pop candies. Parents and advocacy groups erupted in rage.

Showing young girls licking the candy in a Lolita-type way, its outrageous, Michael Brody, a child psychiatrist in Potomac, Md., told the New York Times. By knowing the contestants user names you could get in contact with them. Children shouldnt be put in this situation.

Oops.

As brands work to engage audiences on social media it is critical they understand FTC guidelines, best practices and even the practical implications of the ways a seemingly innocuous social media or PR campaign can go wrong. Katie Creaser,vice president of NYC-based PR and social media firmAffect, has offered up the following tips and planning questions for marketers to consider before launching social media campaigns, as follows:

Says Creaser: When you decided to engage on social media, you are agreeing to stand on a very public stage and allow your customers to tell you what they really think about you.What sounds like a great idea or a promotion in a marketing meeting may not play out well once its launched online.

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Marketing Gone Wrong: Is Your Social Media Plan Legal?