An online campaign helps bring down British tabloid the News of the World

News of the World closed down

For its final issue ever the News of the World used the headline “Thank You and Goodbye”. The British tabloid has closed down following allegations of widespread phone hacking. Web users were outraged by the methods used by the newspaper, which is known for exposing scandals, and ran an online campaign, calling upon advertisers to withdraw their ads from the weekly.

The lobbying campaign was organized by a small group of bloggers which posted a list on this web site of all the companies advertising with what used to be one of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch’s best-selling publications. 

One web user even developed a tool to send out automatic Twitter messages to these companies, urging them to Boycott the News of the World.

And according to Marketing Week, this resulted in thousands of tweets being sent, to businesses like Virgin Media, Easy Jet and Renault, over the space of a few days.

After being contacted by a web user, the Japanese firm Mitsubishi announced on Twitter that the money it had planned to spend on advertising with the tabloid would be given to charity instead.

And in view of this series of lost contracts, the News of the World did not run any advertising for its final issue.

Red Cross China in credibility crisis

The scandal started with a few blog posts from this woman. 20 year old Guo Meimei had taken to flaunting her lavish life style on Sina Weibo, the Chinese Twitter equivalent. She had also mentioned in her posts that she worked for the Red Cross Society of China.

Her comments left web users wondering where she got all this money from, fueling suspicions of corruption and embezzlement within the charity which already has a tarnished reputation. The organization came under fire in April when a web user posted a photo online claiming to show a restaurant bill for 10 000 Yuan, so more than 1 000 euros for a meal consumed by staff of a local branch of Red Cross Shanghai.

The Red Cross denies any links to Guo Meimei who ended up making a statement on her blog to say she had lied about her profession. But this did not stop netizens from investigating the rumored ties between the organization and the young woman. They claim she had a relationship with a certain Wang Jun, manager of a company which organizes charity events for the Red Cross. He resigned a few days later …

And so doubts have now been cast on the integrity of the organization, with many web users venting their anger on discussion forums, saying they no longer want to donate to charitable organizations. The Red Cross has stated it wants to use this crisis of confidence to improve its functioning. And is promising more transparency in how it spends donations from the general public.

French company fined for altering Wikipedia entry

French web site Hi-media has been ordered to pay 25 000 euros in damages and interest to competitor Rentabiliweb for “unfair competition”. Hi-media had altered the Wikipedia article on micropayment, which featured the two companies, and quite simply removed any mention of Rentabiliweb.

 Lyst, a newsfeed for shopping

Welcome to the fashion world’s Twitter. Lyst works in exactly the same way as the micro blogging platform, meaning you can follow or be followed by any other member. The only difference is that Lyst focusses on the clothes you wear and the designers you like. This new social network also relays the latest news from the brand names, so you can follow all the latest fashion trends. 

Video of the day

British comedian and musician Bill Bailey is well known for his blend of comedy and wacky musical routines. He was invited to perform at the Sonisphere music festival this weekend and recorded this special message for American band Metallica, (who were headlining the event) saying his group would be able to replace them if need be. And to prove it, here’s their cover of Metallica’s famous hit “Enter Sandman”, the bike horn version …