WHAT'S NEXT: INNOVATIONS IN NEWSPAPERS

First issue of the new era.

The news behind the news by The Wall Street Journal.

La Vanguardia did a very good job today with this front page picture of Juan Antonio Samaranch.

Other newspapers used this one.

Both are very symbolic, but the first one shows the real person.

I cannot find another one that shows Samaranch at home doing exercise.

For me this has been always the best portrait of the man.

If anyof you can find it, please send me the file or the link.

Thanks!

UPDATE: Here it is. The picture was taken in his hotel in Lausanne.

The original one is in color.

These are the pictures released last week by the Finnish Air Forces showing the effects of volcanic dust ingestion from inside the engines of a Boeing F-18 Hornet fighter.

Images that supported the false claim that it was dangerous to fly near to the ashes.

Well, now we have the final answer by the same people that took the pictures.

This is the translation of the Finnish AF report on F-18 ash ingestion:

Air Force studies, the ash dust did not cause significant damage to the Air Force Hornet fighter jet engine. Exposed volcanic tuhkalle fighter engine study found, however, signs of the engine surfaces accumulated contaminants.

Operational Operations are managed as usual.

A brand new £500 million cruise ship is right now in Bilbao (Spain) boarding hundreds of tourists stranded by the Icelandic ash cloud.

Free.

The 122,000-tonne Celebrity Eclipse was to be in Britain for inaugural celebrations before a two-day launch cruise, but they changed plans.

Smart move.

They are getting now:

Hours and hours of free media coverage.

Including reporters that were invited aboard, like Jo Palmer that writes for the Hampshire & Isle of Wight BBC website and twitters from the ship.

Tons of free publicity, and the goodwill of cruise market costumers.

Bilbao pick-up will be restricted to customers of Thomson, First Choice, Thomas Cook and Co-op Travel Group who have been allocated a space aboard the ship.

Eclipse, which can carry 2,850 passengers, will get back to Southampton tomorrow and should dock at the City Cruise Terminal at around 6pm.

Brilliant!

Too many cooks.

Fantastic!

The Sun hires buses in Spain and rescues 300 Britons stranded by the Mandarins.

And more are coming today.

Speedy Sun!

Oh, boy, that’s a good question.

But six days later (yes, six days) we need no more questions but some answers.

Newspapers, newsrooms and journalists are here to find out the news behind the news.

To dig.

To confront.

To  discover.

To denounce.

To respond when nobody responds.

The European air traffic chaos of the last weeks shows that:

1. On and off line media don’t work on weekends (politicians either).

2. Without press releases and sources ready to speak, the media (specially the TV networks) rely only in what INNOVATION calls “mirror journalism” instead of “window journalism”, record the news but we don’t find the news.

3. Mandarins, Eurocrats, politicians and public officers are followers not leaders, so they don’t take risks, they don’t show up, and they don’t confront the problems. You don’t need to be very brave to close the airspace, but having closed it, it takes a lot of bravery to reopen it.

4. People and business paid and will pay the consequences of this gigantic lack of coordination, communication and decisive action.

5. We need leaders, not just rulers.

6. We need better and more efficient emergency crisis schemes.

7. Foreign services, embassies, consulates and the diplomatic corps stink, and could be replaced by 24/7 online services.

8. Travel agencies, airlines and tour operators were taken with the pants off, and were slow to react with their traditional tools and unable to use in a smart and fast way the new social media resources available on Internet.

9. Again and again, air pilots and companies were grounded by bureaucrats that never presented what kind of quality data they were using to feed their computer models that resulted in contradictory and confusing maps.

10. We didn’t have real news reporting and real watchdog  journalism. Period.

But, what we do now?

Just record the politically correct explanations of the same politicians?

Well, my dear, the losses in Europe hit the 1.7 billion euros mark!

But this must be “peanuts” for Mr. Brown, his party, the Mandarins and the bureaucrats paid for all of us.

UPDATE:

Dr Colin Brown of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers in London has studied the effect of volcanic ash on plane engines. He told BBC World Service: “We’ve been running test flights over the last four or five days and collecting information from the engines that have flown through those clouds and seen what damage the clouds done to them, and we’ve found that the damage is zero and so we’re in the situation where we’re now happy to continue flying through those clouds.”

So… what was the eviodence managed by the Mandarins to decide the opposite?
And the Mail Online adds some caviar:

“The decision to lift the no-fly zone over Britain was taken after British Airways sent 26 planes towards London airports without permission to land, in defiance of the flying ban.”

“We’re thrilled to report our best non-holiday quarter ever,” said Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs.

The Wall Street Journal headline:

Apple 2Q Profit Surges 90% Amid Surging IPhone Sales

Forbes: Sensational earnings report.

Business Insiders summary of the second quart Apple earnings results:

Apple shipped 8.75 million iPhones last quarter, versus expectations around 7 million.

Mac sales were solid: 2.94 million shipped, versus expectations around 2.7 million. And Apple’s iPod business is still showing signs of life: 10.89 million units shipped vs. 9 million Street consensus.

• Revenue: $13.5 billion vs. $12.06 billion consensus. $13.25 billion high Street estimate, $11.0-$11.4 guidance. Anything above $12.5 billion would be solid.
• EPS: $3.33 vs. $2.44 consensus, $2.72 high Street estimate, $2.06 to $2.18 guidance, $2.95 “real” guidance (based on Apple’s historic outperformance of its guidance). Anything above $2.50 would be solid.
• iPhone units: 8.75 million vs. 6.8 million Street consensus, 7-8 million implied by Jobs during iPhone 4.0 keynote in early April. Anything above 8 million would be impressive. Anything below 7 million would be disappointing.
• Mac units: 2.94 million vs. 2.7 million Street consensus, 2.8 million to 2.9 million implied by NPD data, says Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster. Anything above 3 million would be impressive.
• iPod units: 10.89 million vs. 9 million Street consensus, 9 million to 10 million implied by NPD data, says Munster. Anything above 9 million is fine for this slowly dying line. Above 10 million would be impressive.
• June qtr. revenue guidance: $13 billion to $13.4 billion vs. Typical “comically conservative” guidance expected. Could swing widely depending on iPhone 4.0 launch targets (June vs. July) and possibly iPad supply/demand. Munster expects $12.37 billion, well below the Street’s $12.94 billion consensus. Anything approaching $12.75 billion midpoint would be considered strong.
• June qtr. EPS guidance: $2.28 to $2.39 vs. Typical “comically conservative” guidance expected. Could swing widely based on iPhone. Munster expects $2.33 midpoint, well below Street’s $2.69 consensus. Anything approaching $2.70 would be considered strong.

Shares of Apple are up 8 percent $264.20 in aftermarket movement.

The BBC reports:

The head of the Civil Aviation Authority Dame Deirdre Hutton has announced that airspace across the UK will reopen from 10pm on Tuesday evening.

Pictures taken in Wales (UK) with my iPhone at 6:35 pm today afterthe Evening Song in St. Davids Cathedral.

Ash cloud?

What are you talking about?

Look at these pictures!

No editing.

No retouching.

Nothing.

Niente.

Nada.

Blue skies, darling.

Really blue.

But the Mandarins say that airplanes cannot fly.

Shame to them!