In the first year of the prize, awards will be given in four separate categories and will reward each winner with EUR10,000. Entries will be judged by a distinguished panel from different areas of Europe and under the chairmanship of Sir Harold Evans- editor of Thomson Reuters and former editor of The Sunday Times. Seven of Europe's most distinguished media foundations behind the European Press Prize, rewarding excellence in journalism across all 47 countries of Europe.

The packaged goods giant is attempting to reinvent "soap opera" sponsorship for the digital age by striking international, multimillion-dollar partnerships with media groups Viacom and News Corp. The deals illustrate how the internet is driving the globalisation of media, and how its creation is funded, as well as advertisers' desire for more professional content on social networking sites such as Facebook and Google's YouTube.

A survey of 300 UK in-house marketers and 300 agency staff shows that 62% plan to increase social media spending over the next 12 months; 57% will increase spending on SEO; 49% will increase spending on paid search; 38% spend in excess of $150,000 on paid search advertising each year; 12% spend in excess of $150,000 in SEO each year; and just 4% spend in excess of $150,000 each year on social media marketing.

Google has said plans to block pornography from search engines would still fail to protect British children. Sarah Hunter, the company's head of UK public policy, believes the Government's plan for a bar on adult content would give parents a false sense of security and would be a 'mistake'. Instead she says adults should always supervise younger children while they surf the internet and chat openly with them about sex as they grow up. The Google executive also claimed yesterday to have 'no idea' how much money the search giant makes from advertising alongside online pornography which can be viewed …

As well as granting wire customers free access to ScribbleLive's blogging technology, PA is providing an ongoing series of customisable live blogs around major national events. The blogs contain a core of rolling live news from PA which can either be run directly on subscribers' websites, or used as a basis for their own live blogging. Regional publishers can tailor the blogs for a local audience by adding their own words, images and videos -- as well as user-generated content from social media platforms.

A marketing expert has identified female Facebook and Twitter fanatics as ideal targets for social media marketers working with e-commerce companies. Gail Parminter, who works with brands looking to engage with women online, claims that females are likely to use social media for research before making an online purchase; possibly asking their connected friends for recommendations. Due to this, Parminter believes marketers have to put more effort into angling their advertisements and social media marketing campaigns towards women.

Trinity Mirror's national newspaper website network bounced back from two tough months of viewing declines to record a double digit percentage increase in browsers in April, according to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulations figures published on Thursday. While rival national newspaper publishers managed just low single digit percentage increases in browsers in April - and several even shed web users - Mirror Group Digital managed a 13% increase in daily unique browsers to 660,000. MGD, which includes websites such as 3am.co.uk andMirrorFootball.co.uk, also reported a 10.9% rise in average monthly unique browsers to 13,682,364 in April, compared with the …

The head of the Publishers Association has launched a broadside against lobbying by internet companies such as Google and open-internet campaigners over piracy and copyright protection online. Speaking at the Westminster Media Forum on Thursday, Richard Mollet, chief executive of the Publishers Association, which represents publishers in the UK, accused internet services providers, search engines and campaigners such as Open Rights Group and Consumer Focus of "having the temerity to appropriate the language of freedom of expression as a cloak for tawdry theft".

Daily Mail & General Trust has reported a 26% fall in operating profits at its national newspaper division in the half year to 1 April, as ailing regional division Northcliffe revealed its first growth in profits since the recession. Overall, A&N Media - the parent of the national and regional newspaper operations - reported a 3% fall in revenue to GBP542 million and a 24% fall in operating profits to GBP33 million. The company, which cut staff numbers by 593 to 6,280 in the six-month period, said that operating profits fell due to lower print advertising revenue and additional promotional …

According to the latest research from workspace provider Regus, - which surveyed over 2,700 senior business managers across the UK - the majority of businesses in the UK (78%) believe face-to-face networking will remain the best way to find new customers over the next two to three years. However social media is catching up fast at 58%, up from 43% in the previous three years, and has knocked online advertising into third place. Traditional advertising, direct marketing and telemarketing only gain a minority vote, and are all in decline.