Ananova was a web-oriented news service that originally featured a computer-simulated newscaster named Ananova programmed to read newscasts to users 24 hours a day. Ananova became a subsidiary of mobile telecommunication operator Orange S.A. , after it was purchased from the Press Association (PA) in a £95m deal in 2000, after which it was merged into the Orange main news site. The character Ananova was retired in 2004, but the website continued to provide written news articles until 2009.
16-631: Ananova was developed by a division of the Press Association , a United Kingdom news agency. The character was devised as a virtual news presenter who would read news stories on demand via computer or mobile phone. Ananova was launched in April 2000. The Press Association soon renamed the division Ananova Ltd. and put the group up for sale. In July 2000, Ananova Ltd. was purchased by the French telecommunications company Orange S.A. as part of
32-554: A white female with a thin, toned body. Ananova sported short "unnaturally green" hair and was always seen in make-up. Her creators described her as a 28-year-old "girl about town" who stands at 173 cm (5.7 ft) tall and loves the band Oasis and the TV show The Simpsons . Ananova's creators stated the original incarnation of the character was a prototype, and in the future they intended "to allow every individual to customize Ananova, right down to age, race and gender." The character
48-459: A £95m deal. The animated Ananova character was unavailable from 2004, though the Ananova website was still operational and providing written news items until 2009. In April 2010, Orange decided to scrap the name Ananova. Users entering the site ananova.com are now redirected to a Web Hosting Service Directory. Between April 2010 and April 2015 Ananova was known as Orange News. The Orange version of
64-514: The Press Association ) is a multimedia news agency . It is part of PA Media Group Limited, a private company with 26 shareholders, most of whom are national and regional newspaper publishers. The biggest shareholders include the Daily Mail and General Trust , News UK , and Informa . PA Media Group also encompasses Globelynx, which provides TV-ready remotely monitored camera systems for corporate clients to connect with TV news broadcasters in
80-536: The PA provides a London-based service of news-collecting and reporting from around the United Kingdom. The news agency's founders sought to produce a more accurate and reliable alternative to the monopoly service of the telegraph companies. In January 1870 the agency moved from temporary offices into new headquarters at 7 Wine Office Court, off Fleet Street. At 5am on Saturday 5 February 1870, its first press telegram
96-620: The Press Association acquired Trinity Mirror's training centre in Newcastle upon Tyne. The NCTJ course in Newcastle has been around since 1969. The business already owned the former Westminster Press-owned Editorial Centre and merged the two businesses to become PA Training. Alamy , a global stock photo agency with over 125 million images, was wholly acquired by PA Media in February 2020. The purchase enables PA Media to enter
112-459: The UK and worldwide; TNR, a specialist communications consultancy; Sticky, a digital copywriting and content strategy agency; and StreamAMG, a video streaming business. The group's photography arm, PA Images, has a portfolio comprising more than 20 million photographs online and around 10 million in physical archives dating back 150 years. Founded in 1868 by a group of provincial newspaper proprietors,
128-467: The international stock photography market. Other subsidiaries include Globelynx, founded in 2001; Sticky Content, acquired in full between 2013 and 2015; StreamAMG (Advanced Media Group), acquired in April 2017; and RADAR, founded in 2017. Pete Clifton Pete Clifton is Editor-in-Chief at the Press Association (PA). Prior to the appointment he was Executive Producer for MSN in the UK and former Head of Editorial Development at BBC News. Clifton
144-605: The news agency is Pete Clifton , who was appointed in October 2014. In June 2024, the Central Arbitration Committee forced PA to recognize the National Union of Journalists as the official union representing PA's editorial employees. As of May, the bargaining unit was composed of 274 workers. PA Training is Europe's biggest journalism and media training company. It was formed in 2006, when
160-520: The news service finished with the end of Orange on-line identity. The Ananova news service was known for its collection of unusual news stories, which it featured in its Quirkies section. The site was frequently referenced by Karl Pilkington during the Ricky Gervais Show . The character of Ananova was given a distinctive look and personality based on celebrities Victoria Beckham , Kylie Minogue , and Carol Vorderman . She appeared as
176-443: The sale of its finance publications divisions, which included TelecomFinance and SatelliteFinance. In September 2018 it was announced that the news agency was renamed from Press Association to PA Media, and the umbrella company from PA Group Limited to PA Media Group Limited. This coincided with a move from their Vauxhall Bridge Road offices to a new space that would accommodate the move toward digital media. The editor-in-chief of
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#1732798730319192-583: Was Steve Herrmann. Clifton admitted on the BBC Editor' Blog on 16 August 2007 that he had edited his own Misplaced Pages entry after viewing an incorrect entry for BBC News Online, but would be leaving the editing of the page to others in future. In March 2011, the BBC announced Clifton would be made redundant following the closure of the BBC Journalism group within the organisation. The following month it
208-502: Was launched in April 2000 from a press conference in London. A significant portion of Ananova's official website was dedicated to detailed fictions regarding the character's personality. The speech synthesis used by Ananova was developed using patented methods that applied human inflections to extend the rVoice solution from Rhetorical Systems (now Nuance Communications ). Bibliography Press Association PA Media (formerly
224-774: Was previously the editor of Ceefax , and before joining the BBC was a news and sports reporter at the Chronicle and Echo in Northampton , a sports journalist at the Exchange Telegraph national news agency, chief sports sub at the UK's Press Association (PA) and editor of the PA's Teletext service. Clifton was involved in the founding of BBC News Online and also helped set up the BBC Sport website in 2000. He went on to become editor of BBC News Online in 2004, succeeding founding editor Mike Smartt , until he
240-604: Was promoted to head of BBC News Interactive in October 2005 with responsibility for BBC News Online, CBBC Newsround , the Ceefax teletext service, the digital text service, On This Day , BBC's Interactive TV, the Action Network and a variety of news services to mobile phones and other mobile devices. Clifton replaced Richard Deverell as head of BBC News Interactive, who had moved to become chief operating officer of CBBC . Clifton's successor as editor of BBC News Online
256-671: Was transmitted. The agency's first Editor-in-Chief was Arthur Cranfield, appointed in 1926. In 1995, PA moved from Fleet Street to Vauxhall Bridge Road, enabling the company to rapidly expand its output particularly in the sports and new media divisions. The Press Association launched the Ananova news website in 2000. Ananova was then sold to Orange . In 2005, the company changed its name to PA Group. In December 2013, PA Group sold its weather business MeteoGroup, Europe's largest private sector weather company, to global growth investment firm General Atlantic. In February 2015, PA announced
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