Adrian MacLeod
Hello. I'm a journalist, web designer and content specialist. I can help you create stunning websites, blogs, social media channels and even (dare I say it) print products. Check out my online presence below. Click the contact button below to get in touch.
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- Jul 18, 11In light of the News of the World scandal, it is not press regulation that needs to change. It is a culture that exists within some news organisations discouraging journalists from behaving ethically.
The story is not over yet, but here are some observations:- The press in the UK is regulated. Possibly more regulated than in any other Western country. There are laws on libel, laws on privacy and yes... laws on phone hacking.
- The failure in the News of the World scandal was not a failure of press self-regulation. It had almost nothing to do with self-regulation.
- It has long been the case that governments, the courts and the police have been reluctant to investigate the press because they do not want to interfer with press freedom. This is a GOOD thing. If you think about the countries where government investgations of the press are common, you don't want to live in any of them.
- Shoddy journalism has been a fact of life in the UK for (at least) my lifetime. Sensational stories sell.
- All the young people going into journalism I have come across (and I've taught a few) have a pretty good natural sense of ethics. None of them would have thought for an instant it was a good idea to hack into Milly Dowler's voicemail.
- Organisational culture has a lot to do with distorting journalists' ethics. High stress, pressure to be first with a story, pressure to get a byline: these things get out of hand in many news organisations.
- Press management by politicians has become too sophisticated. This has led to a Stockholm syndrome that works both ways. The victims and the guards have become too close.
What needs to change:- News organisations whose culture encourages unethical behaviour should be sanctioned -- current employment law probably already allows for this.
- Journalists who blow the whistle on their employer should be better protected.
- Dealings between journalists and those in any position of power should be more transparent.
- You should reward ethical journalists by reading their publications.
- Jul 04, 11
- Jul 04, 11
It's hard to believe Ed Miliband's PR handlers wanted the interview to turn out like this. He was so determined to get his carefully crafted sound bite on TV that he repeated the same answer over and over, no matter what question was put to him. Fine until the uncut video goes viral. But political interviewing is a game where both sides know the rules. Similar interviews happen all the time. Mr Miliband's problem was that he played with no finesse.
- Apr 26, 11Andrew Marr has told the Daily Mail he is embarrassed about the injunction he took out to stop the paper writing about his private life.
I did not come into journalism to go about gagging journalists, he said.
Everyone is entitled to a private life and injunctions allow invasions of privacy to be stopped before they happen. This is the argument in favour of injunctions. But there is also a strong argument against:- Censorship is a feature of oppressive governments. The right to say whatever you like without fear of official sanction is vital to freedom
- Free speech is so important to freedom, we put up with all sorts of things being published that we don’t like: porn, the Mail, BNP leaflets
- We may not like the News of the World writing tittle-tattle about us, but it guarantees that more serious stories are free of interference
- Injunctions mean if you say what you like you could become a criminal. This is as close as the UK gets to behaving like an oppressive regime
- Superinjunctions are particularly insidious because they stop public discussion about the rights and wrongs of limiting free speech
- In a democracy, the judges work for us. Justice must be seen to be done to maintain confidence in the judicial system
- It is difficult to argue the public interest in a story about a married footballer having an affair. But there is a wider public interest
- There is a public interest in openness. Protect your privacy, for sure, but not at the expense of free speech
- Without injunctions, a few individuals would suffer invasions of privacy but they could still seek redress after publication
- With injunctions, we are protecting individuals at the expense of the greater good... at the expense of free speech
- The Human Rights Act introduces a privacy law into the UK but it does not give individuals the right to secret injunctions
- In fact, the Human Rights Act has a section (12) on injunctions specifically giving priority to free speech.
- Apr 24, 11
- Apr 21, 11David Cameron says that privacy law should be made by Parliament rather than judges. The PM was responding to a series of injunctions restricting what newspapers and others can publish about certain famous people's private lives.
Does court protection of celeb privacy go too far? - Fred Goodwin gets superinjunction to stop him being called a banker -- Guardian
- Premiership footballer who cheated with Imogen Thomas is told his secret is safe as court tightens injunction -- Mirror
- Married TV star wins worldwide gagging order from judge -- Telegraph
Parliament has looked at creating a privacy law several times over the last few decades. Each time, it has been argued that the press intrusion has become too much. But each time the argument that free speech must take priority has won the day, and the UK never had a privacy law, until...In brief- Historically, the UK parliament has avoided a privacy law in the interests of a free and open press
- But the Human Rights Act gives people the right to a private life.
- It is the job of judges to interpret the law -- this has always been so.
- Because privacy is bound into the European Convention on Human Rights, David Cameron may find it difficult to change the law
- Section 12 of the HRA gives priority to free speech in injunction cases -- one MP suggests that judges are not applying this correctly
- Privacy of individuals is balanced against public interest in publishing. Judges decide whether individual stories are in the public interest
- Government has been reluctant to define public interest in other laws
In 1998, the European Convention on Human Rights was codified into UK law as the Human Rights Act. It includes a clause on privacy but it was generally understood to refer to intrusions by government into people's private lives rather that giving people an absolute right to privacy (media lawyer Mark Stephens points to the work done in preparation for the ECHR which clearly refers to the right to privacy in terms of government interference).
In 2004, Princess Caroline of Monaco took the German government to the European Court of Human Rights. She wanted to stop the paparazzi who had been photographing her and her family to such an extent it had become highly intrusive. Her argument was that because the German government had not prevented the intrusion, it was effectively interfering with private life and so was contravening the European Convention on Human Rights.
The court agreed and UK courts have to take European Court rulings into account. This effectively introduced a privacy law that went beyond protecting citizens from their governments. Arguably the European Court judges were just doing their job interpreting how the law applies in a particular case. Arguably they distorted the law so that it now applies in a way that was never intended by the governments who drafted the European Convention on Human Rights.
In the UK, the situation is complicated by the fact that we have no explicit privacy law. The mechanism lawyers are using is to ask courts to apply a law called Breach of Confidence in light of the HRA (as modified by the Princess Caroline ruling). For example, Max Mosely's privacy action against the News of the World was technically a Breach of Confidence case.
Like a great deal of English law, Breach of Confidence is enshrined in common law. This is, by definition, law created by judges rather than parliament. Recent court rulings have effectively extended Breach of Confidence from a law about confidential paperwork to a law on privacy. For journalists, the main defence to Breach of Confidence has always been public interest and modern privacy cases often also hinge on whether there was a public interest in publication.
To an extent, David Cameron is right that the privacy law has been made by judges. That is a normal part of the evolution of English law. But speaking on Channel 4 News, John Whittingdale MP, chairman of the parliamentary committee on Culture, Media and Sport suggested that judges' rulings did not take sufficient account of section 12 of the Human Rights Act.
If someone finds out that confidential or private information is about to be published, they can ask a court for an injunction -- a legal device that prevents publication (ignoring an injunction is a contempt of court: a crime with potentially serious consequences). A judge at an injunction hearing will not go through all the evidence because there is an urgency in preventing private information being published. To overturn an injunction, a newspaper has to proceed with a full Breach of Confidence case. This can take several months and because news is perishable, many injunctions are never challenged. Section 12 of the Human Rights Act is intended to counteract this imbalance, preventing people from using injunctions to limit free speech.
Judges are only supposed to allow injunctions where the claimant would be very likely to win if a full Breach of Confidence trial was heard. If there is a good public interest defence, an injunction should not therefore be imposed. In many privacy cases the question will be what counts as public interest and, again, this is up to judicial interpretation.
The government recently published a draft bill reforming the libel law. This will include a public interest defence but, in this law, the government has specifically avoided defining public interest, leaving it instead to ... you guess it ... judges in individual cases.
Personally, I am in favour of the government reviewing the effect that a privacy law that sneaked up on us is having on free speech. But judges are always going to be central to the evolution of the law and we should trust them to do it.
For working journalists, it looks like privacy is a fact of life. The important thing will be understanding the public interest in the stories we are writing so that we are in a position to defend them. - Mar 15, 11Libel reforms proposed by the government today should make life easier for responsible journalists and harder for frivolous claimants.
Don't get too excited: the truth defence, although updated, leaves the burden of proof with the journalist. But a new requirement for a claimant to show they have suffered substantial harm as a result of what you have published should make a big difference to journalists' day-to-day work.
Note that this draft bill is just the first stage of a consultation process. Any element may change following this process and as the bill proceeds through parliament. However, there seems to be considerable political impetus behind a move to improve our rights to free speech. Justice Minister, Lord McNally told the Daily Telegraph that the changes could be law by next year, if they government is prepared to allocate sufficient parliamentary time.
1. Having to show 'substantial harm' should stop people bringing trivial libel claims. In practice it makes it less likely you will be caught out by an unexpected suit. In the early years of a new libel law, there will be a succession of cases where courts are asked to interpret the meaning of 'substantial harm' in specific stories. To begin with, we will be operating in a distinctly grey area. But uncertainty over the meaning of 'substantial harm' may also make potential claimants think twice. See Legal Week's take.
2. The truth defence will replace the old justification defence. You will still need to prove the truth of your writing. But if you are challenged over several parts of your story and you are not able to prove they are all true, the defence will not automatically fail. If you can show the main part of your story is true and the other parts only have a minor impact on the claimant's reputation, you should still have a defence.
3. The new defence of responsible publication on matter of public interest exists already in common law (the Reynolds defence) but there are some changes in wording that may be significant. You have a defence if your story is on a matter of public interest and you can show you behaved responsibly. If you report a dispute between the claimant and another person, and you do so fairly, accurately and impartially, you will be treated as having acted responsibly. This would seem to give journalists much more latitude than they have at present. What counts as a dispute will be another grey area in the first few years until the courts rule in specific cases.
4. The existing privilege defence has been extended to many more situations including the reporting of scientific and academic conferences (press conferences are already covered by the privilege defence).
5. The one year time limit on people suing you for libel is currently worthless because web stories are deemed to be republished every time someone downloads them, and each republication counts as a new story. The draft bill changes that to allow a claimant to sue you for a story only once, and only for one year from first publication. This only applies to republishing your own stories in the same form. Rewriting a story (or incorporating a defamatory statement from an old story in a new one) or repeating an allegation made in another publication will still count as a new story and so could be subject to its own libel claim.
6. Other changes include doing away with juries in most cases. Claimants from outside the EU will need to show that the English courts are the best place to hear their claim. There are various changes to the pre-trial process designed to eliminate trivial or vexatious claims more quickly.
7. The government claims that a new defence called honest opinion which replaces fair comment will improve free speech. I am not convinced that it will make a big difference to journalists because there is still a requirement for you to show the facts on which you base opinions are correct. The current proposals do not excuse honest mistakes made in opinion pieces.
What people say about libel reform:
The right to speak freely and debate issues without fear of censure is a vital cornerstone of a democratic society. Ken Clarke, Justice Secretary via BBC
I am particularly delighted that the bill includes a "public interest" defence to strengthen the position of people who raise concerns about malpractice or dangerous products. Roy Greenslade, Guardian
The Government’s welcome proposals could help stem frivolous or abusive threats of libel and prevent powerful interests coming to Britain to shut down criticism and debate. Isabella Sankey, Director of Policy for Liberty
Libel law has more than its fair share of critics and what draws them out is the issue of cost, and I'm afraid this bill has higher costs written all over it. Nigel Tait of Carter-Ruck via Legal Week
The bill if enacted is going to result in considerable pre-trial litigation as the court is asked to consider whether the harm caused by the publication has been substantial, whether a subsequent publication is materially different to an earlier version. Anna Doble, legal director, Wiggin via Legal Week
The government’s draft defamation bill is a big step forward towards ending the practice of libel tourism which has led our Courts to silence free speech around the world. But without action to reduce the cost of a libel trial, reform will protect the free speech of some, but costs will silence others. John Kampfner, Chief Executive of Index on Censorship
The bill will update the law so that, finally, it will reflect the realities of the internet. Nick Clegg in the Guardian
Clinging to antiquated models, sky high costs and the deployment of super-injunctions have been a feature of reputational litigation for too long -- and shame this country’s professed commitment to free speech. Caroline Kean from Wiggin, who represented journalist Tom Bower in his successful libel battle with Richard Desmond, via Press Gazette. - Feb 24, 11Restrictions on clowns in important areas of the world have reopened the debate about citizen clowning.
Journalist Citizen journalist
But the truth is there is little difference between a professional clown and an ordinary person. Anyone can put on makeup and a giant pair of shoes. They aren't judged on how much they look like a clown. They are supposed to make people laugh. If they make people laugh, then they are a clown. It doesn't matter whether they define themselves as a professional or a citizen clown.
There is a certain defensiveness among professional clowns. And with good reason. Citizen clowns often have a better act because they have expertise in something else or a better knowledge of the local area. Professional clowning practitioners talk about quality and analysis of the comedy product. But actually, pro-clowns sometimes cut corners because of financial or time pressures. Anyway, it doesn't really matter.
Because there is no professional and citizen clowning. If you make people laugh, you're a clown. If you don't, you're just an idiot in a stupid outfit...
Sorry, did I say clown. I meant journalist.
Seriously now....
As pro journalists struggle to get access to the biggest story of the moment, ordinary Libyans are using social media to get their message out. - Feb 03, 113 February 2011: in the maelstrom of the Egyptian revolution, journalists are becoming a target. As the New York Times' Nicolas Kristof Tweets: '[The Egyptian government] is trying to round up journalists. I worry about what it is they're planning that they don't want us to see.'
Mubarak seems to believe that if he wants to suppress the rebellion he also needs to suppress the flow of information. But, for now at least, the journalists are inspired to bravery by the Egyptian pro-democracy protestors and this important story is still getting out. - Jan 23, 11A poor attention span means web readers think "so what?" unless you explain to them why they should care, right at the start.
Dear reporter: it is your job to report. That means you tell us not only what is happening and who it's happening to but also why it's happening.
Google co-founder Larry Page is to become chief executive of the US internet search giant in April. BBC
The writer of this BBC intro felt they could waste a few words to tell us that Google is a US internet search giant (in case anyone in the world wasn't sure) but not why it is changing its chief executive. I am reading this while I'm watching TV and eating an M&S extremely chocolatey mini-bite, so you don't have my full attention. The result is, I'm thinking "a Google guy is going to be in charge of Google -- so what?"
Larry Page, Google's co-founder, is taking over the reins at the search engine giant from long-time chief Eric Schmidt. Guardian
This reporter gives me a tad more info (but also wastes space telling me the blindingly obvious) and the why is still missing. I am still thinking "so what?"
The next writer gives me a sort of why but it is so vague it really doesn't grab my attention either.
Google has announced it will replace its chief executive Eric Schmidt with one of its original founders, Larry Page, marking a new era in the company’s history. Sky
Now we come to a reporter who knows I am thinking "so what?" but rather than telling me why I should care, hypes things up. You don't have much of my attention but I'm not stupid.
Google Inc. surprised the technology world by naming co-founder Larry Page to replace longtime Chief Executive Eric Schmidt, the biggest management shake-up since the Internet search giant was an obscure California start-up. Wall St Journal
Finally, I discover a reporter who hypes it up and misses out some important information, but whom I forgive because they tell me why I should care. So I read on.
Google made the biggest management shake-up in a decade on Thursday, handing the reins of the company to one of its co-founders in an effort to rediscover its start-up roots. NYT - Jan 20, 11Journalists: the web has never been more important to your effectiveness and your career. You need to understand every tool and every opportunity. If you want to see journalists who do everything just about right, try Googling "Alison Gow" or "Sarah Ditum"
Sources, tools and your presence online all need to be managed - Blogger is free and easy to use. Because so many people use Blogger, your blog can look a bit samey if you pick one of the standard templates. However, Blogger makes is easy to redesign (when you start or later) and there are a host of templates available if you Google blogger template.
- WordPress is widely used and the standard templates look good. There are two flavours of WordPress. Wordpress.com (like blogger) hosts your blog but comes with some limitations. WordPress.org is more flexible but you need to find somewhere to host the site.
- Tumblr is popular because it imposes less structure than other blogs.
- Posterous is an excellent for photoblogs and has the best integration with social media.
Your own domainThere are advantages to buying a domain in your own name. It means that when someone does a Google search for you, your own blog comes top. It also looks professional. Most blog software allows you to upgrade to your own domain name. You can buy a domain through Blogger for $12. You can also use one of the many domain name providers whose help section will tell you how to attach your new domain to your blog. Here are the two that I use:Why you should give a Twitter a chance
Twitter is an excellent way to do two things at once:- Build a super-loyal audience for you as a journalist and for your specialist subject
- It provides a sometimes excellent source of material
Sometimes, in building a Twitter following, we end up following too many people ourselves. Easily solved. Create Twitter lists for the most useful people to you in different subject areas and then ignore the rest. You can make lists private if you don't want to offend the people you're ignoring.
While you're brushing up your online image
You may want to consider a second Facebook account so that when you make industry and PR contacts they don't see the same *you* that your real friends see. You should also set yourself up on LinkedIn.Online business cards
There are a number of services that allow you build a contacts page on the web. This can be useful if you don't fancy blogging. My favourite is flavors.meEnhancing your online journalism- Use Youtube or Vimeo to upload and embed video. It makes your life easier and gives you a second presence on the web. Again, you may want to create separate accounts to keep your private and professional web identities separate.
- Use AudioBoo, iPadio or Podomatic for uploading and embedding audio files. Audio can enhance the credibility of your story.
- Try CoverItLive for live blogging events.
- Try Qik for live streaming video from your phone
- Create and embed stories using social media with Storify
- Upload and embed presentations with SlideShare
- Upload and embed documents with Scribd or Google Docs
- You can also use Google Docs for creating reader forms (for surveys for example)
- There are many other sites for creating polls and surveys including PollDaddy
- If you want to create picture slide shows, they come as standard with many photo-sharing websites. I use Flickr
Online sources
Twitter
LinkedIn
Learn how to do more advanced Google searches
Use RSS feeds from your regular online sources (news, blogs and PR) and feed them into an RSS reader. I use Google Reader and the bookmarks toolbar in Firefox.
If you are repeatedly searching on the same subject(s) Google Alerts will email you (or you can set up an RSS feed) if anything new pops up.iPhone Apps
A good journalist will take pictures, video and audio wherever and whenever they can. A smart phone is becoming pretty much essential. I'm an Apple fanboy, I'm afraid, so all my recommendations are for the iPhone:
PicPosterous (to upload pics to my Posterous blog and auto-forward them to Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and sometimes my Blogger blog)- Audioboo
- Dictionary
- Skype
- Wikipedia
- Photoshop Express (for quick photo editing)
- Reeder (syncs with Google Reader)
- BlogPress (for updating blogs on the go)
- Instagram (mobile photo social network)
- Jan 21, 11
- Jan 21, 11
- Jan 21, 11
- Jan 20, 11People are buzzing about blogging again. With a raft of awards, it is finally being taken seriously as a way of communicating. Meanwhile, Andrew Marr says ...
A story created with Storify: - Jan 20, 11
- Sep 30, 10Simple sentences are the secret of clear writing
Michael Caine played Alfred the Butler in the movies Alfie and Get Carter, the BBC told the world today. I don't believe they meant to tell the world this, but they did.Complicated sentences can leave the reader confused
Here is what appeared on the BBC News Entertainment pages:The actor said he would resume writing "when I finish Batman, if I make Batman" - a reference to a proposed follow-up to Nolan's earlier blockbusters Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.The Alfie and Get Carter star - whose new memoir refers to his childhood in the Elephant and Castle area of south London - played Alfred the butler in both movies.The cause of the confusion is an overly complicated sentence. But what caused he overly complicated sentence? It cannot have been that the writer was in a rush, because it is much easier to write simple sentences. Possibly the writer felt that the light tone of their piece would be ruined by a succession of boring detail and so they tried to get it over with as quickly as possible.A sentence should contain only a single idea:- Michael Caine is best known for Alfie and Get Carter.
- Michael Caine grew up in the Elephant and Castle and that is why is book is called The Elephant to Hollywood
- Michael Caine played the butler, Alfred, in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight
So the original BBC piece would make more sense if it was recast as follows:The actor said he would resume writing "when I finish Batman, if I make Batman" - a reference to a proposed follow-up to Nolan's earlier blockbusters Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. He played Alfred the butler in both movies.Caine is most famous for his starring roles in Alfie and Get Carter.The title of his memoir refers to the Elephant and Castle, the area in south London where he grew up.If it now seems a little clunky, why not get around the problem by creating a bullet list of related facts.The inside track on Michael Caine:- Played Alfred the butler in Christopher Nolan's Batman movies
- His most famous lead roles were in Alfie and Get Carter
- He grew up in the Elephant and Castle in south London hence the title of his autobiography The Elephant to Hollywood
- Aug 31, 10What's the point of internal commsView more presentations from writethinking.
- Aug 09, 10From a recent course for working journalists: Statistics for JournalistsView more presentations from writethinking.
- Aug 04, 10News editors undervalue the urgency of developing stories
It's Saturday 24 July 2010 and a minor news item catches my eye. North Korea has threatened nuclear war. Remember the date: it could be the beginning of the end of the planet. Of course, it may not be. North Korea threatens nuclear war quite a lot.UK news websites valued the threat of nuclear war
below less urgent stories that were closer to home
This is the dilemma for news editors around the world. It is probably more than the posturing of a tinpot dictator: the US and South Korea have begun a military exercise that pours ships and planes into North Korea's field of view. They are doing this specifically in response to North Korea's hostile actions (including the sinking of a South Korean ship).
But it could be something and nothing. How are to we to put a value on this news? How are we to decide its prominence?
The serious UK news websites valued it as story number three. Pretty important, but not as important as:- a review into the way child-murderer John Venables was supervised after his release
- a US senator urging Scottish ministers to come to a hearing on the release of the Lockerbie bomber
- a claim that safety procedures in the run-up to the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster had been ignored
- the exposure of secret government plans to scrap the schools admission code
I had a little chuckle that possible nuclear war was being treated so lightly but then I looked more closely. None of these more important stories had any urgency attached. My life would not be much different if I had found out these things a week later. Nuclear war -- even a casual cry-wolf threat of one -- is something I need to know about now, I would suggest. There are consequences to leaving that one for another day.Easy to miss the threat of nuclear war in the NYT site
Then I looked at the New York Times, expecting it to have done better. But no. The end of the world ranked lower than a story about an ex-president's daughter's wedding.
Maybe I am being old fashioned, but I would have done things differently. It is a sad trait of modern journalism that we are so driven by the imperative to entertain, we put things our readers are interested in above things they urgently need to know.
I would value urgency more highly, even if I am having to interest my reader in things they do not naturally care about. It's a duty thing. Duty is not a word you hear much in journalism these days. But if the planet is blown up and no-one knew because they were too enthralled by Chelsea Clinton's wedding arrangements, I would be a bit embarrassed to be a news editor. - Jul 25, 10
Web design is coming of age. Although it has received much criticism, the redesign of the BBC News website shows a detailed understanding of how people actually use news on the web. The whingers probably just need to get used to the new look and then they well start to discover how clever it is.
The useability of the BBC News website is the subject of a post on my new blog: Grow Your Own Website. - Aug 04, 10This page tells web writers to explain to their readers the benefit of reading on. By including context, writers can do their jobs better and so become extremely rich.
It is not obvious who some websites are intended for or
how anyone would benefit from visiting.
Try the FSA for example.
I used to tell people that web design was more like setting up a museum than publishing a magazine. Clear simple navigation was vital so that you could find your way around the exhibits.
Today, it's different. A website is still a bit like a museum but one where, rather than coming through the front door, people arrive and depart at random points via particle-matter transporter. Search has changed the way we communicate for ever. Web developers have to contend with people beaming in and out of their content at a whim.
The matter-transport-museum analogy is a strange way of looking at things but it sort of works. Your audience arrives dazed and confused, their molecules having reassembled only nanoseconds before and they look around blinking, trying to figure out where in the world they are. They may have arrived in a back bedroom in Cincinnati where a Jim Pigeon wants to show them his collection of late twentieth century spoons. They may have arrived at the plush offices of an intergallactic technology consortium which wants to dazzle them with binary gadgets. They may have arrived literally at a museum (well virtually literally).
This means two things:- Every bejewelled trinket box we put on display must speak for itself. We can no longer assume people are following the audio tour. Almost no-one is any more. Most visit for that one arcane exhibit and then leave immediately.
- If our visitor arrives and is baffled about where they are in the universe, they don't spend long trying to work it out. Why would they? The matter-transporter can take them to infinitely more places at the click of a button than they will ever have time to visit. The world of Google is too exciting to pause long in a dull backwater.
It also means that good websites are no longer designed from the top down -- they are grown from the ground up. Each page one creates has to answer the following questions:- Who do I want to be reading this?
- If they read it, what do they get out of it? How do they benefit? Why should they bother?
- What am I trying to achieve? What do I want my reader to do differently as a result of the thing I have created?
- How can I let my reader know quickly that this is for them and that they will find it valuable? By quickly, I mean the time it takes their molecules to reassemble (15 nanoseconds maybe).
I have been asked to review a number of websites for people recently. Easily the commonest problem is lack of context. As a visitor, the creators expect me to put in too much effort working out what they are about. Individual pages don't explain themselves and so the effect is that the whole site becomes a confusing place to be. - Aug 04, 10It has become fashionable for writers to have a voice but I am not convinced this is a good thing.* Writers are, by nature, peculiar people and you get more than enough of their eccentricities in the selection of material and posing of questions. We don't need their impressions or interpretations or, heaven forbid, feelings. We want those things from the people actually fighting the war or running the country or inventing the optical network devices.
I wrote this rant in an email response to my friend Roy who had forwarded a competent article by someone else and asked what I thought of their style. The piece was a hastily cobbled together hack, generated from a lot of half remembered earlier interviews. Light on sources; heavy on chat. All too common and, in my view, a mutated form of churnalism driven by modern journalism’s demands on time and cost. It is part of humanity’s futile attempt to fill the infinite void of the internet. Two trillion pages and counting. Most of it junk. As you can tell, I hated it.
I am a hypocrite. Many of my favourite writers have a definite voice, and they are the better for it. Much of my own writing has a voice and too few sources. Obviously, I think I have something to add.
But my preference remains a feature which is mostly quotes from authoritative sources with the lightest possible touch from the writer to steer them into making a point.theVOICE
BBC 2’s Culture Show last week included a review by novelist Geoff Dyer of recent war books. His point was that we seem to be coming to terms with the truths of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through factual writing rather than fiction.** He picked out Sebastian Junger’s War for particular praise. Junger writes about the experiences of American soldiers with whom he was embedded. One of the things Dyer liked was that Junger himself was absent from the narrative. The voices were all those of the soldiers. Dyer seemed to believe this was something astonishing and new. I was thinking: this is just good journalism.
The internet has dragged writing style a long way in just a few years. Personal experience writing has become ubiquitous thanks to blogs and cheap journalism. The scary thing is that it has become a default to the extent that some have forgotten the multiple-source quote piece is even an option.
I suppose some people would take the view that they want to know a little about the writer so they can make their own judgment about the angle they take and the spin they may be applying. They have quickly got used to finding their own multiple sources on any subject. They are making ruthless and sudden decisions about any one piece of writing so they can move on to the next. It helps this kind of reader to be told what the writer thinks because it speeds up the formation of their own views.
But accepting that some form of voice or personalisation is useful (and I am not sure I do) does not remove the need for multiple authoritative sources. The thing is that credibility is at least as big a problem in modern communication as the need for the reader to deal with a huge volume of information.A media guru speaks:
I think writing style is important in journalism but secondary to the collection of authoritative facts. For me, a style which makes the source of those facts transparent to the reader is a boon in this info-overload age. Any advantage that writing with your own voice might provide can mostly be better achieved with clearly delineated opinion panels, dummy's guides, and so on.
An approach I like is the BBC's where they sometimes put an opinion box in a news story. This helps readers form a view about the meaning or impact of the news without devaluing the factual part of the story. It seems to me to get the best of both worlds without devaluing the underlying journalism.
We need to think more carefully about where journalism is going because it has never been more important for factual writing to be good. Really good.
Matthew Lynn writing in Business Week predicts the failure of the pay wall recently erected around The Times and Sunday Times.
It’s too late to start charging for newspapers online now. The content isn’t good enough, he says. Even British highbrow newspapers have placed too little emphasis on substance, and too much on entertaining and exciting their readers.
And yet, if the content is not sufficiently good that people will pay, where lies the future for journalists?
* Note that this piece has been written in the first person using a ‘voice’. The irony is not lost on me. Nor should it be on you.
** By the time you read this, the Culture Show’s Dyer review may have disappeared from the BBC iPlayer. Its tenor is reflected in this Sydney Morning Herald piece on an earlier talk by Dyer. - Aug 04, 10
A list of resources useful for web writers and editors who are getting more involved with the technical side of web site development. The list is by no means exhaustive. If you have any site or service you wish to add please let me know by adding a comment.
Design
Demonstration of the power of CSS: CSS Zen Garden
Design and emotion: Don Normal at TED Talks (video)
Taking your talent to the web -- entire book on web design from Jeffrey Zeldman in PDF format
40 examples of minimalism in web design
21 amazing CSS techniques you should knowThe web explained at Wikipedia
Web 2.0
HTML
ECMAScript (JavaScript)
Core fonts
The semantic web
Web application frameworks
Application programming interfaceTechnology
HTML Tutorial from W3Schools
HTML5 and what it offers
Whois.net domain name look up
A list of content management systems (CMS): Wikipedia
Help in selecting a content management system at CMS Review
The Flash Explained blog contains tutorials on Flash animation for websitesSearch engine optimisation
Google Webmaster Central
SEO tools from WebConfs
Design for Google: fun demo of SEO techniques
Google Adwords key word tool
Google Trends allows you to compare the number of people searching on different terms
Small business guide to SEO
SEO for websites that rely on Flash
Google's Matt Cutts' Blog
SEO page assessment tool
Inside Google’s Brain: How PageRank And Indexing Work
Redirect check tool
How Google works -- slide show
SEO strategies for Facebook pagesWeb analytics
Google Analytics
What all the terms mean: definitions
Wikipedia explains web analytics
Analytics toolbox from Mashable: 50+ ways to track website traffic
Google Analytics: 24 features that make it best of breed.
Standards and metrics for ABCe audited sitesWeb use
How users read on the web from Jakob Nielsen
Alertbox: Jakob Nielsen's site on useability
How readers scan web pages
Google's eyetracking studies
US Government site on useabilityUseful Firefox addons
Web Developer adds site developer tools to the Firefox Browser
Firebug integrates with Firefox to put a wealth of development tools at your fingertips while you browse. You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page
Adblock Plus removes adverts from web pages
Better Privacy blocks Flash tracking cookies and other nasties
With ColorZilla eyedropper you can get a colour reading from any point in your browser, and paste it into another programOther
A List Apart Magazine explores the design, development, and meaning of web content, with a special focus on web standards and best practices.
W3Schools provides excellent tutorials on the technlogy behind websites
The web is us/ing us -- interesting YouTube video exploring Web 2.0
The Wayback Machine keeps an archive of old versions of websites
A completely unscientific look at social sites (fun)Tools
Wordle lets you create word clouds from any text
How to embed almost anything in your website
Net2ftp - a web based FTP client (poss for uploading pages to a server)
CushyCMS is a free system that lets you add user-editable pages to your site
Build an RSS feed you can cut and paste into your website with FeedJ2S
Blastacasta adds feeds to your website
Rotating content tool
SquareSpace: recommended website building tool
Favicon creater
Podomatic is a podcast creation and sharing service
Audioboo is a podcast creation and sharing service with an iPhone app
Posterous is a free blog that allows you to post by smart phone or email and automatically forwards to social media accounts
Coveritlive is a sophisticated live blogging tool
Aviary is a suite of online tools for image editing, illustration and audio editing
Slideshare lets you upload and share powerpoint presentationsStats
Alexa: traffic metrics, search analytics for websites
How many people are using each of the main browsers?
Which screen resolution displays are people using? - Aug 04, 10
Changes to no-win no-fee rules for libel lawyers have first been delayed by back-bench MPs and now dropped as parliament winds up business before the election.
Claimants can sue for libel without having to pay a lawyer, provided the lawyer thinks they have a good chance of winning. If they do win, the other side pays the lawyers costs and the claimant collects the damages with no financial risk. The lawyers take the risk, but they benefit from an uplift fee if they win.
Currently, libel lawyers can double their fees if they win a no-win no-fee case. This can mean defendents paying costs disproportionate to the defamation they have caused. Some libel lawyers charge £500 an hour. With the uplift fee, a defendant might be paying £1000 an hour.
Damages in a libel action are typically a few tens of thousands of pounds. Costs are often ten times that level.Costs in English libel courts are 140 times the European average a study by Oxford University found last year.
The Ministry of Justice was changing the libel law to reduce the uplift fee from 100% to 10% extra. That legislation has been set aside now and only time will tell whether the next government will restart libel cost reform.
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Tweets
- Libel: Supreme Court restores Reynolds Defence. Phew. http://t.co/hR7v8r9U
- Significant: ECJ says actor can sue Sunday Mirror website for privacy in France (where law tougher) Pgaz http://t.co/P98Q515KOct 25, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Ian Jack on the Murdoch family history. Last three pars particularly worth reading. Grd http://t.co/Fustci4Jul 22, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Tgraph reports police investigating Andy Coulson over evidence he gave in Sheridan trial. http://t.co/mFGqvFqJul 22, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Yes @DavidAllenGreen was right when he predicted lawyer Tom Crone's leaving News Intl would be significant. Grd http://t.co/iXkHJAmJul 22, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- BBC DG Mark Thompson defends investigative journalism but believes newspapers should be held to the same stds as BBC http://t.co/8AkiUalJul 22, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- @sarahchurchwell Well okay. I suppose retaining a reputation is more important than massive unpredictabiity. Ho hum.
- @sarahchurchwell A Sarah Churchwell bucket shop would be a very surprising thing. I think you should do it.
- Libel: Solicitors from Hell website sued by Law Society. BBC http://t.co/mqwfKnU #couldseethatonecomingJul 21, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Dear @BBCNews and others, you may wish to check this out re your fake Chinese Apple stores story. http://t.co/cHuZP2eJul 21, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Dear @BBCNews so you're running a story from a single source who is a blogger whose name you don't even appear to know. http://t.co/3tx9hl1Jul 21, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- For the first time in a week #Hackgate drops from top spot. No 3 on BBC No 7 on NYT. Still No 1 story for Guardian and Telegraph (web feeds)Jul 21, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Contempt: Mail + Sun each fined £15k for websites pic of murder defendant holding gun. Not enough says @JoshuaRozenberg http://t.co/8eVgwj6Jul 21, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- SFO considering @tom_watson request to investigate News Corp under company law over hacking pay outs Tgraph http://t.co/p9Kv9qHJul 18, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Libel and R Brooks RT @DavidAllenGreen Post Jameel and Kaschke, abuse of process law now very different than in Polanski case.Jul 18, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- @DavidAllenGreen Does "reputationial damage" admission necessarily weaken libel case? I'm thinking of Roman Polanski vs Vanity Fair
- Fox News thinks we should put the hacking scandal behind us. After all, it did happen nearly 10 years ago (vid) http://t.co/wHD2lBkJul 18, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Cameron may publish details of all media contacts back to when he became Tory leader. http://t.co/BVzhBzNJul 18, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Reform of PCC is a red herring. Need to reform rules for transparency in how government and the police interact with press.Jul 18, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Problem: it is the relationship between politicians and press, police and press that needs reforming. Not so much the PCC.Jul 18, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Miliband to say "The danger is that this whirlwind blows through our country and then we go back to business as usual." http://t.co/Larn6euJul 18, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- The Guardian doesn't like WSJ's editorial then. http://t.co/juiQ10P BTW what kind of convoluted intro is that in the web age?
- 'Forced out' the Times' record 164pt headline http://t.co/AucGke6 /RT @jonhilldesign via @helenlewis
- This is how an investigative reporter *should* behave (vid) http://t.co/zC58N23 (Actually. it's the Tintin trailer)Jul 11, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- I'm reminded of the words of Mr Bridger in the Italian Job: "Everyone in the world is bent." On an unrelated note: http://t.co/Bc9vSTkJul 11, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Meanwhile, Press Gazette is speculating that Murdoch may sell the rest of his UK newspaper business http://t.co/ahe13KRJul 11, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- NB 'blag' is a journalese word that sounds merely a bit cheeky buts actually means to deceive or con. http://t.co/wVMJqlWJul 11, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- The contagion spreads to Sunday Times which blagged its way into Gordon Brown's bank account says Guardian http://t.co/wVMJqlWJul 11, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Good point. We've always known it was going on, says Jon Snow, it is just that no-one wanted to take on Murdoch. http://t.co/oZETfTwJul 11, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Only just noticed. The Sun describes Coulson as Cameron's former aide. Earlier job title buried in the text below. http://yfrog.com/khaeqxj
- "What we are talking about is saving the freedom of the press for ordinary people," says Susan Douglas of NotW bid. http://t.co/Ncr0sIzJul 11, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- A consortium of media + business figures is attempting to put together a rescue package and revive the News of the world http://t.co/Ncr0sIzJul 11, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- ...Ian Reeves. http://t.co/rgV5zt7 The hacking scandal will "strengthen further the invidious influence of PR". 2/2Jul 11, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- The danger is the public's anger over hacking of Milly Dowler's phone blinds them to the importance of a free and robust press says... 1/2Jul 11, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- PCC under pressure, but phone hacking, police payments are regulated by the *law* so self-regulation should be irrelevant.Jul 08, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- "..the Government cannot simply order the replacement of the PCC, because it is an independent organisation." http://t.co/csT0o63 5.03pmJul 08, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- 10 years ago, who would have predicted Mail, Guardian, Telegraph as UK's top 3 newspapers? Mail may have overtaken BBC http://t.co/hF26EaZJun 23, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Libyan opposition prints newspaper in Cairo, distributes from Benghazi, aims for objectivity and professionalism. http://t.co/iYtmgGEJun 23, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Guardian will make significant job cuts, Rusbridger tells Media Show, but in a civilised way over two years. http://t.co/cAZ9i6gJun 23, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Italian court finds that Google autocomplete's adding con man and fraud to man's name is libel by search engine. ZDnet http://t.co/eJpdPhh
- Twitter may offer Facebook-style pages, as a way of making money from brands. Marketing http://t.co/uxbHxsU
- Phone hacking: NoW chief reporter and assistant editor arrested. Tgraph http://t.co/vcQZeTQ
- Hacking latest: Court forces Vodafone to reveal who dialled Sienna Miller's voicemail. Grd http://t.co/53aHLfl
- Police ask for TV footage of Cuts Protest Grd http://t.co/BNIg2YR If they go to court, history say they'll probably get it.
- Sun gets Chloe West story by... going on Facebook. Don't know where to start with ethical/standards questions. http://j.mp/ih9o3XApr 04, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Are magazines being smarter than newspapers in the online revolution?http://t.co/o6NjEHU
- Zite says what it does is equivalent to a search engine, big publishers' lawyers say it's copyright infringement. RRW http://j.mp/fexz8zApr 01, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Zite, 1st iPad magazine that does something with the technology, receives cease and desist letter from big publishers RRW http://j.mp/fexz8zApr 01, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Electric car maker to sue BBC for libel and malicious falsehood over test claims in repeats. Guardian (incl Youtube clip) http://j.mp/gxoanQMar 30, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Libel: Lesson for journos: 'See You in Court' on BBC1 underscores how court cases are driven by emotion (prob on iPlayer but BBC down).Mar 29, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Sign of the times: RBI sells Computer Weekly to TechTarget which takes it online-only. Pgaz http://j.mp/eSXEB9Mar 29, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- No-win no-fee rules to change: winning fees will come from client's damages rather than opposition. Damages up 10% Pgaz http://j.mp/ifGWypMar 29, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Secret justice as wealthy financier wins anonymity in libel case. Allegations appear online shortly after injunction. Grd http://j.mp/g0jwB8Mar 29, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- 60 attacks, 2 deaths, 36 detentions, 6 missing in Libya alone: journalists become target for Mid East governments. DBeast http://j.mp/eR63veMar 27, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Poetry could win Afghan war if you buy the notion that conflict is 95% info and 5% military. PBS http://j.mp/ekadNv /via @suzanneyadaMar 27, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Why you should write a blog and what you should write about. Techcrunch http://j.mp/h6KsnDMar 27, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Copyright: Google's influence on intellectual property. Nieman. http://j.mp/eVNCi7Mar 27, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Libel: courts should not be used for scientific disputes judge tells birdwatchers who failed in bid to sue RSBP. Tgraph http://t.co/zqOYM89
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- Independent Writing and Editing ProfessionalWriting and Editing | Guildford, United Kingdom, GBExperience
- 2002 - PresentManaging Director / 1M LimitedWeb site design and content development Magazine development and editorial services Editorial and web training
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- Mar 12, 12
A writer whose piece received little traffic when the Huffington Post republished it, wants aggregators to follow a code of conduct. This, he says, would ensure original content is treated fairly.
Storified by Adrian MacLeod · Mon, Mar 12 2012 07:49:29
The Media Equation: Guidelines Proposed for Content Aggregation OnlineAs words and articles became digitized over the last 15 years, they began to float, there for the plucking and replication elsewhere. Wor...A step in the right direction --> NYTimes: A Code of Conduct for Content Aggregators http://nyti.ms/yweosT
Bringing some ethics to the Wild West world of web aggregators (they steal your stuff, return few page views) http://ow.ly/9AOpc
The Curator's Guide to the GalaxyMar 11 2012, 5:21 PM ET How to steal other people's ideas (without being a jerk about it) How do you avoid being a jerk on the Internet? ...New Layer of Content Amid Chaos on YouTube"What we are effectively doing is giving the content players a chance to play a little more in the equity game of audience aggregati... - Dec 08, 10
It's a media storm and an internet war. But will it really change the face of : a) Journalism? b) Diplomacy?
Storified by Adrian MacLeod · Thu, Oct 27 2011 17:38:46
CORRECTION: Twitter is currently processing 180 #wikileaks tweets per minute @wikileaks @wikileaksUSA @wikileaksUK @wikileaksAUS @cableleaks
How Wikileaks has woken up journalism. « Emily Bell(wether)If you follow the latest cache of diplomatic cables leaked by Wikileaks and reported by the Guardian, The New York Times and others it is impossible not to conclude that this is a pivotal moment for journalism, its teaching and its practice. In a masterly piece on The Guardian’s website, John Naughton writes that : The most obvious lesson is that it represents the first really sustained confrontation between the established order and the culture of the internet. There have been skirmishes before, but this is the real thing. I would urge anyone interested in the case as it unfolds...RT @joshhalliday: Yerp. Mastercard is down (http://www.mastercard.com), Anonymous flexes its muscles. http://bit.ly/dMutaz #wikileaks #cablegate
Open letter: To Julia Gillard, re Julian Assange - Unleashed (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)Julian Assange has become a cause celebre, as evidenced by the signatories to this open letter, a who’s who of sorts, from Noam Chomsky to Helen Garner...Julian Assange in custody as Washington turns up the heat | Media | The GuardianRevenge operation begins against WikiLeaks as anonymous cyber-attacks continue against host sites - Jan 09, 11
"The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous," says Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik. "Arizona has become sort of the capital. We have become the Mecca for prejudice and bigotry."
Storified by Adrian MacLeod · Thu, Oct 27 2011 17:36:04
Arizona shooting sends political shockwaves across America - The Globe and MailRepresentative Gabrielle Giffords and others shot outside grocery store"Sarah Palin's list has a gun sight over our district. They have to realize there are consequences to that." Gabrielle Giffords, Nov 2010
Sheriff Clarence Dupnik news conference part 2 - Tucson shootings Gabrielle Giffords, John Roll,"Arizona the mecca for biogtry and prejudice" "a constituent at a previous angry town hall meeting of Gabrielle Giffords dropped a gun on the floor, what?" " A suspicious package at her political office"Sheriff Clarence Dupnik news conference part 2 - Tucson shootings Gabrielle Giffords, John Roll,@jtallent I agree, blame the shooter. But media/politicians share responsibility for unaccountable, reckless vitriol.
'Vitriol' Cited As Possible Factor In Arizona Tragedy : NPRJan 8, 2011 ... Gabrielle Giffords was among at least a dozen injured after a gunman opened fire Saturday at a public event hosted by the congresswoman, ...Daniel Hernandez, intern, stays by Gabrielle Giffords' sideDaniel Hernandez, intern, stays by Gabrielle Giffords' side, Daniel Hernandez had been U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' intern for five days when she was shot Saturday outside Tucson.Gabrielle Giffords - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona's 8th district January 3, 2007 Member of the Arizona Senate from the 28th legislative district Member of the Arizona House of Representatives from the 28th legislative district June 8, 1970 Tucson, Arizona Cornell University Scripps College (born June 8, 1970) is the U.S. Representative for Arizona's 8th congressional district. She is a member of the Democratic Party. She is the only member of the U.S. Congress whose spouse, astronaut Mark E. Kelly, is an active duty member of the U.S. military. Giffords is known as a strong proponent of solar energy as...Gabrielle Giffords shooting: from Columbine to TusconSome of the deadliest shooting sprees in the United States since 1999. - Oct 31, 10
Does the release of thousands of secret documents from the Iraq war make Wikileaks an enemy or a saviour?
Storified by Adrian MacLeod · Thu, Oct 27 2011 05:35:27
FOX news editorial calls for WikiLeaks staff to be assassinated | Rawstory http://bit.ly/dtfAY6
WikiLeaks - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaWikiLeaks is an international organization that publishes anonymous submissions and leaks of otherwise unavailable documents while preserving the anonymity ...www.Europe-VIP.com UN calls for US, Iraqi probe of Wikileaks reports (AP): AP - The United Nations' top human... http://bit.ly/ap5BzU
#israel Pentagon says WikiLeaks has more secret documents: http://bit.ly/dj9ELB
WikiLeaks Exposes Rumsfeld's Lies http://shar.es/08ahp
WikiLeaks Founder on the Run, Chased by Turmoil - NYTimes.comOct 23, 2010 ... Julian Assange is used to being denounced, but now some of his own comrades are abandoning him for what they see as erratic and imperious ...RT @wikileaks: WikiLeaks should be declared 'enemy combatants', says former State Department honcho | Guardian http://bit.ly/dBCD4o
WikiLeaks | Media | guardian.co.ukOct 26, 2010 ... All the latest coverage of Wikileaks and Julian Assange, including the release and impact of the Afghan war logs. - Oct 26, 10
People are buzzing about blogging again. With a raft of awards, it is finally being taken seriously as a way of communicating. Meanwhile, Andrew Marr says ...
Storified by Adrian MacLeod · Thu, Oct 27 2011 05:35:24
Confessions of Anton Vowl, a (not so) anonymous blogger | Steven Baxter | Comment is free | guardian.co.ukSteven Baxter: For years I have been a secret media blogger, but I've finally 'come out' and revealed my true identity. My double life is overmy fellow @theorwellprize blogging judge, @jackofkent on what he's looking for http://bit.ly/cApao3 - I'll set out some thoughts soon too...
Andrew Marr criticises bloggers. Is it 2005 again? – Telegraph BlogsJust how out of touch is Andrew Marr? Speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival this weekend, Marr said that most bloggers are "bald, cauliflower-nosed, young men sitting in their mother's basements and ranting".Nick Robinson won a blogging award today so does Andrew Marr think his colleague is "socially inadequate, pimpled, single, & slightly seedy"
What's the blogging story? Optimistic, if panel debaters can be believed | Media | guardian.co.ukTwo debates - about the death of print and the rise of blogging - reveal a renewed public engagement with the mediaSnowblog - Psst! Young blogging talent about!Jon Snow introduces the winner of the Channel 4 News Young Blogger of 2010. Meet Louise Jones.Some poorly-constructed thoughts on blogging and journalism – Angry MobThose of you who follow me on Twitter might have realised that I was invited down to Bristol on Friday night to sit on the secondary panel of an event titled ‘What’s the blogging story?’ which was designed to be a debate on the relationship between bloggers and the media. The debate itself was reasonably interesting, albeit at times the debate seemed too wide and not a great deal was resolved or looked at in depth. This leads me to the collection of thoughts that make up this blog post. My first thought is that the two terms – ‘bloggers’...How your blog can help get you a job – by 3 people who did it. | Lucy HewittSpeaking at City University, 3 young journalists tell a room full of wannabe hacks the secrets to their success. And all of them are (sickeningly) under 25. Josh Halliday, trainee Media reporter at The Guardian. Network using Twitter – coversate and contribute in the circles you want to work in Build a brand for yourself, but be yourself Be patient – following and being followed by the right people takes time Let your work (online portfolio) precede you Dave Lee, broadcast journalist for BBC World Service Respond and comment on things you are passionate about Get your name known through... - Jul 05, 11
Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity was a satrical reponse to an increasingly hyperbolic media. Let's hope it helps to restore sanity to American politics. It certainly helped restore my faith in America.
Storified by Adrian MacLeod · Thu, Oct 27 2011 05:34:59
"The press is our immune system. If it overreacts to everything, we actually get sicker." - Jon Stewart #restoresanity
Jon Stewart Rally Attracts Estimated 215,000 - Political Hotsheet - CBS News http://t.co/QWEVZ1F via @cbsnews
The Rally To Restore Sanity Causes a Mainstream Media Meltdown | PoliticususaJon Stewart managed to do something with his Rally to Restore Sanity that hasn’t been done in a long time. He confused the mainstream media to the point of a near collective nervous breakdown. The media couldn’t figure out what this rally was about, and it was only when Stewart explained it to them that they realized that it was about them. Here are CNN’s TJ Holmes and Kate Bolduan trying to describe the rally: Holmes introduced Bolduan by saying, “Washington D.C. is gearing up for… something right now, and asked what is this thing?” Bolduan set a tone by...Jon Stewart rally: moderation breaks out in Washington crowd | Media | The GuardianThe Daily Show host's Rally to Restore Sanity was a success, if the sensible crowd and feeble media jibes are anything to go by - Nov 03, 10
News Group revealed reader numbers today (02.11.10) for the Times and Sunday Times websites which became subscription-only in June. The figures were lower than than many analysts predicted. Of course the real question is whether advertisers are convinced that 100k paying subscribers are better for business than 10m free ones. Answers on a postcard (or Tweet) please.
Storified by Adrian MacLeod · Thu, Oct 27 2011 05:34:49
Virtual Economics: News Corp's paywall is about News Corp, not the TimesRound about the same time as it makes a bid to acquire the whole of BskyB, News Corp has also erected a paywall around the Times. Analysis of this move to date has focused on what this means for the...The Times paywall: making sense, and nonsense, of 'fluffy numbers' | Media | guardian.co.ukCommentators admit they are baffled by News International's opaque paywall 'sales' figuresTimes gains 50k online subs at £2/wk = +£100k/wk but since April has lost 40k STimes and 20K Times print readers = (my sums) -£200k/wk
If you're a #times journalist get out now - you're invisible behind Murdoch's #paywall
Times's paywall figures don't add up to a new business model | Media | guardian.co.ukNews International's release of its paywall figures conceals more than it reveals because of 'bundling'RT @GregHadfield: Does Times paywall have to be either 'success' or 'failure'? Achievement isn't binary. How many news websites have knowledge of 200k users?
BBC - dot.Rory: Times subscribers: News from behind the paywallThis is dot.life - a blog about technology from BBC News. - Nov 08, 10
Storified by Adrian MacLeod · Thu, Oct 27 2011 05:34:23
Top BBC names lead news blackout in pension strike - TelegraphSome of the BBC's best-known presenters are taking part in a mass 48 hour strike today over pensions that has led to the cancellation of several flagship programmes.Boris Johnson on why he didn't even notice the BBC was on strike, and the #futureofnews http://bit.ly/95oEk2
The BBC wants to cut my pension by 25% so I'm on strike. I don't want to lose pay but I owe it to my future self. Please support #bbcstrike
Even the BBC twitter account is on strike.
BBC strike: Radio 4's Today forced off air | Media | guardian.co.ukNUJ members on picket line as action over pensions forces radio and TV breakfast shows to slim down output . By Jason Deans and Sarah NoorbakhshBBC plugging the NUJ strike gap with pre-recorded filler and weak features on Breakfast. Daybreak doing the same. Not sure of their reason.
The BBC strike in pictures | Media | guardian.co.ukSee images from the picket lines as NUJ members take action in their pensions dispute - Nov 16, 10
Student protests at Millbank were marred by violence and there is no doubt that crimes were committed. But with blogs being shut down and people being arrested for attempted murder, could the police response in the aftermath be seen as heavy-handed?
Storified by Adrian MacLeod · Thu, Oct 27 2011 05:33:01
Met closes down anti-police blog | World news | The GuardianPolice force suspension of website that offered advice to students involved in last week's riotingWhat happened to free speech? Is it even legal to censor like that? RT @guardiantech Met closes down anti-police blog http://bit.ly/cs3bOQ
In years time, once the cuts have taken effect, a student protest will amount to 3 undergrads shouting at a lone community support officer.
FitWatch@TaWFitWatch@TaW - embracing the fitwatch approach18-year-old held after fire extinguisher thrown at officers during Millbank Tower riots (From Daily Echo)An 18-year-old man arrested in Hampshire on suspicion of attempted murder after a fire extinguisher was thrown at police during the Millbank riot will be questioned today.Since when has throwing a fire extinguisher off a roof been considered attempted murder ?
RT @LandersIE: I'd like to see the student who threw the fire extinguisher charged with and found guilty to attempted murder.
Students to target Lib Dem headquarters over fees 'betrayal' - UK Politics, UK - The IndependentSecurity at the headquarters of the Liberal Democrats is to be stepped up after a group of students protesting against rising tuition fees said it would target the building next week. - Nov 20, 10
Campaigners make their case for libel reform and in particular for protection of bloggers and other internet publishers.
Storified by Adrian MacLeod · Thu, Oct 27 2011 05:32:29
Libel reform on the internet | Evan Harris | Science | guardian.co.ukThe Libel Reform Campaign has today made its case for radical reform of libel laws as they affect the internet and in particular the citizen journalist aka the humble bloggerThere isn't a single day as a writer that I don't think about libel. It literally hangs over everything I do, like a sort of fussy evil mother.
Bloggers, MPs, and legal experts have expressed growing concern that current libel laws do not reflect the fluid and anonymous nature of the modern web.
How you react in the first few weeks after you receive a threat is crucial in deflecting an unfounded claim or correcting something you got wrong.
Online writers are deleting material when they see nothing wrong with it
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