Kevin Matthews

Is the Telegraph preparing to put up a paywall? The Daily Mail hopes so ...

2011-02-22T17:29:00.002Z

So the rumour is the Telegraph is going to follow the example of Mr Murdoch and construct its very own paywall.

I've said this before and I'll say it again, it is the traditional print media falling back on traditional print tactics on a thoroughly modern medium.

So as soon as the wall goes up the audience will plummet faster than Nick Clegg's approval rating. But the big sell is, at least TMG will make money on those people who dig deep and stick around.

Size clearly doesn't matter to Mr Murdoch who sacrificed millions of casual readers (not literally ... I don't think) for the hard core loyalists. And if the rumours are anything to go by, the Telegraph is all set to follow suit.

But this isn't strictly speaking a paywall in as much as what the Guardian is calling a pay fence - you can still see through to the goodies inside. Part paid, part free is what is rumoured.

The metering technique will still give them some casual users, but the gate will slam shut if you want to delve deeper.

The big winner from this little exercise will be the Mail Online, which already ticks all the boxes in terms of getting the readers in. It has 54 million unique users for a reason - it is well designed, well SEO'd and well thought out - regardless of what you think of the content.

That's 54 million unique users and rising.

Now there's an audience worth capitalising on. If only a way can be found to do it ... without shutting them out.

You can read where the rumours started right here on the Marketing Magazine.

The AV Referendum - a lesson in distraction politics

2011-02-18T07:13:00.021Z

Have you noticed that at the height of job losses and service cuts that the focus is now being shifted to the discussion over whether we want the Alternative Vote or not?

As much as constitutional reform is required, the pro-reformers themselves admit that AV isn't the change which they want. AV is a fudge. It is a make-do attempt by the Conservatives to appease the Liberal Democrats and keep them in the government. [I suspect the trappings of 'power' would have done that ... oh and the Ministerial chauffeur-driven cars.]

But AV isn't what the vast majority of Lib Dems want. They want Proportional Representation - and AV isn't PR. But they have accepted the offer for a referendum because a little like marijuana on the spiral into drug dependency, they think that AV will lead onto stronger forms of voting reforms.

Now don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against AV. I've got nothing for AV. I've attended endless talks and debates wanting to hear the argument which will help me see why it is worth spending £9.3m on the referendum before forking out £250m on installing it.

But I've still to hear that killer argument. I await convincing.

Anyway ... what does all this add up to?

Well, it all adds up to distraction politics.

So what David Cameron is going head to head with Nick Clegg on one issue they disagree on.

An issue which the vast majority of the British people couldn't care less about. What the British people do care about is rising unemployment, rising inflation, increased VAT, petrol prices, axed council services, and so on, and so on.

The AV v FPTP debate is taking the focus away from the issues that really matter in people's lives.

I can understand why the Liberal Democrats want to direct attention on the red herring of a debate. I can understand why the Tories do.

But why the Labour Party is dedicating any of its energies on this is beyond me.

Prepare yourself for the endless yellow-headed leaflets calling on you to 'Say YES to AV'. What you should be saying is 'NO to job losses and cuts to vital public sector services'.

If you really want to take your mind off the cuts and job losses, you can read BBC News' take on Where the parties stand here or BBC News' fairly interesting Q&A on Alternative Vote referendum here.

Does the foundering of Liverpool boat show prove the UK economy is in deep water?

2011-02-14T20:35:00.003Z

The cancellation of the much heralded Liverpool boat show is a devastating blow to the city.

The announcement that the show and yacht sales expo was to be held at the Albert Dock proved that Liverpool was on the crest of a wave. The good times were back.

But the cancellation will see the city lose the expected £30m of leisure and tourism cash which was due to flood in. A major blow for Liverpool which has already lost millions in government grants.

To counter the effects of the cuts, David Cameron is banking on the private sector boosting local economies. Clearly his plan isn't holding water.

The sinking of the Liverpool boat show isn't good news for the city, but it also highlights the national lack of confidence in the economy. January's London boat show at Earl's Court was reported to be a damp squib.

With the economy registering a decline in the last quarter, is Dave and the not-so-able seaman Osborne steering the country towards the rocks? Is the not-so-good ship ConDem letting in water?

One thing's for sure, if the uber-wealthy aren't biting when it comes to yacht sales, what hope for the rest of us?

Lib Dems' 'too deep, too fast' letter to The Times is 'too little, too late'

2011-02-10T07:58:00.002Z

So Liberal Democrats have finally put their heads above the parapet to criticise their government's cuts.

In an open letter to The Times (do they not know Nick Clegg's address?) 88 leading local government Lib Dems say the cuts are 'too fast and too deep'.

Does that line ring any bells? Yep, it's what Labour has been warning since George Osborne unveiled his plans shortly after getting the keys to number 11.

And yep, you'd be right in thinking that it is a sentiment which the Liberal Democrats were spouting during the General Election campaign last year.

The letter comes just hours after Lib Dem treasury spokesman Lord Oakeshott found the sharp end of his party's axe live on TV when he dared to criticise the government's "incompetent" negotiations on bankers' bonuses.

It would appear some Lib Dems at least are revolting - something we've always known - but it'll take a lot more than a stiffly worded letter to a newspaper to stop this government's heartless and politically motivated cuts programme.

A programme which has already seen the British economy slip back into decline - don't forget that old phrase, two quarters of negative growth equal recession. Two negatives most definitely do not equal a positive.

If you doubt the 'politically motivated' element of that last sentence, just take a look at this table which was produced in The Times on December 14 showing the winners and losers in the government's cuts.

A real Tory/Labour divide if ever I've seen it.

So while the Liberal Democrat signatories of The Times letter will be patting themselves on the back, all those people who are about to find themselves on the dole queue, or whose vital council services have been axed, or youth centre doors have been closed, or Sure Start centres shut down, those people who are otherwise known as the electorate, are left thinking, 'too little, too late'.

It's a last grasp at regaining some sort of party political credibility before May's local elections.

As flimsy and as cynical a move as the Liberal Democrat party itself.

Read more about this in the Telegraph, the New Statesman and on the Next Left website.

The Big Society ... The Big Idea ... The Big Sound Bite ... The Big Con

2011-02-04T08:08:00.005Z

The Big Society is a Big Con.

Unfortunately, it would appear that Liverpool TV-guru Phil Redmond fell for it.

I've got a lot of time for Mr Redmond. He's done a lot for the city. But he was well and truly hoodwinked.
He welcomed David Cameron and Eric Pickles with open arms when they decided to launch their big idea in Liverpool.

But take a look below the Big Sound Bite and what you find are massive cuts to jobs and services which this government is landing on local authorities - never more so than on North West councils.

To deal with that, Cameron and Clegg are suggesting that some of these services can be taken on by ... well you.

You want youth clubs? Run them yourself.
You want the streets cleaning? Do it yourself.
You want children's centres? Run them yourself.
You want libraries? Run them yourself.
You want social care services? Run them yourself.
You want lollipop crossings? Cross them yourself.
You want nice parks and gardens? Keep them yourself.
You want leisure centres? Run them yourself.

Meanwhile, the professionals who are doing these jobs now are dumped on the scrap heap.

It's a con which Mr Redmond has recognised and it is a con which has been exposed by Liverpool City Council leader Cllr Joe Anderson who is tasked with steering through £91m worth of cuts in the space of just one year. Read the Liverpool Echo's story on Cllr Joe Anderson's thoughts here.

As Mr Cameron's role model Margaret Thatcher once might have said: There's no such thing as the Big Society.

Remembering The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists author Robert Tressell 100 years after his death

2011-02-03T08:08:00.001Z

I may have mentioned this before, but Robert Tressell was the man behind The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, one of the most powerful and influential political novels of the 20th Century.

Today marks the 100th anniversary of Tressell's premature death at the age of just 40.

He is buried in a pauper's grave in Liverpool and never lived to see his great work published.

But you already know that.

Read my tribute to the great man and why I think the novel is more important now than when it was published back in 1914 over on Liverpool Echo and Liverpool Daily Post city editor David Bartlett's DaleStreetBlues blog.

The Daily: Ambitions are big and costs are low. Has Rupert Murdoch found the Holy Grail?

2011-02-02T22:34:00.002Z

It's not every day that the world sees the arrival of the saviour of journalism. Well today saw the launch of the latest piece in Rupert Murdoch's multi-media empire as The Daily hit the virtual newsstand.

Launched with a fanfare to the world's media, The Daily has been created specifically for the Apple iPad, which itself was launched with a fanfare and heralded as the salvation of journalism.

It's got to be good ... hasn't it?

Well what was displayed during the launch certainly looked good.

The Daily looks well designed, well constructed and is said to feature some fantastic content. The proof will be in the pudding.

But there was nothing from the demo that appeared to be anything that hasn't already featured on existing news websites. There was the Twitter feeds from the players of an American football team. There was sports club stats. There was reader/user-tailored content. There was lots of snazzy features, which dozens of other pre-existing sites already boast.

Nothing new.

So will The Daily work? Murdoch, who has laid his reputation as media visionary on the line (and online), has set the bar rather predictably in terms of how much money it makes. For that he is relying on the millions of iPad owners forking out for The Daily app and for the advertisers to come flooding in. Half a million at least to just cover the costs.

But the clock is ticking.

Murdoch has been given the advantage of being given a head start to build The Daily on the brand new Apple engine before anyone else, but the company's vice president of Internet Services Eddy Cue made clear during the launch that the platform will be released to other publishers.

The media mogul states with regard to The Daily: "Our ambitions are very big, but our costs are very low."

But while Mr Murdoch may have found the Holy Grail, there's a raft of crusaders just waiting to take a sip.

Liverpool commemorates the life of the great Robert Tressell, author of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists

2011-01-27T23:29:00.000Z

Next Thursday, February 3, marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Robert Tressell.

The Irish-born author is famous for writing one of the most powerful political novels ever written - The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist.

It's a book that highlights some basic injustices in our society and is even more relevant now than when it was first published three year's after its creator's death.

An event which I'm pleased to say is being commemorated in the city where Robert Tressell (Robert Noonan [also Croker]) was laid to rest - Liverpool.

Here's the series of events which are planned. I will most certainly be attending at least a few of them ...

Government cuts and the latest damaging blow to 'brand Britain'

2011-01-26T06:44:00.003Z

Today will see the latest round of redundancies on the back of this government's short-sighted cost cuts.

Again it's the BBC which is being hit. This time The World Service.

Six-hundred jobs are set to be axed - that's more than a quarter of the World Service's 2,000 work force.

The hardest hit will be the radio network. Some stations will go all together, while others will be primarily internet based.

Interestingly, the cuts aren't due to the licence fee settlement, but due to the grant from the Foreign Office which has been slashed.

While we all expected some cost cutting, with the eradication of duplication of effort between departments and staff, the announcement is far worse than was predicted by the head of the World Service just at the end of last year.

So the effects of the cuts ...

As the NUJ says, these latest cuts "will severely damage the national interest of the UK".

More people unemployed and a damaging blow to brand Britain.

'Negative growth?' Come off it, we're in decline

2011-01-25T22:14:00.000Z

Regardless of who came up with it, I hate the term 'negative growth'. Negative growth is decline.

And a 0.5% decline in the economy is exactly where we are.

Two quarters of negative growth equals recession.

But still the Conservative-Liberal Democrat axe falls, unemployment rises, the pound plunges, VAT leaps, the housing market slumps, inflation increases, confidence dips and petrol prices rocket.

Not looking good Mr Osborne. Is that a double dip on the horizon?

Have we learned nothing from Ireland?

Local TV news coming to a city near you

2011-01-24T21:01:00.000Z

That font of considered comment, Twitter, reacted fairly negatively to Culture and Media Secretary Jeremy Hunt's plans to make hyperlocal TV a reality.

Despite the the fact that the announcement came from Mr Hunt, I do think it's a good idea.

The plan could see local TV stations set up initially in the major cities. Ten to 20 is the government's initial target.

Despite having been hit by a whopping great funding cut by the Tory-Lib Dem government, the BBC have confirmed they will fork out up to £25million for the start-up costs.

Now, as long as the plans don't damage the BBC - and I accept this government has already done that through the cuts - and the £25m is money that could be spent elsewhere on BBC services - I would like to see hyperlocal TV news.

I love the news. I love the BBC News Channel. I love the BBC. [Between you and me, I even love Sky News - don't tell anyone.] But how many times have we heard the complaint that there's far too much Manchester focus on BBC North West Tonight?

So what better solution than to turn the news hyperlocal?

Remember Channel One Liverpool? Don't get mixed up with the Channel One which dedicates itself to all things Star Trek (nothing wrong with that!).

Channel One Liverpool was a ground breaking TV station which was run and operated by Trinity Mirror from its Old Hall Street office, an office which it shared with the Liverpool Echo and Liverpool Daily Post. It was available on cable and the quality was good.

Unfortunately, because it was so ahead of its time, Channel One Liverpool wasn't bringing in the revenue. The cable audience simply wasn't there and neither were the advertisers. So the plug was pulled.

On the back of Jeremy Hunt's announcement, this decision would now appear to be a little premature.

But that will hopefully not be the end of local and regional news'paper' companies' foray into TV. Regional news organisations have each built up a weath of skilled video journalists who are producing content for the websites - a number of whom have been snapped up by the broadcast big boys.

Over in Manchester, the MEN had its own Channel M station which sadly became a victim of the downturn.

There is clearly a will, but as yet there hasn't been a way for hyperlocal TV. What's required is for Jeremy Hunt to put our money where his mouth is.

Perhaps then we may see the hyperlocal relevant news on TV which consists of more than just 15 minutes of news from Manchester followed by 15 minutes of inane waffle.

Now that's got to be a little extra on the licence fee.

Read more from PressGazetter.co.uk here [I warn you now, scroll down fast to the text - DO NOT look into the eyes].
And read an interesting viewers' discussion on an old forum on the pros of Channel One Liverpool here.

David Cameron's spin doctor Andy Coulson gets unspun over hack hacking scandal

2011-01-24T01:50:00.002Z

The 'will he, won't he' question over whether David Cameron's over-worked spin doctor would be forced out of his job has been ticking on since before the last time I posted on this blog.

Yep, that's a long, long time.

But at long last Andy Coulson jumped ship, or was discretely forced to walk the plank, just 48 hours before former Prime Minister Gordon Brown asked police if his phone had been hacked.

The fact that Coulson walked on the day that the media was littered with details of the sad resignation of Alan Johnson from his Shadow Chancellor post was purely coincidental. A good day to bury bad news? Course not!

Coulson was the editor of the News of the World at the time of the phone hacking, in fact he has already resigned once from a post because of the scandal. A scandal in which the News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman has already served four months behind bards. Could Andy really not have known? Doubtful.

Should he have have been forced out his government post? Course he should. The question, is should he have been given the post in the first place with the scandal still hanging over him? Or the question should rather be, should the supposedly masterful spin doctor have stayed in post for so long knowing the storm clouds were gathering?

Even Tory-Lib Dem Government Minister and former hack Chris Hulne casts doubt on whether it is plausible that Coulson would not have known about the hacking being done by his own journalists.

While the questions grow, there's one that still hasn't been revealed. Of all the big names who were suspectedly hacked, which includes Gordon Brown and John Prescott, why Lenny Henry? What were you thinking Andy?

Hitting a journalism/politics crossroads

2011-01-24T01:39:00.004Z

A few months back I stepped across the not so invisible line from journalism to politics.

The (now not so new) job takes me out of the newsroom, but it gives me the chance to utilise the skills I learned while in my various roles in journalism.

These obviously include identifying story opportunities, utilising social media, dealing with people, turning around a story, dealing with deadlines, managing websites, creating print products, having an understanding and knowledge of media law, campaigning, etc.

And believe it or not, but I've used shorthand more in the last five months than I have in the last five years. In many ways, part of the new role sees me back at the coalface of journalism.

What I'm doing now is everything I've learned throughout my career, more journalism than before and all that with my key interest - politics.

Which leads me onto where I'm going with this blog.

I am going to introduce a new element to the blog which will be, rather predictably, 'politics'.

You will therefore now find in the masthead of the blog the following: Journalism, Newspapers, New Media, Politics.

So without further ado ... go to the next post to find the first new political post.

Future of the media: Newspaper sales in Ireland fall off a cliff

2010-09-12T09:23:00.005+01:00

I've just returned from a fantastic driving holiday in the Republic of Ireland which, as you would expect, involved lots of driving.

The south west of Ireland was a place where I spent a fair few summer holidays as a child. I hadn't been there for some time and it hasn't changed a bit. Fantastic people, fantastic scenery and the Guinness really does taste better over there.

Anyway, as I was goin' over the Cork and Kerry mountains, I didn't meet a Captain Farrell but I did hear a fascinating debate on RTE1 about the future of newspapers in Ireland and the impact the web has had on the traditional media in the country.

Ok, it's not a subject of discussion we haven't heard before, but put together a subject I'm interested in with amazing scenery and perilous mountain roads, it all makes for a great drive.

The debate followed the publication of the ABC figures for newspaper sales for the first six months of this year in Ireland. Predictably they're not good, following the trend in Britain.

You can read Roy Greenslade's breakdown of the figures here.

So what words of wisdom did the execs from the various Irish national newspapers have for dealing with the decline?

Well, none really. They skirted around the subject of the web. Briefly argued over whether paywalls are good or bad - then concluded on a consensus that the future is probably going to see some web content sitting behind a wall while the rest is freely available.

There was lots of toing and froing about how much London-sourced content the major Irish nationals carry from their British-based parent titles.

All agreed that newspapers will have to tighten belts to secure a future. All agreed that locally sourced content was crucial to keep up standards. None answered how you can tighten belts while securing quality locally sourced material.

But the bulk of the debate was taken up by each newspaper's representative spinning the sales figures to suit their own ends.

It was the same old story - inkies having an inky debate, but missing the bigger picture.

Is it any wonder that newspaper sales are plunging faster than a driver over a Cork and Kerry cliff?

Twitter: Breaking news, aiding news

2010-06-06T13:13:00.004+01:00

Here's an interesting story that's developing as I type.

Liverpool Echo, Liverpool Daily Post and Crosby Herald (all part of the Trinity Mirror Merseyside group) broke this morning that a man had been shot at traffic lights in Crosby last night.

Man shot dead at traffic lights in Crosby is reporter Lorna Hughes' breaking piece.

But it wasn't the Echo, the Post or the Herald which broke the story first. It wasn't even the BBC.

Again Twitter has pipped the traditional media to the scoop as Tweeter Adam Yaffe saw the horrific events unfold and tweeted from the scene.

And again this morning:

But the story doesn't end there as Lorna has used Twitter wisely to contact the eye witness for her in depth follow-up.

News, live, as it happens.

That's the power of Twitter - but then you already know that.

Breaking news and reader comments: Why The Guardian got it wrong ... this time

2010-06-02T19:19:00.002+01:00

Today's horrific shooting rampage in Cumbria has again shown the power of the web for breaking news.

You don't want to hear me go on about how the internet has revolutionised how the journalist works when faced with those 'hold the front page' moments - but it's well worth taking a look how Cumbrian-based journalist Nick Turner has covered today's news on Twitter.

But one notable journalistic issue raised its head this afternoon.

The Guardian was running a liveblog/running story to quickly and effectively break the news as and when it happened. Providing a much needed public service as people wanted to know what was going on.

But the service took an unexpected (for me at least) bashing from some commenters on the site who claimed The Guardian was being Fox News-like by allowing commenting.

You can read some of the comments on Jon Slattery's blog who spotted the exchange and directly on the running story on The Guardian's site.

Guardian.co.uk editor Janine Gibson posted:

"There are very good technical reasons to cover a fast unfolding story in this way, which are nothing to do with turning into Fox News but are to do with speed of publishing and being able to correct things quickly.

"However, we've discussed it and think the bulk of commenters are correct, it's not a particularly useful way to source information on a story such as this, so we will turn the comments off. Thanks to those who raised it constructively."

While everyone is disturbed by a story of what appears to be a man going on a murderous shooting rampage - particularly in this country where this type of outrage is thankfully rare - The Guardian was wrong to turn the comments off.

The readers' comments are as valid and as informing as the journalists'.

Throughout the day, reporters have been largely working on speculation. Take for instance the early reports that the gunman started his rampage by shooting his mother. A 'fact' which has since been disproved [at the time of typing at least].

So giving people the chance to comment and discuss the issues as they happen is part of modern journalism.

I'm not talking about the comments which would formerly have been written in green ink (I see more than my fair share of them), I'm talking about the sensible discussions and comments from readers who were most likely watching the events unfold in all their horror live on TV.

So I for one think it was a shame that The Guardian disabled comments - a shame and a missed opportunity.

Breaking news isn't just about the bare facts. What are 'facts' anyway when it comes to true breaking news. Don't forget, 'not wrong for long'.

One of journalism's main functions is to capture the moment. Capturing the discussion as it happens is that moment.

[It's also worth taking a look at how a local newspaper and website quickly turned a massive national story around in print and online]

The watchdog press: The Telegraph is right to expose MPs' expenses claims

2010-05-31T10:58:00.003+01:00

A scrap has broken out at the Guardian. Ok, not a scrap, but a differing of opinion - come on, it is Bank Holiday Monday.

Guardian stablemates Roy Greenslade and Michael White are at odds when it comes to the validity of the Telegraph's exposé of (now former) Chief Secretary of the Treasury David Laws' expenses claims.

The 'cuts finder general', as he has been labelled, was revealed to have been claiming £950 a month which he was paying to his partner to rent a room at their shared home. A total of more than £40,000. Parliament's, albeit, convoluted expenses rules dictate that members cannot claim expenses for rent when living at a property shared with a spouse.

Mr Laws' excuse ... he didn't consider his partner of over nine years to be his spouse. Perhaps it was a 3,285 night stand.

Anyway, Guardian associate editor Michael White says the Telegraph was wrong to out Laws' financial indiscretion:

If I have got this bit right, the sums are not large by the standards of the MPs expenses saga; £40,000 over eight years, less than what David Cameron's wisteria-clad mortgage cost the taxpayer in two. But Laws had now become the man making the cuts in public expenditure – where cuts to incomes much closer to £5,000 a year will be painful losses to a lot of people. Glib charges of hypocrisy were bound to follow.

All the same I do not think the public interest has been well served by the Telegraph exposé. Laws is a clever, serious fellow who could have opted for a life of idle self-amusement but plunged in public life where dreadful things can happen.

So I regret his going and hope the Telegraph's more thoughtful readers are as unimpressed as I am. Perhaps the newspapers really are losing the plot in their – our – battle to retain sales share.

Can we afford to chew up our governments quite this fast? No. Not only does it shrink the immediate talent pool, it shrinks the prospective one too.

A too shallow talent pool perhaps?

Back at the Guardian office, media mogul Roy Greenslade disagrees:

I cannot believe that the Daily Telegraph should be traduced for revealing that ex-Treasury chief secretary David Laws took more than £40,000 in expenses to rent rooms from his gay partner.

Journalists, of all people, should beware of blaming the messenger. It's true that I regularly criticise papers for what I perceive to be their failings and for overstepping the mark. But the Telegraph, in possession of documents that showed Laws guilty of a substantial breach of parliamentary rules and standards, was obliged to publish.

Similarly, today's Telegraph - drawing once more from its well - reveals that the new chief secretary, Danny Alexander, avoided paying capital gains tax on the sale of a house.

The Laws and Alexander cases are is a reminder to all the MPs from the last parliament - both those who have returned to the Commons and those who stood down - that the paper retains potentially explosive material.

So yes, it's a personal tragedy for David Laws ... but he broke the rules - for whatever reason. He was contravening rules, potentially fraudulently claiming £40,000 worth of expenses claims.

The media is there to act as a watchdog for the public. The Telegraph has done just that, in relation to its lengthy Parliamentary expenses investigations and now in relation to Mr Laws and Mr Alexander.

Instead of shooting the messenger, Parliament needs to regain public confidence and ensure that the best possible people for the job are attracted to take on public office regardless of their bank balance.

Journalists – It's ok to show a little leg, but you don't have to turn to prostitution

2010-05-23T08:27:00.005+01:00

The man from the Mirror's been at it again.

First he jettisons SEO (search engine optimisation), now he's equating modern day journalism with prostitution.

While I disagree with him on his anti-SEO stance, he really does have a point about the prostitution thing.

I don't think Mr Kelly is saying that you'll find your local reporter on a street corner near you - although there could be worse places for a journalist to be than out in the patch - but what he is saying is that traditional mainstream primarily news-print organisations shouldn't sell their souls and news sense for quick audience wins.

In other words: News companies shouldn't ditch the local in favour of the celebrity - even though a Jordan story will attract more page views than a hyper local issue.

While the focus is on hits, the true worth is in engagement and audience relevance. And that's where the money is – if we at least go to look for it.

As Press Gazette's Oliver Luft reports:

Kelly told the Westminster Media Forum that newspapers were in “the audience business” and suggested that titles should focus on distinct, loyal readerships rather than blindly chasing large audiences.
He said newspapers needed to shift focus from the “user” metric to a system which rewarded engagement with readers, he also encouraged titles to follow the good example of Mediaguardian.co.uk, FT.com and MirrorFootball.co.uk and create distinct online brands.
“Advertisers and commercial partners want engagement from the customer [online],” Kelly said.
“Which is what, I think, makes it something of a crime when a newspaper with rich, long-established values decides to chuck those values overboard in favour of a massive disengaged audience.
“I think it is editorial prostitution and long-term commercial suicide.”

Doesn't mince his words Matt Kelly.

But that's not why paywalls won't work for mainstream media, it's because people don't want or need to pay for news online. Not when there's bloggers out there who are taking the battle to the establishment by providing niche interest content to niche audiences, for everything else there's ... well again Mr Kelly puts this better than me:

“Can we charge successfully for general news? Not a chance. Not with the BBC pumping it out by the barrel-load free of charge,” he said.

As I've said before (here), charging for online news is the old guard trying to forge a tried and trusted path in a new landscape. Square peg in a round hole.

I do however disagree with his anti-SEO stance. Sticking with his own analogy, SEO is simply allowing the story to show a little leg to entice the reader in. If the reader likes what they see when they get more than a little leg, then they'll be back for more.

There's a reason why it's the oldest profession in the world. It's up to you whether that's journalism or prostitution.

Image from Global Journalist.

How Gordon Brown's resignation statement highlights the journalist's need to listen as well as 'tweet'

2010-05-10T21:31:00.005+01:00

One of the downsides of the digital news revolution (if I can still call it that) is the all encompassing all out panic to get the news online first.

An example of this was evident today when Gordon Brown announced he was standing down as leader of the Labour party.

Although his statement was just a little over 4mins 30secs, confusion reigned during and immediately after the speech.

Journalists and non-journalists alike were speculating wildly. Is he standing down now? Is he still Prime Minister? Is he stepping down for Nick Clegg?

Twitter was a-twitter.

But one of the biggest skills a journalist needs and has always needed is the ability to listen.

The digital revolution hasn't changed that - in fact it's made it all the more important.

Here's what Gordon Brown said:

And just in case you have trouble listening, here's the transcript:

We have a parliamentary and not presidential system in this country and as I said on Friday, with no party able to command a parliamentary majority arising from the general election, my constitutional duty as prime minister is to ensure that government continues while parties explore options for forming a new administration with majority support in the House of Commons.

The business of government has continued including concerted action in Europe today to avert the financial crisis in the Euro area. Alistair Darling the chancellor spent much of his time yesterday in the European finance ministers meeting in Brussels.

This morning I have had conversations with the president of the European council, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, and the president of the European Central Bank. I have said I would do all I could to ensure that a stable, strong, and principled government is formed able to tackle Britain's economic and political challenges effectively.

As we know, the Liberal Democrats felt that they should first talk to the Conservative Party. Mr Clegg has just informed me that while he intends to continue his dialogue that he has begun with the Conservatives, he now wishes also to take forward formal discussions with the Labour Party. I believe it is sensible and it's in the national interest to respond positively.

The Cabinet will meet soon, a formal policy negotiating process is being established under the arrangements made by the Cabinet Secretary, similar to the negotiations between other parties. The first priority should be an agreed deficit reduction plan, to support economic growth and a return to full employment. I know that both parties recognise the importance of ensuring economic stability in the markets and protecting Britain's standing and both are agreed on the need for a strong and full deficit reduction plan over the coming years.

There is also a progressive majority in Britain and I believe it could be in the interests of the whole country to form a progressive coalition government. In addition to the economic priorities, in my view only such a progressive government can meet the demand for political and electoral change which the British people made last Thursday. Our commitments on a new voting system for the House of Commons and for the election of the House of Lords are clearly part of this.

I would however like to say something also about my own position. If it becomes clear that the national interest, which is stable and principled government, can be best served by forming a coalition between the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats then I believe I should discharge that duty, to form that government, which would in my view command a majority in the House of Commons in the Queen's speech and any other confidence votes.

But I have no desire to stay in my position longer than is needed to ensure the path to economic growth is assured and the process of political reform we have agreed moves forward quickly. The reason that we have a hung parliament is that no single party and no single leader was able to win the full support of the country. As leader of my party I must accept that that is a judgement on me. I therefore intend to ask the Labour Party to set in train the processes needed for its own leadership election. I would hope that it would be completed in time for the new leader to be in post by the time of the Labour Party conference. I will play no part in that contest, I will back no individual candidate.

I believe that the British people now want us to focus on the economy, the continuing fight against terrorism, the terrorist threat to our country, they want us to continue to pursue the economic recovery and I will do so with my usual vigour and determination and I will do all in my power to support the British troops whose service and sacrifice cerate a debt of gratitude we can never fully repay. And I believe on Thursday the country was also telling us that they want a new politics and that the political reforms we seek will help deliver that change. I now intend to facilitate the discussions that the Liberal Democratic party has asked for. Thank you very much. As you will understand I will take no questions this evening, other discussions can be had later. Thank you very much.

Apple iPad Review: The newspaper's saviour or just a babe magnet?

2010-04-12T20:18:00.003+01:00

Today I had the pleasure of filming a review of Apple's iPad by none other than Mr Mac himself Don McAllister.

Don got his hands on the much heralded device while on holiday in America, way ahead of the UK release. And yes, he even gave the staff of the Liverpool Daily Post and Liverpool Echo the chance to have a play - and that includes me!

So will the iPad be the saviour of the newspaper? Ask Alison Gow - she'd love you to.

If you ask me, I'd say it won't save the newspaper, but it may go a long way in helping people (both within the industry and without) to bridge the gap between print and digital.

In fact one of the most impressive things about the iPad is how well it displays news websites - even without the need for bespoke apps. With its touchscreen interface, it makes news sites ... well tactile.

So you have the tactile nature of a newspaper with all the benefits of the internet - and what's more you don't get inky fingers.

But I only had a very brief play with the iPad, what does Don think? Watch the video review to find out, but one unexpected added bonus:

Who can argue with that.

Watch the full video on the Liverpool Echo site here and Liverpool Daily Post here.

Tearing down the paywall: First UK news site pay-for-access experiment comes to an end

2010-04-06T05:15:00.003+01:00

I've never been a fan of paywalls for news websites. It's nothing more than desperate businesses attempting to impose a broken business model onto a new digital business.

Despite that, it was good to see a media company put its money where its mouth is when Johnston Press decided to tip its toes into paywall water with an experiment on a selection of its sites.

But Press Gazette has revealed that the experiment was being wound up early because of poor take up by readers. Conclusive proof that paywalls don't work for regional/local news?

Well, maybe not ... but it's a start.

PG reports:

The paid-for access trial, which charged readers £5 a quarter to access web content, was seen by many as a test to assess whether paywalls could be implemented on flagship titles such as The Scotsman and the Yorkshire Post.
One source has told Press Gazette the number of subscribers paying to access stories on the website of Selkirk-based the Southern Reporter was in the low double figures.

Of course Rupert Murdoch is going to introduce paywalls to The Times and Sunday Times in June. It'll be interesting to see some of the ABCe figures later this year. Not just for The Times and the Sunday Times, but also for their main competitors who will obviously see a healthy upturn in former News International traffic.

I may be coming at this from a purely journalistic perspective (ie not a business one) but I think good journalism (and bad journalism for that matter) should be freely available online for all. That's what the web is about and that's what makes it work.

Now we are out of recession and news companies begin to see their revenues slowly begin to look towards the horizon again, if not yet skyward, now is the time to make online work for modern businesses through innovative means of revenue generation and digital advertising.

Read the full Press Gazette article here

A question for BBC and Sky: When is sport news [and when is it not]?

2010-04-02T08:09:00.003+01:00

I've been watching a fair bit of 24-hour news this week. Well I've been off and the weather has been 24-hour news type weather.

Anyway, flicking between Sky News and the BBC News Channel, one question struck me. Why does Sky News dedicate such a large portion of its time to sport when it has a 24-hour Sky Sports News Channel?

With no sports stories of real note, in other words no sports stories which are news worthy, Sky News still dedicates approximately (nothing scientific here) 10 minutes every hour to sports news. Would it not be better if at the same time Sky News simply signposted to Sky Sports News where there is twice hourly sports bulletins?

I'll be honest, I don't really care what the score was in the Unibond Premier League, or the latest from the netball. So during the sports bulletin on Sky News, I find myself flicking over to BBC News (which is my 24-hour news channel of choice), only to find they are showing their sport bulletin at the same time.

And while we're on the subject ...

My BBC local news 6.30pm bulletin (North West Tonight) has no more than 25 minutes to cram in all the latest from what's going on in a very large region. Not much time.

Even less when at 6.45pm it moves from news to dedicate the bulk of the rest of the show to sport (apart from the obligatory final daft story or inane chatter from the presenters).

Yes, people want sports news on their evening bulletin - I accept that. But aren't they the same people who will know the score from last night's game? Or even worse, for the Monday bulletin, they will know the score from games which happened on Saturday afternoon - a clear 50 hours earlier.

Hardly breaking news ... hardly news.

Liverpool Party Central: bringing politics [and politicians] to the masses

2010-03-16T22:08:00.004Z

Liverpool Daily Post and Liverpool Echo today launched a new website (or rather a network of websites) which is/are designed to bring politics back to the masses.

The aim behind Liverpool Party Central is to encourage engagement with politics and our politicians.

To do this, the party members themselves manage Liverpool Party Central, uploading their content directly to their own party's section of the site (Labour Party Central, Liberal Democrat Party Central, Conservative Party Central, Liberal Party Central and Green Party Central).

In uploading their own content, the politicians are getting out their message without the need of a middle man and communicating directly with the electorate while debating hot topics with opposition party members.

Users can comment directly with party members, ask questions and even make suggestions on issues which they think deserve to be tackled on the site.

The more people feel informed, the more they feel engaged. Lofty ideals, but ideals shared by Liverpool Echo editor Alastair Machray.

Alastair said: "The voting turnout figures in our region have been shameful at times. This gives us the opportunity to link the politicians with the people in a new and exciting way.

"The local and national elections are pivotal for the future of our region and our country. We need people to understand the issues, vote accordingly, and give our governments a real mandate to improve things.

"Party Central opens up the debate. It's not just about politicians sending messages - it's about voters telling politicians what matters."

While the site is launched ahead of the forthcoming local and general elections, Liverpool Party Central is much more long term.

The main goal of the site is to encourage real people to get involved in real politics. Liverpool Party Central is the first step in trying to achieve that. I've no doubt the site will evolve as users give feedback and new developments are made.

Anyway, take a look, see what you think and please give me your feedback and suggestions for how you think Liverpool Party Central can be developed further.

You can read the Liverpool Echo's official launch piece here, with comments from the party leaders here, and the Liverpool Daily Post's launch piece here.

Read Journalism.co.uk preview of Liverpool Party Central and comments from its readers here.

mySociety brings democracy to the masses - go on, join the club

2010-01-17T23:02:00.005Z

You may have noticed - we are entering election season. The locals will be held on May 6 and the general no later than June 3.

So we will expect to see all the usual madcap electioneering from all the parties, with everything from demonic eyes to creaseless airbrushed brow. Cutting through the campaigning comedy capers are those developers with the beating hearts of journalists - mySociety.

As we know, mySociety is the voluntary group behind some of the best citizen journalist (or should that be just journalist ... no, I'm not getting into that pointless argument) websites which bring democracy to the masses.

Here's a list of mySociety projects so far:

In their own words: "Using our services, 200,000 people have written to their MP for the first time, nearly 19,000 potholes and other broken things have been fixed, over 10,500,000 signatures have been left on petitions to the Prime Minister, and at least 77 tiny hats have been knitted for charity."

Who can argue with that?

The mySociety chaps must be rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect of a double whammy election year.

And in preparation, they have already launched Democracy Club where they are calling on volunteers to make the forthcoming elections "the most transparent ever".

Democracy Club is a new, independent network of volunteers who want to help internet-savvy transparency groups like mySociety and The Straight Choice to hold election candidates and representatives to account. Both of these organisations endorse this project. If you sign up, we will (in time) suggest ways you might want to help them.

When you sign up, representatives of these organisations will occasionally suggest tasks by email, such as gathering information on general election candidates or finding and sharing election leaflets, to help them build awesome sites that will make the next election the most transparent ever. They'll also help you to collaborate with other volunteers in your area.

So sign up and help them to cut through the spin this election year.

Citizen journalism goes from light flurry to avalanche and the forecast is good ... very good

2010-01-09T20:47:00.000Z

Fed up of the snow yet? Yeah, me too.

But this current British cold snap just may well go a long way to thaw those anti-webbers' attitudes to digital - thanks to citizen journalism.

Since the first day the white stuff started to fall, Liverpool Echo, Liverpool Daily Post and the sister district titles (Wirral News, Southport Visiter, Ormskirk & Skelmersdale Advertiser, Formby Times, Crosby Herald, Bootle Times and Maghull & Aintree Star) have been running a liveblog giving out the very latest traffic and travel news, as well as the all important school closures.

But instead of the service being a 'you ask us the question and we'll give you the answer' type service, it quickly turned into 'you ask us the question and 10 other people will give you the answer before we've even had time to put the call in'.

I don't want to use the term, but I will - the liveblog was sourcing the crowd.

Another benefit of this type of wiki-journalism has been that we have been able to build up a comprehensive picture of what conditions are like throughout Merseyside from grassroots to region, with comments such as:

"The buses may be running, but they're not getting up Upper Parliament Street. There's two there now abandoned after spending the last 45 minutes wheel spinning."

"Just had a call from my daughter's school, Woodlands, and they say they're going to be closed tomorrow."

It's become a clear and comprehensive source of information for every community in the county - and the stats for users proved the point, particularly as many official sources' sites, such as the travel authorities and local councils either ironically collapsed due to the weight of traffic or failed to update with sufficient information.

So what we have seen thanks to the snow is people flooding on to the sites across Mersyeside in record numbers because they identify that the established news outlets are still the primary information providers. News as information - now there's a novel idea.

But when they've arrived at the sites, they haven't just been consumers of news, they've actually become the providers of the news.

An invaluable collective intelligence.

Nothing we didn't know before I know, but a blinding light of revelation for the curmudgeonly inkies.

"Hmm, so this is what citizen journalism is."

Take a look at what I'm talking about.

Journalism and the class divide - another nail in the newspaper's coffin?

2010-01-05T05:10:00.004Z

The news industry is in trouble as it tries to find a business model to fit 'new media' - ok, so no exclusive there.

But does any blame for the turmoil lay at the door of 'journalism'?

Well, you probably read this at the time, but take another look at Roy Greenslade's blog entry - 'Catch 22 aims to give working class a way into journalism'.

In the piece, Greenslade tells us that 15 publishers – including Trinity Mirror, Condé Nast, the National Magazine Company and The Economist – are to work with Catch 22 which "aims to tackle élitism in journalism by nurturing aspiring young journalists who, by reasons of class or ethnicity, would not usually get a foot in the door".
.
Catch 22 is "an independent grass-roots feeder club to media organisations, claiming to replenish the industry with a new generation of trained young professionals 'who reflect multicultural Britain'."

They were spurred into action after the release of the Unleashing Aspirations report which revealed that journalism is "one of the most exclusive middle-class professions of the 21st century".

I could have done with Catch 22 when I was banging on doors and writing countless letters in an attempt to get my foot into the door of a regional newsroom.

But if this level of intervention is needed to open the door to diversity in the newsroom, this begs the question ... have newspapers/news organisations lost touch with the grassroots readership?

If that be the case, then that would be another factor in the rapid demise of the newspaper.

Unless you've got people writing for the reader, seeing the world as the reader sees it and understanding their concerns, is there any wonder why the industry is haemorrhaging readers?

So what do you think? Have newsrooms lost touch? Is class a bigger issue in the newsroom than in British politics?

UPDATE: Take a look at Will Hutton's brilliant piece on why class matters "and how it influences everything that we do" on The Observer/Guardian site.

The Labour Party and Conservatives electioneering online: The digi'sphere is the new electoral battleground

2010-01-03T08:33:00.021Z

So we know that blogs, Twitter, Facebook and the full array of social media has massively altered how politics works.

Barack Obama's campaign is the template which Britain's political parties want to emulate. And they are making all the noises which make you think that this year's General Election will be as much won and lost in the blogosphere than on the doorstep.

The Observer runs an excellent piece today on 'How the 2010 election will be won by blogs and tweets'.

Writer Toby Helm tells us how Team Cameron is mobilising support through the various social media platforms.

The fact that the right of British politics is currently winning the digital war is one which the left is quickly making moves to contend with as Tim Montgomerie writes on the Conservative Home site under the headline 'The British Left is developing better and better online products'. The Left Foot Forward site details some of those 'online products' when it asks the question: '2010: The year of the left blogosphere'.

But whoa there Mr Blogs.

It's all well and good having the tools to get your message out there, but it's the message which is the most important thing.

As Matthew McGregor of Blue State Digital tells Toby Helm: "New media ... isn't a replacement for traditional campaigning, it allows you to do more traditional campaigning. Done right, the new tools that online campaigning give means that more and more people can become closely involved in campaigns."

It's not that you tweet but what you tweet that is important.

It's what is being said, not how it's being said - the digi'sphere hasn't changed that.

The embargo is dead - long live 24 hour news

2009-11-26T21:09:00.003Z

It was a big day in Liverpool today as the government returned its long awaited (much too long awaited) decision on whether Everton FC can move to Kirkby.

As you would expect, the Liverpool Daily Post and Liverpool Echo were all over the story. The implications for the decision were massive for two camps:

Everton and its fans
The residents of Kirkby.

That's a lot of people, making it a massive story.

So there was a lot riding on the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government John Denham's decision.

Although the deadline for the decision was Friday, our man in Parliament had been given the nod that an announcement would come Thursday with the official report released at 9am.

Richard Down, the reporter who has done a fantastic job covering the story since before the public inquiry was primed and awaiting whether Everton had got a 'Yay', or a 'Nay'.

Nothing could be said, because of the age old straight jacket - the embargo.

But then at shortly before 7pm, whether intentionally or not, Sky played a blinder. They released on the ticker on the Sky News channel that Everton had been given the go-ahead.

I'm using my imagination a little here, but I'm picturing some Malcolm Tucker character at the Department for Communities blowing a four-lettered gasket.

Shortly afterwards, and never wrong for long, Sky's ticker announced that Everton's Destination Kirkby application had been rejected.

Then along came the flood as Twitter became alive with talk of Sky's exclusive.

And although within minutes LDPE had a much better offering, with a full story online, no one remembers who was the second person to run the four minute mile.

So, my point is this ...

Are the days of the embargo numbered?

How many times have you seen articles which are being stored per some embargo agreement, leaked.

With 24 hour news and the likes of Twitter and Facebook, can news really be bottled?

The revolution starts here - Grassroots politics on Facebook

2009-11-18T21:24:00.003Z

Politics is changing. [Stick with me here.]

As we all know (and as I've already mentioned), the political elite are flocking to the likes of Twitter as an instant and effective way of getting their message across - potentially to an audience who have never before been engaged.

But, and more importantly, social media is now where the political grassroots are mobilising.

I've heard it mentioned that there are now no longer any 'causes' left in British politics. But only those detached from their grassroots would say that.

A case in point is a Facebook campaign which has been set up by a Liverpool mum who is fighting to safeguard the future of Labour's Sure Start schemes.

According to mum Louise Ashton-Armstrong:

"If the Tories win the next General Election they want to close Sure Start Centres. I am disgusted at this and want to spread the message to as many people as possible to prevent such a thing ever happening. Sure Start Centres are at the heart of every community, they have a range of services for all ages and are essential for all children's development."

In the space of just one week Louise's Facebook group has gained a following of more than 900 ... and growing.

That's grassroots politics for you. A great political cause which is mobilising people in an apolitical age.

This campaign has made politics real and because of that it's gaining the support of real people. No gimmicks, no game playing. Real politics for real people. This is how to engage the electorate. Political parties take note. The revolution has started.

Click here to visit Louise Ashton-Armstrong's Sure Start campaign Facebook group

Journalism Flash Forward: Could the Guardian's 'beat blogging' posts be the future of journalism

2009-10-19T21:48:00.002+01:00

The Guardian group announced three new journalism vacancies last week. Headline news in itself these days.

But with these new 'beat blogger' positions, the Guardian has unveiled what could very well be the future of journalism.

The job description reads:

The Guardian is launching an initiative in Edinburgh [Leeds and Cardiff] and would like to recruit a blogger interested in creating and curating local multimedia content (text, photographs, audio and video) for their city.The successful candidate will be a confident blogger, know their yelps from their tweets, have a passion for local news and understand how to build relationships with the local community. A journalism qualification is desirable but not essential.Working from your home, or anywhere with WiFi, as a ‘beatblogger’ you will lead the Guardian’s innovative approach to community news coverage in Edinburgh.This will include reporting on local meetings and events with an emphasis on local political decision making, identifying issues of importance to local residents and signposting information and news provided via other sources. You will be willing to collaborate with others to create a vital resource for the city.
This is a completely new role for the Guardian, which we believe reflects the shifting nature of journalism. Bloggers with open minds and a willingness to embrace new working methods can find more information, via the link below...

The Guardian are the first to take the steps into a future journalism business model which could be emulated throughout the country and beyond.

A model in which the majority, if not all reporters could be freelance beat bloggers. They live and work in the community with no ties to any office - have laptop, will travel. These beat bloggers provide the multimedia content (text, image, video, audio) onto a blog which in turn sits under the umbrella of a larger media company who sells advertising onto the blog and who cherry picks the best of the content for its core product, be that in print or online. The journalist gets a cut of the advertising revenue depending on the audience his/her content attracts and where that content is used.

The more content the blogger generates, the greater the audience and the greater the revenue share.

If indeed this is how beat blogging journalism develops and it is proven successful, the business model could be emulated across the country and beyond.

What do you think? A future vision of journalism?

Before you answer, you will want to jump across to Sarah Hartley's blog who answers some of the more immediate questions.

You can also see the full job descriptions for the beatblogger posts in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Leeds.

Comments and the death of the author: Putting the reader at the start and heart of the story

2009-10-14T05:36:00.001+01:00

Most journalists consider themselves wordsmiths. They toil and sweat over every word. But we know from reader research that readers very rarely get beyond the third paragraph.

What's more, reader comments are becoming as important to the audience as the story.

So, if reader behaviour surveys are to be believed, most readers will read the start of the story and skip to the comments below. I know for many stories that's what I do. Only the topics that interest me the most, and the finest writers, will have me from start to finish.

The fact that comments are valued by media websites is highlighted by the fact that news sites give high priority to highlighting/promoting 'most commented' stories and in some cases 'most recommended'. Many on their homepages - prime online real estate.

This is a case of the mainstream media learning from the blogosphere.

Mainstream media now realise that they should no longer be involved in one way preaching at the reader, but instead in a two way conversation.

And to top it all off, these comments are spawning stories in their own right as we have seen at Birmingham Mail, Liverpool Daily Post and Liverpool Echo.

What we are seeing is the slow move to what has been called 'the death of the author' in literary circles. It's the birth of the reader as contributor in the news.

The reader at the start and the heart of the story.

Twitter: the political tool greater than the party political broadcast? But by God it can bite

2009-10-11T19:30:00.003+01:00

For followers of UK politics the past three weeks has been what the world cup finals are for football fanatics.

Although the party conference season is over, politics isn't - in fact it's alive and kicking (hard) on Twitter.

The parties have wholeheartedly embraced social media in all its forms. Each has Facebook pages and all are veterans of YouTube - in varying degrees of success.

But this year has been the year of the Twitterisation of British politics.

Undoubtedly inspired by the success of the Obama social media campaign who managed to turn tweets to votes, so the Brits have arrived.

One of the big Twitters to lead the way has been John Prescott who tweets day and night about various aspects of his Go Fourth Campaign. And despite early rumours that Prezza had a staffer to Twitter, it turns out the 71 year old is in actual fact the thumb behind the tweets.

And while it was said that it was like watching the blind lead the blind when Alastair Campbell once showed Tony Blair how to send a text message, the spin doctor has become one of the foremost political voices on Twitter.

Over on the blue side of the fence, the Conservative big hitters have been a little slower to take to Twitter with party chairman Eric Pickles being the most high profile name signing up admitting with his first Tweet on Oct 2: "Greeting chums welcome to my first twitter entry. I was due to start during the Conference but my Observer chum Gaby Hinsliff told you 1st."

To see which parties are using Twitter most (effectively?), here's a few stats at the time of writing blog:

Labour: following 7,029 - followers 6,866 - Tweets: 855*
Conservatives: following 13,941 - followers 14,270 - Tweets: 1,447
Liberal Democrats: following 2,346 - followers 5,486 - Tweets: 802

[*Labour figures updated as per comment - see below]

As for the leaders ...

Well Gordon Brown's official Twitter account sits under the Downing Street banner (bit official and boring).

Nick Clegg is right there and campaigning.

While David Cameron made his views clear on Christian O'Connell's Absolute Radio breakfast show when he said: "The trouble with Twitter, the instantness of it - too many twits might make a twat." Seems you don't need Twitter for that, as Ofcom ruled.

But Dave isn't the only one to cause waves when it comes to Twitter. Just days after criticising the BBC's Radio 4 Today programme for a "feeble and biased" interview with George Osborne and adding: "Another wholly feeble and biased Today programme rounded off with a fawning interview with a Tory pundit!!"

Bradshaw capped the week off with another Twitter 'controversy' when responding to the segment of Cameron's conference speech in which he talked about the excellent care his son received at the hands of the NHS, the Culture Secretary tweeted: “The Camerons got good NHS care thanks to Labour's investment and reform. Is this the ‘big government’ he derides.”

As you'd expect, Bradshaw took a barracking from the opposition and its supporters, but isn't this exactly what Twitter is about? It allows politicians to air their views and for those views to be immediately debated by other Twitter users. The danger is, the more the politicians get burnt for airing views, the more Twitter is in danger of becoming (even more) politically stage managed. The parties already have Twitter tzars, let's hope their job is not to spin the tweets.

There's no doubt Twitter has become a political force in British politics. Every day the social networking site is feeding the news agenda - many days it's leading the news agenda.

Never more so than with the summer's very British revolution - the #welovetheNHS coup. No blood was spilt, but it was as big a revolution as we've seen on these shores since ... well the Poll Tax. Sparked by Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan's US television-backing of Sarah Palin's argument that the NHS is evil.

Hannan felt the full force of Twitter and David Cameron went out of his way to say that Hannan was so off message with the rest of the party he may as well sit with the Polish right wingers.

But last week the #welovetheNHS campaign was briefly over-shadowed when another flood of hashtag tweets brought down the site when Bono appeared via video message at the Conservative Party conference. What was the hashtag used this time? #Bonoisatwat of course. Perhaps Dave is right!

Could regional 'print' companies be the saviour for regional ITV news?

2009-10-05T05:21:00.002+01:00

So Ofcom has warned that regional news programming on ITV could be losing up to £64m by 2012.

That leaves a mighty hole in the budget given how much quality ITV now produces ... you know, like errr I'm a Celebrity, or errrm All Star Family Fortunes, ok,what about errrm Grimebusters, hmm.

Anyway, moving on ...

So more cost cutting looks to be on the cards after the last round of moneysavings announcements back in March. [Read all about it here, including which quality programming survived.]

So what will more cuts mean to the company's regional news coverage. More importantly, will we in Liverpool notice any more cuts from the Manchester-centric Granada news coverage?

ITV has been hit by the recession and the downturn in advertising spend, as well as increased digital competition. Everything the print media is well aware of.

So apart from axing ITV regional news altogether, what's the solution?

The government is now proposing to allow a consortia to bid for local news programmes.

Hmmm, who could go for that? Who has invested in video? What ... regional print news organisations you say. Of course.

Over in Manchester MEN's well established Channel M produces some excellent video packages, while in Liverpool Trinity Mirror's Liverpool Daily Post & Echo is leading the way with live interactive broadcasting [examples of which
you can view here]. Former print companies - now multimedia companies - across the region are producing video news packages on a daily basis. Many have invested heavily in video training and multimedia kit. But how many are making money on the back of that?

There's no doubt that more training and development is required to bring former regional print companies up to video broadcast standard, but the possibility is there for these companies to join forces to bid to supply video packages for ITV regional news services.

What better way to monetise video content. And what better way to finally improve Liverpool news coverage on Granada.

You can read Ofcom's full reports here.

Everton FC fans show how citizen journalism should be done

2009-08-31T19:56:00.009+01:00

The Liverpool and Everton Banter sites have been running for a couple of years now.

The brainchild of David Higgerson, the sites are an amalgam of contributions from Liverpool Daily Post & Echo journalists and fans in general.

This morning, one of the newest contributors on the Everton site, Peter Reed (nb not Reid), posted his first entry - a video entry featuring his brother John and nephew Charlie's predictions on how Everton will fair against Wigan followed by a review of the predictions following the game.

What you get is an excellent example of how citizen journalism works.

The video is clever, insightful and funny. A must watch for every Blue, and well, football fan as a whole.

You must click here to watch the video!

How to save newspapers - beg!

2009-07-13T05:05:00.002+01:00

Not so long ago, I heard a senior reporter suggest a campaign be launched to warn people that unless they buy their local newspaper, the newspaper won't be around for much longer.

And he wasn't joking.

His unimaginatively named 'Use it or lose it campaign' has been picked up.

Thankfully, this is a joke ... isn't it?

(Someone pass the begging bowl.)

The Wire: Reflecting life as it is - including the newsroom battleground

2009-07-04T06:42:00.001+01:00

I was wondering if people in the real world know just what is happening to the media industry, or is the grim knowledge contained just within the inner-sanctum of the media circle?

Then I got to episode three, season five of The Wire and I heard a speech being delivered by a fictional executive editor to the fictional newsroom of the non-fictional Baltimore Sun. What he said are words that have been echoed in newsrooms around the world.

It's a bad time for newspapers. As you all know.

The news hole is shrinking as advertising dollars continue to decline. Our circulation numbers are also down as we compete with a variety of media. Technology is driving distribution and the internet is a free source of news and opinions. Seeking a balance in this new world we are now faced with hard choices.

We opened our first foreign bureau in London in 1924. The Sun's foreign coverage has been a source of pride ever since. So it is with tremendous regret that I tell you that Chicago (head office) has made it clear that the bureaus in Beijing, Moscow, Jerusalem, Johannesburg and London will all be shut. Elsewhere in the newsroom there will be a fresh round of buy-outs. Chicago has given us some specific budgetary targets that will require some hard choices throughout the newsroom.

We are quite simply going to have to find ways of doing more with less.

Sound familiar?

Charge for online content - kill the online audience

2009-06-28T07:23:00.003+01:00

So here it is again, raising its ugly head - 'newspaper' companies scrabbling around looking at ways of generating revenue by charging for content.

Charging for online content is an old fashioned business model which is the last resort of old fashioned businesses.

It's not how the web works or how readers use the web.

The latest last gasp of desperation of the innovativeless business leaders was sparked by Rupert Murdoch who recently suggested that his monopoly of media businesses would look into developing a model for charging users subscriptions.

When Rupert speaks, the world listens.

The newspaper industry has been slow to evolve with the rapid pace of new media. The charging for online content policy is the fall back position for an industry which has leaders who are failing to innovate. And that is to the detriment of the sustained future of journalism and online news.

It is a crisis. How do you make money from online content?

But it isn't a crisis which the newspaper industry has faced alone. The music industry has been there and done that.

The music industry has faced the online revolution in clear stages. Initially there was denial, then there was panic as sales and revenue nose dived, then there was innovation and experimentation (including ye olde fall back - charging for content) and now there's the first sign of a solution - Spotify.

The problem with making money online (or not) doesn't lie with the content producers - the journalists. It lies with the money men. The ad staff have failed to take the web by the horns. And as a result news companies are now desperately looking at ways of countering falling revenues, partly due to the recession, but mainly because of a failure to fully capitalise on opportunities digital has offered mainstream media companies.

For too long they were allowed to bury their heads in the sand.

So now back to the trusted fallback.

To make online charging work, whether that be via subscription, or pay per click (however much that may be) news companies will need to produce content which isn't being served by the world's media, or the world's bloggers. And if you can find a niche willing to pay, it won't be your niche for long, as the BBC or the legions of bloggers will come charging (or rather not) over the hill.

But to end at the beginning: Charge for content - kill off your audience. Where's the revenue in that?

Simple Minds on Twitter - I'm not talking about journalists (... ok I am)

2009-06-27T07:14:00.009+01:00

Twitter is now everywhere. It's mainstream. It's the new black. It's how oppressed protesters communicate and how the world's media follows those protests. It's how the world's celebrities communicate and how the world expresses its reaction to the death of celebrities.

It's been knocking around for a few years now, but this year Twitter fever has taken hold. It's like swine flu - but bigger.

And I know you already know all this because you're on it, and you've read about it, and heard about it, and you've got the t-shirt.

So I won't go on, except to say I saw a very interesting conversation on Twitter yesterday.

Jim Kerr, lead singer of Simple Minds (@jimkerr09), was crowdsourcing opinion on the price of tickets to see live shows. Brilliant.

He asked:
His followers weren't slow in voicing their opinions, luckily for Mr K, all said Minds ticket prices were value for money.

This isn't the first time he's asked for opinions. One of the first questions he asked the Twitter family shortly after joining up was which song they think should be the first single from the band's excellent new album Graffiti Soul. What resulted was one song for Germany and another for the rest of the world.

Whether that had anything to do with the opinions expressed on Twitter is doubtful, but it goes to show that the lead singer isn't afraid of rolling his sleeves up and getting down and dirty with his followers/fans. Asking questions, fielding questions, being part of the community.

Journalists could learn a lot.

After years of almost non-existent marketing, Simple Minds now appear to be making waves again. And it is no coincidence that Jim has been spearheading the campaign himself using social media as one of the main tools to get the band back on the public radar.

Of course it helps that he's got a great album to shout about.

Click here to read how the Simple Minds lead singer discovered Twitter

Journalists rise up and retake the newsroom ... I'll give you a banana!

2009-06-22T05:33:00.000+01:00

Another thing that digital guru MarkMedia Comerford raises in the interview mentioned in the previous post, is about technology and the journalist.

Many journalists are forever proclaiming their own ineptitude when it comes to anything technical in the newsroom.

And that is to the detriment of journalism.

In the interview with Medie varlden, Mark says:

Journalists must understand the technology, otherwise we are transmitting power to the techies. Red Key Skills are a big problem
You bring a monkey into a room and it learns that there is a large red button and if you press it, you get a banana. If you then insert it into a warehouse full of bananas but with no red button, it will starve to death. So it is with journalists who do not understand the new technology.

The only way for journalists to regain the newsroom and regain the reigns of the rapidly evolving industry, is for them to take on the technology.

Many newsrooms are currently in the hands of the techies, or the backroom boys and girls who very often flex their technical superiority by saying, "It can't be done."

Bollocks to that.

Journalists need to now take back control away from the techies by arming themselves with a greater knowledge of the technology and what it can do for journalism.

I'm not saying we all need to become programmers or IT specialists, but I am saying understand what can and can't really be done.

Then we need to ask the question of the technical support staff: "This is what I want to do, how can you make it happen?"

Knowledge is power, and currently the power is in the wrong hands.

Now where's that red button?

You can read the full Google translation of the Medie varlden interview here

What to do with the newsroom anti-digitalists: "Fire the fuckers"

2009-06-21T06:52:00.000+01:00

Every newsroom has its anti-digitalists. Yes still, after all the goings on in the industry, where the future of news has never looked more clearly digital, there are still those who proclaim proudly their disdain for the web.

And they are very often very vocal about their beliefs. "The internet is killing newspapers," is their favourite chant. Before turning to to update their Facebook status.

While many are just simply taking a vain stance against an inevitable digital future others are simply blustering, like the person who pretends he can't use a mobile phone.

My response to these people is to show them what digital can provide them. Clever use of SEO can simply bring more eyes to their work. Clever use of social media, can widen their sphere of influence as well as enhancing their contacts book beyond the restrictions which they are used to. Etc, etc.

All basic steps which make a huge difference for a journalist. And all the subject of training.

But how far do you go, and how long do you wait for the digital penny to drop?

In a recent interview, one of the forerunners of the digital news revolution, and a leading digital journalist trainer, Mark Comerford, clearly and characteristically draws a very verbal line in the sand.

If journalists aren't willing to develop and adapt, then "fire the fuckers," he tells Medie varlden in Sweden.

Strong words - particularly in Swedish "Brand jävlar" (if Google Translator is to be believed).

The man who set up Europe's first newspaper website (Aftonbladet) explains that those who are hostile to the web have an "unwillingness to see the future" and take "security in looking backwards".

You can read the full translated version here.

The egg that lays itself: When the advertising is the thing that attracts the eyeballs

2009-06-06T06:49:00.009+01:00

It's that age old debate which has rumbled on in newsrooms around the world: Which department is most important, editorial or advertising?

Ad staff obviously say they are the engine of the operation bringing in the wages with the column inches they sell.

Meanwhile, the journalists say you won't have any advertising without the quality penned journalism.

Chicken or egg anyone?

When the egg can lay itself, who needs the chicken.

As fewer and fewer eyeballs are boring into our pages, does that mean the journalism is any less good?

But online there's eyeballs galore - but are they looking for quality journalism? Or are they looking for the latest news on the soaps, girlie pic galleries, etc?

And then you look at what online services and products the major 'news' organisations are launching online. Business directories. Credit card services. Etc. Etc.

Traditional newspaper-style display ads like banners and buttons just haven't brought in the revenue. So news companies are now widening their sights.

In the case of business directories, news company advertising departments are going back to the tried and trusted - local advertising for local people.

But the trouble with service-based advertising is that the service itself is the attraction.

If I want a local florist I'll go to the business directory and find myself a florist. I don't want to read articles about florists, or read how one local florist has been named chairman of the local Rotary Club - I just want the flowers and then go back to searching for the latest Hollyoaks news.

Our quality journalism is now no longer the thing that attracts the eyeballs to the advertising.

So as news companies move from 'news' to 'service', how long will it be before someone at the top of the tree (more often than not someone who isn't a journalist) asks themselves, just why do we go to the expense of having journalists?

... just a thought.

Can newspapers survive online without Google?

2009-02-09T06:39:00.000Z

I've been reading David A Vise's fascinating story behind Google which is aptly named The Google Story. Thanks to colleague Jo Kelly for the recommendation.

There's no denying that Sergey Brin and Larry Page have revolutionised how we use the web. The duo have opened up what was once purely the domain of techies, the world wide web, to the masses.

The Stanford undergraduates couldn't have known what their early online experiments were to become, or how their brand new invention would change the media industry forever.

And while some newspaper companies recoiled in horror when Google unveiled its Google News service, most of these companies have now learned the error of their ways and have rushed to register their sites. The reason is simple - it's where the traffic is. And while news companies' advertising departments struggle to get their heads around the web, there is one thing they understand - traffic equals cash.

But given the former newspaper companies' difficulties in monetising their web offerings, should they/we be looking into going into partnership with Google?

After all Brin and Page not only devised the best search engine, but with CEO Eric Schmidt, they found the Holy Grail ... how to make money through online advertising. Money which once flowed through the pages of newspapers, now goes into Google ads.

Many newspaper companies have long been facing the abyss, the current world-wide financial crisis hasn't made matters any easier, as revenues have dried up. Newspapers' most valuable commodity is their content. But every company has so far failed to find a way of monetising that content.

Meanwhile, Google has, and it isn't in the internet giant's interest to let newspapers die. It is newspapers which generate content, which in turn is attracting users onto Google News.

You could argue that Google has become the biggest media parasite in the world. Mr Schmidt has ruled out a Google bail out for troubled newspaper companies (see here for a Wired account), but Google could still very well be the saviour of news companies.

While Google relies on news companies producing content, news companies rely on ad revenue. What better time for a mutually beneficial arrangement between Google and the news industry where revenue is shared turning Google from media parasite to media company symbiont.

It's at least worth further investigation - what's the alternative?

Julian Todd - the man with the head of a developer but the heart of a journalist

2009-01-05T06:39:00.014Z

If you want to view the future face of journalism, then look no further than Julian Todd (or you could if you could find any photos of him!).

Anyway, in the absence of a pic you'll have to make do with my description.

Julian, who I was fortunate enough to hear talk at the recent BarCamp Liverpool, has the head of a developer, but the heart of a journalist and he is using his techie expertise to break down the barriers to democracy ensuring that information is available to all.

He is one of the collective brains behind the mySociety project which itself is behind:

Other sites which adopt this hyper-relevant/local journalism approach include StreetWire and PlanningAlerts.com

Julian is also working on a project to 'scrape' relevant information from Merseyside Police Force's website to allow residents from throughout the county to find out why the Force helicopter is out and about above their houses.

The work that Julian and the mySociety team are doing was once the domain, and the domain solely of local newspaper reporters who would once scour agendas and minutes to provide all the latest information relevant to their readers.

Even now, planning applications are a primary source of news for any good local newspaper. But Julian and his colleagues have taken it one step further and used their knowledge to automatically scrape relevant information for users.

Julian is in the very truest sense of the term a data miner - a modern day investigative journalist. These are the people who uncover gems of information which are invaluable to readers and users, both in print and online.

The Future of Journalism

It is people like Julian and his fellow developers who we must look towards for the future of journalism. Not only to his skills to be able to source information and scrape websites to uncover hidden facts and relevant details, but it is also to his drive and determination to uncover these facts which journalists must aspire.

No longer is journalism the domain of the English graduate, it is now the stomping ground of developers, programmers and those who know how to source information for those who know their way around the web. Journalists must now be able to source information and be able to use all of their expertise and know how to uncover the truth for their readers.

Convergence isn't just about the newsroom, it's about the journalist and the role of the reporter. Reporters were once known to be jacks of all trades and masters of none. Now they must be jacks of all trades and masters of all. And this is no more true than using the web as a tool and uncovering new ways of getting information.

People like Julian Todd are leading by example and the journalist must take note. This really is the future of journalism - relevant information made accessible to the reader.

Welcome to the future of journalism.

Turning the page on turnpages

2008-12-18T06:04:00.001Z

So Detroit newspaper executives have announced a massive restructure - they're not the only ones!

Part of the restructure will see:

The Detroit Free Press (Gannett-owned) printed on Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
The Detroit News (MediaNews Group-owned) printed on Thursdays and Fridays.
A paid digital-replica subscription service on other days.
A paid thinner editions sold on newsstands on other days.

Phew ... but it's the "digital-replica" part which got me thinking. You can take a look at the Detroit Free Press version here.

Lots of news(paper) outlets put out e-editions of their print editions, but why?

There's a few reasons that I can think of, off the cuff.

The first is that e-editions are loved by advertising sales reps. What's easier than saying to a customer (advertiser - if you are one of these people who call readers 'customers') that their ad will appear online. Added value for the advertiser, surely. Well, not quite. How long will it be before advertisers start to ask just how effective e-edition advertising is?

The second is that it's fairly easy to do. Why not offer the online reader the chance to see the print edition in all its glory? But while they are getting the print edition online, they aren't getting the benefits of online - ie no interactivity, limited search capability, clunky interface.

And the third reason we use turnpage suites is because they are a comfortable bridge from print to a 'kind of digital' for people who haven't yet discovered the wonders of the web and all it can bring - that includes readers and staff members. Subs get to see their finely created pages online (design is indisputably something we need to see more of online), traditional 'print journalists' see something familiar on screen and the reader can access the pages of their favourite read anywhere in the world.

But the novelty soon wears off when they realise the web is better than that.

The Detroit titles have opted for an interesting interface for their e-edition, while my turnpage suite of choice is Issuu - yes that's right, it's free.

I have plans to upload back-dated editions of some of the titles currently under my remit, to create an archive of pre-web editions. But aside from creating a digital archive, I wonder just how long the newspaper industry will desperately cling on to this print/web hybrid safety blanket.

BarCamp Liverpool - brilliant speakers, brilliant event

2008-12-10T23:07:00.005Z

BarCamp's first visit to Liverpool was fantastic.

If you haven't heard of BarCamp (and until a few weeks ago I hadn't), it is described as "an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment". Social networking in its truest form.

The event attracts movers and shakers and anyone interested in social media, the web and all things digital. And BarCamp Liverpool attracted people from around the country.

The way it works is that attendees are also guest speakers. You then fill your time how you like by choosing which talks/demonstrations/workshops you want to attend.

And I attended some crackers.

Some of the highlights were:

Turning an idea into a business - with Andy Brown
Setting up a news site on WordPress - with Dave Coveney
Won't somebody please think of the users - with Ian Pouncey
How to create a killer screencast - with Don McAllister
Open source law - with John O'Shea
Networked democracy - with Rob McKinnon
Public data online - with Julian Todd and Aidan McGuire

All absolutely brilliant. I'm already looking forward to the next BarCamp.

And while I'm still wading through a packed notebook, I'm sure I'll be revisiting one or two BarCamp themes in future blogs.

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-12-10T18:00:00.000Z

Tip 28:

Try a different search engine

Google is a very useful tool, but it does not always find the pages you want, so it is just as well to keep some alternatives handy. The main ones include stalwarts Alta Vista and All The Web, plus Vivisimo Vivisimo.com and Teoma. There are also "metasearch" search engines such as Dogpile and Metacrawler, which will send your query to several search engines at once. Google knows you have a choice, and it doesn't hurt to exercise it from time to time.

Graball - http://www.graball.com/ Search two different search engines side by side and compare results.
Use 'site search' to search within a specific, individual site or to a particular type of site e.g. UK government sites. Especially useful for sites that have poor navigation or awful internal search engines. Use the site: command, for example site: gov.uk or use the Advanced Search screens of the search engines.
Use file format search to limit your search to one or more file formats, for example PDF, PPT, XLS. A good way of focusing your search: many government and industry/market reports are published as PDFs, statistics in spreadsheet format, and PowerPoints are a good way of tracking down experts on a subject. Use the Advanced Search screens or the filetype: command, for example filetype:ppt
Intelways - http://www.intelways.com/. Type in your search once and then run it through individual search engines one by one. The search engines are grouped together by type, for example Image, News, Reference. A useful reminder of what else is out there other than Google and that perhaps you should be thinking of searching different types of information.
Numeric Range Search. Available only in Google and searches for numbers within a specified range. The syntax is 1st number..2nd number. For example:
TV advertising forecasts 2008..2015
or
toblerone 1..5 kg
Alacrawiki Spotlights http://www.alacrawiki.com/. Extremely useful in providing reviews and commentary on industry specific web sites that have statistics, market research and news. Invaluable if you need to get up to speed on key resources in a sector or industry.
Panoramio. http://www.panoramio.com/. Now owned by Google. A geolocation-oriented photo sharing service with uploaded photos presented as a mashup with Google Earth.
Wayback Machine - http://www.archive.org/. For tracking down copies of pages or documents that have disappeared from the original web site. Type in the address of the web site or the full URL of the document, if you know it. Note: this is not guaranteed but worth a try for older documents that are unlikely to be in the search engine caches.
Google Book Search . Useful for searching within books that Google has been allowed to scan, and in particular older text books.
Use anything but Google! For example - Ask.com, Exalead.com, Live.com, Yahoo.com . For a day, try out other search tools to see if you can survive without Google. You may go back to Google as your first port of call but at least you will have discovered the strengths and key features of the alternatives.
For current news try Google News and its alert service (it's free!). And don't forget blogs, for example Google Blogsearch, Ask- Blogs, Blogpulse, Technorati.
Blogpulse trends. Click on the graph icon on the results page to see how often your search terms have been mentioned in blog postings over time. Used by many of us who monitor competitor or industry intelligence to see what are hot topics and when. Many of the 'peaks' will tie in with press announcements: it is those that don't that are really interesting. Click on the peaks in the graph to see the postings.

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-12-09T18:00:00.000Z

Tip 27:

Syntax Search Tricks

Using a special syntax is a way to tell Google that you want to restrict your searches to certain elements or characteristics of Web pages. Google has a fairly complete list of its syntax elements at www.google.com/help/operators.html. Here are some advanced operators that can help narrow down your search results.

Intitle: at the beginning of a query word or phrase (intitle:"Three Blind Mice") restricts your search results to just the titles of Web pages.

Intext: does the opposite of intitle:, searching only the body text, ignoring titles, links, and so forth. Intext: is perfect when what you're searching for might commonly appear in URLs. If you're looking for the term HTML, for example, and you don't want to get results such as www.mysite.com/index.html, you can enter intext:html.

Link: lets you see which pages are linking to your Web page or to another page you're interested in. For example, try typing in link:http://www.pcmag.com.

Try using site: (which restricts results to top-level domains) with intitle: to find certain types of pages. For example, get scholarly pages about Mark Twain by searching for intitle:"Mark Twain"site:edu. Experiment with mixing various elements; you'll develop several strategies for finding the stuff you want more effectively. The site: command is very helpful as an alternative to the mediocre search engines built into many sites.

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-12-08T18:00:00.000Z

Tip 26:

Use Google's Other Specialized Searches

The Google Directory isn't the only alternative Google offers to its main search engine. Depending on the type of search you're doing, you may get better results by using one of Google's more specialized search sites. These include:

Google Apple Macintosh Search searches the main http://www.apple.com domain and other Apple-related sites.

Google Blog Search searches blogs and blog postings.

Google Book Search searches the full text of hundreds of thousands of fiction and non-fiction books.

Google BSD UNIX Search searches a variety of sites that specialize in the BSD version of the UNIX operating system.

Google Groups searches the UseNet archives for relevant articles and postings.

Google Linux Search searches a variety of Linux-related sites.

Google Microsoft Search searches the main http://www.microsoft.com domain and other Microsoft-related sites.

Google News searches a variety of news sites for up-to-the-minute news headlines—as well as historical newspaper archives dating back two centuries.

Google Scholar searches a database of scholarly journals, articles, papers, theses, and books, as well as select university and research libraries.

Google U.S. Government Search searches a variety of U.S. government websites—which makes it the best place to search for official government forms, information, reports, and the like.

Google University Search searches a database of more than 600 university websites—great for finding course schedules, admission information, and the like.

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-12-05T18:00:00.000Z

Tip 25:

Search the Google Directory

Google indexes billions and billions of web pages in its search database - which more often than not produces an overwhelming number of search results. The quantity is there, but sometimes you'd rather have a few quality results.

When quality matters more than quantity, bypass the main Google search engine and use the Google Directory instead. The Google Directory is a relatively small database of web page listings, each of which is handpicked by a team of human editors. The listings in the Google Directory are then annotated and organized into relevant topic categories. You can browse the directory via category, or search for specific terms.

The Google Directory is a useful alternative to searching the massive Google web page index. Google Directory results are more focused and of uniformly higher quality than what you find in the larger search index, and also help you to get a feel of what's available in any given category. Plus, you get the advantage of browsing by category instead of searching, if that's your style.

To access the Google Directory, click the More link on the Google home page and then select Directory on the following page. Alternately, you can go directly to the Google Directory by entering directory.google.com in your web browser.

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-12-04T18:00:00.000Z

Tip 24:

Search for Specific Facts

When you're looking for hard facts, Google might be able to help. Google will always return a list of sites that match your specific query, but if you phrase your query correctly - and are searching for a fact that Google has pre-identified - you can get the precise information you need at the top of the search results page.

This includes fact-based information, such as birthdates, birthplaces, population, and so on. All you have to do is enter a query that states the fact you want to know. For example:

To find the population of San Francisco, enter population san francisco.

To find where Mark Twain was born, enter birthplace mark twain.

To find when President Bill Clinton was born, enter birthday bill clinton.

To find when Raymond Chandler died, enter die raymond chandler.

To find who is the president of Germany, enter president germany.

The answers to these questions are displayed at the top of your search results page. You get the precise answer to your question, according to the referenced website. Click the associated link to learn more from this source.

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-12-03T18:00:00.000Z

Tip 23:

Fine-Tune Your Search with Other Operators

The related: operator is just one of several operators you can use to fine-tune your Google search result. All these operators work the same way; enter the operator as part of your query, followed by the parameter for the operator directly after the colon (no spaces), like this: operator:parameter.

What search operators are available for your use?

Here's a short list:

Operator	Use	Usage
allinanchor:	Restricts search to words in the link text on web pages (with multiple keywords)	allinanchor:keyword1 keyword2
allintext:	Restricts search to the body text of web pages (with multiple keywords)	allintext:keyword1 keyword2
allintitle:	Restricts search to the titles only of web pages (with multiple keywords)	allintitle:keyword1 keyword2
allinurl:	Restricts search to web page addresses (with multiple keywords)	inurl:keyword1 keyword2
filetype:	Restricts search to files of a specified type	filetype:extension
inanchor:	Restricts search to words in the link text on web pages	inanchor:keyword
intext:	Restricts search to the body text of web pages	intext:keyword
intitle:	Restricts search to the titles only of web pages	intitle:keyword
inurl:	Restricts search to web page addresses	inurl:keyword
site:	Restricts search to a specific domain or website	site:domain

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-12-02T18:00:00.000Z

Tip 22:

List Similar Pages

If you find a web page you really like, you can also use Google's related: operator to display pages that are in some way similar to the specified page.

For example, if you really like the articles at InformIT, you can find similar pages by entering related:http://www.informit.com.

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-12-01T18:00:00.000Z

Tip 21:

Search for an Exact Phrase

When you're searching for an exact phrase, you won't get the best results simply by entering all the words in the phrase as your query. Google might return results including the phrase, but it will also return results that include all those words - but not necessarily in that exact order.

When you want to search for an exact phrase, you should enclose the entire phrase in quotation marks. This tells Google to search for the precise keywords in the prescribed order.

For example, if you're searching for Monty Python, you could enter monty python as your query, and you'd get acceptable results; the results will include pages that include both the words "monty" and "python." But these results will include not only pages about the British comedy troupe, but also pages about snakes named Monty, and guys named Monty who have snakes for pets, and any other pages where the words "monty" and "python" occur - anywhere in the page, even if they don't appear adjacent to one another.

To limit the results just to pages about the Monty Python troupe, you want to search for pages that include the two words in that precise order as a phrase. So you should enter the query "monty python" - making sure to surround the phrase with quotation marks. This way, if the word "monty" occurs at the top of a page and "python" occurs at the bottom, it won't be listed in the search results.

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-11-28T18:00:00.000Z

Tip 20:

Search for Similar Words

Not sure you're thinking of the right word for a query? Do you worry that some web pages might use alternate words to describe what you're thinking of?

Fortunately, Google lets you search for similar words—called synonyms—by using the ~ operator. Just include the ~ character before the word in question, and Google will search for all pages that include that word and all appropriate synonyms.

For example, to search for words that are like the word "elderly," enter the query ~elderly. This will find pages that include not just the word "elderly," but also the words "senior," "older," "aged," and so on.

And here's a bonus tip: To list only synonyms, without returning a ton of matches for the original word, combine the ~ operator with the - operator, like this: ~keyword -keyword. This excludes the original word from the synonymous results. Using the previous example, to list only synonyms for the word "elderly," enter ~elderly -elderly.

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-11-27T18:00:00.001Z

Tip 19:

Include or Exclude Words in Your Search

Google automatically ignores the words "and" and "or," these and other small, common words in your queries. These are called stop words, and include "and," "the," "where," "how," "what," "or" (in all lowercase), and other similar words - along with certain single digits and single letters (such as "a").

Including a stop word in a search normally does nothing but slow the search down, which is why Google excises them. As an example, Google takes the query how a toaster works, removes the words "how" and "a," and creates the new, shorter query toaster works.

If you want these common words included in your query, you can override the stop word exclusion by telling Google that it must include specific words in the query. You do this with the + operator, in front of the otherwise excluded word. For example, to include the word "how" in your query, you'd enter +how. Be sure to include a space before the + sign, but not after it.

On the other hand, sometimes you want to refine your results by excluding pages that include a specific word. You can exclude words from your search by using the - operator; any word in your query preceded by the - sign is automatically excluded from the search results. Remember to always include a space before the - sign, and none after.

For example, if you search for bass, you could get pages about the type of male singer or about the type of fish. If you want to search for the type of singer only, enter a query that looks like this: bass –fish.

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-11-26T18:00:00.000Z

Tip 18:

Conduct an "Either/Or" Search

Google automatically assumes the word "and" between all the words in a query. That is, if you enter two words, it assumes you're looking for pages that include both those words—word one and word two. It doesn't return pages that include only one or the other of the words.

The upshot is that you don't have to enter the word "and" in your query. If you're searching for Bob and Ted, all you have to enter is bob ted. Google assumes the "and," and automatically includes it in its internal index search.

This is different from assuming the word "or" between the words in your query. As an example, compare the query bob ted (which is really bob AND ted, remember)with bob OR ted . In the first query, the results include pages that mention both Bob and Ted. In the second query, the results include pages that mention Bob alone, as well as pages that mention Ted alone, as well as pages that mentioned both Bob and Ted. It's a subtle difference, but an important one.

So if you want to conduct an "either/or" search - to search for pages that include one word or another word, but not necessarily both - you have to insert the OR operator between the two keywords. And when you use the OR operator, make sure to insert it in all uppercase, or Google will ignore it as a stop word.

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-11-25T18:00:00.000Z

Tip 17:

Use the Correct Methodology

Whether you're conducting a basic or advanced Google search, there is a certain methodology you should employ. Follow the proper method and you'll get very targeted results; ignore this advice and you'll either get a ton of irrelevant results or a dearth of relevant ones.

While there are many different (and equally valid) approaches to web searching, this particular approach will generate excellent results. It's a six-step process:

Start by thinking about what you want to find. What words best describe the information or concept you're looking for? What alternate words might you use instead? Are there any words that can be excluded from your search to better define your query?
Construct your query. Use as many keywords as you need, the more the better. If at all possible, try to refine your search with the appropriate search operators - or, if your prefer, with the Advanced Search page.
Click the Search button to perform the search.
Evaluate the matches on the Search Results page. If the initial results are not to your liking, refine your query and search again - or refine your search by switching to a more appropriate search site.
Select those matching pages that you wish to view and begin clicking through to those pages.
Save the information that best meets your needs. In other words, it pays to think before you search - and to continue to refine your search after you obtain the initial results. The extra effort is slight, and well worth it.

Citizen journalism - trustworthy local reporting or partisan, dangerous, busy-body ramblings?

2008-11-25T05:56:00.000Z

A couple of days back I was stood with a bunch of journalists in a newsroom together with a bunch of former hacks who have now gone across to the dark side of PR.

The PR-bods were visiting one of the offices where I work to look at the new system which was installed which has seen the merger of a number of district offices under one roof. I'll come back to this issue at a later date when the system has had a chance to bed in and lessons have been learned.

Standing around the table of sandwiches, snacks, coffee and tea, the conversation meandered to the issue of how local reporting has changed since they left the newsroom - just two, three and four years ago.

I've previously written about local authority press officers producing video (which you can catch up on here), so when the conversation moved on from how many videos they produced in each week, the subject of bloggers and citizen journalists came up.

One of the districts within my patch has a very active online community which boasts at least four or five competition news websites.

While one or two of these sites demands the same access to the movers and shakers of the council as the more established media (ie us), they very rarely get it. Of course I welcome the advantage this provides, but you have to wonder how long this can be the case. As followers of blogs increase then they will become (or rather already are) ideal portals for local authorities to distribute information to a niche geographical community.

But then comes a question which was raised during our informal gathering: How can citizen journalists be recognised as legitimate media when they don't follow any code of conduct, or carry any formal training to identify them as journalists?

One citizen journalist I know will stop at nothing to get the photo, or the story - he really is the archetypal big screen hack, only on a small screen blog.

I've even heard stories of him barging into paramedics to get pix of a dying man at the scene of an accident. His reputation now goes before him and he has in fact tarnished the (already delicate) reputation of journalists in the community.

Should the badge of honour of 'journalist' be reserved for only those who follow the Society of Editors' Code of Practice?

Should access to movers and shapers be restricted to 'legitimate' reporters?

It's a tough one. But I do suspect there will be a rapid shift in attitude to citizen journalists when the movers and shakers realise the bloggers boast the very audience they want to move and shake.

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-11-24T18:00:00.000Z

Tip 16:

Google Alerts

Google doesn't give you a feed for search results, but Web Alerts sends you email updates with the latest relevant Google results for a query.

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-11-21T18:00:00.000Z

Tip 15:

Similar Pages

Very few people use this option, even though it can be useful. If you found a good page, and you want to see related pages, click on the "Similar pages" next to the search result. Google will show 30 high-quality sites on the same topic.

It's a good way to discover interesting sites.

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-11-20T18:00:00.000Z

Tip 14:

Breaking News

You won't find information about a breaking news in Google search, so it's a good idea to try Google News and Blog Search .

If the event is really important, Google will show results from Google News at the top of the page.

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-11-19T18:00:00.000Z

Tip 13:

History Search

The order of your keywords is important, so you'll get different results for "search history" and "history search".

Type only the important keywords, in a logical order.

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-11-18T18:00:00.000Z

Tip 12:

Simple Questions

Google shows direct answers for simple questions above the search results. When you try to find a simple fact, enter your query this way: "Italy population", and not as a complicated question like "How many people are in Italy?" because you might confuse Google.

If Google doesn't show an answer, try to imagine a page that answers your question. What would the answer sound like for a question like: "What is the fastest animal on land?". Of course, the page might contain this sentence: "[some animal] is the fastest animal on land".

Build your query this way:
* surround it by quotes, to obtain only results that contain that phrase
* instead of the answer, use a star for each word of the expected answer

Example: "* is the fastest animal on land".

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-11-17T18:00:00.000Z

Tip 11:

Word Definitions

If you need to quickly look up the definition of a word or phrase, simply use the "define:" command.

Example: define:plethora

CoverItLive - now that's what I call instant

2008-11-17T05:55:00.002Z

Back in January I started working with the group sports editor on a project to improve sport content online. From the kick-off (see what I've done there) we looked at how we produce match reports, package them and deliver them to the fans.

One of the primary requirements we focused on, was giving the fans the reports when they wanted it - now.

So inspired by the BBC's live match reports, we set about on a programme of rolling out live updates from one of the main teams in our circulation area - it wasn't Manchester United, but it was a start.

But within the first few games, we discovered a major flaw in the system. Being part of a larger media organisation, the website which was hosting the live updates was subject to rechaching delays, meaning the live updates were far from live.

Around which time the Liverpool Daily Post discovered CoverItLive.com which they had used for this year's local elections. It was instantly clear that this basic third party app was the platform which could carry our live match reports.

Since then, together with the sports editor we have rolled out the live updates using CoverItLive to three of the main teams in the district.

The success of CoverItLive is its simplicity. It's easy to use, allows truly live reports and, in true web 2.0 style, allows followers to contribute through comments and participating in polls.

The Canadian developers behind the application are constantly working on improving what is already a basically perfect tool. But they have done just that, unveiling new features, the latest of which has seen the integration of Twitter.

Using mobile PC devices as previously mentioned on this blog, reporters who would otherwise be attending the game to produce a post-match report anyway are now able to file directly online.

How can news websites afford not to do this?

The most successful of our current CoverItLive match reports regularly attracts more followers online than the team gets through the turnstiles. In the words of Alan Partridge: Back of the net!

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-11-14T10:00:00.000Z

Tip 10:

Calculator

The next time you need to do a quick calculation, instead of bringing up the Calculator tool, you can just type your calculation in to Google.

Example 1: 2+1

Example 2: 2-1

Example 3: 2*2 (multiply)

Example 4: 4/2 (divide)

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-11-13T10:00:00.000Z

Tip 9:

Numeric Ranges

This is a rarely used, but highly useful tip.

If you want to find results that contain any of a range of numbers, you can do this by using the X..Y modifier (in case this is hard to read, what's between the X and Y are two full-stops.

This type of search is useful for years (as shown below), prices or anywhere where you want to provide a series of numbers.

Example: president 1940..1950

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-11-12T10:00:00.000Z

Tip 8:

Area Code Lookup

If all you need to do is to look-up the area code for a phone number, just enter the area code and Google will tell you where it's from.

Example: 0151

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-11-11T10:00:00.000Z

Tip 7:

Phone Listing

If someone calls you on your mobile number and you don't know who it is. If all you have is a phone number, you can look it up on Google using the phonebook feature.

Example: phonebook:0151-1234568

Redesigning newspapers for a digital future

2008-11-11T06:18:00.001Z

The fantastically inspired media commentator Steve Outing (I heap praise on anyone who seems to share my opinion - and also sometimes on those who don't) writes in his blog/column that newspapers should be redesigned to support their companion websites.

His post leads me into an almost seamless follow-up on a previous post in which I concluded: "Instead of companion websites, our websites should have companion newspapers." This turns on its head the existing model which sees media organisations going hell for leather focusing on content for the print title, with the online title being a secondary concern.

Mr Outing suggests that newspapers should be re-created to act as vehicles for primarily promoting the main online offering.

Every story in the print edition should be tied to additional digital content or community. The local feature story in print should point to the multimedia graphic or online database that accompanies it on the Web. Each story should invite print readers to go online and leave a comment or express their opinions. Some stories should ask print readers to share additional information that they may have about the topic or news event online (e.g., eyewitness accounts or photos). Fast-breaking stories published in print should instruct readers how to sign up for mobile news alerts as new developments unfold.

He also suggests that 'newspaper' companies are on the road to ruin if they continue to follow the tried and trusted print path as once loyal print consumers become disillusioned by staff cuts and tighter pagination.

Instead, our newspapers should be targeted at the 'loyalists' who in turn are prompted to go online to read more, to comment, to interact, to watch the video, to see the gallery, to listen to the podcast, to do so much more, that they can't do in the paper.

The print edition as an island model that remains prevalent in the industry even today is a sure way for circulation erosion to accelerate as even the print loyalists abandon ship.
As counterintuitive as it might seem on the surface, genuine print integration with digital is the path that newspaper publishers must take in order to keep the print edition alive and avoid a quickening of print newspapers' slide downward.

The only way to save the title, is by strengthening the brand and shifting the focus.

We already have growing numbers of younger people and silver surfers flocking online, now we need to convert old-school readers into new media users.

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-11-10T10:00:00.000Z

Tip 6:

This OR That

By default, when you do a search, Google will include all the terms specified in the search. If you are looking for any one or more terms to match, then you can use the OR operator. (Nb: The OR has to be capitalized).

Example: internet journalism OR advertising

Why newspapers are damaging the news business

2008-11-08T07:28:00.003Z

I've said it before (namely here) and I'll say it again: newspapers impede the development of news websites.

While primary focus is given to what for now is seen as the cash cow - newspapers - then madcap debates will still be had about whether a story should be broken online, or in print. The answer of course is always - online!

Holding back only damages the 'brand' ... and it is the brand which will see us through a cold harsh winter [for now].

Would any editor in his/her right mind really consider holding back a match report from Saturday's game until Monday, or even later in the case of weekly newspapers? The answer of course is no (please God, don't let me hear someone say yes).

So why is it that serious consideration is still being given to holding back stories for the best part of a week? It's all in the name of 'exclusivity' and selling papers.

Reality check: readers don't care about the word 'exclusive'. Ok, it may look nice in a reporter's cuttings file, but it is now so over-used, so incorrectly used (just look how many of the Sundays will claim a story, which is carried in every other Sunday, as an exclusive), that the word is now meaningless to the people who matter the most. No not the reporters, nor the editor, but the readers.

While editors try to preserve print sale through a print over web policy, they damage their websites, user confidence in the site diminishes and the longterm future of the brand is jeopardised.

So you see why newspapers are damaging news websites.

Just this week, when Kevin Maney of Portolio.com asked Marc Andreessen what he would do if he were running the New York Times, the Netscape founder said:

Shut off the print edition right now. You’ve got to play offense. You’ve got to do what Intel did in ’85 when it was getting killed by the Japanese in memory chips, which was its dominant business. And it famously killed the business—shut it off and focused on its much smaller business, microprocessors, because that was going to be the market of the future. And the minute Intel got out of playing defense and into playing offense, its future was secure. The newspaper companies have to do exactly the same thing.

The financial markets have discounted forward to the terminal conclusion for newspapers, which is basically bankruptcy. So at this point, if you’re one of these major newspapers and you shut off the printing press, your stock price would probably go up, despite the fact that you would lose 90 percent of your revenue. Then you play offense. And guess what? You’re an internet company.

Good advice - but one step at a time hey Marc. The future is online, and while we don't kill off our print titles, we need to shift focus from the short-term to the long-term evolution of our industry.

Instead of companion websites, our websites should have companion newspapers.

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-11-07T10:00:00.001Z

Tip 5:

Specific Document Types

If you're looking to find results that are of a specific type, you can use the modifier "filetype:". For example, you might want to find only PowerPoint presentations related to internet journalism.

Example: "internet journalism" filetype:ppt

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-11-06T10:00:00.001Z

Tip 4:

Similar Words and Synonyms

If you want to include a word in your search, but want to include results that contain similar words or synonyms, use the "~" in front of the word.

Example: "internet journalism" ~professional

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-11-05T10:00:00.000Z

Tip 3:

Site Specific Search

Often, you want to search a specific website for content that matches a certain phrase. Even if the site doesn't support a built-in search feature, you can use Google to search the site for your term.

Simply use the "site: somesite.com" modifier.

Example: "internet journalism" site:www.nytimes.com

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-11-04T10:00:00.000Z

Tip 2:

Include and Exclude Words

Let’s say you want to search for content about internet journalism, but you want to exclude any results that contain the term advertising. To do this, simply use the "-" sign in front of the word you want to exclude.

Example Search: internet journalism -advertising

Why newsrooms should be run like a US election campaign

2008-11-04T07:21:00.002Z

My God the Americans know how to do politics.

It's got drama, excitement, intrigue, in-fighting, out-fighting, personalities, Bruce Springsteen ... oh and a dash of issues too.

If you thought it couldn't get anymore like a season of The West Wing, then there's a high profile death in the campaign to cap it off.

And apart from all that, American politics has found a way of really engaging with people.

Neil Kinnock and the 1992 "Alright" shenanigans aside, can you imagine Gordon Brown or David Cameron filling a football stadium?

Gannett digital development director Ted Mann writes in his MoJo DoJo blog on CourierPostOnline.com, how Obama has capitalised on social media to really get down and dirty with the voters.

Among the weapons in the Obama armory are: text messages (SMS), email, mobile sites, Facebook and you could even follow Barack on Twitter.

Mr Mann makes the point that newsrooms could learn a lot from how the Democrats in particular have run their campaign.

But there's nothing too mind boggling, it's just about newsrooms demolishing their ivory towers and communicating with the people they are trying to reach.

Simple really. Who needs a $400m+ budget?

Quick tips to search the web like an expert - How to use Google

2008-11-03T10:00:00.003Z

Earlier this year I was tasked with drawing up a training day for a group of journalists and photographers to show them how the web can benefit their work and how their work can benefit from the web.

Fresh from a week at UCLan and a session on using Google with Markmedia, I drew up a session which ripped off Mark's top tips. I also did a little delving online to find out if there were any other little gems of information on how journalists can get quick wins from the web.

I drew up a presentation and compiled a worksheet of tips under the title: 'How to use Google like an expert.'

From here on in, I'll post a tip each day. And if you have any tips which you'd like to share, just leave a comment and I'll include them in the list.

Tip 1:

Explicit Phrase

Let’s say you are looking for content about internet journalism. Instead of just typing internet journalism into the Google search box, you will likely be better off searching explicitly for the phrase.

To do this, simply enclose the search phrase within double quotes.

Example: "internet journalism"

Things I would like to see in every newsroom, some essential tools for the multimedia journalist ... oh, and err some toys I would like to play with

2008-10-30T06:32:00.000Z

#5: Compact mobile PCs

Immediacy is - or at least should be - the byword for the multimedia newsroom. News as it happens and where it happens.

To do this, the news team must be given the tools to enable them to report from the scene of news stories. With this in mind, I've had the chance to try out two portable machines which do allow reporters to do just that.

First up was the Asus Eee PC.

What a great little machine. It's an office which can fit in your purse (if you're that way inclined). While it's small, it has all the basic functionality that a reporter needs. Using a dongle, you can connect to the web to send back reports from the field (or beach - see the pic above of one of my colleagues filing copy from Southport beach), while there's enough ports and sockets, as well as card readers to ensure you can connect your camera and send them back to base, or even upload directly to the web.

The keyboard is compact, but well designed and fairly easy to use - after you get used to it. The only problem I had with it was the low resolution screen which means that some websites can't be displayed in full, requiring horizontal scrolling. But this is a very minor grumble for a machine which is perfect in design and almost perfect in execution.

Second up was the Samsung Q1.

Another nifty little machine, which can come as a standalone touchscreen webtablet style screen which has a split qwerty keyboard for left and right thumb typing, or as a neat foldaway package with USB keyboard which looks just like a purse (again, if you are that way inclined). With this devise you can install a 3G sim card and have the office in the palm of your hand. And like the Eee PC, the Q1 has enough sockets and slots to satisfy all your device needs.

While the touchscreen takes some getting used to and the thumb keyboard is next to impossible to master, the USB keyboard is easier to use than the Asus.

Having used both machines, it's difficult to choose one from the other. Both have downsides, both have plus points. But from the perspective of mobile reporting, both machines are perfect to pick up and go.

On Saturday I had a reporter using the Q1 from the darkest depths of Buxton to liveblog a football match. The results were fantastic, providing better 3G connection than a regular laptop and 3G card.

While reporters don't need to be set up to take on Nasa from the front seat of the company car, they do need to be equipped to capture, process and deliver media in all its format, and both these machines allow them to do just that.

Blogging pays: Focusing in on cash rewards

2008-10-29T20:59:00.000Z

I awoke this morning to find a letter on my door mat. It was from Ford, and inside was a cheque for £216.

... and it's all thanks to a blog.

It began when the cluster clocks on my Ford Focus failed. All of my display clocks went haywire and I was left driving without a speedo.

The repair bill was over £300. I mentioned it to a colleague who authors the very amusing Driving Passion motoring blog. He then wrote a short entry (Ford Focus Appeal) asking his readers if anyone else had experienced similar problems.

To date 55 people have responded. The problem was wider than Ford were letting on.

But amongst those responders was a researcher for BBC's Watchdog programme who had had a whiff of the case and came across Steve's blog. Following the subsequent broadcast, a previously uncooperative Ford announced they were willing to pay for any repairs, minus £99.

Meanwhile I had already paid over £300 for the repair work. So in went my repair bill and this morning back came my cheque from Ford.

Ford forced into a u-turn, thanks to a blog. Result.

I owe you drink Steve.

Bloggers asking questions that matter - how dare they!

2008-10-27T05:48:00.001Z

I've just been on a wander through the blogosphere looking at blogs which don't have the honour of having a place in my Google Reader.

What I discovered was bloggers actively (and sometimes viciously) discussing what we do ... and how we do it.

The overwhelming consensus is that not only are we doing it wrong, but we are doing it badly.

These bloggers think regional and local newspapers and websites fail to get to the crux of the stories and issues that effect them, and they also think that mainstream media are far too easily bending to pressure.

There's nothing new in these accusations, but now these complaints are reaching an audience of their own - thanks to the blogosphere. What would once have been a grumble down the pub, is now reaching people, and gathering weight.

Some of the accusations I have picked up on:

Reporters are not asking the relevant questions
Newspapers are in the pockets of local authorities
Newspapers are in the pockets of the main sports clubs
At my local paper, journalism has been replaced by churnalism

Yikes ... and this is just a few of the many.

So what do we do? Ignore them and hope they go away? Turn the other cheek? Or do we invite them in to listen to their concerns?

The latter.

There was one time when newspapers could file complaints of this sort in the bin, but now these complaints have a platform of their own.

And to be fair, perhaps some of their points are fair.

For instance is the relationship between sports clubs and media outlets too cosy? I'll stick my neck out and say yes.

If a newspaper doesn't play ball, then it doesn't get access. So can a local paper, which depends on football for sales, really rattle the cage and risk losing the exclusive cosy fireside chats with the ball-kicking star? Or can it really question the latest press release from the club's spin machine?

Yes, and yes. As journalists we have an obligation to ask 'the' questions and we have an obligation to demand 'the' answers. That's what we are there for, and that's why readers return to us time and again. To fail to do this, is to sacrifice our readership.

Our readership is out there talking about what we do, and it's time the newspaper/media industry listened.

Suffice it to say, these blogs now have pride of place in my Google Reader.

Why we must turn every newsroom into an A.F.Z.

2008-10-25T08:15:00.000+01:00

For those who don't know what A.F.Z.s are: Acronym Free Zones.

Ok, it's a bad joke, but so is using acronyms for every single element of multimedia.

Reason: there will always be people in the room who haven't got a clue what you are talking about and will simply switch off.

Not the way to win hearts and minds on the march into the new media frontier.

People use acronyms to prove they are in the know - well done.

Now let's get over your ego and move on with those who speak English.

Code is no way to communicate to an already sceptical team.

So leave the acronyms at your computer screen and cut out the B.S.

Will the most important audience please stand up

2008-10-20T07:04:00.002+01:00

With print titles and websites, newspapers are now juggling audiences. Add to that paid-for print audience, as well as free print audiences.

So many audiences - so many needs.

But which audience is the most desirable? Which audience does a news company want to attract the most?

Which audience's needs supersedes the others?

It's a question which every editor must now ask themselves every single day. Should a story be released immediately online or held back for the print title? Should the latest expose be used in the free title, or held back for the paid-for?

A daily struggle ... for many.

The way I see it, it comes down to another question: Which audience is the most valued?

My answer is they all are. So why risk breaking a trusted relationship with one audience in favour of satisfying another?
That is what an editor does each and every time they decide to squirrel away a story in the hopes they can capture a few more sales. Our audience isn't naive. They know stories don't break conveniently to suit our deadlines. By hoarding stories, we treat our online audience with contempt and damage our relationship with the very people who will allow us to continue in this business.

An audience is an audience. They need to be listened to. They want news now, not next Thursday. Listen to them, or they'll go elsewhere (there's no poverty of choice) and you won't have to worry about which audience is the most important, because you won't have one.

Things I would like to see in every newsroom, some essential tools for the multimedia journalist ... oh, and err some toys I would like to play with

2008-10-18T07:02:00.001+01:00

# 4: Multimedia phones

How do you make the most of your reporters?

Step one is to arm them with multimedia phones and turn them into a 24-7 army of multimedia journalists.

These pieces of kit are being used by most people out on the street (aka citizen journalists) so why aren't our reporters kitted up with the relevant tools for the job?

A good phone will have the capability to:

take good quality photos (print quality)
capture good quality video with even better quality audio (there's no use having Spielberg-esque visuals if you can't hear what is being said)
record good quality audio
have quick and reliable web access

.. oh yeah, and also make telephone calls.

There's much debate about which phone is best for the job, with many in the industry proclaiming the Nokia N95 as the journalist's tool of choice - and that's not even taking into account the newly launch N96.

But I have a confession to make. I use the Sony Ericsson K850i. It does everything the N95 does, but having played with both I found the image and audio quality on the K850i to be better. But that's just me.

How can media companies afford not to invest? Just think, journalists on the scene, filing copy, photos, video and audio - as it happens.

The future in your pocket.

Let reporters report - not re-write

2008-10-12T07:05:00.000+01:00

Here's a radical one.

I attended the Digital Editors' Network in UCLan last week where I was lucky enough to hear a presentation from Jane Singer creatively titled 'Barbarians at the Gate ... or Liberators in Disguise?'.

During the presentation, one of the questions which Jane asks is why do media companies bother to re-write press releases? Why not, she suggests, just put the press release up online as soon as it lands for all to see?

Audible gasp.

Just make sure you label the press release as having come from where it has come from. That way, you can free up talented journalists to do what they do best - report ... instead of re-write.

Hmmm.

I've been mulling the idea over in my head since the presentation, and mentioned it to a number of people in the various offices I work in. Without fail, they have all come back with the same response: "Jane Singer hasn't seen the crap we receive."

But the thing is ... she has.

Jane Singer is currently a member of the department of Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire and the Johnston Press Chair in Digital Journalism. And according to her UCLan profile, she was Prodigy's first news manager, in charge of one of the first around-the-clock news products ever to be delivered to Americans' homes through a computer, as well as boasting five years' experience as a reporter and editor at three daily newspapers in the eastern United States.

To be fair to the more talented PR press release writers, some of them used to be where we are. In fact one local authority in my patch has a press office which is made up of all former senior journalists. And what's more, 80% of that team used to work with me! You couldn't get a more talented bunch of writers (and now multimedia producers).

OK, there are varying degrees of quality from authority to authority, and public body to public body, so what do we do, just reproduce the poor quality ones too?

Yes says Jane, then everyone can see what crap is being spouted and by whom.

So while they are freed from having to toil over a badly worded press release, reporters can then question those press releases, question those in power, get to the bottom of the story and do what they are trained to do - cut through the crap and tell people what they need to know.

In his latest blog entry, Paul Bradshaw quotes Philip Meyer, author of the Vanishing Newspaper, whose views on this point seem to tally with Jane Singer's.

Paul quotes Mr Meyer as saying:

The old hunter-gatherer model of journalism is no longer sufficient. Now that information is so plentiful, we don't need new information so much as help in processing what's already available. Just as the development of modern agriculture led to a demand for varieties of processed food, the information age has created a demand for processed information. We need someone to put it into context, give it theoretical framing and suggest ways to act on it.

By letting the press releases appear online, albeit attributed and unprocessed, then we are freeing up reporters to get out and report. They can do what most citizen journalists cannot do and what most bloggers haven't been trained to do. Put into context the events of the day by making sense of things and getting to the core of the story.

So after all that, I'm coming around to Jane Singer's way of thinking on this, although I do still have concerns:

If a press release appears unprocessed under one of my mastheads, will the reader be able to separate what is being attributed to someone else and what is being 'reported'?
Will my websites be damaged by poorly written press releases?
Should we put out someone's messages without questioning them first?

So many questions, and there's countless more. But the more I think about it, the more I find myself singing from the Singer songbook.

Things I would like to see in every newsroom, some essential tools for the multimedia journalist ... oh, and err some toys I would like to play with

2008-10-08T07:15:00.000+01:00

# 3: Retractable Papermate Pencil

When it comes to journalistic tools, there are very few as reliable as the retractable Papermate pencil.

It is designed to perfection.

It really is the shorthand writer's best friend. It is slick, well balanced, designed for speed and can only be challenged by one other writing tool - more on that another time.

When you are stuck in court (it's been a while for me, but I've got a good memory), it's the only thing you can rely on.

Cost cutters take note: keep your hands off the Papermate.

'Journalists should get out more'

2008-10-07T23:09:00.002+01:00

I attended the 10th Journalism Leaders Forum at UCLan in Preston this evening where a distinguished panel discussed the future of the industry.

Joining Forum chairman and founder of the Journalism Leaders Programme Francois Nel was: Vice President of Content and Strategy at Morris Digital Works, Steve Yelvington; Blogs Editor for the Guardian, Kevin Anderson; MD of Newspaper Next, Steve Gray; Johnston Press Chair in Digital Journalism Jane Singer; and Lancashire Evening Post Editorial Director, Simon Reynolds.

So with that, here's some key quotes from the forum:

Steve Gray:

"The web means our readers will be looking for content online that is relevant to their lives. We need to be 'the' utility people turn to."

"Banner advertising, which is now the largest source of digital ad revenue will become the the smallest as we find new ways to post advertising online."

Kevin Anderson:

"There's very few journalists who are good across all media. You must allow journalists to work to their strengths."

Simon Reynolds:

"The biggest challenge for journalists is the mental challenge. Thinking across multi media is difficult."

"News is the biggest driver online. Local news, local sport.
"Reveal and inform and the audience will come."

Steve Gray:

"Journalists need to go back to the people they serve and address the issues that relate to them.
"Get out of the building and speak to the people you want to reach."

Kevin Anderson:

"Newspapers haven't taken advantage of the disruptive technologies digital has introduced."

"The journalists who succeed are the ones who don't wait for training, but get out there and do it."

Jane Singer:

"Newspaper companies could go a long way if the advertising departments looked at the innovations being spearheaded in the newsroom and worked on monetising those innovations."

Steve Gray:

"What are the readers' needs that need to be met?
"What can 'we' do to meet those needs?"

Francois Nel:

"After what we have heard this evening, it is encouraging to discover that there is a commercial viable option for journalism."

Steve Gray:

"If those upstairs in your management aren't on board with digital, then update your resume and get out.
"If you want to stay in a rapidly shrinking industry, then just stay where you are."

Things I would like to see in every newsroom, some essential tools for the multimedia journalist ... oh, and err some toys I would like to play with

2008-10-06T07:11:00.001+01:00

#2: Interactive screen

To make multimedia succeed, newsrooms need to be redesigned to have multimedia at their very core. This will involve investment and it will require some new tools to make it all work.

One such tool would be a fully interactive multimedia wall.

This shouldn't just be a big screen TV, but a display to show internet, news channels and be right at the heart of the newsroom where it can display active story lists, page layouts, plans, etc.

I've not been to a newsroom where such a screen is being used although I have seen regular large screen TVs displaying 24 hour news channels. So I've been taking a look around the web to see if such a screen exists.

The only thing that seems to come close so far is a magic white board - the likes of which are being used in schools.

However, I did stumble across the Panasonic Life Wall - it really does do it all ... and more. It's scheduled to come out "later this year", but there's no word on price as yet. Never a good sign.

But just think of the happy newsroom when the World Cup comes around - everyone can watch England get knocked out on big screen from the comfort of their office chair.

A bedrock of community journalism calls it a day

2008-10-04T10:40:00.000+01:00

On Friday I went to the leaving lunch of one of the unrecognised bedrocks of quality community journalism.

He took the opportunity to take a far too early retirement (in my opinion). You can hardly blame him considering the fact that he joined the industry in very different times.

Straight from school in 1965 he entered the world of journalism at his local paper. While ownership changed around him, it is where he stayed for the full length of his career.

He worked through what have been described as the “glory days of British journalism”, with the move from broadsheet to tabloid, hot metal to computers and now the internet. And at every stage he embraced the change – even writing a blog.

When I first met him, as a junior reporter on his title, he was News Editor. He set the benchmark for that position which I have not seen any News Editor since him meet.

Under his patient tutelage hundreds of reporters got a grounding in journalism before spring boarding onto bigger (but maybe not greater) things. I’m never surprised to meet a journalist from anywhere in the country, at any level, who benefited from his guidance during the formative years of their careers.

A lot of reporters owe him a thank you.

Happy retirement Cliff.

Things I would like to see in every newsroom, some essential tools for the multimedia journalist ... oh, and err some toys I would like to play with

2008-10-03T08:20:00.007+01:00

#1: Journalists/reporters

Radical as this may sound, particularly in light of the current trend of axe falling, my dream newsroom would be packed full of reporters. Not those pompous types who see reporting local news as beneath them - no, the reporters who want to serve their readers/users.

For too long, pompous journalists have been allowed to run riot, ruining strong local and regional papers by writing at their readers and not for their readers. Far too many column inches - online and in print - have been devoted to B-list celebs at the expense of local news.

A good reporter must remember that every story warrants a front page to those people featured in it. Every story should be treated as the most important story that day by the reporter writing it, regardless of whether it's a murder, the latest greatest expose, or a report from last night's W.I. meeting.

Things I would like to see in every newsroom, some essential tools for the multimedia journalist ... oh, and err some toys I would like to play with

2008-10-03T07:24:00.000+01:00

With all the restructuring of "news gathering organisations" of late, I've been thinking a lot about how I would redesign the newsroom.

Change is here - there's no avoiding it.

There was one time when a journalist's tool kit consisted of nothing more than a pad and a pencil (preferably one of those retractable stay sharp ones). But now things are different.

Today, no self-respecting reporter should be seen out without a pad, pencil (preferably one of those retractable stay sharp ones - some things don't change) and multimedia phone with web access, video and mp3 recording capability.

So every now and again, I'll use this blog to list some of the things which I think are essential tools for the multimedia journalist and technological gadgets for the smooth running of a cross platform, multimedia news organisation. (And some will be the cool toys which I've seen, read about, played with or dreamed about.)

Innovate or die: Google's timeline of success

2008-09-28T08:28:00.005+01:00

I have a confession ... I love Google.

Yes I know, it's an Internet monster with a growing number of 'I hate Google' groups with growing numbers of people joining them. And I've read their arguments.

But I love it.

It keeps me informed, it helps me organise my day, it helps me link to the rest of the world from the comfort of my armchair. But most importantly, it makes my life easier.

A friend of mine flagged Google up as a "useful tool" back in the late '90s. I thought, what a stupid name. I've been using it ever since.

Now I use an iGoogle account to collect everything online which is important, from my office calendar to the latest news about my favourite band. It's all there and there's more available.

They seem to have thought of everything, and what they haven't thought of, their creative teams are working on.

When Google News was launched, the naysayers were proclaiming it as the biggest threat to the newspaper industry. Now every newspaper worth its salt is clambering to get all their publications listed because they know that is where the traffic is coming from.

I could go on to list everything which Google does, but I really haven't got that amount of time.

They are doing everything that a really good multimedia company should be doing. Listening, innovating and succeeding. And to think it started out in a rented garage.

Follow the evolution of Google on this timeline, from the brainchild of a couple of geeks, to the all encompassing powerhouse which it is today, and ask yourself why 'traditional' newspapers have lost so much of their power.

Innovate or die.

'Readers should be seen but not heard': breaking the habit of three lifetimes

2008-09-26T07:36:00.001+01:00

It wasn't so long ago that the only input a reader would have with his local paper would be through the letters pages ... or if he went on a killing spree and ended up as the splash.

Today things are different. Now we want readers to tell us their opinions. At the end of every other story we ask 'What do you think?'

But why aren't our readers flocking to our forums to have their views aired?

Our forums seem to be the stomping ground of the hardcore, or those with a particular axe to grind. We don't seem to be attracting our usual demographic of readers or the number of commenters which our weighty tomes should warrant.

Why?

Well firstly, for 200 years or more we've asked our readers to listen to us - 'We're the voice of authority'. And now, for the first time ever, we are inviting them to air their views. It will take a bit longer than a web 2.0 week to change the habit of three healthy lifetimes.

If we continue to cover stories which are relevant to the communities which we cover, then people will slowly come around to realise that they can have a say on issues which directly relate to them.

Secondly, and I know this from personal experience, some journalists (notice I only say 'some') love the sound of their own voice. They think it's their opinions that count. They could have a one-man meeting and still overrun. But, and this is the problem, there are journalists out there who haven't mastered the reporter's number one skill - the art of listening.

It takes more more than one person to have a conversation. And that applies to forums too.

Reporters should be using forums as an opportunity to communicate with their readers. Forums are an opportunity to quickly get involved in a conversation with large numbers of people who are affected by the issues we write about. Why wouldn't we converse with them? Why wouldn't we use it as a platform to source opinions, views and even stories?

This is something that works. Just last year one of the titles I work on posted a story online about a local marine who was serving in Afghanistan and who strapped himself to the outside of a helicopter to go and recover the body of a fallen comrade. We started a thread on the title's forums asking for readers to send their best wishes to the brave soldier. The first comment was from the man's proud father.

Forums could be a fertile ground for journalists, not just the stomping ground of the green ink brigade.

I feel a project coming on ... I'll keep you posted.

In a spin over the dark side - a.k.a. public relations

2008-09-22T09:03:00.011+01:00

The debate was raging in the office this week about the raison d'etre of a local authority press office. Are they there to inform or spin?

Journalists would definitely say inform, but the evidence leans the other way.

A colleague has written a very good blog post which you can read here on this very subject, so I will go no further on that.

But going on a slight tangent, I’d like to look at the strange new trend which has seen local government press offices transformed into multimedia newsrooms.

Going out on jobs now, you will be surprised (or maybe not) to see council press offices armed to the teeth with the latest video kit. Top quality cameras, best in class tripods, expensive microphones, and they will boast about a fully furnished editing suite back at base.

A good investment of your local council tax?

No longer do press offices have to rely on local newspapers to get their message out. They are themselves producing their own bespoke publications, and more and more are producing good quality multimedia news-style reports.

Propaganda? You bet.

You have likely seen some of these videos on local newspaper websites, but not known it. They are the multimedia press release. And as some newspaper offices struggle to fund the kind of kit needed to produce video, and the training to allow reporters to use it, then why not?

Well here comes the point which Nick Davies makes when he coined the term churnalism. A newspaper wouldn’t, or shouldn’t reproduce a press release unchecked and countered with balance, so should it reproduce a full council video release? Of course it’s going to happen, but these PR videos should only be used with a big health warning – ‘video produced by failed journalist’. [That’s a joke all you people on the dark side.]

The danger is that in these times of cost cutting and newspaper job losses, press releases and PR fodder are being used as a replacement for the hack. Balance and all the elements of good journalism go out the window.

Press officers should be there to help. They should be a journalist's friend. Most are former journalists themselves, who have gone the way of the dark side in the search of a decent wage. Who can blame them?

But a tip to all those reporters who face the sharp tongue of a hard-bitten Alistair Campbell wannabe press officer – don’t rise to it. Treat a press office exactly as you would a contact. Culture a good relationship, chat about the football and the weather. But always check their information and be aware of the possibility of spin.

It wasn't that long ago that a press officer would want to keep a reporter sweet to ensure he could get something in the paper. No longer. “You don’t want to put it in, so what, it’s already on our website.”

Welcome to Web 2.0 PR.

Newspapers making the news - for going down the pan

2008-09-19T08:01:00.003+01:00

As if we didn't know journalism was on a rapid trajectory of transformation, along came the 'credit crunch'.

News of merging banks and collapsing companies has been preceded by ever more newspaper redundancies and title and office closures.

Manchester Evening News was the latest to announce some radical cost cutting measures, while even closer to home there have been a number of casualties. Full a full list of world wide newspaper gloom, check out Newspaper Death Watch - it makes for some very depressing, yet interesting reading.

But from department to department, there is an acceptance of change. Despite the pain, most people are aware of the need for change.

Newspapers have been slow to evolve in the digital age. An early flurry of investment dried up when the dotcom bubble burst - and so did the confidence. So began newspapers' wanderings in the digital wilderness.

Traditional newspaper companies have been by their very nature conservative. If something is working, then why change it? Well it ain't working now ... and it hasn't been working for some time.

The web and the influx of new technologies has changed what we do, how we do it, and how readers want to consume what we produce. Readers have embraced new technologies, while the newspaper industry has had its head firmly stuck up its own printing press.

Another Friday rant over ...

The digital revolution puts local back on the map

2008-09-15T07:27:00.014+01:00

The world wide web has made the whole wide world a very small place.

At the click of a mouse button, I can be anywhere in the world, chatting to people across the globe, checking out the traffic on the main artery roads of some far flung city ... the world wide web is my oyster.

But the net has done something else. It has brought together communities.

People are now drawn together under the banner of 'community'. Networks of shared interest dominate the Internet. Pre-web, people with niche interests would have to sit alone in their one bed bedsit satisfying their hobby. But now, the web (for the good or the bad) has brought these people together.

Online, community comes in two guises:

* Social

* Geographic

It is geographic which will be the saviour of many a local newspaper. There is no more a social network than a local community. Nearly three decades after Maggie T proclaimed community dead - it's back, but this time with a vengeance.

People want to know what's going on in their neighbourhood. Social networking is the web 2.0 equivalent to curtain twitching. Your neighbours are on Facebook. They are on Twitter. They probably even Plurk. And guess what ... they may even be talking about you.

That's got to be worth a momentary curtain twitch.

But as the Internet continues its domination of the media, national and even regional omnibus newspapers will struggle to capture the attention of a large scale audience. The future will be in the hands of the hyper local newspapers. It is these titles which can boast hyper local content which is of hyper local interest to their niche audiences.

Many of them are the local weekly newspapers who have now embraced the digital revolution and who are producing hyper local websites. These are the titles who don't have an army of staff, and who can't all boast the expert correspondents in economics, health, education, etc, but who can boast the expert correspondents in what is going on next door, in the next street, in your local council.

It will be these titles, these journalists, together with local neighbourhood correspondents, who will thrive in the digital revolution, leaving the larger regionals and the nationals to fight it out among themselves with photos of Jordan or Posh Spice.

Dinosaurs in sheep's clothing

2008-09-12T07:05:00.003+01:00

You have to wonder, just how many newsroom leaders really believe in multimedia, as opposed to just going there because the business says so.

I suspect less than is healthy.

There are more people who are begrudgingly heading down the multimedia path than really let on. While making the right grunting noises towards multimedia, they actually drag their feet, and in fact impede the development of modern journalism.

And it's because they still don't see that news is restricted by regular newspaper deadlines. Stories don't stop breaking because the presses have started rolling. But the 'dinosaur journalist' would like to think that that's the case.

Multimedia gives newspaper journalists the freedom to be first with the news - for far too long the domain of the broadcast media. The new media age gives us the chance to really take full advantage of stories and deliver them up to readers in ways which have never before been open to us.

These dinosaurs haven't asked readers how they are consuming news in the multimedia age. They haven't wanted to look at the trends. But at the same time, they are the ones who are constantly online tracking events.

Multimedia (not just digital) is the future of the ailing newspaper industry. It breathes new life into media titles, making them relevant to the 21st century reader/view/commenter/community.

The journalist-dinosaurs who disguise themselves in sheep's clothing are a cancer to the progression of the newspaper industry and they endanger the long-term future of the jobs of their colleagues.

Friday morning rant over ... for now.

Could Plastic be the subs' flexible friend?

2008-09-09T08:30:00.008+01:00

Following on from an earlier post (Introducing design and creativity to the web), I was pleased to read an article on the New York Times' site about Plastic Logic's new e-reader.

NYT say Plastic Logic will introduce publicly on Monday its version of an electronic newspaper reader: "a lightweight plastic screen that mimics the look — but not the feel — of a printed newspaper."

The device is larger than the Kindle, and has a black and white display, but importantly, it can display designed pages, with images and a layout - as opposed to the now familiar dreaded slab of text.

It is expected that the Plastic Logic reader will be available by the start of next year ... in America.

Page designers could be embraced by the digital revolution yet!

I feel reinvented

2008-09-08T20:11:00.010+01:00

I've only recently added Howard Owens to my Google Reader, but already I've come across one of the most impressive blog entries I have ever read.

In 'Ten Things Journalists Can Do to Reinvent Journalism' Howard has come up with a ten point plan for journalists to, well, 'reinvent' journalism. And his plan is brilliant in its simplicity.

It's nothing you won't have heard before, in fact you'll swear it has come directly from the mouth of your first editor. It did.

Far from trying to reinvent the wheel, the ten point plan is a good reminder of grass roots journalism. A must read for every journalist.

Arianna Huffington: Huffing and puffing and blowing the paper house down?

2008-09-07T08:36:00.019+01:00

A colleague passed on a link to me to a Prospect Magazine feature on the highly influential Huffington Post news/views website.

Arianna Huffington set up the HuffPost as a liberal news site back in 2005 as a platform for politics and media, as well as a generous helping of entertainment. It unashamedly wears its politics on its sleeve and boasts itself as a 'news blogs video community'.

In his Prospect feature, Andrew Keen argues that the HuffPost has not only revolutionised news, it has also played a part in destroying it.

There's no doubting Huffington has played a part in revolutionising the blog. Since she started out, the blog has gone mainstream, moving from a soapbox for any wacko with a keyboard, to a recognised and widely respected medium for people's views.

But not only that - Arianna has found the multimedia Holy Grail. She's actually making money - and lots of it - through her 'online newspaper'.

Ward argues: "No wonder the conventional newspaper business is in crisis. Lightly staffed websites like HuffPost are siphoning off both readers and advertising."

He continues: "Most newspapers have websites, but the cost of paying journalists and editors to produce content doesn't support the traditional news industry any more.

"At the moment, HuffPost works because the luminaries on Huffington's network have access to the reliable information derived from professional news journalists and commentators. But as the traditional newspaper business withers, media is liable to degenerate into a surreal Ponzi scheme of digital illusions and delusions where empirical facts will be replaced by opinion and professional news gatherers by commentators-with-attitude. This represents a real threat to representative democracy. In a society where nobody can reliably know what is going on, it is hard to act as a good citizen or to vote in good conscience on the performance of our politicians.

"So how can we save journalism and keep democracy alive?"

Isn't democracy about giving the man on the street a voice? And what else is a blog, but just one big megaphone which can be heard around the world.

Ward's argument about the decline of 'journalists' leading to the decline of reliable content is misleading. Who is to say what a reporter writes is any more informed than what someone already in the know would write? Our sources are now public. And our public has access to them. We are at the moment nothing more than a conduit for what people want to say or get across. The web, blogs and the likes, allow them to say it themselves.

A reporter who relies on information from a source is as equally susceptible to someone with an axe to grind and an opinion, than the reader of a blog. And while a professional reporter should always seek out counter arguments and opinions, well so can the blog reader.

As more and more people get their news from aggregators and RSS, the local axe-grinders can get their message out without the need for us, our newspapers, or our websites ... and they already do. Do a search for blogs in your area.

HuffPost is a case in point. It sells itself as a community - and that's exactly what it is. Networks of like minded, like-interest people getting their views and messages out there.

Newspapers now have to be in there and part of it. If local news is what a newspaper (print and online) is about, then it needs the experts to write its content. And these experts are the local people. Reporters from that community, who know the local issues, who have grown up within its streets and know the locals' concerns.

If I'm reading a story about economics, I want that story to be written by someone who knows about economics, who understands the story.

Incidentally, the colleague who passed the link on has been an avid newspaper reader every day, buying his favourite broadsheet. But he recently bought a laptop and now never buys the paper admitting: "I now read more news than ever!" Enough said.