I followed a good debate on Twitter today, when some valuable points were made regarding the pros and cons of doing unpaid work experience, and so I thought it was worth capturing the discussion via Storify. [<a href="http://storify.com/alisongow/unpaid-journalism-work-experience-should-you" target="_blank">View the story "Unpaid journalism work experience: The debate" on Storify</a>]
What does an editor do? …
...It's not an 'Answers on a Postcard, Please' moment, or a rhetorical question (although I guess it's one many working in the news industry have asked, in varying tones of frustration, at one time or another). For the purposes of this blog post, however, it is part of my MA dissertation I'm tackling on the Journalism... Continue Reading →
Changing times: Making a 1940s newspaper (video)
I've been involved in lots of meetings and discussions about the future of local newspaper journalism recently, but when you're gazing ahead, sometimes it's nice to be reminded of where everything came from.I saved this video so long ago on YouTube I can't credit whoever pointed me in at it, but it's originally from Archive.org... Continue Reading →
The responsibility of learning
I always find the Pew Research Centre data fascinating - the information is all based on US findings, of course, but it's a wonderful insight into the way people think (and, given the right technology, operate). The latest one - Learning in the Digital Age - is no exception. It's packed with stats and graphs, although... Continue Reading →
Universal journalist prototype
The pros and cons of shorthand for journalists is a question that seems to vex j-students up and down the UK, as I discovered when Tom Rouse asked me for my view recently. As our conversation continued on Twitter and others joined in I learned that a) shorthand was essential b) shorthand was not essential and... Continue Reading →
Of Pinterest and pastures new….
WalesOnline's Pinterest presence has been steadily growing in the two months since we set it up, with 16 boards now covering everything from music to sport and interior design. It's a great resource and we've hooked it up to Facebook and Twitter to enable cross-promotion of what we're up to, so as an experiment I'm happy... Continue Reading →
Finding the value in media disruption
The ever-popular media game of Media Buzzword Bingo continues apace; most recently, Curation has been shouldered aside in favour of Disruption (used in a 'go, team!' way, rather than the less-upbeat dictionary definition as found here). The latest person to lament the lack of disruption being carried out by the media is Ross Levinsohn, EVP... Continue Reading →
What is journalism? What are journalists? (a post J-leaders ramble)
My poor neglected blog. It's been weeks since I've had the head-space to sit down and write out some thoughts.But I have been saving items that made me think a lot, for when I did have some time. Things like this tweet... Oh god. We have entered into the "what is a citizen journalist" black... Continue Reading →
Tweeting court cases – the case for the defence
Technology and court reporting - it's the debate that keeps on giving. In March 2009, after the Palm Beach Post won the right for a reporter to leave the courtroom to tweet an update (seriously, this happened) I wrote that the UK needed to get the courtroom press bench online and networked, and you suddenly... Continue Reading →
Rebekah Brooks and Horsegate: There but for the grace of God go I…
I have few things in common with Rebekah Brooks beyond the fact that we're both women and both in the media (ish - it's not like she's gone into Engineering or anything since quitting the Day Job). But now it turns out we have two other things in common - we're both horsewomen, and we've both... Continue Reading →
Alison Gow | Building the New 