Journalism, leadership and the realities of change
I was talking to friend and colleague Neil MacDonald (over on Twitter as xxnapoleonsolo) the other day about dodos. It had been a long, rather difficult week, and I happened to express the opinion that dodos deserved everything they got, as they hadn't been able to evolve fast enough to overcome changing circumstances.The rather tortured... Continue Reading →
This was quite a taxing post to write. It took me a while to work through my thoughts and I suspect it might irritate some as, essentially, it advocates allowing the people we interview to see and change copy before it's finished. So, before I get to the point, here's a story. As a trainee... Continue Reading →
It must be dissertation time of year again; requests for help from journalism students are winging their way to my inbox like swallows. They're pretty varied too, ranging from considered requests for assistance, with specific questions and an explanation of the focus of the student's work, to broad-brush "what you think the future holds for... Continue Reading →
UPDATED 28/01/10... see additions in bold, and the statement from Irish Mail on Sunday reproduced in full at the bottom of the original post. See also journalism.co.uk's latest article. Further Update: 09/04/10: Air traffic controller blogger drops press complaint following Irish Mail on Sunday apology (Journalism.co.uk)I read a blog post today that made me sa... Continue Reading →
I don't know if I'm late to the party with this but I've just discovered Storybird and, let me tell you, it's an amazing website. So brilliantly simple, effective (and free - essential for me to try something for the first time) and engaging - I think it has great opportunities for journalists who want... Continue Reading →
I have a new blog - it's an official work one, ostensibly about technology but actually about all kinds of digital stuff that interests me. Not likely to bother TechCrunch, for example.Anyway, I wrote about a local Flickr group issue on it as my first post - There was a right royal kick-off in the... Continue Reading →
via livingstories.googlelabs.com MSM tries its hand at curation. Posted via web from
Just a quick post to share an image I found via a social work blog (the original source is here) because it has, I think, real resonance for newspaper journalists right now.I'd say that currently there are more opportunities than ever before to change something that's making you unhappy - whether it's learning new skills... Continue Reading →
I read a brief from the Society of Editors conference the other day where an editor- a mate of mine, actually - told his assembled audience:"What we produce is niche. Nobody else sits in our courts every day. Nobody else scrutinises our public bodies". It's stirring stuff and I'm sure his audience swelled with pride... Continue Reading →
Today brought what can only be described as the worst appeal for work experience with a newspaper I've seen in two decades of working in a newsroom. It is a genuine application - in case you were wondering - and I wanted to share it, verbatim, missing caps and all, because I still can't quite... Continue Reading →
Alison Gow | Building the New 