Tuesday 25 November 2008

100 NOT OUT

Many congratulations to The Journalist, magazine of the National Union of Journalists, which has just released a centenary issue. It's been standing up for hacks over 100 years, and does so in the current issue with an interesting insight into the Press Association's Yorkshire base in Howden. A former worker describes a "battery hen atmosphere" with "the air of alienation and control freakery", which is highly amusing seeing as I recently spoke to Margaret Hicks, PA Head of Production, who said her organisation is "fast, fair and accurate" and that Howden is a great place to work. Don't think I want to end up there, then, but stranger things have happened...

Anna Politkovskaya, the Russian journalist murdered in 2006, is a benchmark professional for her trade. The judge ordered the court to be closed to press and public for the trial over her death, but now it has reopened again and we hear a Russian politician was behind the assassination, according to a defence lawyer quoted in The Guardian today. If this is true, we have a prime example of how censorship can get out of hand - yes, military D-Notices are a pretty good idea so as to protect tactics and weather forecasts from the enemy, but look at how many countries still rely on the BBC World Service for their news, as they know it's impartial. If it weren't for investigative journalists like Politkovskaya, we'd never get to find out what goes on behind closed doors. She has had a fair amount of publicity since her death, but deserves even more.

And finally, there's a bunch of young lads and lasses in my very own Sheffield who are upset because they've been handed Acceptable Behaviour Contracts for playing football in the street. But their parents have refused to sign the contracts because they claim their children were doing nothing wrong. Look at the kids in this picture, they would never step outside the law - it's not as if they come from a council estate in South Yorkshire or anything.
PICTURE: Dean Atkins (The Star)

Monday 17 November 2008

THE FACE OF JOURNALISM

Last Thursday I got paid £20 for a 40-minute prospectus photoshoot, so I am going to be the next 'face of journalism' at the University of Sheffield! The department got some good news this week too, as The Times have said it's the best place to study journalism in the country. My 200 mile trip up here was worth it after all... Meanwhile, I've finally finished an essay on alternative media for a course module, which I was quite relieved about in the end. I'm certainly enjoying broadcast work much more than theory this year, as we've already had the chance to go out and interview people - and camera work starts next Friday, which will be good fun!

The case of Baby P is shocking, and the News of the World did some good investigative work yesterday with a good witness interview. But why can we see the baby's photo and not their name? Surely the picture identifies it, and you're allowed to identify a baby/child in the media once they're dead anyway. But I couldn't believe the Haringey council leader showing the media 'performance graphs' at a press conference to show how well they'd done - what a joke!

Am I too young to get some business cards? Well I finally gave into the temptation of buying 250 "free" from VistaPrint, despite the fact that after all the extra costs it actually came to £4.78, but not to worry. I only hope I didn't make a spelling mistake and have to correct them all with a marker pen.

It's back home for the weekend this Friday to see (the family and) Southend United v Oldham Athletic - a good chance to pick up three points, and remind Lee Hughes that he should still be in jail...