once were journalists
Posted in journalism, work, writing on Jan 3rd, 2008
Last week Dave Lee picked up on Spannerworks’ advert for a new journalist, and drew our attention to the fact that it was, frankly, rubbish.
I hope that Charlie’s reply to Dave’s follow-up post explains a bit more about how we work and what we’re doing in a marketing agency. We’ve spent plenty of time talking [...]
Posted in journalism, work, writing on Dec 29th, 2007
There’s a set of responsibilities incumbent on a journalist that needn’t trouble a copywriter, PR executive or marketing assistant. The latter are generally assumed to have an agenda, with a message to sell or place, and their words regarded accordingly. The former should be writing for the reader.
Given the above, it’s not always surprising that [...]
Posted in journalism on Dec 10th, 2007
One of the things that troubled both Charlie and me before we came to work at Spannerworks was the very idea of a journalist working for a marketing company. That and the idea that we’d never again be able to listen to Bill Hicks and laugh without reservation.
Neither of us was sure exactly how, indeed [...]
Posted in journalism, online journalism, reading on Oct 19th, 2007
It’s easy to get wonderfully carried away with this whole internet news revolution thing. The argument for it goes something like this: the internet lowers the barriers to participation in the gathering, distribution and discussion of news, and makes information freely accessible to all.
There’s no doubt it’s happening. Consumers are today presented with a wider [...]
Posted in journalism on Oct 10th, 2007
I’m intrigued by this story in the Guardian. The headline, YouGov claims influence over Brown’s election retreat, sounds distinctly sinister to me. Isn’t the purpose of a polling organisation to find out what people think?
A quote from the company head also sits uneasily:
YouGov chief executive Nadhim Zahawi explained that in the past polling firms tested [...]
Posted in journalism on Sep 29th, 2007
A few weeks ago I was trawling around on the internet trying to find road casualty figures for this post on Living. One thing which struck me at the time was how difficult it is to find global figures – the best I could come up with was a frighteningly large number I’d seen repeated [...]
Posted in journalism on Sep 17th, 2007
Anyone would think the gentlemen of the press wanted Northern Rock to go tits-up. At the very least there’s been some incautious language going around these last few days.
You can understand a bit of hysteria from people whose life-savings might be on the line, but isn’t it our job as journalists to get a grip [...]
Posted in journalism on Aug 31st, 2007
“Fact me till I fart,” Chris Morris once commanded. That man was way ahead of the curve.
In this little beauty, the BBC has bravely dispensed with those troublesome linking ideas that pull a story together, in preference for the stark-bollock-naked facts. It’s all rather conventional up until the crosshead, but then the journo lets rip.
‘Thousands [...]
Posted in journalism, online journalism on Aug 28th, 2007
The quip in Simon’s recent post* that journalists on proper magazines enjoy perks like, um, a readership has been playing on my mind. One of our most promising projects is very much, let’s say, under-read at the moment, despite some rather splendid content.
I guess the concept of building a readership comes more easily to a [...]
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