More out of intrigue than actual lofty money-making ambition, there will now be Google ads on my feed and my blog sidebar.
What’s the bet I make about 20p?
Archive for January, 2009
Google ads on my blog
January 15th, 2009Johann Hari on exploited interns and workies
January 14th, 2009The Independent’s Johann Hari has written a great piece blasting unpaid internships. I agree with every point he makes:
This is happening all over Britain’s professions. The wealthy writer (and self-confessed “pushy mum”) Rachel Johnson is admirably honest about it. She says: “The truth is getting a job depends almost entirely on getting work experience, which depends almost entirely on whom you or your family knows … This back-scratching cycle of privilege is the middle-class Circle of Life. So it’s all jolly unfair, frankly.”
Who does this cheat? Johnson says: “All those students who support themselves through university, only to find out when they leave that the glittering prizes have already been handed out, at a ceremony they never knew was taking place, to the undergraduate with the best connections.”
This isn’t just bad for the people who are shut out. It is bad for the professions – and the country. Talent is distributed throughout the population – but we are only picking from a tiny tier, based on their parents’ bank balance. Imagine if the England football team was made up of the sons of the 1966 winners and their mates. How would they perform? Imagine if films could be cast using only the children of actors. How many talents would we exclude?
Blogging gives you cancer
January 12th, 2009Not really. Don’t panic.
Here’s a great new blog following cancer stories in the Daily Mail:
“A blog following the Daily Mail’s ongoing mission to divide all the inanimate objects in the world into those that cause or cure cancer. This blog will be logging the Daily Mail’s progress through 2008 using the tools of pedantry, swearing and Venn diagrams.”
I LOVE it. In the latest entry, energy-saving lightbulbs are getting a kicking:
Oh wait, energy saving lightbulbs will give you skin cancer (and migraines, and eczema, and dizziness).
If they continue at this rate they will classify 936 objects into cancer causing or cancer curing in 2008. That’s not counting the Mail on Sunday.
Christ on a bike.
(Updated) Two mysteries behind the fake Daily Mail tweeter
January 10th, 2009
The fake Daily Mail Twitter account has been causing a few laughs lately. Status messages like: “Tomorrow’s front page “COULD CURRY GIVE YOU CANCER?” Also inside: Free Chicken Tikka for EVERY reader,” have made me chuckle greatly. In fact, I think I enjoy reading this Twitter feed more than I do reading the paper — but that’s another matter.
Anyway, until very very recently, the fake Daily Mail account had the username of @dailymail_uk. Now it sports @Notdailymail_uk. So what gives? Did the Daily Mail come down heavy on this impersonator? Were the fake account’s opinions (“@tom_watson You put pics of your kids online? Are you mad? Don’t you know the internets are full of perverts? Do all Labour MPs hate kids?“) too similar to that of the actual paper?
I find it hard to believe. After all, the Daily Mail doesn’t hold Twitter in very high regard. So why do they care? (Note to students: Try to avoid starting your articles with the words ‘How boring’…). If Twitter is used by sad, time-endowed losers, then surely they don’t need to bother forcing the tweeter to change his name?
So that’s mystery one: Have the Daily Mail stepped in?
Mystery two is: Who is he?
I say ‘he’, because there have been plenty of tweets alluding to male-dom. Most noticeably: “Thinking about having a quick “Power Wank” before heading in to the office. It’s excellent for relaxation AND helps flavour the porridge.”
I’ve not heard (m)any women use the phrase ‘Power Wank’ lately.
And I think he’s an insider at the paper. The tweet: “Fuck! We’ve got an injunction saying we can’t say anything about the Scientology involvement with Travolta’s son. May print any way,” was backed up by a (non-Twittering) Mail colleague who confirmed: “It is true about the Travolta thing, I was working there today and the story got pulled for just that reason!”
Of course, this doesn’t mean he works at the Daily Mail — he could, in theory, work anywhere within the UK media. Or even, I suppose, be an avid follower of media news. But he seems a little too close to the newspaper to not have some involvement. He also seems to post using mobile Twitter site Slandr a lot more than than any computer-based Twitter tools. Much sneakier in a work situation 
Update: @Notdailymail_uk has just posted this:
[Meta: twitter renamed me to @notdailymail_uk & changed my password. They didn't contact me or offer any redress. How safe is your account?]
Does this mean, then, that the Daily Mail got in direct contact with Twitter demanding the change?
MEN goes mojo and wins
January 9th, 2009Three reasons why this is great.
1) It’s an embedded player — many more people will watch it as a result.
2) It’s unedited and raw — no need to waste time in post-production. Get this out there!
3) It was shot with an N95 — meaning it was probably sent back to the newsroom instantly.
Watch:
Now, if we leave aside the fact the video is a little boring, the newsgathering here has proven to be very effective. The reporter — Nicola Dowling — has clearly rushed to the scene, whipped out here n95, and shot a quick clip. Not much thought has gone into it — because there was no need.
Imagine if Ronaldo had have still been there. She would have had an exclusive video interview. The WORLD would have watched. Sadly, I guess she was a little too late, but she’s probably got at least an hour on the local TV crew, if not more.
The point is, Nicola’s use of mobile journalism (oh, okay then, I’ll call it mojo. Sheesh) demonstrates how easy it is. How many old timers (sorry guys) say “I’m not going to go around filming too” ? Too many. But this is so easy, it would be silly not to.
After all, most reporters hold dictaphones under the face of their interviewee. Why not hold a cameraphone? Easy peasy — jobs a good’un.
That’s not to say that all newspaper video should be as rough and ready as the Ronaldo clip, though. Here the MEN get the higher quality equipment out to do some more traditional TV-style reporting. And what a damn good job they’ve made of it too.
[via Journalism.co.uk and the Manchester Evening News]
Huff Post: How Google can help journalism
January 8th, 2009Here’s some more Google-themed newspaper bailout ideas from Dan Froomkin writing for the brilliant Huffington Post.
I guess calling it a bailout may be a little harsh. It’s an investment. An investment in good journalism. Dan offers seven great ideas, including:
“‘Adopt’ a handful of newspapers, and help them build technologically-sophisticated Web sites, with an emphasis on micro-local and business-to-consumer relationships. For instance, local papers need ways to database local advertising, local content, and information on local readers — then serve up ads based on psycho-graphic and geographic information. Newspapers can’t seem to figure this out by themselves. Then make the technology available to others.”
Adopting just a handful could make this sound unfair. But if this was to happen in the UK, Google could perhaps adopt some groups. My friend works for the Scunthorpe Telegraph, part of the Grimsby and Scunthorpe Media Group, which is in turn owned by Northcliffe. Now, funding a design/functionality/advertising overhaul of the Grimsby and Scunthorpe Media Group would be a mere blip on the Google budget. Heck — doing the whole of Northcliffe wouldn’t cost Google that much, especially since most of the technology has already been created.
For Google, they get the added benefit of Google ads — of which they’d share revenue — on a load of UK regional sites. The regionals would enjoy being optimised for Google, leading to more readers. And, the brilliance of Google Adwords will mean advertisers would love it: Think how useful — on a story about, say, icy roads — an advert for the local garage selling good de-icer would be? If owned a small business, I’d be all over that.
Here’s another of his suggestions:
“Create an open-source journalism wire service, hiring excellent laid-off reporters to do great narrative and investigative work that’s free for the picking.”
I like this. But this would be a massive challenge. Should this be a success, it’ll lead to a helluva lot of jobs lost at the likes of the PA, AP and Reuters. This would roll over to many people — a huge amount of photographers make their money from pictures sold to the wires, and then sold on again — for cash.
And here lies the problem: Dan is looking at journalism from the point of view of the organisations. His open-source newswire idea forgets the journalists that make the world go round — the freelancers, the independents.
With the exception of Al Jazeera, no MSM organisation has a presence in Gaza. And, now Israel has issued a media lock down, no-one can get in. The reason why we’re getting footage is independent journalists, risking their lives by reporting.
Assuming Google wouldn’t pay for the content, and assuming by ‘free for the picking’ Dan means free to use, then who exactly is paying the independents? No-one, by the looks of it.
It’s a good start though. I’m starting to believe that Google is perhaps the only company that can save journalism.
Notdailymail_uk saga: Associated Newspapers step in
January 12th, 2009Mystery one has been solved.
Associated Newspapers Limited have, according to the fake Daily Mail blogger, got Twitter by the short and curlies and demanded they rename the ‘dailymail_uk’ account. So they did.
He writes:
Ouch. He pressed Twitter for a reply and got this explanation:
(The bold is added for emphasis.)
So the question is: Would a reasonable person be aware that it’s a joke?
Tricky. One commenter pointed out that of the massive Daily Mail readership, there aren’t too many reasonable people to pick from. And, chances are, they’re not on Twitter either.
He expresses concern that Twitter cannot be trusted when they have the power to just tell you to clear off. But I wouldn’t be alarmed. Most businesses in the world operate with a ‘Management reserves the right to not serve/sell’ etc get-out in place — and this doesn’t seem to be any different.
But it begs the question: How do you measure satire?
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Posted in Blogs, Comment, Newspapers, Social Networking, Tabloids, The Web
Tags: associated newspapers daily mail notdailymail_uk twitter