Comments on: The depressing but inevitable demise of Press Gazette

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:38:55 +0000

I didn’t intend to suggest you had a shoe-in (and looking over the post, I don’t think I did).

But the situation was that by taking on a freelancer full time, they were saving on paying a new member of staff… and probably paying a little less (compared to daily freelance rates) for each day’s work too.

This was explained to me — in those exact terms — in my interview.

By: paul

paul — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:23:28 +0000

ah, then it was described to you wrongly. There was no regular work agreement with them. Not disputing the rest: a sadly accurate description of how things were run. But I have to correct you on the suggestion that I was some kind of shoein for the job.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:12:03 +0000

@paul,

It’s not re-writing history really, is it? You were freelance, yes, but it was regular weekly work (or at least, that’s how at it was described to me).

So rather than having you as freelance, and then hire a new member of staff (as the job advert suggested), they decided to just offer you the full time job.

All well and good — it’s not the job I’m complaining about here — it was more the manner in which I went from being invited for a job interview, to being told there was no job, to then being offered work experience… and then only being told I didn’t have the job when it was clear I’d be going to the pub.

Rather than getting a new reporter in to replace Patrick, they essentially just extended other hours.

Luckily for Press Gazette, the journalism skills on show were far superior than the management would suggest.

Which part of history have I rewritten?

By: paul

paul — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:05:11 +0000

Some rewriting of history there. They gave the job go me – i wasn’t a member of staff who got their hours extended. I was a freelance and applied for the job in the same way as you.

Paul ‘pancake of irrelevance’ mcnally.

By: Goodbye Press Gazette: round-up of the links | Journalism.co.uk Editors' Blog

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 07:31:21 +0000

[...] Dave Lee: ‘The depressing but inevitable demise of Press Gazette’ [...]

By: Goodbye Press Gazette: round-up of the links « DAILYMAIL.ME

Goodbye Press Gazette: round-up of the links « DAILYMAIL.ME — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 05:37:05 +0000

[...] Dave Lee: ‘The depressing but inevitable demise of Press Gazette’ [...]

By: Alas poor Press Gazette « Gary Andrews

Alas poor Press Gazette « Gary Andrews — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 16:31:59 +0000

[...] the writing has been on the wall for a while, as illustrated nicely by Dave Lee’s anecdotal post. It was still important reading but not vital reading. It was useful but the website wasn’t a [...]

By: Alan Dean

Alan Dean — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 08:36:35 +0000

Nice obit, Dave. Pity to see Press Gazette go, but its regular reporting on the demise of media around the UK and elsewhere of late was surely a sign of what was to come.

Your personal experience with management made me think immediately of a bald-headed barber, a dentist with bad teeth, or a travel agent who screws up his own holiday: a mag for journos should have been run on a much more professional basis.

My own connection with what was once known as the UKPG started back in the late 60’s when I was a stringer working on a retainer for the Daily Mail in Belgrade (I did say it was the 60s….) I ran into the editor of the UKPG at the time in the Bunch of Grapes while visiting London and was asked if I would file the odd piece on the East European media scene — and was paid promptly for each item: a meagre sum, but the check was always in the post.

Later as deputy editor of an Antwerp-based news magazine (the much-maligned To The Point International) I poached the then editor of the UKPG, David North, to head up our subs table.

As somebody once sang: Those were the days, my friend. We thought they’d never end……

By: links for 2009-04-06 «

links for 2009-04-06 « — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 20:30:14 +0000

[...] The depressing but inevitable demise of Press Gazette | Dave Lee / jBlog [...]

By: Patrick Smith

Patrick Smith — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:39:24 +0000

Memories, Dave!
Enjoyed this. But one point of discussion — the awards live on, the BPA and Regional Press Awards at least. They are profitable and Wilmington most definitely wants to keep hold of them. You might even ask whether the events were the main reason it’s board green lighted the PG purchase in the first place.
Cheers,

http://www.paidcontent.co.uk/entry/419-press-gazette-shuts-print-edition-staff-jobs-not-safe-online-future-unc/

Patrick Smith’s last blog post..Press Gazette Shuts Mag, Mothballs Website; Editorial Staff Laid Off