Twitter mentions of the mystery footballer on Friday. Image: guardian.co.uk

Super-injunctions.

They have been on any editor’s agenda for months, and I doubt they are going to fade any time soon as the conclusion of the case involving the anonymous Premier League footballer and Z-list celebrity Imogen Thomas comes to a climax.

Today, a Scottish Sunday newspaper published a picture of the mystery footballer on the front page, with a black ‘CENSORED’ line across his eyes, and the following strapline:

Everyone knows that this is the footballer accused of using the courts to keep allegations of a sexual affair secret. But we weren’t supposed to tell you that…

The move by the Scottish newspaper may be seen as bold, but they made the decision with a degree of security.

An explanatory article on The Spectators‘ website today, reads:

Careless of CTB’s (the mystery footballer) lawyers to forget to apply for an interdict at the Court of Session in Edinburgh. All Scottish papers have therefore been free to publish these details.

The latest developments raise a serious question, if the Scottish newspaper is distributed south of the border – which given the number of images shared on Twitter by users in England, I’d imagine so – what consequences will they face?

The second issue for me is the suing of Twitter.

While information is shared openly and accessed easily on Twitter, could the same be said of Facebook?

Over the course of the last week, my Facebook news feed has been inundated with comments relating to the super-injunction.

With much of the nation unaware of the dangers of non-existent privacy settings it is alarmingly easy to see who has mentioned the case.

Various jokes, comments and observations have been made and a quick search of the alleged footballer’s name on a site such as Kurrently or OpenBook shows that Twitter is not alone.

Consider Facebook’s terms and conditions, which can be found here, under section 5 entitled ‘protecting other peoples’ rights’:

We respect other people’s rights, and expect you to do the same.

1. You will not post content or take any action on Facebook that infringes or violates someone else’s rights or otherwise violates the law.

So, to what extent would a post such as the one below (a quick search on either of the search tools above give you a random person such as this) be in breach of the injunction?

Interestingly, another website that appears to be in breach of the order, is Wikipedia, with the footballer allegedly in question’s page having an interesting additional section added this morning.

To what extent is Twitter taking the flak for breaching this order when it appears other sites are operating in no better manner?

Arguably without it you cannot start to build a site, a community, nor a team of contributors.

After some deliberation, my colleague Jo Stashko and I settled on the name ‘My Preston’, and whizzed off to buy a domain name, design a logo and draw up a press release to raise awareness of our plans.

Shortly after doing so, Jo and I were asked to take on the editorship of Blog Preston – an already established local website for the city, with an audience, contributors and a ever-developing brand.

Fast forward 10 months, and here we are. The site is brimming with content, we have a consistent team of contributors, and all is looking rosy.

So why the post, you may wonder?

I recently tried to add Blog Preston to the ‘media’ section on Preston, Lancashire’s Wikipedia page – but not all went to plan.

Within seconds of adding “Preston also has a hyperlocal news site, Blog Preston, a site for community news, views and information about the city”, it was removed, as a moderator deemed it unacceptable.

The user, ‘Dr Greg’ ruled “Sorry, blog sites don’t count as “media”’.

Many hyperlocal websites are referred to as ‘blogs’, but what does the assumption that they are run in the same way a blog is have on their reputation?

While it is clear how someone who has never seen the site could think it’s simply a blog, given its name, the idea that our site gives the impression that it is run in the way that Andrew Marr sees bloggers, as angry, socially-inadequate young men in our mothers’ basements is not a good thing.

When I posted what had happened on Twitter, I got a good range of responses:

After some fellow Wikipedia users caught wind of my questioning of the removal and had a quick Google, they agreed that the site was ‘somewhere in between blog and newspaper website’ and that Blog Preston seemed ‘perfectly legitimate and indeed more informative than most, if not all, of the local newspapers’.

A win for Blog Preston and hyperlocal media, but how important is the name of a site?

Are we shooting our site in the foot by calling ourselves a ‘blog’?

How potentially damaging could a name change be to a site that has been running for two years and has built up a community?

——

How did you come to decide your site’s name? Would changing the name of your site be as good as starting again?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

“It is the role of good journalism to take on powerful abusers, and when powerful abusers are taken on, there’s always a bad reaction.” – Assange, 2010

Whether you like Julian Assange or agree with his ‘journalism’ there is no denying that his principles are on the money.

Journalists are meant to be the eyes and ears of their audience and community, sniffing out stories and holding the powerful to account.

In a year of swingeing cuts across the country, particularly at local level and to frontline services, the need to scrutinise decisions on behalf of the somewhat helpless public has never been greater.

I spent yesterday afternoon at Preston City Council’s crunch budget meeting, which outlined a number of redundancies and cuts to services.

I had made prior contact with the council’s communications department, to ensure I could live-blog the meeting, and I was told this would be fine provided I didn’t interrupt proceedings.

As I sat in the public gallery, phone and Twitter at the ready, I was told by two members of council staff that I would not be allowed to use my phone in the chamber – they gave no full explanation for their reasoning, and as such I carried on typing away.

This was not an isolated incident. A fellow member of the public, from the protest group Preston Against Cuts, had a camera and was hoping to take photographs of proceedings.

As one councillor, Tory Kathleen Cartwright, saw the lady and her camera, she called on the Mayor to take action.

The Mayor told the photographer that no photographs would be allowed in the chamber, to cries of ‘what are you hiding?’ and ‘democracy my arse!’ from an outraged public gallery.

In the same meeting, the Mayor announced that ‘special dispensation’ had been granted to allow the BBC to film some establishing shots of the chamber in action, but insisted they only film the first four items on the agenda.

Even councillors themselves can spot a problem here.

Outspoken Independent councillor Michael Lavalette, questioned the Mayor’s decision asking the chamber: “why can’t they film the entire thing?”

Preston City Council has taken great strides towards transparency of late, with Liberal Democrat councillor John Potter tabling a motion to have council meetings filmed.

The budget meeting also saw the council embrace live-blogging themselves for the first time, with a dedicated member of council staff furiously trying to keep up with the action in the far corner of the chamber.

But to what extent can a member of the council’s staff be completely detached and impartial?

One o’clock on a Thursday afternoon is already horribly inaccessible for locals, or at least those the council are yet to make redundant; which makes the role of the journalist, or even the average member of the public, even more important.

The council are taking one step forward and two back with their heavy-handed and secretive approach to proceedings at Town Hall.

If they’ve got nothing to hide, why the bad reaction? Assange can’t be right, can he?

While I’ve been delving in local news throughout my time at University – in my involvement with the student newspaper and in my role as co-editor of Blog Preston – a few home truths hit home in the recent weeks.

Expect the unexpected

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to many, but a reporting job in journalism certainly won’t provide a repetitive daily routine.

During my short stay in the Welsh capital, I covered a range of topics, events and stories.

One day I found myself wandering around the Welsh Assembly with the First Minister Ieaun Jones, the next I was in Cardiff Dogs Home watching locals shamefully dumping new-born puppies.

No two days were the same, and it certainly kept me on my toes.

Enjoy the highs, prepare for the lows

With anything in life, success can be followed by failure, and my time at Media Wales wasn’t without fault.

I experienced some thoroughly enjoyable moments, like my first regional front page splash – a in-depth look at Cardiff council’s plans to build on greenfield sites across the city.

But I also had some lows; with a councillor complaining about an article of mine – I was accused of changing a quote, but fortunately I had the sufficient shorthand notes/audio recording to back up what I’d written.

The most important thing is to learn from your mistakes, take it on the chin, and move on.

Use the contact book

I’ve always taken the idea of a contact book for granted.

During my first year at University we were given the ‘assignment’ of filling a contact book with 50 useful contacts and, in truth, since then I’ve had turned my nose up at the idea of a hard-copy list of names and numbers.

While at the Manchester Evening News, it became apparent to me the ever-present need to have a list of names relating to a topic/place at your fingertips at any given time.

While working on a story about the police.uk crime maps, I needed to get in touch with residents from two separate areas – and with a deadline approaching I didn’t have the time to get down to the area to knock on doors.

Fortunately, an on-the-ball colleague had an address book rammed full of appropriate members of the community, and I ended up getting some decent reaction, which ended up as a page-lead in the following day’s paper.

Shorthand is vital

There has been much discussion and debate about the merits of shorthand in modern journalism.

Is it an outdated skill which can be readily replaced by a dictaphone or tape recorder? Is it really necessary when you can now tweet in court?

In my opinion, and from my experience, shorthand is a necessity as a journalist in local news, and a skill that will be used constantly on a day-to-day basis.

Be it quickly jotting down notes in a council briefing, or canvassing residents’ views when out door-knocking, there are times when shoving a dictaphone under someone’s nose just isn’t appropriate.

Shorthand is ideal for moments like those, and in local news, those situations aren’t rare.

I’ve been doing local news wrong

While I’m incredibly proud of how Blog Preston has grown since Joe and I took over almost a year ago; I can’t help but feel I could have done a better job.

Working for YourCardiff, as part of my time down at Media Wales, reinforced some of the key principles of local news.

It’s all about meeting councillors and local people face-to-face, cultivating your contacts so that you can call on them at any time, and knowing your patch inside out.

My resolution, as I return to Preston for the final part of my degree, is to get stuck in with Blog Preston and make sure it is a constant stream of relevant and interesting news – something I’ve failed, at least on a personal level, to do so far.

I’m hoping to change that – and make it something that I can look back on with pride when I step away from it.

All in all, working in locals news is an overwhelmingly positive experience.

It’s an age-old tradition that any budding journalist should cut his teeth in local news, and I stand by that advice wholeheartedly.

You may find yourself underpaid and overworked, but there’s no doubt you’ll become a much, much better journalist in the process.

——-

What are your experiences of local news? Do you find it as rewarding as I do, or perhaps the opposite? Let me know in the comments below.

With the web littered with posts offering advice for wannabe journalists on how to conduct oneself when on work experience, John offered his top 10 tips from the other side of the fence – from the employers’ point of view.

1. Choose your work placement carefully.

Ideally go somewhere you might actually like to work – don’t just arrange work experience just to tick that box on your CV.

2. Before you arrive – do your research on the publication’s beat or niche.

What are the hot stories now? What type of stories does it favour and what sort of style are they written in?

3. Turn up on the day with lots of ideas.

Don’t be pushy, but offer them up when you get the opportunity.

Some may get shot down in flames, but the more ideas you have, the more likely one or more will be a runner.

4. Show initiative.

Don’t expect to be spoonfed.

And don’t fall at the first hurdle – there’s always another angle, another way to get the information you need.

5. Be an ambassador.

Not just for the organisation that has given you the experience, but for your college and for future newbies that might follow in your footsteps.

If you create a bad impression, that could reflect badly on your college and screw things up for future workies.

6. Listen!

Don’t ever talk over someone who is trying to tell you something.

7. Be sociable.

Offer to do the tea or coffee run, join in conversations.

Being liked goes a long way towards paving over any gaps in your abilities.

8. Do the hours.

Don’t commit to working for one week, and then goof off for the last day.

Unless you have a very good reason, you will not look very committed.

9. Be an eager beaver, happy to do whatever is asked of you.

[Enough said, here.]

10. Don’t be phased by criticism, however devastating.

How you react and deal with that might reveal more about your potential or otherwise than anything else you do.

What do you make of John’s tips? What other expectations do employers have when taking on work experience placements?

Drop me a message on Twitter, or let me know in the comments below.

The following is a guest post I was asked to write for Wannabe Hacks, as part of their ‘Reporter’s Week’.

The week was focused on celebrating the reporter on the ground, with content from journalists (trainees and established hacks alike) – providing valuable insight into the changing world of news.

A full list of content from the week, can be found here.

Writing news is a skill. It is a skill that takes time and practice to hone.

Being able to sniff out a great story, or having great contacts is pointless if you’ve not got the ability to convert the information into something interesting that will capture the attention of your audience.

Consider this quote from writer Daniel Defoe: “If any man was to ask me what I would suppose to be the perfect style of language, I would answer, that in which a man speaking to five hundred people of all common and various capacities, idiots or lunatics excepted, should be understood by them all.”

The basics:

Punchy intro

The introduction is the first time the reader will look at the bulk of your news story, headline excluded at this point, so you’ve got to make it enticing, information-rich but must leave the reader wanting more.

While on placement at Sky News Online, the importance of the introduction was drilled home to me by senior journalists.

A simple, effective way of ensuring your lead contains all of the essential information, is to consider the five W’s (who, what, where, when, how).

Killer quotes

The best quotes should be prominent in your news story, ideally no lower than the third paragraph.

Often these quotes are the nugget of brilliance in a news story, the piece of information that brings the piece to life for the reader; so don’t bury it in the depths of the tale.

Structure

News stories should be written in the inverted pyramid structure, this will place the most important facts and elements at the top, with those of diminishing value further down in the tale.

This type of writing style is especially important in print, as it allows the audience to leave a story at any time having still picked up the general gist of what they have read. It also makes the lives of sub-editors easy, as they can assume to cut from the bottom without removing the meaning of the story.

Each paragraph should be written in a way that it could stand alone and still be understood, with each one having a piece of information.

General advice

Write clearly and directly by making every word in a sentence count.  Remove empty words and phrases. Check spellings you are unsure of and learn those you have trouble with. Get straight to the point using the active voice rather than the passive.

To quote the great George Orwell, “If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.”

What have I missed out in my tips? Are there other essentials in writing the perfect news story? Let me know in the comments below.

I’ll have my graduation gown, my hat, but most importantly I’ll have a degree in journalism.

Which means one thing: It’s time to find a job.

Inspired by Josh Halliday’s RSS share-and-share-alike effort in April 2010, I have created a feed for all your job searching needs.

The RSS feed is a Yahoo Pipe of the following job feeds:

• Guardian jobs
• Journalism.co.uk
• Gorkana PR
• Hold The Front Page
• Editorial Jobs
• Media UK

The feed contains various types of jobs, from trainee reporting roles to jobs at news agencies.

Which sites do you use for job-hunting? Are there any I’ve missed? Let me know in the comments below.

The Sky News newsroom. Pic: Myles Dyer

I’ve recently completed a work placement at Sky News, which resulted in being asked back for a further placement, and also a letter of recommendation from Phil Wardman, head of newsgathering for Sky News Online.

In my two weeks time with their Online team, and while on other placements, various themes started to appear on how to make the most of work experience, so below are my eight tips on how to make the most of your work experience.

1. Get stuck in.

The chances are you’ll be working for organisation that is understaffed and overworked, so you’ll need to slot into the team as if you were a regular member of staff. It’s also likely you’ll only be there for a short period of time, so you’ll want to make the best impression possible.

So, answer those phones, make those calls and get those bylines; they’ll serve you well when you’re knocking on the editor’s door in a few months time looking for a job.

2. Ask questions, but don’t be a hindrance.

Don’t be afraid to ask a question about the way things work, or are done, at the place you are doing work experience. The old saying ‘no question is too stupid’ may be true, but question after question will not endear your editor towards you.

Many people have warned student journalists that asking ‘what can I do?’ will turn your colleagues against you instantly, so think of an alternative way of making yourself useful.

Be prepared with a few story ideas, a national theme that you can give an alternative angle, or ask if you can specifically cover an ongoing story.

3. Take notes.

As a wannabe reporter you should have your trusty notepad and pen at the ready at all times, so write something down if you think you’ll forget it. Or write it down even if you don’t think you will.

Forgetting things will only lead to busy people having to repeat themselves.

4. Challenge yourself.

If you’re a trainee journalist, now is the time to really test your skills, and learn some new ones, too. Work placements are a great chance to compare your newly learned skills against those of professional journalists.

Stepping out of your comfort zone may lead to impressive results, but…

5. Don’t get out of your depth.

While work experience is a great time to try new things, accepting a task you physically won’t be able to fulfil will not please your boss.

At times it’s best to play the fool, if you don’t know something, or don’t have a certain skill, be honest – if you don’t you’ll only be found out later down the line when a deadline is even closer.

6. Do the basics well.

Don’t drop easy brownie points by turning up late, dressing unsuitably and making silly mistakes in copy. The list of basics could go on, but the first impression is key.

If you start on the wrong foot, it’ll be an uphill battle from then on.

7. Chat to your colleagues.

Without seeming like a pest, make conversation with your colleagues. Ask them how they got to where they are now and whether they enjoy their job.

Every person you speak to while on a placement is a new contact, these could be the people that land you your first job.
So for goodness sake, don’t make enemies.

8. Get feedback.

As your placement draws to a close, try and nab five minutes or so with the person you’ve been reporting to. Sitting down and going back over how you’ve succeeded and failed on certain tasks is the best way to learn.

Take any criticism on board, and try and make a change; after all, these folk know what they’re talking about.

—-

What have I missed? What other tips do you have for those undertaking work experience?

Get in touch in the comments below, or by dropping me an email at andy[at]andyhalls.net.

Since senior tutors at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) sent round an email on Tuesday morning telling students to avoid demonstrations in the city centre on Saturday, there has been some debate as to whether they were right or wrong.

Saturday will see the English Defence League (EDL) protest against the development of mosques in Preston. A counter protest is also being planned by Unite Against Fascism (UAF).

Journalism students were warned that the protests would be ‘too dangerous for any student to attend or attempt to cover it’.

A number of emails followed, telling students that it was not a ‘suitable event where trainee journalists can practise their skills.’

Students were also informed that the school of journalism would not be allowing any equipment hire over the weekend.

While I can understand UCLan’s decision to warn students of the risk of injury, I can’t help but feel they’ve gone about it in totally the wrong fashion.

By telling students that they ‘have come to the conclusion that we cannot allow students to cover these events’ was wrong.

Students, particularly those in the third year of their degree – such as myself – shouldn’t be thinking twice about covering an event of this type. Throughout our degrees we have news values, and the skill of finding a story drilled into us; and yet a protest likely to receive nationwide coverage takes place on our very doorstep and we’re told we’re not allowed to attend.

While there is a chance it could turn out to be a non-event, with no drama or conflict as predicted, the opposite is just as likely.

While students are at University, they live in a bubble of comfort, rarely stepping out of their comfort zone to try new things, or to tackle situations they are unsure of. This is entirely the opposite of what University should be.

It should be a time for experimenting, learning new skills and putting them into practice in an environment where if they were to go wrong, your job will not be on the line.

Would it not have been more wise for UCLan to issue a statement warning us that the EDL/UAF demonstration may become unpleasant and that if we were to attend, we are doing so at our own risk?

Following graduation, it’s likely that a number of students will end up in desk-bound reporting jobs, unable to get out into their patch to actually report the news, to cultivate their contacts and to connect with their community – and who will be the first to moan about this? Those who didn’t bother to do so when they had the chance.

I enrolled on a journalism course because I am engrossed by news. I love consuming it and I love taking part in it.

I didn’t come to University to be told that when a potentially huge news story that I couldn’t set foot in the city centre to report on it.

As Ciaran Jones, a reporter at Media Wales so rightly put it:

Good journalism isn’t just about having a clear nose for news or a great writing style – it’s about having the knack of being in the right place at the right time, taking the opportunities that are there, and learning where the boundaries are.

How on earth will we ever learn if they don’t give us the opportunity to?

It’s time to drop the parenting act, and grant us some freedom; after all we’re paying through our noses for it.

George Osborne's House of Commons speech - illustrated by wordle.net

On Wednesday, as George Osborne read his spending review speech to the House of Commons, hordes of journalists looked on in anticipation – and the scene was no different at the University of Central Lancashire.

After a last-minute plan was hatched by Michael Williams, former deputy editor of the Independent on Sunday and head of news at The Sunday Times; my fellow student journalists and I sprung into life, to create some promising results.

We created cross-platform coverage, collaborating in print, broadcast and online journalism in what Williams called “the most original and balanced print and digital media feedback” of the day’s events.

Michael appointed me Executive editor, charged with overlooking the entire print operation, Joseph Stashko headed the digital side of things and Carl Hartley was put in charge of broadcast.

Despite producing the eight-paged paper (as embedded below) from a standing start, we managed to produce a dedicated newspaper which was of a decent standard.

The digital coverage was fantastic, as Joseph Stashko once showed his strengths in covering live-events; helped by first-year International Journalism student Danny Lee, and fellow second-year Daniel Bentley.

All of the day’s digital coverage was hosted at Blog Preston, and we received fantastic hits; with the live-blog being the third most popular post since the site was launched in 2009.

The day wasn’t without difficulty, however, as we raced against the clock and our six o’clock deadline to find a Preston family to interview for our main feature – but the copy and picture was eventually filed with 20 minutes to go.

The team of print reporters worked their socks off chasing local reaction, hitting the streets of Preston to talk to locals, councillors and experts in politics, finance and education.

The day was a resounding success, as Michael reiterated in an email sent round to those involved: “A big herogram to the more than 100 students involved in our first-ever multi-platform national news operation yesterday. The Preston Cuts was a roaring success, with digital, broadcast and print platforms racing away with terrific harmony.

“Not only did you all show superb professionalism, but you also demonstrated teamwork of the highest order. I was proud of you all – and you can feel absolutely proud of yourselves. You were hours ahead of the first editions of the nationals – and, as for the local media, you left them standing!”

The day was a fantastic example of the strength of the journalism school – both its students and the tutors – and the experience will most certainly set everyone involved in good stead for the future.

——-

How did your news organisation cover the Spending Review?

Did you also converge across mediums?

Let me know in the comments below, or drop me an email at andy[at]andyhalls[dot]net