Courtrooms to go fully digital by 2016 – about time
Any journalist covering court who’s ever experienced the frustration of proceedings being held up simply because a crucial document was missing will be relieved to hear that this scenario may, by 2016, become a thing of the past. Courtrooms in England and Wales are set to…
Media law for Twitter users – will they heed it?
The BBC published a feature today on the categories of law that Twitter users not versed in that journalism staple McNae’s are coming unstuck on, covering the rules on matters like libel, not naming sexual offence victims and contempt of court. Knowing about media law, previously the preserve mainly…
How many science stories should local newspapers have?
Scientific Surrey: the county is home to pioneering science firms like SSTL When, or rather if (given declining circulation), you pick up a copy of your local newspaper, how many articles would you expect to see about science?To a large extent, that depends on the…
A day without journalists: could citizen journalism fill the void?
Starting young: A citizen journalist What would happen if you sucked all the journalists out of the UK for 24 hours? Would citizen reporters and social media be able to step into the breach, or would confusion reign? This was the question posed by the…
“Data journalism is like sex at university”: exploring data stories at the AOP forum
“Data journalism is rather like sex at university: lots of people are talking about it but few are doing it, and fewer are doing it well.” So said Neil McIntosh, deputy editor of the Wall Street Journal, at Wednesday’s (May 16, 2012) AOP forum on data…
What’s in a byline?
Journalists are often told how important it is to ‘have a personal brand‘ in order to get your name out there. But what happens if your name changes? Does the journalist then have to start from scratch, with their former byline disappearing and taking their…
“Changing the law” is the only answer to libel in science journalism
How should journalists deal with libel law? “Change the laws”, was the resounding answer from most of the panellists at last night’s Science Fact: Science Journalism and Libel Law public debate hosted by City University. The debate, held to celebrate the launch of the university’s…
Futurity: add a dash of salt
As science journalists become fewer and further between, it’s only inevitable, it seems, that PR steps into the breach. Futurity is the latest venture to fill the gaping void formerly populated by reporters, comprising of press releases straight from the research centres themselves. The site…
A cut and paste blow to Google News?
Could Attributor sound the death knell to news content pirates? And could that extend to Google News, the Blackbeard of them all? Fingers crossed. Attributor, Roy Greenslade writes in The Guardian, “seeks to recoup a portion of the advertising revenue enjoyed by sites that “borrow”…
Mapping the news
I’m almost sold on Newsmap, the site which could potentially be one of my fave ways of keeping up on the news. Almost, but not quite, down to it still needing a few tweaks before I’ll become a regular user. The site, which is currently…