Media sales rewards: 'How do you eat yours?'

With Easter fast approaching, we hear of a novel new sales incentive on offer at one leading national media organisation which is really struggling to sell ads.

Never mind hiring better staff, increasing commissions or changing sales tactics, the powers-that-be have hit on a far better strategy for increasing revenue - rewarding each successful ad sale with an Easter egg.

The media still being very much in recession-mode though, they're being quite careful about what they promise. It's not just any Easter egg on offer, it's a Cadbury's Creme Egg. One Cadbury's Creme Egg. Don't eat it all at once.

On which note, FleetStreetBlues bids you a happy Easter weekend. We'll see you back here (rail strikes permitting) on TUESDAY 6 APRIL.

'People such as journalists'

The Sunday Times had a great story at the weekend perfectly designed to get the retired colonels spluttering over their cornflakes: Generals told to travel 2nd class.

GORDON BROWN has delivered a final humiliation to the armed forces by ordering admirals, generals and air chief marshals to travel second class to help cut costs.

Shocking stuff, no doubt, but why exactly should senior military personnel be entitled to first-class tickets? Major-General Patrick Cordingley was wheeled out to explain.

“I couldn’t care less about officers’ personal comfort, but there are practical reasons why this is a pity. There are often times when you are looking at restricted papers that would be of interest to people such as journalists. If it is on a computer, people can look over and read quite happily over your shoulder in standard class,” he said.

FleetStreetBlues can't quite decide what's better - the good general's notion that second class carriages are swarming with investigative journalists just hoping for a peek of something secret, or the conviction that it'll be OK in first class, because journalists are riff-raff and won't get in.

And the very idea that Fleet Street's finest would stoop to looking over someone's shoulder to get a scoop. As if...

Reporter - The Engineer

Centaur trade publication the Engineer is recruiting a reporter.

The vacancy is billed as one for an 'online reporter', but in fact it appears you'll be working for both the website and print magazine. You'll be covering technical stuff in areas such as transport, healthcare and defence, so a science or engineering background would be useful, although 'not essential'.

No clear indication of what level of experience they're looking for - we're told 'this role would suit either a newly qualified journalist with a passion for technology or a more experienced reporter with a proven track record writing about technology and engineering.' Online experience will obviously be a plus, anyway.

Full details on Gorkana, not directly linkable. Email CV and covering letter to the editor, Jon Excell, at jon.excell@centaur.co.uk. Deadline Friday 16 April.

'I read it in the Daily Mail'

Yeah, yeah, we know the point is to smile condescendingly in a middle-class, metropolitan way at all the trash the underclass are willing read in the Daily Wail - but if you work in a certain part of Kensington, be afraid, be very afraid.

• 'Criminals get Marks & Spencer vouchers when released on bail'
• 'Muslim women hiding stolen goods behind their veil'
• 'Poles paid to give blood'

There are some cracking stories in here - a week's worth of splashes at least. Just wait till the newsdesk sees it...

David Yelland: 'I was drunk every night for nearly 24 years'

The Mail on Sunday this week had a lengthy first-person piece by former Sun editor David Yelland on his time at the paper - a real through-the-wringer epic frankly covering his wife's cancer, his increasing alcoholism, and how he somehow managed to edit Britain's biggest newspaper at the same time (commuting on Concorde, natch).

Roy Greenslade, who's back and blogging up a storm, gives the piece a thorough analysis over at the MediaGuardian, highlighting Yelland's liberal politics and the time he wore two shirts and ties to meet Rupert Murdoch. But we like the following anecdote best:

Every Monday morning there would be lots of people in what we called 'the holding pen' trying to sell me a story. I didn't enjoy doing these 'buy-ups', as they are known, and often used to delegate the task.

However, one Monday a 17-year-old girl came in who had slept with a well-known Premiership footballer in order to sell her story. She wanted £2,000. A good tabloid editor would have rubbed his hands with glee, asked if she any pictures and tried to knock down the price.

Instead I gave her the £2,000 and told her to disappear. 'You're going to ruin your life, there's no point in doing this,' I said. 'Take the money and do what you want with it.' She took the cash, went to the Sunday Mirror and sold the story to them.

How to build your online brand

As journalism 2.0 becomes a reality, there's never been a more important time for journalists to 'build their brand'. Create a Twitter account, set up an online portfolio, search-engine optimise your own name - however you do it, the goal is clear. When someone googles John Smith from the Anywheretown Times, they're going to come up with you and everything good you've ever done. And then maybe offer you a job.

Despite all that, we're particularly impressed by the effort below - not only does the journalist in question manage to add to her own brand, in just 43 seconds she does more for the reputation of IT journalists everywhere than two decades of earnest adverts insisting 'you don't have to be a geek to work here'. Who knew brand-building could be so much fun?

Deputy Editor/Online Editor - Civil Service World

Slightly unusual one, this. Fortnightly newspaper Civil Service World is looking for a deputy editor, who will also take charge of its website.

But the Civil Service Live Network isn't your typical trade press website. There's less emphasis on news, and features, and all things newspaper, and instead much more on social media and forums - a Facebook for Whitehall types, if you like.

As well as overseeing the website, you'll be taking on a more traditional deputy editor role as well, commissioning, copy editing and even a bit of writing. Knowledge of and interest in government and politics is essential.

Full details on Gorkana, not directly linkable. Apply with CV and covering letter to matt.ross@dods.co.uk. Deadline Monday 12 April.

Suppose they gave an election and nobody came

Guido Fawkes has details of an invitiation sent by Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg to media organisations, setting out exactly how journalists will be able to cover his election campaign.

'The tour will commence within a few days of the campaign being announced and will end on the eve of the General Election in Sheffield. It is likely to last 28 days. A plane flying from Northolt has been hired for the campaign and is expected to be operational for at least three days in each week. There are only 28 places on the tour. Participants will need to be accredited and priority will be given to those who book for the whole tour – the cost will be £7,500 per person. Single days will cost £500, and these will need to be booked on a first come, first served basis.'

Don't all rush at once...

Boyes will be Boyes

According to the Bloomsbury Publishing website:

Roger Boyes is a writer and prize-winning European correspondent for The Times newspaper. He has been reporting from Iceland since he was sent on his first foreign assignment to cover the Cold Wars in 1976 and is the author of eleven previous books.

Unfortunately, thanks to the power of Twitter, some shameless SEO-opportunism and the internet on a slow work Friday, he's now known for only one thing.

Should Roger Boyes' unfortunately-bylined article on the Vienna Boys' Choir's sex abuse scandal really be the most read article of the day on the website of Britain's oldest national newspaper? No wonder Rupert Murdoch wants to bring a paywall in. Keeps the riff-raff out.

Chief Reporter - Bradford Telegraph & Argus

The Bradford Telegraph & Argus is looking for a chief reporter to cover its Wharfedale and Aireborough patch.

It's a very patch-based position actually - you'll be covering the district, which includes part of the Dales and Leeds-Bradford International Airport, for the Telegraph & Argus and its website plus the Ilkley Gazette and the Wharfedale & Airedale Observer and their respective websites. Just as well, then, that you'll be leading a small team.

They're asking for NCE qualifications and two years' experience as a senior reporter on a daily, or as chief reporter/news editor on a weekly. You'll also need multimeeja skills, a driving licence and your own vehicle.

Apply with CV and covering letter to the editor, Perry Austin-Clarke, via sue.bains@telegraphandargus.co.uk. Deadline Wednesday 7 April.

The page 4 watershed

Page 3 of yesterday's Sun, business as normal. (Photo of Becky, 26, from London strategically cropped to protect those of you reading at work).

But by page 5, the Sun had suddenly developed an unexpected modesty.

Maybe she had really big feet.

News Editor - Greenock Telegraph

Scottish evening paper the Greenock Telegraph is recruiting a news editor.

They're after an experienced candidate with a proven track record either on a news desk or as a 'senior journalist', with an emphasis on securing 'national-quality' splashes.

Apply with CV, covering letter and details of current salary to dromanes@cfpress.co.uk. Deadline Friday 30 April.

David Cameron doesn't get it

Not gay rights, that is - he may have 'stumbled through' his interview with Gay Times, as the Guardian puts it, but the legislative points he stumbled on seemed fairly technical, to the layperson's eye at least.

No, what he definitely doesn't seem to get is the whole idea of multimeeja Web 2.0 journalism, with the lines between print and broadcast becoming increasingly blurred, and everything going online first anyway.

Check his request for the cameras to be turned off, at around 1.20.

DC: Do you know... can we stop for a second? I really want to answer these questions, it's really... Either can we do a television interview or can we do a press interview? I'd almost like to start completely from scratch...

GT: I'll be asking exactly the same questions.

DC: I know but I'd almost like to start again because I'm trying to give a sort of thoughtful press interview, but with the cameras on, and I'm finding the whole thing actually...

Press interview? Television interview? It's all the same now, David...

Reporter - Tramp

Tramp, a consumer 'luxury lifestyle' magazine, is advertising for a news and features writer.

We have to admit we're slightly dubious, not having encountered Tramp before. The position is supposedly as part of Tramp's 'online reporting team', but despite the magazine having been launched in 2004, the website's pretty bare bones at the moment (they promise that there's a 'new interactive website coming soon'). What's more, we're told the 'position offers flexiblity', which isn't necessarily a good thing - we're still not entirely sure this is a full-time paid staff position.

So why, given all the above, are we featuring the job at all? Well, look at the PDF of the print issue which you can download. Never mind the content, check out the ads. Prestige Caviar. Agent Provocateur. Mercedes Benz. Godiva Chocolates. The freebies will be awesome.

Full details on Gorkana, not directly linkable. Apply with your CV and three extremely short (30-50 word) news stories, to john@trampmagazine.com.

Trainee Reporter x 2 - News Shopper

Lots of local papers are frustratingly blinkered about the patches they cover, insisting there's nowhere quite as exciting/beautiful/picturesque/inspiring as their particular town and the citizens who live in it. So we found this pitch from the News Shopper in southeast London refreshingly upfront.

'A typical day will see you at the scene of a shooting in the morning...'

They're hiring two trainee news reporters - one full-time, the other three days a week - and while there's no specific mention of NCTJ prelims, both positions will include training towards your NCE.

Multimedia skills are an advantage, and there's a straightforward approach to the print-web divide. 'You can forget about deadlines - everything goes online as it's written'. (Although quite where that leaves chasing exclusives, we're not clear...)

Apply via email to the editor Richard Firth, making it clear which job you're interested in. Deadline is Easter Monday 5 April.

Telegraph takes all

So, a good time was had by all - and in some cases, a very good time...

The Daily Telegraph romped home with six awards for its coverage of the MPs' expenses scandal, and deservedly so. Guardian hotshot Paul Lewis, as we predicted, scooped reporter of the year, while there were also awards for, among others, ballsy Sunday Times interviewer Camilla Long and FOI stalwart campaigner Heather Brooke.

Hack-turned-politico Boris Johnson did the comedy, imploring journalists to be judged by the same standards as MPs. 'I urge all of you to put your expenses online tomorrow morning: every dinner, ever bunch of flowers. I urge you!' That isn't going to happen.

The Press Gazette has an as-it-happened play-by-play here, and a full washup and list of award winners here.

But it was the Telegraph's night, and it's worth a quick recap of how the greatest scoop of the year, and quite probably the decade, came to pass.

It was luck that Winnett took the call when John Wick, the ex-SAS officer handling the disk's sale, rang the Telegraph news desk. Wick had offered the disk to three other papers, but it was Winnett who, after being given the expenses claims of two MPs as a sample, immediately saw its potential and persuaded his editor, Will Lewis, to buy the whole disk. The Telegraph's lawyers have a reputation for caution, but Lewis and Winnett successfully argued that the public interest case was overwhelming.

The moral of the story? Always answer the bloody phone. You make your own luck.

Let battle commence

So Fleet Street's finest are ready, the monkey suits have been donned, and the alcohol is ready to flow. Let the 2010 British Press Awards commence.

If ever there was a dead cert for scoop of the year, it's the Daily Telegraph's MPs expenses story, the gift that just kept on giving. Other hot tips include the Guardian's Paul Lewis for reporter of the year, off the back of the G20 Ian Tomlinson story - and we've a sneaking suspicion the Guardian's iPhone app might do OK too...

You'll be able to follow all the shenanigans on Twitter, of course, and for those who like their live coverage in more than 140 characters, the Press Gazette is live-blogging it as well.

Have a good night - and if you want to share your malicious gossip and unsubstantiated rumours the morning after the night before, you know where to reach us: fleetstreetblues@hotmail.co.uk. We protect our sources.

Counting them all out

Top marks to the Financial Times for taking an imaginative approach to reporting the ongoing BA strikes, and seeking an alternative perspective to the tit-for-tat union vs employer claims.

They went to the people who count them all out and count them all back every day - the plane spotters. And while it's not an exact science, plane-spotter Darren Wakefield, 'a platform assistant at Nottingham train station who has been spotting aircraft for five years, and trains for 25', has enough experience to give a fresh perspective worth listening to.

His verdict? Even though he thinks the strike is 'absolutely disgraceful', it's had a 'big effect'.

Read the full article here.

News Editor - Hertfordshire Mercury

The Hertfordshire Mercury series is looking for a news editor to oversee its four-edition weekly paper and website.

You'll need 'excellent news sense', 'proven managerial experience' and some multimeeja nous - they want you to 'play a major role in the continued development of our print and web offerings'.

To obtain an application pack, email nicole.want@hertsessexnews.co.uk. Deadline Tuesday 6 April.

Define 'average'

Because we're shallow like that, our eyes are drawn to the current 'most read' story on the BBC News website, headlined 'Size 16 girl in Miss England final'.

17-year old Chloe Marshall is to make history, we're told, by becoming the first-ever size 16 girl to take part in the final of the competition. So, for the benefit of the men in the room, just how big is size 16?

At 5ft 10in, 12st 5lb and a 36E, she is keen to point out that the average UK woman is a size 16 like her.

She told Newsbeat: "I've always been bigger than most girls.'

Promoting 'positive body image' is no doubt part of BBC Newsbeat's official, licence fee-funded remit. But maths, and the definition of 'average'? Not so much.

UPDATE: Thanks to all those who've pointed out that, like many of the BBC's 'most read' stories, this is old, old news, and was first published in 2008. At least it wasn't the man who married his goat...

Reporter - East London Guardian Series

The East London Guardian Series, a group of paid-for, Newsquest weeklies incorporating the Epping Forest Guardian and the Walthamstow Independent, is hiring a reporter.

They want some relevant experience, but there are no explicit qualification requirements. The dreaded phrase 'team player' does rear its head though, so expect to work hard.

They're also a 'multimedia newsroom', so 'our reporters spend more time in their communities armed with laptops and mobile phones'.

Apply with CV and covering letter to the group editor, Amanda Patterson, at apatterson@london.newsquest.co.uk. Deadline next Monday 29 March.

'There's one little thing we need you to check'

It's the one thing that's drilled into cub reporters over and over again, from day one. Check your facts.

If you've got the person's name, get their middle name. If you've got their age, get their birthday. You can never ask too many questions. You can never have too much information.

If not, you'll get the shout from the newsdesk that every reporter learns to dread. 'There's something we need you to check...'

So... Sunday Times reporter Camilla Long bookends her profile of UKIP MEP Nigel Farage with jokey references to the fact he only has one testicle. (He had the other removed in 1987 because of cancer and, we're told, 'the doctors offered him an artificial replacement to give him "greater social confidence"'.)

UKIP press officer Gawain Towler picks up the story:

I will tell you what is odious. The fact that on Friday, just after Farage had delivered a barnstormer of a speech at the Milton Keynes conference I recieved a phone call. It was Camilla Long,

"Look Gawain", she said, "I am really sorry to ask you this but the editors have told me to",
"What's that?" I said,
"They want me to ask which one of his balls was removed after his cancer".

Towler's point, of course, is that it was an impertinent question which was somewhat, er, below-the-belt - but we have to admit we're sort of impressed. Never let it be said that the Sunday Times' subs aren't sticklers for factual accuracy.

The Sunday Times. For all you are. Every last bit of you.

Reporter - Building

UBM trade title Building is hiring a reporter or senior reporter.

You'll probably need at least a year's print or web experience, although they will 'consider applications from graduates who can demonstrate an aptitude for news'. (What that may also mean is that they really don't want overqualified candidates...)

Full details, not that there's a lot more, on Gorkana, not directly linkable. Apply with CV and covering letter to Tom Bill at tom.bill@ubm.com. Deadline is Good Friday, 2 April.

Quote of the Day: 19 March 2010

Whenever we talk about the decline of local newspapers, we're always - always - talking about the business side. How we can't make it pay, how there's no money in print, etc etc.

But never mind the width, what about the quality? Here's the Press Gazette's Grey Cardigan's take on it:

Let’s be honest. There are still plenty of excellent local newspapers out there... but there are also some complete dogs, and we all know it. Brow-beaten editors not knowing where to turn next; demoralised staff going through the motions; badly planned pages, sloppy subbing (if there’s any at all) and lazy, humdrum headings. The worst kind of local paper, and doomed to eventual failure.

Read the full thing here.

Freelance subbing - The Wharf

There's another stint of freelance subbing going at The Wharf, the weekly paper based in and covering Canary Wharf in east London.

It's from Thursday 15 April to Wednesday 21 April (excluding the weekend 17-18 April). You'll be based at Trinity Mirror Head Office in One Canada Square (the tall one), and you'll be doing page layout, copy subbing, proofing and design using Quark and Photoshop.

They offer £120 a day, taxed at source.

Contact deputy editor Jon Massey for more detail or to put yourself forward - he's at jon.massey@wharf.co.uk.

News Editor - Financial News

Financial News, covering 'the global securities sector for senior practitioners and their clients', is hiring a news editor.

You'll be doing all the usual kinds of things a news editor does - allocating resources, copy editing and deciding on content placement - but you'll also be doing something which is becoming a depressingly common part of a news editor's job description in these times of pared-back editorial teams: actually writing the stuff yourself. 'The editor will also be a prominent news writer for Financial News across print and online, and will likely have a dedicated news beat to cover,' the ad states.

No specific qualification requirements but they're looking for experience, and you'll need good financial knowledge as well, specifically of four sectors: investment banking, asset management, private equity and trading and technology.

Apply via the Dow Jones website, for job number 000100583. The contact is recruitment manager at Sam Farah at sam.farah@dowjones.com. Deadline Saturday 17 April.

Should journalists break stories on Twitter?

A very 21st century new meeja question. And the answer, from Reuters at least, is a firm no.

The Guardian reports (OK, it was last week, but we're just getting to it) on the wire service's new social media guidelines.

While the guidelines encourage Reuters journalists to use social media and stress that it is a powerful new tool, Reuters journalists are asked to get in contact with their line manager if they want to use them in a professional context.

The guidelines also recommend journalists set up a professional account – alongside their private account. This advice is a rather stiff approach to social media, which is a world where professional and personal lives collide.

Stiff it certainly is, and there's no doubt it's a difficult area. If news reporters aren't going to use an instantaneous mass communication tool to instantly mass communicate breaking news, what exactly is the point of them using it at all?

But while FleetStreetBlues isn't as dubious of Twitter as it once was - certainly as a way of reaching other journalists it works pretty well - we're backing the old guard on this one.

Journalism isn't a hobby, it's a job, and we get paid for a reason. If you've got a news story to link to, tweet away. Otherwise, write the story first. Reuters, like all good wire services, understands the commercial value of breaking news. And the fact that once the news is broken, the value's all gone.

Poll result: Should the media be allowed to report Jon Venables' new identity?

A dish best eaten cold

So, Fleet Street was full of the Kate Winslet-Sam Mendes split this morning - but the Daily Mail's contribution was particularly noticeable.

Alongside a news story about the couple's imminent divorce, a full-page perspective piece from Alison Boshoff, headlined 'So why can't Kate make her marriages work?'

To discard one husband (less successful, less glamorous) may be considered par for the course as a rising star moves up the movie ranks, but to lose two in the space of a decade is perhaps rather unfortunate.

The usual blend of celebrity gossip and insider-ish speculation, but with a bit of an edge, perhaps - and maybe just a little suppressed glee. Long memories at the Mail.

Newspapers on the iPad

The MediaGuardian has a post on how the iPad - to be launched next month - will present newspaper content.

They offer a number of videos with proposed different approaches for transferring print content on to the iPad, with varying degress of flashness - ultimately though, the below effort from Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf may be the most significant.

As the MediaGuardian says, it 'isn't the most thrilling' - 'however this might be the most realistic approach for most publishers in terms of workflow'.

Now, FleetStreetBlues is quite keen to get its hands on an iPad. (Note to Apple, we're desperate to get out hands on an iPad).

But the MediaGuardian is probably right - Wired magazine may be able to put on bells and whistles, but for most normal publications a jazzed-up version of the website may be all that's feasible resource-wise.

We're not entirely convinced this is going to be the saviour of newspapers.

Reporter (x2) - TheBusinessDesk.com

FleetStreetBlues personally has no idea what an EBITDA or a RDA is (maybe something to do with your five-a-day?) but if you do, this job could be for you.

Regional business news website TheBusinessDesk.com now has three branches covering Yorkshire, the North West and the West Midlands, and is recruiting two new business journalists - one of its newsroom in Leeds, one for its newsroom in Birmingham.

You can be either a business journalist or a general reporter looking to move to a specialist role. Online experience will help, but print and broadcast journalists are also welcome - they insist they're 'not looking for geeks'.

Apply with CV and covering letter, making it clear which vacancy you want to be considered for, by emailing zoe.roberts@thebusinessdesk.com. Deadline this Wednesday 17 February.

Angry lightbulb people in local newspapers

It may be March, it may be Spring, and it may be sunny, but it's still Monday. So here's a couple of very angry lightbulb-wielding market traders to cheer you up, courtesy of the Witney Gazette. Feel the rage.

More of the same over at Angry People in Local Newspapers.

Senior Reporter - Bury Free Press

The Bury Free Press is looking for a senior reporter.

You'll need qualifications, although exactly which is a little unclear. (They initially insist 'the successful applicant will have passed the NCTJ National Certificate Exam', but then say that 'trainees with a full set of preliminary exam passes will be considered'.) A driving licence and multimeeja skills are a must, anyway.

Email editor Barry Peters for an application form, at barry.peters@jpress.co.uk. Deadline Tuesday 23 March.

News Editor - Moneywise.co.uk

Moneywise.co.uk, the website of personal finance magazine Moneywise, is hiring a news editor.

You need to be up on the technology, with a working knowledge of content management systems and the ability to present programmes on their online TV channel, but you'll also need to know the sector - they ask for at least three years' experience in financial journalism.

Full details on Gorkana, not directly linkable. Apply with CV and covering letter to Leigh Haver at leigh.haver@iii.co.uk. Deadline Friday 26 March.

Information overload

Too many stories to read, emails to answer, articles to write, blogs to file, Tweets to compose. FleetStreetBlues is suffering from information overload, and will be taking a short break (although given the recent desultory posting, it may be hard to tell the difference).

If you've emailed us in the last week or so and haven't had a reply, apologies - we're very bad at checking it and actually composing replies, but we'll get back to you shortly. Back on SUNDAY 14 MARCH.

Trainee Reporter - Weston & Somerset Mercury

The Weston & Somerset Mercury, an Archant paper, is hiring a trainee reporter.

You'll be working on both news and sport, and the job requirements are demanding, although increasingly standard for this kind of gig: NCTJ prelims, 100 wpm shorthand, driving licence and multimeeja skills.

Apply with CV and covering letter to the editor, Judi Kisiel, at judi.kisiel@archant.co.uk. Deadline next Friday 19 March.

When newspapers are dead and buried

We've been talking for so long about journalism, particularly local newspapers, dying, it's becoming a bit of a cliche. But what happens when it's actually dead and buried?

The Press Gazette has an excellent (if old - it first appeared in print in October) feature exploring just that: 'Long Eaton, the town without a voice'.

Long Eaton, a small town in Derbyshire, lost the Long Eaton Advertiser after more than a hundred years in October 2008, and since then, everything that is being warned about now came to pass. Sports events have gone unpublicised. The council has gone uncovered. Local, pressing issues have gone undebated.

And Web 2.0 evangelists take note:

There are no Long Eaton forums online, nor are there any citizen journalists writing about Long Eaton. According to Kenneth people who bought the Advertiser were the older residents who were engaged in community life and are often without internet access.

What's notable, admittedly, is that most of the mourning for the local newspaper comes from local newspaper types. Funeral directors. The vicar. The Long Eaton Operatic Society. They aren't exactly holding candle-lit vigils at Tesco.

But here's the thing. Local newspaper types matter.

As the feature concludes, the long-term impact of the paper's demise may still not yet be apparent, even a year on.

Kevin came to the carnival to take photographs of Jessica Lee, the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Erewash, who is judging the parade. “I’ve got these photos now, but I’ve got nowhere to send them,” he says.

There’s a chance that a story like that could make the leap from a local paper into a regional paper, but without that publicity incentive high profile public figures like Jessica Lee will be less likely to spend their time in Long Eaton.

It’s not inconceivable that the lack of publicity in the town may discourage Erewash borough council from investing in the area, diverting money instead to parts of the borough like Ilkeston where their efforts are publicised and rewarded with votes.

Read the full article here - it should be required reading. Not just for journalists, or those training to be journalists. But for their (former) readers.

Jon Venables: some questions

FleetStreetBlues' knowledge of media law is rudimentary at the best of times, so we're getting increasingly confused by the whole Jon Venables saga. Why could he be tried under a second false name? Why is the Government so anxious that the media doesn't 'prejudge' Venables over the new allegations he faces? Surely sending him back to jail for 'breaching the terms of his release' pretty much prejudges that he did, er, breach the terms of his release. Or is the breach of the terms of his release, and his return to jail, completely unconnected with the new allegations? And coincidentally at the same time?

And if you're going to restrict knowledge of what he did and where he did it, fair enough - but surely that restriction should apply to politicians not directly involved in the case as much as anyone else. Jack Straw, obviously, is Justice Secretary, but WTF are Ed Balls and Harriet Harman doing getting involved? One law for them, another law for us.

As we say, our knowledge of media law is rudimentary, and we don't pretend to understand all the ins and outs of the case... so we're hoping someone can explain it to us in the comments. And let us know what you think in the poll at the top left.

Reporter - Journalism.co.uk

Journalism.co.uk may bill itself as 'the essential site for journalists', but it's always had a decidedly new media bent compared to, say, Press Gazette. And how new media is this? To apply for their new reporter vacancy you can submit an application 'in video, audio or written formats or any combination of the three.'

Accordingly when it comes to job requirements, multimedia and web skills are top of the list. You'll also need a nose for a story and the ability to work independently. And here's a scary one:

Business savvy: again, our journalists need to play a major part in the business, including setting the agendas for conferences, procuring speakers, helping to promote them etc.

Yep that's right, in the future journalists will have to sing for their supper. The future's already here.

You'll be based in Brighton and there's some UK and overseas travel. Apply to the publisher, John Thompson, at john@journalism.co.uk. There'll be a lot of applications, so we'd advise you to apply early, but the nominal deadline's Friday 30 April.

Who is Jon Venables?

So the prize goes to the Sunday Mirror, who somehow escaped or just ignored the injunction served on the Sun on Friday night. The headline says it all - 'Jon Venables sent back to prison over child porn offence' - and other papers are now becoming less cagey as a result (even the BBC's caught up...)

No doubt about it, the Jon Venables case is a perfect storm, a mix of complex journalistic, legal, moral and political dilemmas. But armchair media lawyers are missing the point. The question of whether what he did should be made public is already moot - it's out there. The question of who he is is the next question. Should he retain his right to anonymity?

The News of the World reports:

He was discreetly rushed to a jail we can't identify under an assumed name and false charges. He was immediately put into solitary confinement in his own cell with CCTV for 23 hours a day and put on suicide watch.

The cell had only a bed and a TV to watch his favourite soaps Coronation Street and EastEnders.

With no chance of going to the dining hall meals were delivered to his cell. Venables' day began at 7am when he was woken and handed breakfast of boiled eggs and toast. Main meals were mostly pizza and chips, chicken with rice and sugary cakes for dessert.

Then he was escorted to the shower block by a guard only after the other inmates had started work at 8am.

In afternoons, he was taken on his own to the exercise yard for an hour, walking and chain smoking using a lighter borrowed from a guard.

This Thursday, as rumours grew that Venables was there, the decision was taken to move him again for his safety.

He was whisked to a new jail and booked in under the name of a genuine prisoner whose file said he had been charged with rape.

After psychological tests he is now off suicide watch and been given more freedom to mix with other inmates. He is not allowed posters on his white cell walls but has a picture of a sexy lingerie model pinned to a notice board.

Who is Jon Venables? Rightly or wrongly, Fleet Street knows. And they really, really want to tell you...

UPDATE: Please stop trying to put Jon Venables' whereabouts in the comments. We'll leave that to proper newspapers with fewer moral qualms and much more expensive lawyers.

Newsroom blues

OK, so it's in American, and it's full of technobabble. But this is the soundtrack to our working lives...

Reporter - Times Higher Education Supplement

The Times Higher Education Supplement is looking for a reporter.

Your patch will be science and research policy, particularly covering the research councils and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Knowledge of the sector would therefore be a big plus, but what they're really after is experience - as a reporter on a newspaper or national magazine. You'll also need a degree (preferably a science) and a journalism qualification.

Full details on Gorkana, not directly linkable. Email CV and covering letter to the HR department at careers@tsleducation.com. Deadline Monday 15 March.

Quote of the Day: 4 March 2010

MediaGuardian deputy editor Stephen Brook's high-minded rant against the Daily Mail's coverage of the mysterious fracas outside the house of Tory party donor David Ross is no doubt morally spot-on (and entirely in keeping with the views of the person whose blog he's keeping warm, Roy Greenslade). Right to privacy, and all that. But as proud feral beasts and gutter journalists, we couldn't help but sympathise with 'mileseey', in the comments.

Why has the Daily Mail been so fascinated by the story of an cheated escort girl, a major Tory party donor, a 5am fracas and five squad cars at the scene, asks Stephen Brook. Jesus, don't let this man anywhere near a newsdesk.

Reporter - Mortgage Solutions

Mortgage Solutions, the trade paper for the mortgage broking community, is hiring a reporter.

You'll need a good degree (2:1 and above), with news writing experience and qualifications in finance/business 'an advantage'. No mention of qualifications in journalism though. You'll also be contributing to the consumer magazine and website Your Mortgage.

Apply via the Incisive Media website.

First is first...

The beauty of the internet is that it's a great leveller where journalism's concerned. No longer do journalists need to be constrained by the deadlines or circulation of the publication they work for. Every story's a breaking news story published to a global audience, and in the cut-throat world of 24-7 local journalism, being first is everything.

But still, we're mightily impressed by this effort from the Islington Gazette. A reader alerts us to their review of an 'intimate surprise gig' by 'glam rock superstars' Kiss at Islington's O2 Academy.

It's a world exclusive, no doubt, and we're a little in awe of the Islington Gazette's contacts in the world of music, given that they managed to post it on Sunday, and the gig itself doesn't take place until this evening. In your face, NME.

If you're interested, there are still tickets available for tonight. We hear they're going to 'blow the roof off...'

Production Editor - Retail Week

Retail Week is recruiting a production editor. Well, in actual fact, all four of Emap's retail titles are.

You'll need to be a whizz at InDesign and Photoshop, have first-class subbing skills and preferably have some experience of overseeing the production process as a whole.

Apply with CV and salary expectations to jobs@emap.com. Deadline next Friday 12 March.

Join FleetStreetBlues

It may be the shortest month of the year, but February was good to FleetStreetBlues, with record numbers of readers. If you're feeling flush and like what you're reading, please feel free to tip some change in our hat by following the 'Donate' link on the right - a big thankyou to everyone who already has.

And the best bit? Having some new writers, and getting some new faces on board. If you'd like to take part, email us at fleetstreetblues@hotmail.co.uk.

Reporter - AFP

Lots of jobs to get through today, and we start with a bit of an exclusive - giving you the jump start on an ad which will apparently be posted in the next few days. Agence France-Presse (AFP) is hiring a junior reporter to join its New Delhi bureau.

You'll be writing both breaking news and feature stories. The ad continues:

The successful candidate will be employed on a local contract and must be able to write to real time deadlines and display excellent news judgment. An understanding of Indian affairs and a knowledge of Hindi are preferred.

Apply with full CV via email to giles.hewitt@afp.com and adam.plowright@afp.com.