How to put together a journalism CV, multimeeja style

The Huffington Post asks: 'Is this the coolest student journalism resume ever?' (Click here to see a larger version).

And much as we want to say 'No, it's a largely meaningless infographic in far too many shades of blue', we can't help noticing that young Chris Spurlock has already bagged himself a whole lot of attention and up to ten job offers. And that, of course, was on Saturday, which in internet terms is a million years ago, so who knows? By the time you read this, he might just be editing the Washington Post.

Guardian columnist to readers: 'Write me some letters of fucking apology for your disrespect'

For old school journalists and writers struggling to adapt to the brave new world of Journalism 2.0, perhaps the trickiest issue of all is 'reader engagement'.

Many's the old-school hack FleetStreetBlues has witnessed staring at the screen in silent, wordless rage. 'Morons,' they'll finally splutter. 'Idiots. Imbeciles. Total. Utter. W**kers.'

Yes, it's fair to say that not everyone's thrilled about the availability - no, ubiquity - of instant online feedback from the Great Unwashed. The best advice? Don't read the comments, ever. And if you must, you'd better be pretty damn thick-skinned.

Unfortunately, it seems this isn't advice which has ever been offered to art critic and Guardian columnist Jonathan Jones. A keen-eyed reader points us in the direction of a piece he wrote last week, on the somewhat unlikely topic of MI5's uselessly dehumanised crop of the 7/7 bombers picture. It's pretty high-falutin' stuff:

With hindsight, it is an eerily resonant photograph. The flashes of bright colour from the games machines and signs in the background animate it with uneasily strong light. The blurred soft tone adds to the banal everyday quality. Knowing who they are, an artist could turn it into a history painting along the lines of Gerhard Richter's great modern paintings based on photographs of the Baader-Meinhof gang...

...In this picture we actually see Khan and Tanweer as human beings, as if in a portrait – that a hypothetical artist basing a painting on it might even see an analogy with the French 19th century painter Gustav Courbet's portrait of himself meeting a friend on the road, an authoritative study of the moment of meeting and recognition.

But when online readers predictably ripped it to shreds - 'a little absurd' said one, 'a load of bollocks' said another - Jonathan Jones hit back. At first in relatively measured tones - then, not so much.

Why read a newspaper site if you do not want to think? Indeed why read anything at all? 

Go and get the paperback of my book The Lost Battles when it comes out end of March, read it cover to cover, and then write me some letters of fucking apology for your disrespect.

Somehow we suspect the Guardian web team won't be encouraging Jonathan to 'engage with the readers' again any time soon.

Work for an MP (for free)

Whatever the rights and wrongs, or legalities or illegalities, of unpaid internships, here's a striking map that's just been posted over on the Centre for Journalism's blog by Rebecca Hughes. It shows all the ads for unpaid interns placed on the w4mp website by MPs and political constituencies since the start of last month. There are quite a few.

View MPs and constituencies adverting for unpaid interns in a larger map

Still, whether you're a would-be journalist intern or a would-be politician intern slaving away for nothing, it's probably best to count your blessings. At least you don't work with Ashley Cole...

Kate Middleton and Prince... Andrew?

FleetStreetBlues reader Alice Hutton alerts us to some slight confusion in the Evening Standard's caption-writing department yesterday, alongside a story on Kate Middleton and Prince Andrew's return to the scene of their student days, St William's. Wait a minute...

NUJ: 'Newsquest cuts could spread beyond London'

So yesterday we rather tentatively posed A Question about the regional branch of a major newspaper group offering its staff voluntary redundancy - half a dozen readers and then the Press Gazette (following our tip-off) immediately confirmed what we'd heard, that it was Newsquest London.

Regional publisher Newsquest has told staff working on its papers in London that it would accept requests for voluntary redundancy. 

Roger Mills, managing director for Newsquest London, briefed staff yesterday that due to worsening trading conditions the company had opened a redundancy programme. 

Employees have been given a relatively short window to register their interest as requests have to be with Newsquest London’s HR department by close of business on Monday... 

...Newsquest London declined to comment.

Now we hear the NUJ fears the cuts in London could rapidly be rolled out elsewhere in the company. In a 'Newsquest Group Chapel Newsflash' email sent to NUJ organisers across the country, the NUJ's Northern and Midland Organiser warns:

We have seen that cut-cutting initiatives such as unpaid leave - furlough - “offers” tend to be rolled out across the group so this is to alert you to what has been put out to staff in part of the company. It is possible that it may be adopted in other centres but there is no more information on this at this stage. 

Even though the company in this instance is talking about voluntary redundancy, it needs to be recognised that the loss of any jobs on already severely stretched staffing in newsrooms is likely to have severe implications for those that are left. Chapels need to consider their possible response in the event similar announcements are made in your centre. Contact your local official for further advice.

If you work for Newsquest and hear any more, please let us know - off the record - at fleetstreetblues@hotmail.co.uk, and we'll keep you posted. Worrying.

Of cats and churnalism

To coincide with the launch of Churnalism.com - of which more later - the filmmaker Chris Atkins (he of urban fox-hunting fame) cooked up an unlikely hoax story in the name of one 'Tim Sutcliffe', who claimed that Downing Street moggie-in-residence Larry in fact belonged to his Auntie Margaret.

Cue much glee among Flat Earth News-ers who like this kind of thing, particularly because it worked out better than they could have ever hoped. At 6.30pm on Wednesday, the Guardian revealed the whole Larry hoax. And on page three of the Daily Mail's first edition the very next day...

Gloaters at the Guardian should be wary though - several readers have already reminded us of the churnalism masterclass they offered last August. Churnalism is a broadsheet thing too...

A Question

This kind of thing is a bit awkward for a journalism blog - the blogger in us wants to publish, the journalist insists we check. So we'll take the easy way out, pose it as a question and let the professionals investigate.

Which regional branch of which major newspaper company has just sent the following to its employees?

COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENT

Due to the worsening trading conditions the company will now accept requests for voluntary redundancy. These requests must be made in writing and be sent to the HR department by Monday February 28 at 5pm. All requests will then be reviewed. Final decisions will be at the management’s discretion.

Second sources to fleetstreetblues@hotmail.co.uk please. It doesn't sound good.

Pay for workies, again

Oh for God's sake.

We really don't want to keep writing about bloody 'Cashback for Interns'. Seeing the issue get picked up by the Press Gazette and Wannabe Hacks was more than enough for an idle Monday morning rant. But the criticism keeps on coming.

FSB, you may be getting tired of being asked to base what you are saying on the facts but as a journalist you should know this is very important. You got it wrong, and in getting it wrong have prompted other people to get it wrong too. The NUJ is not and cannot doing anything to "'prevent lots of would-be journalists who aren't on expensive 'recognised journalism courses' from taking part in informal work experience".

Look, we have lots of problems with the Cashback for Interns campaign. It isn't what the NUJ should be spending our subs on. It doesn't seem like it should be the top priority, or any kind of priority, when there are so many other things they could be campaigning for at the moment. It doesn't really seem to be in many former interns' best interests, either, to piss off all the people they've made contacts with. And to be honest, for the most part we don't think that claiming back pay for people who agreed not to be paid at the time is, well, fair - whatever the law says.

All that is a matter of opinion. We're quite willing to accept we're in a minority - in fact, our snap poll showed we were, with 56% of you backing the NUJ campaign. (We'd suggest that other NUJ campaigns - ending the pay freeze at Newsquest, for instance - would enjoy much higher support from rank-and-file members.)

But what really gets our goat is the responses we've been getting insisting over and over again that the NUJ is doing nothing controversial because 'it's the law', and specifically insisting that the NUJ is not campaigning to stop informal, casually-organised (ie not part of a journalism course) work experience - which is something, like most journalists, we've personally benefited from.

Here's the thing: the NUJ may not want to be campaigning against casually-organised work experience, and it may not feature in their campaign literature. If we called the NUJ press office, no doubt that's what they'd tell us too. But even if they don't want to be campaigning to end casually-organised work experience, their campaign may result in it nonetheless.

At the moment, the law on unpaid work experience may be clear, but it obviously isn't well enforced. That's why the NUJ are campaigning on it. What the NUJ are doing, in addition to claiming back some cash for individual interns, is campaigning to ensure that the letter of the law is applied in what until now has been quite a grey area.

So, if the letter of the law is applied from now on, what will that cover? Well, let's look at the explanation in the NUJ's own Work Experience Guidelines (slogan: 'Exploiting the dream').

What the law says

HM Revenue & Customs insists that all work experience placements are covered by the National Minimum Wage regulations. Only students on work placements of up to one year that are endorsed by their university or college as being beneficial to the coursework, some apprentices, some trainees of government-funded schemes and those of compulsory school age are exempt from the minimum wage. 

Employers offerings such placements, even for much shorter periods, require a letter from the student’s college confirming that the work placement is of benefit to the student. All other work experience placements are covered by the minimum wage – even employers offering unemployed workers work experience to help them improve their CVs must pay the minimum wage for that worker’s age.

To us, that seems fairly cut and dried. If existing law is applied strictly, all work experience placements for people who have left school and aren't on a recognised college course will need to be paid. No exceptions.

So, to summarise, here are the things we think might happen as a result of the NUJ spending our money on the Cashback for Interns campaign, only two of which the NUJ actually wants to happen.

• Some former interns receive back pay for internships which were originally meant to be unpaid.
  
• Those interns - and possibly some others who are unsuccessful in their claims - piss off a large number of senior people in the industry who were previously willing to give them a good reference.
  
• The NUJ scores a high-profile legal victory and is seen to be doing things for its members.
  
• HR departments across the land clamp down on all casual work experience, to prevent similar claims in future. From now on, unless you're paying for a journalism course, unpaid work experience is impossible.

Finally, if you are out there working as a long-term, unpaid intern, and feel a bit hard done by by all of the above, we're truly sorry. We know there are lots of hard-working, dedicated people struggling to get a foot on the ladder, and we wish you all the best. The current state of affairs - whereby talented would-be journalists have to pay for a journalism course, then work unpaid, and still can't score even a £14k traineeship - is shocking. We just don't think, for all the reasons above, the NUJ campaign is the solution.

No doubt all of the above will immediately be slated in the comments, although if anyone wants to address the specific point and explain why casual work experience won't be clamped down on given the wording of the law as set out in the NUJ's own document above, that would be interesting. Otherwise, let's leave it there. Can we go back to writing about embarrassing subbing cock-ups now please?

Weddings with Binkie

It's been a long time coming, but ever since early 2008, when a certain young, skinny-jean-wearing north Londoner set out on a voyage of personal discovery in India, we've been waiting for the true heir to Max Gogarty to reveal themselves.

Ladies and gentlemen, that day has arrived.

Head on over to the Telegraph to read... well, we can't put it better than they put it themselves.

Binkie West, 27, met Charlie Peacock, 28, on the Pony Club circuit when she was 14. They are due to get married at Chavanage House in Gloucestershire, two weeks before the Royal Wedding.

The article, which, just like Max Gogarty's piece seems to be intended as the first in a series, begins thus:

As a young girl I had a vision of being a bride with lovely flowing hair, much like Kate Middleton’s, so I booked myself in to get hair extensions at Daniel Hersheson (www.danielhersheson.com), Conduit Street, London. I don’t want to look like a complete Barbie doll, so I’ve gone for Great Lengths which is real hair - a very natural look – just something to make my hair thicker and longer (www.greatlengthshair.co.uk). Getting married you want perfection, and I think long hair is rather lovely.

Binkie continues with a run-down of her weekend (Friday, she and Charlie were very naughty and drank two bottles of Pol Roger at Annabel's in Mayfair, Saturday, a friend's hen do where all the girls loved her hair), which required its own recovery session.

I was feeling exhausted on Monday. So I joined the Cranleigh Golf and Country Club (www.ccgcranleigh.com), where I booked in for a massage at its Retreat to help ease the stress. I also booked in for weekly facials and body wraps – all to look my absolute best on the big day.

She then goes on to sympathise with Wills and Kate's guest list dilemmas, and rather sweetly concludes:

We wouldn’t change our wedding at Chavenage Chapel and House for the world. I have always wanted a small country wedding and so far everything is meeting all of my expectations. I can’t wait!

Bless. It's now gone viral, of course. Binkie West is trending on Twitter, her Facebook page seems to be down, and all we can imagine is a baffled blonde girl on the phone to Charlie tonight wondering at what all the fuss is about.

Memo to commissioning editors at the Telegraph. Please let there be a part two.

Picture Editor - Men's Health

The UK's best-selling men's magazine and generally ab-tastic fitness publication Men's Health is recruiting a picture editor.

You'll need to be a 'creative multi-tasker with a keen eye for detail', and experience in a similar role would no doubt help too. You'll be commissioning and briefing photographers, models and stylists, sourcing locations, negotiating rights and processing invoices - all the things you'd expect really. You'll report to the photo director.

Full ad on Gorkana, not directly linkable. Apply with CV and covering letter to catherine.costelloe@natmag-rodale.co.uk. Deadline Friday 4 March.

Reporter - Sunday Life

The Sunday Life, Northern Ireland's newspaper of the year and sister paper to the Belfast Telegraph, is advertising for a reporter.

They want an experienced journalist with a proven track record of exclusives and first class contacts. You'll also need to be willing to 'learn and practise' digital journalism, and have a driving licence and business use car insurance. The job's based in Belfast, with a Tuesday - Saturday working week.

Apply to the editor at mbreen@sundaylife.co.uk. Deadline Friday 4 March.

Where's the 'off' switch for journalists?

The Guardian has a comment piece this morning from its columnist Jonathan Freedland under the headline: 'We owe the internet for changing the world. Now let's learn how to turn it off.'

For the most part, it's pretty standard stuff you'll have read elsewhere before, concentrating on the range of web-enabled electronic devices now competing for our attention, and the corresponding impact that is having on our attention span.

What the internet has done, say the dissenters, is damage our ability to concentrate for sustained periods. Being connected meant being constantly tempted to look away, to hop from the text in front of you to another, newer one. One tweeter replied that he now thought "about more things for shorter amounts of time. It's like ADHD." Anyone who has Tweetdeck fitted on their desktop, chirruping like a toddler tapping you on the shoulder urging you to come and play, will know what he means...

...This, the worriers fear, is not just irritating; it might even damage our civilisation. How capable will people be of creating great works if they are constantly interrupted, even when alone?

Now, here at FleetStreetBlues, we won't pretend to have any ambition to 'create great works' - frankly, we do a little jump of joy every time our copy makes it past the subs - but it got us thinking: if the solution, as Freedland suggests, is to 'rediscover the off switch', what does that mean for journalists?

The problem is, for journalists - those of us who do news, at least - is that all those web-enabled electronic devices help us do our job so much better.

Try working for even half an hour without accessing the internet. It's literally impossible. We don't dig into a contacts book or check the newspaper archive or flick through clippings anymore, we do it all online (and have done for more than a decade).

But more than that, all those 'distractions' are precisely the best way of staying up-to-date in an industry where first is best and second is nowhere. Twitter, RSS feeds, even email - these are the new tools of our trade. (We're constantly astonished every time we see people who work in an office and don't have their email permanently on with an alert set up every time a new one comes in. Non-journalists must be so behind).

And even when we're not at work, of course, it's hard to switch off. Journalists are almost without exception news junkies - if we weren't, we'd do something better paid - and so we're sitting on the train checking our smartphones while reading the morning's paper, and when we get home we'll probably do it all over again, with a proper computer. If it sounds exhausting, that's because it is.

What's the solution? Well, unless you're a highly-paid Guardian columnist who can afford to ponder the world at length (and to be fair, Jonathan Freedland does more than his fair share of Twittering), switching off probably isn't it. If you're not out there furiously trying to stay up to date, your rivals will be.

Being disciplined about it may help - checking in often, but briefly, and avoiding getting sucked into pointless Twitter conversations about why Cher totally didn't deserve to be voted off may help. Internet-free holidays when you can take them are also a good idea - frankly, we've never understood the appeal of updating your Facebook from the top of Ayers Rock.

But other than that - well, we're not sure what the solution is. Communication is what we do, and communication has got exponentially faster over the past ten years. Better get used to it.

Quote of the Day: 22 February 2011

Sun reporter Vince Soodin, explaining to Jewish Chronicle assistant editor Jenni Frazer why the paper simply lifted their story and then badged it 'exclusive':

'When we take stories from regionals or locals, we usually tag them exclusive.'

That's OK then...

'Lybia in chaos'

Misspelling Gaddafi, we could forgive, but this will have caused a few red faces on the Mirror's subs desk...

Hat tip: FleetStreetFox (no relation) and others

'Cashback for interns': the sequel

The union's not for turning.

Yesterday, we wrote about the NUJ's 'Cashback for Interns' campaign, and sparked a somewhat heated debate. Now the Press Gazette reports:

Deputy general secretary Michelle Stanistreet waded into the debate yesterday, questioning the PPA’s commitment to enforcing its own guidelines, which state interns should be paid the national minimum wage...

...'The NUJ’s policy on this is very clear – interns should be paid at least the minimum wage, and should expect proper rights and working conditions,' said Stanistreet. 'We believe employer organisations have a duty to set reasonable standards for their side of the industry.'

'We look after our side of the house, and they need to look after theirs. The PPA should be taking a lead on these issues. The guidelines ought to be enforced but we have no knowledge of how they’re doing this.'

It all kicked off a bit yesterday, so let's leave the personal abuse out of it - FleetStreetBlues doesn't hate the NUJ, in fact, we have huge respect for some of the people who do a lot of good work for it.

But the actual arguments put forward yesterday just won't wash.

• 'It's the law, like it or not'. No, it's not. You believe that the law could be interpreted to mean all interns are owed back pay, and you're willing to go to court (spending our subs) to prove it. But it's not an uncontroversial fact that every piece of work experience should be remunerated - if it was, you wouldn't be campaigning for it.
  
  
• 'It doesn't apply to workies.' Actually, yes it does - according to your own definition, all work experience which isn't part of a 'recognised journalism course' is covered. Most work experience isn't organised through a recognised journalism course - some excellent journalists never study journalism at all, and others who do organise extra work experience off their own bat. Quite what vested interest journalism training provider the NUJ might have in insisting all work experience is organised through a 'recognised journalism course' we couldn't possibly imagine.
  
  
• 'This is something interns and trainee journalists want.' With the exception of the redoubtable Girish Gupta - who got so much coverage precisely because he was so unusual, and as commenters rightly point out is now working as a successful freelance journalist - FleetStreetBlues has never come across a young journalist who's up in arms about not being paid for work they agreed not to be paid for. That doesn't mean they're not out there, of course. We're very willing to be corrected. But it's notable that all the comments yesterday backing the NUJ campaign came from established journalists and union activists rather than any of our many younger readers.
  
  
• 'Stopping unpaid work experience will result in more paid jobs.' No, it won't, it really won't. HR departments will just veto all casual work experience - some are doing so already - and trainee journalists will have to pay to go on a course in order to get work experience, or go without. And we'll have to make our own damn tea.

We'll leave it at that. Do we think national newspapers should be using unpaid interns for months at a time to fill column inches? No. Do we think all unpaid work experience which isn't organised as part of a journalism course should be banned? No. This one's clearly going to run and run.

Pictures of me

Putting a photo of yourself in the paper is one of the perks you get from being the editor - but we hear Geoff Martin, editor of the north London weekly Ham & High, got a little carried away last week.

Invited to Hornsey School for Girls to help distribute prizes for an art competition the paper had helped to run, he was pictured with a number of the winners at the top of page 28 (he's the guy at the back on the left).

So far, so normal - except that he obviously liked the photo so much, he decided to put it at the top of page 29 too.

The double-page spread appears both in the paper and in the 'e-edition' online. It was, of course, a 'production error'. These editors are a law unto themselves...

Trainee Reporter - Bucks Free Press

The Bucks Free Press is advertising for a trainee reporter, and there's one very clear message in the ad - they want journalists who will just get out there and report.

Our reporters are not tied to their desks. They report from the field using laptops equipped with 3G cards, phone and video cameras. In the best traditions of journalism, must spend time in the communities they serve, where the news happens, rather than spending their days virtually locked in a room on a far-flung trading estate.

The successful candidate will report directly to the Content Desk. They will be expected to work on patch for a significant part of their time, managing their own workload during a 75-hour fortnight in which flexibility will be the name of the game.

Sounds good, don't it - although the £16k salary 'depending on qualifications' may dampen your ardour somewhat. You'll need to be NCTJ-qualified and have 100wpm shorthand.

Apply with CV and covering letter to vmacfarlaine@london.newsquest.co.uk. Deadline Tuesday 1 March.

To pay or be paid - the uncertain future of journalism work experience

The revelation in the Mail on Sunday a week ago that the Conservative Party's fundraising Black and White Party was offering work experience - including journalism internships - for cash may have ruffled a few feathers, but to be honest it didn't come as that much of a surprise.

Sure, £4,000 for a fortnight on Tatler or £8,000 for two weeks at City AM is pretty steep, but it's not as if it's likely to become the going rate anytime soon. The rich and famous may be happy to stump up several grand for charity to allow Hugo or Clemmie to play Watergate at a posh consumer mag, but it's not as if every NCTJ trainee is going to have to pay for the privilege of doing the vox pops at the Ruralshire Gazette anytime soon.

But this is genuinely astonishing, even if it's only really just come to our attention: the NUJ is stepping up its campaign to get any journalist who's done an unpaid internship in the past six years to claim back pay, and is now confidently promising Cashback for Interns. Even if they agreed to work for free.

Here's the pitch:

Have you worked as an unpaid intern within the past six years? You could be entitled to claim back the National Minimum Wage, regardless of the terms of your internship agreement.

The National Union of Journalists wants to hear from any former journalism intern who would like legal support from the union to claim unpaid wages. It could be possible to recover up to £232 per 40-hour week of the internship.

Even by the NUJ's normal standards, this seems to be a spectacularly wrong-headed campaign.

For a start, of course it's not practical. As a campaign, it's probably aimed at long-term internships rather than casual work experience, but there's no clear dividing line, and certainly no clear legal distinction. (The campaign's Facebook page suggests 'Students undertaking work experience as part of a university course are generally not considered to be workers under the National Minimum Wage Act' - which suggests everything not explicitly 'part of a university course' is more or less fair game).

Pretty much every journalist reading this blog has done their fair share of unpaid work experience - most of you, we're guessing, at some point within the past six years. So in theory we're all owed thousands (for example, former Journalism.co.uk reporter Judith Townend reckons she could claim a cool £4,176). But in practice, it probably isn't going to work out like that.

And nor should it. Call us old-fashioned, but if you volunteer for a work experience placement (indeed, furiously compete for one), be it a week or six months, and if you do so on the explicit and happy understanding that it's unpaid, why should you suddenly have the right to bill the people giving you a chance  up to six years later?

Not every publication is part of an exploitative megacorporation, and not every journalism student is a hard-up super-hack either. In fact, chances are, when you first went on work experience you were a snotty-nosed student who knew nothing about nothing. You were scared to pick up the phone, you didn't have a clue how to write a news story, you struggled with the most basic of NIBs and you couldn't even get the teas right. We know that's how it was for us - and that's OK, because you learn, not through being taught, but through being left to sink or swim, get on with it, and pick up some of what they can't teach in journalism college through a gradual osmosis and the occasional gruff aside from the news editor.

Maybe you got lucky and got a story in the paper, maybe you even got a byline. Be happy. That's a result right there. Just don't go looking for payment. That wasn't part of the deal.

Which brings us to the final, overriding reason why the Cashback for Interns campaign is a complete and utter catastrophe.

When wannabe hacks decide to take an unpaid internship or work experience placement, they do so making a clear calculation. They accept the short-term pain and the lack of payment for a shot at doing something they love, a chance to make their name and get ahead. In practical terms, they do it not so much to learn new skills as to get some decent clippings and make a good impression, in the hope that the editor will remember them when the publication's next hiring - or failing that, will recommend them to another publication somewhere down the line.

In encouraging young journalists to try and claim back pay for unpaid internships, the NUJ is also encouraging them to burn every bridge they've crossed, to ruin every relationship they've made and to cut off every hard-won contact. Trust us, when letters start arriving from long-forgotten workies asking for pay they'd never expected, a lot of editors are going to be seriously unimpressed (remember Girish Gupta?) And that's not going to be hugely helpful in the job-hunting process going forward.

What the NUJ gets out of the Cashback for Interns campaign is obvious - the chance to score a headline-grabbing legal victory, finally justify those exortionate subs and flex their trade union muscles (in offering help to probably the only part of the union that wasn't asking for it). What everyone else gets out of it is less clear.

Red meat good! No, red meat bad!

It's make-your-mind-up time at the Daily Mail.

Yesterday, it was all good news for red meat-eaters.

Today, not so much.

Confused? Us too. But some perspective is provided by the excellent Kill or Cure website, which promises to 'help to make sense of the Daily Mail's ongoing effort to classify every inanimate object into those that cause cancer and those that prevent it'.

According to Kill or Cure, the balance of evidence from peer-reviewed scientific journals MailOnline stories suggests that meat does in fact officially cause cancer. You have been warned.

Hat tip: The Media Blog

Content Editor - Telegraph

A decent job on a national this, but pretty specialised too - the Telegraph is looking for a content editor to help develop its Olympic coverage for London.

You'll be covering pretty much everything to do with the Games except for sport, and will be working across the Telegraph's digital products - on a day-to-day basis it'll mainly be a combination of commissioning and web editing, it seems. A 'strong knowledge of digital publishing' is essential.

Full ad on Gorkana, not directly linkable. Email your application to cv@telegraph.co.uk.

Sun-Times it happens to the best of us

Spot the glaring error on the front page of Monday's Chicago Sun-Times.

Took us a second too.

Hat tip: Regret the Error

Reporters - Shropshire Star

The Shropshire Star is recruiting reporters, plural, 'as part of its ongoing commitment to investing in local news coverage'. Which makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

There's very little in the ad over at HoldTheFrontPage by way of specific candidate requirements - they really just want someone hardworking with a sound nose for news. A driving licence would always be handy though, with local knowledge a bonus.

Apply to deputy editor Jon Simcock at jsimcock@shropshirestar.co.uk. Deadline Monday 21 February.

From Suffolk with love

We know it's just been Valentine's and all, but we still can't help thinking the byline on this story on the East Anglian Daily Times' website is a little, well, overfamiliar...

Read all about it: 16 February 2011

It's been quiet lately - unfortunately, the day jobs have been getting in the way again - but if you're looking for some quality stuff to read about journalism, try any or all of the following:

• Andrew Sullivan asks whether journalists should just call a lie a lie

• David Higgerson takes Roy Greenslade to task for being too tough on the regional press

• Grey Cardigan sets his sights on an overzealous PR issuing legal threats

• A Daily Mail story on David Beckham's lost libel bid highlights the differences between media law in the US and the UK. Did they really get away with that?

• And hot on the heels of this swine-based subbing screw-up there's now a whole new blog devoted to classic cock-ups - check out the wonderfully named 30 Sows and Pigs

News Reporter - Coleman-Rayner

About this time of year, swapping dreary, rainy London for the bright lights of LA always seems pretty tempting - and if you agree, this could be just the ticket. Showbiz news and photo agency Coleman-Rayner is recruiting a news reporter.

The job ad is short on formal requirements, but you'll need to have a solid track record of breaking exclusives and be prepared to work hard and flexibly - we're told although you'll be based in Los Angeles, 'the job will involve travel and frequent out-of-office assignments'.

Apply with CV, covering letter and 'a few story ideas' to hugo@coleman-rayner.com. Deadline this Wednesday 16 February.

How to ensure your FOI request isn't singled out for special treatment

Ever had the feeling that your Freedom of Information request is handled differently just because you're a journalist?

In theory, it shouldn't be, of course. In theory, all FOI requests are 'applicant blind' and also 'motive blind', and should all be handled equally. As the ever-useful David Higgerson puts it, 'if a council press officer does contact you about your FOI request to ask why you submitted it, clearly the authority is being neither applicant blind nor motive blind.'

Well, FleetStreetBlues has been contacted by a lot of council press officers about a lot of FOI requests we have submitted over the years. And our sneaking suspicion that some requests are more equal than others turns out to be true.

A recent post on the very readable FOI Man blog offers an insight into how many governmental bodies treat requests from journalists - and as suspected, we get singled out for special treatment.

I routinely provide the Press Office with details of requests received from journalists (though not names unless they specifically ask), and where requested, I will also let them see a draft response. I can understand that might raise eyebrows. But I honestly don’t believe that automatically prevents the request being dealt with in an ‘applicant blind’ manner. The request will still be coordinated by the FOI Officer (or departmental staff in some organisations), the same information will still be sent out. It is just that the Press Office have a ‘heads up’ for any impending news story about the organisation.

In fact, as FOI Man points out, even the Information Commissioner's Office seems to expect details of FOI requests from journalists to be passed along to press officers, with a recent set of 'tips' for communications professionals advising them to 'ring journalists when they've made a freedom of information request'.

'Junior journalists often make a request instead of going to the press office,' the guidance continues. 'Offering help can be beneficial to both parties.'

But what if you decide you don't want this kind of 'help', and would like the organisation to just focus on answering the question, rather than working out the best way to phrase it? What if you'd like them to treat your request like any other request? You know, like the law says they're supposed to?

Well, FOI Man's advice is straight-to-the point:

I would always advise requesters to assume that their details will be known to anyone in the organisation they make their request to. Most of the time, for most people, that will probably not be a problem. However, I was recently asked for advice by someone who wanted to ask for information held by their employer, and I could only advise them that their best approach would be to use a pseudonym. I don’t generally condone that, but if anonymity is important, then that’s really your best option (and if your pseudonym is credible, the FOI Officer is not going to know – so you can avoid your request being refused under section 8).

In practice, lots of journalists FleetStreetBlues knows do this already, but now it's official. Sure, it's probably not necessary, but FOI is a negotiation, not a right, and just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you.

Set up a Hotmail address under a normal sounding name, import your FOI address book and you're good to go. If you want to get the most out of FOI, best go undercover.

The London Weekly, one year on

Remember the London Weekly? Just over a year ago, what has to be a strong contender for the world's least successful newspaper launch saw a hotchpotch of recycled press releases and disastrous headlines unleashed upon an unsuspecting capital.

Well, to FleetStreetBlues' surprise, the title still seems to be going strong - online at least - and it today brings us an eyewitness account from Tahrir Square under the snappy headline: 'Consistent action leads to Mubarak action as Egyptians win the race to freedom!'

Fans of the London Weekly's launch editions will be delighted to know its winning blend of style, substance and subbing remains essentially unchanged. The article was filed by 'managing editor' Dominic Gardener, who breathlessly tells us:

I have been in Egypt for the past 2 weeks following this history in the making episode for The London Weekly newspaper and covering this groundbreaking story  first hand.

Indeed he has, and what follows is an excitable (if sometimes illiterate) account. But what about the last paragraph, offering some background on Egypt the country?

Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean region, the Middle East and the Islamic world. Covering an area of about 1,010,000 square kilometers (390,000 sq mi), Egypt is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west. Egypt is one of the most populous countries in Africa and the Middle East...

Yep, you guessed it. A copy and paste job from Wikipedia, as blatant as you like. The perfect grammar's a dead giveaway...

(Hat tip: James Ball)

'I love you like a reporter loves cake': celebrate Valentine's Day in style

Being super-organised journalists and masters of forward planning you'll all know this already anyway - but just in case, Valentine's Day is on Monday.

And if your sweetheart is a newshound too, then you may want to check out the 10,000 Words blog, which now boasts a whole new set of Valentine's Day cards for those of you in the mood for some hack-on-hack lovin'.

A couple of our favourites are above, but head on over to 10,000 Words for the full selection - from this year and last.

Read all about it: 11 February 2010

Here's what we're reading this morning:

• Popbitch on a mystery floor-cleaning at Associated Newspapers - and a rather unlikely suggestion of why that might be
• Pitching the World hits a new low - and is more determined than ever to finish what he started
• Essex Chronicle Media Group editor-in-chief Alan Geere describes how he and Brentwood Gazette editor Nev Wilson keep it real by meeting readers... in Sainsbury's
• The Wannabe Hacks explain why decent print cuttings may still be the key to cracking a job on a national
• The Nieman Journalism Lab explores the strange, embargo-ruled world of science reporters

Content Editor - Telegraph

Here's that rarest of job ads, for an entry-level, multimedia role on a national. Standby for the stampede.

The Telegraph is recruiting a 'content editor' for its website, Telegraph.co.uk, and they're pitching the position at a 'graduate with hands-on experience of a modern newsroom'. You'll be helping to manage copy flow across the site as well as work on setpiece coverage of big events and longer-term projects.

You'll need to know media law, have experience of content management systems and have a 'scrupulous attention to detail' - otherwise, there's not much in the way of specific requirements, but a polished CV, hard news background and extreme degree of web savviness will probably edge you to the front of the queue.

Full details on Gorkana, not directly linkable. Apply to cv@telegraph.co.uk.

How (not) to apply to the Daily Mail

If you applied for the Daily Mail's recently advertised trainee reporter scheme, you're not alone - it's one of the most sought-after training courses in the industry.

But while the competition is fierce, one person you probably won't have to worry about is Bristol-based journalist and author of the very successful Enemies of Reason blog, Steven Baxter, who's put together the following application in response to the ad's request for '200 words on why you think you could be a Mail journalist'.

Dear Sue,

I'll write anything. Honestly, anything. I'm happy to slag off a missing-presumed-dead woman, or slag off a woman whose daughter recently died, or a gay man who recently died. Hell, I can even publicly speculate about the private life of someone who has apparently recently attempted suicide. I can do that and I won't have nightmares about it. I can slag off a teenager for being too thin, while slagging off the BBC for a remark about a teenager apparently being overweight, while guffawing about a celebrity's appearance and saying they're too fat. I can write captions for snatched pictures of people who've just split up. None of this bothers me at all.

Not just that though. I'll happily write stories about "non-white British" mums, and 'non-white British' babies, while tut-tutting at the English Defence League. I don't have a problem with that at all. One day I'd love to be the kind of writer who talks about the 'indigenous population' or makes a joke about Peter Mandelson living down the 'Rue des Jeunes Garcons'. But that's a distant dream, something to aspire to - maybe one day. In the meantime, I'm happy to write whatever you want me to write. And go home and sleep like a baby, and not worry about it at all.

Love,
Steve

+ + + Breaking: Met Police statement on phone-hacking + + +

This one's going to run and run. The Metropolitan Police have just issued the following statement:

The recently formed Specialist Crime Directorate 'Operation Weeting' team is conducting the new investigation into phone hacking whilst adopting a fresh approach towards informing victims and potential victims in this case.

The new evidence recently provided by News International is being considered alongside material already in the Metropolitan Police Service's (MPS) possession to determine which lines of enquiry should be pursued as priorities.

At the same time, all actions and decisions taken by the previous investigation are being reviewed and all the evidence gathered to date is being checked to ensure it is catalogued correctly and accurately.

Having begun an analysis of the documents seized in 2005 alongside the new evidence, the team have been able to make some links not previously identified. As a result, the team have also identified some individuals who were previously advised that there was little or no information held by the MPS relating to them within the case papers and exhibits and this is now being reviewed.

At this stage, there is no evidence to suggest that their voice mails were hacked but this will be an important and immediate new line of enquiry. As a result detectives are taking urgent steps to advise them of this development at the earliest opportunity. If any others are identified as possible victims in due course they will also be contacted.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, leading the new investigation, said: "I am conscious there remains significant interest in this case and we are determined to ensure that we conduct a robust and thorough investigation which will follow the evidence trail to its conclusion.

"We will build on the previous commitment to all those victims whose phones we already have reasonable evidence to believe may have been hacked by establishing or renewing contact with them. With this new investigation we will be as open as we can be and will show them all the information we hold about them, while giving them the opportunity to tell us anything that may be of concern to them.

"In time, we will go beyond this group of individuals and make contact with everyone who had some of their personal contact details found in the documents seized in 2005. This will ensure all of those who have been affected in some way are made aware of the information we have found relating to them."

"Until I am satisfied that we have validated the data we are re-examining I am not prepared to discuss any of the numbers involved, but I intend to make this information public at the earliest opportunity."

"This is clearly a major task with a considerable amount of work to be done which will take a significant amount of time and resources. We will complete this new investigation as soon as we possibly can, but I am unable to predict at this early stage as to how long it will take to complete."

"It would be inappropriate for me to discuss any further details regarding this case at this time."

UPDATE: The Guardian has a full write-up here, and it seems John Prescott has also been officially named as a potential phone-hacking victim tonight.

Local blogs getting big for their boots

Jon Slattery had a ringside seat for an enjoyable spat yesterday from the frontline of hyperlocal journalism - which all kicked off when Croydon Advertiser editor Glenn Ebrey took a pop at the paper's blogging nemesis, Inside Croydon.

In an open letter which began by saying he was all for blogging in principle, Glenn attempted to rebutt a series of criticisms levelled at the paper, including an attack on its Parking Mad campaign.

He said: 'There is no disputing it makes for a lively read but, when it comes to the local newspapers (especially us) Mr Insider doesn’t just have a chip on his shoulder, he seems to have the full portion with ketchup and vinegar thrown in for good measure.

But Inside Croydon, which from a first glance seems to be a really quite impressive local blog and clearly sees itself as a direct rival to what it calls the 'Sadvertiser', was having none of it. It hit straight back, with a  rebuttal that wasn't just a typical bloggers-vs-Dead Tree Media yawn-fest, but included a specific list of journalistic failings at the paper.

The Sadvertiser is the newspaper that once issued a bill (the sales posters placed outside newsagents): “Traffic chaos in town centre…” yawn… “after double murder”. No chance of missing the story, eh?

Any wonder that no one followed up this Sadvertiser world exclusive front page?

“Drivers flout mobile laws” was the latest in a long line of stories about bears defacating in wooded areas, dogs biting men, and the Pope being of the Catholic persuasion.

It was the Sadvertiser – which has not changed its fawning coverage of Crystal Palace for at least 20 years – which rubbished reports that manager George Burley was about to be sacked. You published this, Glenn, a week before very thirsty Burley was fired. Dull?

A more recent Friday morning front-page headline said: “Man falls to his death from 10th floor of a hotel”. This was your choice as the biggest “news” story of the week, and published five days after the tragic event.

You can argue the toss on most of them, of course, and not being from Croydon, we're not really qualified to comment. But as an indication of how confident some local blogs are getting at challenging local papers on their own supposed strengths - local news judgement and catering to their readers - it's a little bit frightening. This may not be a battle we're winning.

UPDATE: Hold up, there's more. Jon Slattery has an update on Round Three here

The Mail takes a bite out of the Big Apple

We knew it was on the cards, but now it's official: the Daily Mail's website is heading Stateside, and they've found themselves a newsroom.

Crain's New York Business reports:

The publication has signed a four-year lease for 5,200 square feet at 42 Greene St., between Grand and Broome streets. Asking rent for the space was $45 per square foot.

The tenant began its search for an office space in midtown south, but ultimately decided on SoHo, according to Jamie Addeo of CresaPartners, who represented Daily Mail. “They felt that the SoHo vibe mirrored the image they want to portray,” she said.

Daily Mail will move into their new partial fourth floor space some time next month.

Will MailOnline's unique blend of five-deck headlines, shock-horror news stories and photos of Katy Perry's breasts prove as big a hit with America as it has in the UK? We're guessing it might. Watch out America. The British are coming.

'1 in 5 people are displayed this way in infographics'

It's not just data journalism (aka 'porn for journalists') which is overhyped - the inevitable over-the-top infographics can get pretty annoying too. Quite why something which is so obviously perfect for a static, print-based format should be heralded as the future of interactive, online journalism is beyond us - but then as grunt reporters, our job is just to collect the statistics which are used to make all those pretty pictures.

Anyway, if you've been wondering exactly what the point of infographics is, wonder no longer. This handy, er,  infographic (courtesy of Think Brilliant, spotted over at Freelance Unbound and blown up here so you can see it in full size) explains all.

The ruins of Detroit

For some reason, American newspaper websites seem to be better at consistently championing set-piece collections of great photography - long-form photojournalism, if you will. And while we usually link to the Boston Globe's excellent Big Picture page, this brilliant, apocalyptic series by French photographers Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre actually appears on the Denver Post website.

It's well worth spending a couple of minutes browsing all 32 stunning images.

Pigs might float

There seems to be something going on with swine-based stories at the moment. Last month, we reported the strange case of Southampton's Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs, with different news outlets seemingly unable to agree whether there were two, three or four of the little rascals.

And now this, a pig-related correction from Down Under of a quite different magnitude. A short piece in the Morning Bulletin about a number of pigs floating down the Dawson River somehow managed to get the estimate wrong - by the order of some 27,970 pigs.

The wonderful explanation is worth reading in full:

No doubt, then, that the unfortunate Daniel Burdon needs to clean his ears out, but the newsdesk should surely have also spotted that their page 11 story was reporting a catastrophic event of near-Biblical proportions.

A word of advice for anyone writing about pigs in the next month, in any form. If in doubt, count 'em.


Hat tip: Victoria Raimes

Quote of the Day: 7 February 2011

Rank-and-file BBC staff have written to - where else? - the Mail on Sunday, about the forthcoming move to Salford:

'We would urge you most strongly to ask some hard questions about this as the real truth is certainly not out there - the indecision, costly changes of plan, mismanagement, failure of senior staff to commit to living in the North and much more.’

Apparently the highly-paid consultant in charge of masterminding the move lives more West than North. As in Kentucky in the US of A. More here.

The revolution will be live-blogged

Guardian.co.uk has long fancied itself as punching above its weight in World Affairs - witness the excitement it works itself up into every time something big happens in American politics. But now it's gone one step further.

Not content with rolling round-the-clock coverage of the crisis in Egypt, the website has actually switched to running headlines on the front page entirely in Arabic, including an incendiary call to arms by Slavoj Žižek asking لماذا الخوف من روح الثورة العربية؟- - or in English, 'Why fear the Arab revolutionary spirit?'

Why indeed? Excitement at Kings Place is reaching fever-pitch, and when Mubarak inevitably falls, Guardian web types will be able to say they were there. Viva la revolución!

Freelancers - The Grocer

Sometimes journalism ads are beautifully simple and to the point - and this one on Gorkana (not directly linkable) says all it needs to in just two lines.

The Grocer is looking for 'experienced business and trade journalists' with knowledge of the grocery sector for shift work - email ronan.hegarty@thegrocer.co.uk. Job done.

Subbing standards going down in Gloucestershire

Top work from the Gloucestershire Echo, for the perfect headline they gave this piece yesterday on the 'something special' girls' schools have to offer, according to the principal of Cheltenham Ladies' College. Something very special.

Chief Reporter - Press Gazette

Ever wondered what the Press Gazette team do all day? Well, they're advertising for an online news editor/chief reporter at the moment, and the very comprehensive ad gives a surprisingly detailed insight into their team's working day.

It's an early start and early finish, 8am to around 4.30pm, and the day is divided roughly in half by the email news alert which goes out at midday. The first half of the day is mainly focused on spot news and content aggregation, while the afternoons are devoted to working up stories and researching in-depth pieces.

You'll need to have an NCTJ qualification or equivalent with 100wpm shorthand, at least two years' news experience and the ability to churn out on-diary stuff quickly to make time for the more detailed reporting.

Email CV and covering letter to Press Gazette editor Dominic Ponsford at dominicp@pressgazette.co.uk. Deadline Monday 7 February, although the ad specifically states that 'the sooner you can get in touch the better').

That was the month that was

So with FleetStreetBlues fast approaching its third birthday, January 2011 was our best month yet. For the first time, we broke the 20,000 page views barrier - which, to put it in perspective, is roughly the same amount of traffic as HoldTheFrontPage gets. For its job section. Every day. We won't give up the day job just yet.

Most-read stories of the month were a mixture of the new and a couple of old favourites:

1. Joanna Yeates gets the Liz Jones treatment
2. Total editing fail at The Times
3. Diary of a Fleet Street fox
4. What Max Gogarty did next...
5. Beware the sub scorned

Don't forget you can follow FleetStreetBlues on Facebook, on Twitter, or by subscribing to our automated email newsletter via the box on the right. And please keep emailing us your submissions, tips and unsubstantiated gossip to fleetstreetblues@hotmail.co.uk. We protect our sources.