#FollowJourn: @jowadsworth/web editor

New science journalism MA at City University aims to make students ‘critical consumers of scientific information’

July 15th, 2009 | 1 Comment | Posted by Mykel Hutchinson in Journalism, Training

The accuracy and standard of science journalism in the UK is increasingly scrutinised online – just take a look at the Bad Science blog network for evidence of that. How can journalists become better equipped to report science? Would more specialised journalistic training help?

A new MA in science journalism at City University in London is designed in response to a ‘rapidly expanding vein of journalism,’ according to the course outline. During the course, a result of ‘consultation with the UK’s leading science journalists and scientists,’ students will be taught to be ‘critical consumers of scientific information’.

The course will be led by Connie St. Louis, a former BBC science journalist. Potential students are promised ‘a range of opportunities’ to report on science, health, environment, technology and food.

Tags: BBC, blog network, City University, City University in London, connie st louis, food, London, MA, Science journalism, science journalist, United Kingdom

Paperhouse: The Telegraph’s ‘financially contrary’ newsroom

July 15th, 2009 | 1 Comment | Posted by Judith Townend in Editors' pick, Newspapers

Following Boris Johnson’s flippant comment about his ‘chicken feed’ column payment (a deal earning him £250,000 a year) Sarah Ditum takes a look at the Telegraph’s financial strategy:

“The Telegraph is in the perplexing position of having both made rather a lot of money last year, and then lost even more of it buying itself out of joint ventures. And from the outside, the newsroom looks similarly financially contrary: the Telegraph appears to have invented seven sports hacks to cover up a reliance on agency copy, and yet still have the money hanging around to spend a quarter of a million hiring Boris Johnson as a columnist.”

Maybe, she ponders, for the Telegraph to agree to that kind of money, he does add ‘galactic levels of value to a masthead’.

Full post at this link…

The Mayor of London on the BBC’s HardTalk programme, in which he describes the ease of bashing out a column on a Sunday morning:

Tags: BBC, Boris Johnson, chicken feed, columnist, GBP, London, Mayor, sarah ditum, telegraph, the Telegraph

Internships available in environmental journalism

July 15th, 2009 | 1 Comment | Posted by Mykel Hutchinson in Jobs, Training

A new media company is teaming up with one of the UK’s largest magazines to create a green and ethical supplement and needs two interns to help them inform people on ethical issues and green living. Details are on a need to know basis at the moment, but there’s a very big name editor lined up to work on the project.

One of the interns must be a ‘star of the future’ for environmental journalism and could become the supplement’s editor in time. Their role will be to help with content for the website and editorial planning for the magazine, as well as writing advertorials.

The second intern will be a Green Press person and should also have an interest in music PR. They will be working with a green record company and with Britain’s greenest festival.

To apply or for more details email: alex.lockwood@sunderland.ac.uk or contact him on Twitter @alexlockwood.

Tags: Britain, editor, Environmental journalism, Intern, media, name editor, United Kingdom

Independent and USA Today launch headline apps

July 15th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted by Mykel Hutchinson in Handy tools and technology, Online Journalism

The Independent and USA Today have both launched new tools for accessing news headlines. The Indy’s Newzdog widget and Newsdeck both aim to alert users about daily headlines.

Independent.co.uk's Newzdog The Independent’s version is a downloadable widget that notifies you of the latest news headlines relevant to the topics of interest that you specify. The widget can be minimised to a yellow star on the system tray and when there is a news story of importance to you the star turns red.

Jimmy Leach, editorial director for digital at the Independent said in a statement on Independent.co.uk: “This is a great way for users to make sure they know what’s going on in their areas of interest. Users often have topics they want or need to be kept in the loop about quickly, so this will be an excellent way of them creating their own mini-news service.”

USA Today's Newsdeck Moving on to USAToday’s Newsdeck – the site collects headlines from the paper’s website and organises these into up to eight different subject areas, such as life, travel etc, making it easier for users to find what they are looking for.

Each of the sections allows you to scroll down to see more, which links to the full story.

There is also an option to switch between the top stories and the most popular stories.

Tags: editorial director, Independent.co.uk, Jimmy Leach, the Independent, travel etc, USA Today

IFJ: 39 journalists and media workers forced to leave Iranian news agency

July 15th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted by Judith Townend in Editors' pick, Press freedom and ethics

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) this week issued a statement voicing ‘deep concern over continuing harassment of media in Iran amid signs of growing opposition from independent journalists to censorship and manipulation in the country’s mainstream media.’

The organisation reports that, according to its affiliate, the Association of Iranian Journalists (AoIJ), the ‘conservative’ Iranian news agency, Fars News, has sacked or forced resignations of 39 journalists and media workers: ‘a number of them in recent weeks following clashes with management over the agency’s editorial line.’

“There is evidence of strong pressure on independent journalism from outside and inside the newsroom. Even some media owners inside the profession are bullying their journalists who refuse to toe the official line. Journalists are arrested, sacked or forced to resign for standing up for ethical journalism,” said Aidan White, IFJ general secretary, in the IFJ statement.

Full statement at this link…

RSF reported on July 12 that 41 journalists are currently being held in Iranian prison.

Tags: aidan white, Association of Iranian Journalists, fars news, general secretary, ifj, International Federation of Journalists, Iran, iranian journalists, iranian prison, Islamic Republic of Iran, mainstream media, media owners, media workers, The International Federation

BreakingNewsOn launches iPhone ‘push’ alerts

July 15th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted by Mykel Hutchinson in Handy tools and technology, Mobile, Online Journalism

BreakingNewsOn (BNO), the breaking news service based around Twitter, has just announced that it will soon be using Apple’s ‘push notification’ to send breaking news to iPhone users.

The launch is the latest development for the service: founder Michael van Poppel told Journalism.co.uk in February of plans to establish a website for BNO.

It is expected to launch in the week of the August 3. BNO reports many stories a day and does not intend to ‘push’ all of the headlines to their users, it said in a release. The service has decided that editors will be selective and only send alerts ‘when important headlines break’.

But users will also be able to get updates from a second stream intended for ‘news junkies’ or journalists. Subscribers to this channel will receive more notifications.

Users of the app will be given the option to choose what volume/what major news stories they receive alerts via a ‘push’ and can also use the service to find other stories that they were not alerted about.

The application will cost $1.99 to download and then $0.99 per month after that. BNO said it is also considering expanding the service to other platforms such as the BlackBerry.

Tags: BNO, BreakingNewsOn, iPhone, Journalism.co.uk, Michael van Poppel, Twitter, USD

WSJ.com: Joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Channel 4 could be agreed within weeks

July 15th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted by Judith Townend in Broadcasting, Editors' pick

WSJ.com runs a short interview with BBC Worldwide chief executive John Smith:

“The commercial arm of the British Broadcasting Corp., BBC Worldwide, and public service broadcaster Channel 4, could agree a joint venture within weeks, although it would be a scaled down version of the original proposals, BBC Worldwide chief executive John Smith told Dow Jones Newswires Tuesday.”

MediaGuardian is also running news of the tie-up at this link.

Tags: BBC Worldwide, British Broadcasting Corp., Channel 4, chief executive, Dow Jones, John Smith, public service broadcaster

WashingtonPost: Abducted French security advisers in Mogadishu posed as journalists

July 15th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted by Judith Townend in Editors' pick, Press freedom and ethics

“Two French security advisers posing as journalists were abducted from their hotel in Mogadishu on Tuesday by Somali gunmen, according to the foreign ministry and reports from the chaotic Somali capital,” reports the Washington Post. Full story at this link…

Related:

The Frontline Blog ran this post yesterday, updating as news broke.

The AFP reports that, according to the Somali defence minister, the pair were ‘kidnapped for cash not politics’.

Background from the Frontline:

“The Telegraph’s Colin Freeman and photographer José Cendón were kidnapped and held for six weeks earlier this year. Meanwhile, freelance journalists Amanda Lindhout and Nigel Brennan after still being held hostage after being kidnapped in Mogadishu in August, 2008. Their driver and fixer were released in January, 2009. This new kidnap comes at a time of ‘fresh fighting’ in the north of Mogadishu, although one could argue fighting never really gets the time to go stale in Mogadishu.”

Tags: afp, Amanda Lindhout, Colin Freeman, defence minister, driver, Frontline Club, Jose Cendon, Mogadishu, Nigel Brennan, photographer, Somalia, the Telegraph, The Washington Post, Washington Post

AppAfrica: Africa’s first Chinese newspaper – Botswana’s Oriental Post

July 15th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted by Judith Townend in Editors' pick, Journalism, Newspapers

“It’s no secret that China’s mild-infatuation with Africa has only been increasing over the last decade,” writes Jonathan Gosier at AppAfrica.

“If it’s any indicator, the first all Chinese publication in Botswana suggests that things show no sign of slowing. The paper, called The Oriental Post will feature largely Chinese content with a handful of pages written in English. Botswana has between 5,000 and 6,000 Chinese residents living among the total population of 1.8 million.”

Full story at this link…

Originally reported at France24.com.

Tags: africa, Botswana, China, Jonathan Gosier, the oriental post