#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk

BBC Trust launches ‘its largest’ TV service review – into BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Four

September 24th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted by Judith Townend in Broadcasting

The BBC Trust today launched ‘the largest and most significant service review’ of television that is has ever undertaken, and seeks views on BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Four. A 12 week public consultation is now underway.

“This forms part of the Trust’s regular series of reviews and will be the largest and most significant service review the Trust has undertaken. BBC One and BBC Two are the two most popular services that the BBC operates. It will be the first time that the Trust has looked at these services,” said Diane Coyle, BBC Trustee, who is leading the review.

The review will look at all content on the channels including news and nations and regions output, the Trust outlined. The BBC News Channel and BBC Parliament will be examined in the future.

The public can share their views at this link…

The BBC Trust was yesterday criticised by MPs’ in a select committe report, over the body’s handling of the corporation’s commercial arm, BBC Worldwide.

Last week the culture minister, Ben Bradshaw, speaking at last week’s Royal Television Society conference in Cambridge, said there could be a case for a ’smaller licence fee’ and also suggested that the BBC Trust model is not ‘sustainable’.

Tags: BBC Four, BBC News Channel, BBC One, BBC Parliament, BBC Trust, BBC Two, BBC Worldwide, Ben Bradshaw, Cambridge, culture minister, Diane Coyle, Royal Television Society, Trustee

Roy Greenslade: British journalism is in crisis and time is running out

September 24th, 2009 | 1 Comment | Posted by Judith Townend in Editors' pick

A powerful plea from Roy Greenslade over at MediaGuardian today:

“Is anybody out there listening properly? Do enough people care? Are journalists themselves sticking their heads in the sand?

“We are not facing a momentous crisis in journalism. We are already in a crisis that is putting the central public service aspect of our role in jeopardy.”

In a follow-on from his column in the London Evening Standard in which he claimed there was possibility of charity funding to back public service reporting by the Press Association, he emphasises the need for speedy rescue measures.

And he’s enthusiastic about non-commercial models:

“The reason I’m in favour of not-for-profit journalism, whether funded by charity or, at arm’s length, by state bodies, is that it breaks the link with commercialism.

“That’s a vital first step in the reinvention of journalism. What we need is a preservation of the old until the new emerges. We cannot afford to let the old die before the new is in place.”

Full post at this link…

Tags: london evening standard, Press Association, Roy Greenslade

Freelance Advisor: Four ways to fail as a freelancer

September 24th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted by Judith Townend in Editors' pick, Freelance

Leif Kendall shares four reasons why freelancers fail. Don’t be the Mr Poundland or TK Maxx of the industry, he advises.

Full post at this link…

Tags: Advisor, freelance advisor, freelancing, Leif Kendall, lief kendall, Poundland

Nieman Journalism Lab: Clay Shirky – Let a thousand flowers bloom to replace newspapers; don’t build a paywall around a public good

September 24th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted by Judith Townend in Editors' pick, Events, Online Journalism

The Nieman Journalism Lab has helpfully supplied the audio and a transcript for a talk by Clay Shirky, NYU professor and internet theorist, at the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University this week. Shirky looked at social accountability in the context of shifting business models for news.

“I think we are headed into a long trough of decline in accountability journalism, because the old models are breaking faster than the new models can be put into place.”

Full post at this link…

Tags: Clay Shirky, Harvard University, internet theorist, nieman journalism lab, NYU, Politics and Public Policy, Professor, Shorenstein Center, Shorenstein Center on the Press

PCUK/Harris Poll: Print copies may help build online subscriptions

September 24th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted by Judith Townend in Editors' pick, Online Journalism

The final day of paidContent:UK’s paid-for content survey conducted by Harris Interactive, shows a little more consumer willingness to pay, if a newspaper is chucked in too:

“While only five percent of people who read a news site at least once a month told us they would pay for online access, when you throw in a free or discounted subscription to the printed paper, that rises to a combined 48 percent…”

Full survey at this link…

Tags: business model, harris interactive, Harris Poll, news site, online access, online subscriptions, paid content, paidcontentuk, pay-for content, pcuk, United Kingdom

BeetTV: Interview with editor of HuffPo’s new tech section

September 24th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted by Judith Townend in Handy tools and technology, Online Journalism

Beet TV recorded this interview with Jose Antonio Vargas, the former Washington Post reporter now editing the Huffington Post’s new technology section that launched on Monday. Technology is anthropology, Vargas says.

Tags: editor, Huffington Post, huffpo, Jose Antonio Vargas, reporter, technology section, The Huffington Post, Washington Post

#FollowJourn @ashantiomkar/freelancer

September 24th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted by Helen Quinn in Recommended journalists

#FollowJourn: Ashanti Omkar

Who? Freelance broadcast and print journalist in film, music and culture.

What? Omkar pursued journalism after a career in IT and describes herself as journalist, poet and presenter.

Where? @ashantiomkar and www.omkari.com

Contact? theomkarconnection [at] gmail.com

Just as we like to supply you with fresh and innovative tips every day, we’re recommending journalists to follow online too. They might be from any sector of the industry: please send suggestions (you can nominate yourself) to judith or laura [at] journalism.co.uk; or to @journalismnews.