#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – spotting a news story

Training: Media Helping Media has a useful 10-point checklist on how to spot a news story, including ‘is the story difficult to tell’ and ‘how will it affect your relationship with contacts’. A good starting point for would-be journalists. Tipster: Laura Oliver.

To submit a tip to Journalism.co.uk, use this link – we will pay a fiver for the best ones published.

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#followjourn: Edie Lush/associate editor

#followjourn: Edie Lush

Who? Associate editor of Spectator Business magazine

What? Lush is the associated editor of Spectator Business magazine where she covers technology and entrepreneurs. She has also worked for BBC4, Investors Chronicle, and The World Service, and been the political and economics correspondent for Bloomberg Television. She has her own website, edielush.com, where her articles for various other publications can be read.

Where? Read a selection of Edie Lush’s articles on Spectator.co.uk

Contact? Follow @EdieLush

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.

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Tom Giles made editor of Panorama

Tom Giles has been appointed editor of Panorama, the BBC announced today. Giles, who is currently an executive producer for BBC current affairs, will replace Sandy Smith who joins The One Show as executive editor.

Giles joined the BBC in 1991 as an assistant producer on World Service Radio. He has since worked on a number of different current affairs programmes for the organisation including Newsnight, Horizon, and Panorama.

IN 2004 his programme In The Line of Fire won the RTS International Current Affairs award, and he won a BAFTA for Andrew Marr’s History Of Modern Britain.

Giles said:

“I’m thrilled to be given the opportunity to lead one of the greatest brands in British TV journalism and delighted to able to put something back into a programme which has enabled me to do so many things.

“It’s still right at the heart of the BBC One schedule and – with 48 half-hour and eight hour-slots a year – it’s a fantastic opportunity to really make a difference.”

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Freelancers: put your tax questions to our expert

Nigel Simmons FCCA, managing director of Acconomy Limited, is on hand on the Journalism.co.uk forum to answer questions on tax from freelance journalists, whether its getting started with VAT or moving to the UK from abroad.

This is a part of a sponsored feature on Journalism.co.uk, but to put your question to Nigel it’s free – you just have to sign up to the forum.

There are full details of how to participate at this link and more details about Nigel’s firm Acconomy on the company website. Acconomy is a specialist accountancy practice for journalists and freelancers and is accredited by the Professional Contractors Group (PCG).

The advice contained in the tax advice section is intended as general guidance relating to a generic situation. No responsibility can be accepted by the author for actions taken by readers as a result of reading the advice given.

Readers should always seek professional advice from their own advisors who will be aware of client’s particular circumstances.

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Tech Watch: Future to launch paid-for ‘games show’ on PlayStation

Future Publishing will launch FirstPlay – a games show delivered directly to PS3 consoles. The show will feature video reviews, details of new releases and a downloads section and will be priced at 99p per weekly episode or £8.99 for a three-month subscription, reports Tech Watch.

There will be six ad slots in the show, a trailer of which is available on the Future website.

Full story at this link…

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NYTimes.com: Polk award for anonymous video of Iranian protestor Neda’s death

For the first time in the history of the awards, a work produced anonymously has been recognised by the George Polk awards for 2009, which are organised by Long Island University in the US to honour special achievement in journalism.

The “viral” video of the collapse and death of Neda Agha-Soltan after she was shot during anti-government protests in Iran is at this link, but contains some disturbing images – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d90bwM4No_M&feature=player_embedded. A scholarship in her name for philosophy students of Iranian descent has since been set up at Queen’s College, Oxford.

“We don’t know who took it or who uploaded it, but we do know it has news value. This award celebrates the fact that, in today’s world, a brave bystander with a cellphone camera can use video-sharing and social networking sites to deliver news,” said John Darnton, curator of the awards.

Not-for-profit, investigative news group ProPublica also picked up an award, as did David Rohde, the New York Times correspondent who wrote about his kidnapping ordeal after being held captive by the Taliban for more than seven months.

Full story at this link…

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#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – be accessible as a freelancer

Freelancers: Be accessible after you submit an article/recording. It is extremely nerve-wracking for an editor to receive a submission that needs work (on a tight deadline) and find the journalist is not answering phones or e-mails. Tipster: Jana komankova.

To submit a tip to Journalism.co.uk, use this link – we will pay a fiver for the best ones published.

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Newser.com: Michael Wolff on why the internet could kill Murdoch

Rupert Murdoch biographer Michael Wolff draws some damning conclusions from recent reports of “turmoil” at News Corporation-owned social networking site MySpace:

I tried once to make him [Murdoch] feel better about MySpace. It was a hapless effort: Every traditional media company that’s bought a significant internet company has failed, I said, brightly. I received a memorable scowl.

He may still retreat and practice his old black magic of making his errors disappear. But something’s got him. Something about this bloody internet has really gotten under his skin.

More and more, it feels like a death match.

Full post at this link…

Former media editor for the Times, Dan Sabbagh, disagrees with Wolff’s conclusion, but has some interesting figures on the Times’ finances that are worth a look…

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Times Online: Should employers charge for work experience?

The Times looks at what could be a growing trend – employers charging interns for work experience placements.

The article references a recent Conservative party charity auction, which sold off several placements, including work experience at Conde Nast for a bid of £3,700.

But in the article, Dr Paul Redmond, head of careers and employability at the University of Liverpool, suggests the paid-for placement will become a more regular feature in industries such as media, fashion and design.

[I]t’s always been the case that some students have worked for free. You could argue that charity auction organisers are taking the process to its logical conclusion, attaching a price tag to something that has been going on informally behind the scenes for years.

Would introducing a charging system benefit journalism employers or place further pressure on low-income students and graduates? And, as one commenter remarks, how would this be regulated?

Full story at this link…

(via Fleet Street Blues)

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Media Business: New bidder in talks to buy RBI’s US magazines

Canon Communications is reportedly in talks with Reed Business Information to buy a number of trade publications from the publisher, which last year announced the divestment of its controlled circulation business titles in the US.

The titles being discussed, according to Media Business, could include Control Engineering, EDN, Design News, Packaging Digest and Test & Measurement World.

Full story at this link…

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