Six pre-request FOI questions for journalists

David Higgerson, head of multimedia for Trinity Mirror Regionals, regularly blogs about Freedom of Information requests, from best practice advice to what he’s learned thanks to FOI requests each week.

In his latest post he warns that there is a danger that journalists may “default to FOI” too often, which can have an impact on the quality of the results they get. In order to get the best responses he suggests posing a series of questions to yourself before requesting the information. In summary they are:

1. Is this information available elsewhere?
2. Will they release the information to me without going through FOI?
3. Is there another way of getting this information?
4. Do I need to think about jargon in my FOI request?
5. Are there examples of the information being released elsewhere?
6. What reasons for refusal could a public body come up with?

Read his post in full for detailed advice…

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Media moves: Telegraph gets Mike Seery; Guardian appoints new CFO

Telegraph Media Group (TMG) has appointed Mike Seery as its new chief information officer. Seery, who was heavily involved in the Economist’s launch online, will take up the post on 8 November 2010.

Richard Halstead, who is already at TMG, has been promoted to group chief technology officer, reporting to Seery.

The group is replacing Paul Cheesbrough, who joined News International as CTO and is one of a host of digital executives to leave TMG for its Wapping-based rival this year, led by the departure of former Telegraph editor Will Lewis.

Meanwhile, the Guardian Media Group (GMG) has named Darren Singer as its chief financial officer. Singer takes on the role from Andrew Miller, who was promoted to CEO in July following Carolyn McCall’s departure. He joins GMG from WPP-owned global agency network GroupM where he was chief financial officer for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

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Developing interaction guidelines for journalists at the Guardian

As reported by Journalism.co.uk last Tuesday, the Guardian has introduced a new set of blogging and commenting guidelines for its journalists.

The eight guidelines offer advice on “best practice” for Guardian journalists and writers when blogging for the site or responding to comments on Guardian.co.uk.

It’s something the site has been considering for a while – but we asked the Guardian’s head of digital engagement Meg Pickard to explain how the new guidelines were developed:

For a couple of years now we’ve had a dedicated intranet site (“Really Social Media”) providing training, resources, case studies, best practices and guidelines for digital engagement (covering social media, blogging, commenting and so on), to be used by staff in conjunction with established company policies about internet use. As this is an evolving field, we regularly update the guidelines to reflect best current knowledge and to help staff navigate the changing landscape of sites/services, skills and situations.

During the summer, the editorial management team worked on the current refresh, which includes interaction guidelines, as well as legal notes and editorial best practice. When publishing the updated guidelines internally at the Guardian, we thought it would be interesting and appropriate to be transparent with readers about the advice we’re giving to staff members, so we published them on guardian.co.uk as well, as part of our extensive and recently relaunched info section.

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FT Group’s digital subscriptions rise by 50 per cent

Financial Times publisher Pearson has reported an increase of 11 per cent in overall sales for its newspaper operation for the first nine months of 2010, according to a Press Association report.

The FT Group, which according to a report by the FT makes up 15 per cent of turnover, also saw digital subscriptions to its content rise by 50 per cent in the first nine months of 2010 to more than 180,000.

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How Do: Excel Publishing plans expansion to 32 regions in England

Independent business publisher Excel Publishing will launch new regional digital editions and e-newsletters in 32 English cities and regions, according to How Do.

The expansion will take Excel beyond its north west roots, where it is best known as the publisher of monthly business magazine EN, says the report.

Full story on How Do at this link…

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Marketing-interactive.com: Time Out eyes international ad network with new unit

Time Out has launched a global advertising team, fronted by former BBC World Service sales director Nick Carugati, to work across its network of 35 titles, reports Marketing-interactive.com.

Time Out licence holders across the world will share the costs of the new unit. According to M-I.com, new editions in China and a digital edition in Japan could be in the pipeline.

Full story on Marketing-Interactive.com…

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#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – dealing with medical research embargoes

Health journalism: A useful guide from Ivan Oransky, executive editor of Reuters Health, for dealing with embargoed medical research. 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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#journalistconf: Best practice examples of social media use in journalism

I gave a presentation last week at the Social Media Academy’s Journalism in a Social Media World conference. I was asked to give an overview of some of the best practice examples of social media use by journalists and news organisations. It’s not an exhaustive list, but I thought I’d share the presentation and my notes (please forgive any typos in the Scribd document).

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Zeit Online: Alan Rusbridger interview – ‘I’m an economic realist’

Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger was in Berlin this week discussing the future of journalism with Zeit Online’s editor-in-chief Wolfgang Blau.

Rusbridger covers experimentation in the newsroom, Guardian journalists use of social media, collaborative journalism and – the elephant in the room – money and funding for journalism.

Being an economic realist I think it is likely that we’re going to have to operate with a smaller staff in the future because the money is not going to be there in the medium to long term. I think what I’m describing is economic realism too because if you an get over this hurdle where we have to produce all the content and we are the only people who are the authorities and the experts and other people can go along with us on this journey, you’re harnessing a lot of people who’s primary motivation might not be money…

I think we underestimate in journalism the value of publishing and having a voice. If you don’t understand that then you miss one of the most profound things about the web and the social web.

“We’re not opposed to charging for anything,” he later says, making particular reference to apps and the Guardian’s revenue of £40 million last year from digital products.

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#jpod: The week’s top journalism news from Journalism.co.uk, 22 October 2010

Listen below for this week’s news round-up from Journalism.co.uk news reporter Rachel McAthy and sign up to our iTunes podcast feed for future audio.

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