‘Journalists don’t know what’s really going on abroad’, claims Tesco ethical trading head

The media is failing its responsibility to report on international aid and corruption in foreign countries, Giles Bolton, head of ethical trading policy at Tesco, said at a debate last night.

“In terms of the complicated answers and questions related to international aid, the media fall short,” he said. He went on to claim that journalists “don’t know what’s really going on abroad”.

The debate, chaired by the BBC’s George Alagiah, followed the ring-fencing of international aid in the Comprehensive Spending Review and asked whether it was time to rethink the approach to funding aid at a time of severe domestic spending cuts.

Bolton told the 300-strong audience at St. Peter De Beauvoir Church, Hackney that “we can’t trust the media to tell us how well money is spent because they don’t go to the remote countries unless there is some sort of tragedy.

“Journalists are only taken to report on the good stories, when a charity pays for them to go. So, we only ever hear about when aid is working. As a result, you can’t trust much of what is said about the aid industry.”

Alagiah faced tough questions concerning BBC policy, with an audience member asking him: “When will the BBC show what’s really going on in countries with corrupt governments?”

He refused to comment on the broadcaster’s coverage but later admitted, in response to a question about his own experience of journalists reporting on aid, that he has “seen both the good and the bad” as a BBC foreign correspondent.

Alagiah and Bolton agreed that more accountability in the media is essential for key issues surrounding aid to be properly understood and resolved.

Lucy Osborne is a freelance journalist. She is currently studying for an MA in Newspaper Journalism at City University London. Her website is http://lucyosborne.wordpress.com.

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‘Only when you’ve done your homework…’ Kirsty Wark tells Coventry students that research is key

I knew that Kirst Wark hadn’t lost it when I saw her doorstepping Nick Clegg all the way up the aisle of Sheffield Town Hall on Election night 2010. He was not best pleased. It was then that I decided to try and get her to speak at Coventry Conversations, and last wednesday she did, delivering a masterclass for Coventry University’s journalism students.

At that same Sheffield election count, Wark was about to do her first live stand-upper into the Dimbleby programme when two old ladies came by, “in a Moris Minor I think”. They told her that they’d not been able to vote, the queues at the polling station were too long and had shut before they could get in. A good yarn, especially as, in line with BBC post Hutton rules, it had two sources – both in the same car. Wark had to make a judgment call based on that hinterland of life in front of and behind the camera. She decided to broadcast thirty seconds later. She was right. She broke the story and it ran for hours overnight and for days afterwards. You cannot teach that nous.

Wark has now been in front of camera for nigh on three decades. She was a producer and director for BBC Scotland when the series producer suggested she take a try the other side of the lens on a political programme. She has never looked back. Today she commands the studio of Newsnight’s Review Show.

Wark left her Coventry town and gown audience in no doubt about the secret of good TV journalism – good research and hard work. Each interview is meticulously researched and brainstormed with her producers. “When you’ve done your homework, only then can you throw it away and respond using what you already know,” she said.

Wark was her own fiercest critic when it came to the interviews that had failed. When asked if she thought her style in the Alex Salmond interview in 2007, which was criticised for being rude and dismissive, was justified, Wark responded frankly: “It was overly aggressive and I later apologised”, she said. She told the audience that her favourite interviews were with Margaret Thatcher and Libertine Pete Doherty. Her least favourite was with disgraced Tory peer Lord Jeffrey Archer – “he was condescending”.

Wark stopped in Coventry on her way from her home in Scotland to London to present Newsnight the next evening. Her day would start early, she explained, with phone calls to the editor of the night at 9am and continue right through to transmission at 10.30pm. Newsnight satisfied her ‘nosiness’ but also meant she had to be constantly abreast of the world through reading, reading and more reading, she said.

She is buoyant about the state of journalism today. She believes no matter who the reporter or what the content, “as long as the journalism is rigorous and investigative it’s valid”. She added that if it helps to introduce a different demographic of viewer to news and current affairs, then programmes such as Sky’s Ross Kemp in Afghanistan have just as much place in the sphere as Newsnight.

So what’s next for Kirsty Wark? With a book and a documentary in the pipeline, as well as Newsnight and the successful Glasgow-based Review Show, ratings are as strong as ever and it appears that she will be a fixture on our screens for some time.

John Mair is a senior lecturer in broadcasting at Coventry University. He founded and runs the twice weekly Coventry Conversations.

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New Media Age: Mail Online launches paid-for mobile app

Mail Online has become the latest UK newspaper site to launch an iPhone app. But the title is offering six-monthly or annual subscription packages, at £4.99 and £8.99 respectively, rather than a 30-day or monthly model.

Mail Online MD James Bromley said the title’s mobile strategy would hinge on developing paid apps as an additional revenue stream.

Full story on New Media Age at this link…

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Telegraph: European Commission raises rights questions over News Corp Sky bid

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation is believed to be days away from formally notifying the European Union of its interest in the remaining 60.9 per cent of BSkyB that it does not already own.

According to a report by the Telegraph, the EU has “informally questioned how News Corp will manage future rights deals if it were to fully acquire BSkyB”.

A formal investigation by the competition commissioner, Joaquín Almunia, will not begin until News Corp makes its notification. Rupert Murdoch, chief executive, said on 4 August that News Corp would notify the EU “very shortly” and sources have now said it is “imminent”.

In September, Journalism.co.uk reported that News Corp’s rumoured bid had led to calls on business secretary Vince Cable to issue an intervention notice in the interest of media plurality from the NUJ and founder of Enders Analysis Claire Enders.

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IFJ: Palestinian media body to establish independent press council

The International Federation of Journalists announced at the end of last week that its affiliate in Palestine, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS), is to develop a code of ethics for the region’s journalists and establish an independent press council.

This followed a meeting of Palestinian journalists and editors in Ramallah, to discuss ethics and media self-regulation. In a quote IFJ Treasurer Wolfgang Mayer said:

This is excellent news for both Palestinian Journalists and the Palestinian people who will ultimately benefit from structures that improve the ethical standards and independence of their journalism. It is also a tribute to the efforts of the new leadership of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate to set about a serious programme of reform and renewal of Palestinian journalism.

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What can our jobs board tell us about the market?

Freelance Unbound has produced a great post looking at the current state of the journalism jobs market, based on data analysis of Journalism.co.uk’s own job listings.

Judging by their analysis, it seems that roles in specialist business journalism for publications based in London are your best bet:

The most telling items in the chart are the tiny slices for lifestyle and celebrity – the most popular media choices for j-students – and for general news reporting. Very few jobs are advertised in these areas (at least here).

Full post on Freelance Unbound at this link…

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Twitter clarifies guideline on tweet screenshots

On Friday, Twitter announced its new look as well as some updated guidelines. There was one guideline in particular that raised questions for online publishers.

Don’t: Use screenshots of other people’s profiles or Tweets without their permission.

But following requests from techcrunch.com for clarification, Twitter indicated that these rules are not aimed at the news media, in print or online.

This isn’t a new part of the policy and was stated in the guidelines before. This serves primarily to protect users from their tweets being used as endorsements without their knowledge. Public tweets are public. But if you’re going to use tweets in static form (e.g. in a publication), you should have permission from the author/user. For instance, if someone famous were to tweet about liking something and then it was used on a billboard.

This doesn’t apply to broadcast — there are separate display guidelines about that. Our policies also don’t attempt to control the appropriate use of tweets in news reporting.

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#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – student blogging tips

For advice on setting up a blog as a student journalist read some of the pointers from these three young journalists, who feel keeping a blog was key to their success. Tipster: Rachel McAthy.

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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