Author Archives: Joel Gunter

About Joel Gunter

Joel Gunter is a senior reporter at Journalism.co.uk.

Journalism.co.uk’s top five journalism bloggers and tweeters in 2010

3 Replies

There are hundreds of people around the UK who are a dab hand at covering the world of media on their blogs and on twitter, and so it has been a difficult task drawing up lists of our personal favourites. But we have done some list-whittling and each present our five favourite bloggers and five favourite tweeters.

Please add your own in the comments below, or via Twitter to @journalismnews.

Our top five journalism blogs and tweeters of 2010

As chosen by John Thompson, founder, Journalism.co.uk:

Best blogs:

Nieman Lab
10,000 words
Virtual Economics
The Media Blog
Wannabe Hacks – for the initiative shown

Best on Twitter:

@malcolmcoles, @currybet, @psmith, @joshhalliday, @suellewellyn





As chosen by Laura Oliver, editor, Journalism.co.uk:

Best blogs:

Currybet – Martin Belam
Headlines and Deadlines – Alison Gow
David Higgerson
Ed Walker
Feverbee

Best on Twitter:

@psmith, @joshhalliday, @gdnlocal, @sashers, @fieldproducer






Special mentions for their recent WikiLeaks twitter coverage: @aleximostrous, @fieldproducer, @newsbrooke. And for tweeting about being shot during Thailand’s Red Shirt protests: @andrewbuncombe






As chosen by Joel Gunter, sub-editor, Journalism.co.uk:

Best blogs:

Currybet – Martin Belam
After Deadline – New York Times
 Pressthink – Jay Rosen
Headlines and Deadlines – Alison Gow
Malcolm Coles

Best on Twitter:

@sashers – for her formidable live tweeting
@aleximostrous – for his Twitter WikiLeaks coverage
@substuff – for hilarious insights into the world of consumer magazine subbing
@guardianstyle – for running an on-demand style guide on Twitter
@wannabehacks – just missed the blog category but deserve a mention for hard graft and good content






Journalism’s own goals and gaffes 2010

Leave a reply

Making light of others’ mistakes is fraught with danger, and will often come back to haunt you when you make your own.

But that doesn’t stop us or anybody else, it seems. Schadenfreude is all the rage. So, here are just a few of our favourite own goals and gaffes from 2010, in no particular order. We would include some of our own but we don’t make any, obviously… Please feel free to add any you remember in comments or on Twitter to @journalismnews.

1. Telegraph cocks-up Hadron headline

One of those errors in which the sub concentrates so hard on not making one particular mistake that they make exactly that mistake. Either that, or it’s Friday afternoon and they think a good laugh is worth the grief sure to follow.

Screenshot by Skepchick on Flickr

2. Times Online caught up in awkward byline scandal

Not really a scandal this, I suppose, or an outright error, but we think it qualifies as gaffe to put Roger Boyes on your Catholic Church-boys choir-sex abuse story. Dear the Times, he may be your Vienna correspondent, but perhaps he shouldn’t be.

3. Brighton Argus’ new out-of-town subs fall at the first hurdle

Following weeks of protest over Newsquest laying off local subs at the Brighton Argus and centralising news subbing 60 miles away in Southampton, the out-of-towners made a slight mistake on their first day.

Rumour has it that the following day – and I kid you not – the paper almost went to print calling itself “the Argos”. Although not on the masthead, we understand. Unfortunately for this list, it got caught just in time. Allegedly.

4. Slow news day in Ohio?

The story that has it all.

5. Sun runs explosive advert with Moscow terrorist bombings story

Advert placement has been a rich source of gaffery in the past, but back in March the Sun used all the technological wizardry available to it to launch this advertising cock-up into a league of its own

6. Headline mishaps continue at Johnston Press and Newsquest titles

Speaking of rich sources of gaffery, to the notorious content management system from Atex. This tremendous CMS, dear to the hearts of regional journalists up and down the country, has caused so many headline and image mishaps that we would be remiss not to include a sample. Don’t miss an insightful standfirst and pull quote either.

7. Wanky Balls festival: Wikipedia-reading journalists welcome

Much fun was had back in August when someone at the Indy was caught red-handed pilfering from Wikipedia. Many, many journalists must have done it, but this unlucky one happened to plagiarise some, well, total wanky balls.

Image courtesy of Political Scrapbook.

Hannah Waldram has kindly pointed out that in our haste we missed a rather recent, rather spectacular double gaffe from Jim Naughtie and Andrew Marr. Although we undoubtedly missed many on our short list, we feel that Messrs Naughtie and Marr definitely deserve a place.

Here is Naughtie introducing the culture secretary with flawless anunication….

…and Andrew Marr trying to beat him at his own game:

Merry Christmas subs, editors and reporters everywhere, keep up the good work!

Not fit for purpose: the year’s most overused phrases in journalism

1 Reply

John Rentoul has revised and updated his ‘Banned List’ of overused phrases – typically by journalists – and it is well worth a read by writers of all kinds. It continues to warn against the criminal practice of turning nouns into verbs (action, disconnect, leverage, storyline, among others), as well as irritating, incomprehensible acronyms (IMO, IMHO, LOL, ROFL and so on) and tired phrases (learning curve, raising awareness, celebrating diversity).

Following Rentoul’s efforts, Journalisted has turned its expert counters of all things journalistic to 2010’s most overused phrases.

Writers of all kinds, beware.

Full Journalisted Yearly round-up at this link…

Norwegian newspaper claims to have access to full trove of WikiLeaks cables

2 Replies

An Oslo-based newspaper has reportedly gained full access to WikiLeaks’ trove of more than 250,000 secret US embassy cables.

An article published today on Views and News from Norway (VNN), “WikiLeaks experiences leak itself”, claims that Aftenposten has possession of all the documents, despite WikiLeaks’ strategy of drip-feeding them on its own website and through select media partners.

WikiLeaks has only published 1,862 cables so far out of 251,287, according to its dedicated embassy cables site but according to VNN, Aftenposten news editor Ole Erik Almlid told Norway’s main business newspaper Dagens Næringsliv: “We’re free to do what we want with these documents…We’re free to publish the documents or not publish the documents, we can publish on the internet or on paper. We are handling these documents just like all other journalistic material to which we have gained access.”

Full story at this link…

Journalisted Yearly: Elections, World Cups, and WikiLeaks

2 Replies

Journalisted is an independent, not-for-profit website built to make it easier for you, the public, to find out more about journalists and what they write about. It is run by the Media Standards Trust, a registered charity set up to foster high standards in news on behalf of the public, and funded by donations from charitable foundations.

Each week Journalisted produces a summary of the most covered news stories, most active journalists and those topics falling off the news agenda, using its database of UK journalists and news sources. From now on we’ll be cross-posting them on Journalism.co.uk.

for the week ending Sunday 19 December

  • Nothing dominates the press like a football World Cup, even when England perform poorly
  • The General Election, the X-Factor, and the BP Gulf oil spill were three of the other biggest stories of the year
  • Twitter and Facebook became household brands
  • Though India, Japan and Brazil failed to generate much press interest

Newsletter stats based on 892,330 articles published in the national press and on the BBC this year

Students can now create their own profiles on Journalisted.com

The Media Standards Trust’s unofficial database of PCC complaints is now available for browsing at www.complaints.pccwatch.co.uk

For the latest instalment of Tobias Grubbe, journalisted’s 18th century jobbing journalist, go to journalisted.com/tobias-grubbe

Covered lots

  • The football World Cup, which was spread across most front pages and back pages throughout June 2010, 22,413 articles
  • The General Election, that led to the formation of the Conservative – Liberal Democrat coalition government in May, 18,087 articles
  • Spending cuts, of which many were introduced by the incoming Coalition government, 11,152 articles
  • The X Factor, both a television and a news phenomenon, 9,740 articles
  • The BP Gulf oil spill, which remained headline news for almost 3 months, 4,471 articles
  • WikiLeaks, who released three loads of leaked information – Afghan war logs, Iraq war logs and US diplomatic cables, 2,859 articles
  • The volcanic ash cloud that hung over Europe and grounded all flights, 2,372
  • The 33 Chilean Miners whose incarceration and rescue captivated the world media, 944 articles

Covered little

  • Gun crime referred to in 296 articles, despite a General Election, shootings in Cumbria, and a nationwide hunt for the armed Raoul Moat
  • Parliamentary debate mentioned in only 222 articles
  • Child detention that continues into 2011 despite Lib Dem promises to end it, 101 articles
  • NHS waiting lists that were hardly mentioned, despite it being an election year, 27 articles
  • Saving Gateway, a £100 million pound scheme to encourage those on low incomes to save that was cut by the Coalition government, 24 articles
  • US-Saudi $60BN arms deal – the Obama adminstration does largest US arms deal in history, going to Saudi Arabia, 20 articles
  • The ongoing conflict in and around Kashmir, contributing to regional nuclear tensions, 119 articles

Most covered politicians

Under-exposed world leaders

(receiving >5% of coverage of Obama, who was mentioned in 19,704 articles)

Most written about sports stars

Countries of war, civil conflict, military occupation

  • War in Afghanistan, 8,572 articles
  • Iraq, with ongoing civil unrest after occupation, 8,393 articles
  • Haiti, with civil unrest after an earthquake, 4,216 articles
  • Sudan, with ongoing nomadic conflict, 3,433 articles
  • Burma, under a military-led government, 3,165 articles
  • Somalia, with inter-clan unrest and insurgency, 3,101 articles
  • Israel-Palestine, with ongoing dispute over territories, 2,755 articles
  • Sri Lanka, with ongoing human rights allegations after civil war, 2,647 articles
  • Yemen, battling insurgency, 2,120 articles
  • Democratic Republic of Congo, 1,049 articles
  • Mexico, with an ongoing drugs war, 1,011 articles
  • Kashmir, with insurgency against Indian administration and military, 850 articles

Celebrity vs serious

  • Simon Cowell, presenter of the X-Factor 4,146 articles vs Al Qaeda, 4,173 articles
  • Lady Gaga, singer and fashion icon, 3,739 articles vs. floods in Pakistan, in which almost 2,000 people died and over 20 million were affected, 1,285 articles
  • Cheryl Cole, singer and presenter of the X-Factor, 3,597 articles vs. Raoul Moat, on the run from police and shot after a nationwide hunt, 1,029 articles
  • Katie Price, 1,585 articles vs. Child Trust Funds, scrapped despite take-up by over 5 million people since 2002, 381 articles
  • Ann Widdecombe, ex-politician and Strictly Come Dancing contestant, 1,038 articles vs. Derrick Bird, taxi driver who went on a killing spree in Cumbria, 685 articles

Most over-used phrases

(with thanks to John Rentoul)

Most written about internet services

Who wrote a lot about…’David Cameron’

Nicholas Watt – 360 articles (The Guardian), Patrick Wintour – 294 articles (The Guardian), Michael White – 202 articles (The Guardian), George Parker – 201 articles (Financial Times), Andrew Grice – 189 articles (Independent), Macer Hall – 179 articles (Daily Express), Michael Settle – 178 articles (The Herald), Andrew Porter – 170 articles (The Telegraph), Hélène Mulholland – 156 articles (The Guardian), James Chapman – 152 articles (Mail Online)

Long form journalism

Most prolific journalists

(by number of articles)

Brighton Argus’ new out-of-town subs fall at the first hurdle

12 Replies

Today is the first day that local title the Brighton Argus has been subbed from Southampton, following a controversial move by publisher Newsquest to centralise news subbing operations and lay off the paper’s Brighton-based subs.

And today’s edition brings with it a typo perfectly emblematic of the staff’s complaints that local papers need subs with local knowledge.

From today’s BRIGHTEN Argus…

#followjourn: @stuartdhughes – BBC world affairs producer

Leave a reply

Who? Stuart Hughes, “BBC World Affairs producer, landmine survivor, amputee, cyclist.”

Where? Hughes has written about his injury for the BBC News website and can be seen here in an appearance on BBC Breakfast.

Twitter? @stuartdhughes

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 laura at journalism.co.uk; or to @journalismnews.

Journalisted weekly: Perpetual Leaks, tuition fees, and the X Factor

Leave a reply

Journalisted is an independent, not-for-profit website built to make it easier for you, the public, to find out more about journalists and what they write about. It is run by the Media Standards Trust, a registered charity set up to foster high standards in news on behalf of the public, and funded by donations from charitable foundations.

Each week Journalisted produces a summary of the most covered news stories, most active journalists and those topics falling off the news agenda, using its database of UK journalists and news sources. From now on we’ll be cross-posting them on Journalism.co.uk.

for the week ending Sunday 12 December

  • Wikileaks and Julian Assange’s arrest flooded the news
  • The tuition fees vote and subsequent protests were covered widely
  • Little coverage on alleged sweatshop exploitation by British stores or Sarah Palin visiting Haiti

Students can now create their own profiles on Journalisted.com

The Media Standards Trust’s unofficial database of PCC complaints is now available for browsing at www.complaints.pccwatch.co.uk

For the latest instalment of Tobias Grubbe, journalisted’s 18th century jobbing journalist, go to journalisted.com/tobias-grubbe

Covered lots

  • Ongoing WikiLeaks, with founder Julian Assange arrested in London and refused bail, and hacking of sites that withdrew services from the whistleblowing website, 631 articles
  • The vote on tuition fees, with protests giving way to violence and injuries in and around Parliament Square, 615 articles
  • X Factor, with the final broadcast on Sunday, 352 articles

Covered little

Political ups and downs (top ten by number of articles)

Celebrity vs serious

  • Simon Cowell, X Factor judge, 138 articles vs. the Nobel Peace Prize, boycotted by China and 18 other countries this year, 129 articles
  • Matt Cardle, winner of this year’s X Factor, 103 articles vs. British citizen Shrien Dewani, arrested under suspicion of conspiring to murder his wife Anni in South Africa, 102 articles
  • Prince Charles and Camilla, whose car was caught in tuition fees protests in London, 54 articles vs. 20-year-old student Alfie Meadows, hospitalised with bleeding on the brain allegedly caused by a police baton, 34 articles

Who wrote a lot about…’Nobel Prize and China’

Malcolm Moore – 8 articles (Telegraph), Jane Macartney – 8 articles (The Times), Tania Branigan – 8 articles (The Guardian), Geoff Dyer – 7 articles (Financial Times), Peter Foster – 7 articles (Telegraph), Andrew Ward – 5 articles (Financial Times)

Long form journalism

Video: I would have published leaks, says Harry Evans

Leave a reply

Veteran journalist Sir Harry Evans, the former Sunday Times editor who presided over many controversial investigations by the newspaper, including the Kim Philby espionage case, said this week he would have published the WikiLeaks embassy cables.

He was critical of WikiLeaks though, which he said had not done a responsible job with redacting their leaks.

The full video, courtesy of the 92nd Street Y, New York.

Original post at this link.

Journalisted Weekly: More snow, big leaks, and World Cup bid fury

Leave a reply

Journalisted is an independent, not-for-profit website built to make it easier for you, the public, to find out more about journalists and what they write about. It is run by the Media Standards Trust, a registered charity set up to foster high standards in news on behalf of the public, and funded by donations from charitable foundations.

Each week Journalisted produces a summary of the most covered news stories, most active journalists and those topics falling off the news agenda, using its database of UK journalists and news sources. From now on we’ll be cross-posting them on Journalism.co.uk.

for the week ending Sunday 5 December

  • An avalanche of snow and a WikiLeaks flood deluged the news
  • England’s World Cup bid failure generated anger at FIFA
  • Attempted assassinations in Tehran, and a US school hostage-taking received little attention

See new profiles for UK national newspaper editors on Journalisted

The Media Standards Trust’s unofficial database of PCC complaints is now available for browsing at www.complaints.pccwatch.co.uk

For the latest instalment of Tobias Grubbe, journalisted’s 18th century jobbing journalist, go to journalisted.com/tobias-grubbe

Covered lots

  • WikiLeaks, which released 250,000 secret US diplomatic cables into the public domain, 851 articles
  • More snow, with airports closing and Scotland worst affected, 699 articles
  • England’s bid losing out in the voting for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, causing outrage and sparking critcism of FIFA, 577 articles

Covered little

Political ups and downs (top ten by number of articles)

Celebrity vs serious

  • Ann Widdecombe, in the week she finally left ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, 43 articles vs. former MP David Chaytor, facing imprisonment on admitting expenses fraud, 25 articles
  • Cheryl Cole, who has been chosen to be a judge on America’s X Factor in £3 million deal, 98 articles vs. Haiti’s election, characterised as fraudulent and badly organised, 16 articles
  • Angelina Jolie, premiering her new film ‘The Tourist’, 32 articles vs. a huge forest fire in northern Israel, killing 41 and prompting aid from foreign fire crews including Palestinians, 29 articles

Who wrote a lot about…’Putin’s Russia’

Luke Harding – 17 articles (The Guardian), Andrew Osborn – 10 articles (The Telegraph), Tony Halpin – 8 articles (The Times), Sam Wallace – 7 articles (The Independent), Tom Parfitt – 6 articles (The Guardian)

Long form journalism