Tag Archives: Media Standards Trust

Journalisted Weekly: Liam Fox, Occupy Wall Street and BlackBerry

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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.

Liam Fox, Occupy Wall Street and BlackBerry

for the week ending Sunday 16 October

  • Coverage of the Liam Fox and Adam Werritty scandal dominated this week’s news
  • ‘Occupy Wall Street’ protests and BlackBerry outages covered lots
  • Fitch ratings downgrade, Burmese political amnesty and US troops deployment covered little

Covered lots

  • A torrid week for Liam Fox, ending in his resignation after questions about his relationship with friend Adam Werritty, 332 articles
  • Occupy Wall Street protests continue and are mimicked worldwide, including London and Rome, 141 articles
  • Research in Motion apologise to BlackBerry users after several days of outages, 112 articles

Covered little

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

Celebrity vs. serious

Arab spring (countries & current leaders)

Who wrote a lot about… the Joanna Yeates murder trial

Long form journalism

Journalists who have updated their profile

  • Liz Vercoe is a freelance journalist for AgeUK, Travel Telegraph, Sunday Times, BBC Worldwide and Reader’s Digest. She was previously deputy editor at the Radio Times and associate editor of the Sunday Mirror Magazine, as well as launch day editor of the Sunday Magazine. She has written several books, including editions of ‘Where to Live in London’ and ‘Managing Your Home’.
  • Harriet Hernando is a trainee reporter at the Stroud News and Journal. She was recently a freelance features writer for St James’s House Media and feature writer for the Argentina Independent after interning at the Financial Times. She was educated at the University of Leeds and later the University of Sheffield. You can follow Harriet on Twitter: @harriethernando

The Media Standards Trust, which runs journalisted, last week won the ‘One to Watch’ category at the Prospect Think Tank Awards

Read about our campaign for the full exposure of phone hacking and other illegal forms of intrusion at the Hacked Off website

Visit the Media Standards Trust’s Churnalism.com – a public service for distinguishing journalism from churnalism

The Media Standards Trust’s unofficial database of PCC complaints is 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

Journalisted Weekly: Labour Conference, Dr Conrad Murray and BAE

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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.

Labour Conference, Dr Conrad Murray and BAE

for the week ending Sunday 2 October
  • The Labour Party Conference in Liverpool was the most covered story this week
  • Trial of Michael Jackson’s doctor and job losses at BAE systems covered lots
  • Stirling Prize, New Zealand rugby crisis and Assange autobiography covered little

Covered lots

Covered little

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

Celebrity vs. serious

Arab spring (countries & current leaders)

Who wrote a lot about… the ongoing debt crisis in Europe

Long form journalism

Journalists who have updated their profile

  • Gethin Chamberlain is the South Asia correspondent at The Observer. He has previously held posts as foreign correspondent at the Sunday Telegraph, chief reporter at The Scotsman and as the Edinburgh bureau chief at the Daily Record. You can follow Gethin on Twitter: @newsandpics
  • Julian Evans works freelance for Prospect, Times Literary Supplement, The Guardian, Telegraph, The Independent and The Traveller. He has also written for BBC Radio and BBC Four, and is currently a Royal Literary Fund Writing Fellow at the University of the West of England. He has written several books and recieved many awards for his work. Follow Julian on Twitter: @thejulianevans

Read about our campaign for the full exposure of phone hacking and other illegal forms of intrusion at the Hacked Off website

Visit the Media Standards Trust’s Churnalism.com – a public service for distinguishing journalism from churnalism

The Media Standards Trust’s unofficial database of PCC complaints is 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

Martin Moore: seven models for reform of self-regulation

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Revelations about the extent of the phone-hacking scandal have fuelled discussion about the state of self-regulation and possible reform. Martin Moore, director of the Media Standards Trust, has created a thought-provoking list of seven possible ways in which the system might be reformed, from scrapping regulation altogether to full statutory regulation. Moore has weighed up some of the pros and cons of each idea and intends for them to serve as a framework for discussion of the issue.

The list:

1. Abolish the PCC, without setting up a replacement
2. Reform the existing PCC
3. Create an independent regulator
4. Extend a watered down Ofcom to cover all major media organisations
5. Create a professional body for journalists
6. Withdraw all media regulation, but reform, extend, reduce and clarify existing media law
7. Create a new statutory regulator for all media

See Moore’s post on the MST website for his introduction and the full reasoning behind each idea.

Journalisted Weekly: Debt Crisis, Palestine and Dale Farm

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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.

Debt Crisis, Palestine and Dale Farm

for the week ending Sunday 25 September

  • The Eurozone debt crisis and a tumultuous week for world markets was this week’s lead story
  • Palestine’s bid for statehood and Dale Farm travellers’ resistance to eviction covered lots
  • Floods in China, successful conjoined twins operation, and Nepal plane crash covered little

Covered lots

Covered little

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

Celebrity vs. serious

Arab spring (countries & current leaders)

Who wrote a lot about… Troy Davis’ execution in Georgia, US

Long form journalism

Journalists who have updated their profile

  • Katharine Quarmby is a freelance journalist who has written for the Sunday Times, The Guardian, Mail on Sunday, The Telegraph and for The Economist and Prospect magazines. She has written books about disability hate crime and is honoured with the One World Trust Award (1999) and the Radar People of the Year Human Rights award (2010). Follow Katharine on Twitter @katharineq
  • Hunter Skipworth is a Contributing Editor at Pocket-lint – an independent gadget news and reviews site. He previously worked as a Technology Reporter and Intern at the Daily Telegraph while taking a BA in Journalism and Contemporary History at City University, London. You can follow Hunter on Twitter @Hunterskipworth

Read about our campaign for the full exposure of phone hacking and other illegal forms of intrusion at the Hacked Off website

Visit the Media Standards Trust’s Churnalism.com – a public service for distinguishing journalism from churnalism

The Media Standards Trust’s unofficial database of PCC complaints is 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

Journalisted Weekly: Lib Dem Conference, Swansea mine tragedy and UBS ‘rogue trader’

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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.

Lib Dem Conference, Swansea mine tragedy and UBS ‘rogue trader’

for the week ending Sunday 18 September

  • The first few days of the Liberal Democrat conference caught most of the week’s news
  • The deaths of four miners in the Swansea valley and the arrest of a UBS trader covered lots
  • Denmark’s election, deadly Kenyan pipeline fire and violence in Yemen covered little

Covered lots

Covered little

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

Celebrity vs. serious

Arab spring (countries & current leaders)

Who wrote a lot about… Youth Unemployment rising by 78,000

Long form journalism

Journalists who have updated their profile

  • Katie Linsell is a News Reporter at Bloomberg and has freelance experience with the London Evening Standard, The Scotsman, The Independent, The Independent on Sunday, The Daily Telegraph and various local newspapers. She has two MAs in Spanish and History from the University of Edinburgh and in Newspaper Journalism from City University, London. You can follow Katie on Twitter at: @katielinsell
  • Rob Cowen works with The Independent, Daily Express and BBC News. He has written a book: ‘Skimming Stones and Other Ways of Being in the Wild’ in 2012, and in 2011 he won the Roger Deakin Award from the Society of Authors. You can follow Rob on Twitter at: @robbiecowen

Read about our campaign for the full exposure of phone hacking and other illegal forms of intrusion at the Hacked Off website

Visit the Media Standards Trust’s Churnalism.com – a public service for distinguishing journalism from churnalism

The Media Standards Trust’s unofficial database of PCC complaints is 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

Journalisted Weekly: 9/11 anniversary, Libya and 50p tax rate

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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.

9/11 anniversary, Libya and 50p tax rate

for the week ending Sunday 11 September

  • Coverage of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks dominated this week’s news
  • The aftermath of the Libyan conflict and the debate over scrapping the 50p tax rate were covered lots
  • Over 200 deaths from a sunken ferry near Tanzania, the UK’s joint nuclear fission project and the resignation of the European Central Bank chief were covered little

Covered lots

Covered little

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

Celebrity vs. serious

Arab spring (countries & current leaders)

Who wrote a lot about… the investigation of the Raoul Moat killings

Long form journalism

Journalists who have updated their profile

  • Tim Rich is the Director of Rich Media and works freelance for The Guardian, The Observer, The Independent and the London Evening Standard. He studied a BSc in Politics at Bristol University. He can be contacted at tim.rich@richmedialtd.co.uk.
  • Sean O’Driscoll is the US finance correspondent at the Sunday Times and also writes for Lifestyle features at the Associated Press. He has an MA in Journalism at Dublin City University, and can be contacted at seanpodriscoll@yahoo.com.

Read about our campaign for the full exposure of phone hacking and other illegal forms of intrusion at the Hacked Off website

Visit the Media Standards Trust’s Churnalism.com – a public service for distinguishing journalism from churnalism

The Media Standards Trust’s unofficial database of PCC complaints is 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

Journalisted Weekly: Libya aftermath, football transfers and the eurozone

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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.

Libya aftermath, football transfers and the eurozone

for the week ending Sunday 4 September

  • Libya remains the most covered story
  • Sporting events – US Open, football transfer window, World Athletics – feature prominently
  • Lib Dems’ choice for London mayor and Plaid Cymru leadership race covered little

Covered lots

  • Libya continues to dominate, 639 articles (including Gaddafi, 528 articles; Lockerbie, 119 articles; and Yvonne Fletcher, 84 articles)
  • The British football transfer window closed, 379 articles (including Gary Cahill, who didn’t move, 179 articles and Mikel Arteta, who did, 110 articles)
  • Continued worries about the health of the Eurozone economy, 248 articles
  • Abortion, as Nadine Dorries and Frank Field move an amendment to the Health and Social Care Bill, 107 articles
  • Mo Farah, gold medallist in the 5000m at the World Athletics Championships in Daegu, 105 articles

Covered little

  • Brian Paddick, named as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the 2012 London mayoral election, 7 articles
  • Suicide bombers killed 9 in the Chechnyan capital, Grozny, 6 articles
  • Elin Jones announced her intention to stand for the leadership of Plaid Cymru, Party of Wales, 3 articles
  • Two journalists were murdered in Mexico City, 2 articles
  • Bolivia’s Supreme Court convicted five former military officers of killing over 60 people during 2003 protests, in an event described as a ‘genocide’, 1 article

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

Celebrity vs. serious

  • Madonna, previewing her film on Wallis Simpson, 79 articles vs former chancellor Alistair Darling, previewing his memoirs, 72 articles
  • The return of Simon Cowell to British TV with gameshow ‘Red or Black’, 59 articles vs a u-turn on the expensive Edinburgh tram network plans, 56 articles
  • Cheryl Cole, tweeting, appearing in a film with Cameron Diaz and possibly making up with Simon Cowell, 41 articles vs Nurse Rebecca Leighton, after charges relating to the deaths of patients at Stepping Hill hospital were dropped, 40 articles
  • Jonathan Ross, whose new chat show premiered on ITV1, 40 articles vs Murdo Fraser, planning to disband the Scottish Conservative Party should he be elected leader, 39 articles
  • Celebration as singer and actress Beyonce announces her pregnancy, 23 articles vs protests in South Africa around the discplinary hearing of Youth League leader Julius Malema, 23 articles

Arab Spring (countries & current leaders)

Who wrote a lot about… the US Open tennis

Long form journalism

Journalists who have updated their profile

  • Gillian Loney is a reporter on Glasgow Westend Extra and Glasgow South and Eastwood Extra, and a freelance reporter for Daily Record, The Herald, Evening Times, Motherwell Times, Cumbernauld News, Fest, and MyVillage. She received an MA (honours) in English and Scottish Literature from Glasgow University before studying for her MLitt in journalism at Strathclyde. You can follow Gillian on twitter @ExtraWestend.
  • Daniel Finnan is a Paris-based broadcast journalist working at Radio France Internationale, and a freelance for American Public Media, Radio Netherlands, and Deutsche Welle. You can follow Daniel on twitter @Daniel_Finnan, or visit his website.

Read about our campaign for the full exposure of phone hacking and other illegal forms of intrusion at the Hacked Off website

Visit the Media Standards Trust’s Churnalism.com – a public service for distinguishing journalism from churnalism

The Media Standards Trust’s unofficial database of PCC complaints is 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

Journalisted Weekly: Gaddafi, Hurricane Irene, Steve Jobs & GCSEs

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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.

Gaddafi, Hurricane Irene, Steve Jobs & GCSEs

for the week ending Sunday 28 August

  • The liberation of Libya and search for Colonel Gaddafi was this week’s lead story
  • Hurricane Irene, Steve Jobs’ resignation and GCSE results covered lots
  • Strikes in Chile and Pukkelpop stage collapse covered little

Covered lots

  • The fall of Libya, and subsequent search for Colonel Gaddafi, as rebels took control of the capital Tripoli, 782 articles
  • America battened down the hatches in preparation for Hurricane Irene, 238 articles
  • Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple due to ill health, 161 articles
  • GCSE results announced, 160 articles

Covered little

  • Violent clashes during Chile’s national strike, 11 articles
  • Canadian opposition leader Jack Layton dies aged 61, 10 articles
  • Bolton man dies after being Tasered, the third death following an arrest in 8 days, 9 articles
  • 5 people die at Belgian music festival Pukkelpop as weather conditions cause stage collapse, 5 articles
  • Cyprus’ financial problems continue, as the government debates an emergency fiscal package, 3 articles

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

Celebrity vs. serious

Arab spring (countries & current leaders)

Who wrote a lot about… former News of the World editor Andy Coulson

Long form journalism

Journalists who have updated their profile

  • Tom McArthur is currently an online producer at ITN as well as writing for Sabotage Times. He has formerly written for Pale Blue News and Under the Influence Magazine, before which he interned for Ultimate Rugby 7s website and completed work experience at the Independent on Sunday. He read European & International Politics at Northumbria University, and is a former winner of Vice Chancellors Community Sports Award. You can follow Tom on Twitter @TomMcArthur
  • David Wooding was associate Editor (Politics) at News of the World, a position he held from 2010 until the paper’s closure in July. Prior to NoW he worked at The Sun, The People, Daily Mail and Daily Express. He studied at the University of Lancashire and is a former winner of the News Reporter of the Year award. You can follow David on Twitter @DavidWooding

Read about our campaign for the full exposure of phone hacking and other illegal forms of intrusion at the Hacked Off website

Visit the Media Standards Trust’s Churnalism.com – a public service for distinguishing journalism from churnalism

The Media Standards Trust’s unofficial database of PCC complaints is 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

Journalisted Weekly: Eurozone crisis, American downgrade, phone hacking, Syria, Somalia

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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.

Eurozone crisis, American downgrade, phone hacking, Syria, Somalia

  • The Eurozone crisis leads the news
  • US downgrade, the 11th phone-hacking arrest, and Mark Duggan’s shooting also covered lots
  • Thailand’s first female prime minister and the appointment of new Turkish military leaders covered little

Covered lots

Covered little

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

Celebrity vs serious

Arab spring (countries & current leaders)

Who wrote a lot about… the trial of Hosni Mubarak

Jack Shenker – 6 articles (The Guardian) Nate Wright – 3 articles (The Times) Adrian Blomfield – 3 articles (The Daily Telegraph) Robert Fisk – 3 articles (The Independent) Paul Owen – 3 articles (The Guardian)

Long form journalism

Sign up to the campaign for a public inquiry into phone hacking at hackinginquiry.org
Visit the Media Standards Trust’s new site Churnalism.com – a public service for distinguishing journalism from churnalism
Churnalism.com ‘explore’ page is available for browsing press release sources alongside news outlets
The Media Standards Trust’s unofficial database of PCC complaints is 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

How not to fall for a hoax like ‘IE6 users are dumb’

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First journalists fell for made-up stories sent out by a fake PR to highlight to practice of churnalism, now news outlets – including the BBC, Daily Mail and Telegraph – have published a hoax story that users of Internet Explorer 6 are dumb.

Here are five questions journalists should ask themselves in order to avoid falling for a hoax.

1. Does the story sounds possible? Journalists ask questions and should look at data with a critical eye. If presented with a press release saying the IE6 users are dumb, ask yourself how likely that really is.

Why do people use the an old version of Internet Explorer? Because they work for firms that do not grant them administrator rights to update software? Because they are less experienced web users and don’t know how to? Because they are older users who are less likely to trust updates and downloads?

2. When was the web domain of the PR company registered? A website such as who.is will give you a date of registration, the address where the site is registered, a company number and server details. (You can click the image below to see the results.)

3. Are the photos ripped from another website?  The hoaxer who wrote the “IE6 users are dumb” press release included employee photographs on the fake company website ripped from a legitimate French business.

You can run an image search – or even a reverse image search – by using Google Image Search or TinEye.

4. Does the phone number given on the press release appear elsewhere on the web? Google the phone number on the site or press release.

5. Does the address listed on the website, press release and domain registration exist? Enter the postcode into the Royal Mail address finder.

The hoaxer – a developer called Tarandeep Gill who set up the hoax to highlight his frustrations of people using IE6 – has published the tell-tale signs that should have uncovered the hoax in five minutes

1.The domain was registered on 14 July 2011;

2. The test that was mentioned in the report, “Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (IV) test” is a copyrighted test and cannot be administered online;

3. The phone number listed on the report and the press release is the same listed on the press releases/whois of my other websites. A google search reveals this;

4. The address listed on the report does not exist;

5. I copy/pasted most of the material from “Central Test” [the legitimate Paris-based firm] and got lazy to even change the pictures;

6. The website is made in WordPress. Come on now!

7. I am sure, my haphazardly put together report had more than one grammatical mistakes [sic];

6. There is a link to our website AtCheap.com in the footer.

Journalists should also be aware of the “churn engine to distinguish journalism from churnalism“, launched by the Media Standards Trust in February. Click the photo below to go to the churnalism tool, paste the contents of a press release and in cases where more than 20 per cent of an article and press release overlap, the search engine will highlight it as a potential example of ‘churn’ and give you overlap as a percentage.