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.
Journalisted Weekly: Leveson Inquiry, Tahrir Square and England RFU
for the week ending Sunday 27 November
- The first wave of witnesses to give evidence to the Leveson Inquiry dominated this week’s news
- Violent protests in Tahrir Square, and the England rugby team scandal, covered lots
- Carina Trimingham lobbying row, Basra bombs and Welsh budget resolution covered little
Covered lots
- The Leveson Inquiry into press ethics and phone hacking, 339 articles (including evidence given by Hugh Grant, 120 articles and Bob and Sally Dowler, 106 articles)
- Violent protests involving thousands of people at Tahrir Square in Egypt continue before elections take place, 273 articles
- Scandal continues to engulf the England Rugby World Cup squad after damning reports of their conduct are leaked, 195 articles
- Death of Gary Speed, 85 articles
Covered little
- Carina Trimingham, partner of Energy Secretary Chris Huhne, embroiled in row over privileged access to ministers, 13 articles
- Three bombs explode in Basra, Iraq, killing 19 civilians, 6 articles
- Welsh Labour and Liberal Democrats agree Budget deal after months of deadlock, 4 articles
Political ups and downs (top ten by number of articles)
- David Cameron: 583 articles (-12% on last week)
- George Osborne: 341 articles (-1% on last week)
- Nick Clegg: 212 articles (+91% on last week)
- Ed Miliband: 133 articles (+13% on last week)
- Ed Balls: 106 articles (+56% on last week)
- Gordon Brown: 100 articles (+4% on last week)
- Tony Blair: 90 articles (-28% on last week)
- Danny Alexander: 85 articles (+204% on last week)
- Chris Huhne: 78 articles (+359% on last week)
- Boris Johnson: 77 articles (unchanged since last week)
Celebrity vs. serious
- British actors shine at International Emmy Awards, 38 articles versus Nick Clegg announces new Youth Contract to tackle growing youth unemployment, 35 articles
- Janet Devlin‘s final week on The X Factor as she is voted off the show, 36 articles versus Arcadia group announces closure of hundreds of high street shops, 31 articles
- Duchess of Cornwall attends Strictly Come Dancing rehearsal, 13 articles versus Youth Justice Board quango saved by Government, 12 articles
Arab spring (countries & current leaders)
- Egypt’s Military Council: 105 articles (+275% on previous week)
- Syria and President Assad: 91 articles (-46% on previous week)
- Yemen and President Saleh: 39 articles (+388% on previous week)
- Libya’s National Transitional Council: 38 articles (-21% on previous week)
- Turkey and Prime Minister Erdogan: 28 articles (+12% on previous week)
- Bahrain and King Al Khalifa: 20 articles (+567% on previous week)
- Saudi Arabia and King Abdullah: 14 articles (-13% on previous week)
- Gaza and Hamas: 13 articles (+44% on previous week)
- Iran and President Ahmadinejad: 12 articles (+9% on previous week)
- Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu: 10 articles (unchanged since previous week)
- Jordan and King Abdullah: 9 articles (-78% on previous week)
- West Bank and President Abbas: 9 articles (+50% on previous week)
- Qatar and Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani: 2 articles (up from 0 in previous week)
Who wrote a lot about… clashes between the Government and Unions over planned public sector pensions strikes
- Rajeev Syal – 7 articles (The Guardian)
- Macer Hall – 4 articles (Daily Express)
- Polly Curtis – 4 articles (The Guardian)
- Hélène Mulholland – 4 articles (The Guardian)
Long form journalism
- 5,056 words: ‘England riots: the personal cost’ – Amelia Gentleman, The Guardian, 25 November 2011
- 3,852 words: ‘Still hidden away’ – Christine Toomey, Sunday Times, 27 November 2011
- 2,235 words: ‘Identity and the internet: From pixels to persona’ – Richard Waters Financial Times, 21 November 2011
Journalists who have updated their profile
- Jack Oughton is a photographer at KKVA Fine Art Photography and Portraiture and works freelance for The Independent, the International Astronomical Union, FHM and Empire magazines, along with a number of companies. He was previously a writer intern for Catch 22 Magazine after completing a Higher National Diploma in Astronomy and Science at the University of Glamorgan. He has written several books: ‘Glamorgan University Observational Diary’, ‘A Layman’s Guide To Nuclear Fusion’ and ‘The Speech Of The Chimera’, all in 2010. Follow Jack on Twitter @koukouvaya
- Jane Symons is a freelance health writer, media consultant and facilitator whose work has been published in publications including the Daily Express, Daily Mail, The Sun, The Times, the Telegraph and Sunday Express, as well as various women’s magazines. She has previously been editor of Sun Health at The Sun, health editor of Woman’s Own, and chief sub editor for the Telegraph Magazine. In addition, she has written two books: ‘Pregnancy: The Best for You and Your Baby’ in 1999 and ‘How to Have a Baby and Still Live in the Real World’ in 2003. Follow Jane on Twitter @janesymons1
The Media Standards Trust, which runs journalisted, won the ‘One to Watch’ category at this year’s 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
Read the MST’s submission to parliament’s Joint Committee on Privacy and Injunctions and the House of Lords Communications Select Committee on investigative journalism
The Orwell Prize 2012 is now open for entries following a launch debate on ‘Writing the Riots’
For the latest instalment of Tobias Grubbe, journalisted’s 18th century jobbing journalist, go to journalisted.com/tobias-grubbe