Tag Archives: UK government

Free Speech blog: What the UK government’s cuts mean for British journalism?

Brian Cathcart, professor of journalism at Kingston University London, on what the UK government’s cuts and plans for university fees will mean for journalism:

Of all the professions, journalism is surely among the most vulnerable when it comes to the kind of touch cost-benefit analysis that school leavers and parents will have to do in a world of higher fees. Undeniably, the news industry is in existential crisis: yes, it offers thrilling new possibilities, but it is distinctly short on security.

In this environment, whatever Vince Cable and Nick Clegg may say, poorer students – by which I mean students who are not middle class – are more likely to back away than risk the big debts that will accompany a journalism degree.

The next generation of journalists, therefore, will probably have just the same social profile as the generation currently supplying us with news, even though the country around us will have changed.

Full article on Index on Censorship at this link…

BBC College of Journalism blog: The problems with reporting a coalition government

The BBC College of Journalism’s Jon Jacob raises some interesting points about journalists’ coverage of the UK’s new coalition government:

  • “The coalition is still in its early days. It’s easy to forget how the business of reporting the coalition agreement has overshadowed the true schedule of government business;”
  • “[S]hould journalists actually continue referencing the government ministers they talk about in their reports – including in vision graphics and on-air announcements – to illustrate how ideologies differ within a coalition government?”

When can the media stop referring to it as a coalition government or is there a danger in doing so?

Full post at this link…

ReadWriteWeb: Google may hand over Caribbean journalists’ IP addresses

ReadWriteWeb follows up Wikileaks’ report that Google could comply with an order to supply the IP addresses used to access a news site’s GMail account, as part of a libel claim in the Santa Clara, California Superior Court, regarding government corruption in the Turks & Caicos Islands.

The TCI Journal is a news and commentary site based in the Islands, run by ‘journalists, lawyers, professionals, students and patriots.’ RWW reports:

“A property developer discussed at length in the Journal’s documentation of corruption and in the official UK government inquiry report is now suing the journal for libel.”

According to Wikileaks and RWW, Google intends to hand over the requested records in just over two weeks, unless the Journal files a counter-motion with the court itself.

Google has supplied RWW with a statement that said the company was ‘still evaluating all [its] legal options regarding this particular request’.

Full post at this link…

Journalism Daily: Academics boycott Observer, theblogpaper’s launch and AOP conference

A daily round-up of all the content published on the Journalism.co.uk site. You can also sign up to our e-newsletter and subscribe to the feed for the Journalism Daily here.

News and features:

Ed’s picks:

Tip of the day:

#FollowJourn:

On the Editors’ Blog:

Online Journalism Blog: Can the UK government save journalism?

Paul Bradshaw suggests a number of steps (with examples) that the government could take ‘to create an environment that supports good journalism’:

  • Release of public data
  • Tax relief on donations to support investigative journalism
  • Encouraging innovation and enterprise
  • Reskilling of redundant journalists
  • An effective local news consortia

Well worth a read – and more suggestions are welcome.

Full post at this link…

@more4news challenges government on Twitter

Some more simple and effective use of social media tools (and personality) from the team behind More 4 News.

We’ve covered Channel 4 News’ use of Twitter before and its crowdsourcing experiments – but yesterday sister channel @more4news got in on the act.

Responding to the launch of a 20-page guide for the UK government on using Twitter, @more4news issued a challenge to the 12 departments using Twitter: to sum up their current priorities in 140 characters.

More4 News Twitter account

The responses were later used by presenter Alex Thomson (@alextomo) in an evening broadcast on More4.

Four government departments don’t tweet it turns out (including the department for culture, media and sport), but there were replies from the treasury, ministry of justice and ministry of defence amongst others.

“We were pleasantly surprised at the way government departments rose to the More4 News twitter challenge. It’s clear that several of them have recently appointed Digital Media Advisors from among the twitterati,” Michael Hodgkin, assistant programme editor, More4 News, told us in an email. Homemade porn https://www.amateurest.com/ USA.

“Some of the summaries may sound a bit like promoting motherhood and apple pie, but what can you expect in 140 characters? It’s probably a very good exercise to have to sum up one’s aims so concisely.

Jon Slattery: Report calls for quality mark for journalism internships

Jon Slattery has a good round-up of yesterday’s Unleashing Aspiration – The Final Report of the Panel on Fair Access to the Professions report  released by the UK government yesterday.

The report, which looked at the background and educational history of those entering professions including journalism,found that 98 per cent of entrants to journalism had a degree or post-graduate qualification.

It made 88 recommendations to government, including a system for identifying high quality internships and open advertising of such placements.

Full post at this link…

UK Freedom of Information Blog: FOIA act extended, but changes ‘disappointingly modest’

Catching up from news last week that the UK government has plans to extend the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to cover four new bodies: the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), the Financial Services Ombudsman, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) and Academy schools.

The UK’s Campaign for FOI has described the proposals as narrow in scope – for example, contractors providing a service on behalf of a public agency will be covered, but only if that service ‘is a function of the authority’.

Full post at this link…