Daily Telegraph says MPs expenses story is not over yet

The story of the MPs expenses has not yet drawn to a close, the Daily Telegraph revealed last night.

Andrew Pierce, assistant editor of the newspaper that broke the milestone story, said that journalists were still working with the data.

Referring to the team working on the scoop, Piece said: “They are still in the bunker, if that gives you a clue.”

The story, which according to Piece covered 240 broadsheet pages of the Daily Telegraph, took a close working team of journalists to produce, based away from the newsroom in what was known as “the bunker”.

“They were working morning noon and night. Only a handful of people knew what was going to be in the newspaper the next day.”

He added that it was old fashioned journalism at its finest and that the newspaper and website had benefitted significantly during the four weeks the story ran.

(L-R) Pierce, Alton, Greenslade, Brooke and Tall at Frontline Club, courtesy of Priyal Sanghvi.

Speaking to an audience in London last night, Pierce said that the task of going through the data was hard work but it paid off.

“It was our job to go through the lot, and I’m glad we did look at every single person.”

The newspaper decided to go through the unorganised information systematically, and each splash coordinated with a different theme.

“We started with the cabinet, then the shadow big hitters and then husbands and wives, where we discovered the term flipping.”

“Then we discovered the accountancy fees which gave us extraordinary momentum.”

Pierce said the team were shocked to discover some of the items the MPs had been claiming for.

“When the Daily Telegraph acquired this information, we had no comprehension of the level of abuses.”

Pierce defended claims that the Daily Telegraph had been involved in a bribe, saying, “Fleet Street has survived on leaks for years.”

Media commentator and Guardian blogger, Roy Greenslade, chaired the panel and speculated that the newspaper had paid their source £75,000.

Pierce refused to confirm any sum, denying that money had been involved. He also insisted that he wasn’t involved in this stage of the process.

Roger Alton, editor of The Independent congratulated the Daily Telegraph on their “flawless job”, and said the paper was setting the agenda for every other news organisation in the country.

The panel speculated that the story could expand to expenses of the European Commission and the salaries of the BBC.

Heather Brooke, FOI campaigner and Stephen Tall, Lib Dem activitst, also attended the event which took place at the Frontline Club in London.

This guy is a genius

Michael Daehn, a social media consultant was sick of using job websites like Monster to search for his next employer.

He set up a website GetMikeAJob, and offered prizes to anyone who could find him any sort of employment.

The prizes he was offering were genius – car washing, Krispy Kremes, a social media or marketing consultation for your business, anything he could think of!

With regular diary updates, readers were informed of Mike’s progress, and of course his frustrations.

Mike “freaking out” on Day 21

But fear not – by Day 25 he got a job!

What a great idea, and with Facebook and Twitter pages too, Mike was demonstrating his skills at the same time.  Watch this space for GetAlisonAJob!

Everyone will be a multimedia journalist, says ex Bloomberg editor

For Bloomberg’s former multimedia editor, Abhik Sen, the debate is redundant.

“In five years time pretty much everyone will have to be a multimedia journalist.”

As the times change, news organisations are increasing and expanding their multimedia coverage of big stories. Journalists’ skills are improving and graphics are becoming more sophisticated, so much so that the most substantial part of a news story can now be found online.

Abhik gave the recent example of  the swine flu story:

“Online there was a comprehensive 360 degree view of the story. There were interactive maps, pictures, figures, videos, first person accounts and graphics. This holds true for pretty much every big story now.”

The BBC’s ‘Swine Flu: mapping the outbreak’ interactive graphic.

There are a good five or six multimedia packages or reports that can be done by news organisations. Abhik talked us through the main ones at a talk at City University this week:

The first is the news driven package. This involves a quick turnaround that can fit into a rolling news agenda. It is the most basic form of a media package. Links and tagging in these packages are very important so readers can quickly access all of the material on offer.

This BBC news story is a basic example of this type of package. The turnaround on this video must have been relatively quick, as there is only one location and one subject in the film.

The evergreen package is designed to stand the test of time; it may still be relevant in years to come. There will be no sell by date on the package. It is usually a piece that requires thought and deliberation.

Detroit Free Press’ 40 Years of Respect tribute to Aretha Franklin is a great example of an evergreen package.

Interactive graphics are great for transforming chunks of dry or difficult information into a good piece of journalism. It saves readers the bother of trying to interpret the statistics themselves and you can make important subjects come alive.

The Guardian’s interactive package on Obama’s 100 Days in office is a fantastic example of a good graphic illustration of a story. It includes all of the elements that only a multimedia piece could.

Calendar and diary based reports are great for being a bit creative. You can find a way of covering an event in a original and refreshing way, and you can complement other reports by building on what has already been done.

The G20 Summit reporting is a great example of this type of package.

Abhik said that the planning stage is the most important when creating a multimedia report. The most important questions to ask is ‘What do I really want to communicate through this work?’.

Heather Brooke and the MPs expenses

Heather Brooke has finally been given some credit for her role in the MPs expenses saga.

The journalist and writer has broken many stories to the press before, dug around using the Freedom of Information Act, and revealed many secrets to the public – but this is no doubt one of her biggest achievements to date.

The Guardian’s G2 featured her brilliant article today, where she described fighting with the Commons for the past five years in order to get the expenses information made public.

“When I explained that I was after a breakdown of MPs’ expenses, I was met with a baffled silence,” she said.

Definitely worth a read, especially the quotes from the head of the House of Commons Fees Office, Andrew Walker:

“There is checking where there are receipts. Where there are no receipts there is no checking.”

Last October, journalism postgraduate students at City University were treated to a lecture on making Freedom of Information requests by Heather.  Her enthusiasm and love of this kind of investigative journalism was very apparent, and in her G2 article she mentioned how she has always wanted to be that kind of reporter.

After all of her efforts, she admitted in The Guardian that she was “livid”  that The Telegraph managed to get hold of the data before July 2009. On the other hand, she added that as a campaigner she was thrilled to see it out in the public domain – where it should be.

Today, Heather wrote on her ‘Your Right To Know’ website:

“Is this the apex of my campaign? My 15 minutes of fame might now be coming to a close if the Commons actually comes clean, gets rid of the corrupt and institutes a new transparency regime. That actually looks as though it might now happen.”

I am sure that there will be plenty more to come from Heather though, and I’m glad she finally got the credit she deserved.

Watch her top five tips on Freedom of Information requests (courtesy of XCity)

Having a specialism is key, says Rory Cellan-Jones

“There are jobs out there and there will be jobs”, said Rory Cellan-Jones, the BBC’s technology correspondent.

What a refreshing talk he gave to postgraduate students at City University today.

Rory admitted that nowadays journalists are expected to be able to do a lot more than when he graduated, but he said that having a specialist interest may be key to landing a job.

“If you are interesting and passionate about something then there will be opportunities out there.”

He said that there is now tremendous pressure on journalism graduates to be able to do “everything under the sun”, but he said that if you have one or two really good skills then it is just as important.  

Image taken from BBC

The self-confessed Twitter obsessive was just as tech-savvy as I expected him to be, opening his backpack to reveal not only an iPhone, but a BlackBerry and a gorgeous little Flip Meno Camera. Using his Apple Mac, he showed us a number of tools he uses in order to keep on track of technology news, including reading websites TechCrunch, GigaOM and Techmeme.

During the lecture he also posted part of his talk onto AudioBoo and, of course, took a Twitpic of us all listening intently. (Link to follow later, depending on how the shot looks!)

Rory said that he became interested in the internet in the mid-90’s, after being a business correspondent at the BBC. He said that he was even awarded the title “Internet Correspondent” for a few months in 2000, before the BBC decided that the internet was over and he went back to his old job.

But he insisted that the internet was bringing exciting change and was finally made Technology Correspondent in 2007.

Rory’s blog dot.life on BBC

Thinking about my specialism, I would definitely say the internet and new media really interest me.

Luckily this blog has been a really good platform to demonstrate my skills and help get myself noticed. The more I discover online, the more I want to know!

But I don’t feel like I know quite enough yet to be able to call it my ’specialism’. What do others think? How much of an expert in a field do you have to be before you can call it your specialism?

Rory admitted that he still doesn’t know everything about technology, and would have no idea how to “defrag a hard drive”, but that doesn’t matter.

Once I have gained more hands-on experience in web development and new media I will be at a better position, but for the moment I am going to have to stick to the line “I am willing to learn.”

The Apprentice as you have never seen it before

All those idiots on The Apprentice sure do wind me up sometimes.

If they are supposed to be “Britain’s brightest business prospects” then there is no hope for any of us.

Listen to all of the candidates best fighting talk – but with a bit of a twist. Genius!

Westminster and New Media

With all the scandal over “smeargate” recently I thought it would be interesting to hear the political commentators’ views on journalism through new forms of media like blogging.

So yesterday I attended the Foreign Press Association event “Westminster and New Media” where bloggers such as Guido Fawkes and Iain Dale were on the panel.

I wrote the event up for Journalism.co.uk:

Journalists should have reported the Damien McBride affair earlier, political blogger Iain Dale, told an industry gathering yesterday.

The system where journalists have close relationships with spin doctors has to end, added Dale, citing the case of former Prime Minister’s aide McBride, whose emails containing unfounded rumours about Conservative politicians were exposed by blogger Paul Staines, better known as Guido Fawkes.

“Paul’s blog is important in setting this – he has no interest in relationships with MPs,” Dale told an audience at the Foreign Press Association.

Dale said he had no doubt that Derek Draper’s planned, anti-Conservative gossip site, Red Rag, would have gone live had Staines not broken the story: “It would have only lasted a matter of days though.”

Online media, in particular blogs and newsgathering using mobile, is breaking down traditional news models, panellists at the event agreed.

“It is now possible for anyone to get a scoop,” said Staines.

“Citizen journalism is tremendously exciting. Ten years ago, these people had no influence and now, since they have got mobile phones or digital cameras, they are empowered,” added Dale,

But, while new media is changing traditional newsgathering and publishing processes, there remains the issue of making money from blogging, said Dale.

“The news hasn’t quite cottoned on to them yet and advertisers are nervous about them,” said Dale, who claimed his site attracts more traffic than The Spectator’s website.

“There is a lot more comment around [on blogs] than newsgathering, as it’s cheaper. News gathering takes time too,” said Staines, who ran his blog for free for the first four years.

According to Dale, there is not yet an established economic model to make a living out of blogging, but there soon will be: “I think we are at the stage where five or six blogs in the UK could make a living.”

The panel was asked how readers are expected to know if stories written on low cost blogs are true.

“If I find out that a story is wrong I will hold my hands up. If people don’t trust me then they won’t read my blog, so I care about what I write,” said Dale.

Staines agreed: “People trust your brand, and you have a reputation. I am a lot more careful now when I get a story. I’ve done 6,000 stories now, and which are wrong? They are few and far between.”

Dale admitted he had been been threatened on three occasions for things written on his site: “It has all been resolved now though. I have no doubt that it will happen again at some point.”

At the end of the talk I asked Guido aka Paul Staines whether he was familiar with the fake Luke Akehurst blog. He said he had read it yes, but he wasn’t aware of the recent update – caused by me. Oops.

Guido Fawkes aka Paul Staines

What’s so good about Twitter, I hear you ask..

You can have an online interaction with people like Jonathan Ross. I know, I’m a geek.

He mentioned he was writing a piece for The Sunday Times, and so I told him that I am currently on the news desk and asked what section he was writing for. 

 

The power of the blog

“So you basically use your blog as a CV?”

The blogs editor at The Mirror asked me last week.

“Yes,” was the answer – but I use it so much more than a piece of paper with my name at the top.

Since setting up my blog in September 2008, I have been completely surprised with the power one little WordPress blog can have.

As well as being a useful talking point in interviews, Modern Musings has been documenting my thoughts and feelings about the journalism industry for many months now.

Having my own blog has been one of the best pieces of advice I have taken, and without one I doubt I would have had half the chances I have been given.

A blog gives people a quick look into my writing style, what my interests are, links to published work, a platform to experiment with multimedia, a way to contact me – and most importantly it demonstrates my enthusiasm for online journalism.

Just last week, while I was doing some work experience at Mirror online, I got chatting to the blogs editor. He asked if I had a blog, and luckily I was able to show him my site. I could confidently tell him that I try to update it as often as possible, and that I have attracted the attention of some top online journalists simply by publicising my site where I can (Twitter, Facebook, via emails).

My obsession for BBC’s The Apprentice and television in general obviously helped the situation too, and he asked me if I would like to contribute to the We Love Telly blog on the Mirror online site.

Here is my first post about last week’s episode.  I intend to keep blogging as much as possible for the site.

Just an example of what opportunities can arise from a bit of blogging.

See this article, “Budding Journalists Use Twitter, Blogs to Open Doors” by Alfred Hermida for Media Shift.

Greenslade Vs Meyer on regulation

Yesterday City University professor of journalism, Roy Greenslade appeared on the Daily Politics Show. I wrote up his appearance for Journalism.co.uk.

In the latest public debate surrounding regulation of the UK press, Sir Christopher Meyer, former chairman of the UK Press Complaints Commission (PCC), today argued that the current self-regulatory system was ‘robust, quick and satisfying.’

Meyer, who has now been replaced as PCC chair by Peta Buscombe, was a guest on yesterday’s Daily Politics show on BBC Two, and said that the process worked for many reasons – the body’s discreet handling of complaints was just one, he said.

Meyer defended the PCC’s role, using the fact that they received a record number of complaints from newspaper readers last year as evidence that the principle of self-regulation was firmly established in the industry.

He added that the number of complaints to the PCC had doubled during his tenure. During the debate, however, Roy Greenslade, professor of journalism at City University in London, said that the body was not advertised widely enough.

He said: “Most of the public aren’t aware of the PCC, and the newspapers certainly don’t publicise it.” The show’s presenter, Andrew Neil, asked Meyer where the PCC was during the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

Neil also asked why the body didn’t do more to protect Kate and Gerry McCann from the accusations made by newspapers. Meyer said that Gerry McCann felt that the publicity and coverage of his daughter’s disappearance would aid the search for his daughter. “We told them we were there for them if they wanted help, but they were too busy,” Meyer said.

He added that the McCanns were focused on finding Madeleine at the time.

Greenslade argued that a PCC statement should have been issued at the time, warning the newspapers to adhere to the PCC code of practice.