On Board the StartUp Britain Tour Bus

Working with small to medium-sized businesses embarking into the world of digital marketing is something that I am hugely passionate about.

This is why I was excited to be asked to take part in the StartUp Britain Summer Bus Tour 2011 this week. I attended the tour bus in Birmingham on Tuesday and had a great time!

The StartUp Britain Bus

The tour, which is visiting 14 locations across the country, is on an ongoing pursuit to encourage budding entrepreneurs in all areas of Britain to start up their own businesses.

I was on board in Victoria Square in Birmingham speaking to all kinds of people; from established businesses wondering how to grow their customer base, to people with an initial enterprise idea looking for online marketing advice to help kick-start their company.

I had a hugely varied day on the StartUp Britain Bus Tour. There was a good variety of people in the Square ready to get advice in how to start up their businesses, or how to grow them.

There was a really good turnout of interesting speakers and experts on the bus including Melody Hossaini - Apprentice 2011 candidate, Intel, Microsoft, a European patenting expert who had helped get candidates onto Dragon’s Den, and plenty of financial advisors including Barclays.

Alongside all of the other business experts, i I spoke to accountants, university students, beauty consultants, wedding planners, and travel website owners – offering them advice in digital marketing, particularly around blogging, Facebook and Twitter. A lot of people were interested in how to network using LinkedIn, and also how to set up a website and get going.

For most people who were in the early stages of their business, I recommended setting up a free Wordpress blog, so that they could begin to get some traction online and gain some customer insights without having to break the bank on a website.

It was an inspiring experience to see people with so much confidence and passion behind their ideas, and with other experts from Barclays, Microsoft, Intel and RSM Tenon on board the bus – it really was a worthwhile experience for entrepreneurs to attend. I would strongly recommend anyone with an idea, business or an interest in enterprise to attend the rest of the Tour – which runs into September.

Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg: Why we have too few women leaders

A great talk from COO of Facebook Sheryl Sandberg at TEDWomen. With three main powerful pieces of advice, Sheryl mixes personal experiences from her way to the top with interesting statistics to create this inspirational talk.

Did you know that 57% of men negotiate their starting salary in their first job compared with just 7% of women?

Worth a watch.

Climate Camp: Impressions from an outsider

Since my brush with the Commons Five last year, I have followed the movements of similar young campaigners, reading about the many protests and projects they get involved with.

Climate Camp hit the headlines last week, when hundreds of environmental activists “swooped” on Blackheath from meeting points across Central London. The site was chosen for its legacy; notably it was the location for the Peasants Revolt of 1381. The heath also provides a poignant view over The City, where buildings making crucial climate decisions, such as Canary Wharf and The Gherkin, can be seen.

On Saturday, I jumped at the chance to go and have a look at Climate Camp (officially, Camp for Climate Action) for myself. I wanted to know what was going on there, and didn’t have a clue what to expect. Would groups of environmental protesters be gathered round shouting, holding up boards with angry messages on? Would it be a huge sit-in, with campaigners lazing around in the sun, discussing what they each do to help the planet? After the drama of the “swooping” and the secret location of the camp, press coverage had become very sparse, with only the Guardian giving updates of activity down at Blackheath. The questions rolling in my head certainly needed to be answered.

Approaching the Camp, I was unsure as to whether visitors were even allowed on site. Campers had decorated the perimeter fence with bold slogans, bright coloured climate warnings and messages to multimillion pound companies. Over the entrance, a banner read “Capitalism is Crisis” and campers gathered on hay bales, welcoming visitors.  As Climate Rush campaigner Tamsin Omond wrote in the Standard, “The idea is that you join in.”

We were directed to a site map, and given a guide to the camp – which included an itinerary of every single event planned for the week. The first, and lasting, impression we all got from the camp was the huge amount of things there were to do there.  There were workshops giving campers a chance to share stories, swap tips about reducing carbon footprints, debate issues such as the Copenhagen summit, learn about how to stage a protest, and get multimedia training in how to set up a camera on a tripod. As well as all that, there was evening entertainment, huge communal meals, yoga classes and morning camp meetings. The camp also catered well for children, offering activities such as bread-making, arts and games.

The whole camp worked on a voluntary rota, with a jobs board at the front of the site and people putting themselves forward every day for different roles, included serving dinner and cleaning the toilets.

As we wandered round the bright coloured tents, I felt as if we had stumbled upon a self-sufficient community. Everything within the camp was built all together and there was a peaceful, relaxed atmosphere about the place. Not quite the violent Climate Camp the Daily Mail predicted, eh?

I saw Leila Deen, the campaigner who threw green custard in Lord Mandleson’s face earlier this year, enjoying herself around the camp. We were offered fruit smoothies – which had been made by cycle-powered blenders, and invited to sit in on some of the workshops. I chose ‘How to Communicate Climate Science’ which was a brilliant back to basics chat by two young guys, explaining the basics behind climate change. Some of the workshops were a bit more heated, but the ‘anything goes’ atmosphere meant you could chop and change between tipis.

There didn’t seem to be much police presence, apart from two officers who did quiet a lap around the perimeter of the camp in the late afternoon. The police had set up a cherry picker with CCTV to watch over the camp. One commentator on Twitter, denny, said: “Wondering how @CO11MetPolice reconcile the phrase ‘neighbourhood style policing’ with spotlights and CCTV on a cherry picker. #ClimateCamp“

For me, Climate Camp was hugely inspiring. Not only has the camp proved that you don’t need  to make a huge song and dance to get people talking about an issue, (although a few protesters have been up to some antics today around London) but it also proves that people can get along living in a simple, low-carbon lifestyle. The main focus of the camp was educational, and it wasn’t organised to cause mayhem and disruption.

As we left the camp before sunset on Saturday night, I looked back at the large-scale police CCTV watching the camp prepare their dinner, and couldn’t help but feel like the campaigners were sticking two fingers up back.

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.

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?’.

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.”

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

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.

British Press Awards 2009

As my postgraduate course draws to a close the grim reality of the job situation really sank in this week. A quick browse on the top journalism job websites accurately portrays the industry at the moment. The only work going is unpaid internships, or top editorial positions that require years of experience.

Luckily a night to the Press Gazette British Press Awards 2009 saved me of my deep depression just in time, and left me feeling inspired and optimistic. I received a plus one from Women in Journalism Society, and took Lara King along as my guest to mingle with the hacks, and network our way into some jobs.

The night, presented by Jon Snow, was a great celebration of the fantastic hard work done by journalists over the year. Sitting in a room amongst some of my favourite journalists was a huge buzz. One of the highlights of the night was talking to a previous City University student, Tom Harper, who received the Young Journalist of the year award.

He spoke fondly of his time on the course, and admitted that working for The Mail on Sunday was very hard work. However, only three years after graduating  from City he was up on stage receiving the prestigious award given to the “individual who made the most impact during 2008″.

 

Tom receiving his award on stage with Jon Snow.

Other highlights included bumping into Dave Hill who won Digital Journalist of the year. He told us that he thinks we should continue our work on the Hackney Post if we can’t find jobs! Definitely something to think about.

Dave Hill on stage.

We also spoke to Stephen Wright, the Mail’s Chief Crime Correspondent, who won Specialist Writer of the year. He too is City alumni, and was interested to know what kind of work we were planning on going into. ”Anything we can get!” was our unanimous answer.

Fellow colleague Shona Ghosh was also at the awards, and the lucky devil who is currently an intern at Guardian Technology, had the envious task of interviewing every winner as they came off stage. Below is a picture of her grinning like a Cheshire cat as she spoke to Charlie Brooker-  winner of Columnist of the year. The outspoken comedian beat both Piers Morgan and Jeremy Clarkson to the prize.

All in all a great night was had, and the journalists’ seemed to be in high spirits – despite all the doom and gloom. Or perhaps that was something to do with the three course meal and free wine.

 

 A full list of winners can be found here, at the Press Gazette’s website.

Want more money? Give freelance a go

It seems more and more journalists are making the decision to go freelance, not as an alternative to their nine to five’s – but on top of them.

I attended a talk, “Succeeding in the world of freelance” this week and wrote this piece for Journalism.co.uk.

Susan Grossman: freelancer

Having a unique idea and selling it are the most important things a freelance journalist can do to succeed, Susan Grossman, a freelancer who has written for national newspapers for 30 years, told an audience at City University last night.

“It’s not to do with who you are, or what you have done, as long as you have got a good idea and demonstrate in your pitch that you know what you are talking about,” she said.

Freelancers should not be deterred by the rising number of new freelancers as a result of the economic downturn: “Although many reporters had been made redundant from their full-time posts, as a freelancer you are still very important to editors.”

Editors value reliability from contributors the most, Grossman added.

“They really don’t care about you at all, just your idea and that you can carry it out and meet a deadline,” she said.

It is best to pitch to as many editors as possible, ‘tweaking’ the pitch to aim it directly at each publication, Grossman said.

Editors prefer a pitch that gives full details of a feature; what the feature will do, who has been interviewed and where the issue will go, instead of ‘dangling carrots at them’, she said.

Grossman, who is also a writing mentor and lectures in journalism at various London universities, said good ideas must have a topical news hook: “Even if you have wanted to write about something for a while, wait until it is topical before you pitch the idea.”

When speaking about freelancing as a career, Grossman admitted that motivation was her biggest fear, but warned: “Nobody is going to tell you what to do, but if you don’t do anything nothing will happen. Get out there and market your ideas.”