The coalition has published the full document defining their Programme for Government today. It covers policy areas not included in the initial document, but there are also many policies from the initial document not mentioned which will just be “read through”.
These are the sections which mention the media:
Articles in newspapers complaining about bloggers and twitter users seem to come along like bills from the taxman – at a rate of about 5 a week.
We have had the remarkable exhibit of Janet Street-Porter (or “Janet Self-Publicist”) complaining about “publicity seeking bloggers“, and more recently Rachel Sylvester starting a pop-psychology consultancy practice for sad and lonely individuals possessed by the Twitter demon.
Last Monday, Nicholas Lezard, the usually literate writer for the Guardian and the Independent, had what I would call a “Twit-Fit”, wibbling furiously for an entire 700 words against Twitter – here.
This is my commentary cum translation in italics. I’d recommend that Ol’ Nick get onto Twitter, then at least he’d stop after 140 characters.
In the last year or so there have been a number of new blog / news sites developing which provide commentary for a geographically identified area, covering politics but also giving a more rounded view of life in the area.
The site which has drawn my attention recently is The Lichfield Blog, which I mention on the Wardman Wire or on Twitter (follow me to keep up to date) from time to time. There are examples of sites with a similar ethos established for some time, including some personal blogs, and I’d mention Londonist and Dave Hill’s Clapton Pond Blog but also sites such as Created in Birmingham and Curley’s Corner Shop (South Tyneside).
Some areas have a range of local blogs. The tiny Isle of Thanet, for example, has Big News Thanet, Thanet Life and Thanet Online, in addition to the more idiosyncratic Thanet Coast Life, Eastcliff Richard and even Naked in Thanet.
And if you think that Thanet is small to have all those local blogs, try the Plight of Pleasley Hill, an ultra-local blog specifically created to foster community in an area of 3 or 4 streets in the Nottinghamshire village of Pleasley Hill, near Mansfield. I did a podcast interview with Mark Jones, who has triggered the project, for the Politalks podcast.
Some of those sites have political stances, and some don’t. The common factor is that they provide coverage of local life and grounded politics.
As an enthusiast for the rejuvenation of local politics, I think a more varied local media is an excellent trend.
I’m developing a list of sites aiming to rounded provide coverage of a defined local area, town, or community. If you run a good one, or know of one, please could you drop me a line via the Contact Form on the Wardman Wire.
This was originally published in Press Gazette as Del.icio.us social bookmarking explained and Need some background info? Just follow the electronic trail. How journalists can use web bookmarking services to manage, find and publish documents. Every newspaper has a library, and most journalists have kept some sort of cuttings file for reference. But what if you could search that cuttings
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Another day, another set of questions from a journalism degree student – this time, one of my own, Azeem Ahmad. If you want to help him by answering the questions, post your comments below. How important is blogging to you, and your business? If my ‘business’ is education and freelance journalism, then: enormously important on every level: generating ideas, gathering
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A third year BA Honours Journalism student studying at Middlesex University and based at the Journalism Centre Harlow College has emailed me the following questions. As always, I make the responses public. 1. What effect do you think the increase in Internet news sites will have on newspapers? It’s already had an effect – increased competition, increased immediacy and reduced
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