Every day, you send out 4,000 messages, without once opening your mouth or tapping your keyboard. ‘Micro-messages’ are how humans actually communicate face-to-face, most of the time. Small actions or gestures, eye movements or glances, shifts in posture or body language; they all give a lot away – and much more than we think. We rely on them Read More
Category: Journalism
Do I have to love the subject I’m writing about?
The question came up in a session I was doing with a group of writers last week. The answer, of course, is no. If you are very lucky you will be able to spend a lot of time writing about the things that interest you. Lots of us aren’t always that lucky. That’s why effective Read More
Topping story from @lexitopping on Glasgow pub deaths
Great introduction sentence and structure to The Guardian article on the Glasgow pub story today on the paper edition on page 1. Can’t find it online, which is a pity. It was on the front page, written by Lexi Topping. It is a narrative intro: “Saverio Petri, one of the owners of the Clutha Vaults Read More
17 gain PPA’s certificates through ContentETC
A total of 17 journalists graduated with the Professional Publisher’s Association (PPA) certificates run by ContentETC and UEL this week. The certificates are growing in popularity as a result of the association of ContentETC and the PPA. Special rate at UEL 13 were from the University of East London. The PPA has negotiated a special Read More
Expert help with your writing, when you really need it
We all know what it’s like being trained. Especially if it’s a good course, with an inspiring tutor. You eagerly soak up the top tips and new ideas, and resolve to apply new lessons back at your desk. Then time passes, and while you are making every effort to control bad habits, and learn new, Read More
Objectivity lost and AVE won in USC debate
We had two good debates this week between my University of Southern California students on two key aspects of journalism and PR. The journalism aspect was the importance of the content and practice of “objectivity”. The PR issue was the importance of Advertising Value Equivalent (AVE). AVE is where the PR company reports to its Read More
Five ways to stop churnalism
Let’s try again to get rid of “churnalism”: the rewriting of press releases masquerading as news. Here’s my five ways to do it: 1 Look for patterns in the news flow. A company launches a product: who has launched a product like this recently? So instead of the intro being “So-and-so launched a new gizmo Read More
Write your new intro for the Kennedy killing
This is the intro of the prize-winning news story written by Tom Wicker on the day President Kennedy was shot: “Dallas, Nov 22 – President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was shot and killed by an assassin today.” It is a marvel of compacted writing, with “who”, “what” and “where” all in there. And he carries on Read More
Savile not the story: Haiti, the UN and cholera is
What’s the biggest news story of the week? Obviously Savile’s systematic sexual attacks on the youth of Britain. Unseen by those great British institutions: the BBC and the NHS, as well as the Prison Service. Not. News editors in many media are vying for what they can say new about Savile. Now it’s the BBC’s Read More