Wordblog is now two blogs
Wordblog is returning to its roots by resuming blogging about the media. That does not mean that events in Suffolk, where I live, are going onto a back burner.
Rather than have a single blog dealing with both topics, it has been split into two — Suffolk Wordblog and Media Wordblog — taking advantage of the the multi-site capabilities of the latest versions of WordPress.
I am not a techie and setting up the new system has been an interesting experience taking me to places I have not been before, such as editing the database. I believe I have got the basic structure working but undoubtedly it is not the finished site I want.
It looks a bit rough and ready but that will change over the coming weeks. Please bear with me.
Why am I returning to my interest in media? Firstly, I have found myself playing a small part in what is often called “citizen journalism”. I don’t like that description, but is better than “voluntary sector journalism” which echoes the Big Society idea’s jargon.
Whatever you call it, the localism espoused by all political parties is responsible for a resurgent interest in local affairs at a time when the local press is struggling.
This is leading to the development of local news sites and blogs which are starting to play a part in holding councils to account.
At the same time mainstream media is changing at an increasingly rapid rate.
As a former paid journalist and teacher of journalism, I think I have a slightly different perspective to bring to media blogging.
So there are now two Wordblogs to read:
Or follow the latest posts links on the right
If your blogroll links to the site, please change the link to http://wordblog.co.uk/suffolk/ or http://wordblog.co.uk/media/ if you want users to go directly to one or other section. The main rss feed for the site will not update in future. Please use http://wordblog.co.uk/suffolk/feed and/or http://wordblog.co.uk/media/feed.
- Government and Tesco conspire in ‘forced labour’ schemeWhich is worse, Tesco seeing unpaid employees to the Government for advertising the jobs? This is the advert which disappeared from the Direct Gov site early this morning after a wave of Twitter protests: It offers a “permanent” position for someone who will be paid travelling expenses in addition to their Job Seekers Allowance. To […]
- Suffolk libraries new bosses need to deal with low staff moraleWhen the full board of the Industrial and Provident Society which is being set up to run Suffolk Libraries meets for the first time on Wednesday (Feb 15) it will need to start demonstrating its independence. The three founding directors were appointed by the county council and a further eight have been chosen, if that […]
- Suffolk county council: £300k tax avoidanceSuffolk County Council has embarked of a tax avoidance scheme which will cost central government revenues more than £300,000 a year. The avoidance of business rates is at the heart of the plan to save money by handing libraries over to an Industrial Provident Society in April. Last month the Prime Minister, David Cameron, promised […]
- At last Network Rail bosses put lives before bonusesIt sounds like an admission that boardroom bonuses cost lives. Network Rail announced today that directors would forego this year’s bonus pool of £20 million and allocated the money to safety improvements at level crossings (Telegraph). Everyone living in East Anglia, where there is a seemingly constant stream of accidents at crossings, knows that the […]
- The strange choice of chairman for Suffolk libraries co-operativeWhen Clive Fox appeared before Suffolk County Councils Scrutiny committee last year talking about Aldeburgh’s proposals for its library he sounded like a cheer leader for the Big Society policy which even David Cameron no longer mentions. Library campaign and blogger James Hrgrave remembers that Mr Fox told the committee library campaigners were “rent-a-mob” […]
- BBC news head ‘launches’ journalism MA in SuffolkHelen Boaden, BBC’s head of news, speaking at University Campus Suffolk last evening, asked the audience the predictable question about their main sources of news. Was it newspapers, television, radio or online? It is a question I have asked new students many times, but in pondering my response I realised convergence has gone so […]
- Banks borrow €489!Just when you think there is a chance that the they might get the Eurozone crisis under control, the Guardian website reveals the delicacy of the situation with this home page item: Financial strain of debt crisis laid bare as 500 banks borrow €489 from European Central Bank As my wife said: “They only had […]
- Blogging is being drawn into the press regulation debateLord Hunt the new chairman of the Press Complaints Commission believes bloggers — “Guido Fawkes or whoever” — are a greater challenge than the tabloid press. This emerged in an interview he gave to Roy Greenslade, former tabloid editor and now a media commentator, at the weekend. On Tuesday at the Leveson inquiry Rhodri Davies, […]
- BBC cuts are further blow to regional news mediaThe BBC cuts, I fear, will be another blow to the health of news media in the regions. Local radio stations will be sharing programmes. In East Anglia Radio Suffolk and Radio Norfolk will have a joint afternoon programme, according the the regional BBC TV news. The East Anglian Daily Times reports that admired presenters […]