In my case I write a lot about Technology and Media and so these are the areas I tend to get approached about most, although they’re not the areas I’m exclusively interested in.

If you are approaching me with what you think is a story I’d be interesting in pursuing, here are five (by no means exhaustive) things that are worth keeping in mind:

1) I’m happy to receive a pitch via phone, e-mail, twitter, MSN, Google Talk or face-to-face but I expect it to be made clear that I’m about to receive a pitch from the outset.

2) If you’re pitching something for the tech spot I do for B&F remember it is fortnightly and so is outside of the daily news-cycle. Anything that will be stale (or covered elsewhere) in the immediate future is no good to me.

3) The B&F tech article also has a long lead-in time. The subject is decided a week and a half before the deadline and the deadline is almost a week before it hits the shelves. In other words I need to know well in advance if there’s anything interesting coming down the line that you think might be worth covering.

4) However the B&F tech piece is not the only thing I do. I’m primarily a freelance journalist and I write news stories and features in the areas of technology, media and current affairs. Pitch your relevant stories to me and I’ll let you know if I’m not interested.

5) Don’t tell me how great your new product, service or software is, let me see for myself. Trialling something directly says far more than any spec-sheet or picture ever will (that said high res. pictures are vital if the product is going to be reviewed).

Share This

Opening up the process of journalism and giving readers additional content like this is, in my opinion, a perfect way to utilise the internet effectively. As a matter of fact I think it’s key to making journalism thrive and survive in the future. That said it’s a daunting venture to undertake.

When you give everyone access to the unedited interview you conducted for a piece, for example, you open yourself up to a lot of criticism.

Suddenly everyone knows the questions you asked and more importantly the ones you didn’t. They can see what you may have let slip and what you did or didn’t pursue aggressively. Some may even find a comment that you didn’t quote in the piece that was more valuable than you realise. It can all be very bruising to the ego.

On the contrary it can be extremely useful to open yourself up to scrutiny like this, not least because much advice can be genuinely constructive. Perhaps more importantly, however, it forces you as a journalist to analyse everything you’re doing as you construct an article and can help you be all the more aware of your weaknesses and flaws before the piece has even gone to print.

Put simply, when people have access to everything you do there is no room for you cutting corners, quoting out of context or getting your facts wrong - unless you want everyone to know that you’re not a good journalist.

The problem is, however, that the journalists who would be willing to open their process up to the world are least likely to be the ones to abuse their position. The people who quote out of context are not going to be in a rush to show their readers what they’re doing.

Equally some interviews or pieces of research material could not be shared, perhaps because they identify an anonymous source or undermine an ongoing investigation.

The idea that journalists may share their research and process where they can is appealing, however, and it’s one I’m sure we’ll see many newspapers making a policy of soon. At the very least it gives readers more confidence in what they are reading and could even encourage journalists to learn from each other in what they do.

Hopefully my contribution to this idea in the latest Business & Finance will not be my last - while it adds a little bit to the workload I think it is more than worth it.

Share This

Different companies seem to have different ways of dealing with bad reviews. Some just take it on the chin, some go cold with the journalist for a while and others simply assume the journalist doesn’t know what they’re talking about.

Today I got into an e-mail conversation with the director of PR company who expressed her “surprise” at the bad review* I gave to a client’s product recently. Apparently I was the only one to do so and she felt in future it would be best if someone was sent out with the review units to ensure I was “getting the best” from the devices. She concluded the e-mail by saying “Maybe you weren’t aware of the key features [of the device]?”.

The basic suggestion here was that I didn’t ‘get it’ and that there was no problem with the product, just with me. The fact that allegedly no-one else gave the device a bad review cemented this idea for her, as clearly I was the odd one out for giving an “unnecessary bad review”.

I took issue with her suggestion that my bad review was a result of ignorance and the back-tracking reply was that sending someone out was now the client’s general policy for all journalists, not just me.

It is very rare that a good product truly needs a one-to-one tutorial to make it understandable to the user; in most cases it just means it’s unintuitive junk. It also affords the reviewer something that the average consumer would not have and so risks removing any fair representation of a device a review would have.

For those two reasons alone I won’t be accepting any review units that come with an assistant to “help” me use the device. I also won’t put up with any attempt by PR companies to patronise me into giving good reviews.

* The truth is it wasn’t even a bad review - it was a sub-par review.

Share This

Setanta has found itself facing administration after years of rapid expansion and Doughty Hanson is seen as a potential bidder should the company - or parts of it - come on the market. Doughty Hanson already owns 20% of Setanta and has pumped significant money into the station in return.

Should Doughty take control of Setanta it would also gain an 80% holding of Setanta Sports Ireland, which The Irish Times claims is making a modest profit. If so-called synergies were found between Setanta and Doughty’s TV3 this profit margin could grow higher (although it’s unlikely that re-naming the station under the TV3 brand would be part of that).

To make things even more interesting the consortium run by TV3, Setanta and Eircom now hold the Irish DTT licence, opening the door-way for even greater co-operation should Doughty buy up the struggling sports broadcaster.

That fact in itself could create competition concerns but the ones most likely to be truly worried are in RTÉ, who would see the hand of their main rival grow all the stronger in a short space of time.

Share This

If I’m not mistaken, I’ll be there with Damien Mulley.

You can catch it live on the website, on your TV (assuming you’re in Ireland) or on the RTÉ Player later on.

Share This

To whom it may concern,

I am writing to express my sadness at the apology made by RTÉ News (Nine News, 24th March 2009) for their coverage of the ‘Brian Cowen nude paintings’ story. I also wish to express my anger at the censorship and revisionism undertaken by the broadcaster in the removal of the news piece from RTÉ.ie.

The story in question might be considered trivial however it did have uniqueness and a national relevance to make it news-worthy. In its reporting RTÉ was entirely accurate and was therefore within its right and remit to cover the incident.

RTÉ has apologised for the offence caused to An Taoiseach Brian Cowen, his family and his office however it was not the broadcaster’s place to do so - any offence caused was due to the actions of the artist and not those who spoke about his or her work.

It is unsettling to think that RTÉ sees it fit to apologise for the actions of others.

RTÉ is now failing its vision to ‘grow the trust of the people of Ireland as it informs’ (PDF file) and has also undermined its value of operating ‘in the public interest, providing News and Current Affairs that is fair and impartial, accurate and challenging’.

As a journalist I understand the importance of RTÉ in leading quality journalism in Ireland while as a journalism lecturer I am acutely aware of its importance in setting a benchmark for students and graduates.

Whatever damage RTÉ may have done in broadcasting this story it has done far more to the journalism industry by bowing to political pressure so quickly and completely.

To think that RTÉ sees it fit to apologise for doing its job does not inspire hope in the broadcaster at a time when we need it most.

Yours sincerely,

Adam Maguire

This is the first formal complaint I’ve ever written but I think it is necessary. Perhaps it will do nothing but it is possible that the more people voice their concern now, the less likely RTÉ are to give in to unwarranted pressure in the future.

Share This

Roy Greenslade had an interesting, and arguable even bizarre, story recently from the Wall Street Journal about Independent News & Media.

According to the piece, O’Reilly had approached Rupert Murdoch / NewsCorp last year to ask for investment in his media company. Murdoch turned him down and the extent of the financial troubles facing IN&M has become apparent publicly since then.

If the claim is true - and bear in mind the Wall Street Journal is now in Murdoch’s stable so it may not be - it is not a good sign for the company’s stability. If it is in such a bad state financially that it turned to its biggest rival for help, giving Murdoch an ego-boost and market advantage in the process, things must be very grim.

Of course that story may be completely false - what is in no doubt is the existence of talks between INM, The Irish Times and Associated Newspapers about a merger of their respective Dublin freesheets; Herald AM and Metro Ireland.

Assuming this happens - and talks are said to be at an advanced stage - it will be the first time INM and The Irish Times has co-operated at any stage in the history of Irish print media. As Markham points out, there will be serious staffing connotations for workers at both newspapers but from a larger industry point of view it also indicates that INM can no longer afford to maintain vanity projects or loss-leaders in Ireland.

The Sunday Independent may dress it up whatever way it likes but The Irish Times isn’t the only newspaper suffering as a result of reckless spending.

Share This

There are 14 categories in total, 13 of which have ‘Journalism’ in the title and the other being a Lifetime Achievement Award for journalism, which begs the question - why are they called The National Media Awards and not the National Journalism Awards?

Anyway, the deadline for entries is Friday 24th April and the event itself is due to take place in The Shelbourne Hotel on 24th June.

One thing potential candidates should note - you have to be a paid-up NUJ member if you want to participate. Also, as Adrian points out above, there’s currently no prize listed so winning may not be a way to ride out the recession either.

Share This

The financial difficulties facing Chartbusters is Ireland’s first solid sign of an international fact –the traditional video rental market is in trouble.

There are many potential reasons why this sector is in decline. DVD purchase prices have dropped while disposable income has – at least until recently – risen. Movie studios have narrowed the gap between the ‘to rent’ and ‘to buy’ release dates of films, while digital and even terrestrial television channels have been able to broadcast films months rather than years after they leave cinemas.

However there still seems to be some appetite amongst Irish consumers to rent DVDs – the problem facing Chartbusters and Xtra-vision, amongst others nationally and internationally, is that fewer want to do so in a physical outlet.

“The high street rental market is dying a slow death – it can’t compete with the rent-by-post model,” says Frank O’Grady, CEO of online rental company ScreenClick.com, which recently acquired its main Irish rival MovieStar.ie. “It accounts for a round 50% of the US market already and around 30% of the UK market, and Ireland is catching up.”

The ‘rent-by-post’ business model offered by the likes of ScreenClick.com is relatively simple. Customers sign up to a subscription package, which in ScreenClick.com’s case can cost between €8 and €32 per month. Depending on the package they are paying for they are able to rent between one and four DVDs at any one time and in many cases can rent an unlimited number of releases within a month.

Also there are no late fee customers will just not get their next rental until they post back their last. Most rental sites also allow customers to list a checklist of the DVDs they want to get at some point in order of preference. Ideally this allows the company to instantly ship their next most wanted DVD as soon as the last one returns; assuming it is in stock.

“Customers will get their top priority from us around 80% of the time and we encourage them to have at least their top ten films listed at all times,” says Mr. O’Grady.

In theory this means customers could watch a huge amount of films in any give month for just €32, assuming they could watch and return them quickly. Of course this happens the less they spend per rental and the less profit can be made. As a result of this many companies, including ScreenClick.com, operate a “fair use” policy which gives priority to lower volume customers potentially resulting in a slower turn-around of orders for those who rent a high number of DVDs per month.

According to Screenclick.com they post out around 70,000 DVDs per month and have in the region of 100,000 registered customers – although not all of these are active. The company also offers its services to companies like Eircom, An Post and The Irish Times which use their software, archives distribution structures as part of their own online rental services.

In February the company is due to launch a new partnership with a large computer manufacturer which could see it offer discount or even free computers when bought with Screenclick subscriptions – the new venture will see the company sell DVDs for the first time too.

However the old guard of the rental industry did see the threats facing them from DVD sales and online some time ago and have been moving to protect themselves from losses ever since. Xtra-vision, which is owned by international rental giant Blockbuster Entertainment, has actually been quite successful in its attempts to restructure the business while Chartbusters has clearly had a tougher time.

The Xtra-vision approach has been to move out of the suburbs and to bolster its presence in urban and high street locations. The company has tried to increase the floor space of the 160 outlets it has kept open in Ireland and now offers DVDs, music and games to-buy as well as mobile phone and gadgets such as iPods.

It is thought that the rental side of Xtra-vision’s business now accounts for just half its revenue. In fact, Xtra-vision’s turn around in recent years has been so impressive that its management team was sent across Europe three years ago to oversee a similar restructuring of Blockbuster’s international operations.

In both the US and UK Blockbuster has moved into the rent-by-post market to compete with its new rivals directly however there has been no indication made by Xtra-vision so far to suggest it would follow suit. In America Blockbuster is competing mainly with Netflix and is suffering badly as a result of sticking to its core rental business for too long. In Britain the main competition is LoveFilm.com, which happens to be the owner of Screenclick.com following an estimated €3m buy-out in 2006.

Of course DVD rental by post has its limitations – mainly the inability to cater for impulse rentals. Customers who realise at 8pm that there is nothing on TV cannot rely on companies like Screenclick to fill the void, as Mr. O’Grady himself is first to admit.

This gap may be where digital downloads come into the mix in the future. In Ireland at present the only rent-by-download films available legally are on the Xbox 360’s Live network and the selection is limited. Despite this does mean you can rent on an impulse and enjoy the product almost instantly – as long as your broadband connection is good.

Internationally Apple offer TV shows and movies to either rent or buy while even Blockbuster has recently starting rolling out its own download service. However it may be some time before equivalents of these becomes available on these shores.

“Video on demand is quite a distant problem for us – we don’t see it becoming a real proposition in Ireland for a few years yet,” said Mr. O’Grady. “That said it is something we’re looking at ourselves and we could have a small offering of films to download by the end of the year.”

Share This

So before the ceremony kicks off in Cork I’d like to wish all the nominees the best of luck, particularly those in the Best Blog by a Journalist category.

I’ll hopefully be following the festivities on Twitter, I’m sure there’ll be a lot of activity there tonight.

Hope everyone there has a good one, see you all on the other side.

Share This