Entries from April 2010

Monday, April 26th, 2010

Top tips for media freelancers #5

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] The last in our series of tips for media freelancers is from freelance production editor David Powning, who follows his first rule and goes the extra mile to give us half a dozen pieces of excellent – if hardcore – freelance advice. Go the extra […]

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

Election 2010: the Google Swingometer

One perennial feature of British elections is the amusing consumer barometer of political affiliation. This year we’ve had the Radio Times variant Dalek cover – in red, yellow or blue – and a potato crisp sampling campaign by Real Crisps, which seems to find that Clegg Crisps are way out in the lead with a […]

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

Top tips for media freelancers #4

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] Today’s tips come from long-time freelance sub-editor Loveday Cuming, who recognises the importance of interpersonal skills to freelance success, particularly when it comes to office-based subbing and production shifts. Be proactive with your network It’s all very well having a bulging contacts book of potential […]

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

Top tips for media freelancers #3

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] Third in our roster of freelance advisers is freelance writer and editor Stuart Derrick. Like many in the world of business print publishing, he’s found his niche specialisms and their attendant titles disappearing, and his old media skills under threat from the digital revolution. In […]

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

Top tips for media freelancers #2

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] Second in the series of tips for freelancers features writer, editor, trainer and Londoner Martin Cloake. Martin has more than 20 years’ experience in journalism and writes books about Tottenham Hotspur Football Club – the latest being The Pocket Book of Spurs. Because it’s not […]

Monday, April 19th, 2010

Top tips for media freelancers #1

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] Things are getting a tiny bit easier in the media employment world – more subbing and production shifts are on offer, and some freelance writing is starting to surface. But we’re hardly out of the woods. So this week I’m going to be running another […]

Friday, April 16th, 2010

Modern media is rubbish #4: how to headline the latest drugs hysteria

This one’s aimed at sub-editors again – or whoever overruled the sub who may have objected to this dreadful headline in today’s Metro. Drug death student took meow meow Well – that’s clear enough, surely? Some hard-partying student took the narcotic du jour and it killed her. Make it illegal quickly and with little rational […]

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

Subbing tip #8: the bare facts

Spotted twice yesterday in papers that should know better – two stories baring the writer’s ignorance of simple English. The London Standard story This isn’t just a decline … it’s a Marks and Spencer decline noted: The store front is fading and a little grotty. The shop sign seems left over from the Fifties, baring […]

Sunday, April 11th, 2010

The Tweed Run

Highlight of the weekend – chancing on the mass handlebars of the second annual Tweed Run, which took place on Saturday, April 10. Kicking off at midday, several hundred tweed-clad riders pedalled from somewhere near Trafalgar Square to Bishopsgate, naturally taking in Saville Row on the way. Any proceeds go to the Bikes4Africa charity. Frankly, […]

Friday, April 9th, 2010

Malcolm McLaren – a sub’s clarification

According to most of the media today: Malcolm McLaren dies at the age of 64 after a long battle with cancer Apparently it was diagnosed six months ago. Six months is not a “long battle”. It’s actually quite short. Also – what the hell cancer was it anyway? Every account I’ve read says “a rare form”. I’m curious […]