Self-portraits, dolls, cannibalism and writing blogs

It is shameless plug time again.
The wife has created a book from the 366-day self-portrait photography project she completed in May.
It was never Rachel’s original intention, but the project chronicles her struggle to cope with her illness and all its implications over the course of the year.
I’m obviously completely and utterly biased when I say it is an amazing [...]

Too much information

Next week sees a big debate in Birmingham about the digital age and what it all means.
Taking place at the ICC, The Big Debate - Digital Revolution: More Power or More Powerless? - is arranged as part of the city’s New Generation Arts Festival.
The Birmingham Post is using its blogs to help generate some pre-debate [...]

Scandalised by scandle

It has been 24 hours so I’ve decided to stop biting my tongue.
I really wanted to read the blog on The Birmingham Post’s site about the West Midlands Police and Channel 4 Dispatches debacle written by James Treadwell, criminologist at Birmingham City University.
But I kept getting stuck at the headline.
Scandle?
No, really. Scandle!
It has remained up there for [...]

Newspapers and blogging…a bit more

Not much to add about this issue at the moment as I’m still in a bit of a post-birthday weekend fog, but a few interesting pieces have cropped up in recent days.
Firstly, The Birmingham Post’s editor has blogged about “ownership” of the title’s blogs.
Marc Reeves poses five intriguing questions regarding the role of blogs on [...]

Blogging in “our” newspapers

No blinding flash of revelation here, just a decision to write down what has been in my head for quite some time regarding journalism, newspapers and blogging.
It has been brought into sharper focus in recent days by the storm in a check-out queue created by one of The Birmingham Post’s guest bloggers.
I wondered on my [...]

Manners maketh man - what about bloggers?

If it is true that our manners shape us as individuals, what should we make of this blog post in The Birmingham Post?
At first reading my initial thought was sympathy for the check-out assistant subjected to the blogger’s ire.
At second reading I was angered at the blogger’s arrogance - both towards the check-out assistant and his [...]

Why is IT such a bogeyman?

I subscribe to various e-newsletters supplied by The Birmingham Post, including the E-Business News.
A regular client also provides a daily email bulletin on all things IT-related and as a confirmed news junkie I look forward to both dropping into my inbox.
They help point me in different directions and in the case of the client’s bulletin to [...]

Getting readers to click is the big challenge

Newspapers are losing tens of millions of pounds of potential advertising revenue by simply using the wrong system for charging.
Accountants Ernst & Young carried out research into the UK newspaper industry’s approach to the web and concluded that switching to the cost-per-click system of charging favoured by the likes of Google could help generate millions of pounds [...]

Class, culture, credentials and blogging

I appear to have angered a fellow reader of The Birmingham Post with my response to a blog post on class issues and multiculturalism.
For the first time in my life I’ve been called “politically correct” and ”a middle class lefty liberal who lives in the leafy suburbs” - at least, it is the first time I know [...]

Birmingham, Delice and no ranting

Following on from my recent rant - sorry, considered criticism - of the reaction to the news that Birmingham had been invited to join a European food network alongside Lyon, Barcelona, Milan and others, I’m indebted to The Birmingham Post for some clarity.
Richard McComb has written an excellent article on exactly what Delice, the aforementioned [...]