This is local news for local people

I admit I’m struggling with the debate surrounding the BBC’s £68m plans to dramatically increase its online coverage of local news.
The proposal has, inevitably, met with criticism from regional newspaper groups who are unimpressed that the Beeb would use licence payers money to fund the significant expansion to a network of 65 local sites.
Ofcom has [...]

BAD is good

Tomorrow is Blog Action Day and the theme this year is poverty.
Bloggers around the world will be writing posts and taking part in events to raise awareness about a wide variety of issues.
In Birmingham tomorrow a group of bloggers have got together to offer a free social media surgery to local voluntary groups and charities.
There’s [...]

Sour golf grapes, a Tory blog-fest, multicultural mistakes and bad dogs

A weekend round-up taking you into the heady worlds of sport, politics, religion and crime:
One of The Birmingham Post’s sports writers appears to have stirred things up on both sides of the Atlantic with a blog criticising the behaviour of US players and fans at the recent Ryder Cup.
He’s not very complimentary about the winning US team or [...]

The old, the new and the different

There’s appears to have been a flurry of blogging activity in recent weeks regarding the collision of three apparently different worlds – blogging, journalism and PR.
As I’m trying to inhabit all three worlds at the same time, it has proved an interesting and illuminating time.
I’ll admit my head has been sent spinning by some of [...]

Hedgehog or fox, Wispas, lad mags and the filthy rich

Start the week with a round-up.
Le Craic asks an interesting question about your blog – is it a hedgehog or a fox?
I’ve always seen myself as a badger.
Cadbury has announced it will relaunch the Wispa bar for good after 20 million were sold in seven weeks during a trial run last year.
The decision follows online campaigns, [...]

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 [...]

Signs of modern times

I’ve been reading and surfing mostly this week and what I’ve found, for a variety of reasons, sums up the state we’re in.
So, in no particular order, here goes:

Has rampant consumerism reached its zenith – Louis Vuitton bin bags anyone?
Is it bye-bye Jamie, Gordon, Delia et al as YouTube provides us with cookery lessons and makes [...]

Blogging – newspapers; the law; education

Several interesting items scattered around today on all things blogs.
First up, a warning from legal types about legal implications of what you write on a blog.
Only five per cent of internet users are clear on their legal rights and responsibilities when posting comment online, according to new research from law firm DLA Piper.
The journalism and [...]

The WordPress Marketing Bloggers Network

This is an idea from Rick at EyeCube, still in its early stages but already heading somewhere.
Where it will end up is largely down to us and others who will hopefully join the WordPress Marketing Bloggers Network (see the second blogroll to the right).
We cover different areas, different issues, work in different countries and yet [...]

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 [...]