Contents December –2008

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Welcome

As Press Gazette approached deadline hundreds of journalists were losing their jobs every day as publishers no doubt sought to get the pain of redundancies out of the way before Christmas. We live in interesting times, as the saying goes, and anyone who attended the Society of Editors conference in Bristol last month could be left in no doubt that many parts of the journalism industry are in a fight for survival. This gave added poignancy to the broadside launched by Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre on board the SS Great Britain to kick off the conference. He warned that an ever-strengthening “backdoor privacy law” threatened to put popular newspapers out of business and he condemned the stupendous legal fees claimed by media lawyers suing under Conditional Fee Agreements as another blow to press freedom. Publishers are not asking for cash handouts from the government like those which have rewarded the greed and incompetence of the bankers –the journalism industry only asks that unfair obstacles are not placed in its way. In this week’s issue we find out that Dacre is not alone with his outspoken views on the dangers facing journalism – but that he has a broad coalition of support from across the industry. As Dacre rightly said – by saving the Freedom of Information Act and scrapping plans for secret inquests Gordon Brown has been a friend to journalists. Let’s hope he keeps up the good work in 2009.

Dominic Ponsford Press Gazette editor

NEWS ANALYSIS. THE BIG STORY Dogs of Journalism: The renegades who risk all to bring back images of conflict and suffering 05

THE YEAR’S TOP FIVES The highs and lows for journalists and the industry in 2008 10

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MAGAZINES With another online award to its name, Reed Business Information is leading the field with the help of the farming community, Karl Schneider tells Press Gazette 12 BROADCASTING Global Radio’s Jonathan Richards on plans to take on the BBC 20 SPECIAL REPORT Press Gazette looks at the newsroom technology that is attracting big investment and changing the way journalists work 23 PRIVACY National editors Roger Alton and Colin Myler explain why Paul Dacre is right about Britain’s “backdoor privacy law” 35 GLOBAL REPORT Has the media done enough on the atrocities in the Democratic Republic of Congo? 19 MEDIA LAW Tony Jaffa on the legal pitfalls surrounding the Olympic brand 22 GADGETS Online news pioneer Alfred Hermida on geotagging devices 27 AWARDS Environmental Journalism awards: The winners 14 Magazine and Design Journalism awards ceremony 16

COMMENT. DAISY McANDREW ITV economics editor 28 GREY CARDIGAN 29 DAVID BANKS Former Daily Mirror editor 30 DAVID SINGLETON PR pundit 30 CAMILLA WRIGHT Popbitch editor 31 PETER KIRWAN Editor of Fullrun 33 LETTERS 34 FEATURES. DESIGN A showcase of the winners of the Magazine Design and Journalism Awards 38

PHOTOGRAPHY Cathal McNaughton talks through some of his prize-winning photographs 40 TIPS & TRAINING. FREELANCE Matthew Collin on the life of a journalist in Georgia, tips for beating the credit crunch. plus David Parsley on why he couldn’t say no to a job in Algeria 42, 43 THE KNOWLEDGE The Radio 4 Today programme’s Mike Thomson on the interview with a woman from the DR Congo that caused an unprecedented response from listeners; making staff redundant; and gearing up for the new year job hunt 46, 47, 48

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REGULARS. EDITORIAL TRAINING Richard Orange on the thorny issue of who owns a student’s work 50 BOOKS David banks reviews Michael Wolff’s book on Rupert Murdoch: The Man Who Owns the News 53 AXEGRINDER A look at the wry side of the journalist’s lot 62

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FREELANCE DIRECTORY 44-45 ESSENTIAL SERVICES 54-55 NEWS CONTACTS 56 RECRUITMENT 58-61

PRESS GAZETTE — JOURNALISM TODAY/ DECEMBER 2008