Category Archives: Blog
White smoke over Central Quay as Pope leaves Record
Little Dave regrets being slow with his CV again...
All change on the Scottish digital newsdesk merry-go-round once again, as Daily Record online ed Iain Pope jumps ship less than a year after taking charge.
Pope, who made the move to digital after the best part of a decade at Central Quay, is the latest signing in STV’s increasingly Real Madrid-esque policy of snapping up anyone with a high digital profile in Scotland.
Edinburgh-based Popey joins the STV Local team on Monday, reuniting him with his Two Fat Laddies sparring partner Shaun Milne. The expectation, though he hasn’t confirmed it yet, is that he’ll be the regional editor for the new Glasgow local platform.
It’s a surprise move, to be honest, but - after a year of cuts and cutbacks at the Record - perhaps an understandable move.
Glasgow will an interesting challenge for the Local project – with so much of the country’s media being based there, it gets as much coverage in the nationals as in local press. But after the success of the Edinburgh launch earlier this year, the pathway should be smooth for the new site, which STV confirmed last week – during a Gorkana event – would launch later this year.
I’m sure Iain will prove a big hit on Local, where he joins a suite of talented regional editors with Jonathan Rennie and Kris Gilmartin, plus some of the brightest young names in the country who have been working on the high profile, expensive project over the last 18 months as community editors.
Having trod that path before, I can only wish Iain the best of luck – and hope he’s treated better than I was during my short spell there. A talented hack with an eye for news, bags of editorial experience and a decent spell running DailyRecord.co.uk, he’s a very good appointment for Shaun Milne’s team.
Taking over the big chair for now at Central Quay, I understand, is David Bohill. I was lucky enough to have Dave as my deputy when I was digital editor there, and am delighted he’s getting a well-deserved crack at the editorship.
A veteran at Central Quay with a meticulous eye for detail – as I frequently found out to my embarrassment – who knows the website intimately and, being a Black Cats fan, used to a struggle, he’s the perfect man to shepherd the Record site through its next phase following Pope’s departure.
These remain interesting times for the Scottish digital news sector, with all three of the big jobs having changed hands this year following years of online stability in the Scottish digital news sector. 2012 will be a challenging one – but at least there’s good men at the helm in case of choppy waters ahead.
Five free tips for shooting video for Facebook…
Pic: Solo, with others - via Flickr
Actually, these tips apply to just about any medium, but let’s just say Facebook just now, for reasons that will undoubtedly become clear as we go along.
- Know why you’re doing a video in the first place – there’s few things more frustrating than folk thinking ‘let’s do a video’ for the sake of it. Have an aim – is it promotional? Is it a pitch? Is it something intended to be gimmicky or viral? If there’s a reason for the video, stick to that reason.
- Know what you want to say – this doesn’t necessarily mean script every second of it (though it can help), but certainly have bulletpoints of what you want to say, when and why. The best videos to watch for tips on this? Honestly? Old pro-wrestling promos. Those guys could go in front of a camera and in 60 seconds make sure the audience knew exactly who was fighting, where, when and most importantly why, and all without a script.
- Be engaging – the worst thing you can have is a video that makes people want to switch off after five seconds. Viewers make snap judgments about stuff – it’s the reason we channel hop, and the reason YouTube viewers click about the page on other links when bored. Even if the content’s flannel, make sure whoever you have in front of the lens is at least interesting.
- Get the basics right – by which I mean keep the camera fixed if possible (or make movements fluid if not), make sure it’s audible and you can see the subject in shot It doesn’t necessarily mean getting bogged down in Kubrick-esque numbers of takes, but as my pal, award-winning director Matt Bloom, points out here – viewers don’t care if your film cost £900 or £90m, they just expect it to look professional.
- Remember who’s watching – if it’s a video you’re shooting anyway, and Facebook is just one platform it’s going on, keep it relatively generic. If not, make sure the content’s relevant to Facebook as a platform. Player size means graphics or captions should bold, large and clean to avoid looking low-res or scratchy.
As a video it has a purpose – two, in fact: cooking tips and to promote the restaurant. Dave’s an engaging and knowledgable presenter. It’s not working from a script, but the recipe and stages of cooking mean it follows a logical progression. The basic production is reasonable and it’s designed to be seen on a variety of platforms, hence the bold clear graphics, which also reflect the company branding.
That should start you off, anyway.
So why am I telling you this? Because later this month I was supposed to be taking part in a day of Facebook ‘advice’ sessions organised by a social media training company. Indeed, despite them knowing for more than a week I was no longer taking part, they’ve continued to include me as a speaker on the website for the event.
The company would like to relieve you of 400 of your crisp Earth notes, in exchange for which a fun time will be had by all. Well, except for those who will actually be giving you the benefit of their advice, experience and knowledge in these sessions, who are expected to turn up and provide their services for little or no fee, and for the privilege of ‘getting their name known’.
An expectation that experts should want to pass their knowledge onto others is fine, but that another company should get rich off the back of their hard work. Not just trading off their time and reputation, but also their presentation and notes which said company expects to be handed over for them to disseminate and do with as they wish.
Now, I’m not stupid enough to expect to command the amount of cash that Googleboy and his ilk receive for gracing an event with their discredited presence, but I don’t think it’s unrealistic that – for my work in creating and presenting tips like those above – if the audience are expected to pay out four ton to be there, that I should be recompensed for my time and effort.
This isn’t a charity we’re talking about here – and if it were, that’d be different. If nobody’s financially benefiting, and it’s a sharing experience to benefit others, I’ve no problem participating. But this isn’t, and I do.
I’m a freelancer. “Getting my name known” might be a nice thing to wave at someone, but it doesn’t pay the bills. It doesn’t pay rent. It doesn’t pay for Christmas or travel expenses or the broadband used to research and produce a presentation.
Yet the supposedly open culture of the social sphere leads to this kind of situation. We exist in a world where we’re supposed to be grateful of the chance of experience and to build a reputation. You see it increasingly now in journalism – internships which don’t pay, but go on for months. Trainees and graduates forced out of the industry because the only jobs open to them are ones where they’re expected to pay for the privilege of being in the office.
I appreciate that times are tough, that industry faces an increasing number of cutbacks. But these cutbacks are continuing to unbalance the distribution of wealth and finance, and creating a climate where only the independently wealthy can afford to enter the media, or where only those with extant resources can afford to take unpaid gigs presenting in front of an audience who’ve collectively payed thousands to be present.
Hopefully I’ve just saved you a couple of quid. Welcome to the social path, exact change only.
Red Setters: Watching the debut of STV’s Scotland Tonight
ITV's makeover for Red or Black proved controversial...
So, what to make then of Scotland’s new current affairs show, launched with much hype by STV this evening?
Two big stories for them to open with – an exclusive interview with Donald Trump and a studio debate on whether Megrahi should be returned to Scotland by the newly liberated Libya.
And somewhat awkwardly sandwiched between them, a regional late evening bulletin for Glasgow and the west, Edinburgh and the east, or that most nebulous of concepts – the ‘north’.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was just how awkward and stilted host John Mackay – who will share presentational duties with former Sky correspondent Rona Dougall – was for the first show of the run.
Mackay – a normally engaging presence on the Six O’Clock news – seemed ill at ease as he fumbled his iPad and failed to draw from star interviewee Donald Trump any hint that the property mogul turned Apprentice star would pull his plans for a golf course from Scotland should plans for a wind farm go ahead.
Three or four times he tried to elicit a response, only to fall short as a diplomatic Trump talked around the issue, preferring to deal with the supposed negative impact the windfarm would have on Scotland’s beautiful landscape. They deftly avoided dwelling on any controversy surrounding the actual golf course itself, beyond an opening question asking if it was still on course – suggesting the interview was granted on particular terms.
Instead, the thorny row around Trump’s development of the course outside Aberdeen was left to the VT which preceded Mackay’s pre-taped chat via videoscreen with the US Sir Alan Sugar. David Marsland’s package was overlong and ponderous, but did at least offer a degree of context over the development of the course which was missing in the interview itself.
The second half of the show was given over to McBride v Grahame, round 274, as the QC and MSP – who, either by a trick of the camera angles or just being distracted at McBride’s shiny shoe swinging back and forth, seemingly never made eye contact with each other – went over the arguments around Megrahi once more, with less feeling.
It was nice to see Mackay interviewing ITN international corr Bill Neely from Tripoli, though. Moments like that, as originally envisaged with STV/ITN’s Scottish Six pilot for the IFNC, give the show a sense of punching above its regional telly weight, and Mackay seemed far more at home doing a two-way with the veteran journalist over the mood in Libya.
The Megrahi debate was given plenty of time to breathe, which makes a change in these days of rapid fire news. Possibly too long, in this instance, though since there was little being said we hadn’t heard from either – either separately or paired together elsewhere – before.
Before the debate, however, came the local news bulletin. These were supposed to be region-specific, although there were suggestions on Twitter that the STV HD channel one defaulted to the Glasgow and west bulletin. While this was, basically, the post 10 O’Clock News round-up one would normally expect to find in the slot, it felt strangely out of place.
I’m told the Aberdeen and north one had a good mix of regional news and sport – I’d expect nothing less from the former Grampian team up there, frankly – and can only presume the same of Edinburgh.
The west bulletin – my local one here in Glasgow – led on the murder of Stuart Walker. Buried in here was something that surely was far more worthy of a studio discussion or debate than yet another interminable back and forth on the merits of returning the dying Megrahi to Scotland.
For so long today the Walker story has touched on the suggestion that his killing was related to his sexuality – something Mike Edwards’ piece in the bulletin actually discounted – and a side debate on homophobia in Scotland, perceived or otherwise, would have been a far more challenging and original approach to a sensitive topic.
Perhaps that was my biggest complaint with Scotland Tonight. So much of it felt like it was just there. It wasn’t topical. It didn’t feel like it was setting any agenda for tomorrow’s papers, nor was it putting a cap on the big stories of the day. Libya’s been kicking about as a story for a few days now, and Megrahi even longer. The windfarm row in Aberdeen’s not new – and while launching with Donald Trump’s first interview on the matter is a definite feather in the cap, there wasn’t anything earthshattering or headline-worthy in the chat.
It’s early days for the show, of course, and with Tuesday’s show featuring an alternate host and an interview with First Minister Alex Salmond – and kudos to STV for keeping that as a day two, rather than an obvious day one gift – the second show could feel entirely different to day one.
But there’s still a lot for the team at Pacific Quay to work on. The frantic set which, with its red colouring and scattering of lights, looks decidedly festive in mid-October – though, that said, there seemed to be much love for the 60s Bond Villain’s Lair furniture on display. John Mackay’s clumsy use of the iPad, with its flappy cover and awkward ‘I’m controlling the images on screen, honest’ swipes. The end segment – supposedly highlighting five things happening tomorrow – feels decidedly local telly.
And while having the #scotnight hashtag, URL and Twitter address on screen throughout the show is a good start, more social interaction would be nice to see – if only to give the sense of a conversation or debate on the news being opened up beyond reading a token couple of messages off Facebook.
Meanwhile, next door at the BBC, Newsnicht Scotland was hosting the Scottish Tory leadership debate. The search for Scotland’s top late evening leading current affairs show has begun…
Back on the broadband Soapbox
The Radio Scotland button... Pic: Radiothings.com via Flickr
It might come as a shock to anyone who’s heard the Thumbcast to know I can go a full sentence behind a microphone without either swearing, making a bad pun or exploding – but listeners to Radio Scotland now have concrete evidence.
My less-than-dulcet tones could be heard on John Beattie’s lunchtime show on Monday, putting my case for free broadband for all in Scotland across the airwaves during the soapbox segment.
All done in two takes, too (it was originally only one, but they asked me to go again – you know what the BBC are like for repeats…)
The content of my appearance won’t be hugely surprising to anyone who has read my previous writing on the issue (such as here and here on the blog. Or at All Media Scotland. Or at Business 7…). But you can listen to the full show on iPlayer for the next few days, or my segment below:
Thanks to Nick, Julie and co for inviting me on.
Making the Case for tax blogger
Storm clouds gathering over Ibrox. Pic: Blog Gallery via Flickr
Back in March, when I started this incarnation of the blog, one of the first posts I wrote was about the deserved nomination of James Doleman, the writer behind the brilliant Sheridan Trial blog charting every day of the shamed MSP’s court battle.
Doleman was up for multimedia journalist of the year – ultimately missing out to my old Daily Record colleague Bev Lyons.
And while it’s only September, a new contender has emerged who deserves at the very least a similar level of accolade and a nomination at next year’s awards – particularly if the award is designed to recognise true journalistic use of the web and multimedia platforms, as opposed to just being an acknowledgement that papers have websites.
However, the site in question has about as much a chance of winning the award as I have again as it has shone an uncomfortable spotlight on two great Scottish institutions – the media, and Rangers Football Club.
The Rangers Tax Case blog is a fascinating one. Written by an unnamed Celtic supporter it has set out, in almost forensic detail and with remarkable balance, to chart the true story and implications of Rangers’ current financial predicament and new owner Craig Whyte’s battle with HMRC over unpaid taxes.
In doing so, it has exposed the degree of complicity between Scottish Football’s ugly sisters and the Fourth Estate, a situation which has led to the new Ibrox regime banning the Herald group of newspapers from interviews – including a briefing by Whyte this week that featured in every other title – for writing stories it deems inappropriate.
It’s no exaggeration to say that the Scottish news media is reliant on the Old Firm for driving sales, especially in the west of the country. The attendances and fanbases of Rangers and Celtic dwarf the rest of the leagues, and a good transfer tale or bad result from one or both of the titles can shift thousands of extra copies of the papers.
There exists a symbiosis between the clubs – and it is both clubs, no matter what a small paranoid aspect of both sets of supporters would proclaim – and the media. Without the Old Firm, coverage of Scottish football outwith the country would likely be on the same scale as the League of Ireland. With them, it has two economic powerhouses that draw in sponsor and TV revenue which sustains the rest of the game. For all many fans and chairman talk publicly of wishing the Old Firm could move to the Premiership, the sad truth is that the economic impact of losing them and their cash would outweigh any competitive benefits.
And so it is with the media. The sports pages of the nation’s tabloids are driven by Old Firm stories, and it’s rare you’ll see a back page that doesn’t feature one or both of them – particularly in this week, as we countdown to the first derby of the season. And that has led to a degree of ‘looking the other way’ at stories which might otherwise jeapordise sports hacks’ relationships with clubs, players and managers.
The clubs themselves are complicit in this – having seen the horse trading that goes on between sportsdesk and management myself, I can say comfortably that, despite the assertion of some, it’s not entirely centered on the south side of Glasgow.
To be fair, sports journalists aren’t, by and large, business hacks too. As such, a lot of the financial implications of deals, results and trading updates don’t necessarily get the scrutiny they deserve – not just with the Old Firm, but with every club. The financial collapses of Livingston, Gretna, Airdrie… even Partick Thistle a decade or so ago came almost as a surprise to the media, despite rumblings from supporters both home and away for weeks and months beforehand.
Which takes us back to the Tax Case blog. Certain journalists have accused it of being maliciously orchestrated and an attempt to undermine Whyte’s takeover. From reading it, it’s clear that is not the case – the author from day one has made clear both his Celtic support, to avoid any hidden agenda accusations, and his academic-style approach to exploring the evidence and news around Rangers’ dispute with HMRC. Most of the editorialising and club-based discussion is confined to the comments section, with the rest taking an analytical approach to discussing evidence or facts.
As with Doleman’s Sheridan Trial site, while publicly most hacks will either stay silent or mutter about bloggers stepping on their toes, I would suspect a quick check of the browser history of most Scots sports desks would reveal the Rangers Tax Case site is a regular visit for leads, fact-checking or follows.
And this is where multimedia journalism stakes its claim for recognition – in dogged, single-issue pursuit. It’s hard for newspapers and the mainstream media to focus in on just one story and dissect it forensically for months on end, whereas sites such as Rangers Tax Case, Sheridan Trial Blog and so forth can expend their time and energy on just the one subject.
When the Press Award nominations are announced next year, I wouldn’t be shocked to find Rangers Tax Case failing to make the list, largely because their presence would make for an uncomfortable night for many of the Scottish sportswriting community.
Yet rather than decrying meddlesome bloggers, there’s an argument that the nation’s hacks can learn a lot from the approach from such precision-guided approaches to reporting and analysis. And would there not be a delicious irony in a blog which has spent a year criticising the behaviour of the Fourth Estate being rewarded by said estate for its hard work?
