Harvest Twestival

Posted on September 25, 2008 by Gary Andrews

I’ve long held that social media is a force for good and here’s a nice little illustration of this. Tonight sees the Harvest Twestival in a venue off Trafalgar Square.

But this goes beyond Twitter users simply getting to know each other – there’s a real conscience behind it.

All profits from the evening go towards The Connection at St Martin’s In The Field, which does sterling work with London’s homeless. Attendees have also been encouraged to bring along cans of food that will be donated to the soup kitchen.

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Blogging breaking news

Posted on September 24, 2008 by Gary Andrews

Who says blogs can’t break news? In an age where most footballer-penned blogs are full of bland commentary and meticulously on-message, Dean Windass’s post for his weekly ITV.com blog about considering his future at Hull if he didn’t get picked came as somewhat of a surprise. But it was also a great story, and one a journalism would usually have to work hard to get out of a player.

Unsurprisingly, it was the blogs who picked up on it first, before the local newspaper, the Daily Mail, the Vital Football Hull fan site and ESPN,all done with just a couple of emails alerting people to the story. AFter that, things snowballed.

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Sorry Marcel, I think you’re wrong

Posted on September 24, 2008 by Gary Andrews

Marcel Berlins is one columnist I usually enjoy reading and have a lot of time for his views – they’re normally well-balanced and provide food for thought.

But his column this week – on the dangers of the internet and blogs – is most unlike him. It, strangely, feels ill-informed and pandering to the worst case scenario.

The basic gist is that anybody can say anything on blogs and, as we often don’t know the writers behind them, this makes them dangerous.

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Just do it

Posted on September 24, 2008 by Gary Andrews

Excellent post from Adam Tinworth on digital journalism:

“This should be an exciting time for journalists. Our ability to get to news, record it and share it with the world is higher than it’s ever been. So why are there do few people like Karl? Why do so many journalists regard the whole business as something to be challenged, ignored or even soundly mocked?

I think – and I’ve heard many others echo the same thought back to me – that we have to stop talking about wether these tools are more useful to journalists, and start using them to prove that they are.

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The impetuousness of youth

Posted on September 23, 2008 by Gary Andrews

The Emirates has long been on my list of stadiums to visit. There’s somebody about it that just looks like plenty of thought and grace has gone into the design. And, you know me, if there’s any sort of football being kicked about, chances are I’ll watch it. Hence, my attendance at Arsenal Youth Team v Sheffield United in The Competition Formerly Known As The Milk Cup tonight.

There was no time to admire the architecture at Ashburton Grove – a mix up with food in the pub beforehand and a painfully slow Piccadilly Line meant we were running late for kick-off, and with our seats on the top tier, about twelve minutes had already elapsed by the time we parked our backsides on the padded seats.

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Gary Elsewhere: on Oxford United

Posted on September 23, 2008 by Gary Andrews

As the title suggest, this week’s Soccerlens column is on Oxford United, and their current financial predicament.

I feel sorry for Oxford’s fans. They’ve been passed from pillar to post ever since Robert Maxwell’s takeover, and are stuff suffering the effects of Firoz Kassam’s stewardship of the club. The current owners are definitely a vast improvement on Kassam – and certainly aren’t helped by the fact he still owns the stadium and charges rent for it – but there have probably been a couple of honest mistakes along the way.

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Ignore the bungalow extension at your peril

Posted on September 22, 2008 by Gary Andrews

Hyperlocal news is a real buzzword around journalism right now, especially in relation to the web. In a way, it’s exactly the kind of thing that should be a match made in heaven for local newspapers and the web. Sadly, it’s not always the case.

The Grey Cardigan blog at the Press Gazette bemoans the lack of space given over the the planning notices and Martin Stabe adds his two pence worth.

“Why aren’t local papers providing clever online services like this? It’s certainly a medium more appropriate to reporting planning applications than a weekly digest in 6pt type.

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No, I don’t read it either, but…

Posted on September 22, 2008 by Gary Andrews

From Ken Livinstone’s reader’s Q&A in the Independent:

What was your biggest mistake as Mayor?

All the big decisions we got right. Sadly I didn’t have the power to close the Evening Standard.

I think he’s joking. At least, I like to think he’s joking. I’m not entirely sure.

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