Some cracking mistakes made in newspapers this year.
Do socialists ride buses?
It’s always the poshest people who become the most vehement Marxists. Think of Anthony Wedgewood Benn – Tony to his friends; think of Kitten off Big Brother 5, who despite claiming an impoverished background and a life of enforced prostitution, turned out to have had quite a nice Berkshire upbringing and a stint in boarding school; then, of course, there’s Timandra Harkness, whom I’ve already mentioned once today.
Fair dos and more power to them.
However, there is a certain irony and Islington-ness about it all that makes my blood boil. It just feels oh so patronising.
Take this Spiked article, all about how the demise of the Routemaster bus is an indication of the new nanny state we’re all living in and the death of democracy. Now, I don’t think anyone’s going to argue too much that either of those is an incorrect summation of modern life in the UK. But choosing the Routemaster bus as a symbol of it all? What’s up there?
When was the last time you were on a Routemaster? I’m guessing, if you’re a writer or editor for Spiked, approximately ten to 15 years ago. Here’s why I’ve come to this conclusion:
Plagiarism or not: you decide
I’m a big fan of Ben Goldacre’s Bad Science column in The Guardian. I’ve also started reading Spiked, the magazine formerly known as Living Marxism but still not known for good writing.
Today, I had a sense of déjà vu come over me. An article debunking a recent study into homeopathy just appeared on Spiked. Yet, looky here. What’s this over in Bad Science? It’s an article debunking homeopathy that appeared a few weeks ago, that used more or less exactly the same arguments and ammunition.
They’re not exactly identical so it’s quite possible that two people independently came to the same conclusion. Yet Bad Science has become almost compulsory reading for science journalists and science readers, so it seems odd to me that Spiked’s author wouldn’t have read the piece.
Just as an aside, is Timandra really a name? Either poshest parents ever or pseudonym of the year…
UPDATE: Judging by her web site, I’m going for poshest parents ever.
Spiked!
If you haven’t heard that Living Marxism (I know, I know…) has transformed itself into Spiked, now’s a good time to have a gander. There’s very little hint of Marxism and there’s some good writing there. In common with New Statesman, there’s also some appalling writing there, but that can’t be helped. As an example, there’s a vaguely interesting but badly written article on mental illness in children there.
Christopher Hitchens sites
If you happen to like Christopher Hitchens, here are some excellent sites:
- Outside the Whale: Understanding Christopher Hitchens, which pretty much sums up my thoughts on the reasons for Hitchens’ defence of the Iraq war
- Hitchens web, which lists all of Hitch’s recent writings and appearances
- When Christopher met Peter, a transcript of the last time Hitch met his weirdo Mail-columnist brother Peter, following a four year silence over a joke about Stalin
They’re all worth having a read of and I urge you in their direction immediately.
Wow. The worst story ever written
Perk up journalists everywhere. No longer do you have to worry that your next article is going to suck: the bar has just been lowered.
The worst story ever written has seen the light of day.
It’s over here on the Christian Examiner. Bookmark it now. In the future, whenever you face self-doubt, just return to that story and feel all your worries fall away. Whatever you’re writing will never be as bad.
Why has what doubled?
Just spotted this headline on the BBC:
What exactly has doubled here? Are you thinking what I’m thinking?
That’s right: I’m thinking they really do need some good subs at the Beeb.
Need an article template?
Working on an article for the IT trade press, but stuck for an article plan? Look no farther, for I have one here. Use it sparingly or else people will begin to notice.
Editors: support your journalists
I’ve worked for lots of editors and lots of publishers. Some were supportive; some were… not. Here’s a nice piece at MediaBistro on how to strike the right balance.
The inalienable right of journalists to freebies
So Apple are coming to take the G5 back. I’m gutted. After life with an 800MHz G4 iMac, a Quad G5 was something else altogether. I’m going to be holding a small memorial service on Sunday, if that’s all right.
The impending repossession has set me thinking though. Why is that hardware vendors expect their hardware back after you’ve reviewed it, when software vendors don’t?
Continue reading “The inalienable right of journalists to freebies”