Journalism has got harder. Journalists have to contact more people, more often, using email, phone and sometimes social media, such as Twitter or LinkedIn, just to get an answer. And this is all for the same money, or often less.
More PRs are barriers to information rather than enablers. It takes longer and more effort to get fewer, less interesting answers. And then you get hassled for writing the truth. Continue reading
Spamarrest – a bunch of fraudsters and thieves – have been taking money from me after I signed up for a free trial. They hid how to cancel. It’s a scam. Be warned. I have contacted the police and my bank.
The cheating liars at Spamarrest cleverly make the cancel option not visible on any normally accessed webpage. They have now sent a link to a page where the cancel option is available. But it is hidden on all normal web pages. And the company fails to respond to normal communication. Continue reading
I lost my job the day my son, Joe, was born, so my work-life balance as a freelance journalist has been tied to my children growing up. I’ve given them breakfasts, packed them lunches and cooked them dinners. I’ve got them to school and gone on trips. Continue reading
I finally got the figures I needed – though I had to find some via a link on Local Government Chronicle’s website to the Communities department’s site (new window) that the PR had not found.
Interesting that the chief PR seems to think the response “but will be Monday before I can come back to you” would be OK for a website that runs seven days a week.
When he gets back in on Monday he’ll find several more emails from me and that I have found the missing figure on his own website.
This morning a power cut brought down the servers, preventing me from posting my early morning news to the content management system (CMS) of the websites for which I write.
But that is nothing compared with the technical no-no yesterday.
A woman sent an explicit and personal email meant for her boyfriend to me by mistake. Continue reading
