Knowing Your Audience

Journalism is all about publishing.
Publishing is all about knowing your audience.

Rate card is something all advertisers do to analyse newspapers to know where to put there adverts.

It will include answers to all kinds of vital questions;
How many people buy the newspaper?
Where do they live?
How much money do they earn?

Tesco is the company that is recognised to have the best rate card. it has the best database of who you are, what you buy and what you want. For instance, a person could go to Tesco and ask what do most 32 year old women want to buy in January and Tesco would have the answer. It is no coincidence that slimming items would be on sale just after Christmas when some women may have indulged a little too much in the Christmas pudding.

Although Tesco might have the leading rate card, Facebook have is absolutely gold dust - they know who you are, but they also know who are you trying to be. We often buy above our means - we want to portray ourselves as a little bit better than we are. Facebook can tap in to your aspirations. Google also knows about you - gmail, blogger, search engines - every search you've ever typed in, Google knows. It is important because it means people can sell crap to you, it knows exactly what you want.

Adverts define the audience of the publication - whether is a website, a television or a newspaper. I decided to grab a few newspapers and from the adverts, define who the audience is. Here's the results:

METRO - People looking for low-rate fixed mortgages and are on Tesco mobile. They've got Britain's best value TV box from TalkTalk and like to watch things like 2 Broke Girls and Grimm.

THE DAILY TORYGRAPH - Whoops, I mean Telegraph. These people like to wear their Rolex watches whilst flying to a Lloyds TSB to take out a business loan. They like to go to the theatre and watch musicals after giving about a fiver to charity through Vodafone to make them feel better about themselves after just paying for a skiing holiday in the Alps.

I - People with leather sofas from Harvey's that fancy having a weekend away to Holland for the low price of £22. They quite into technology and would happily spend £269.95 on headphones. A high chance they're into photography and quite possibly have a young child or children. They're looking for low-rate mortgages and a nice Picaso so their kids have room in the back.

DAILY MAIL - The audience is a mix between the people of i and the people of the Telegraph. It appears they're always looking for bargains, whether it's half price furniture or the price cut items from ASDA and Morrisons. They'll more than likely be wearing nice glasses and be wearing a nice suit after they've scrubbed up from painting their house.

None of the above is to be taken to literally, statistically, you're as likely to see a doctor with The Sun as you are to see him with the Telegraph.

Burberry Acoustic

Burberry Acoustic is a collaboration between the designer label and British artists, selected by Burberry's Chief Creative Officer, Christopher Bailey. Bailey has been with the company since 2001 and was promoted to CCO in 2009, yet has already been crediting for transforming the company's fortunes.

When people think of Burberry, let's be honest, the first thing most people think of is chavs. Keds. Townies. Whatever you want to call the. Tacky caps and cheap handbags.

Burberry Acoustic is an attempt to turn this image around.

Here's a little taste.

Surprising, isn't it?

"We have collaborated on so many projects with new and young emerging British bands over the years," Bailey says.

"We felt that with the great interaction that we have experienced with our social media Web site, artofthetrench.com, that we could collaborate with musicians and artists to put together an incredible group of ongoing acoustic sessions from some of the finest talent coming out of the UK and bring them to the broad global Burberry audience."

Burberry Acoustic have introduced relatively unknown and new stars such as Misty Miller, above, and Wolf Gang, below.

They have also worked with more famous bands such as Keane, below.

It is clear Burberry is trying to shake off this lower-class, cheap reputation and swap it for a more desirable, upper-class, 'Jack Wills-esque' label. Whether they will accomplish this or not, there are going to be some pretty songs along the way.

Interview content taken from main.stylelist.com

Why Aren't All Film Soundtracks This Amazing?

Films can be made so much better by an amazing soundtrack and often promote a song like it couldn't be promoted in any other way.

Five songs I've fallen in love with from films are as followed, in no particular order:

Anthony Hamilton - Do You Feel Me?

Taken from American Gangster, 2007

As soon as I heard this, literally, still during the film, I googled it and downloaded it. It's smooth, slow and funky. All you need to do is close your eyes and you can pretend you're in a blues soul club in the late 60s in America. Just. So. Good.

The Smiths - Asleep

Taken from The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, 2012

I'm gonna throw this out there, The Smiths are just simply brilliant. This song is incredibly depressing, as it is about suicide, but it fits in with the film so perfectly. It's something you can play on repeat for at least three times before you have to turn it off before you start crying. It's just so beautiful.

Stealers Wheel - Stuck In The Middle With You

Taken from Reservoir Dogs, 1992

For those of you that haven't seen Reservoir Dogs, you're tossers. Just kidding, you do need to see it though. Anyway, I digress, if you haven't seen Reservoir Dogs, this song is played whilst a crazy bastard named Mr Blonde is about to torture a hostage police officer. Grim, I know, yet the song adds such an unusual feeling to the scene and you don't really know how to feel. The song definitely sticks in your head after the film and for some odd reason... makes you wanna boogie?

Quindon Tarver - Everybody's Free

Taken from Romeo & Juliet, 1996

I first heard this song when I watched the film in an English class at school when I was 14. It plays when Romeo and Juliet are getting married and it just touches your heart when that little boy raises his head and starts singing in such an angelic voice... you know everything is going to be okay. Well, you think it is. It's not. They both die. But still...

The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter

Taken from The Departed, 2006

The Stones, just so legendary. Just seriously, what a band. Who doesn't love them? The song is played at the start of the film when ultimate boss, Jack Nicholson, walks on set and does his thing. It sets the tone for the film and you just know it's going to be an amazing film. You just can't not love this song. There is just no way.

A Day With Michael Palmer

With thanks to Michael Palmer, Robert Palmer and HIDEOUT.

Words and photographs, Bronte Dawson.

Social Action and Community Media

Social action media uses media as a creative tool to increase public knowledge and awareness and sets out to analyse current social issues and problems and bring to public attention. Essentially, it encourages people to action in response to what they have seen on heard. Community media provides a vital alternative to the profit-oriented agenda of corporate media. They are driven by social objectives rather than the private, profit motive. They empower people rather than treat them as passive consumers, and they nurture local knowledge rather than replace it with standard solutions. Ownership and control of community media is rooted in, and responsible to, the communities they serve and they are committed to human rights, social justice, the environment and sustainable approaches to development. Social action and community media is key to creating a strong, socially responsible civil society.

A great example of social action and community media on a global scale is the 15 minutes of social action broadcast journalism of Michael Buerk on the BBC 9pm news in 1984. The shocking images, such as people being touched on the head if they were to receive the much needed food and those rejected, looking to an inevitable and fast approaching death, watching those that have been chosen to receive food and shelter, combined with his evocative language, the broadcast showed the tragedy of biblical proportion.  This sparked a massive movement in charitable actions across the world, the nation’s opinion changed entirely and everybody came together as a community to help stop the poverty in Ethiopia. Straight after it was broadcast donations were flooding into existing charities and had an impact on a certain person, who would start something to change the world; this was Bob Geldof.

 He is the man behind Live Aid, which got so much food and necessities over to Ethiopia. It all started off with Geldof contacted some of the best known names in music such as George Michael, Bono and Bananarama to create a charity single where all the profits would go to helping the people of Ethiopia. This was the first record ever made that was free from any tax due to Bob Geldof publically standing up to Margaret Thatcher making all the headlines, even a studio was offered to them at no charge for 24 hours to create the record. The single went straight to No.1 in the charts and outsold every other song in the chart combined. It became the fasted selling track in the UK of all time, selling well over a million copies in the first week of its release. After the charity record was released, Geldof decided to set up Live Aid, organising concerts across the world. With the profits of Band Aid and Live Aid combined, approximately 283 million pounds was raised for the Ethiopian famine.

The impact was huge, following the release of the first Band Aid single in 1984, numerous records have been produced to support charitable causes, even another Band Aid single in 2004, all with a direct correlation to Bob Geldof. Together with the actions of Michael Buerk and Bob Geldof, the nation felt like a global community and united in a cause that was deep in everyone’s hearts.

An example of social action and community media on a smaller scale is an article written by Lord William Rees-Mogg in The Times in 1967, titled ‘Who Breaks a Butterfly on a Wheel’. The article was about the popular and controversial band of the time, The Rolling Stones. This was following the severe sentences they received after a minor drug bust at one of the band member’s homes. The Rolling Stones weren’t regarded as acceptable by established Britain due to their sexualised, animalistic music and it was clear the sentences were just to put the Stones away and get them out of the public’s eye rather than due to their actual crimes. With The Times being the ultimate establishment newspaper of Britain, when the article was produced, the nation read it and it changed their perception towards this one group of men. The article brought to the public’s attention that something as small and insignificant as the crime committed receiving such a heavy handed punishment is not acceptable. Shortly after the article was written, the sentences came to appeal and were reduced.

Although the most well-known examples of social action and community media are on a national or global scale, it also takes place in the local media regularly. An example from the past months in local media is the SWORD campaign, Save Weddington: Oppose the Residential Development.  The local newspapers have been backing the campaign and with the efforts of everyone combined managed to get the developmental plans to be refused for now. Not only did SWORD approach the local newspapers to represent them, but they also set up their own media to get the public involved. In SWORD’s statement, it is written “In a democracy it is the people of Nuneaton and Bedworth who should determine our future.” The battle against Hallams the developers is ongoing but with the continued efforts and support of the local press, the developers will have difficulty getting the plans to build on Weddington’s green land approved.

Not only can social action and community media evoke the public’s emotions in order for them to act out but it can also change the public’s perception on a certain issue. This has become quite apparent with the recent outrage of journalists hacking crime victims and celebrities’ voicemails, with the public becoming very aware of the liberties the mainstream press are taking with their civil rights and, quite rightly, uniting in their opposition to the invasions of privacy the press has been involved in.

The Guardian was the first newspaper to report that police had found evidence suggesting that the private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, was hired by News of the World to collect personal information about the family of the missing schoolgirl Milly Dowler, following her disappearance in March 2002, and the subsequent discovery of her murdered body six months later. This caused a public outcry and eventually there were more and more cases of phone hacking reported which lead to the shutdown of News of the World and bought more shame to the already despised name of Rupert Murdoch.

Arguably, propaganda has been around since the start of the printing press. From the Boxer Rebellion in China in the 1900s, to wanted posters in America in the late 1700s to Nazi propaganda in the 1940s, social action and community media is all over the world. Nazi propaganda is probably the most powerful social action media there has ever been. Through provocative posters, videos and speeches, the Nazis managed to get an entire nation to discriminate against Jews, blacks, gypsies and many other stereotypes of people, causing the death and torture of millions.

Social action and community media’s power and importance amongst society in modern day society is unfathomable. The impact it can have on society can change lives, whether on a local, national, or global scale or even completely change the public’s perception on a matter.

Defamation

"To be a journalist is to publish - that's what we do."

In publishing you have to aware of so many different laws & today I am going to write about one of three most important laws for a journalist to know inside and out - defamation.

Defamation is a false accusation of an offense or a malicious misrepresentation of someone's words or actions. Everyone has the right to their reputation, defamatory statements could take this from them.

Under the catergory of defmation is slander and libel; slander being defaming someone in a non-permanent form such as a spoken statement which isn't recorded, libel being defaming someone in a permanent form such as broadcasting a statement on a radio station, television or in a newspaper.

Libel requires:

• The statement is defamatory
• It has been 'published' to a third party i.e. a letter or comment on the internet
• That particular identified person has been defamed 

A defamatory statement is anything that causes any of the following:

• Exposes them to hatred, ridicule or contempt
• Causes them to be shunned or avoided
• Discredits them in their trade, business or profession
• Generally lowers them in the eyes of the right-thinking public 

If you get sued for libel. it has to the potential to destroy you and whoever you work for. You have the potential to kill that publication stone dead so it is vital you check everything you write or publish is 100% accurate.

If you libel someone, even if they're dead, you've broken the law - but hopefully you have a very good defence. Remember, being a student is not a defence. A student could say they have no money but the university would have to pay the fine on their behalf.

There are three main defences:

• Justification - the statement is not only believed to be true but is 100% fact. It may be necessary to have witnesses willing to stand in court.
• Fair comment - it's simply comment and not fact, however, it was honestly held with no malice. The Freedom of Speech Act gives journalists a lot of scope to say hurtful or controversial things as long as it is made clear that it is only COMMENT and not FACT. For example, "Thomas Jones is ugly" is presented as fact, even if it is opinion - "I think Thomas Jones is ugly" is comment as 'I think' is in it.
• Absolute privilege and qualified privilege - it's fair, accurate and contemporaneous. In certain cases, public interest demands that there should be complete freedom of speech without any risk of proceedings for defamation, even when statements are defamatory and turn out to be untrue. Absolute privilege is the complete answer and bar to any action of defamation. It doesn't matter whether the statement is true, untrue, malicious or not.

Freelance Travel Journalism; The Essential Guide

Imagine it now.

The constant stress of having to perform to your highest standard or risk going unnoticed or losing work, always worrying about where your next paycheque is coming from, having to chase up unpaid invoices, always working for new people in different environments, having no consistency and moving from place to place constantly. Every day would be a challenge.

Yet if the above issues stressed do not deter you, then deciding to work as a freelance travel journalist could be one of the best and most rewarding decisions of your life.

Getting Started

Before leaving the UK, it is wise to save up a considerable amount of money to fall back on whilst you’re in another country - plan for the worst but hope for the best.

As you start out, it is best to have a part-time job in the country you’re staying as security in case you can’t find work.  It is better to be prepared and work in a job you hate whilst you try to make it in the industry - sacrifices have to be made but if you stick at it, success is more likely.

Try and gain as much experience in the industry as possible, this is something editors will look for when employing a freelancer. Try and shadow a couple of journalists, get experience at your local newspaper, radio station or at television studios.

Another important thing is to ALWAYS write and ALWAYS read the news. Keep up to date with what's going on and do whatever you can to get your articles published. The more published the better.

As in most industries, it very much so about who you know. Before you leave, gain the vital contacts that will get you work abroad. Set up meetings in London with foreign editors and get your name known, remember - no contact is a bad contact.

Making A Living

When working in freelance, you will usually be self employed. It can also be on a fixed contract basis ranging from anything to a day or a year. This often increases your popularity with employers as freelancers have a greater flexibility and are responsible for their own tax, National Insurance and pension contributions.

There are hundreds of publications in the UK which would be interested in foreign news and features. On average, for a news story expect to get paid around £90-£160 for 700-1,000 words. However, features pay considerably more. Of the UK newspapers, The Independent and The Guardian are the most interested in foreign features.

Publications Interested In Travel News & Features

World  Politics Watch – interested in foreign policy and international affairs. 

Noticias Aliadas/Latin American Press – interested in social and development news from across Latin America. 

New Internationalist Magazine – interested in development and human rights issues. Slate - interested in foreign news.

Times Higher Education Supplement – interested in news of higher education in countries across the world.

The Guardian - interested in foreign features and news.

Most newspapers and magazines cover some form of foreign news, whether it be features or straight news. Research different publications and find out who you want to write for.

Pitching An Idea

You must remember that you can’t copyright an idea so when you’re pitching an idea to an editor, show them you’re the person most fitted to write the article.

Firstly, decide which publication you wish to sell your article to. Contact them and ask if you need to send the article up front, or send in a précis. You can sell the same idea to multiple publications but not the exact same article. 

Ensure copyright issues are discussed, the publisher can either buy the full rights of the article therefore allowing it to be published anywhere without having to pay the author again or partial rights can be sold where any reprint, other publication printing or in an international publication, the writer is due another payment.

Take great care and time writing pitches and make sure that you have already figured out the piece in your head. Do not expect an editor to sort out your muddy thoughts for you. 

  

So Why Is It The Best Job?

Freelance journalism has it downfalls as most jobs do, but the benefits may surpass any negative it may have.

You can be your on boss, you can write about what you want to write about, you have the freedom to travel around the world with hardly any commitments and nothing can hold you back.

If you have the drive and the passion, you can be a freelance travel journalist and it could be the best decision of your life.