Scribus: A serious open-source alternative to Quark and InDesign for newsrooms?
Posted: February 26, 2012 Filed under: Blog | Tags: Audacity, Gimp, InDesign, Open Source, Quark, Scribus 2 Comments »
Scribus is an open source page layout programme that “brings professional page layout to Mac, Linux and Windows desktops with a combination of press-ready output and new approaches to page design.”
So is it a real alternative to the astronomically-priced InDesign and Quark? It’s a big ask. But Scribus, updated to version 1.4 just a few weeks ago and sporting a choice of clean-looking UIs, does has real strengths and potential, plus a few niggling shortfalls.
I’ve been trying out Scribus as a potential training tool for overseas journalism workshops – something with a faster learning curve than InDesign (and useful life beyond the 30-day trial), stable performance on Macs and PCs and professional output options. The Audacity of page layout, perhaps? Read the rest of this entry »
Iran trains female ninja assassins … maybe. But don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story
Posted: February 20, 2012 Filed under: Blog | Tags: Mail Online, Press TV, The Atlantic, The Telegraph Leave a comment »
[Story update April 5, 2012]
‘Iran trains female ninjas as potential assassins’. Catchy headline, you must admit, especially on a website as reputable as Telegraph.co.uk. The accompanying video shows a roomful of black-suited women doing summersaults over swords and performing impressive splits. See for yourself.
I watched the video. I read the five-paragraph story (two of which are taken up with Iran’s potential to spark a new Cold War over its development of nuclear weapons). And I wondered why on earth The Telegraph had run this bizarre story with more holes in it than a string vest. Read the rest of this entry »
Five hotel booking apps for travellers … and why you shouldn’t leave home without one
Posted: February 20, 2012 Filed under: Blog | Tags: Heathrow, Hotels.com, Premier Inn Leave a comment »
I know, I know. As someone who travels a fair bit I should know better.
But after one has been travelling all day by foot, car, plane, train, bus and tube (then forgotten one’s son’s London house number and he’s not answering his phone), sometimes one is not at one’s solution-focused best. So there I am at St Pancras, too late to get home to the Midlands and looking for a modest bug-free couchette to rest my bones for a few hours.
Aha … I recall there’s a Premier Inn round the corner from King’s Cross (you know, the chain that advertises: ‘Rooms from just £29 a night at over 600 great UK locations.’) How much? £105 for bed only. Crikey. I cringe … and pay. Read the rest of this entry »
A back page for every story. How a Swiss news start-up turns open journalism around
Posted: February 9, 2012 Filed under: Blog | Tags: Sourcefabric, TagesWoche Leave a comment »
TagesWoche ... daily online, weekly in print. Picture: TagesWoche
There are several good reasons to pay close attention to TagesWoche, a new daily online news site and weekly newspaper launched in Basel last autumn.
It was launched by a group of journalists after the city’s liberal Basler Zeitung ran into financial problems and was sold to investors said to be, well, less liberal. Many of TagesWoche’s 30 or so launch journalists had worked on the Basler Zeitung, and their mission was to create an open-source newsroom, with transparency at its heart. Read the rest of this entry »
After 42 years … it’s finally time to put The Sun’s Page 3 out of its misery
Posted: February 8, 2012 Filed under: Blog | Tags: The Sun Leave a comment »
The Sun newspaper has been publishing pictures of topless girls on Page 3 since 1970.
In the words of editor Dominic Mohan at the Leveson Inquiry, Page 3 has become an “innocuous British institution.” Really? To me it has never been anything else than pornography. Mild, maybe, but still porn. Perhaps I’m missing something, but isn’t that the only reason it has ever had any appeal whatsoever?
But there’s something almost as questionable as Mohan claiming that Page 3 “celebrates natural beauty”, and that’s the campaign to ban it. Read the rest of this entry »
What’s the best WordPress news theme? A list from so-so to tip top
Posted: February 2, 2012 Filed under: Blog | Tags: Argo Project, Deluxe, Gabfire, PressJunkie, Solostream, Wordpress, WPZoom Leave a comment »
The mission: To find a WordPress theme for a busy newsroom producing a mix of breaking news, topic packages, liveblogs and multimedia. Commenting and sharing has to simple and strong. There will be plenty of action above the fold.
The ideal theme has custom page layouts and post types; admin options such as colours and fonts; maybe shortcodes; inclusion of secondary content (author info, related posts, ads) within posts; custom widgets and sidebars; good display options for galleries, video, featured posts, RSS, author profiles, comments, related posts, archives, social sharing, advertisements and forms; strong navigation; localisation support. In addition, the design team is passionate about keeping themes updated and providing good support.
A tall order and, yes, these features can be handled by plugins and CSS tweaking. But just how joined-up can the thinking can get? Read the rest of this entry »
Where to go for a free course in Google Analytics
Posted: January 31, 2012 Filed under: Blog | Tags: Google Analytics Leave a comment »
There are hundreds of Google Analytics tips and tutorials online. But if you are looking for a comprehensive, step-by-step guide, that takes account of new developments and even prepares you for an Google Analytics Individual Qualification (IQ), then a great place to start is … Google. Read the rest of this entry »
SpeakPipe adds voicemail to your site (and it’s free for now)
Posted: January 30, 2012 Filed under: Blog | Tags: Google Voice, SpeakPipe Leave a comment »News organisations are (or should be) always looking for more ways to connect with their communities. So the invitation to leave a voice message via your website feels like an opportunity waiting to happen. Think radio show requests, audio comments or instant vox pops. Read the rest of this entry »
I train journalists, media professionals and NGOs in countries in transition. In UK, I help non-profit organisations make an even bigger difference.
