Blog posts by year and monthMay 2011
Posts (68)
Social media: the theatre critic argument
Rusbridger described the social media/online/collaborative world as an "open media" construct.
TV, politics, power and curry - with Guyana's media elite
John Mair concludes his reports about the media scene in his native Guyana: It was an exclusive gathering: the opening of a new Indian restaurant, the Maharaja Palace. The great and the good, and the Cabinet, were there. I was ushered behind the curtain to meet my newly decorated friend (w...
Event: Reporting the 'Arab Spring'
The BBC College of Journalism and Coventry University are to hold an international conference looking at the 2011 uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa. Journalists, editors and academics will debate the events and try to assess 'what next?' for the region. When: Wednesday 15 June...
#bbcsms: The theatre critic argument
It's now been a few days since the BBC Social Media Summit. As a social media trainer, I've been thinking about what tangible ideas and examples from it could be used in my courses. I think one which came from Alan Rusbridger, Editor in Chief of Guardian Newspapers, could help reluctant journa...
How I became a business newswire over the weekend
I am more than a little sympathetic to the critique of Web 2.0 trends in Jaron Lanier's mind-broadening book You Are Not a Gadget (2010). Lanier complains about the fragmentation of communication encouraged by today's social media. People post tiny nuggets of news and information - status ...
Community-based social media in Russia
At the BBC Social Media Summit, community web organiser William Perrin spoke about the impact of locally run social media in communities across Britain - including King's Cross in London, Sheffield, and the tiny village of Parwich in Derbyshire. He said the level of activity on these sites cou...
The secret world of cookies - and what the EU wants to do about it
The EU 'Cookie' Directive came into effect today, asking all EU governments to pass legislation to make users aware of how web browser cookies store and track data about them. In case you didn't know, cookies are little files that are constantly being sent to and from your computer to the se...
Facebook: live and offline
LSE Polis chair Charlie Beckett described last night's lecture by Facebook's Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg, as the second hottest ticket in town. Certainly the atmosphere in the room ahead of her arrival was worthy of the President himself. I wasn't sure what to expect from the 41-yea...
Forget the death of advertising. Try the advertising of death
Sometimes, here in Guyana, you have to pinch yourself and remember this is not Alice in Wonderland. Or is it? Take the economics and output of one station broadcasting here: CNS Channel Six. The figurehead is Chandra Narine Sharma, a five-foot-something former fridge repairer turned Poujadist...
Top ten numbers on social networking versus TV
Following my piece about the continuing strengths of mainstream media, here are my top ten facts about the growing success of social media and mobile and the continuing popularity of good old-fashioned TV - all drawn from recent Ofcom data: 1. Sixty-one per cent of 15- to 34-year-olds access s...
