Fergus Cassidy

Cian writes about a story which ran in last Sunday's Sunday Business Post on the controversy surrounding the Trocaire gender equality advertisement and notes that there are two quotes from blogs in the article. Unattributed quotes, save that one is mentioned as a blogger and the other as a "shocked blogger".

I'd be shocked if the blog authors had asked the SBP not to be named, as it took Google twenty seconds to identify the sources of the quotes.

If there's any sin of omission in this case it's a general one, applicable to online editions of Irish national newspapers. The smart thing for the SBP would have been to link to the blogs it quoted from. But noooooooooo.

But then online Irish newspapers don't do smart when it comes to the web and links,  which are its lifeblood. Maybe the odd 'more info' address appears at the end of the article, but even that is as rare as an anti-poverty ad which isn't political.

Online editions don't even link to previous stories the paper has run on a subject. Or use the opportunity to easily explain things like EBITDA or spin bowling. Or cite sources like polls, estimates or CSO reports etc etc etc.

The search for the missing link continues.

EDITORIAL staff at the Guardian newspaper attended meetings last week at which editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger, declared that all journalists at the paper now "work for the digital platform" and they should regard “its demands as preeminent".

Jeff Jarvis has written about the meeting ("I happened to be consulting at the paper yesterday and I went along for the ride. Rusbridger gave me permission to blog the company event".)

Jarvis also posted (via Juan Antonio Giner) the Guardian's new 'Draft Principles of 24/7 Working':

• The Guardian is increasingly becoming a global news provider with an international audience and reputation.
• Web users expect to read about news as it happens.
• If we don’t update our site continuously readers will go elsewhere.
• Our website is crucial to our digital strategy and to the future of the Guardian & Observer.
• The international purpose and reach of the Guardian & Observer cannot be achieved by current publication schedules.
• The Guardian and Observers’ journalism must be accurate, reliable and trusted.
• In any circumstances where speed might compromise trust we should place a greater emphasis on trust.
• We still place an extremely high value on depth, complexity and journalism which cannot be rushed.
• We recognise that much of our best journalism takes time, patience and diligent research.
• 24/7 means we will publish material around the clock across seven days, rather than (as at present) for 16 hours a day across five days
• It means publishing more of our news according to the demands of the web rather than the rhythms and expectations of a newspaper
• Generally, news material which has been written, subbed and legalled may be posted on the web as it becomes available
• Exceptions can be made for any stories which the relevant editor wishes to hold back for the print edition
• We will continue to use news wires for breaking news but will seek to use our full editorial resources to add “Guardian/Observer” value as soon as possible.
• This means adding context, analysis and opinion – and, sometimes, colour.
• The above mainly applies in the areas of news (home, foreign, city, sport).
• It also applies to commentary and, for instance, arts criticism.
• There will be areas of non-news coverage that we wish to extend and explore over seven days.
• Our production processes must reflect the needs of the web (e.g. the use of web-friendly headlines as well as newspaper headlines, links, tagging, key wording and so on.)
• All journalists across Guardian, GU and Observer will be expected to work according to the above principles.

Alan Rusbridger
Editor, The Guardian

Choreography is a skillful art. At its best providing seamless flow, the joins melding into a seamless whole.

Well in the case of a new dance routine about to hit the Irish telecom's stage, it has been a failure. The new production is called NGN: Next Generation Networks and it's hard not to see the choreography at work.

This new production took its first step on February 25 when Eircom announced is was going "to spend €60 million over the next three years upgrading its core telecommunications network".

The minister for communications then showed us his moves last Thursday at a ComReg forum on, of all things, NGN: "We have many 'bandwidth hungry' consumers out there and we cannot afford to delay the development of a fully competitive market in Next Generation Networks".

The next day, out stepped ComReg commissioner in an Irish Times editorial slot. "The Irish telecommunications industry is at a crossroads. The networks and business models that have underpinned the industry for decades are about to undergo radical change", wrote John Doherty.

This is the same crossroads Ireland has been at since Telcom Eireann was sold to the private sector. Nothing has changed since then and the choreography surrounding Next Generation Networks reinforces that.

Eircom makes a move and the government and ComReg jump. It will remain so until that choreography is reversed.

With a full moon appearing later tonight, anything can happen at the Irish Blog Awards taking place in Dublin. But the omens don't end there.

At 8.18pm, just as the ceremonies get underway, the earth will move between the sun and the moon to begin a lunar eclipse.

By 10.44pm, the earth will cast its full shadow on the moon, which will hopefully appear copper-red in colour. Totality will end at 11.58pm.

Astronomy Ireland members will be setting up telescopes at eclipse watches in Cork, Dublin, Dundalk, Letterkenny and Clare starting at 9.30pm. See site for further details.

The events are going ahead regardless of the weather, but Met Eireann is forecasting a dry evening with clear spells and strengthening winds later. That might keep the clouds away.

So if you come across people howling and barking in or around the Alexander Hotel tonight, you'll know the score.

Post title is in honour of a great band called The Atrix and the snippet below is taken from their debut single, released in 1979. 

 

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