FT Readers to Write Leaders. Sort of

April 29, 2009

In times in crisis, there are innovations which help your business to survive, and there are daft ideas which simply create more work for everyone. In which category is the FT’s plan to involve readers in the creation of its Monday leader column?

Here’s the deal. The FT’s new Arena blog is billed as recreating “a virtual editorial conference” by allowing readers to take part in debates which shape next Monday’s leaders. If the venture is successful, it’ll become a regular thing. It all seems rather bold, and if you check out this post from the Press Gazette, you’ll see that the headline writer was sufficiently moved to suggest that the FT was actively asking readers to write the leader column.

Needless to say, this isn’t what is happening. Even the FT’s readers, astute and intelligent as they are, might struggle over the peculiar craft of writing leaders, a skill best left to those who know exactly what they’re doing.

What, then, is the FT up to? Well, a closer look reveals that it’s engaging in a good old fashioned bit of Web 2.0 engagement with its audience, via the simple mechanism of a dedicated blog. Citizen journalism hasn’t taken over Fleet Street just yet. Praise be to those at the FT willing to put in the extra hours entailed by the Arena blog.

 

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Supreme Court on Twitter

February 6, 2012

Something remarkable happened today. Yes, the Supreme Court launched its Twitter feed. It even has a Twitter policy, one of caveats, disclaimers and little by way of illumination but regardless: who would have thought that the successor body to the House of Lords would stoop to engage with the world of tweets, hashtags and retweets?

We look forward to the day when court business will be conducted via Twitter. Meantime, check out this link for an excellent blog on the Supreme Court.

Not so right said Fred

February 2, 2012
fred hat

So Farewell, then, Sir Fred Goodwin.

Now you are just Fred.

Not Right Said Fred, but plain Fred.

The Forfeiture Committee did for you.

No one had heard of it before,

But Dave said it had to act, and it did.

Trouble is that no one knows what to think.

Is it ‘Alas, poor Fred‘,

Or ‘Hurray! Sir Fred is dead!’?

We don’t know.

Do you?

By A. Mob, aged 1,378 and a half.

London Goes AWOL

January 31, 2012
CNN

STOP PRESS:

Fed up with being stuck on the Thames in south-east England, London yesterday decided to move. In a dramatic gesture which augurs ill for the Olympics, the city upped sticks and relocated to East Anglia.

Lawyers were not consulted about the move, and the city’s precise motivation remains unclear. However, financiers fear that London’s decision is a sign that it wishes to downsize. Moreover, a source from London said: “We no longer want to be Britain’s seat of power. If the Scots can deregulate, why can’t we? East Anglia is a nice place where nothing happens. It’s time for a quiet life. Please respect our right to privacy.”

Elsewhere, Birmingham did not do anything, but Manchester was seen to be packing its bags. “There’s an opportunity for us,” said Manchester. “We can become London.”

East Anglia said: “We don’t mind. It’ll be refreshing to be associated with something other than fens and flatness.”

A cartologist at CNN, which broke the extraordinary news, was later fired.