Blurred Keys

The Belfast Telegraph went totally from broadsheet to tabloid size last week.

Roy Greenslade talks about it here and there's a promo video on the newspaper's website, with staff and readers talking about the move here.

Two scholarships open to prospective journalism students are nearing the deadlines for this year. From DCU.ie:

DCU are inviting applications for two journalism and marketing scholarships.

The Veronica Guerin Memorial Scholarship is awarded in memory of
investigative journalist Veronica Guerin. The deadline for applications
is 12pm, Monday, 7 April 2009. View attached pdf for further information.

The John Thompson Marketing and Media Scholarship is awarded in
memory of John Thompson, former Chief Executive of Associated
Newspapers Ireland (Daily Irish Mail and Mail on Sunday) and Managing
Director, The Star. The deadline for applications is 4pm, Tuesday, 31
March 2009. View attached pdf for further information.

Tomai O Conghaile, editor of the contemporary Irish language magazine nos*, writes to us about the publication which launched online last March and has recently released a monthly print edition, he says:

Too many journalists and editors do damage to their outlets
and journalism in general due to daily blunders, which they don’t seem to care
about.

The attitude could be that few people in specialised areas will
notice so it does not matter, or it’s covering a minority so it does not
matter. Or it could be that the journalist needs to get the story or create a
new angle and nothing else matters (ie filling the white space journalism… if they
were skilled they could have been a copywriters and got paid more).

A prime example of this is in today’s Irish Independent: ‘New
'cycle to work' scheme gets just one query.’

The headline is clear, one query. The first par then reads: “The
Department of Finance has received only one query regarding its cycle-to-work
scheme announced in the Budget last year.”

But one bicycle shop sent a message into the Last Word saying
bicycles have already been bought from them under the scheme, a press release
from Ciaran Cuffe today said “Over 7,000 people have visited the Green Party's
bikescheme.ie” since January 1, and at least one company, biketowork.ie, has been set
up to handle the paperwork.

So the Indo got it a bit wrong then?

Worst still, it was a follow-up story that was covered in the
Sunday Times yesterday. Which in its self was flawed enough to start with.

The ST story centred on how departments have been slow to
take up the scheme. But it had to go on to say “Calls to seven of the 10
companies voted ‘Best places to work in Ireland’ revealed that only one has
introduced the programme” – which is like akin to conducting a political polls by
doing a vox pop on the street out side the newspaper.