Thinking about things

• Why newspaper design and the architecture of a newspaper still matters (and what happens to your product when you disregard it)

  It’s easy (and cheaper) to ditch newspaper design, but be warned doing so could cost you dear in the long run – and here’s why. Like any other profession, newspaper journalists have their own technical language. And newspapers themselves also have their own ‘architecture’ (or at least they did). When it came to newspaper design and editorial thinking we were always told – though I never knew the science behind

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• Monty Don and Naga Munchetty (or modern journalism and the British ‘surveillance’ state))

  It must be a strange life being Monty Don and Naga Munchetty. Both are excellent broadcasters in my view – and I admit to being particularly partial to Monty and Gardener’s World. But if my Google newsfeed is to be believed, then I reckon they are being spied on. In fact I think it’s worse – I suspect they are being trailed by some form of insidious artificial intelligence, a

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• The strange death of local journalism?

  A lot of people have been predicting the death of the press – but has that moment finally arrived? The Covid-19 outbreak has certainly hit the revenues of media companies across the board – and that may yet translate into an existential crisis for some – though others are keen to stress we are not yet facing an extinction event and publishers have worked miracles during the pandemic to keep

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• Thinking about death and how to stop it

  At the moment before lights out, the same thought has been coming to me: “I’m going to die” Or more to the point: “I don’t want to die” May be it is an age thing – at 48 I’ve recently entered the so-called ‘sniper’s alley’. Or may be it is the loss of loved ones and friends. Actually now I think about it, it may have started when my Grandma

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• Will Covid-19 mark the end of the road for cars in Norfolk?

  Now is the perfect time for new thinking on how we do things   Dear Norfolk County Council, New Anglia Lep, Broadland District Council, Hellesdon Parish Council et al Now that we have experienced life in lockdown under Covid-19 I was writing to urge you not just to go back to business as usual when the restrictions are lifted. Things are going to be different for us all anyway, and

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• Norwich City Football Club and the end of the ‘premier’ league

  For anyone upset at Norwich City Football Club’s 4-1 defeat at Liverpool always remember that we won the second half! Staying positive is the only thing you can do when it seems that things are stacked against you. But my guess is the Premier League curtain raiser against the champions of Europe was a game that the Canaries may have already written off before a ball was kicked. Dusting yourself

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• Why do I think I’m Captain Kirk when everybody says I’m Spock?

  We are all the heroes of our own stories (in our heads at least). Some may see themselves as Nelson on the high seas, as Maura in Love Island, Harry Potter at Hogwarts or whoever it is that floats your boat. I’ve always regarded myself as a Captain Kirk type. Bold, ambitious, willing to take a risk, and to challenge the status quo, if need be. And yet despite my

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• The first time I heard the word content and newspapers in the same sentence I wanted to punch somebody.

  As a journalist, grouping the words ‘content and newspapers’ together made about as much sense to me as ‘bacon and knickers’ or ‘chalk and eggs’. I first heard it from the lips of my then group MD who was outlining details of the first corporate restructure and plans to abolish news editors and replace them with content editors. Content and newspapers? That sounded like corporate BS to me We were

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• Is work with a portfolio career oriented candidate worth the hassle?

  Portfolio careers are like one of those things which sound fantastic, yet ever so slightly mythical – like ‘Four Hour Work Weeks’, ‘Side Hustle’ projects or ‘Lifestyle Entrepreneurs’. But mythical or not, it is a quest I am seeking to follow. Yet I can’t help wondering whether working with portfolio career types is an attractive option for clients and prospects? The world of work is supposedly moving that way –

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• What is it about B2B marketing and crap advertorials? (and what can you do about it?)

  Why have I got a bee in my bonnet about B2B marketing and crap advertorials (if I can call it that)? Here’s why.. Imagine the scene You’ve realised that you need to reach more people, so not unreasonably, you pay to have an article placed in a newspaper or B2B magazine aimed at your target customers. You supply your words, your logo, your contact details and the publishers lay it

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