Sophie Lancaster murder

If you haven't heard: a 15 year old has been found guilty to murdering Sophie Lancaster after a 16 year old had already pleaded guilty. This is the story about the goth couple attacked in a park in Bacup, Lancashire.
As I am on placement the IRN feed provides all the latest news and this is particularly moving:

The boyfriend of murdered Goth Sophie Lancaster says he has lost his "entire world" and wishes the gang that kicked her to death had killed him instead.
Art student Robert Maltby, 21, was also attacked in Stubbylee Park, Bacup, last August and was left in a coma but is now on the road to recovery.
In a moving interview he said the couple had planned to get married and have children and that it was "just not fair" that everything they had worked for had been taken away from them.
"She was my entire world," he said. "I'm not ashamed to say that.
"Everything I was doing outside being around Sophie was really just to make it so we could have a decent life together, and just when we have tried that hard, we have put in so much effort, and then some child comes along and decides to ruin it all for you, it is just not fair."
Mr Maltby said he had first met Sophie through a friend of a friend and they had clicked when they realised they shared a love of an obscure German band.
The pair also dressed similarly, he said, adding: "From speaking to her it just seemed like I was speaking to a smaller version of myself.
"She was very, very warm. Just wanted to make friends with everyone really, and that might have had something to do with why we started going out and sadly might have had something to do with what happened the night we were attacked."
The couple had been on a night out when they met some people at a petrol station in Bacup. They then moved on to a nearby park where they were brutally attacked.
Mr Maltby was set upon first, before Sophie was targeted as she cradled him and called for help.
Mr Maltby's recollections of the evening are frosty, but he has some strong opinions on what happened.
He said: "Really what they were trying to do was humiliate us, and beside the obvious things that I am annoyed at, that is what I am annoyed about the most.
"It seems to display just arrogance and it is just something I am not familiar with.
"I haven't grown up in an area like that, I have not been myself arrogant and I do not get how someone could be so self involved to think that what they did was an acceptable thing to do.
"Any one of us can make a stupid mistake but what's important is to know when is the right time to stop.
"If they had just hit me a couple of times, like when I have hit the ground they have gone, 'This is it, we are just going to leave', I would not have been happy with it but I could have accepted it.
"I could even have accepted if what had happened to me had been even worse, if God forbid if I might not have survived it but Sophie was never attacked again.
"I could accept that, but you do not do that to a young girl. You do not do that to anyone but, there's certain codes you have to live by as a man and the number one is you do not beat up girls and I just do not understand it."
Mr Maltby said he has been so seriously affected by the attack and his loss that he is afraid to use public transport and is struggling to carry on with his life.
As for what should happen to the attackers, he said: "I think that whatever happens to them can never be as bad as what I want to happen to them.
"I want them to never stop suffering for what they have done. I want it to be a life-long thing and I do not even really think I can say what I really want to happen to them.
"I can understand why they did it to me because I am a bloke, I should expect these things to happen. - I don't want them to happen but there is every chance they will do - but the mentality of someone going, 'OK we have just beaten him probably to death so we will beat up his girlfriend now' it just doesn't make sense. I just cannot understand it all.
"I just really wish that she had just legged it and got out of there and waited until they had left and come back, but I just wish she had left me to die if I'm honest.
He described the harrowing moment he saw Sophie in hospital, saying: "I was fine right up until I saw her and that was when I literally broke down, and all I wanted to do was I wanted to give her something but all I had on me was a really cheap watch that my granddad had given me so I just had to take it off and give it to her.
"If I could have I would have ripped my heart out and given it to her and with any luck bring her back up, but I did not have it in my power.
"All I could think was, 'This isn't right, this isn't right, why is this happening?'
"I could not see how I had possibly offended the world, the powers, to have this happen.
"What had we done, why have we deserved this, why aren't the people who are going out attacking people late at night, why aren't they having to see their girlfriend who is about to die?
"It just shows there is no justice at all."
Asked what he missed most about Sophie, Mr Maltby replied that not having someone to do "inane things" with was hardest.
He added: "I can sum it up in the fact that I will wake up in the morning and I look to my side and I am on my own, and just then it is like, 'This isn't right'.
"Basically it feels like someone has come along and nicked my entire life and I keep asking why, what have I done to deserve this?
"I had kind of always thought that there was one person for everyone and if mine's gone, then what am I going to do with myself now? I am pretty much stuck."

It is quite crazy how people can do this, I can't get my head around it. There is extensive coverage which (I am guessing) will be constantly updated on the Manchester Evening News website.

Changes

You may (or may not...) have noticed that the IP address of this blog has changed - I felt it was time for a change. Only thing is all my posts are searchable on google but lead you to the old blog address which is now a spam post and a load of dodgy blogroll links! Smooth.
Anyways, just posting to point you towards this game - just in case you are bored at work
and I joined Digg as I have heard loads about it but am still not quite sure how it works but I am sure I will get into it and as a (student/trainee) journalist I need to be across this things on the web ;)
Finally I am into day two of four of my placement and so far so good and have content added to my portfolio. That is one piece of advice I would give, if you go on any placements, keep a record of what you have done and get someone to prove that you did it - trust me it will save you a lot of hassle in the end!

The life of your Average "sporty" Joe

Just less than two hours to go before England take the field in Napier ahead of day 4 of the third test against New Zealand. Go here if you want to see highlights from day three.
I have been watching it from the comfort of my own (technically my parents...) living room from the start of day one to the end of day three (ok, so at tea on day one I went to bed as England were playing awful - I'm a fickle fan what can I say?). Highlight of the test so far was day one when the host's cameras failed so we revered to watching 1950's cricket with a camera only at one end of the ground!
And so far I can so I am a very happy Cricket fan especially for seeing the Preston North End and Preston Cricket Club flags flying from one of the stands! It is a small world...
Jonathan Agnew presents his views of the test so far on the BBC's special test match blog and the full scorecard (updated through the night if you haven't got score - this is as good place as any to keep updated with text commentary.) But England, despite being awful in their first innings, except for KP, were not quite as bad as the Kiwis as AP Webster says anything England can do, New Zealand can do better, well worse.
Ahead of day 4 with a declaration soon to be offered, probably when (if?) Strauss reaches 200 New Zealand will have to chase over 500 runs to avoid a 2-1 series defeat.
It does look hopeless for the Kiwi's and England should have saved themselves from a very poor series defeat. The future for New Zealand batting looks quite bleak, especially with Fleming retiring after this test match but Southee will be a good bowler so overall there is hope for them.
Well I am off to enjoy some cricket - a few hours of slogging away, a declaration then some wickets to put NZ out of the game.
We'll just have to see if it runs into day five or not, personally I hope not as I have to be up at 9am for the rest of the week so the quicker England win the better ;)

Newspaper Trust

I am posting today after reading a very thought provoking and quite true article written by Peter Wilby in the Media Guardian today (page 7 or here)
This is a topic area we have covered a lot of while studying at university because it comes to the point Wilby says "Newspapers are losing readers and advertisers to the web and are becoming desperate." He gives some very good examples of papers seeming to publish opinion as fact or influence the reader by sensationalism instead of good journalism. Most notably is the recent Express payout to the McCann family, he also cites the example in the case of Shannon Matthews, her mothers partner was forced to deny abuse allegations and finally Wilby identifies the press determination to identify Fiona McKeown as a bad mother due to the fact that she left her daughter (Scarlett) go off with her boyfriend.
These people are dealing with grief and shock all the media (it is not just papers that are gulity) can do is try and make a scandal out of it? Maybe that is being a bit cynical but Wilby states that "This reckless reporting cannot continue" and he isn't wrong.
It is not surprising that some people trust the online medium more than newspapers as Leigh Holmwood writes. If newspapers don't follow up the facts and check truths they are in danger of turning more of their already draining audience away.
I still believe that newspapers are not in serious danger of going out of business but this is a setback - although most newspapers do have online sites the printed versions are taking a blow.
Wilby makes a valid point when saying: "If readers can't be sure that distinguished papers are seperating facts from gossip, there isn't much point in buying them or going to their websites."
Maybe it is time for something like what Paulie calls for here - a full disclosure of the steps taken to make sure a story is of a suffciently high standard because if news stories become gossip and rumour than the future is bleak.
Hopefully Wilby is not right when he fears that too many owners and editors take the view that reckless reporting pays off in the short term to sell papers and get readers back.
Whatever the future holds it is key to not present gossip as hard news as the express found out !

One year on

It is one year on from the news that shocked not only the cricketing world but everyone, mostly because of what happened after Bob Woolmer's death. I can't believe that it is one YEAR ago today that Bob died - it doesn't seem that long ago and it still remains a sad loss to cricket and in general. One piece already written is here from a Pakistan Cricket blog.
Although this blog has not been updated for a while it outlines the ups and downs of the circumstances surronding his death - because that is what (sadly) what the focus was. Usama on the cricket is life blog outlines the problems the police faced in the investigation and how the inquest went.
The cause of death and the coverage must have been hard to take for his family - one minute it was a heart attack next he was murdered. I'm not laying the blame here but you need to make sure you are right before you announce something like that, it was not known at the time how Bob had died and all these theories did not help anyone.
When I was researching this post I found this and it would have been a good tribute to Bob but unfortunately praticalities get in the way again as I am sure most people would have enjoyed watching 20-20 cricket and especially as it was a tribute to one of the games greats.
Something else that has disturbed me is this article in sports illustrated that says the room where Mr. Woolmer died has now become a "tourist attraction". In my opinion that is just wrong, why would anyone want to go there and see that? Not that there would be anything to see - I really can't understand some people especially at times like this.
In summary this has pretty much said what I was going to say but I think that needs to be left in the past and we should remember Bob for the great cricketer and coach he was.

BOB WOOLMER 1948-2007

Easter Break

The Easter Break is now upon us at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) - which means three weeks off right? Sort of, as the class has to do a portfolio for newspapers which is due in the first day we come back and of course Law and PA must be revised for upcoming exams and shorthand has still to be worked on. Also, the first week back at Uni marks our first assessed newspaper so that should be interesting but thankfully no editorial position for me on the first one, the second one is where I will take a position.
On a side note, just thought I'd point you in the direction of two websites one being http://www.weeklygripe.co.uk/ which is a really good site to read about peoples "gripes" - trsut me you will be able to relate to some of the stuff and student out there, a website I only recently found http://www.ukstudentnews.co.uk/ a website for students to put up stories from their Universities - a useful tool which I wish I had known about earlier!
I will be relaxing during my easter break as I need to but on W/C 24 of this month I will be on a weeks placement at a local radio station on their news team which adds valuable experience to my portfolio and I will be trying to sort out my future plans and if they involved Australia.
That's all I wanted to post, writing down my thoughts to see where I am, before I head off home tomorrow and now I am off to sneeze and dose myself up because I am full of a cold :(

Criticism of the media

Before we get into the media debate, there was some sad news yesterday and that was the death of Carol Barnes who, among other things, used to be a former ITN newsreader. This is just one of the many places to read about the sad news.

Anyway, if you haven't heard Lisa Presley is planning to sue over a newspaper article in the Daily Mail, reported here and followed up here because she says the original article upset her and has called the press "disgusting" on hey myspace page. More here.

I don't want to focus on this case in particular but this is the peg of the post, so to speak and so is the assessed debate I had on Friday for part of my Uni course. The industry I am planning to go into has had its fair share of criticism - some rightly and some wrongly.

One of the most recent is the reporting of the Bridgend suicides and the coverage it received brought all sorts of ethical and moral issues into play. One side is talked about here by Daniel Finkelstein, comment editor of the Times and Roy Greenslade blogs about thoughts from the Guardian and Independent on the media's role.

Personally, I don't think the media is too blame for the suicides but I agree with Mark Ansell that it isn't entirely innocent either. The reporting may not be too blame but it has been sensationalised a bit, probably to sell papers or just through carelessness but either way I want the industry I hope to ply my trade in to be a responsible, calm figure - am I just living a dream?

Final thoughts come from Adrian Monck and a in-depth look at the issue. Hopefully the media will have learned a little bit from this but without putting my foot down on either side really I don't think the media is too blame - it is just a sad and tragic series of events which has not been handled in the best way and not helped the situation.

one week to Easter...

The penultimate term at university is coming to an end for me and what a three years it has been - with ups and downs the finish line is visible in the distance and its bloody scary!

We received details of graduation this week and the final assessments we are/are not going in for and being nominated for an award for my radio show means that the finish is near.

Don't get me wrong I want to go out into the "real world" and ply my trade and use my skills but I keep questioning whether or not I am ready and at the moment I really am unsure...which is not good because I need to be focussed and ready for a job and to make my way in the world

You can tell it's nearing the end when I am saying this is the last saturday of my radio show before easter and tomorrow will be my last show before easter on the student radio station.

I handed two assignments in yesterday, a 1,500 word essay on PA (Public Administration) and a 20 minute recorded debate for the Future of Journalism module.

Next week just leaves me with the newspaper deadline to worry about and being on the sports team and it not being an assessed edition things could be worse.

As you can see I am a bit confused right now but it really is amazing how writing thoughts down

can help you. Until next time I'm off to do some work - including Law and Shorthand.

last big effort

WOW! is what you are thinking... two blog posts in two days = unusual.
It is but I got to thinking (despite not having wireless internet back at my house, which we should have as that is what we are paying for...) that I created this blog to post my thoughts and as the blurb says it is the random thoughts of a STUDENT journo and I am only (I think) going to be one of those for another few months, so lets take the finger out and put it on the keyboard and blog about stuff.
Hopefully future "stuff" will be more important than this post as this is the re-launch of the attempt to blog more reguarly as I have a blog and the technology so why not embrace it and post more? Then I could even be proud enough to put this thing on my CV and mention it to any potential employers...but we are a LONG way away from any of that.
But to prove that I have not been resting on my laurels I have, today, sent an application off to a cricket writing website and a soon-to-be on the air radio station and hopefully I will get a response from those - even if it says "sorry, but no."
The problem is (good job this thing is secret...) I am not sure what I am doing when I finish Uni, you see I have the desire and possible opportunity to visit Australia as my parents have family over there and one is in the journalism/PR industry and might, just might, be able to give me a hand up/help on getting a placement in Melbourne. This is still pie in the sky but I would love to do something like this as I am still sort of free (being only 20 years old and all) before I settle down with a job.
I am sure with my promise to blog more you will be kept up to date and all the ups and downs and developments of my last few months at university but it is kind of sad I started this with the intention to give a guide to students studying journalism and post my thoughts frequently on issues that mattered to me...judging by this blog both of them equal not much!

Finally, I would like to wish a get well soon to a guy who really helped me at a radio station I volunteered at from 2005-07 . I sat in and broadcast on his show a few times as we were coined "The Jim and Joe Show" - thats my imagination anyways!
He had a heart attack over last weekend which, I have been assured, he is now recovering from and it could have been worse so just like to wish him the best and hope he gets well soon because he really gave me some fond memories of volunteering for hospital radio.
A post way back on this blog called "Tribute to Bingo Bill", describes how one of the team who pretty much shaped my desire of radio is already no longer with us.

Nearing the end...

Ahh the wonders of blogging (or the lack of it...) Seems like one blog post a month is the top for me now - not good really for an inspiring student journo as I should be embracing this new form of technology and leading the way.
There is regular student blogs here http://education.apple.com/students/blog/ , http://confessionsofastudentblogger.wordpress.com/ and this guy is putting every student too shame! http://blogs.pressgazette.co.uk/students/
Makes me wonder if I have the necessary passion for the industry. I have had placements aplenty on newspapers and radio but have been turned down for a placement during Easter at a paper back home and in my Uni town due places already being taken.
I am finishing Uni in around two months and am unsure which direction to head in - despite doing a newspaper route on my degree course. I would love to work in regional news, whether that be on radio or on a paper but the possibility is opening of me going to Australia for a month or two and hopefully that will be on some form of working holiday and not a put the feet up type of holiday as I can't afford to do that with so much competition out there.
This week is a busy one for me though, two assignments due in this Friday and working on the newspaper we are producing in class. The non-assessed version is every two weeks and for the last two weeks I was news editor and by my own admission I have the leadership qualities of a sheep so did not do as well as a wanted. But this time (the last non-assessed edition) I hope to be on sports so we'll see if that gets my journalistic flair up as at the moment I am on the road to success but it's under construction.