No, of course I value every opinion and every bit of advice. What is wrong with citizen journalism? Having a degree is obviously a huge advantage and it's proved that getting a job is easier and you earn more money in life BUT it's not always the case.

OK - lesson 1. Dismissing what someone says as 'rubbish' and quoting 'facts' which are far from that is not generally the best way to earn the respect of anyone. And remember that respect is earned, not doled out as some sort of right (despite what so many young people seem to believe these days).

(Stern words over - back to chilled mode )


I'm with Acashoonhay on this - 'citizen journalism' and blogging have only been enabled by the means of transmission - the internet, mobile phones with video recording, etc. It doesn't mean that any of it is good journalism - the vast majority of it I've come across has been universally awful. Anyone with a smartphone and the ability to write a few words of English can now call themselves a 'journalist', despite the fact that many of them wouldn't know what taking a decent photo or good grammar is if it came up and whacked them round the head with a baseball bat. For those of us who have spent years working to refine our craft and learning through sheer-hard earned experience, it's pretty soul-destroying. Seeing the profession's reputation dragged through the mire by the low-life tactics of tabloid scum only compounds the agony.


I always wanted to be a writer - English was the only subject I was ever any good at at school. I started on newspapers and rapidly hated it so much that as soon as I could I moved into magazines, books and specialist publications. I found the whole 'get the story at any cost' attitude on the papers absolutely repellant. Although I love research, I wasn't in the slightest bit interested in sensationalism and acting like some pompous, self-important private eye. I wanted my name on text that I was proud of producing, not that I found distasteful.


You were a bit, um, forthright. Two bits of advice - first, make sure your grammar, punctuation and spelling are absolutely top notch (it's advice, not advise. Advise is the verb . Do not merely rely on spell-checkers!). Nothing looks worse that someone making a valid point, but in appalling English. It looks careless, sloppy and makes people switch off. Print and internet journalism are written media, so make sure you can write!

Secondly, an old saying to remember. We have two ears and one mouth for a reason!

Good luck and don't be fooled into letting all that flash technology replace good, old fashioned craft and hard work. It's a highly competitive world in the creative industries, whatever branch of it you're in.

So true.

(There must be a special gremlin whose sole job is to make sure that any attempt to comment on writing includes at least one error or typo.)

((The above has been proof read three times.))

Ha, yes I re-read my post several times and still got done!

OK, here's another bit of advice... ALWAYS get someone else to proof read your work, because it is so easy to go word blind...

Sideshow Rebekah

Anyone check her feet.

What a crock.
She was at the helm of the ship when it hit the iceberg. A foul woman who should go and go now