Category: Opinion

The BBC’s Laura Trevelyan explains how to get your foot in the door of political television news and climb to the top… First, and foremost, don’t do a three-year journalism degree! The industry’s perception of these courses, whether fair or unfair, is that you spend a lot of time on what’s loosely termed as ‘media […]

The death of Hunter S Thompson, the pioneer of ‘gonzo journalism’, is surprising not least because of the manner of his passing… Thompson, the American counterculture writer, entered the kitchen of his fortified compound in Woody Creek, Colorado on February 21, and shot himself in the head. Suicide was never Thompson’s game; he was a […]

Plagiarism is not a new phenomenon in the media, but it has run rampant on the back of news websites and ‘blogs’… Have you read this article before? If you do a considerable amount of reading, you quite likely have! It seems everybody wants to be a journalist, but most are afraid to put in […]

Passing a driving test in the UK has never been easy, but with increased costs and endlessly long waiting lists getting a licence is now harder than ever… I have just taken my first driving test. I got three iffy majors and nine understandable minors. I can accept my mistakes and will not dwell on […]

With British political parties competing to gain ground in the popularity stakes, one reporter examines how increasingly ambitious promises are swelling public distrust… In politics, a month is a long time. Over the last few weeks, we’ve had the three main party conferences, a by-election and ongoing protests over hunting. Certainly not an easy time […]

Why are questions over the Iraq ‘dodgy’ Dossier still circulating when the Right Honourable Lord Hutton concluded the matter over eight months ago? Key allegations about the government’s Iraq dossier were "unfounded", according to Lord Hutton in January. The subsequent resignations of the BBC chairman Gavyn Davies and BBC director Greg Dyke sent ripples through […]

Interview A sub-editor can turn your definite front page splash into a three-line item buried in the classifieds; such is their importance. Here, an experienced sub explains how to stay in their good books and on the paper’s pay-roll… "The sub-editor’s desk is like the back part of a furniture factory that checks everything is […]

US voters have a bad case of "misdirected thinking" when it comes to positioning presidential candidates along the political spectrum, writes Alexander Hay. Long-bundled into the wrong political bracket by reporters and voters alike as another but ultimately weaker George W Bush, the fact is that independent Ralph Nader is a man of the radical […]