Media Diet Week 38

Press: despite my best intentions, it was late Monday by the time I was back in the habit of reading the news again. And Tuesday by the time I was reading my usual daily round of papers online. There's been only one story all week worth paying attention to - the global financial crisis. I've been affected directly by this - I edit for overseas investment banks and my daily workload unexpectedly dried up when trading was suspended on the exchanges in some countries as their listed shares went into freefall. But I digress. What was most interesting was how the financial news seemed to be being driven by one man - Robert Peston, the BBC's business editor. His updates on the HBOS takeover by Lloyds were extraordinary by any standard, with hourly updates of the hottest gen ages before anyone else knew what was going on. It was fascinating and addictive to watch and no other news outlet was so on the ball.

Blogs: undoubtedly, the event of the week for me was tagging onto the back end of the Manchester Evening News' hosting of the Manchester Bloggers meeting. An incomplete round-up of the blog reports has already been posted. I was chuffed to see my pull quote, it certainly put a smile on my face. I still want a MEN coffee mug, though. It's always interesting to meet other bloggers - mostly they are faceless entities who draw you in with their prose and meeting them in the flesh can be a bit of a shock, but you get to see other sides of them than just the one that comes across in their posts. Web 2.0 and social networking are not to be sniffed at but human contact is important too.

TV/radio: another thin week for me given my busyness. I missed most of my regular TV fare and was reduced to catching up with EastEnders on iPlayer, godsend that it is as I refuse to subscribe to SkyPlus. I love the easy availability of online content, especially when it's live - I had an enjoyable afternoon today half-listening to and half-watching the Andy Murray Davis Cup rubber on the internet as I was hacking away with work stuff.

Books: sadly for Creditor, I'm still enjoying Piers Morgan's latest, Don't You Know Who I Am?, which is keeping me entertained on trains right now. Interestingly, at 40 or so pages in, he mentions the decision to buy Press Gazette with Matthew Freud (I wonder, Creditor, are you berating Freud too, or those who blog about him? Just curious...) but haven't got as far as the bit where he fesses up about how it all went to so wrong. No doubt I'll be wiser by the time I get back from my weekend away, which will include long hours passed on trains with books. Only then shall I pass judgement, if I need to pass it at all. The Blair Years is on hold for now. Must be because it's conference season, which is as good a reason as any to ignore politics.

Of blogs and MEN

It's amazing where they let you in these days upon the flashing of a press card - Manchester Evening News last night hosted a bash for local bloggers so naturally I gatecrashed. MEN has just moved into swanky new premises in the heart of the city, so new I could smell that odd aroma of brand-new electronics, like when you enter Comet.

And what else was that assailing my nostrils? Ah yes, the whiff of nostalgia. We toured the newsroom and I realised it was 17 years since I'd last worked full-time on a publication, in an office... It being after 6, the newsroom was fairly quiet with just a skeleton shift cracking on with things. The phones were eerily silent too. For a moment, I thought: - I could work here. Then I pictured the vast open-plan space crammed to full with bodies, shrieking telephones, shouted orders and bosses bearing down on me and reminded myself why I went freelance. Newsrooms have changed enormously since I trained. MEN's had a TV studio in one corner, for one thing. No running back and forth dozens of times to the typesetter on press day, like I used to, either.

After the tour, deputy editor Maria McGeoghan chaired an informal debate on blogging and the media, in which we had a lively discussion about the use of tools such as Twitter and how bloggers can drive the news agenda. Even Getting Ink, not a Manchester blog, got namechecked because of the trolling issue and how bloggers handle comments (and it wasn't me who raised it, honest!).

Then it was time for the goodie bags. Yes, goodie bags! We got Guardian Hay Festival cotton bags and a copy of the Manchester Evening News. No fancy MEN coffee mug then. I knew I should have swiped one off the subs' desk when I had the opportunity. Once we'd trousered the swag, it was off to the pub for a swift pint and a bit of networking with the other bloggers before it was time to bid farewell and get the train home. Must do it again sometime...

Media Diet Weeks 16/17

Press: swanning off to Cyprus in the middle of last week meant I had almost no news between Tuesday 5 April and Thursday 24th. I was given a free copy of the Manchester Evening News at the airport, which I promptly thrust in my hand luggage. It remained unread for 5 days, at which point I discovered Bez from Happy Mondays had made the front page for being made bankrupt again. Er, right. Scintillating stuff. (Not.) Surely a city of Manchester's size and stature could produce a bigger story than that? But apparently not. You can see why I didn't miss the news...

Blogs: not much to report here. I logged into Bloglines once while I was away, felt overwhelmed at the sight of 90-odd unread feeds that had clocked up in just a couple of days and promptly logged out again. Sally at Getting Ink wrote a very thoughtful post on the elusive work/life balance. Her post and the subsequent comments apply whether or not you have spawn. I don't, but still struggle to separate work and personal stuff at times and it's a particular issue for freelances. Something to muse on this weekend.

TV/radio: I tuned into Radio 2 bright and early this morning to learn that the great Humphrey Littleton has left us. He always made me cry with laughter on I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. I'm sure I'm at the end of a very long queue of people who will miss his splendid wit and musical talent. I didn't miss the TV much while away - it was easy to catch up with EastEnders and The Archers by reading the web synopses and iPlayer will come in handy this afternoon to catch up on last Saturday's Doctor Who episode, the only programme I really felt deprived of. Hotel telly is never much cop. As usual, the main offering was BBC World, which is just about tolerable for global headlines but little else. This channel only seems to produce about one documentary a week, which is then repeated endlessly and plugged even more. I started to go crazy after 2 days of adverts for a programme on trafficked Nepali women, which seemed to be shown every 15 minutes between the headlines and weather. While I feel for the plight of these women, the relentless plugging only served to turn me off watching. Make of that what you will, Aunty...

Books: I just managed to finish Martin Edwards' The Cipher Garden before my trip and am not sure whether to be cross or pleased that he managed to mislead me so wonderfully over the ID of the murderer. I took Tom Reynolds' Blood, Sweat and Tea away with me for a holiday read as it was both light-hearted and thought-provoking. And now I've just started Blitzed! by Steve Strange, for yet another take on the events of my misspent youth.