Media Diet Week 19

Press: I see Eve has had a revamp. I do believe it's the first since it was launched. I don't like the new logo - it looks as if they tried to go retro-chic with it but it just looks old-fashioned. I note the irritating SJP is on the cover again. I'll never understand why magazines are so obsessed with her as I don't rate her as a "fashion icon" at all. Eve gets a plaudit for putting an over-40 on the cover, though. A lot of mags seem to do this now, simply because there are so many interesting, high-achieving women around in their 40s. Yet us over-40s still lack a decent magazine that reflects our interests (note: this includes dresses with sleeves, work, other interesting over-40 women and culture). I'm sick of mags that only show frumpy clothes, or clothes for teenagers. I hate spaghetti straps. I also despise the sole page devoted to book reviews (usually ghastly chick lit) and films - why can't magazines cater for women who interested in cultural issues? I'd better stop here before I really go off on one.

Blogs: last week's Media Diet entry came a little early for my discovery of the very splendid Fleet Street Blues, a new jobs and gossip blog that is well worth a plug. And I see they had the good taste to choose my template. In other news, I'm busy putting together yet another blog, which I won't be plugging here simply because it'd be a bit too obvious. That'll bring my blog total to 6...

TV/radio: not much to report this week. The Apprentice was a hoot, purely for Michael's splendid gaffe over the kosher chicken. Don't they teach anyone anything in schools these days? I'd expect even a half-Jewish schmuck like Michael to know about kosher meat, though... I don't often listen to Radio 2 on a Saturday after Jonathan Ross, but I managed to catch Hot Gossip yesterday. Hosted by Claudia Winkelman, it's a very funny panel game based on tabloid tittle-tattle. I'll be tuning in again.

Books: I finished the brilliant Beneath the Bleeding by Val McDermid, who delivered not one but two crimes for solving, plus a tentative glimpse of Tony Hill's ghastly abusive mother. No doubt she'll be making an appearance in a later book. On a crime fic roll now, I've just started Minette Walters' latest: The Chameleon's Shadow. It's shaping up well so far.

Media Diet week 18

Press: after the holiday, it was good to get back into my normal newspaper routine. I've read very widely this week - on top of my usual Guardian/Sun habit (one serious, one tabloid), I also delved regularly into the Telegraph, Mirror and even (ssh!) the Mail while following the appalling Fritzl case in Austria. I've spent so much time reading I'm behind on my work. The world stops when a story like that emerges and there are just no words.

Blogs: sod the blogs this week - I was persuaded to sign up for Twitter instead. Seems like most of the hackosphere is tweeting away - I spotted many people I know and many I know of. I've had fun getting a little community going around my own tweeting and was quite flattered to see some top journos deciding to follow me. No doubt the excitement will wear off soon, like it did with Facebook, but I suspect I will find Twitter more useful for work. Talking of Facebook, a PR company I like very much (and it's not often I say that) held a groundbreaking 2-hour live chat there this week so small companies could ask questions about PR and the media. I swung by for a while and ending up getting an idea for a pitch and making a very useful contact.

TV/radio: I watched the first episode of The Invisibles on Thursday, expecting it to be like Hustle - stylish and witty. It wasn't. It was dire. What a waste of a talented cast. I missed two episodes of The Apprentice while away, except I didn't really miss it - this year's crew have failed to excite me yet and most of them seem fairly indistinguishable so far. Until Wednesday, when I saw what a cow Jenny Celery is, what a bully Lee is and what a pointless pin-up Alex is. Over in Ambridge, not much is happening as usual, but that's why I like it - it ambles along slowly and undemandingly, yet is compulsive listening. Ross the Red-Top Wannabe is back digging for dirt again and I just loved his blog on the Archers homepage.

Books: I've just started Val McDermid's Beneath the Bleeding. I'm several chapters in already and I doubt it'll take long to finish as McDermid is usually unputdownable. It's another of her Tony Hill/Carol Jordan thrillers so I'm expecting great things and so far it's living up to expectations. And I've a stack more crime fic to get through after this one. I'm a happy bunny.

Errant apostrophes and reporters

(pre-empting this week's media diet entry here)

I've just watched this week's episode of The Apprentice and you will not be surprised to know that a) I was appalled that it took more than 3 hours to figure out the answer to the Great Apostrophe Debate and b) that I wasn't really that stunned that none of them knew the answer apart from Raef.

What was gobsmacking was the decision to ring the subs' desk at the Telegraph. As if the subs would have time to help out someone ringing on the offchance... Michael's team, if they'd had any nous, could have looked on the internet. Googling "apostrophe help" brings up this site at the top of the page. It's not rocket science - either googling or the apostrophe.

Meanwhile, over in Ambridge, how very disappointing to see yet another stereotypical hack being trotted out by the scriptwriters. If you don't listen to The Archers, the short version is Ross Adams, ambitious ace reporter anxious to sell out to Fleet Street, is fishing for the dirt on trendy vicar Alan and his Hindu fiancée Usha who arrived here aged about 3 when her family was expelled from Uganda.

Nancy Banks-Smith at the Guardian has written a short piece on Ross but she is far too sympathetic. Sure, it's a soap and soaps need villains, but it's so tiresome to see (hear?) the scripties take the easy option. Brenderrr Tuckerrr, the Borchester Echo's previous ace reporter, was a far more realistic portrayal of life on a regional paper. Not since the dreadfully crap Polly on EastEnders have I been so incensed about clichéd journalists.

Media Diet Week 14

Press: once again I found myself buying the Guardian and the Sun to read on a train. I'm so used to reading online editions now that hard copies just feel, well, odd. The main plus is that I get to do the sudoku and crossword. I'm starting to like Look. I mean, what's not to like? It's a quid. It rounds up the best high street fashion each week. And it has short and snappy sleb features such as "Amy Winehouse: why I can't give up drugs". I bought another issue this week and feel drawn in. I tell ya, it'll be downhill from here on in.

Blogs: the hot tip right now is The Churner Prize. Sheer brilliance. As a hack who deplores churnalism, this blog really nails the culprits. Name and shame is my motto (well, one of them, anyway) and this does it admirably.

TV/radio: I've had a crazy busy week, leaving little time for much viewing and listening, but it has to be said, dahlinks, that this week when it came to TV, the star of the show was me. I got to sit in Jeremy Paxman's chair and be quizzed by the inestimable Race Noddy and, and, AND win the debate on points. What could be better? And thank gawd yet again for iPlayer, which will allow me to catch up on the Apprentice, EastEnders and owt else I've missed due to illness and propping up Aunty single-handedly. I did catch the finale of Torchwood - suffice to say I was shocked that Owen and Tosh got killed off. I guess they had better offers before season 3.

Books: I've started The Cipher Garden. So far so good, despite being only 100 pages in. I trust Martin Edwards not to let me down. I like the Daniel Kind and Hannah Scarlett characters, both of whom are developing admirably. Other crime-fic writers should take note. This is an easy, undemanding read yet with a very decent layer of complexity that requires close attention.

Media Diet Week 13

Press: it's been a dull week news-wise, apart from the fiasco at T5, and I've been too busy over the last week to do more than skim headlines, anyway. But, seeing as it's Sunday, perhaps it's time to fess up that my Sunday papers of choice are the Observer and the News of the World. As with my choice of dailies, I like the contrast between serious broadsheet and saucy red-top. If a really major story breaks over a weekend, I might dip into a couple of other papers too. Gone are the days when I'd wander to the corner shop mid-morning to buy the Sundays plus the necessaries for a leisurely breakfast and then return to bed with food and papers. As with the dailies, I read online mostly. My only other excursion this week was a copy of Look, as the fashion cover lines drew my attention just as I needed to go outfit-hunting (read on...).

Blogs: the find of the week was undoubtedly The Apprent-Bitch, a suitable companion to You're Fired (see below). So good, I felt compelled to chip in.

TV/radio: for someone who doesn't watch much telly, I seem to be watching an awful lot right now. It's TV heaven for me, what with Torchwood (sadly finishing in a few days' time), The Apprentice, I'd Do Anything, Hotel Babylon plus EastEnders. And Dr Who will soon be back. Unusually for me, I seem to be turning on the box every night of the week. The Apprentice got off to a cracking start although no one yet stands out as a real contender for the job. We shall see... The only other TV news I have to report is that I spent most of today trailing round shops getting more and more depressed as I struggled to buy something to wear on the TV. I'm filming for the BBC later this week and the list of Things You Can't Wear is horribly long - no red (it bleeds), no pinstripes on shirts (they strobe), no white (it dazzles), etc. Eventually, just as I was about to bury myself behind the bus station and weep, I found a sweater dress that had a decent neckline and a wearable colour. I'm now over £110 poorer - just for 10 minutes on a channel few watch and a programme even fewer tune into...

Books: I finally finished the lame Water Like a Stone. Naturally, the killer turned out to be someone you could never have worked out for yourself, seeing as the author kindly forgot to leave any clues whatsoever until about 10 pages from the end. I won't be buying any of hers again. At least I have a new Martin Edwards to open tonight. I loved the first of his Daniel Kind whodunnits - I'm sure The Cipher Garden will be as good.

The business of business

I watch very little TV, but one programme I always enjoy is The Apprentice. I tuned in last year, as you can see, and got hooked. This year's series looks as if it will be equally enjoyable, not least because none of the current candidates appear to have watched the previous series. They are making the same stupid mistakes as before. Cue big sigh.

All these candidates with their MBAs and experience in large companies, and they still appear not to have a clue.

I'm not just a freelance - being self-employed means I run a business and I'm damn sure that if I were on The Apprentice, I'd be doing things very differently (not that I'd ever humiliate myself on reality TV). I've been freelance for two years and it was a steep learning curve, but I've made very few mistakes. There are things, with hindsight, that I'd have done differently, but I've made no serious screw-ups.

Call it instinct, or just common sense, but running a business (at least of one person) is not that hard. You'd have to be a complete idiot to make a real mess of it. Which is why I'm gobsmacked at the sheer incompetence of Sir Alan Sugar's candidates, who are supposed to be the creme de la creme. Frankly, I wouldn't put them in charge of organising a pub crawl.

Still, that's the main attraction of tuning in - it's an object lesson in how not to do business.

A productive few days

I was exhausted by Friday evening as it was an exceptionally busy week. I spent two whole days creating copy for a client's website - a process that entailed hours spent on the phone with my graphic designer while we talked things through, looked at the draft designs (which have been approved) and amended the search tags I had to write. The client was unavailable whenever I tried to contact him, which was frustrating. I sent him an e-mail full of questions that I needed answers to, then I sent another e-mail with 5 pages of draft copy. The designer has already seen them and given the thumbs up and, while his opinion is important, the one that really counts is the client's. I know he was around as he'd been at the designer's studio in the morning, being talked through the design drafts. My designer works across the road from my base, so the client could have called, especially as he'd told the designer he was going to ring me. An annoyance, but I'm sure I'll hear from him first thing Monday.

I completed the edit of the latest book chapter on Tuesday. My client, who is the "real" editor, has subcontracted this job to me. She mailed me to say there were definitely 3 more chapters in the pipeline but couldn't say when. We agreed I'd invoice her for the 8 I've already edited. I was relieved about that as I've been on this job since March and have clocked up a lot of hours. Seeing some money would be good.

I found time at the end of Friday to write a free article for an e-newsletter on why small businesses need to hire professionals to write their copy. It wasn't totally altruistic, as I'll get a plug for my own business. But on the altruistic side, it's a subject I feel passionate about - so many start-ups fail because they don't get their publicity right. Badly worded web copy full of spelling errors is a real turn off to customers. In my view, businesses that don't care how they come across often don't care about their customers. Getting it right can make a real difference to turnover and customer retention. Getting it wrong can mean business failure. And with 16 million workers out there with the literacy skills of a primary school student, it's vital that start-ups invest in their business literature. I'm always amazed that start-ups will happily shell out for a graphic designer, legal advice, a book-keeper and the rest but then decide to save money by writing their own copy. It's an expensive mistake.

My local weekly paper is once again running its county-wide business competition. This is the third year of the Cheshire Business Awards. I'm tempted to enter this year, now I've been freelance for more than 16 months. I need to talk it through with my beloved P.

I watched the final of The Apprentice on Wednesday. I shall miss it now it's finished as it's been riveting. Here I am, a sole trader working from home, doing reasonably well, and doing every single job for the business - I write, I edit, I proofread (the stuff that earns the money), then I do the books, invoice the clients and pay my suppliers, make the coffee, market myself to potential clients, manage myself, do my own appraisals... the only thing I don't have to do is clean my office - we pay someone for that. And there are these supposedly competent managers begging to work for Alan Sugar. What a bunch of hopeless, conniving, back-stabbing, bitchy and useless idiots most of them were!. I wouldn't give one of them a day's free work experience at Chateau Wordsmith. I was glad Michelle won, she deserved it. Ruth will do well for herself anyway. Dunno how I shall fill my Wednesday nights though now, unless I go to the belly dancing class up the road from my house. I've been sorely tempted for a while.

I missed my networking meeting on Thursday evening due to the heavy workload. I need to get out more.

Shock exit

Like a lot of people in business, I've been hooked on The Apprentice and have written about it in my previous blogs on MySpace. Last week, I predicted the exit of Michelle and Ansell, despite my loathing of Paul. So I was wrong, but also delighted when Paul got the boot last night. It was long overdue for the cocky misogynist. I honestly didn't expect Michelle to make it this far but it's fantastic to see two women in the final. My money was previously on the Badger to win, but now I'm not so sure.

A busy day ahead today. More later.