Posted by
Axegrinder on 4 February 2011 at 14:03
Tags: sub-editors
With hindsight, the subs on the Gloucestershire Echo probably realised they could have come up with a different headline for this story about Cheltenham Ladies’ College.
I had to read it once or twice before realising that smutty-minded folk might get the wrong end of the stick with this one.
Posted by
Axegrinder on 25 January 2011 at 13:35
Tags: Uncategorized
Guardian media commentator Roy Greenslade gave it to The Sun with both barrels this morning  over its “failure” to run the news that Sky sports pundits Richard Keys and Andy Gray had been axed in a row over off-air sexist comments.
“…the editor, Dominic Mohan, got it hopelessly wrong. By ignoring the story, he tends to prove the theory that Murdoch’s papers dance to Murdoch’s tune.”
Axegrinder understands that there was much hilarity at Wapping and perplexed hacks speculated that Roy might have been reading an Irish edition of The Sun which was missing the Sky Sports tale. Sun readers will know that the story was in fact splashed across pages one, four and five of today’s paper.
Roy’s misfiring blog post disappeared shortly after the mishap was pointed out. But it has not disappeared from the internet completely, you can see a version of it here.
Posted by
Axegrinder on 12 January 2011 at 10:11
Tags: News of the World, The Guardian
The Guardian has taken up its pursuit of the News of the World with admirable vigour in recent weeks following news that assistant editor Ian Edmondson has been suspended amid new allegations of phone-hacking.
News reporters excitedly tell readers how each bit of “explosive new evidence” threatens to engulf the News of the World in scandal, and how each new revelation is sure to intensify the pressure on Andy Coulson to resign as Number Ten spin doctor.
But the paper’s enthusiasm got the better of it when it inadvertently dismissed Edmondson from his job, as this correction admits:
“An online subheading and picture caption wrongly stated that Ian Edmondson, assistant editor (news) at the News of the World, had been sacked. He has been suspended pending the outcome of an internal investigation at the paper into allegations of phone hacking, as the text below made clear.”
Meanwhile the scandal rumbles on and on - with various ongoing privacy actions, parliamentary inquiries and another police investigation yet to play out.
Axegrinder understands it is becoming a huge irritation for News Corp boss Rupert Murdoch that the matter of some intercepted voicemail messages is threatening to derail his whole business empire - coming as it does at a time when he is trying to pull off one of his biggest ever deals, the buyout of the rest of BSkyB.
My latest conspiracy theory on the whole sordid business is that rival newspaper bosses are now rather keen that he does succeed in buying-out BSkyB - because they believe he would be forced to offload some of his newspaper interests in order to safeguard media plurality.
It is certainly no fun for the Telegraph - which uniquely among the four mainstream ‘quality’ dailies has to turn a profit - that its biggest rival, The Times, is cross-subsidised to the tune of hundreds of millions by the rest of the News Corp empire.
Posted by
Axegrinder on 16 December 2010 at 09:28
Tags: Uncategorized
Word reaches me from last night’s News International Christmas party where James Murdoch frolicked with Page Three Girls as a disused building at the old Wapping print plant was transformed into a booze-fuelled winter wonderland. Trebles all round indeed.
Here’s a report from my fly-on-the-wall:
“News International’s ‘Wapping’ Christmas bash out-did itself last night with even more celebrity appearances and extravagance than last year. Hundreds of hacks packed out the giant lit-up dance floor until the wee hours and gorged their way through the free food and decadent cocktails.
“Boy band, Westlife and previous X Factor winner, Shane Ward were the surprise performances of the evening. They were introduced by Britain’s favourite voice-over artist, Peter Dickson, the voice of E4 and X Factor.
“A throng of page three girls, who had employees posing and taking photographs with them all evening. Other ‘celeb’ appearances included Rupert Murdoch’s son, James (the boss) and X Factor contestant, Katie Waissel.
“Like last year, the event was held in the disused van way at Wapping, where the company’s papers used to be loaded onto trucks for distribution from the now defunct print works. And again each newspaper had its own themed area.
“The Sun had a North African theme, the highlight of which was a Moroccan mini-kitchen where a curry was made in front of you and served - aptly - inside a rolled up sheet of newspaper. The News of the World was the busiest area - the boozer if you like - with cocktails on tap as well as an endless supply of burgers and chips.
“The Sunday Times and The Times areas were both a little more demure, with a grand piano, seafood bar and velvet coaches. And not to forget the dancing Santa’s elf, stilt-artists and larger-than-life ‘ugly sisters’ who were hired to dish out stick-on beauty spots to guests and taunt them for their outfits.
“There were certainly no expenses spared for Murdoch’s minions this year, the event must have cost hundreds of thousands. Elaborately costumed waiters and waitresses were on hand with a replacement drink before you realised you had finished your last….some sore heads all around this morning!”
Posted by
Axegrinder on 6 December 2010 at 09:23
Tags: Uncategorized
It was only a matter of time before someone did this.
Axegrinder’s sympathies go out to Today programme presenter James Naughtie who got culture secretary Jeremy Hunt’s name very wrong this morning.
Posted by
Axegrinder on 6 December 2010 at 09:19
Tags: Newspapers
Press Gazette’s recent survey of showbiz journalists revealed that glamour model Jordon has not exactly endeared herself to Fleet Street’s finest - and Axegrinder can see why.
When Press Gazette magazine asked showbiz journalists to name their least favourite celebrity, Jordan (Katie Price), topped the list.
Now word reaches me that she has sparked controversy by repeating a message on Twitter that the she used her Twitter site to retweet a fan’s suggestion that she should “start writing” that News of The World showbiz journalist Dan Wootton “has HIV” and that the Daily Star’s Gemma Wheatley “has crabs”.
“They make up #!@%*# so y cant u? (sic)” the original message read.
The timing of the message, on World Aids Day, could have been better.
Price has apparently since deleted the message, while the original poster of the message has deleted their entire account.
Posted by
Axegrinder on 22 November 2010 at 12:51
Tags: Regional Newspapers, sub-editors
Another exhibit for Axegrinder’s dark museum of production howlers - this time from Northcliffe’s ThisisGloucestershire website. It’s got the lot: dummy headline copy, pic up the wrong way round and mistakes-a-plenty in the caption.
Sadly, this has been a year of regional press production cock-ups. And it can be no coincidence that it has also been the year of sub-editor redundancies and the creation of remote subbing factories - particularly at Northcliffe.
Here is the link to the story, which hopefully will be fixed soon (writing at 12.50pm) has now been fixed.
Among several comments are Kath from Cheltenham writing at 8.57am: “TiG, This is the second time in less than a week that you have shown a nonsensical headline like the one above. When your last proof reader left did he turn the lights out??“
Posted by
Axegrinder on 9 November 2010 at 06:39
Tags: Channel 4, broadcasting
It’s early November, so the law states that everyone appearing in front of a UK TV camera must wear a poppy except Jon Snow.
On his blog he has again complained about the ‘poppy fascism’ which compels all TV presenters to wear their poppies whatever the circumstances.
Axegrinder is inclined to agree. Apparently the BBC has sent a memo around insisting that all on-air journalists wear their poppies…a few days ago I saw a  Sky news journalist reporting from the rebel-held Burmese jungle wearing a poppy…and now this:
Posted by
Axegrinder on 2 November 2010 at 11:30
Tags: The Independent
Experienced newspaper readers will know that when the headline ends in a question mark, the answer is always no.
So Axegrinder held on to his hat when he saw today’s ‘i’ front page headline stating: Has a cure been found for the common cold?
But then as ‘i’ claims to be targeting a new generation of time-poor commuters who don’t currently buy newspapers perhaps they fell for it. Those who forked out £1 for The Times would have been given the rather less sensational page 11 headline: “Scientists one step closer to a cure for the common cold”.
The discovery by Cambridge researchers showing that antibodies can fight viruses once they have entered cells “may open up new avenues for developing antiviral drugs”, the boffins tell The Times, opening up the possibility of a cure for the cold some time in the future.
For 20p i is amazing value, and a great round-up for the all the news for someone in a hurry - and its dedicated staff of ten production journalists must work incredibly hard to get it out each day. But I think they could have done better with the two other front page headlines as well.
The ‘Quiet, please. It’s a rock concert’ headline about Boy George, also on the front, teases a feature inside about a rant by the pop singer at a charity concert which was reported by the News of the World on 17 October (paywall protected). And I couldn’t help thinking of the late Keith Waterhouse’s advice on use of ’screamers’ when reading the Pimp my poppy! headline in the bottom right corner:
“An exclamation mark cannot tell the reader that a particular passage is funny. The most it can tell him is that it was meant to be funny.”
Posted by
Axegrinder on 27 October 2010 at 13:01
Tags: Nick Clegg, Politics.co.uk
The ‘revelation’ that Nick Clegg smokes the odd fag, in his appearance on Desert Island Discs, prompted a flurry of stories in the Sundays and further reports through this week.
Such as the Daily Mail - “Nick Clegg has talked for the first time about being a secret smoker” .
But was it really such a great scoop for the Radio 4 chat show?
Axegrinder recalls that Clegg told Politics.co.uk about his dark secret vice in an interview back in April.
He said then: “I have a confession to make. I do take the occasional puffs of cigarettes myself.”
So why the heavy follow now but not then Axegrinder wonders.
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