All journalists should know exactly what their rights are to attend and report council meetings.

Not just because it's where good stories invariably come from but because the media is the public's watchdog and plays a crucial part holding democratically-elected decision makers to account.

Social media could be the antidote to "churnalism", allowing time-constrained journalists to juggle multiple contacts and interviews without leaving their desks, according to the editor of the North Wales Daily Post.

Alison Gow has written a blog post challenging the concept of churnalism as defined by Nick Davies in his 2008 book Flat Earth News.

She will also talk on the subject at the free Polis journalism conference being held at the LSE on Friday, April 5 - which will be well worth checking out for any students who have cleared their end of term deadlines a day early.

A wave of recruitment is continuing at the Kent Messenger, which is advertising reporting jobs in Maidstone and Whitstable.

The jobs would include producing stories for print, online and radio. The deadline for applications is April 1. As you have come to expect, NCTJ prelim exams and a driving licence are both required.

It would be a perfect first job for anyone about to graduate with a BA or MA. Applications by email (a cover letter and CV) to kdunstall@thekmgroup.co.uk

And, in the spirit of objectivity, I should mention that other jobs are available. Anyone about to graduate should by now be a regular visitor to Gorkana, Press Gazette, Hold The Front Page, and The Guardian.

For a major news source, severely biased news is one way to get disgruntled viewers and depleted credibility. CNN has recently learned this the hard way.

After two young men were convicted last week of raping a 16 year old girl at a party in Steubenville, Ohio, CNN covered the horrific case; however their sympathy was not placed on the young woman who experienced unimaginable suffering, but the budding sports stars who ruined their lives after they raped someone at a party while she was passed out.

Keeping up with last term's tradition of the Medwire setting the national news agenda, a story first written by one of our own, Michelle Gleaves, has today been published on the BBC (3rd top story in England), MailOnline and the Huffington Post and on the Press Association's Mediapoint.

Over the next couple of days, we'll do a series of briefings for Year 2 students about their elective choices for next year.

On Friday at 12noon in the main newsroom, Sarah Lonsdale will talk about her module the Depiction of the Journalist in Fiction (JN510), and Rob Bailey will talk about his Sports Journalism module (JN512).

On Monday at 2pm in the main newsroom, I will talk about Advanced Multimedia Storytelling (JN506) and Richard will talk about Reporting Conflict (JN509).

I have set up a dedicated 'digitising station' for students to transfer video footage they have shot onto a computer for editing. As many of the cameras are no longer communicating with the PCs there is now a DV player connected to the computer by the second (locked) door in the undergrad newsroom. I have laminated printed instructions for how to use this equipment and stuck them on the workstation.

They read as follows:-

Can all students please ensure that they register for next year's modules by Friday,  22 March - even if all your modules are core, you must still register online.  If you have any problems doing this please contact Kelly Porter K.A.Porter@kent.ac.uk in Student Admin.

There's a brilliant feature on The Guardian's website today about Brentford FC: apparently the owners of the only football ground in the country to have a pub on each corner.

Today's Medway Messenger features an impressive investigation into illegal drag racing, written by second year student Matt Charles.

His story delves deep into Medway's underworld, exposing how 300 young petrolheads regularly meet on the Medway City Estate to compete in drag and drift races, including interviews with people who have taken part.