Centre for Journalism | Where journalists have greatness thrust upon them

If Guido Fawkes worked for a national what would happen to him?

William Hague's newly appointed special adviser Christopher Myers was forced to resign today after a whispering campaign over whether he was Hague's lover.

The allegations were started by blogger Guido Fawkes. William Hague has had to release a statement denying everything and listing very personal information about his relationship with his wife.

Guido's story is essentially this.

This post details Hague's statement.

What I am wondering is what would happen if he worked for a national newspaper or broadcaster.

Who was first with the 'first draft of history'

In a delightful piece for Slate magazine, Jack Shafer delves into the history of that enduring description of journalism as 'the first draft of history'. Perhaps surprisingly, his search only takes him as far back as the 1940s, to an editorial in the Washington Post - and even later for the inclusion of the the word 'rough'. He also wonders why the phrase has such power. 'What makes "first rough draft of history" so tuneful, at least to the ears of journalists? Well, it flatters them.

Big congratulations

...to all the superb candidates who have today won places on the Kent BA in Journalism and the News Industry. In an intensely competitive year every one of you has performed exceptionally well to get in. Our new freshers are a very cosmopolitan bunch. You come from every corner of the UK and the English-speaking world. Everyone in the Centre for Journalism looks forward to seeing you in September. Until then we hope you will enjoy celebrating your achievement. If you have any questions we have not already answered about the course, the National Council for the Training of Journalists, preparatory reading, listening and watching (e.g. which newspapers to read, radio news to listen to, TV to watch and news websites to browse), please don't hesitate to contact us at journalism@kent.ac.uk. Our Facebook site is a good place to introduce yourself to your fellow freshers and to meet second and third year students and our new MA students. The link is on the toolbar.

Ushahidi: "we just wanted to make it easier for people to tell stories"

Josh Halliday of The Guardian tells the brilliant story of the crowd sourcing phenomenon Ushahidi today.

In an interview with creator Ory Okolloh, Halliday tells the story of how the tool went from cataloguing instances of Kenyan violence during a media blackout, to being used to co-ordinate humanitarian efforts after disasters worldwide, like the earthquake in Haiti.

Reaching the point of no return

In a lengthy but brilliant article, Jeffrey Goldberg explores the possibility of Israel launching a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.

Among the 40 or so Israeli, Arab and American officials he speaks to, a consensus emerges that there is 50 per cent chance that such an attack will happen - by next July.

Shoddy prose bespeaks intellectual insecurity

And deprives us all of the public space created by good, clear verbal communication. So wrote Tony Judt, the brilliant historian who died last week, aged 62, of motor neurone disease in a final essay published in today's Guardian. It advances the most passionate argument for the teaching and deployment of rich, plain English since George Orwell lambasted obscurantism in Politics and the English Language. If you read nothing else today - a deplorable thought - read this. After all, as Judt asks, "If words fall into disrepair, what will substitute? They are all we have."

Afghanistan & Wikileaks: Julian Assange at the Frontline Club

On Monday Wikileaks released a mountain of documents on the war in Afghanistan through the Guardian, the New York Times and German weekly Der Spiegel.

The picture painted is chaotic: failed attempts to win the 'hearts and minds' of the Afghan people, numerous incidences of civilian casualties and evidence that both Iran and Pakistan are helping the Taliban.

Afghanistan war logs: live blog

The Guardian, the New York Times and Der Spiegel have published a huge cache of secret military files from the whistleblowing website Wikileaks, detailing the war in Afghanistan. Julian Assange of Wikileaks is holding a press conference at noon today at the Frontline Club. The conference will be broadcast live.

A new way to avoid answering the question

Anyone still staying in touch with some politics will know of an election expenses scandal involving Tory "non-dom" Zac Goldsmith (MP for Richmond).

What has got me blogging though are his tactics on the subsequent interview about it on Channel 4 news. If any of you haven't seen it here is the link:

A brilliant first draft

Following glowing recommendations from John Saunders, Suzanne Franks and BBC Radio 4 (for which many thanks), I have just finished 'Nothing to Envy - Real Lives in North Korea,' by Barbara Demick. This account of state repression and human misery in North Korea deserves every syllable of praise already heaped upon it, and more. It is extended reporting at its most brilliant. Demick, a former Korea correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, has the ace correspondent's eye for detail. Having read it I feel I know more about life in the world's last entirely unreconstructed Stalinist state a.k.a. the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea, than I thought it possible to learn. I know infinitely more than the repulsive Kim Il-Sung (brutal and depraved leader of his benighted homeland from 1953 until his death in 1994) and his repugnant son Kim Jong-il, ever intended me to know.

Navigation

Pick of the Day

Upcoming events

BBC News latest