G20 protestors gathered in London

As the G20 protests in the City gathered pace today, I like many others, turned to Twitter to keep updated.

It is at times like this when I fear that newspapers in their print form really are redundant. Who wants to find out the news tomorrow morning when they can watch the action unfold via the many 24 hour news mediums available?

Twitter has revolutionised the way in which news is dispersed. Journalists and citizen journalists alike no longer have to wait to file their copy by email, phone or when they get back to the office. They do not even have to switch on a camera and do a report. They can give minute by minute accounts from the scene.

Of course this means a completely different type of news report. Facts may become sketchy and grammar may go out the window as events are reported quickly and often from the centre of the action.

This is not the first time Twitter has become a source of breaking news, during the Mumbai attacks in November 2008, Twitter updates kept the world updated from inside the Taj Mahal Palace hotel.

This is presents an exciting opportunity for journalism and I hope it may get reporters, who are now often confined to the newsrooms, back out where the news is happening.

Picture: from felixthehat on Flickr

Newspaper stand from laffy4k on Flickr

The Government has bailed out the banks and is working on a package for the motor industry, so what next? Some people have suggested newspapers should also receive a lump sum from Alastair Darling’s pot.

This idea was rejected by the Business Secretary Peter Mandelson earlier this month.

The Press Gazette reported that he said:

“I don’t think that government subsidies are the right way forward.

“But where we can help in maintaining public sector advertising and applying cross media competition rules, we should certainly consider doing so.”

At the time I thought “why shouldn’t the Government help out the struggling industry?” I, like many others, do not want to see it go under. And I’m sure this sentiment is not just echoed by those in the industry. Other people will also be sorry to see some titles disappearing.

But I was reading this article by Charlie Beckett - which I was directed to through Twitter- in which he discusses John Nicol and Robert McChesney’s argument that the US government should bail out their media and I started to think about the idea.

As I have already stated, other industries have been helped out by the Government, why shouldn’t newspapers? We always hear of the public interest argument when papers print something controversial and they do (if not always) serve the public.

The media is the fourth estate, playing a very valuable role in society and although it doesn’t always write what the Government wants, it also provides a lot of publicity for the Government. After all, if journalists didn’t write about new Government policies and decisions and papers didn’t publish them, who would?

But the problem is that were the press to accept a handout, then they could not really be said to be a “free” press, something which was fought so hard for years ago. If the press accepted money from central Government then it would have a loyalty to the Government which would affect its ability to hold them to account.

The only problem now is where the struggling newspapers will get a much needed boost from.

My role for this week was in the features department so on Thursday last week I rolled up for a features meeting to discuss ideas and start things moving.

At first, things didn’t seem to be getting off the ground, a couple of hour’s research on Friday for one feature and an afternoon walking the streets of Hackney on Monday for another bore no fruit.

On Sunday, I spent the morning doing a walking tour of Shoreditch and Hoxton as part of the East Festival. Fascinating stuff but the video was unusable due to traffic noise and it was not possible to take stills from the footage.

The afternoon was more productive, I went to the Geffrye Museum with Ben to film kids in a craft workshop, watch a play and speak to some people.

Tuesday was the most exciting day this week. I went with Beth to get some footage and interviews from the site of the original Shakespeare theatre in Shoreditch for a feature on Shakespeare in the borough.

I returned to university feeling very excited, I was one of just 50 people who got to see the site before it was closed up and the planning permission is finalised. We took video of archaeologist Heather Knight from the Museum of London and did an on location to camera piece. But technical problems hit and the video could not be downloaded.

Wednesday was a frustrating day. I made about 30 calls to academics- I don’t even want to think about my phone bill- all of whom were out/not answering their phone/ unable to help/ on maternity leave. I also tried desperately to find some photos to replace the lost footage from the previous day.

In the evening Ben and I went to a hidden gem in the backstreets of Dalston in Hackney. Passing Clouds is unlike anywhere I have been before, an eclectic mix of decorations, sari fabric hanging from the walls upstairs, Arabic style writing on the walls downstairs and a collection of dolls and puppets dotted around were just some of the things on display.

I learned to play the African drum with Adesose Wallace. It was like going back to school, as I lost the rhythm he would get progressively frustrated but when we all played in time his face lit up with pride. Hopefully the feature and video will go in next week’s edition.

Thursday was deadline day and as expected, things became a bit manic. Arguments were had about page layout, copy which was cut and pictures were changed. But overall we pulled together and are proud of our efforts.

Neil, who is Head of Editorial Development at the Guardian, spoke to City University students in a lecture today about innovation online, what the Guardian has done and what its future is.

As students we are told that journalism is becoming increasingly digital and we need to keep ahead of the game to succeed in our chosen field. This can be difficult, it means keeping your finger firmly on the pulse when new technologies are developing all the time.

Interestingly though, Neil said that straight forward reporting of stories on the Guardian’s website still receive more unique visitors than Twitter updates or live blogging from events. This suggests that although news websites are catching on to the fact that they need to transform themselves, users still prefer good, old fashioned news information. This is heartening for us student journalists, it shows that there is a valuable place for us in this new world as people who are trained to write well and also have a good understanding of new technologies.

Neil also said that when the last printing press was bought by the Guardian, its editor, Alan Rusbridger said  that it would be the last one the paper buys. Neil said that printing presses last 20-25 years and then the paper may share one with another title. This indicates that print is not dead. Neil said that it still has a market as long as it is prepared to change. I believe this is true, it will still be read on the commute to and from work and by people who want to consume news in bigger chunks and reflect on the days events. This is what newspapers need to adapt to and I think they are starting to do that, the morning’s papers often develop last night’s story in a way which websites do not cater for.

To my mind this can only be a good thing. No, they do not provide quality reporting, and I can’t say I enjoy reading them, but they get people reading the news and talking about it. Surely that is the role of newspapers?

I was therefore surprised by the scathing attack on them by Roy Greenslade. He said that thelondonpaper was only ever about Murdoch having his share of the market to stop the Daily Mail and General Trust which publishes London Lite, the Metro and the Evening Standard:

“Publishing thelondonpaper is simply a blunt instrument to wreck a rival company’s business. It is about destroying profit rather than making it.”

It seems fair enough that there is some healthy competition in the market and as the paper is not making a profit it would suggest that the public have made up their own minds about it (or at least the advertisers have) and that is what they should be allowed to do.

I do agree with Greenslade that it is a shame that the Evening Standard is suffering but the Dail Mail group is killing its own title off with the popularity of its London Lite paper.

If the recession combined with the growth of new media is as bad for newspapers as media commentators make out then the freesheets may become the staple of London news. Although I hope it will never come to that, at least people who would not otherwise read the news are being kept in touch with what goes on in the world.

However, I do agree with Greenslade that perhaps media organisations need to spend more time and energy preserving their quality titles rather than fighting over the circulation of freesheets.

I was pleased to find some more optimistic views published in the Press Gazette on Monday. Dominic Ponsford wrote about the Manchester Evening news’ Judy Gordon calling for the Guardian to stop “slagging off” newspaper journalists because they are working hard with less staff and for less money.

Another article in the Press Gazette by Rachael Gallagher reported that traditional media will grow in the next five years, according to Marcel Fenez from PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

So you see, there’s life in the old dog yet.