Post 12:08 Can I have a teensy bit more time please?

January 29, 2008 in Freelance life, Work, Worst Pitch Ever?

Overseas trips are one of the perks that sometimes come a journalist’s way.
I was offered one today. But it was only two weeks into the future. It is simply impossible for a self employed person to take a week out of their business on two weeks’ notice. It’s even harder to make the case to [...]

Post 11:08 Your postcode may suck, but Australia Day means a lot

January 26, 2008 in Politics

Australia Day. I never know what to think about it.
I don’t understand quite how it is appropriate to celebrate the day a colonial power ran up the flag to found one colony of several that later federated to become a nation. That nation, of course, failed to recognise the nations already here. And the day [...]

Post 10:08 Naughty PRs

January 25, 2008 in P-aaaaargh!, Worst practise

Oh dear. A US newspaper seems to have been duped by a blogger with links to PR.
Not a good look for PR or “citizen journalism.”

Post 09:08 How to pitch to me more effectively

January 25, 2008 in Freelance life, P-aaaaargh!, Work, Worst Pitch Ever?

I had one of those hopeless pitches yesterday which was very, very hard to say Yes to.
PR: My client’s VP of Great Importance is coming. Do you want to interview them?
Me: Why should I? What could he talk about?
PR: He’s been with them for 16 years and he could discuss their roadmap since their recent [...]

Post 08:08 Another reason to despise the music industry

January 22, 2008 in Music, Web 2.0

In this Wired interview with David Byrne, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke says something startling:
“EMI wasn’t giving us any money for digital sales. All the contracts signed in a certain era have none of that stuff.”
I’m pretty sure that what he is saying is that because Radiohead signed to EMI before any of this digital craziness started, [...]

Post 07:08 Celebrities are real, not just TV

January 22, 2008 in kids and media, staycooldad

My son is going to a sports camp this week, along with the children of a PlaySchool presenter/rather famous entertainer.
We were discussing his presence around the dinner table this evening when my daughter said she has heard of the entertainer in question and declared:
“They have one of him on Play School. He is real.”
Yes, dear. [...]

Post 06:08 A quick tip about podcasting

January 21, 2008 in Freelance life, P-aaaaargh!, Web 2.0

I do not claim to know much about podcasting. My efforts so far are pretty basic.
But already I find that PR types are making one fundamental error as we interact to set these things up. And that is assuming that it is a normal interview.
It is not, for two reasons:

Any kind of conference call or [...]

Post 05:08 The more information the better

January 17, 2008 in Freelance life, P-aaaaargh!

Here’s a tip: the more information the better.
Today I received a pitch from a PR asking if her client belonged in a feature.
I’d never heard of the client, so how was I supposed to know.
A couple of days ago I was invited to an event, the agenda for which had no detail about who would [...]

Post 04:08 The unfair asynchronicity of the PR/media relationship

January 17, 2008 in Freelance life, P-aaaaargh!, Web 2.0, Work, social networking

PR pitches are often a lot like telemarketing calls. They come from nowhere and make offers of dubious relevance.
That’s inevitably frustrating, just like telemarketing calls!
But it is also a PR’s job to make those calls (or send those emails) even though (just like telemarketers) their success rate is trivial. So it is hard to understand [...]

Post 03:08 Computer games and why I want my kids to play a lot of them

January 15, 2008 in kids and media, staycooldad

For Christmas we bought the boy Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii.
It is the first modern computer game we’ve had for a while. Our last console was the PS1 and although we have had the Wii for a few months, we persevered with Wii sports.
Now I’m starting to appreciate just what astounding creations modern games [...]