Wednesday 22 April 2009
Press Gazette saved from possible closure
News in that the much-loved Press Gazette - the trade press for the industry in the UK, has been saved from possible closure after being acquired by publisher Progressive Media. News coverage on the website and on Press Gazette’s network of blogs will apparently resume today and the May issue of the magazine will go out as normal. Press Gazette will also be moving offices this week from Old Street to Paddington. The new address will be announced in due course.
Sunday 19 April 2009
Recipe for writing success
Writer Adele Parks, 40, described in the Times earlier this year, how she set out to become a writer - and achieved her goal.
Her comments are inspiring, but rather daunting. She has talent but worked hard to succeed. A combination of flair and slog in equal measure.
"Because I was very goal-orientated, I followed the regime that my husband used to train for marathons. He exercised three hours a day, three days a week and five hours at the weekend. I took the same timetable to write and devised a work plan: what I should read, how much I should write and the structure of the book.
"My plan was to drop off the first three chapters and a synopsis to my agent on my 30th birthday. A friend who had been reading my first draft came across an interview with Jonny Geller, of Curtis Brown, who said he liked 10-word pitches.
"So I dropped the work into his office the day before my birthday and with it I put a synopsis with the words...'Anna Karenina meets Bridget Jones but heroine gets to live'. He loved it."
Her comments are inspiring, but rather daunting. She has talent but worked hard to succeed. A combination of flair and slog in equal measure.
"Because I was very goal-orientated, I followed the regime that my husband used to train for marathons. He exercised three hours a day, three days a week and five hours at the weekend. I took the same timetable to write and devised a work plan: what I should read, how much I should write and the structure of the book.
"My plan was to drop off the first three chapters and a synopsis to my agent on my 30th birthday. A friend who had been reading my first draft came across an interview with Jonny Geller, of Curtis Brown, who said he liked 10-word pitches.
"So I dropped the work into his office the day before my birthday and with it I put a synopsis with the words...'Anna Karenina meets Bridget Jones but heroine gets to live'. He loved it."
Tuesday 14 April 2009
Journalism "sinks" to new low with yet another bizarre award
I've blogged earlier about the annual journalism award for writing about turkeys (posted Friday 3 April). Now there's this - a journalism award for the best writing about ceramic tiles and bathroom furnishings. I know journalism is in a poorly state - but this, er, "sinks" to a new low.
Ceramic Tiles of Italy Journalism Award 2009Deadline: 15/05/09Details: This award will recognise the best published article/report on the Italian ceramic tile industry and/or Cersaie 2008 (the international exhibition of ceramic tile and bathroom furnishings).Prize: The prize is a commemorative plaque to be awarded at the international press conference at Cersaie 2009, along with a three-day stay in Rome for two people prior to the conference, with travel, board and lodging paid for.Address: Press Office, Ceramic Tiles of Italy, Viale Monte Santo 40, 41049 Sassuolo ItalyTelephone: +39 0536 818 111 Fax: +39 0536 807 935Email: info@italiatiles.comWeb: http://www.journalism.co.uk/shorturl/GGHWB/
Google+
Ceramic Tiles of Italy Journalism Award 2009Deadline: 15/05/09Details: This award will recognise the best published article/report on the Italian ceramic tile industry and/or Cersaie 2008 (the international exhibition of ceramic tile and bathroom furnishings).Prize: The prize is a commemorative plaque to be awarded at the international press conference at Cersaie 2009, along with a three-day stay in Rome for two people prior to the conference, with travel, board and lodging paid for.Address: Press Office, Ceramic Tiles of Italy, Viale Monte Santo 40, 41049 Sassuolo ItalyTelephone: +39 0536 818 111 Fax: +39 0536 807 935Email: info@italiatiles.comWeb: http://www.journalism.co.uk/shorturl/GGHWB/
Google+
Thursday 9 April 2009
Annoying habits of PRs
My mobile is ringing. I'm driving in a busy line of traffic. I pull the car up on a kerb, answer the phone, and...
Anonymous enthusiastic female voice: "Hi, is that Liz. Is now a good time."
Me: "No" (Thinks...but does it make any difference what I answer you will carry on regardless anyway.)
Anonymous voice: "Hi, my name is Camilla. I'm calling from Whatever, Whatever- with-the-posh-office-in-central-London Public Relations Company... Did you get my press release? Yes, it was about how green tea can reduce ridges in your nails, now it's summer time. Apparently, Emma Bunton has been seen drinking green tea and she has lovely nails. I was just wondering if you might be interested in writing a story about this?"
Me: Thinks (Er, No. Not if it was the last possible press release on the planet. Get lost, have you seen my inbox full of PR crap - email after email of story-free press releases about stuff I would never ever write about. And PR salaries are probably double journalists (not that I'm bitter. Well actually I am) Have you no idea what a "story" actually is. AAAAGhhhh. Go away Camilla).
Me: Actually says "Oh thanks, but it's not really my kind of thing. But thanks anyway".
AAAAAAAAAAAghhh. I know PRs are told to ring after they have sent a press release, to check the journalist has received it. But how tedious and how ridiculous is this. If it were a story and I were interested in it, I would ring the PR.
Anonymous enthusiastic female voice: "Hi, is that Liz. Is now a good time."
Me: "No" (Thinks...but does it make any difference what I answer you will carry on regardless anyway.)
Anonymous voice: "Hi, my name is Camilla. I'm calling from Whatever, Whatever- with-the-posh-office-in-central-London Public Relations Company... Did you get my press release? Yes, it was about how green tea can reduce ridges in your nails, now it's summer time. Apparently, Emma Bunton has been seen drinking green tea and she has lovely nails. I was just wondering if you might be interested in writing a story about this?"
Me: Thinks (Er, No. Not if it was the last possible press release on the planet. Get lost, have you seen my inbox full of PR crap - email after email of story-free press releases about stuff I would never ever write about. And PR salaries are probably double journalists (not that I'm bitter. Well actually I am) Have you no idea what a "story" actually is. AAAAGhhhh. Go away Camilla).
Me: Actually says "Oh thanks, but it's not really my kind of thing. But thanks anyway".
AAAAAAAAAAAghhh. I know PRs are told to ring after they have sent a press release, to check the journalist has received it. But how tedious and how ridiculous is this. If it were a story and I were interested in it, I would ring the PR.
Wednesday 8 April 2009
Tips for coming up with freelance feature ideas
As a freelance journalist, my revenue is partly dictated by how many good ideas I can come up with. Not surprisingly, I am obsessed with seeking out ways to up my ideas flow and I have a bookshelf full of 'boost your creativity' books. Here's a few of the ideas-boosting techniques I use.
Power brainstorming
A Moleskine notebook - http://www.moleskine.co.uk/ is ideal for this. Write the numbers 1 to 100, then without thinking about it too much, power through writing a hundred things that are preoccupying, interesting, puzzling or annoying you now. This is a numbers game - but I would expect to find one or two gem ideas in here. Then do it again - another hundred. And again. I guarantee you'll have at least one saleable idea after this exercise.
Email all your friends and ask them what they want to read
Did this recently and it yielded some interesting results. Just send an email to friends, colleagues and anybody else I could think of. I told them I was thinking up feature ideas, and was there anything they would be interested in reading about? Grass roots reader research.
Trade magazines
One of the most lucrative sources of ideas. Many news stories break in trade magazines and professional journals. I particularly love catering and obscure food magazines. Even if they don't give you a direct idea, they will start the thinking process.
Random word pairs game
Here's one for when I'm feeling really stuck. Putting two ideas together can make a feature. Write 30 random nouns around the subject area you specialise in (children, pets, desk, toys). Cut them up and turn them face down. Then play noun pairs. Pull out two and see if you can turn them into a feature idea. I pulled out 'toys' and 'children' and it got me thinking about how children today have way too many toys and probably don't appreciate them. It was a subject I realised I felt strongly about - and there was plenty of new research on it. So ultimately this led to a piece in Guardian Family. The result is posted on the cuttings section of my website www.lizhollis.co.uk
Discover the opposite
One of my favourites for releasing some good ideas. Think of a cliche - such as 'young people go on gap years' - then think if there is material in a feature that shows exactly the opposite can be true. 'Old people on gap years'.
Overheard in a cafe
This one's a little odd, but I've come up with some good ideas this way. Sit in a busy cafe - and listen in on conversations. Making notes in your Moleskine as you go - people will think you are busy writing your latest novel. Unfortunately, for every gem idea, you have to listen to an awful lot of drivel. But if people are talking about something, they'll be interested in reading about it too.
Replay conversations with friends
Hope my friends won't mind me admitting this, but at my desk after a supper or gathering - I go back over the subject areas the conversations drifted over. I can often pick out some feature ideas - or at least some starter points for more research.
Power brainstorming
A Moleskine notebook - http://www.moleskine.co.uk/ is ideal for this. Write the numbers 1 to 100, then without thinking about it too much, power through writing a hundred things that are preoccupying, interesting, puzzling or annoying you now. This is a numbers game - but I would expect to find one or two gem ideas in here. Then do it again - another hundred. And again. I guarantee you'll have at least one saleable idea after this exercise.
Email all your friends and ask them what they want to read
Did this recently and it yielded some interesting results. Just send an email to friends, colleagues and anybody else I could think of. I told them I was thinking up feature ideas, and was there anything they would be interested in reading about? Grass roots reader research.
Trade magazines
One of the most lucrative sources of ideas. Many news stories break in trade magazines and professional journals. I particularly love catering and obscure food magazines. Even if they don't give you a direct idea, they will start the thinking process.
Random word pairs game
Here's one for when I'm feeling really stuck. Putting two ideas together can make a feature. Write 30 random nouns around the subject area you specialise in (children, pets, desk, toys). Cut them up and turn them face down. Then play noun pairs. Pull out two and see if you can turn them into a feature idea. I pulled out 'toys' and 'children' and it got me thinking about how children today have way too many toys and probably don't appreciate them. It was a subject I realised I felt strongly about - and there was plenty of new research on it. So ultimately this led to a piece in Guardian Family. The result is posted on the cuttings section of my website www.lizhollis.co.uk
Discover the opposite
One of my favourites for releasing some good ideas. Think of a cliche - such as 'young people go on gap years' - then think if there is material in a feature that shows exactly the opposite can be true. 'Old people on gap years'.
Overheard in a cafe
This one's a little odd, but I've come up with some good ideas this way. Sit in a busy cafe - and listen in on conversations. Making notes in your Moleskine as you go - people will think you are busy writing your latest novel. Unfortunately, for every gem idea, you have to listen to an awful lot of drivel. But if people are talking about something, they'll be interested in reading about it too.
Replay conversations with friends
Hope my friends won't mind me admitting this, but at my desk after a supper or gathering - I go back over the subject areas the conversations drifted over. I can often pick out some feature ideas - or at least some starter points for more research.
Friday 3 April 2009
Probably the most bizarre journalism award - ever.
This press release just came in the office. I know journalists love awards - so here's one that's up for grabs...if you're really desperate. A good one for any journalists based in Norfolk - perhaps I'll have a go myself. How about Turkey and Cadbury's Cream Egg Risotto, Turkey Jelly with Quail Ice Cream boules or Turkey and Aniseed Pie. Mmmm...
Press release from FML Public Relations
Here’s a chance to be – British
British Turkey is inviting entries for the British Turkey Recipe Writer of the Year – and it could be you!
To win this prestigious title, simply send us a copy of your published recipe using British turkey. This can include fresh, frozen, whole birds, crown roast or leg joints, portions such as turkey mince, diced turkey, turkey steaks or breast fillets. It can be a recipe to feed a crowd or an intimate dinner for two. The only rule is that it features turkey and been published (print or broadcast media or website) within the last 12 months.
Judges will be looking for creative, modern and stylish recipes using the different cuts of turkey as the hero of the dish. The closing date for entries is 31st July 2009.
Shortlisted entries will be invited to a glittering black tie dinner at Claridge’s on 24th September 2009, when the winner will be announced.
Just fill in the form below and post, with a colour photocopy of your published recipe to:
Emma Turner
FML Public Relations
Hurstpierpoint
For further information, e-mail emma@fml-pr.co.uk or call 01273 834716 and ask for Emma Turner or Jane Saward.
Name …………………………………………………Tel No…………………………..
Job title ……………………………………………………………………………………
Place of work ……………………………………………………………………………..
Publication which featured recipe ………………………………………………………………………………………………
Date of issue ………………………………………………………………………………
Friday 27 March 2009
Successful model of profitable web publishing
A business model for online publishing, outlined in my local paper The Eastern Daily Press, suggests some profitable ways forward for the industry.
According to the EDP Business, entrepreneur Glen White, runs a successful editorial operation at his Norwich and Toronto-based White Digital Media Group.
Apparently, in 2009 revenues are expected to be in excess of £10m. Mr White is based in San Diego, but still has a home in Norfolk.
His company the White Digital Media Group has more than 100 staff - 40 of those based at the Norfolk headquarters.
The EDP had an incisive quote - not - from editor Ben Lobel. "We are doing really well," he said. Hmmm - but why?
"In February (09) we have sold £150,000 worth of advertising just for the UK magazine".
Interesting model. The word from my source who has to find a way past their fag-break salesmen on her way to work every day, is that they have some heavy-hitting, heavy-duty, puffing, Mr Salestastic Men at their slightly grotty HQ in Norwich.
They must be doing some awesome work on the phones. Guess that's what profitable publishing is all about these days - it's impressive.
It's a fascinating business model and I like the look of the online magazines on the website. The pages turn easily and it's quite a comfortable read - not sure if they produce a print version, will have to investigate more.
Link to White Digital Media Group
http://www.whitedm.com/
According to the EDP Business, entrepreneur Glen White, runs a successful editorial operation at his Norwich and Toronto-based White Digital Media Group.
Apparently, in 2009 revenues are expected to be in excess of £10m. Mr White is based in San Diego, but still has a home in Norfolk.
His company the White Digital Media Group has more than 100 staff - 40 of those based at the Norfolk headquarters.
The EDP had an incisive quote - not - from editor Ben Lobel. "We are doing really well," he said. Hmmm - but why?
"In February (09) we have sold £150,000 worth of advertising just for the UK magazine".
Interesting model. The word from my source who has to find a way past their fag-break salesmen on her way to work every day, is that they have some heavy-hitting, heavy-duty, puffing, Mr Salestastic Men at their slightly grotty HQ in Norwich.
They must be doing some awesome work on the phones. Guess that's what profitable publishing is all about these days - it's impressive.
It's a fascinating business model and I like the look of the online magazines on the website. The pages turn easily and it's quite a comfortable read - not sure if they produce a print version, will have to investigate more.
Link to White Digital Media Group
http://www.whitedm.com/
Wednesday 18 March 2009
Tips from a journalism seminar in London - from print to web
From Mag to Web
Women in Journalism held a seminar last night in London. The panel were Bernadette Fallon, editor allaboutyou.com; Sarah Lindon, senior moderator at guardian.co.uk and Kathryn Corrick, digital media consultant and former manager at newstatesman.co.uk
I went along hoping for some tips on how I can embrace this lovely new technology that seems to putting all us journalists out of work - and possibly even learn how to increase my income by working more on the web.
Yes I can twitter, yes I can facebook and web 2.0 - but most of my income still comes from my pieces in print media. So if anybody can tell me how to make money from the web I'll be very happy indeed. Don't want to be a print dinosaur.
Sadly, didn't learn anything about boosting my income - the three speakers were interesting but seemed to echo what all journalist and publishers know already - that nobody seems to know much about monetising the web - or what a good business model might be.
Bernadette was a good speaker - and explained how the site grew out of a single site bought by NatMags and then used as the She website. Because the readers of Country Living, Coast and other stablemates had the same 35plus female readers, they consolidated the web presence and called it allaboutyou.com - it now serves all these mags.
Bernadette said employment wise there was now a big opportunity for journalists with the right skills to work on web instead. Those skills, she said, were picture awareness (knowing how to use photoshop as well); being able to make a basic video package (at this point I felt sorry for all those TV journalists losing their jobs because we can all make crap web video stuff now) and knowing how to write copy with Search Engine Optimisation terms in it.
About 40% of her content is different from the print mags adn she does have a budget to commission, but you guessed it, it's tiny.
The other interesting thing I learned from this talk was that web people working in the publishing have an inferiority complex next to their print colleagues - they feel unloved and unheard. (Not surprising they are putting us all out of a job and using free writers and punters to contribute free comment). Yes dear Guardian - comment is free - you don't have to pay journalists to produce it!
Sarah the moderator at the Guardian - told us about her job - basically policing reader comments. Learned that it's best if journalists interact with the comments when they have written stuff and post comments back in comment on comments. Just filed to The Guardian so I 'll give it a go when the piece comes out in print - that's assuming I, er, get any comments. It's a good and a very, very terrifying thing that readers can interact with your copy.
Interesting, she spoke about the change from readers being 'consumers' with the journalist as the authority to being 'prosumers' where they interact, debate and take part in a Web 2.0 sort of way.
She said journalists writing for the web tend to have a more conversationalist style, rather than the slightly preachy tones of print journalists. Think I must definitely be from the latter school of journalism.
Journlists, said Sarah; 'Should move away from being experts to being more of a collaborator or a curator.' Found this deeply interesting - can see myself curating lots of opinions, but then a piece doesn't work if you don't take a strong line with it as well.
Kathryn was the last speaker - and raved about a writer called Jeff Jarvis and his thoughts on the web. I'm not sure of the spelling of his name, as I haven't yet checked it out.
She also talked about what we all know - that people expect web content to be free. Apparently, there is a seminar in London on 30 March 2009 called 'Freeconomics' about this - run by Chinwag Digital, but again I'm not sure of spellings on this - so if you're interested you'll have to google. Oh look I'm being all interactive here rather than authoratative.
Kathryn had worked at the New Statesman and nothing had brought in money to the web version, not advertising, not a paid-for PDF version, not micropayments...nothing.
But she did say that one way of making money was EVENTS AND AWARDS --- so I guess you stil have to get people together for a reader event or industry award to get advertisers to sponsor and punters to part with their cash. They just won't buy content off the internet.
She said email is still crucial. You need as many readers email addresses as you can - research shows people like updates from publications they like over email She said Amazon use email updates better than anybody else - just enough to alert you without annoying you.
So that was it - I learned a little more about the web. But I didn't learn how to make money from it. Oh look - I just wrote this blog for free and I'll earn nothing from it - unless you want to send me a free donation of course!
Feedback on this would also be lovely.
Liz
Women in Journalism held a seminar last night in London. The panel were Bernadette Fallon, editor allaboutyou.com; Sarah Lindon, senior moderator at guardian.co.uk and Kathryn Corrick, digital media consultant and former manager at newstatesman.co.uk
I went along hoping for some tips on how I can embrace this lovely new technology that seems to putting all us journalists out of work - and possibly even learn how to increase my income by working more on the web.
Yes I can twitter, yes I can facebook and web 2.0 - but most of my income still comes from my pieces in print media. So if anybody can tell me how to make money from the web I'll be very happy indeed. Don't want to be a print dinosaur.
Sadly, didn't learn anything about boosting my income - the three speakers were interesting but seemed to echo what all journalist and publishers know already - that nobody seems to know much about monetising the web - or what a good business model might be.
Bernadette was a good speaker - and explained how the site grew out of a single site bought by NatMags and then used as the She website. Because the readers of Country Living, Coast and other stablemates had the same 35plus female readers, they consolidated the web presence and called it allaboutyou.com - it now serves all these mags.
Bernadette said employment wise there was now a big opportunity for journalists with the right skills to work on web instead. Those skills, she said, were picture awareness (knowing how to use photoshop as well); being able to make a basic video package (at this point I felt sorry for all those TV journalists losing their jobs because we can all make crap web video stuff now) and knowing how to write copy with Search Engine Optimisation terms in it.
About 40% of her content is different from the print mags adn she does have a budget to commission, but you guessed it, it's tiny.
The other interesting thing I learned from this talk was that web people working in the publishing have an inferiority complex next to their print colleagues - they feel unloved and unheard. (Not surprising they are putting us all out of a job and using free writers and punters to contribute free comment). Yes dear Guardian - comment is free - you don't have to pay journalists to produce it!
Sarah the moderator at the Guardian - told us about her job - basically policing reader comments. Learned that it's best if journalists interact with the comments when they have written stuff and post comments back in comment on comments. Just filed to The Guardian so I 'll give it a go when the piece comes out in print - that's assuming I, er, get any comments. It's a good and a very, very terrifying thing that readers can interact with your copy.
Interesting, she spoke about the change from readers being 'consumers' with the journalist as the authority to being 'prosumers' where they interact, debate and take part in a Web 2.0 sort of way.
She said journalists writing for the web tend to have a more conversationalist style, rather than the slightly preachy tones of print journalists. Think I must definitely be from the latter school of journalism.
Journlists, said Sarah; 'Should move away from being experts to being more of a collaborator or a curator.' Found this deeply interesting - can see myself curating lots of opinions, but then a piece doesn't work if you don't take a strong line with it as well.
Kathryn was the last speaker - and raved about a writer called Jeff Jarvis and his thoughts on the web. I'm not sure of the spelling of his name, as I haven't yet checked it out.
She also talked about what we all know - that people expect web content to be free. Apparently, there is a seminar in London on 30 March 2009 called 'Freeconomics' about this - run by Chinwag Digital, but again I'm not sure of spellings on this - so if you're interested you'll have to google. Oh look I'm being all interactive here rather than authoratative.
Kathryn had worked at the New Statesman and nothing had brought in money to the web version, not advertising, not a paid-for PDF version, not micropayments...nothing.
But she did say that one way of making money was EVENTS AND AWARDS --- so I guess you stil have to get people together for a reader event or industry award to get advertisers to sponsor and punters to part with their cash. They just won't buy content off the internet.
She said email is still crucial. You need as many readers email addresses as you can - research shows people like updates from publications they like over email She said Amazon use email updates better than anybody else - just enough to alert you without annoying you.
So that was it - I learned a little more about the web. But I didn't learn how to make money from it. Oh look - I just wrote this blog for free and I'll earn nothing from it - unless you want to send me a free donation of course!
Feedback on this would also be lovely.
Liz
Monday 9 March 2009
How you can help save the EDP and jobs at the EDP!
My local paper the Eastern Daily Press is shedding a third of its editorial jobs - 54 jobs. Bosses have been adamant the quality of the paper won't suffer - but how can it continue to function with so many jobs lost. Who will call the local police, council, courts and public bodies to account.
Consensus, among those who oppose the moves to downsize, is that you personally can make a difference.
Below is a statement from National Union of Journalists rep Pete Kelley about what you can do.
Pete Kelley says: 'We need you to contact anyone and everyone you know in the circulation area who you think will share our sense of outrage. We need them to tell the company how much it values our papers, and what it thinks of these proposals. I'm sure I don't need to tell you to be careful what you say in these emails. Do it calmly. Avoid personal insults.
Below is one I've just sent out, following a message of support from a regular columnist... feel fre to use this as a model, if you want. It includes two texts that people are, of course, welcome to quote from or adapt.
We feel strongly that this isn't even primarily about our own jobs, it's about a very serious threat to a part of the local media which plays a vital role in our communities. It's probable that many people haven't even thought about how important well-researched local newspapers put together by professionally-trained journalists are, because they've 'always been there', but we need anyone and everyone you can think of to write/phone/email in to: Archant Norfolk managing director Stephan Phillips and Archant chief executive Adrian Jeakings to protest about this, in their own words and in their own way.
I personally think this company needs to be shamed over what it is planning to do.
Contact address is...
Prospect House, Rouen Road, Norwich NR1 1RE
Phone: 01603 628311
Here also is the NUJ statement about the job losses...
The National Union of Journalists has today (Friday 6 March) hit out at newspaper publisher Archant Norfolk's announcement that it is proposing to axe a staggering 54 jobs within its editorial department.
News reporters are excluded from the process, meaning the blow takes out more than one in three of other editorial staff. They are expected to be handed their leaving date at the end of April, after a consultation process involving elected staff reps and the National Union of Journalists, which is legally recognised at Archant Norfolk for bargaining purposes.
The jobs are taken from a total of 179 full-time equivalent editorial staff. But, once the news reporters are stripped out of the process, the job losses will come from 134 staff remaining.
Stephan Phillips, managing director of Archant Norfolk, made the shock announcement to staff of papers which include the Eastern Daily Press, Norwich Evening News and a stable of weekly papers around Norfolk and north Suffolk, at a packed meeting on Friday evening (March 6th 2009).
NUJ chapel committee spokesman Pete Kelley said staff were first made aware of potential job losses in November, when an editorial review was announced and staff were asked to fill in time-sheets for a week to record their daily tasks.
"We thought possibly 20 to 30 might be affected, but the scale of the announcement has left everybody stunned," he said.
Pete Kelley, who expects to be involved in talks over the coming weeks, added: "Decimated is an over-used word. But all our subs know it actually has a technical meaning. The Romans used to take out one in 10. Romans themselves would have been shocked by the scale of these proposals, which wipe out almost one third of our editorial department, and we - as journalists - will over the coming weeks be asking why very loudly.
"We hope that the communities our journalists serve will also be asking those questions.
"These are hard times for the newspaper industry. That's understood. But to put it in context Trinity Mirror has made 13pc of its workforce redundant since January 2008. In the same time, Johnston Press has cut staff by 12pc. Down the road, our Archant colleagues at Ipswich are in the process of redundancies affecting nearly one in five. All of these are bad enough, but we fail to understand the disproportionate scale of the cuts here.
"Our city paper, the Norwich Evening News, has run a "Love Your Local" campaign which has been picked up by the government and has been brilliantly received. It saved three post offices from closure with the Save Our Post Offices campaign, and helped the puppet theatre stay open. It raised funds to ensure kids who need ambulance treatment in Norfolk are given a teddy bear to calm them down.
"And the EDP has recently run some brilliant, important reports on the bill for city council pay-outs and the failings in privatised home care for the elderly. Last year it highlighted how a secret plan was being proposed that could have flooded huge areas of Norfolk's coastline, and it has been fighting for local business with its successful Shop Here campaign.
"We're producing award winning pictures and websites. On the weeklies side the Lowestoft Journal won the EDF front page of the year award for its Wembley FA Vase special, Wymondham and Attleborough Mercury was recently Newspaper Society Niche Publication of the Year for a special supplement on Wymondham Abbey. The Yarmouth Mercury showed an ABC figures increase last year.
"Our editorial department is a success story valued in local communities and earning national recognition.
"It is difficult for my members not to feel the current economic downturn is being used as an excuse to slash staffing levels... and this at a time when loyal, long-serving journalists will find it extremely difficult to find work elsewehere. The NUJ will be working hard, in talks over the coming weeks, to bring these figures down. We hope local communities will support us."
The NUJ has called a chapel meeting for Monday March 9th at which industrial action will be considered.
The news of the job losses also comes just weeks after chief executive Adrian Jeakings said that it was the company's staff who made Archant a success.
At the annual Archant People Awards ceremony, held in London on Friday, January 23, he said: "The bedrock of the company is formed from the people around the country who every day work to produce our newspapers, our magazines and our websites and they are what makes Archant different.
"We have a track record of successful change and I believe we can survive and prosper in this changing world because we have the best people in the business."
Thoughts on Jeremiah James Colman
I'd like to ask a question on behalf of a man who can't be here today, but who is very relevant to what is happening.... Jeremiah James Colman.
In 1870, Jeremiah was a factory owner who was asked to help set up Norfolk's first daily paper. He's important for two reasons. He's important because the Eastern Counties Daily Press (as it then was called) lost £400 in its first three months... in those times a huge sum. The following year, in 1871, it survived only because Jeremiah guaranteed to cover half its future losses. The paper by then called the Eastern Daily Press didn't turn a profit until 1879.
That's something our profit-focused shareholders and our shareholder-focused group board need to think about. Never for one moment think we're primarily here to make money.
Jeremiah stuck with it because he was a social reformer... introducing revolutionary working practises in his own factory. And he was joined, in starting the paper, by men like Jacob Tillett, campaigning to get all men the vote and for fair access to education.
Before the EDP was first out of the red, it was already attacking the Lord Mayor for refusing to let St Andrew's Hall be used for an agriculultural labourers' meeting.
In more recent times, we have been true to that spirit (see examples above).
Local newspapers - and now websites - matter as much as papers did in 1870. They matter to inform, to campaign, to hold the powerful to account, to dig in and question. They matter to pensioners who write in to tell us they've read the paper for 57 years. They matter to political campaigners who have few other platforms, to playgroups looking for volunteers, to support business and the arts, to fight crime.
What we do here matters to our democracy.
It seems to be becoming an industry mantra that newspapers are dead. I think if Jeremiah James Colman were here today, he'd be angry about that. He'd want to ask what we're doing to challenge that assumption. He'd be asking, if you destroy the slowly built-up teams, the skills and experience in your editorial department, what is left? What is the point?
Consensus, among those who oppose the moves to downsize, is that you personally can make a difference.
Below is a statement from National Union of Journalists rep Pete Kelley about what you can do.
Pete Kelley says: 'We need you to contact anyone and everyone you know in the circulation area who you think will share our sense of outrage. We need them to tell the company how much it values our papers, and what it thinks of these proposals. I'm sure I don't need to tell you to be careful what you say in these emails. Do it calmly. Avoid personal insults.
Below is one I've just sent out, following a message of support from a regular columnist... feel fre to use this as a model, if you want. It includes two texts that people are, of course, welcome to quote from or adapt.
We feel strongly that this isn't even primarily about our own jobs, it's about a very serious threat to a part of the local media which plays a vital role in our communities. It's probable that many people haven't even thought about how important well-researched local newspapers put together by professionally-trained journalists are, because they've 'always been there', but we need anyone and everyone you can think of to write/phone/email in to: Archant Norfolk managing director Stephan Phillips and Archant chief executive Adrian Jeakings to protest about this, in their own words and in their own way.
I personally think this company needs to be shamed over what it is planning to do.
Contact address is...
Prospect House, Rouen Road, Norwich NR1 1RE
Phone: 01603 628311
Here also is the NUJ statement about the job losses...
The National Union of Journalists has today (Friday 6 March) hit out at newspaper publisher Archant Norfolk's announcement that it is proposing to axe a staggering 54 jobs within its editorial department.
News reporters are excluded from the process, meaning the blow takes out more than one in three of other editorial staff. They are expected to be handed their leaving date at the end of April, after a consultation process involving elected staff reps and the National Union of Journalists, which is legally recognised at Archant Norfolk for bargaining purposes.
The jobs are taken from a total of 179 full-time equivalent editorial staff. But, once the news reporters are stripped out of the process, the job losses will come from 134 staff remaining.
Stephan Phillips, managing director of Archant Norfolk, made the shock announcement to staff of papers which include the Eastern Daily Press, Norwich Evening News and a stable of weekly papers around Norfolk and north Suffolk, at a packed meeting on Friday evening (March 6th 2009).
NUJ chapel committee spokesman Pete Kelley said staff were first made aware of potential job losses in November, when an editorial review was announced and staff were asked to fill in time-sheets for a week to record their daily tasks.
"We thought possibly 20 to 30 might be affected, but the scale of the announcement has left everybody stunned," he said.
Pete Kelley, who expects to be involved in talks over the coming weeks, added: "Decimated is an over-used word. But all our subs know it actually has a technical meaning. The Romans used to take out one in 10. Romans themselves would have been shocked by the scale of these proposals, which wipe out almost one third of our editorial department, and we - as journalists - will over the coming weeks be asking why very loudly.
"We hope that the communities our journalists serve will also be asking those questions.
"These are hard times for the newspaper industry. That's understood. But to put it in context Trinity Mirror has made 13pc of its workforce redundant since January 2008. In the same time, Johnston Press has cut staff by 12pc. Down the road, our Archant colleagues at Ipswich are in the process of redundancies affecting nearly one in five. All of these are bad enough, but we fail to understand the disproportionate scale of the cuts here.
"Our city paper, the Norwich Evening News, has run a "Love Your Local" campaign which has been picked up by the government and has been brilliantly received. It saved three post offices from closure with the Save Our Post Offices campaign, and helped the puppet theatre stay open. It raised funds to ensure kids who need ambulance treatment in Norfolk are given a teddy bear to calm them down.
"And the EDP has recently run some brilliant, important reports on the bill for city council pay-outs and the failings in privatised home care for the elderly. Last year it highlighted how a secret plan was being proposed that could have flooded huge areas of Norfolk's coastline, and it has been fighting for local business with its successful Shop Here campaign.
"We're producing award winning pictures and websites. On the weeklies side the Lowestoft Journal won the EDF front page of the year award for its Wembley FA Vase special, Wymondham and Attleborough Mercury was recently Newspaper Society Niche Publication of the Year for a special supplement on Wymondham Abbey. The Yarmouth Mercury showed an ABC figures increase last year.
"Our editorial department is a success story valued in local communities and earning national recognition.
"It is difficult for my members not to feel the current economic downturn is being used as an excuse to slash staffing levels... and this at a time when loyal, long-serving journalists will find it extremely difficult to find work elsewehere. The NUJ will be working hard, in talks over the coming weeks, to bring these figures down. We hope local communities will support us."
The NUJ has called a chapel meeting for Monday March 9th at which industrial action will be considered.
The news of the job losses also comes just weeks after chief executive Adrian Jeakings said that it was the company's staff who made Archant a success.
At the annual Archant People Awards ceremony, held in London on Friday, January 23, he said: "The bedrock of the company is formed from the people around the country who every day work to produce our newspapers, our magazines and our websites and they are what makes Archant different.
"We have a track record of successful change and I believe we can survive and prosper in this changing world because we have the best people in the business."
Thoughts on Jeremiah James Colman
I'd like to ask a question on behalf of a man who can't be here today, but who is very relevant to what is happening.... Jeremiah James Colman.
In 1870, Jeremiah was a factory owner who was asked to help set up Norfolk's first daily paper. He's important for two reasons. He's important because the Eastern Counties Daily Press (as it then was called) lost £400 in its first three months... in those times a huge sum. The following year, in 1871, it survived only because Jeremiah guaranteed to cover half its future losses. The paper by then called the Eastern Daily Press didn't turn a profit until 1879.
That's something our profit-focused shareholders and our shareholder-focused group board need to think about. Never for one moment think we're primarily here to make money.
Jeremiah stuck with it because he was a social reformer... introducing revolutionary working practises in his own factory. And he was joined, in starting the paper, by men like Jacob Tillett, campaigning to get all men the vote and for fair access to education.
Before the EDP was first out of the red, it was already attacking the Lord Mayor for refusing to let St Andrew's Hall be used for an agriculultural labourers' meeting.
In more recent times, we have been true to that spirit (see examples above).
Local newspapers - and now websites - matter as much as papers did in 1870. They matter to inform, to campaign, to hold the powerful to account, to dig in and question. They matter to pensioners who write in to tell us they've read the paper for 57 years. They matter to political campaigners who have few other platforms, to playgroups looking for volunteers, to support business and the arts, to fight crime.
What we do here matters to our democracy.
It seems to be becoming an industry mantra that newspapers are dead. I think if Jeremiah James Colman were here today, he'd be angry about that. He'd want to ask what we're doing to challenge that assumption. He'd be asking, if you destroy the slowly built-up teams, the skills and experience in your editorial department, what is left? What is the point?
Friday 6 March 2009
How to be the most annoying Starbucks customer ever!
Top ten annoying things to do in a Starbucks' queue.
1. Keep changing your mind about what food you want. "I want a chocolate muffin...no I want the fat free orange cake, no actually the granola flapjack looks lovely"
2. Taste a self-serve wrap, make a face that says 'yuk' and put it back.
3. Ask them to check your change once you've paid and complain they haven't given you the right amount back. Ask the till assistant to recount your change several times.
4. Sneeze on everything. Drop bits of a grizzled paper hanky on the counter.
5. Drop what they've served you and go and get some more instead. Do this several times.
6. While you are in the queue ask for a price on everything - say you've forgotten your glasses.
7. Ask for a calorie count on everything - say it's too fattening and ask for something else instead. 8. When you go to pay attempt to negotiate the bill.
9. Pay in small change.
10. Try to engage the assistant in a long, meaningless conversation while a large queue forms behind you.
1. Keep changing your mind about what food you want. "I want a chocolate muffin...no I want the fat free orange cake, no actually the granola flapjack looks lovely"
2. Taste a self-serve wrap, make a face that says 'yuk' and put it back.
3. Ask them to check your change once you've paid and complain they haven't given you the right amount back. Ask the till assistant to recount your change several times.
4. Sneeze on everything. Drop bits of a grizzled paper hanky on the counter.
5. Drop what they've served you and go and get some more instead. Do this several times.
6. While you are in the queue ask for a price on everything - say you've forgotten your glasses.
7. Ask for a calorie count on everything - say it's too fattening and ask for something else instead. 8. When you go to pay attempt to negotiate the bill.
9. Pay in small change.
10. Try to engage the assistant in a long, meaningless conversation while a large queue forms behind you.
Tuesday 24 February 2009
Roy Greenslade is giving me nightmares
I can't be the only self-employed person who is finding it needs huge willpower to keep upbeat and super motivated at the moment. All around is doom and gloom: jobs lost; Roy Greenslade banging on about the death of journalism as we know it; one of the coldest and longest winters for years; Jade Goody's depressing public demise and pundits predicting the election of smug over-blown school boy David Cameron. Trudging through all this one has to keep cheery and keep the ideas and income flowing. It all got to me this morning. Last night I made the mistake of taking Media Guardian to bed for some light reading before I switched off the light. Instead, I found dear Roy Greenslade, as ever, predicting the end of journalism as we know it. Mostly a debate about how sub-editors are no longer needed - journalists should just edit their copy straight to page. Coming on top of the recent anouncement of redundancy of a close friend who was an experienced sub on a London paper - and predicted redundancies at Archant (who knows what that will involve) - it all got to me. Also, I had just been contacted by an enthusiastic undergraduate asking me how he could get into journalism. And I didn't advise him against it because this profession can be like a bizarre kind of calling sometimes - if you were born with a personality that makes you want to find, tell and write - you just can't escape the job. I should probably do something different as journalism seems like it's going out of fashion and it's one of the toughest gigs going at the moment - but I know I'll never give up a job that I love. The upshot of mulling over the present state of journalism was that I couldn't sleep. I moved downstairs to the sofa and watched QVC until I finally drifted off at 4am. Thankfully, although I was tempted when fatigue clouded my judgment, I avoided buying the Yog Easi homemade yoghurt maker, the Gatineau skin care range and a bizarre £10.00 foot massager for the shower. Feel rather tired today, mind you...
Tuesday 17 February 2009
Why I love the Co-op
I've just been emailed by the wonderful co-op, updating me about a new ad they are running this Feb (09) http://www.co-operative.coop/aboutus . I think I can boast that I am probably one of the co-ops biggest fans and I think it's about time it shed it's old-lady, old-fashioned, village-shop, claire-in-the-community image. First the shops are small and easy to access - there isn't the plethora of unnecessary choice that you see in Tesco. A choice that's designed to bamboozle and make you psychologically confused and unhappy (see Prof Barry Schwarz's research on the negative effects of too much choice). They have lots of small stores within communities rather than giant out of town shopping cathedrals. Secondly, the quality of the food is excellent - their own brand products are highly recommended and their fruit and veg quality is high (compared to the mouldy, tasteless crap at Sainsbury's). I simply cannot recommend the co-op highly enough - they are ethically unrivalled and no I'm not being paid by co-op, it's branding just happens to chime with me. What marketers would call a 'love mark' for me. Check it out for yourself. It's probably changed since you last visited.
Tuesday 3 February 2009
Sexual Heeling
Should we be worried about the increasing number of pre-teen girls wearing high heels, make-up and sexy fashions?
They are glamorous, teetering clip-clop shoes and, hurrah, the shop has them in your size. Just one consideration – you are only five years old!
High heels are increasingly popular among five to 12 year-old-girls. Traditional companies like Clarks and Start Rite still make flat, sensible children’s shoes with a modest nod to fashion in the form of a dash of glitter or an appliqué pink flower.
However, shoe shops at the budget end of the market now sell disturbingly sexed-up footwear for little girls: often with alluring style names like the ‘Lambada shoe’ or the ‘Beyonce boot’. Some have staggeringly high heels considering they are designed for preteen girls.
Available in the tiniest of sizes – sometimes even small enough to fit an average three-year-old - they appear intended for everyday wear rather than just parties. Little girls yearn for them, harass their mothers to buy them and sometimes even save their pocket money to afford them. They rank high in most fashion-conscious preteen girls’ pester list.
My daughter is nine. I’d like her to wear sensible, flat pumps or trainers – at least until she’s a teenager - rather than distort her growing feet in the revoltingly sexy high-heeled black boots she spotted online at Barratts shoes.
I’m standing my ground. But it’s tough against a rising tide of sexed-up tweeny fashions that transform preteens into tiny Lolitas with off the shoulder tops, mini-skirts, foundation, lipstick, nail-varnish, earrings and soaring heels.
Walk around any shopping mall on a Saturday and you’ll find a surprisingly large headcount of pre-teens click-clacking in high heels and wearing make-up and fashions more suited to Girls Aloud than primary school pupils.
Lured early into consumer culture, girls age six and seven are now miming to pop videos and experimenting with make-up and grown-up fashion styles. By the age of three most are already adept at dressing their tarty-looking Bratz dolls in provocative outfits.
It’s a worrying new trend that sees tiny children aspire to Bratz-style hooker-chic and sexy outfits – mimicking what they see on their favourite dolls and pop stars. The marketers call this trend KGOY – kids growing older younger. In practice, it means fashions worn by twenty some-things are trickling down to the preteen market.
Pop-star style is definitely the main influence on Adina Rencontre (corr spell), an aspiring model from Rascals Model Agency, in Woodford Green, Essex (***subbing note – must leave reference to Rascals Agency***). She’s just 11, but she wants to look like sultry Latino singer Jennifer Lopez. At the weekend Adina transforms herself into a Tweeny version of her sexy idol by wearing the same skinny black jeans, peep-toe high heels, a black figure-hugging waistcoat and fake tan.
‘I am vain and I dress like J-Lo because she looks good. I like doing my hair and make-up. I get my nails filed and painted every two weeks. I would love to have my belly button pierced but mum won’t let me,’ says Adina.
Her mum Sam Grover, a 41-year-old retail manager, allows Adina to wear heels in the evenings and weekends, but rules them out for school – and bans tight, low-cut tops. ‘You don’t want them to look too grown up when they go out, but it’s hard nowadays because they grow up so quickly.’
Tiny Lauren Halil, from London, has been wearing high heels out in public since she turned five. A year later she’s can now walk in them confidently. Her favourites are a glittery pair of two-inch high slip-ons. She’s also pretty good at applying her make-up and adds a touch of foundation, blue eye-shadow and pink lipstick to complete her look.
‘I love make-up. Out of school I usually wear blue eyeshadow, a bit of pink lipstick and foundation – mum helps me put it on.’
Lauren’s mum Marina Halil, 51, an accountant, bought the foundation from a shopping channel and lets her wear a little because it makes her happy.
‘She is the only one of her friends who has high heels, but I think it depends on the child and how they are. Lauren is steady on her feet and walks well in them – and I never let her wear them with short skirts,’ says Marina.
Make-up mad sisters Ashleigh Gudgeon (corr spell), eight, and 10-year-old Alex have already amassed a gigantic stockpile of glitzy cosmetics. Their passion began when they were made up for a photo shoot for the Power Model Agency, in Norwich (***subbing note – must leave reference to Power Models***). Saturday morning is time for experimenting with their vast collection of tubs, tubes and pots of colour, expertly making their faces to go out shopping in the afternoon.
‘I realized how nice I looked with make-up and now I wear it at the weekends. It makes me feel prettier and mascara makes my eyes show up,’ says Alex. Mum Lisa, 36 a former nurse who now looks after her children full time, lets them wear make-up but worries the girls are growing up too quickly.
‘I’d like them to stay younger for longer, but it’s not going to happen. They are influenced by twenty-something fashion everywhere they look – from the American programmes they watch on tv, to magazines and advertising all around. If I shut them in a room and let them dress themselves I think it would be utterly shocking.’
Helen Haste, professor of psychology at the University of Bath, says children emulate role models. Unfortunately, our society may now be presenting them with unsuitable models in the form of Bratz and sexualized pop videos.
However, she says that sexy clothes may send provocative signals to adults but it’s just innocent mimic play for young girls. ‘They see it as playing, dressing up. But to an observing adult it can send out a sexual message that makes them vulnerable, in their total innocence, to predators.’
‘It’s fun for preteen girls to mess around with lots of make-up and high heels at home – it’s an adult skill that they want to acquire,’ she says. But she suggests that if the look they prefer is Geisha-caked make-up and sexy heels, it’s probably best to let them experiment at home rather than out in public.
Some preteens now look so much like twenty-somethings they can attract unwanted male attention. Cheryl Pennell, 42, from Norwich, was appalled when a man in his twenties tried to chat up her 10-year-old daughter Georgia – mistaking her for a much older girl.
Georgia loves make-up and skinny jeans. She has two piercings in each ear and loves large diamante earrings or hoops. Pop star Rhianna is one of her role models and many of her clothes are passed down from her 20-year-old aunt.
Cheryl admits it is a struggle to contain her daughter’s enthusiasm for grown-up fashions. ‘I try to make her look 10, but it’s hard. I certainly don’t let her wear low cut tops and we don’t let her out on her own in the evenings.
‘We keep a close eye on her, but she’s still been asked if she wants a drink bought for her and the other day a van-load of men were all leering at her. People think she’s a lot older, a teenager. Georgia owns a pair of towering four-inch glitter stilettos, but so far she’s only allowed to use them for dressing up at home.
With cavorting pop princesses and sexually-aggressive plastic-dolls setting the tweeny sartorial agenda in their leather outfits, towering heels, bare midriff and butt-tight jeans, the era of primary age girls happily kitted out in comfortable brogues, frocks and cardigans is long gone.
I have spent these past months tut tutting at my daughter’s passion for heels and bemoaned the passing of traditional 1950s girlswear. But, eventually I concluded that it’s better that my daughter aspires to be a feisty go-getter like Rhianna rather than Anne from The Famous Five – the meek no-hoper I wanted to be when I was her age. As long as she mimics within my controlled limits and that most definitely means no stack heels or caked make-up out in public.
Indeed, Enid Blyton’s modestly attired character represents the mythical ideal of girlhood dressing, with her hand-knitted cardigans and floral dresses. Anne may have looked sweet and innocent, but she’s still no role model either and could inspire nothing in my daughter but life as a timid, helpmeet.
These days a girl needs a little more than that if she’s to tackle the complexity of the modern world. She also needs to be vaguely fashionable if she’s to stay comfortable among her peers. Hmmm. With this in mind, I’ve decided to let my nine-year-old have a modest pair of wedge pumps and some silver sandals for birthday parties with an unassuming heel.
I have also handed her a copy of the Boden catalogue, with its funky fashion trainers in primary colours, rather than the web address to Barratt’s shoes. She would love some spiky heeled boots and pierced diamante earrings, but while I hold the purse strings no pester power will budge me on these. And thankfully, as I write this, she is barefoot in the garden, in a fairy costume from the dressing up box. You are only nine once and there’s a lifetime ahead to teeter in foot-cramping high heels…
They are glamorous, teetering clip-clop shoes and, hurrah, the shop has them in your size. Just one consideration – you are only five years old!
High heels are increasingly popular among five to 12 year-old-girls. Traditional companies like Clarks and Start Rite still make flat, sensible children’s shoes with a modest nod to fashion in the form of a dash of glitter or an appliqué pink flower.
However, shoe shops at the budget end of the market now sell disturbingly sexed-up footwear for little girls: often with alluring style names like the ‘Lambada shoe’ or the ‘Beyonce boot’. Some have staggeringly high heels considering they are designed for preteen girls.
Available in the tiniest of sizes – sometimes even small enough to fit an average three-year-old - they appear intended for everyday wear rather than just parties. Little girls yearn for them, harass their mothers to buy them and sometimes even save their pocket money to afford them. They rank high in most fashion-conscious preteen girls’ pester list.
My daughter is nine. I’d like her to wear sensible, flat pumps or trainers – at least until she’s a teenager - rather than distort her growing feet in the revoltingly sexy high-heeled black boots she spotted online at Barratts shoes.
I’m standing my ground. But it’s tough against a rising tide of sexed-up tweeny fashions that transform preteens into tiny Lolitas with off the shoulder tops, mini-skirts, foundation, lipstick, nail-varnish, earrings and soaring heels.
Walk around any shopping mall on a Saturday and you’ll find a surprisingly large headcount of pre-teens click-clacking in high heels and wearing make-up and fashions more suited to Girls Aloud than primary school pupils.
Lured early into consumer culture, girls age six and seven are now miming to pop videos and experimenting with make-up and grown-up fashion styles. By the age of three most are already adept at dressing their tarty-looking Bratz dolls in provocative outfits.
It’s a worrying new trend that sees tiny children aspire to Bratz-style hooker-chic and sexy outfits – mimicking what they see on their favourite dolls and pop stars. The marketers call this trend KGOY – kids growing older younger. In practice, it means fashions worn by twenty some-things are trickling down to the preteen market.
Pop-star style is definitely the main influence on Adina Rencontre (corr spell), an aspiring model from Rascals Model Agency, in Woodford Green, Essex (***subbing note – must leave reference to Rascals Agency***). She’s just 11, but she wants to look like sultry Latino singer Jennifer Lopez. At the weekend Adina transforms herself into a Tweeny version of her sexy idol by wearing the same skinny black jeans, peep-toe high heels, a black figure-hugging waistcoat and fake tan.
‘I am vain and I dress like J-Lo because she looks good. I like doing my hair and make-up. I get my nails filed and painted every two weeks. I would love to have my belly button pierced but mum won’t let me,’ says Adina.
Her mum Sam Grover, a 41-year-old retail manager, allows Adina to wear heels in the evenings and weekends, but rules them out for school – and bans tight, low-cut tops. ‘You don’t want them to look too grown up when they go out, but it’s hard nowadays because they grow up so quickly.’
Tiny Lauren Halil, from London, has been wearing high heels out in public since she turned five. A year later she’s can now walk in them confidently. Her favourites are a glittery pair of two-inch high slip-ons. She’s also pretty good at applying her make-up and adds a touch of foundation, blue eye-shadow and pink lipstick to complete her look.
‘I love make-up. Out of school I usually wear blue eyeshadow, a bit of pink lipstick and foundation – mum helps me put it on.’
Lauren’s mum Marina Halil, 51, an accountant, bought the foundation from a shopping channel and lets her wear a little because it makes her happy.
‘She is the only one of her friends who has high heels, but I think it depends on the child and how they are. Lauren is steady on her feet and walks well in them – and I never let her wear them with short skirts,’ says Marina.
Make-up mad sisters Ashleigh Gudgeon (corr spell), eight, and 10-year-old Alex have already amassed a gigantic stockpile of glitzy cosmetics. Their passion began when they were made up for a photo shoot for the Power Model Agency, in Norwich (***subbing note – must leave reference to Power Models***). Saturday morning is time for experimenting with their vast collection of tubs, tubes and pots of colour, expertly making their faces to go out shopping in the afternoon.
‘I realized how nice I looked with make-up and now I wear it at the weekends. It makes me feel prettier and mascara makes my eyes show up,’ says Alex. Mum Lisa, 36 a former nurse who now looks after her children full time, lets them wear make-up but worries the girls are growing up too quickly.
‘I’d like them to stay younger for longer, but it’s not going to happen. They are influenced by twenty-something fashion everywhere they look – from the American programmes they watch on tv, to magazines and advertising all around. If I shut them in a room and let them dress themselves I think it would be utterly shocking.’
Helen Haste, professor of psychology at the University of Bath, says children emulate role models. Unfortunately, our society may now be presenting them with unsuitable models in the form of Bratz and sexualized pop videos.
However, she says that sexy clothes may send provocative signals to adults but it’s just innocent mimic play for young girls. ‘They see it as playing, dressing up. But to an observing adult it can send out a sexual message that makes them vulnerable, in their total innocence, to predators.’
‘It’s fun for preteen girls to mess around with lots of make-up and high heels at home – it’s an adult skill that they want to acquire,’ she says. But she suggests that if the look they prefer is Geisha-caked make-up and sexy heels, it’s probably best to let them experiment at home rather than out in public.
Some preteens now look so much like twenty-somethings they can attract unwanted male attention. Cheryl Pennell, 42, from Norwich, was appalled when a man in his twenties tried to chat up her 10-year-old daughter Georgia – mistaking her for a much older girl.
Georgia loves make-up and skinny jeans. She has two piercings in each ear and loves large diamante earrings or hoops. Pop star Rhianna is one of her role models and many of her clothes are passed down from her 20-year-old aunt.
Cheryl admits it is a struggle to contain her daughter’s enthusiasm for grown-up fashions. ‘I try to make her look 10, but it’s hard. I certainly don’t let her wear low cut tops and we don’t let her out on her own in the evenings.
‘We keep a close eye on her, but she’s still been asked if she wants a drink bought for her and the other day a van-load of men were all leering at her. People think she’s a lot older, a teenager. Georgia owns a pair of towering four-inch glitter stilettos, but so far she’s only allowed to use them for dressing up at home.
With cavorting pop princesses and sexually-aggressive plastic-dolls setting the tweeny sartorial agenda in their leather outfits, towering heels, bare midriff and butt-tight jeans, the era of primary age girls happily kitted out in comfortable brogues, frocks and cardigans is long gone.
I have spent these past months tut tutting at my daughter’s passion for heels and bemoaned the passing of traditional 1950s girlswear. But, eventually I concluded that it’s better that my daughter aspires to be a feisty go-getter like Rhianna rather than Anne from The Famous Five – the meek no-hoper I wanted to be when I was her age. As long as she mimics within my controlled limits and that most definitely means no stack heels or caked make-up out in public.
Indeed, Enid Blyton’s modestly attired character represents the mythical ideal of girlhood dressing, with her hand-knitted cardigans and floral dresses. Anne may have looked sweet and innocent, but she’s still no role model either and could inspire nothing in my daughter but life as a timid, helpmeet.
These days a girl needs a little more than that if she’s to tackle the complexity of the modern world. She also needs to be vaguely fashionable if she’s to stay comfortable among her peers. Hmmm. With this in mind, I’ve decided to let my nine-year-old have a modest pair of wedge pumps and some silver sandals for birthday parties with an unassuming heel.
I have also handed her a copy of the Boden catalogue, with its funky fashion trainers in primary colours, rather than the web address to Barratt’s shoes. She would love some spiky heeled boots and pierced diamante earrings, but while I hold the purse strings no pester power will budge me on these. And thankfully, as I write this, she is barefoot in the garden, in a fairy costume from the dressing up box. You are only nine once and there’s a lifetime ahead to teeter in foot-cramping high heels…
Tuesday 27 January 2009
Thanks you notes - just say 'no thanks'...
Apologies before I even start for the Bah Humbug! nature of this post - but I just have to express how much I have come to loathe 'thank you' card sent by post. I hardly ever receive interesting things by Royal Mail - usually just a few red bills, some letters that were meant for the previous occupants of my house and a couple of takeaway pizza menus. So the excitement when one receives a hand-written, what looks like a letter. A letter! Full of news from a friend I've not heard from in a while, maybe? Or perhaps it's an invitation to a party? I'm getting excited as I open it. Or maybe it's a cheque? It looks like an expensive, beautifully designed card - and inside it just says ... 'thanks for the present you gave me.' Could there be a more tedious and disappointing message in the post. It's nice to says thanks for presents - but a quick text or email will do the trick - and I wouldn't be deluded into thinking it was something more exciting. Bah Humbug!
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