A year ago I “took the road less travelled by” and seek to know the difference. Will the fork in my road be a signpost? I’m appreciating the opportunity to write profiles for Brisbane News, source what’s on and write lifestyle pieces for The Courier-Mail. One of the joys of journalism is writing what one(…)

The Rutland and Stamford Mercury, founded in 1695, claims to be Britain’s oldest newspaper. Founded in 1859, The Queensland Times (QT) in Ipswich is Queensland’s oldest surviving provincial newspaper. The distance between them is 23,222 km as the crow flies, or, 16 years – and a lot of history. Stuart Sherwin was fascinated by newspapers(…)

The smell of printer’s ink no longer pervades Bowen Hills, but it remains the life-blood of dedicated journalists. Teela Jurgensen was recruited from News Ltd Townsville to work for Quest, with her first role as advertising features editor. When Teela was appointed Quest property editor, she was asked to oversee the rejuvenation of the property(…)

Where’s the dividing line between journalism, PR (for other companies), and advertising? Property. There are about five editorial pages in the Quest *property liftouts. I’ve been working on suburb profiles (census and RP data) including top, median and cheapest price houses/units; new listings (we include two in each edition). Quest’s property team has reduced, by(…)

My two final days at the Queensland Times had the most pace: final wrap-up of my stories, pic stories, vox pops, and an interview with the editor. It was a thrill to finish the final interviews and write-ups for three stories I had pitched last week. I’ve not had active feedback on my earlier work(…)

Today John mourned the loss of a former QT journalist to the ‘dark side’ of PR. (I heard Darth Vader and the imperial forces offered more money and advancement.) I recall a recent article in The Australian which stated there were about 19,000 journalists to 16,000 PR officers. It’s time to run the numbers again.(…)

“You’re a rock star, Paul,” said reporter Paul to Mayor Paul Pisasale as he answered questions from school children after today’s council meeting. It’s day 2 at the QT, the oldest surviving provincial newspaper in Queensland, but for the Mayor, Ipswich is growing beyond its provincial roots. During council, Mayor Paul has passed on a(…)

Sally-Ann Wilson wanted to be a doctor or a nurse, but could not do mathematics. Instead, her innate curiosity about natural history and development led her to a career in broadcasting. “I had connections with radio and volunteered during university. I was doing three a.m. brekkie,” Sally-Ann said.  She trained in radio and, over time,(…)

A wander through Sydney’s Walsh Bay on May 19-20 provided a feast of fact and fiction all focussed on ‘what is public’ and ‘what is private’.  Here’s your chance to vicariously eavesdrop on two media sessions. Phone Hacking Mark Colvin explained that the phone hacking scandal in the UK is an historical anomaly that has never(…)

I received useful guidance from BCC media officer in relation to asking for answers via e-mail, when an interview could not be arranged.   News story:   Tag line for news story or news angle Deadline (to receive answer):   Date and time Publication:  newsbytes.com.au Journalist:  my name and contact details.   Brief statement re news story, in(…)

Government 101: In early Greece, votes were cast by pebble – black or white. In later years, the name of a politically dangerous person was written on a shard of pottery (‘ostracy’). The person with the most votes was evicted from Athens. Julius Caesar made a name for himself in foreign policy in his bid(…)