Guido’s Plan to Save the Indy
Yesterday we learnt that The Times and Sunday Times are losing a million pounds a week. The New York Times is selling and renting back its own headquarters to stay solvent. Guardian Media Group is losing £83,000 a day and has axed over a hundred jobs. The Indy’s bonds now have junk status edging over defaulting. The Indy is in the weakest position, it loses money hand over fist, it always has and will continue to do so for as long as it is in the expensive business of publishing dead trees. The newspaper industry is a dead industry walking. It is not a twenty-first century business model: slaughter half a forest of trees, pay NUJ rates for news gathering, sub-editing, laying out, employing friend’s children, transferring ink onto aforesaid trees, then pay people to work all night sending the slices of dead trees around the country in the dark on lorries. Finally when you get to the point of collecting some money, split the sales revenue with the people who take the money. The Indy makes a loss on the whole business every year. That is vanity publishing.Guido finds it hard to believe that traditional newspapers have a future, yet a surprising number of mediasaurs do continue to stick their heads in the sand. Warren Buffet says the internet will kill newspapers. Would you bet against him?
A back of an envelope calculation suggests that the Indy could abandon the printed edition to go digital only and, for some £20 million, give everyone of its 215,000 average daily readers an Amazon Kindle or iPhone type device. Users would be given the device free with access to the Indy site hardwired in. Users would only be charged for using the device to surf other sites. Crazy? What is crazy is that as things stand the Indy hardly covers the cost of production and distribution. As circulation shrinks the fixed costs associated with producing a newspaper are becoming terminal. The INM annual financial report is not that transparent, nevertheless Guido reckons the paper is not even covering operating, production and distribution costs as things stand – never mind servicing the corporate debts. Going digital will take it out of the costly tree slaughtering business and make it a content producing pure play. Will advertisers go for it? They are already migrating from ink to pixels.
Guido has one more suggestion; there is a glaring broadsheet market positioning gap to be seized by shifting from an editorial stance that reluctantly backs the LibDems towards enthusiastically backing Cameron’s liberal conservativism. With the Telegraph floundering editorially there is a market opportunity. The Indy is never going to capture the ground held by the Guardianistas. The Times is probably going to row in behind Cameron with a heavy dose of skepticism from Murdoch. The Indy should therefore enthusiastically embrace the socially liberal Notting Hill Cameroons, in all their weed tolerating, groovy green glory. Become the modernised news brand that Cameroons are not embarrassed to be supported by…
Totally agree – it had to happen soon, the printed media will disappear within 5 years. I hope those without computers aren’t too into papers!
As a true Libertarian (unlike you phonys) I actually believe in Freedom of Speech and so I welcome the newspapers with their professional journalists unlike most bloggers (especially English ones) who are unprofessional and untrained.
What do you mean untrained?
How trained do you need to be to copy off the Reuters feed..Swine Flu 150,000,000,000,000,000 dead by Thursday says top medic.
I will miss that high level of thoughtful analysis, diligent research,checking of facts and unbiased editorial oversight that the papers so competently dispense day after day.
Yes, Bloggers are only experts in the field they talk about whereas professional journalists are experts at re-arranging the words of press releases.
Don’t need “journalists” to precis the talking points faxed from Labour HQ or alBeeb.
YOU are not a libertarian, YOU are a newlabour authoritarian socialist through and through, its a little sad to tell such obvious lies isnt it?
The newlabour gang are just about as far away from being libertarian as Stalin or hitler, all your previous posts boast about how great newlabour is, illegal wars,ID cards, secret trials, guilt before innocence, surveilance cameras etc and you have the fucking brass neck to call yourself a libertarian FFS?
This is about distribution not content provision. Do keep up.
So Guido poses digital distribution rather than the traditional, printed form for newspapers and Hardwidge decides to denounce blogging in favour of professional journalism!
Is Charles thinking always quite so sloppy? Or is he like the pupil who thinks he knows better and so doesn’t read the question at the start of the exam? If he is I can understand his empathy for New Labour.
Cassandra King
that was one of the most idiotic, hysterical posts I have ever read.
It displays an AMAZING degree of stupidity.
Can you demonstrate one single tiny example of you being a libertarian, just one? Given your repulsive behaviour and that of the repellant party that you obviously so love and adore I fail to see how you can possible cherish the notion of the freedom of the individual, especially since you repeatedly demonstrate on this blog how much you are in favour of the stripping of further individual civil liberties from the population of this country.
You are nothing but a typical New Labour stooge, all bluster and bullshit drizzled in false sincerity, garnished with threats and served with a double helping of incompetence. In the name of God go back to LabourHome/LabourList and stay there. You are clearly neither wanted here nor welcome.
Trained? Polly?
And it’s ‘phonies’. And I know that you shouldn’t start a sentence with a conjunction.
I believe the surge in political blogging partly stems from frustration ‘ordinary’ people have with the media, both television and print. The sanitized version of events presented I have never found truly satisfactory, there appears to be an understanding (is conspiracy too much) between the media and the politicians, no one must upset the apple cart.
The nearest comparative analogy is professional wrestling, there is all the spectacle, aggression and competition, but we all know it’s not quite real. Most of the press have sold their soul, some even sit on the right hand of Lucifer (Kevin McGuire).
Does anybody remember Adam Boulton’s wedding to Anji Hunter Tony Blair’s gatekeeper back in July 2006.
Guests included Peter Mandelson, Lord Kinnock, Lord Falconer, David Blunkett, Charles Clarke, John Reid, Tessa Jowell, Alistair Campbell, Peter Hain, Lord Gould, David Milliband ….
Does the phrase “they’re all in it together” spring to mind.
Just a small typo, plural of ‘phony’ is either ‘phonies’ or ‘phoneys’.
A professional journalist would pick that one up, run everything through the ‘Word’ spellchecker, but look out for American versions of our words.
Journalistic training? Your having a laugh right? Training in the art of asking questions and writing down the answers? I’ll take a blogger with an actual career background in a fields opinions any day a la dr crippen thank you very much.
I know quite a lot of journalists and all they do is gossip and rumour amongst themselves and make shit up, grab a copy of any broadsheet you can right now and go through making a tally of stories accredited to ‘unnameed sources’ what that actually means is ‘another journalist in the pub told me’
Unless they actually learn how to do their job I have no sympathy for them
If you really believe in libertarianism, then you would champion the last true bastian of free speech and democracy – the blogosphere on the internet.
The not so Independent, the BBC , the Mirror and the Grauniad are the sovietised wing of NuLabour – simply punting out Cabinet Office Press Releases, whilst the so-called alternatives like the Times and the Telegraph, The Sun & Express are too cosy within the Westminster village to provide honest coverage or reflections of political events, as the recent Smeargate episode proved.
Walk into any mediasaurus office and you’ll be confronted by dozens of journogrunts knocking out copy supplied only by the powerful newsfeeds. Investigative journalism on the BBC and in the broadsheets has all but disappeared as blogs like Guido make all the running and the news.
The blogosphere is the true, unfettered voice of the people. It deprofessionalises a callow profession like journalism just as it has done so with crap teachers and other protected professions. That’s why it is feared and loathed by politicians and elitists, who are desperate to tame, control and tax it.
This will be the death knell of traditional English culture. You can’t wrap fish and chips in an iPhone. To be honest you can’t do much with an iPhone – except pose of course. Its not a particularly good phone. iPhone is just like Gordon Brown – No Flash.
Yep, try the XDA from O2 instead. You can take the SD chip out !
Re Rexel 56 @ 8:06 am
“…. denounce blogging in favour of professional journalism!”
You have got to be joking. This is the professional journalism that get facts wrong, sensationalizes everything (even quantum physics!), in bed with celebs and politicians and ruins the lives of ordinary people. Professional? I’ve gotta puke.
Banned from Engkland popular USA talk show host Michael Savage, threatens to Sue Jackboots.
Yes, we have replaced free speach with politically correct speech and Democracy with Newlabocracy.
You realy must keep up or you will be banned too
The wall imprisons those within it and protects not the population but those in power.
Every few hundred years the sun does a burp. A massive pulse of radiation is released that would wipe every digital device on earth: a Carrington event.. If our culture exists only on computers such an event renders it extinct, in an instant. Dead trees have their uses.
Oh do be quiet !! we are talking papers with a life of what 12hrs not books……muppet.
Surely, even newspapers have input from computers nowadays. So your argument is illogical.
If one of that magnitude happens not being able to read whatever spin the government is pushing out at that moment will be the least of your worries.
You think newspapers are written by hand don’t you? DON’T YOU?
What are doing eyespy? You can’t diverge from what the Guido group thinks. Guido says its bad so its bad. End of. We are most of us Libertarians on here because thats what Guido tells us to be. People like you just confuse matters. Fuck off.
Every 500 years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrington_Event
Don’t panic, and learn how things work.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibre_optic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage
There will always be a market for print based News.
However what there won’t be is sufficient revenue and Ad buy for the current number of titles. This was predicted a long time ago and as soon as the recession started hitting the cutting began in earnest. Expect some of the big names to go to the wall. Expect one or two mergers and incorporations. And expect some price repositioning.
However don’t expect blogging to suddenly take up the slack since it can’t and never will. However much some of the Newspapers regurgitate Reuters or Press Association copy and reprint Public Relations piffle and blurb as News.
This is, as some know, the churnalism that Nick Davies spoke of in his important book Flat Earth News published last year which pretty much lays out in detail the death of real journalism as was.
But almost all blogs are simply Op pieces by and large and while that can be entertaining and even on occasions break the odd story it is self evidently not going to replace the entire Media structure particularly since so many blogs are simlpy opinion pieces ON the opinion pieces of the assorted organs of the Press. One can bastardise copy of copy of copy only SO much after all.
I do find the emphasis on blogging as thrusting New Media vastly entertaining though.
I was not aware the Internets were invented last Tuesday and having your words displayed on a web page as opposed to in Newsprint guaranteed them more salience and import. Twittering has then presumably made blogs obsolete then and shows them to be neanderthal throwbacks displaying luddite notions that you could expend more than 140 characters on any given subject.
The next technological affectation will be eating entire Newspapers then shitting them out and posting the colour of the stool as an up to the minute indicator of the worth of the days headlines. Or perhaps hooking a heart and blood pressure monitor to an elderly Tunbridge Wells inhabitant and posting in real time his vitals and how showing him a quick precis of the days News affects them adversely and which stories send him toward stroke or cardiac arrest ?
Oh and Hardwidge is off his rocker if he thinks someone who was knee deep in the McBride Emails and Red Rag stench is still a real journalist.
The problem with newspapers is they blend news and opinion, they are a heavy pre-filter. Not true intermediary, but masticator and PARTIAL regurgitator.
Reuters, Hansard, Court Circular and various news release aggregators will provide the source material. Blogs will provide plenty of the masticator-regurgitator-opinion feed.
What we will see is a re-intermediation of news. The newspapers are ending as the intermediary of choice IMHO.
Murdoch predicted there would be 3 newspapers left , The Times, The Daily Mail and The Sun ; in addition I would suggest the FT.
What are you going to do with all those print journos and their lavish salaries? Yasim “she’s got an alibi” Brown, The Daley Janet??? Quality should not go unrewarded, folks.
Alibi Brown is a obnoxious waste of breathe. I for one would be quite happy to see her join the dole queue.
I know what!
Why don’t all us “right wing b(l)uggers” all have a get-together, and set up a steeeeeering committee, to investigate the feasibility of reporting back on the pros and cons of setting up a blog, called “Blue Rinse”, which will spread scurrilous rumours about ZanuLieBorg GramscoFabiaNazi politicians and their partners – even their “wives” if they have any?
This could be a good substitute, and also a feed-in-point, for “news-pegs”, which the DTP would initially be unable to run, but could pick up.
The site could be a comment-space, where under-read but meritorious commentators and “grass roots” of the extreme-right could pool experience and “get our message to the people out more effectively”.
It will, of course, require “funding”. Everything requires funding.
Already been done. You’re on it.
The Independent is a shit newspaper. I browse it online most days and can’t think of one article that has any memorable merit to it. It deserves to go bust; I hope all socialist rags, especially the ‘guardian’ end up on the scrap heap. The purchasers of these abominations and their producers deserve each other.
If it is such a good idea, do it yourself. Why wait for the Indie to figure out that it is the solution to their problems?
Can’t we just be happy that the Indy is dying and watch their venal cabal suffer? When Cameron or the dude who get DCMS vetos public sector non jobs adverts in the Grauniad then after the twats have jumped to the BBC we can watch them die too. Mind you, Labour MP’s have probably bought those jobs already.
The best idea would be for certain papers to get rid of useless “friends childrens” columnists and opinionators.
How much would the Grauniad save by firing Tolly Poynbee…..
Lets face it – such a loss would hardly be noticed
You mean former BBC social affairs editor, college drop out, Tuscan by to let tax refugee, morally superior low wage campaigner, give them all handouts, Gordon Brown lover/hater (depending on her husband’s viagra habit) bullshit operator Lady Polly of Comedy? About £150k from Guardian and about £75k from the BBC still. To be fair – chicken feed really.
The best idea surely is that the government gives every man and woman over 50 (approximately 21m) £1m each – a lot less than the cost of bailing out a bank – with the proviso that they each buy a new car, buy a house or pay off their mortgage, take out private medical cover and send their children to a private school. That way you solve the motor industry, the housing crisis, the education crisis and take the pressure off the NHS, all for a measy £21Bn.
Come on Gordon you know it makes sense!
(PS, make mine out to cash will you?)
£1m for 21m people gives 21 trillion pounds. British v American billions.
I’m old enough to remember when the Independent was meant to be a (liberal) Conservative paper! It was quite exciting when it first appeared. Soon become a parody of itself, not least because it refused to print royal stories on the first page – this at a time when there were the juiciest royal stories going since the Abdication.
Elec media is all v. well but for busy people who work I would say that there is nothing like a broadsheet newspaper for absorbing important information. After a few years you can teach yourself to scan those many tens of thousands of words in ten minutes picking out and absorbing an incredible amount of information. Scanning screens is a much slower process.
Guido calling the Independent ‘vanity publishing’ reminds me its origins as an ambulance for the bruised egos of unemployed Fleet Steet types who thought they deserved better. It has always been a vanity project.
Correct BM – and perching your laptop on your knees when on the John is precarious to say the least.
And you are liable to get burnt knees!
The point of elec media is to only have the news you’re likely to read sent to you, eliminating the need to scan read anything.
When the Independent was born it was my paper of choice. Now I find that there is no daily broadsheet newspaper that has anything like the independence of thought that I expect. I stopped taking The Times because of of its lickspittle attitude to the Chinese regime and Tony Blair. The Telegraph has been my chosen paper for a few years but I find its support for Gordon Brown confusing especially as the Labour government collapses. The Independent’s eco-fetishism and bias against Israel currently makes the paper a no-no for me; can it change?
There’s is something about printed information which seems to ’stick’ better than anything on a screen. I don’t know if its hardwired into the brain. As an enthusiastic reader of online information, boths news and technical/academic stuff, I’m amazed at how much more I retain from the dead trees.
And as for editing….almost impossible without the printed pages in front of me.
Though it might be age related, I don’t belong to the baby-cyborg generation, unlike my twenty-something son, who said that as soon as they can put computer chips into humans, he was getting one.
Most newspapers deserve to fail, especially the Indy, which is depressingly bad.
The Guardian ditto. Zoe Williams wrote how she was wrong about Boris the other day. My first thought was “Did you get your P45, Zoe?” – something to look forward to.
If you like turning pages and reading traditional newspaper pages try the E-Metro (not for content). I cannot see why the other papers do not go that route. Some of them have e-editions (ie paperless) but are hell bent of charging. My opinion is that they should go paperless, aim for numbers (ie not regurgitating press releases) and the advertisers will follow.
Totally agree Bob. Here in Scotland the print media has always flourished, we habitually take three papers daily, more on Sundays. The Telegraph is all over the place editorially but can survive. As for the indie, what a load of bloody liberal, carping rubbish. Let it die I say.
Besides, what do we read on the loo?
It’s not any more – I can “do” any one of the web-Deadtrees in about 3 minutes. Five at the outside. You just hook the stuff you want into word, paste in the url at the top of the para or piece saved, so you can go there again if you need to, and read it in unreal time. Interesting secondary stuff, which you want to hit people with later, then you just save the url haviong clicked tha page.
Guido….you also forget to mention in their laborious production process that compared with the web their product is out of date by the time it’s actually read.
Quite like the idea of gettign a Free I-Phonje….wouldn’t take much to remove the hard wired Indy website! :-)
What are these “12.01″ posts all about? Is Guido abroad?
Bloody great post, though. Perhaps you could suggest something similar to arch tree-buggerer, cub scout Hislop.
I’m sure he’d positively, er, steal your idea.
(When do I get my iPhone?)
http://codex.wordpress.org/images/e/e1/writepost.png
In WordPress there’s an option to publish an article at a future date
http://codex.wordpress.org/Write_Post_SubPanel
Ahhh. Many thanks, techy.
Congratulations Guido. That’s 2 posts in the last 24 hours. Compared to 8 on LabourList – who’s winning now?
As a capitalist you ought to welcome the competition. In should warn you though that the Tao warns against the perception of arrogance and your hubris will cost you.
No one stays at the top for ever. Believe me I’ve seen it all. I’m a game developer and been around the internet longer than you lot. I’ve taken leading policy positions you’re only just catching up and got my ass flamed by thrill seekers before your blog even existed as an idea. Similarly, when people like me were capping each others asses at 60 FPS you lot were basking around the CRT glow of the Channel 4 special on “Virtual Reality”.
I’ve had political parties pinch slogans and ask questions in PMQ’s, and had my first invention published in the Sunday Times Innovation Section before I left full time education and coined industry terms like “graphics fidelity”.
In short – LabourList will soon overtake you and the right-wing lemming blogosphere’s days are numbered.
Lady Charles, Lady Charles: your carriage awaits (back to the hospital).
Still trolling, denverthen?
I’ve seen a lot of trolls in my time. Trolls are incredibly dim and persistent. Once they get through the door they walk around eating everything up while skirting the rules and playing people off against each other. It’s effective but only as long as people keep feeding them with attention or they don’t get their ass banned.
Yes but your posts are shit and nobody comments on them but you. If your sure that your blog is so good what are you doing here. Just because you can fool a bunch of thick as fuck Labour Politicians into giving you money does not make you clever. By my count 4 million other people are doing the same thing except they only have to sign their name. So you have had a question asked at PMQ’s was it one of those ones that promote a failed Brown Policy and is not actually a question but a cue for the GB to poo out of his mouth.
Both Guido and LabourLost failed to break the biggest story of the day:
Brown to Introduce Moral GPS System
Following on the enormous triumph of his YouTube appearance last week, Gordon Brown is embracing modern technology yet again – this time he’ll replace his much criticised Moral Compass with a nationwide, hi-tech, Moral GPS System.
Read it and weep….
http://plonquer.blogspot.com/
Somebody find where little Charles works and tell his employers he’s defrauding them by spending his time posting instead of writing software.
Charles,
keep taking the pills.
And go and ask for some more- these ones aren’t doing their job properly
…All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain
Wow Charley boy is still here,do you get paid overtime Charley boy or are you doing shift work for your masters,tra la as you used to say in your old guise.
Go away you tiresome little troll.
If we went away you would be lonely, why else do you come to this site?
Oh, Lady Charles! How very dare you!
Well I definitely look forward to when Labourlist starts to get some fresh stories, or uncovers plots regarding Government corruption or the like. Who knows, maybe Labour (And Labourlist) will become a fun read with Labour in opposition.
It does feel like a more like a campaigning ground for Student Union Labour activists at present however…
Charles oh charley boy don’t you like me anymore,tra la
It feels more like a campaigning ground for Gordon Brown’s cabinet and very else. It feels top-down rather than of the people. Guido, for all his faults, is a populist.
Charlie Hardhead for someone who thinks very little of Guido you spend an awful lot of time posting on this site. What’s your game? It is pitiful to think that you still believe in Labour being the dynamic electoral force of was in 97 now that the statistical evidence suggests that they are heading to defeat. The “sea change” in public opinion is happening, what Brown, Darling, Smith do is discredited and ultimately futile. Or did you expect to be in power for ever?
NURSE!!
OK, children, lets have a vote.
After the next election should they change their name to:
(a) LabourLost
(b) LabourLast
(c) LabourLust
You couldn’t make this up. http://plonquer.blogspot.com/
LabourLabia – written by the Hoons for the Hoons
LabourLouse
A link showing why no-one bothers with labour lost
includes such gems as:
“LabourList is best when it bubbles with positivity, enthusiasm, friendship and down-to-earth, progressive substance – it’s infectious and, at this stage, LabourList’s haters are only really fanning the flames of togetherness, ambition and optimism. …”
Marxist student union politics of the 60s reinveted for an electronic age, awe-inspiring!
You accuse others of arrogance and spout some half learned half understood words about a religion you obviously know nothing about and then you go on to show arraogance and hubris by the bucket load!
BTW eight crappy and ill thought out posts read by a handful of window lickers doesnt mean they are winning out over this sites two interesting posts read by tens of thousands of people including yourself I might add, if lablist is so interesting and this site is so crap then why are you here so often?
“the Tao” you wouldnt know the “Tao” if it sat on your face comrade!
Charles, I hope you are not succumbing to the old American affliction of using quantity and quality as interchangeable values.
Don’t think so – think Charles is just a twat. The 1 person to use their real name other than Gary Elsby – hmm, says it all really. Gay & conceited – great combo!
So YOU are the one who coined the industry term “graphics fidelity”?
Where do I sign up?
Fuck me Guido, you have someone really clever reading the blogs. Better be really careful in future
That’s a repeat of yesterday’s post.
Why do you bother?
Your readers must be delighted. Both of them.
One of yours Charles?
http://www.bailoutbrown.com/
Charles, a metaphor for life (well your life, anyway). It’s based on the time I first went to school in the 50s.
In the playground at break-time there was always a group of little kids playing and talking among themselves, while away over the other side would be a group of the older kids, whose ‘leader’ seemed to be a boy called Guy, rough-and-tumbling and chatting about things that interested them.
The realities of life, I guess, meant that there was always one unpopular kid who had no pals of his own – let’s call him Charlie Hardwick – forever trying to latch on to the the group of younger children. He clearly didn’t fit in, always said and did the wrong things, and just wasn’t wanted. ‘Clear off, Wicky. You stink’, they might have said. And he’d leave the group for a little while.
Hardwick would then sidle over to the group of bigger kids (some of whom had learned some swearwords). First he’d hang around on the periphery, throwing in the occasional comment, but it was always ill-timed and just plain wrong. Then he’d clumsily and rudely force his way right into the conversation, often when people were speaking and it was nothing to do with him. Sometimes the bigger kids would let him speak, often explaining when he was wrong. But he never understood what they were talking about and was invariably unpleasant, often quoting some ridiculous fantasy figure called Tau. Inanely, he would repeat, time after time, ‘Troll. Troll, Troll’. ‘Go away, you. Bugger off, you talk rubbish; we don’t want you’, they’d say. ‘Go and play with the little kids if they’ll have you’.
But Charlie was an insensitive so-and-so, not too bright (although he thought he was!), someone whom we’d describe nowadays as having no social skills and a bit of a weirdo. Back he’d go to the little kids, throwing in stupid comments, he’d be rejected, go back to Guy’s group, and the whole performance would be repeated; back and forth, back and forth.
Charlie would never learn and spent each playtime wandering between the two groups and always being rejected. Charlie Hardwick was the saddest kid in the playground. I wonder what he’s doing now.
Harsh but true.
Thats called tough love, that is.
You post this regularly, are you looking for a job?
Eh?
I mean Mr. Hardwidge, who repeats himself ad nauseam, I wonder if it’s some weird kind of CV – you know, to mark him out from the pack.
“In short – LabourList will soon overtake you and the right-wing lemming blogosphere’s days are numbered.”
ROFLMFAO – By God Charlie I/we will hold you to this!!!!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHFUCKINGHAFUCKINGHAFUCKINGHA!!!
SAD TWAT!
Quote:No one stays at the top for ever. Believe me I’ve seen it all. I’m a game developer and been around the internet longer than you lot. I’ve taken leading policy positions you’re only just catching up and got my ass flamed by thrill seekers before your blog even existed as an idea. Similarly, when people like me were capping each others asses at 60 FPS you lot were basking around the CRT glow of the Channel 4 special on “Virtual Reality”.Quote
Isn’t this a cut and paste from your comment yesterday.
I have learned that the fact that I have been on the warez/hacker scene since the early days has very little relevance outside the circle of old hackers/scriptkiddies/warezposters. Everyone and his brother is online now and they just laugh when you come up with statements such as the quote above. It’s rather like boasting that one is an expert “penny farthing rider” when everone, including yourself are driving cars – get over it the net is not our exclusive playground anymore. You don’t need to be a scriptkiddie to post here or anywhere else. If you need to hark after the good old days there are plenty of “closed” forums where old hackers go to die.
Now, now Derek. Back in the box you go. You know you’re not supposed to read Guido’s blog before you have taken your sertraline dose.
Tell me, “game developer”!
Why do your crowd always “develop games” which are too demanding and heavy to run on exactly whatever hardware the average family household manages to possess, rather expensively, at any given time (whatever the time or date is)?
And then, when the young people have “played that” – they are bored! Can’t be a very good game then.
Of course we could all go to LabourList and swamp it with our neo-nazi ravings. Oh I forgot – moderation is applied there.We would probably call it censorship.
I’ve got a password for it but I lost it. Oh well.
They could also start to write more about what people want to read about, and recycle fewer press and PR announcements. Real journalism is dying.
Fewer and fewer scandals are broken by the dead-tree press. They have stopped reporting on government and started writing for government.
My tiny blog is operating at a more profitable rate than these so called MSM giants.
The difference is no-one cares about your pathetic little blog.
If I want my computer fixed I’ll go to a qualified professional (like myself). If I want proper journalism I’ll go to a trained professional journalist, not some average joe with an ax to grind.
If I want any old opinion my mates in the pub will do fine.
You clearly have an axe to grind – or why else are you here? We only have your word your a qualified proffesional – you might just as easily be a fantasist.
To be honest you’d be better off spending your time in the pub than commenting here.
I care about his blog which I vist more often than teh Independent where bar the odd article the only thing of value seems to be Dominic Lawson’s columns.
you have mates?
and they still let you in the pub?
Charles, what is it about this “Daniel into the Lion’s Den” approach that you seem relish so much? I could understand it from a selfish capitalist point of view if you’re being paid to do it. However, you genuinely appear to enjoy coming across as a rude narrow-minded arrogant bore.
I suppose in your own mind you might be going forth and smiting the evil legions of the enemy capitalists, plus educating them at the same time, but your attacks are risibly feeble. In so far as they are tolerated at all, it is only because they are providing much-needed amusement in the grey inevitably-collapsing economy of a country run for any length of time by socialists, as these idiots consume the wealth of the people in their never-ending bid to try to find the North-West Passage of making socialism ‘work’ (while at the same time helping themselves to saunas, luxury jets, and Sky Sports subscriptions, all gratis, thanks to the taxpayer).
Socialism will never work, Charles. If you were really intelligent you would have worked that out by now. This is because it is incapable of calculating, due to its destruction of the pricing power of the free market, even if it were to overcome its secondary problem of socially engineering a ‘New Socialist’ human who is happy to take out the garbage, while the party bosses quaff champagne in the workers’ palaces.
But having dealt with socialism, a rather tenacious nineteenth century religion, which I am praying is finally on its last legs, let’s take a look at your post above:
> The difference is no-one cares about your pathetic little blog.
Well, that’s nice, isn’t it? Daniel1979 takes the time and trouble to write a small blog, which presumably a few people enjoy, and you kick him in the teeth for his trouble. What a splendid chap you must be.
But then I forget that socialists don’t really care about what the ‘few’ might enjoy, because the ‘many’, in the glorious brave new world of the future, will only read one blog, LabourList. Everyone will also be directed in everything that they think via the diktats handed down by LabourList, from on high, e.g. “It is OK for the party bosses to bleed you dry with spurious expense claims and to live the high life in Westminster, paid for from your taxes, because they are glorious and wise, and need luxury to think properly, to truly help you in your daily life.”
However, the real difference between Daniel1979’s blog and LabourList, is that whereas his blog makes a bit of money, LabourList, a pathetic little blog that no-one cares about, loses money. As Mr Micawber once related: “Income, twenty shillings a week, expenditure, twenty shillings and sixpence; result, misery. Income, twenty shillings a week, expenditure, nineteen shillings and sixpence; result, happiness.”
Misery must be coming very soon indeed for LabourList.
> If I want my computer fixed I’ll go to a qualified professional (like myself).
Here the appalling arrogance shines through, once more, or are you simply over-compensating for what seems, at first glance, to look like a rather serious inferiority complex? I’d get that looked at if I were you, Charles. Derek Draper’s available, I hear, and allegedly a very fine psychotherapist. Perhaps he’ll do you a freebie? He better do it quick, though, before he’s struck off.
(BTW, why are you still called Charles? Surely ‘Charlie’ has the more authentic ring of the lumpen proletariat?)
> If I want proper journalism I’ll go to a trained professional journalist,
> not some average joe with an ax to grind.
A trained professional? Who takes dictated copy from Damian McBride and who does nothing with it except stick their own by-line on it? Or who for twelve years sits in the Lobby refusing to ask difficult questions, because they know that if they do they will have their access removed? Or who copies out stories from Reuters and AP because that’s easier than actually writing a story yourself from scratch? Or who actually believes anything Nick Robinson ever regurgitates, that hasn’t just been handed to him by a Downing Street flunkey? Do me a favour, Charles.
Still, each to his own. Which only begs the question, of course, that if you only want to read the opinions of ‘trained professional journalists’, then why do you spend so much of your time trolling here? Away to the ‘Independent’ with you…
> If I want any old opinion my mates in the pub will do fine.
You have friends? I find that very difficult to believe.
But assuming that there are similarly crass people around, who can actually tolerate you for more than five minutes, if we want your opinions, Charles, we know where to find LabourList. In the meantime, dear, would you mind taking these opinions down to the pub and keeping them there with all of your friends?
I don’t wish to censor you, you understand, as that would be down to the owner of this blog, who I suspect enjoys the sport of your comments as much as I do. However, with a little bit of comradeship still remaining from my own former days as a numskull idiot socialist, and as one who spent years in rehab recovering, I genuinely want to save you from embarrassing yourself any further.
Seriously. Do yourself a favour. Do a Derek Draper. Go away.
Trained professional journalist eh? Like who? If you want to save the MSM good luck and I hope you have deep pockets. Ejeet – typical blind refusal to accept the realities of life.
Think McBride might care.
You obviously know little about computers. Like TVs, they are very unlikely to break down these days. and if they do then buy another – they are cheap. When did you ever meet a computer repair man who earned a living?
If you don’t like Guido’s, start your own bolg! Old Holborn says so too.
I, do, Charles. he writes a good blog.
Fuckem
They are all done for
Exactly….. Fuck em, fuck em all.
What we need is a proper hardcore (not in the porn sense) libertarian paper.
Wow, I’m sure that will sell millions.
You was much less bitchy back when I used to read your posts on Nick Robinsons blog ~ a year ago. Much more focus on the tao stuff. What happened Charles?
His efforts weren’t effortless enough..
Trolling is hard work for morons like CH.
There is more than one Charles Hardwidge.
One of them is taking the piss but what is so hilarious is that quite often people don’t notice, they think it’s the real thing.
It will not. We have been trying with “Free Life” for 30 years. What we might be able to do is subvert the decomposing skulls of one or other political party to our purposes.
We Libertarians have no time, no machinery and no money. We have 24 hours to Save The World.
We did try to subvert the FCS in the 80s, under Chris Tame, to libertarian purposes, but we failed. They didn’t listen, and we had no guns.
I should think that with the excellent Samizdata, ASI and other blogs that we have all the libertarian news that we need. I can’t really see any real libertarian (note: REAL, Mr Hardwidge) wanting a printed paper in this day and age, not unless it is for the sheer pleasure of seeing the environmentally disturbed implode at the news that another tree has been culled for newsprint.
I’m afraid you are missing the point. It’s not an issue of dead trees versus the Internet – after all, most newspapers are on the web, aren’t they? – but an issue of quality.
MSM organs simply cannot afford to hire enough specialists to enable them to compete with specialist blogs.
I have a list of specialist blogs I visit periodically for information on topics that interest me. Does anyone think I would rely on the MSM for this information? For topics that interest me, MSM coverage is incredibly dumbed down. What’s worse, to a greater and greater extent, the MSM are starting to reply on stories that emphasize sensationalism and outrage at the expense of accuracy, simply to generate hits.
You only have to look at the Guardian’s CIF to see a completely cynical strategy of publishing stories and commentaries which are calculated to spark off comment-storms that generate hits you can sell to advertisers. The fact that most of the comments are illiterate and foolish does not bother the Guardian at all but it makes the Guardian completely useless as a “reliable” source of information.
The MSM have now failed in their primary role, which is the provision of news, and they have yet to find an alternative plan that works. If they fail to find one, I see no problem in letting them die.
If I want my computer fixed I’ll go to a qualified professional (like myself). If I want proper journalism I’ll go to a trained professional journalist with years of experience like Nick Robinson, David Aaronovitch or Kevin Maguire not some average joe with an ax to grind.
If I want any old opinion my mates in the pub will do fine.
echo echo echo…….
Is it self-loathing then that motivates you to hang around places you find distasteful?
Oooh your so clever with words, Charles.
Now fuck off and do something useful
“If I want proper journalism I’ll go to a trained professional journalist with years of experience like Nick Robinson, David Aaronovitch or Kevin Maguire…”
Why bother? Why not just go straight to Damian McBride and cut out all these middle-men?
My son fixes our computers – and those of mates sometimes.
What’s wrong with yours? Can my boy help?
Oh, and he and I are “professional journalists” – we profess journalism most days, when we can, and we have a blog to do it on. Start your own blog.
Oh I see. Derek Draper did it for you already. Well that’s all right then!
Are you a student or something? Well look sonny, the world is a lot lot less smooth, like the Universe, than you think.
Charles,
If you don’t like the smell, you shouldn’t be cottaging.
Leave it to your employers.
Nice thought Guido but “quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” I mean once we depend on the webby for our liberal /libertarian daily fix, what happens if the cnuts of nulabour don’t like it and want to control it? Is Europe going to spring to our defence? Some fucking chance. It’s too easy to switch off.
Mind you I wouldn’t mind swiching off Charles Hardwidge. Has he any idea how stupid he looks with these inane posts? If he some IT background he should remember the values the web was founded on. Otherwise he should shut up. For good.
Think the problem at the moment Guido is that the blogs look for confirmation of some of the news from the MSM re the loads of links to the MSM.
The vast majority of links are to opinion pieces in the press, not to factual reports.
The Fleet Street titles are actually power bases when you analyse it, that’s why their opinions seem important. They have the perceived power to influence people but whether or not they can and do is a different matter. It is however possible to pick which titles might have floating voters and which have readers with more or less immutable loyalties.
If you look at the UK politics section of the Indy online it is not overtly supporting anyone it is just attacking Brown and his cronies.
It is not running the reshuffle and sack Blears, Smith & Nick Brown stories that most of the press are covering, so it is a fair way from throwing in with the Cameroons.
See how the one eyed monster plans to deal with Hazel Blears
I suppose once Brown has downed enough dutch courage to actually reshuffle his pack of jokers, we can sift through the rejects and work out which four of them have posted fraudulent expenses
Why shed tears over the Independent and the Guardian? .An axis of banality and jargon laden political correctness. Let them die and good riddance.
By the way what is a “Game developer?” Is it something to do with pheasants?
Is Hardwidge a gamekeeper? On a Tory toffs estate perhaps?
He has a typical chippy attitude.
I’ll say it again. If I want my computer fixed I’ll go to a qualified professional (like myself). If I want proper journalism I’ll go to a trained professional journalist with years of experience like Nick Robinson, David Aaronovitch or Kevin Maguire not some average joe with an ax to grind.
If I want any old opinion my mates in the pub will do fine.
Yawn!
You want us to bite Charley boy so uk,Nick Robinson, David Aaronovitch or Kevin Maguire,all left wingnuts well apart our kev I wouldn’t call him a reporter/professional journalist in any way shape or form,the other two have to bow to their masters,haven’t you any Libdum or NewCons that you would consider as having a chance or any that don’t conform to your rigid biased left wing self.
Nick Robinson a journalist? Doesn’t journalism require a bit of objective thought? Charlie, you must be spending too long in the pub with your ‘mates’.
double yawn !
CH take your own first-line advice and try a reboot.
Charles, would you mind *not* saying it again please? Ta very much.
“David Aaronovitch or Kevin Maguire not some average joe ” journalists hahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahahahhaahahahahahahhahahahahstop it your killin me
hahahahahahahahahhahahahhahahahha
choke
hahahahahahahahahhahahahahjournalists….oh dear.
Now who’s being arrogant? What does the Tao say about relentlessly blowing your own trumpet, you tiresome Hoon?
Charlie – you are a boring twunt.
You sure sound like good sound right wing average Joe to me matey.
Why don’t you just tweet these chaps, perhaps they’ll tell you what to sya next.
CH is Dolly Draper………….I claim my £5
I read your interview w/ the independent yesterday, even though my political view is to the ledt your interview showed me different side of a right wing comentatoer. I shall keep coming to your blog from time to time.
The so-called “death of the newspaper” is nothing new. It’s just another storm in a teacup, a moment in a bigger moment. The print media was old when the Tao was young. It’s how things are. While politicians seek to control events and pundits explain them, control and perspective are just so much feebleness and wind.
Most people like Gordon Brown, myself included, tend to focus on abstracts and personality tends not to be a factor. It’s why Gordon Brown can crack a deal while sitting next to a man he might dislike. As for the positioning, you can chuck that book in the bin. Our character type can’t give a rats ass for positioning. Goals, getting people on board, and achieving outcomes is primary even at the cost of self-sacrifice. Steve Jobs, Ieyasu Tokugawa, and Baroness Young of Scone are the same. Think quality and no man left behind.
Your conclusion is interesting but a little murky. But you’re right, people do like simple answers and the fuzzy nature of the world can be problematic. And yes, again, how we deal with things is important, as it’s key to how we change, how we influence the world, and the outcomes that flow from that.
Most people tend to equate principle with absolute values. Independence while aligned, getting out while staying, shunning war while embracing war look paradoxical. How can this be principled? The rule is right until the rule is wrong. Clinging too hard to principles can undermine them. Best get real and let go.
In summary, the perennial fluctuations in media fortune is the essence of Zen Buddhism. I don’t know if this comparison is deliberate or if I’m reading things in that aren’t there. It may be a bit of both, or neither. Who knows? Who cares? All one can do is remain open, relaxed, and allow experience to accumulate.
Phowarrr can you smell that….
Ah yes. The distinct aroma of Lady Charles’ extraordinary flatulence, with its familiar bouquet of bullshit.
The gift to the world of blogs that just keeps on giving.
Is this part of your current “Uni” media assignment?
Who, me?
Oh charley boy your such a master with drivel,do you do internet courses on it,you you master pc expert you.
I always knew it was the right thing to be governed by men without principles or morality. Thank you for elucidating the type so clearly if a trilfle verbosely
I’m still struggling to stop lauging at the “Labours on the ball” post Charles made on the last thread. Ha Ha. Might be right about the death of the newspapers being overexagarated. They’ll just change and adapt to the new form. The blogs will either wither on the vine, or eventually morph to become like the newspapers. Its human nature.
I’ve changed my mind, I intend to support the Tory party. Apologies to anyone I might have offended
In fact I support UKIP
47 please stop pretending to be our charley boy you will only upset him and he will call you a very naughty word like troll.
Troll is a naughty word. Brown’s an even worse one.
I’m starting to feel a bit sorry for Charlie. When I checked in on an earlier thread several hours ago, he ws posting away like a madman. I come back now and he is doing it again.
Charles – there really is a world beyond Gudio’s blog. Take it from me – it’s great (but don’t go to Norwich, that’s crap). Embrace the world.
Errrrr on second thoughts I think I might support Plaid Cymru if they have candidates outside of Wales or is it Scotland.. Oh and by the way I think you are all trolls errrr
> (but don’t go to Norwich, that’s crap).
Middlesbrough’s crapper.
Why not go the whole hog, really wet yourself, and support LPUK … ?
So many words, yet so little sense!
The posts of ‘Mr tao’ bear a striking resemblance to a youngster taking acid or Ecstasy, verbal squitters that make great sense to the person who utters them but no sense to anyone else.
Why did I just spend time reading that? Meandering, meaningless tripe.
Gordon Brown “crack a deal” – did you not read about his appalling attitude when discussing MP’s expenses with the other party leaders or his recent behavior when taking interviews in No10?
Gordon is a socially retarded Hoon.
The Tao says basically more is less.
You long and pointless posts prove the Taoist knowledge, however they also show your lack of understanding.
Maybe you should read more and post less?
Got me on ‘most people like Gordon Brown’ – ah, my kingdom for the want of a comma.
What completely meaningless drivel. In the 2 hours since Guido posted his article, Charles Hardwidge has commented at least 10 times – this suggests a level of obsession of almost T** I******-esque levels. Surely we have a duty to notify his doctor of this disturbing and potentially dangerous behaviour, for his own safety and others?
“In the 2 hours since Guido posted his article, Charles Hardwidge has commented at least 10 times…”
It’s very telling. I was looking at ‘The Desert Island’ – sorry, ‘Liberal Conspiracy’ yesterday. A few days earlier Sunny Hamdal had published his 400th article in the space of four weeks on the subject of “Why nobody pays any attention to Guido”. It had six comments, so I added a few more, although I was as careful as anything not to wake him up.
too long, didn’t read
“All one can do is remain open, relaxed, and allow experience to accumulate.”
Just how Mandy likes ‘em- open, relaxed yet inexperienced.
Don’t know why I’m bothering to reply to this drivel…
The opening paragraph states that the print media was old when even the Tao was young… Hmmm, let me see, Taoism recognised in China circa 2nd Century AD, printing press invented about 1440 AD… Just a load of verbose, self-aggrandising garbage.
Hoon.
How many people are Charles Hardwinge?
Let me get this straight – you’re comparing yourself to Gordon Brown – as in the deeply psychologically flawed moron that lives in 10 Downing St.
You then go on to compare yourself to Steve Jobs?
Are you a deluded fucking idiot?
Are you unemployed? You seem to have an awful lot of time on your hands. Of course, if you’re a Labour politician you very soon be unemployed.
As an expert on Zen Buddhism would you agree that only in the sea of silence can we find the fish of peace?
Of if I’m reading things in that aren’t there.
That is what you are doing.
Guido, agree there is a gap in the market for a Lib-Con positioned paper (The Times is not too far off though), but that its financial viability would be debatable for the reasons you summarize so well. A number of content owners have attempted similar business models; e.g. Disney’s Mobile Virtual Network Operator venture in the US. Can’t think of any examples that have worked tbh.
As you can get effectively unlimited Mobile Internet access from Voda and the rest with a voice contract, I can’t see why you would pay for web access in order to get free Indy content. Also, Mobile Advertising is a far from proven business model, so not a proven sponsorship stream either.
Don’t think anyone knows the answer for MSM survival. If I did, I’d be selling it to News International.
For that reason, I’m out. ;-)
Mathew d’Ancona, editor of Brown’s ghost written “Being British” was hardly the right person to field against New Labourism on BBC’s Newsnight tonight, opposed only by the The Indie’s ghost writer of the same meagre volume!
According the The Daily Mail, “Bill Campbell, of Mainstream Publishing in Edinburgh, of which Mr Brown used to be a director, said: ‘It was an original idea from Gordon and there has been a substantial personal contribution from him.”
But elsewhere we learn that the book deal was done following a proposal by Mathew d’Ancona, who brought in his ghostwriting chum from the Indie.
And this was the best BBC2’s Newsnight could bring in to give us the BBC’s famous ‘balanced’ reportage on the Brown oligarchy.
utter bollox.
independent is a fine example of a fishcake.
leave it alone.
i quite like fishcakes old bean
In my world news papers are dead. I did buy a few around 2006, spending a fortnight hanging around in the jury room. Otherwise innovation and intellectual content online are more attractive.
You’re linking to: http://whippedsenseless.co.uk/2009/03/guardian-axe-150-jobs/
Interesting but Off-Topic.
I had breakfast in the Little Chef on Monday, and I read a newspaper. Two simultaneous 1970’s experiences. I won’t be doing either again in a hurry.
How very dare you! I love Little Chef!!!!
I used to have a Capri.. i wont be doing that again either..
Voting Labour – thats a very 1970s activity that people won’t be doing much in the future.
Guido you are one jumped up twat I thought you were going to be different when you exposed Mcbride but that turned out to be a lucky hit; you are now churning out shit like any red top.
Tra la go away and play with your computer you professionel you
I don’t mind idiots but not professional ones.
Guido is a bit of a red top – probably the Sun. But its worth remembering the Sun sells about 30 times as many copies as the Independent does. It drives the news agenda. I don’t remember Tony Blair flying to meet the owner of the Independent on some faraway island to pleade for him to support Labour – but he did for Murdoch, didn’t he?
Rabid Rebuttall Farce in full vigour again, I see.
Charles Hardwedge
I’m a proper journalist me! Eeeee bha gum. In olden days I used to warm the printers balls. In them days printers wouldn’t even sort out the capital letters with cold balls. Now I remember it they had an assistant to sort out the first half of the alphabet. Any letters from N-Z were paid at a higher rate than A-N. Those were the days. A cup of chocolate rum and a freezing walk out by 10am, home for bed before the power workers.
Journos on scumbag Maxwell papers on were told to only use first half letters in their pieces.
That’s why they used to print “Maggie” instead of “Thatcher”
But you know, the internet. i invented that i did. Not all on my own, granted, but i invented the concept of the internet in a news format. No one had thought of it before last month when I did. Not the BBC, not Google, not Derek Draper, not anyone.
I became an award winning Journalist for Computer and Video gaming magazine. And I did features for CRASH and ZX Spectrum. Did you know I won an award for my review of LUNAR LANDER III. Let me recall erm … “The games scrolling is a dream to behold and the lens flare effect as the lunar lander spins horizontally brings to mind Jesus ascending into heaven.” I have the clipping. 1991 that was. I keep it in my wallet. Just to show interested people like. I show a lot of people that. And my NUJ card. Its laminated. Don’t want anything to tarnish it. I had to go Thames Poly for a year to get that. And work on lord Snitchey’s Daily Thug for a year as a fish tank. He used to keep his prized Blue Angels in my cheeks. Hard to hold breath that long. Especially when he fed them through my nose.
Happy days.
not like now.. look at you lot. You wouldn’t know a story if it had “Breaking News” plastered across the top of it. A bit like you get of the news feed. But you lot still wouldn’t recognise it. now I’m off to Labourlist. Ho Ho I see Gordo only managed 2 posts today. Barely 1,000 comments Ha! Why we got nearly … well never mind about that.
Anyway can’t stay here with you losers. I’m off to BrownNose for the editors job. Big I.D. card story breaking.. that’s going to be a big hit. I can spot a big story. I’ve been trained, did I mention?
Elite! I said it was shit when it was released. Expanding galaxies..What a crock. And I was right. Who plays it now? No one. See I was right. Said it was a flash in the pan. Vector graphics.. what tosh! Elite.. That’s not a patch on GTAIV is it? See i was right..I’ve been trained.
Hello Bill,seen that ID card thingy ,poor Manchester is going to get it yet again first but this time they are going to get the shops and supermarkets to push them.
“A bit like you get of the news feed.” a year at Thames Poly should have taught you that it is Off not Of!
A year at Thames Poly taught me no such thing. Aww You whipper-snappers wouldn’t even dream of what a professional like wot me iz can get away wif.
I’m guessing Bill was intending to be ironic. There only about nine posts in response to each thread, while there are invariably hundreds here.
i think guidos prediction is part right , and i would say be careful what you wish for conversing with greenies gadget news is not exactly clean , i think a google search takes the same energy as boiling a kettle , at least news papers can make bog roll .
but as i enjoys bills posts , its not so much the madness of modern news feeds but its the way they can often lack illumination , a trusted journalist like john pilger was are vital , journalists that do stories when no else wants to or in broons britain dare to cover them may become dead without the press .
the end of the papers means that tv and internet news feeds dominate which could also make stalins dream come true . guido has done what the journos used to do all from a laptop , perhaps we will see trusted news sites , BBC was once reliable before stalins reign took hold .
i think it will go to local papers , weekly editions but as guido points out the technology is not barrier to even that evolution , but what happens if no one reads anymore , comprehends a subject and everyone just dumbs down to a sort of flayling HOON , gormless , nutter etc etc and a kind of meaningless shorthand evolves then the politicians have cart balnche , as the end users cannot cobble together a half decent question .
on a side note , i dont mind a bit of party red hot pokers , i think you may find that my stance was truer than my so called loyal detractors , however i will stand true and shining in the end , why would i have bothered otherwise . ill take it for now as i can see you may prefer who you know and this is a business of honour , but when its passed someone had better come off there high horse and admitt that the most unlikely of people are humble enough to see the truth and maverick to see change despite the alarmist overtones .
i choose my loyalities carefully and honour them
We should encourage the press by blogging not replace them with a chancer who got lucky once.
>think a google search takes the same energy as boiling a kettle
Don’t be so stupidly gullible. It takes nothing like that amount of power.
John Pilger is beach bum weirdo Red Aussie. Like Robert Fisk, he is basically a self-publicising parasite. Also like Fisk, he is a bona fide pain-in-the-arse loon.
Et tu, Caesar’s wife.
er your forgetting all the juice for the data centres anticitizone , and wirless transmission battery charging etc etc
re john pilger i might agree with you , but he was a brand a trusted brand who was a journalist , that is what is missing , we just have backing vocalists and not talented soloists
That’s actually a really bloody good point, Mrs Caesar. And I take it.
Dearest Bill pricking the over inflated balloon of pomposity as usual?
Laughed so hard I spilt me horlicks, thanks so much my learned friend!
Save the Telegraph first. Then give the Indy some thought.
Bill, it’s when you start looking like the photo on your NUJ press card that you have to worry! Oh, God… I do look like the photo on the card! God. Didn’t realise my dad was a member of the NUJ!
I’ll iterate a link to a story about Mr Hislop on my blog: The man’s a joke, now. So very establishment. Of course, they allow him to be the licensed pet on HIGNFY, being rude about an actress nobody has heard of, or the wife of a Tory politician. Rather sad. A bit like: “Dance, Monkey! Dance!”
Ian Hislop, establishmant man, backs MSM and is anti-blog. (Idiot!)
Incidentally, some of Guido’s posts get more comments than the entire Labourlist gets visitors in a day.
524 Daily reads for Labourlist, acording to the latest independent figures I saw.
Its the same with diahorea.
What? I know “Horea” was an early C18th Transylvanian revolutionary. But “Dia Horea”? Who the hell was that – his brother?
If you’re trying to make some sort of obscure, anti-imperialist comparison between the revolt of the downtrodden Romanian serfs against Charles III and the end of the dead tree press, then fair enough.
But I need more information, Arthur. More information.
Sorry 92 I’m pissed but at least I am contributing something to this blog unlike guido.
Actually, you’re dead bloody right.
Guido’s a sodding absentee landlord. (The best kind if you’re a tenant, of course.)
But a bloody insult and a diabolical liberty, frankly, for a blogger who relies on his readership for his crust.
I apologise for ripping on you, Arthur.
524 reads?
And probably well over half of them are trojan diverts from this site.
Just don’t go there. It will be full of utter lies, bullshit and moonshine. We know it, they know it and they know that we know it.
Let it be like Brown’s support petition ‘v’ the ‘just go’ petition. ie 6 v 60,000.
A waste of time talking to them or interacting with them. Ideologically blinkered or wilfully mendacious liars the lot of them.
152- Absolutely. Labouredandlost is infantile marxist student union politics of the 60s rehashed in digital format, v.boring, past its sell-by-date and painful pish, yet this house of horrors is where aspiring liebour politicos hang out.
At the next election one must hope Liebour is buried so deep that it never again sees the light of day.
The Left can then regroup around some other axis of evil and earn its entry card to play democratic politics.
I have signed the petition twice and not had the confirmation email! Labours not working
Fuck the Cameroons, the Indy, the Guardianistas and the still Labour supporting Times heavily and in that order. They can all go to the wall for all I care, especially the useless idiot trustafarian Cameroon twats..
A pro-tory newspaper? What an exciting new idea. I wonder why nobody ever thought of it before.
What a load of rubbish! I never see people reading newspapers (sorry dead trees that have very probably been replanted but i love that your a tree hugger) .(or was that you trying to hammer home the point?)I especially never see them on the train or even on there lunchbreak.The problem is when we get untrained idiots writing blogs because there so arrogant they believe they are the sole authority on every subject. i mean , i wonder how old guido’s head fits through the door at night. so the internet heralds the end for printed news? hasn’t that argument being circulating for a while. Its the same as emails will stop people from recieving junk mail or letters. Its crap. Theres a world that exists outside computers and one day you might get to see it . Picture this, if news did go digital completely then it might not be the saviour ,guido thinks it is. Technology *shock horror* doesnt always work whereas pieces of paper dont decide to get viruses or lose internet connection. I mean lets factor in seventy four year old fred who is unable to use technology , if news went digital then no news for him . But thats ok because if you cant use a computer then you don’t deserve most of your basic human rights?Printed newspapers wont go anywere because their easily transportable,easy to dispose of , easy to RECYCLE, ( cuz i really hate this dead tree crap) and there a part of british history. Something we have no pride in anymore. Thats why ruining Royal Mail.
You must admit the press have fucked up, maybe blogs will wake them up.
fucked up how exactly?
i wont upset too many people but i will give a hint , the turning of a page is not quite the same as the addcition of the net , we are becoming conditioned to the speed of response , this in itself may be the cause of dumbing down .
no wonder rittalin is a cognition drug , labour will soon be legally providing it free with tamiflu to help you live with the new world .
put another way you wont need to know much about anything soon if this lot have there way , just do as computer tells you !!
Think you somewhat miss Guido’s point.
He I think suggests the delivery platform change. Produce the newspaper as done presently — same journo inputters and same quality control — just deliver it digitally via a kindle reader or a mobile phone, saving huge printing and distribution costs.
Quite a number of publishers are currently looking at just such an option.
When I worked for a big magazine publisher in the eighties we had to go to endless ’seminars’ where some digi-zealot would harangue us about getting our titles on line fast because ‘print is over.’
I wandered out of one of these at lunch break into a bookshop and was amused to see that there were over a hundred titles on the shelves about the internet. A forest of trees being felled to produce books telling us that technology will mean leaving trees in peace!
and that’s happened.
News Papers are selling less, and news addicts are getting their news from blogs/ news aggregation sites.
The newspaper as bundled news model is on life support.
while your answering……….. blogs have there place. Journalists go out an get the news the bloggers express opinions about. its easy to speculate when you dont have to do the hard work. Blogs are vanity publishing. Its not like there even that well read. They have certain limited appeal
You are getting caught out by not reporting certain stories.
by “you” who are you refering to, me? or the press? so blogs may have there place as a public forum to point out improvements to the press but theyll never replace it. Its why guido asks you to call him with any stories and fax him secret documents. Essentially hes relying on other people to bring the story to him.
To 107 if you had read the blogs you would have realised that guido is a drunken moron who got lucky once but it showed what journalist new but didn’t have the balls to print.
Are you a journalist? Do you have English as a first language?
Just wondered.
Most journalists have stories that do not get into print. It’s not that they are not newsworthy, it’s just that they either do not fit the format of their publication, will be out-of-date by the next publication day, etc.
So journalists are now learning to use blogs in order to use more of their output.
Hislop (for one) does not seem to understand this.
knew
Is the re-phrasing of corporate and ministerial handouts journalism?
Mr Christopher, in some cases, yes.
Just because news comes in an official handout does not mean it is not news and not important.
Though it isn’t always.
Good god I’m being moderated on this site. Is this the end.
It is because you talk out of your arse
Freedom for blog 108
Just wanted to say, I agree with that Guido bloke.
Haven’t bought a paper in years. However, If a day comes by,when they start reporting news, I promise I’ll shell out my 50p.
Don’t hold your breath…
52,000 signatures and rising.
There are 12 actually up for McTwat staying, or so they say. They include Andrew Neil, Ivor Broquen-Printer, Albert Tatlock, Willy E. Kerslyke, Rex Mobiles and Gerry Mannering who have clearly slipped past the eagle eye of the No 10 censor.
I guess they have to boost their support somehow and hope we don’t notice the obvious desparation…
Probably be two more signatures soon if “sources close to PM” are to be believed but McTwat will probably make a mess of that too !
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1177768/Brown-set-axe-Jacqui-Smith-Hazel-Blears-ruthless-cabinet-reshuffle.html
Their repostes from the back benches will be interesting – will we get a Geoffrey Howe moment – savaged by a chipmunk?
haha like that will work, he sacks the incompetent and disloyal and hire sycophants as Balls as Home Sec, can i just laugh,………
The report says;
Gordon Brown is preparing a wholesale clearout of disloyal and ineffective ministers in a reshuffle designed to shore up his waning authority.
One imagines GB sitting at a completely empty table having got rid of all the disloyal and incompetent Ministers; then he too vanishes into thin air with a faintly audible “plop”.
In Scotland, the Scotsman newspaper could be saved if it started to support the SNP. In England, the Independent could be saved if it sacked those of its employees who are reputed to be spooks. Operation Mockingbird (the CIA takeover of the media) is one of the main reasons why many people have become sickened by newspapers. It’s ironic that the current Lockerbie Bomb appeal case is getting so little attention from the UK press; Lockerbie was the UK’s biggest terror incident and allegedly it was all about destroying Major Charles McKie and the evidence he had gathered of CIA drug smuggling- Aangirfan
Yes, vanity publishing. A most appropriate phrase.
The Indie is often strangely weak on relevance.
The leading debate of the day, for example, is whether Brown should be lead forth from Newgate on the back of an ox-cart, and thence to Tyburn Tree to appease the just wrath of the crowd, or whether a discrete clinical solution – assisted euthanasia – would be more appropriate to the tastes of our times.
Yet not a word of this debate in The Independent, which continues to discuss the Leader as though he were still a vital force.
Getting rid of hysterically deranged fruit bats like Hari and Richards would be a start. That would save a few quid surely?
Speaking of the “Indy” this one this morning is absolutely right on the money:
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/mark-steel/mark-steel-its-almost-heartbreaking-ndash-these-people-are-so-clueless-1679741.html
AND so is THIS. Even Gordon’s alleged “Best friends” think he’s ruining the country(although what do THEY know THEY started it all in the first place)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1177719/MAX-HASTINGS-Thatchers-legacy–America-falling-love-Britain-again.html
Good link and a useful addition to the feedback that Brown and colleagues should be given on their incompetence and uselessness. Are they going soon please?
PS Has Uddin resigned and started to pay the money back yet? If not, Brown should sack her at 09.00 and start taking action to recover the money and look at her Housing Association “arrangements”. Job done, move on to Purnell, McNulty etc before PMQs.
Will anything happen to the criminal Uddin? No more than has happened to Jacqui Smith, or the ultimately unsuccessful Cash for Questions police enquiry
Someone will whisper that it would be bad for national security if all the guilty were arrested – a whisperer like John “Dodgy Dodgy” Scarlett of MI6, for example – because if all the guilty were arrested and charged we should have no government left.
So the crooks are actually encouraged to hide behind the fetid, threadbare cloak of ‘national security’ – the last refuge of the New Labour criminals.
An excellent piece – especially as regards the New Labour model of apologetics for the Third Reich, with which so many are comparing the Brown regime nowadays.
At the run in to the first General Election following the launch of The Independent. They promised they would look at each party’s manifesto and then pronounce whom they would support!
They ducked it!
I took the Independent from Issue One. The photographs were quite stunning. the reporting was, err, Independent. As was the editorial. But when it chickened out of making a decision I lost interest.
I do think that people will always like the printed news. Perhaps it should take the form of weekly journals, which could be, as some are, more in depth and thought provoking, rather than just printed mouthpieces of Government news briefings etc.
The internet is too immediate for daily newspapers to beat. I am sure we all turn to the internet to read about the latest news- as we cannot trust the radio or television news broadcasts!
Therefore a weekly journal of sound Independent thinking. Giving readers the story in depth and with greater balance, would be a suggestion I would offer to The Independent. I would certainly subscribe to that.
I think you have a point, the more mediums that exist for relaying news the better, especially if years from now we are still railing against the menace from the mainstream media, albeit from online.
Newspapers as they exist now are ready for the grave, but that could be due to the quality and content rather than technology winning out. Being fairly young I have only really seen newspaper journalism as loud and neurotic, any further into the individual paper’s history and I have to take people at their word.
BBC News demonstrates that online news is viable but that its as easily wielded for propaganda/misinformation purposes as a newspaper. The only practical safeguard against this will always be more than one outlet of news.
Times change. Some technologies rise as others fall.
As example, cheques used to be the main way of transferring money, now on a reducing trend. Cheques will probably not die completely, how will fund raisers show the results of their efforts, a screen shot of a balance transfer does not have the same cachet. They will become a niche transfer method.
Papers in all their forms will evolve. Titles will merge or die or in some cases merge and die just as they have for years.
It is possible that there will be only two or three news gathering organisations whose electronic output is bought, commented on and distributed by what were to-days papers. Their subscribers will choose the distribution medium and cost.
You may be crossing swords with the Times or Daily Mail that have morphed into blogs with many links. Now perhaps that sounds like a strategy.
“only two or three news gathering organisations ..”
already the case:
Thompson-Reuters, AFP, AP, and to a lesser extent english versions of national news agencies like Ansa (Italy), China News agency etc.
I don’t waste time reading the comments.
I hope the Tories make sure after the next election that public sector jobs are no longer advertised in the Guardian.
Yep. Just put them on the internet.
Even if it cost more than the Gruaniad (which it wouldn’t) it would be worth it to put them out of business.
If we all stopped eating there would be no need for bog rolls.
If we killed off all the grass there would be no bullsh*t.
If you don’t eat you don’t shit.
You don’t shit, you die.
no shit, and I only thought you die if you stopped living……just started drinking my 20th Red Bull of the day, going to do a rap on YouTube with the PM and the rest of the Cabinet, they can’t count so we’re calling ourselves the Four Tops, no Darling I don’t want to eat the black shoe polish.
I refuse to pay money for these party political mouthpieces.
Here is Scotland it is probably worse than down sarf with the Scotsman and Glasgow Herald being fully paid up members of the Labour Party. The BBC up here is a particular disgrace.
Their hatred for the SNP is palpable even though they are doing a remarkably good job for a party with a majority of one and have achieved more in their short reign than the Labour Party managed in decades.
Heck, they even stopped the comments on the Herald due to “internet vermin” but probably due to pressure from McSnotty because him and his wrecking crew were getting it in the neck so often.
I don’t even visit these papers online now.
I would only pay for online access if I felt that the content was fair and balanced and not merely the spewings of a politically biased operation.
Where will the British Broadcasting Company be with an Independent Scotland?
Alex Salmond is the best thing to happen for an Independant England.
The Brown Boadcasting Coroporation RIP.
Gordon Brown is on cloud nine, high on Red Bull, that’s why he looks stark staring bonkers on YouTube, he’s taking the piss out of us all, the mad man of Downing Street, there coming to take me away aha, aha.
Good business model Guido.Worth keeping an eye on how the Seattle paper, with the weird name,shapes up.
What an exciting thought, the next Labour Prime Minister hasn’t been born yet.
Perhaps some of Princess Mandlesons cyclops deposits have been recovered and cyogenically frozen.
In 30yrs time it will be like a remake of the Boys from Brazil. Be afraid, be very afraid !!!
That’s how Cyclops the Snot-Gobbler was created, isn’t it ? His real name is obviously Braun.
Hasn’t evolved yet, with any luck!
I still think the dead tree press has a future, but not as a daily.
Imagine The Independant, became a Friday Afternoon edition only, but kept the current page count, more or less.
If a story makes it into the weekly, it makes it as a 10 page high detail report and analysis, not 10 lines of reworded press release.
The current crop of journos arent going to be up to it, but its a chance for the papers to survive.
With the quality of some of the journalism and the blatant bias in most newsrooms, why is anyone surprised? My biggest question if the printed papers vanish is this – what will I line my cat box with then?
Gordon’s just been on the phone asking what colour is an orange.
Save the second hand thunderers?
Surely some mistake
In Munich Airport at 8am one day last week there were only 2 English language newspapers on sale. The FT European Edition (nach) and The Independent (2 copies available)
Firstly – I hope that talk of the Indy repositioning itself as neo-Con was a joke. And if it was, I don’t get it. Because it wasn’t funny.
Secondly, Charles Hardwidge is a moron:
I welcome the newspapers with their professional journalists unlike most bloggers (especially English ones) who are unprofessional and untrained.
Any other sweeping generalisations to add to the mix, Hardwodge? An idiotic thing to type.
If they can make money giving away free newspapers in most big cities then they can make money selling papers
Great. So why are they losing money?
at a guess i’d say too much costs
Newspapers, snewspapers, the industry is going to hell in a handcart and good riddance. At last all those tiresome men and women of letters, opinion formers, socio-economic-politico-cultural procrastinors etc will have to get real jobs where they produce real goods sold in real shops bought by real people. Leave Simon Cowell and Max Clifford to sort out all our socio-econonmic-politico stuff.
Don’t worry. As standards of educashun continues to drop, kids of today will be incapable of even reading a newspaper. In the future, press releases will be sent directly to Twitter and Facebook in text message-speak !!
Guido, why do you suddenly go all gooey and doe-eyed when it comes to the ‘liberal’ Cameroons?
Surely if they were anything other than corporatist Hoons of the first order, they’d have not only rejected the 50 percent tax band, but pledged to work towards the abolition of income tax, the generalised rolling-back of the welfare state and so forth?
Until I have the freedom to keep the majority of the income I earn, I really don’t give a toss whether the statist thug who’s stealing my weath smokes weed or not – and I certainly am not going to vote for him just because he did.
It is the BBC, and the BBC alone that is destroying English Language Newspapers.
Since the whole of BBC online is funded by the tax-payer they are able to provide an excellent level of service for free.
Digital news sources cannot compete unless they offer specialist news service like Bloomberg or the FT- even then they barely break even.
Imagine a world where BBC online news did not exists. All the papers would be able to charge a subscription for online news services.
Whether it is a good thing or a bad thing, as long as BBC online is FOC, the dead tree newspapers are doomed.
Totally agree Bob. Here in Scotland the print media has always flourished, we habitually take three papers daily, more on Sundays. The Telegraph is all over the place editorially but can survive. As for the indie, what a load of bloody liberal, carping rubbish. Let it die I say.
Besides, what do we read on the loo?
OH! You’re my new favorite blogger fyi
(66BQMP)Elite on the Commodore 64. Now your talking. Taught my kids to love computers with this game.
Would love to say more but off to read the Sport Pages further down. Whaddya mean there’s no sport pages here? I demand a refund.
Charles, stop huffing and puffing. The MSM has a future that’s why it’s called mainstream. If I wanted informed political comment in the past I’d come here and to various other blogs having had my interest sparked by something I have read in the MSM, online. That all changed for me last but one Bank Holiday when Guido exposed the MSM and Downing Street for what it/they really is/are. Suddenly the silent majority found a voice (blog)
I think whats eating you is the immeasurable damage done to Labour, Brown and his cronies by this one revealation and we heard it here first.
Since then they/you have drowned in a shitstorm of sleaze and incompetence of their/your own making and in no small part this blog has consigned them to the dustbin of history.
Bleat on as you probably must and will but unfortunately you cannot unbreak an egg.
Quality journalism? That one has been covered already here. What I will say is that there is no MSM (unless you include P.Eye) where I actually laugh out loud as I read articles and authors names. This blog is witty, smutty, irreverent and informative and you take from it what you will. It is unique in that respect. What it is is a forum for free speech and not for the faint hearted. Guido kicks off and us Peons play hard here, inside and outside of the box.
You should feel proud and honoured that this blog exists, I am sure if you and NewZanuLabour had the control of the internet you/they seek then we would not be here. That speaks volumes about all you fucking incompetant NuLab control freaks that have emerged over the past 11 years and we cannot wait to see the back of you.
The Independent’s main editorial policy has always been support for unlimited uncontrolled mass immigration with hysterical screams of ‘ racism’ against anyone who disagrees.So, personally, I look forward to it dying and hope that many of its writers die with it .The world will be a better place.
And another thing.What the bloody hell is the use of Liberal Conservatism.We might as well have the liar back.What about right wing conservatism?
I don’t mind the Indy backing the Tories, as long as they can do it in a more concise style than their current one. The last thing we need is more husky/iceberg stats that prove ineluctably that…ZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Dead tree press on its last legs?
Shurely shome mishtake?
Rather a lot of people actually either prefer a print edition or don`t have a computer. I read one paper online and take another print edition. I read The Spectator online but also subscribe to the paper mag. The Daily Mail and The Sun and the NOTW – possibly also the D aily Express, are thriving as print editions still.
This just in:
“A recent study by the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication found that 22 per cent of Internet users have cancelled a print subscription because they could get the same product online.”
Says it all.
Changing from LibDims to Tories doesn’t make sense as a market strategy. Though they get far fewer seats the LDs on 16%+ are pretty much half as many votes as the cons on 40%+. Since no other paper is going for the LDs to go Tory would be to drop the 16% in the hope of getting a share of 40%. In theory that would be marginally conceivable if there were only 1 other Conservative paper in the land.
Yes, but the so-called ‘dead tree press’ are pretty fucking handy when you want some dodgy emails printed, eh Guido ?? Even if they will not deliver £ 20, 000 into your grubby little hands, you chiselling little grifter..
And as for the Main Stream Media – if they disappeared, who the fuck would you nick your ideas from then ??
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-business/article-23592609-details/My+way+to+save+Indy+-+kill+off+print+edition+and+focus+on+going+digital/article.do
The McBride issue was the final straw. My Telegraph vouchers run out next week and I’ve decided to shift to another daily. I was thinking about the Daily Mail but have always liked the feel of the Indy so if it went with the Cameroons then I would buy it.
Guido, I’m no fan of the print media but why, if the “dead tree media” are so useless, did you give your wondeful Smeargate scoops to the NOTW and the Sunday Times? Why not just rely on the blog?
Kind regards,
Martin
If newspapers are going to have any sort of future at all then they must become like the responsible Blogger. They must be honest and forthright, they must not show allegiance to a political party, they must attack Government for doing wrong and they must praise them for doing right. They must never, ever publish from an unnamed source, even more so when the unnamed source is part of Government.
They must support oppositon parties when they know them to be right, they must condemn those who will do harm to anyone who whistleblows in the public interest and they should name and shame anyone at any level who wreaks vengeance on anyone who “leaked” information that led to the exposure of malpractise.
Only when the penny drops for all the Mainstream Media (T.V, Radio and Newspapers) that the general public are so fed up with the dis-information they publish, that they are as disliked and untrusted as the Politicians they report on, will they see an upturn in their “fortunes”.
The MSM to cut to the chase should become more like Guido, Iain Dale…to name but a few.
[...] 2009 New York Times Signals End to Tree Slaughter This morning Guido suggested that, to survive, the Indy should go digital and abandon paper deliveries for iPhone or Kindle digital only versions. Today Amazon announced a [...]
Good news for the Beeb.
With the loss of print newspapers (the web versions are always run on a shoestring) the BBC will be given a great boost in power and influence and increasingly be seen as indespensible – across the world as well as in the UK.
Don’t forget The Guardian is on high-performance drugs in the form of public sector jobs adds – very clever but in the end not completely hidden purchase of positive coverage with tax money by labour
Reading 3 of your new “seen elsewhere” suggests
that the Indy has heeded your advice.
Lottery numbers for next Saturday, please.
[...] This post was Twitted by katbaldwyn – Real-url.org [...]
:smile:
:roll:
;)
[...] talking about it. Take goateed and gleeful Guido Fawkes for example. He’s come up with a genius solution to the problem of The Independent’s [...]