A quick look at today’s Sunday Independent demonstrates a great subtle use of editorial control and suggestion. There are three stories on the page: “Lenihan admits VAT error cost us €700m”, “Former FF adviser predicts June 5 general election”, and “RTE tells Nob Nation ‘go easy’ on Cowen over personal jibes.”

Each of these stories is reasonably newsworthy and decently written (though I’m not sure about “Embattled Finance Minister” as an opening- but, the Sindo does use tabloid-isms) but it’s the editorial control here that’s most interesting- the juxtaposition of all three elements together on the main page. The first two are easily front-page stories, but the third- internal wrist-slapping for dome personal attacks in RTÉ- really isn’t, in my opinion, front-page material. Other options included gang attacks, “Armed gang tie up post office owner”, Declan Ganley running for Europe, etc. But, its inclusion creates a staunchly anti-Fianna Fáil front page. On a casual glance, many readers might assume that the RTÉ story is somehow censorship-related (though the text makes it clear that it’s a solely internal affair, with no government pressure).

So what’s going on here? As far as I’m aware, the Sindo used to be pro-FF. Are they just appealing to the lowest common denominator, as their sister publication Herald AM does? Or is this just a once-off coincidence? I’d be surprised fi the latter were true, as this type of placement strikes me as obvious and intentional.

Posted by Dave Molloy in •Journalism
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Just a short while after changing my Joomla template, I’ve decided to move the entire blog to ExpressionEngine. Why? Well, Joomla is an excellent content management system, of that I’ve no doubt. But it’s simple. Too simple. It completes all the tasks for the end user, and that’s not what I’m looking for. I’m a great believer in being multi-skilled, and I need something with a little more flexibility and a little more code on the surface, to tinker with and learn from. Plus, even from the user-friendly side of things, it supports custom fields and Wordpress-like categories straight out of the box. Success.

And it has a built-in spell checker. God, how I need that.

UPDATE: Comments appear to be broken for the moment. Trying to figure it out.

UPDATE 2: Comments fixed. Now, to figure out why text colours in the sidebar are inconsistent between pages.

UPDATE 3: Everything appears to be fixed now. Fingers crossed.

Posted by Dave Molloy in •Tech
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Changed the template for the site today. The original JA Purity, while an excellent simple theme, was starting to annoy me with the “loose” looking side boxes. This newer theme allows me to place many more additional elements, and while I don’t quite need that flexibility yet, it’s a welcome addition nonetheless.

Posted by Dave Molloy in •Tech
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This announcement regarding an attempt by Newsday to do a u-turn on paid-for content online is absolutely ridiculous. It’s far, far too late- the proliferation of free news has gone on too long. I mean, subscription options are all well and good, but to even retain a portion of free readers is becoming difficult in the ever-expanding realm of free content.

Courtesy of Jarvis’s Buzzmachine- full article.

Posted by Dave Molloy in •Business •Journalism
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