I recently found myself doing an interview on short notice for a client, so I decided to do it from home for convenience. The day of the interview, I came across two problems:

• My phone adapter for recording does not fit anywhere on my cordless home phone, and the iPhone doesn’t record calls.
• I was calling a UK mobile, which would cost about €20/hour on my landline rates.

Erp. I wasn’t used to this. I had a paid office phone to use until now. The solution, I decided, was simply the too-little-used wonder that is Skype. No problem! Headset in, number prepped. Now, where was the record call option? Oh. It doesn’t exist. What now?

Well, there are a myriad of different options available to fix this gaping hole in Skype’s functionality, but for those in the same boat as I, needing a very quick fix, check out the wonderful Pamela for Skype. A program that runs alongside Skype, it automatically (or manually, if you prefer) records both sides of the conversation flawlessly in MP3 format. You can append notes etc, and, best of all, the free trial doesn’t have the silly recording limitations of 2 or 15 minutes that its other counterparts have on their trial versions (crucially, you must have the 30-day trial of the Professional version for this to be the case).

Cracking application which saved my skin. I now have a better-than-phone quality recording of my hour long interview, it cost about half of what I would have paid with regular landlines, and I may well use part of the paycheque from this job to buy the €20 license for this piece of kit.

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Posted by Dave Molloy in •Journalism •Resources •Tech
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Today is the final day for applications for the first round this year in the Simon Cumbers Media Challenge Fund. Last year, Trinity News was the first student publication to apply for funding from the fund, which they used to send three student journalists to Delhi, India and produce a special supplement on educational development. They also blogged from Delhi for the short time they were there.

Student media should take advantage of opportunities like this. Not only are we the most in need of additional funds, it’s also an excellent experience. Further, the media fund themselves are quite keen to have student involvement. Now, since the deadline is today, I probably should have written up this post a month ago. But, if you’re in a college publication (or any other, for that matter) their website might be worth checking out. The other deadline for applications this year is Wednesday September 30th.

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Posted by Dave Molloy in •Resources
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A good while ago, I put up a request on Twitter for some good books or other resources on Irish law as it applies to media. All that I had read and learned was largely from a UK perspective, and I felt it was part of my media education that was sorely lacking. While most people got back to me saying, essentially, that it’s something learned on the job and I shouldn’t bother with it, Neil Cullen gave me a short list of recommended reading from his university journalism course, including Journalists and the Law.

This book is a perfect introduction to law from a journalist’s perspective. It assumes no prior knowledge whatsoever, and is written in a casual and conversational tone that doesn’t turn off those of us not fluent in legalise. At the same time, it has enough depth to ensure that the reader is getting some genuine value out of it. And, lest we forget, the author, Yvonne Murphy, knows what she is talking about- a former journalist, she is now a judge of the District Court.

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Posted by Dave Molloy in •Resources
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The Student Media Awards took place last night in the Mansion House. Sadly,Trinity News failed to take home the big prizes.

My own personal disappointment aside, it’s particularly great to see DCU awarded many of the high-profile titles. The college really doesn’t offer the College View any kind of support- they have no office, for crying out loud- yet the team there does a hell of a lot better than many of the well-funded papers in the country. Great to see it recognised, and I hope they can use this kind of success when trying to negotiate a better deal for themselves.

The “other paper” in Trinity, the University Times, was granted the Newspaper of the Year award. I hope they don’t mind me saying that it was a bit of a surprise- it’s the first time the award has gone to someone other than Trinity News or the University Observer. Rob has been across the hall from me all year, and we’ve shared much banter, so if anyone else had to pick it up, I’m happy it’s the Times.

Well done to all the winners. I had been hoping for a replacement award for my 2007 Journalist of the Year award, pictured, which sadly didn’t survive the trip to the Harcourt Diner. I dropped it on the floor, and, amazingly, it bounced. When I dropped it about 30 seconds later, it didn’t. Ah well.

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