The Irish government has been considering the Defamation Bill 2006 for…well, obviously quite some time now. The Bill, which would replace the outdated Torts of Libel and Slander with the single act governing all forms of defamation, has had a troubled history, to say the least. The history of the bill can be read (with an excellent commentary) here, and further posts regarding it (and the wider issue of defamation in Ireland) here. Seanad Éireann (the senate, for foreigners) passed the bill last year (renaming it “2008” in the process) but since then, it’s been in limbo, as the Dáil (main house of government) has had more important recession-fighting issues to tackle.

This is bad news for the media industry at large, since Ireland’s system currently in place is pretty horrific.

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UPDATE: I still get a lot of traffic from search engines to this post, so I thought I’d include the fact that, since Geocities shut down, this site and the course document on it is no longer available. I’ve been unable to find an archived copy or mirror, and I have no right to re-upload the university’s content. Sorry.

Following on from yesterday’s post, in which I argued it’s possible to improve your journalistic skills outside of a degree course, I’ve tracked down one of my all-time favourite links.

It’s a free, online shorthand course for the Teeline system, the one used by the NCTJ for their vocational training courses.

And it’s not a poor quality document, either. It’s the documentation for the University of Westminister shorthand course, which is publicly accessible on this Geocities site from 2003-2004. It’s an ever-so-slightly customised version, geared for journalists (as opposed to secretaries etc). My guess is that the course lecturer and other staff forgot about it.

Click here to go to the site!

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(This entry is cross-posted at Tomorrow’s News, Tomorrow’s Journalists.)

There’s been one major influence in my education as a journalist that overshadows all others, and I’m sure it’s the same for many of us- my college newspaper. Trinity News regularly sweeps the annual national awards in Ireland, and outputs alumni who go on to successful careers in the media. Each year, fifty editors solicit and edit more than half a million words of content from hundreds of contributors for this established fortnightly broadsheet.

My university has no journalism course, yet we produce a superior product to every nearby university I know which does.

It is my belief that a degree does not necessarily make a great journalist. I have never been confronted with a skill I haven’t been able to learn. I can report, research, sub-edit, layout pages, manage staff, and write (teeline) shorthand as fast as my lecturers can speak. I can understand the basics of HTML, CSS, CMS, and I’d like to think I’m up to date in the trends of social media and digital distribution- more so, I’d guess, than many journalism majors. Hell, I’ve even done the theory too, reading books on ethics, books on design, even the AP styleguide. And all I needed was a passion for the subject, a little free time, and somewhere to hone my skills.

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I’ve written before referencing Jeff Jarvis’s blog, but having recently decided to follow the man on Twitter, I’ve found it fascinating today to keep abreast of developments at the World Economic Forum, which he’s attending- in particular a session called “Fragility in the Fourth Estate.” Jarvis holds some very strong views on where the future will take professional journalism, and he’s also a proponent of utilising new media to its maximum.The great thing about Twitter, of course, is that it’s extremely casual. Which is also what makes the running commentary fascinating.

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