Live Earth


It's such a tough life being a journalist. I had to spend the whole of Saturday at Wembley watching the Live Earth concert for the Washington Post.
Pop gods: Madonna, Foo Fighters, Kasabian
Childhood dream: Duran Duran (but blimey, a testament to what too much of a rock'n'roll lifestyle can do for you)
Worth hearing: Beastie Boys, Keane
Genius like moment: Spinal Tap
Hugely inappropriate: Que sera sera by Rice and Gray; Geri Halliwell thinking recycling is plugging the Spice Girls in her intro
Wallpaper: James Blunt, Corinne Bailey Rae, Bloc Party
Lapdancer lookalikes: Pussycat Dolls

This is the piece,.. The Mac irritatingly has gone back to not letting me link

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/07/AR2007070701201.html

Online marches on

Roy Greenslade on a new study that shows how seriously newspapers are now taking online operations.

Humanity and aid work
Interesting piece by Mark Snelling of AlertNet about how we talk about "humanising" disasters....

Alan Johnston released

Was so glad to wake up this morning and hear that Alan Johnston had finally been released after more than 100 days in captivity.
The interview with James Naughtie at 8.10 was fascinating - to hear about how Johnston had been treated, that he had heard World Service and realised all the demonstrations that had been staged in his support and the petition and the messages of support the BBC had broadcast.
Hugely impressive in the way he was so composed and able to articulate what he had been through; you would think he'd just been on a long story rather than kidnapped for four months.....although in a very non-journo way I just wanted him to be able to get home and see his family and not have to be a journalist for a bit. There was a clip on the 0800 bulletin in which his father, voice cracking with relief, had said they had only managed to snatch a couple of words with him before the phone line was cut.
Hope that Alan manages to get home and is given all the support he needs to recover from his ordeal.