Analyst, journalist, editor and training on IT, healthcare, government and data
In an article for Computer Weekly this week, I highlighted four different official numbers for UK Covid-19 deaths on 30 April, from 548 to 769 (on the day, Boris Johnson said 674). The graph below shows how much these four measures vary.
Continue reading “Why case numbers don’t tell the whole Covid story”
Coronavirus is hitting journalism hard, with hundreds of staff jobs going or gone according to the Press Gazette. Freelancing could be the answer for some, either while looking for another job or permanently. For many freelance journalists, choosing your own hours and working from home is business as usual. But it is a tough thing to start doing, particularly in hard economic times.
My one-day course First steps in freelancing is designed to pass on the things a freelancer needs to know to get started: how to get work, agree a price and get paid; the options in terms of an office and technology; the first things to do about tax, pensions and marketing; and the opportunities for freelancers beyond selling individual pieces of work.
The course next runs on Friday 16 October from 10.30am to 4.30pm online. Given the economic situation the NUJ is charging standard members a bargain price of £40 and student members £30. You can book here.
Continue reading “If you’re a journalist going freelance, First steps in freelancing is for you”
Socitm’s annual President’s Conference usually takes place over two days somewhere in Britain. This year, the renamed President’s Week took place over five half-days somewhere on Webex. That longer duration provided the chance to try something new in covering the event.
On each of the five days I wrote and edited a four-page PDF newsletter, In Our View Daily, published at the end of the afternoon. This required significant preparation in advance, followed by intensive work every day by Socitm’s staff and myself. Continue reading “In Our View Daily: covering an online conference, fast”
First published in the May 2020 issue of Socitm In Our View magazine
Large numbers of Britons have recently started working from home (WFH) for the first time or have turned an occasional practice into a full-time one. The sudden shift from communal office to kitchen table or spare bedroom, swapping colleagues for partners, children and pets, will have been disruptive for many. Continue reading “How to work well from home”
Having moved them successfully to Zoom in April, I will be running both of my NUJ freelance journalism training day-courses online in July.
First steps in freelancing is on Friday 17 July, costing £40 for NUJ members, £30 for student members and £110 for non-members. Winning and negotiating freelance work will take place on Fri 31 July, costing £50 for NUJ members, £40 for student members and £130 for non-members.
These are in addition to already-planned dates for First steps on 16 October and Winning and negotiating on 6 November, both of which are for now still planned to take place at the NUJ’s offices in London.
For more information and booking, click on the links above. If you would like more information on the courses, please get in touch.
Update: the NUJ’s London Freelance Branch has voted to subsidise these courses for its members so they cost just £25 each. You can claim this subsidy when you book by email. Details here.