THE front page of today’s Herald is reporting the very sad news that writer and columnist, Ian Bell, has died – aged 59.
It begins: “Ian Bell, the award-winning journalist and columnist for The Herald and Sunday Herald, has died. He was 59.
“Twice named Journalist of the Year, Bell began his career as a sub-editor before his move into political journalism. He later wrote as a columnist and leader writer.
“In 1997, he won the Orwell Prize for political journalism and he was named Columnist of the Year on several occasions.
“Bell, who was born in Edinburgh, was also an award-winning author, having penned two volumes of a biography of Bob Dylan and one of Robert Louis Stevenson, Dreams of Exile, which was named Saltire Society’s Best First Book in 1994.”
In a statement issued on behalf of the family, his son, Sean Bell, says: “Our family has lost a husband, a father and a son and Scotland has lost its finest journalist. He set a standard none shall ever reach again yet he inspired us to never stop trying.”
Read more, here.
And here, a tribute by Hugh MacDonald.
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BEGINS the BBC: “A vision for making Scotland into a world-leading digital society has been published, predicting 26 times more data use within 15 years.
“The report has projected a boost of nearly ten per cent in economic output, or £13bn at current prices, if Scotland takes the most ambitious choices and becomes a world leader.
“And it said 99 per cent of Scots could be using the internet by 2030.”
Read more, here.
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A CAMPAIGN warning against drink-driving has been named among the top ten regional press ads of the year.
The ad – on behalf of the Scottish Government and created by The Leith Agency – focussed on drink-driving during the summer when, arguably, it’s more the sort of exercise you’d expect to see around this time of year.
Read more, here, on the website of MediaWeek.
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CATCH up, here, with an interview with the Scots chief operating officer at News UK (publisher of The Sun, The Times, etc).
David Dinsmore is quoted by Campaign magazine, saying of the newspapers sector: “We’ve done a phenomenal job as a sector of doing ourselves down in the last 25 years when our relevance has never been greater in this fragmented world.
“The thing we keep forgetting in our industry is the scale we still have. It’s only because it’s ‘legacy’ [media] that it’s seen as small. It’s still huge.”
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AND the website CommonSpace is reporting: “Writer and producer, Christopher Silver, will launch his new book ‘Demanding Democracy: The Case for a Scottish Media’ [tomorrow] at 3pm in Glasgow’s CCA venue.
“Silver will be joined by a panel of expert speakers to discuss the key themes of the book, including ex-BBC journalist Alison Balharry, musician and writer Pat Kane, CommonSpace editor Angela Haggerty, and Channel 4 and The Ferret journalist Peter Geoghegan.”
Read more, here.
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BEGINS the website, radio today.co.uk: “[Broadcasting regulators] Ofcom has found three community radio stations [including one Scots] in breach of their licences for bringing in too much money.
“Each community radio station has its own limit set out by Ofcom, but most of them operate under the 50 per cent rule where they must match their commercial revenue with non-output related funding such as grants and donations.”
Read more, here.
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THE National newspaper is reporting: “Scottish journalists, bloggers and student writers who have helped raise the bar in the way women are represented in the media were recognised for their efforts at an awards ceremony last night.
“The winners of the Write to End Violence Against Women Awards, launched by women’s charities and supported by The National as media partner and on the judging panel, were revealed after they beat tough competition.”
Read more, here.
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