I’M ASTONISHED to see that the Open University has suppressed a comment I left pointing out a basic error on one of its new YouTube videos. Universities are supposed to be about sharing knowledge, not suppressing …Read More
Category Archives: Journalism
The day I met Neil Armstrong
If you know only two things about Neil Armstrong, you will know that he was the first man to set foot on the moon, and that after his adventures in space he retreated to the quiet life of an …Read More
I’ve been called worse
Having just filed my latest contribution to Laboratory News, I kicked back for half an hour to read the previous issue – which had been lurking on my desk for a couple of weeks. My …Read More
Sustainability vs legacy at London 2012
I’ve spent enough time in committees and struggling against bureaucracy to really appreciate the recent BBC sitcom Twenty Twelve, a spoof fly-on-the-wall series which has been uncannily prescient about some of the issues around the …Read More
A free agent
Today, Friday 26 August 2011, is my last day as an employee of Centaur Media. A few weeks ago, the company announced wide-ranging redundancies and a major internal reorganisation. I fully expected my position as …Read More
Cat and mouse on Broadwater Farm, 1985
The riots and disturbances of the last few days in English cities had me casting my mind back to the 1985 Broadwater Farm riot, thinking of the similarities between the circumstances, and recalling my own …Read More
All change
I’ve been asked a few times in the last week or so about what is happening at Centaur Media and what the implications will be for Laboratorytalk and the other Pro-Talk sites. To answer this …Read More
When computer companies can’t count
If I were to write a blog post every time I saw an inappropriate use of numbers in the general media, well, I’d have a lot more blog posts. Innumeracy is rampant, at least partly due …Read More
Shutting the stable door after the embargo has bolted
There is a growing consensus among journalists and editors that the present embargo system is broken and should be abandoned. It is a subject I’ve written about before, both on this blog and elsewhere. It …Read More
The Royal Family – my part in their downfall
Earlier today a young couple got married in London and, to celebrate the occasion, we all got the day off work. I arrived at the pub at about 10.30am and stayed until 7pm, but not …Read More