New internet guide for journalists
The European Journalist Centre reports:
"Unesco collaborated with the Thomson Foundation and Commonwealth
Broadcasting Association to produce a handbook for journalists of
developing countries on the use of internet for journalistic purposes.
The 'Net for Journalists', which is written by a journalist and trainer
Martin Huckerby, is a resource (with a printed manual and a CD) designed
for both print and broadcast journalists and journalism students in
developing countries around the globe. The accompanying CD contains some
software, other extra resources and lesson plans for trainers.
The handbook aims to provide journalists, especially from developing
countries, with some practical skills in exploring and exploiting the
internet for day-to-day journalistic assignments. It teaches how to
search the net more effectively and efficiently, not only for facts and
figures, but also for images, audio and video.
An important feature of the handbook is that it does not only tell where
and how to get the information one needs, but also how to evaluate and
verify the information gathered."
The Handbook can be downloaded here.
A quick scim through this pdf file shows that this handbook is well written and comprehensively covers most aspects of using the web – searching techniques; podcasts,internet telephone, security etc. etc. It is aimed at developing countries but is in fact a good text for any beginner.
Equally, making available this handbook along with The Reporters Without Borders downloadable Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents (in such languages as Arabic, Chinese and Farsi) which contains detailed advice on how to avoid getting arrested for using the web, will be an important resource for those who live in countries that engage in suppression of the written word and electronic communication.
Spread the word.
Good advice from the Unesco guide:
D. Eight ways to save words and write better English
1) Never use a long word where a short one will do.
2) If it is possible to cut a word, always cut it.
3) Make every word count — treat words like a miser. Think of each word as a coin you could save.
4) Don’t use long complicated words to impress people; use short, simple words to inform
them.
5) Avoid clichés “like the plagueâ€.
6) Try to use active rather than passive verbs: ‘The train hit a car' rather than ‘A car was hit
by the train’.
7) Try not to reverse sentences by putting a subsidiary clause first.
Break any of these rules rather than write something which is unclear, inelegant or
downright foolish.
Credit for much of the above goes to journalist and author George Orwell.
