journalism – Rob Mansfield: writing, telling stories and content strategy

Do you know what’s going on in the world – and how do you find out?

Sunday newspapers — CC image via flickr: Bernard Goldbach

If I told you that Burkina Faso has just seen its second military coup in eight months, would that be a surprise?

Did you know that Finland and Sweden have recently applied to join NATO, as a consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?

And how about the fact that Egypt and Mexico are both bidding to hold the 2036 Olympics?

Without wishing to throw shade on your global knowledge, I’d be hugely surprised if you knew about all three (or possibly any) of those stories, despite the fact they’re big news for the nations concerned.

And that’s because we all live in news or filter bubbles. Some of those are of our own making and some are constructed without us knowing about it. Continue reading “Do you know what’s going on in the world – and how do you find out?”

The real definition of ‘travel’

Travel stuff — CC image via flickr: Iain Croll

Travel used to be considered exotic and only something hugely-adventurous people would do. In 1968, Simon Raven wrote “Travel: A Moral Primer” for The Spectator.

In it, he detailed the true definition of travel in the ‘then’ modern age, especially for students. Although very much of its time, some of the advice still rings true almost 50 years on.

“Travel is when you assess your money and resources and then set out, alone or with chosen friends, to make an unhurried journey to a distant goal… leaving only a post restante address [if that], and giving no date for your return.”

Raven goes on to list 7 important maxims to ensure your travel is as ‘real’ as possible. They are frightfully dated, but this one is particularly good and one I wish we could all live by in 2017.

“Courtesy requires that your parents should be told you are actually going, but you should imply it is a brief, safe trip… Keep your real route and destination strictly to yourself.”

Hollywood, we have an editing problem

I used to work in magazines and one of the things I loved about writing for them was that you had a fixed word count.

Being told a piece had to be 350 words long forced you to be economical with your writing and avoid padding out the piece.

TV has a similar restriction placed upon it – making a BBC sitcom means each episode has to be between 25-27 minutes.

On Sunday I went to see the new JK Rowling-penned wizarding extravaganza Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them.

It was thoroughly enjoyable, but for one thing: it ran to 133 minutes.

That’s two-and-a-quarter-hours!
Continue reading “Hollywood, we have an editing problem”