links for 2009-02-20

If you fancied coming to my one day training course about better blogging next week, then I'm afraid it is sold out. However, you can still get in touch with the folks at journalism.co.uk to express an interest in going to a re-run of it at some point in the future.

A review of which UK newspaper has the most Stumbled URLs you can discover via Google.

Some figures on how well The Telegraph's relationship with Digg has developed and is driving traffic

Ongoing NUJ-blogging email saga which appears to taking more plot turns than Lost.

Depressing stuff really.

"I’m not a believer in the Steve Ballmer (Microsoft) line that there will be no newspapers in ten years, far from it. But it’s a reminder once again that the long-term prospects of a lot of regional papers aren’t good. Ad revenues and circulations have gone down and for most regional papers the transition to the web hasn’t worked. Indeed, local and community blogs are often doing a good job of stepping into the breach. For example, my local one, 'The Greenwich Phantom' is here. No, the anonymous writer doesn’t have the resources of a small local newsroom but in many ways this site has a quirky, personal feel that many local papers don’t."

"Peter Tatchell is quoted as saying, 'If Geert Wilders and Louis Farrakhan have been banned as preachers of hate then so should Fred and Shirley Phelps'. His logic is impeccable; but following this logic will lead to increasing numbers of these arbitrary and coercive bans...The answer is not more bans, but fewer. Only people who directly threaten or incite violence should be banned. No-one should be banned for their opinions". Indeed. Plus, it was rather a let down since I had been hoping for a good Phelps-Tatchell shouting match and scuffle.

"Here is the letter sent by the chairman of the Press Complaints Commission, Sir Christopher Meyer, to the Media Standards Trust."