Comments for CatherineBray's Weblog

Comment on “Your wife has a lovely neck” by 7 Inch Cinema » Vampire love

7 Inch Cinema » Vampire love — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:32:02 +0000

[...] and Murnau’s horrorshow is one of them. And yet - as Catherine Bray put it in her nice writeup - it seemed like a whole new film on Sunday. Testament to the skills of (clockwise from top left) [...]

Comment on “Your wife has a lovely neck” by Created in Birmingham » Supersonic 2008 - Collective Memory

Created in Birmingham » Supersonic 2008 - Collective Memory — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:55:43 +0000

[...] Catherine Bray [...]

Comment on There is no “versus” by The online frontier « Safety in Numbers

The online frontier « Safety in Numbers — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:13:18 +0000

[...] co-exist - certainly, this is an issue which has been articulated well by Catherine Bray in a recent discussion which argued that the two formats complement each other. Indeed, the way that online formats allow journalists to tell stories and present audiences with [...]

Comment on There is no “versus” by mike

mike — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 01:42:05 +0000

HelloThe both of us are using () in search of someone nice. I would like to introduce myself to you – My name is Mike jimmy
I came across your nice profile, I do not know if you are already seriously dating someone, But I would like to get to know you.It is not easy to describe one self; I am Caucasian white man - I stand 5’11” tall, with brown hair and blue eyes. I can say I am a down to earth person - I’m not a person to be shopping around for a playmate or trying to meet a pen pal. I’m an average guy who is also honest, considerate, kind, a good communicator, trustworthy, willing to share thoughts and interests, has a positive outlook on life / with a good attitude. I would like to think that I am a man who can deliver genuine love, wisdom, intelligence, and strength of character to the `right` woman.I would like to meet a real girl, who is funny and one that knows what she wants and strive to reach in her goals.
Your profile did not give many details about yourself, was wondering if you might share with me some of your interests, are you seriously seeking a nice relationship. Would you mind telling me your vital statistics - your height, weight, the color of your hair and eyes. Do you have any children / would you like to have any children in a nice relationship? I wondered if there is a small chance that we are destined to know each other more. I believe that there exists a nice girl somewhere in the world who is seeking a common bond with a nice man like me.
We are both using () personals in search of someone, so I hope you will write back to me. I took the chance in writing you to express my interests in you. You would find me to be nice, open minded about things - I’m a sincere, fun loving person who can be passionate, thoughtful, and romantic.
i might be younger than you but age is just a number so don’t look at it that qwway but think of the love there.meet me on mikejimm09@yahoo.comam not used to using this site cos am new here.
Sincerely your,

Comment on There is no “versus” by links for 2008-06-19 | Researcher

links for 2008-06-19 | Researcher — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:35:18 +0000

[...] There is no “versus” « CatherineBray’s Weblog (tags: media print ssbd socialmedia strategy) [...]

Comment on There is no “versus” by Simon

Simon — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:51:14 +0000

I think you’re spot on about quality control in relation to online editorial - certainly, just because there is “apparently infinite space” this shouldn’t mean that quality control is applied any less robustly than in print. In fact, I think there’s possibly a case for arguing that quality control online is actually more important even than in print, because of the seemingly endless possibilities in relation to space, whereas in print it’s not just a case of choosing what to leave out but sometimes identifying material just to fill space (single-par stories on ’slow news days’ etc).

But I think it’s quite interesting to frame the ‘online versus print’ debate, however (un)reasonable it is to pitch them against each other, in terms of the audience and their expectations because it’s these readers/users who will - or at least should? - be at the back of the editor’s mind when commissioning and publishing content. Of course, this opens up another huge topic of discussion, and isn’t what your original post was about, so I’ll get my coat…

Comment on There is no “versus” by catherinebray

catherinebray — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:45:18 +0000

“if you have a letter or contribution printed in your local newspaper which you can cut out and keep, is it still an underlying attitude that this is of more worth than having your comment published online, because you have something tangible which you can show to friends/family/complete strangers in the street?”

Interesting point, Simon. Certainly, the fact that it effectively costs money to give a letter space in a physically limited print edition, feeds into the idea that online is of lesser value than print. And if we’re contrasting a letters page of limited space with unlimited blog comments where as many comments as you like can be posted, then it’s true that print still has more value, because there’s a finite number of letters that can be fit on the page, and so an editor must be selective.
If we’re talking (which I was at RPN) about commissioned editorial, then limits should apply based on quality rather than space; online editors need to make sure they don’t commission everything that comes their way (something usually ensured by financial constraints, at least if you pay your contributors… ) but apply the same quality control as they would to print, despite the apparently infinite space they have to run content.

Comment on There is no “versus” by Online vs. Print « Joanna Geary

Online vs. Print « Joanna Geary — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:09:28 +0000

[...] catherine bray, regional press network Catherine Bray, comissioning editor of 4Talent, talks on her blog about the old misconception that print is in competition with online. It’s a difficult [...]

Comment on There is no “versus” by Simon

Simon — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:00:48 +0000

Some very interesting points. While I’m not sure there is necessarily a direct correlation, perhaps it requires a shift in the attitudes of audiences/readers/users before PRs change their approach. I do think that there are still groups of people who subscribe to the “if I can get news online for free why would I buy a newspaper?”, which implies weighing up print and online formats on the basis of cost (or lack of) alone. But in terms of crowdsourced “content” or even classified ads, do audiences feel that the online format carries as much value as print - i.e. if you have a letter or contribution printed in your local newspaper which you can cut out and keep, is it still an underlying attitude that this is of more worth than having your comment published online, because you have something tangible which you can show to friends/family/complete strangers in the street?

My thought is that the PR mindset you discuss is less a product of this and more a result of how they have become so closely wedded to ‘traditional’, offline media; that they can’t - or don’t want to - get their heads around this young upstart thing called the Internet which has so terribly shunted them out of their comfort zone. BUT if publishers are providing a service to audiences, and PRs/marketers are trying to promote their own service/client to these audiences via the publishers, then the attitudes of those audiences come into play. If there is significant resistance among readers/users, then perhaps it will require them to become aware of the relative benefits of the web before other organisations start to view it as an equally useful tool rather than as a “second class citizen” compared with offline media.

N.B. I don’t have the answers…

Comment on Old Media, New Media: The Case Of The Collins Podcast by There is no “versus” « CatherineBray’s Weblog

There is no “versus” « CatherineBray’s Weblog — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:59:14 +0000

[...] be bothered with all this “text” nonsense) will seem like it’s contradicting a previous entry about old media vs new media? It isn’t though; that was about the contrast in working [...]