Well at least David Cameron has found it within himself to apologise (sort of) to the BBC.

Quick point to the Indy’s Ian Burrell who criticises News Corporation’s most recent escalation of its attack on the BBC. Like a victorious general keen to push home recent victories, Rupert Murdoch is pressing his troops ever forward. The Sun says today that “the Beeb is today the pompous voice of defeated socialism,” adding that the corporation’s coverage of the housing benefit cuts – which has warned that many could be made homeless – “must not become a licence for malicious and unscrupulous propaganda”. What? Like Fox News?

Paris vs New York

A tale of two cities told by two bloggers with the help of some attractive graphics. They say their blog is “a friendly visual match between those two cities, as seen by a Parisian-based-and-lover on New York : details, cliches and contradictions”. Need to know more? Then this way, please.

Best new music for a while: Germany Germ…

Best new music for a while: Germany Germany: River. Reminds of early Lali Puna and mid-eighties New Order. It is that good.

“But if you could just see the beauty, …

“But if you could just see the beauty,
These things I could never describe,
These pleasures a wayward distraction,
This is my one lucky prize.”

Isolation, Joy Division

RIP Tony Wilson, though your headstone may be three years late.

Thanks to my good friend Phil Simms for …

Thanks to my good friend Phil Simms for sending me this cutting of one of George Orwell’s (real name Eric Blair) first ever pieces of published writing. The Henley and South Oxfordshire Standard (now simply the Henley Standard was the first paper Blair ever wrote for.

This poem, a fascinating snippet of jingoism, was written when he was 11. I think he described himself as a “Tory anarchist” in those days.

Incidentally, this is new to me, The BBC’s Orwell Archive, full of memos and other ephemera from his time as a war time broadcaster. No audio though, none remains.

If you want to get ahead in journalism then get a blog. Useful article by Dominic Ponsford of Press Gazette on how setting up on your own often the first step towards a future career.

Had university schools of journalism existed in the 1850s they might have convened conferences to discuss the consequences for newspapers of the abolition of stamp duty. Papers on the potential impact of the electronic telegraph, the rotary press and uniform railway gauges might have contemplated the future of print as a medium for mass education. It is less likely that they would have foreseen the advent of the New Journalism or that Alfred Harmsworth’s populist Daily Mail would rapidly make itself more politically powerful than titles created to influence politics. Such analysis emerges from instant assessment and risk-taking. It thrives on public debate promoted by publication in mainstream media.

Leader: Times Educational Supplement

The Iraq War: A Wikipedia Historiography #iraqwar A set of books — every edit made to a single Wikipedia article on the Iraq War — during the five years between the article’s inception in December 2004 and November 2009. A total of 12,000 changes and almost 7,000 pages. Roughly the size of an encyclopedia. Flickr set here (via Simonsays)

Tell George Osborne to PAY HIS TAXES #38degrees #csr

The Creative Review takes apart i – the mini-Indy launched yesterday – and finds it already deep into freesheet territory.

… does i really offer a quick-fix version of The Independent? There are opinion pieces for sure, but with news pages that segue a story on whether Bert from Sesame Street is actually gay with a smaller piece on the re-examination of the Nazi foreign ministry, it’s much nearer Metro territory than it thinks.

The analysis is useful, but not as detailed as that offered by Jim Waterson, an Oxford student, who blogs at World of Pop. Waterson compares the i with its big sister, the Independent proper:

“So far, so Metro. But if the words have weight behind them then I’m interested. By the time I get to the newsagents to buy a copy I’ll probably have scanned the BBC News headlines on my BlackBerry and know what’s going on. If I pay, I want content that I can’t get for free on my phone. If it contains more than agency copy then I’ll be tempted to buy it for a journey: anything to escape the cute animal pics and dreary writing found in the freesheets.”

Dedicated to the work of the late John Peel, #keepingitpeel day has unearthed much musical delight yesterday. Will try to link to more highlights later but here is an excellent podcast to get you started.

Have been reading Gaz7etta this morning….

Have been reading Gaz7etta this morning. It’s basically a bloke’s version of Grazia. Same publisher, ame layout, same typefaces, same mix of the frivolous and semi-serious stories. It’s respectable in a way that Nuts is not. I don’t especially mind it. It’s just a bit too lightweight for my tastes. There was one well written feature about the history of Saatchi & Saatchi and then a potentially quite interesting story about Boris’s chances of winning re-election as London Mayor. That was where it went wrong for me. It turned out to be a story about a possible infidelity and news that he’s moved out of the family home. So what. I couldn’t give two figs that he has. Neither do I want pap shots of Daniel Craig leaving the Apple Store. This kind of chaff is precisely what wrong with most women’s magazines. Men don’t need it, really. It will probably sell in its hundreds of thousands, mind.

The first copies of i, the Independent’…

The first copies of i, the Independent’s bold attempt to reinvigorate the newspaper market, hadn’t made it to Huddersfield this morning, although I did manage to pick up a copy in Leeds station. My first impression is that you can tell it’s aimed at younger people. The splash is a report on the squeeze on first time buyers might hook in young professionals, a bit boring, but certainly in the target range. True, it could have made the Independent proper (which led on a much more worthy story about the Christian diaspora from the Middle East) but it is the “ears” of the front page – the cells at the top of the page – where you get the first real sign that this is a “youth paper” in your hands. You can’t tell by looking at the publicity shot (on the right), but my copy presents the question Is Bert Gay? A reference to the sexuality of a character in Sesame Street. If this is what will get the youth reading newspapers again, then goodness knows what will help us.

The best thing you can say that it offers fantastic value for money. For 20p it is an absolute bargain. It costs less than a postage stamp. If it’s ever given away for free, as is sister title the London Evening Standard, it will take over the commuter market. The balance of stories, moreover, is about right: the correct amount of news and views; the business section afforded a generous five pages (surprisingly one more than the arts) and only sport feels a bit light, for a youthpaper.

It’s a shame that it isn’t bolder. Johann Hari may be young, but he already feels like he’s been around for ever, while the gossip pages plug Kasabian, Florence Welsh and Peter Mandelson. If i was a cutting edge, you’d struggle to slice bread with it. When the Independent first launched in the late eighties, it redefined the mold of national newpapers. It was actually the newspaper that made me want to get into journalism. This paper looks far too like its older sister, who sadly shed her boldness years ago. Which is a pity. The new paper could and should try to forge its own identity. Portugal (thanks @sofiadmateus) already has a newspaper called i (see right), it’s a shame that the UK version isn’t half as interesting in its presentation.

First look at i – the independent’s compact 20p version – which goes on sale tomorrow. Have to say that from these publicity shots I am a bit disappointed. Cheryl Cole and Wayne Rooney says “same old, same old” to me. Hope the reality is a bit more brave new world. The old trade could do with a new product to stir things up.

Orwell Prize is open for entries.