This week as the off-season comes to a close, it's the final Thursday Thoughts for awhile. Unusually we have a question in front of us that both Christine and I can answer, but in different ways. So this is my take.
Maverick has put bloggers in the spotlight by simply asking, why do you blog?
This is a bit of a tricky subject to approach, because originally Sidepodcast was about audio and about video. The written word was, and still to a degree is, a secondary consideration. Two scenarios have driven the direction of site in a more textual direction - it is expensive to create two-way conversation using other media, and when time is of the essence, text delivery is faster and more convenient.
The latter is especially true when working on projects on a part-time basis.
Mr. C and Me
I only write blog posts for Sidepodcast and very occasionally for F1 Minute. You might consider me the lesser productive half of the team. I can't remember how I ended up getting roped into writing (I swear I only agreed to a speaking part), so a trip back into the archives is in order.
59 words made up my first post back in 2007, and it wasn't F1 related. A further month passed before I had a go at Ferrari. Following the archive trail through '08 and '09 it's easy to conclude that I primarily blog to promote things.
Catching right up to date, I can see that my text output has increased as more things have needed selling or explaining. My typing speed has not.
I'm confident that if project Sidepodcast ended tomorrow, my writing would cease along with it. There just isn't a burning desire within me to type anything.
All for F1
A year or so ago, we had a problem with people suggesting that we were F1 journalists, or reporters, or some such thing that we weren't comfortable with. For me, Sidepodcast was never a stepping stone into the Formula 1 circus, it wasn't a way to showcase any skills to the wider world, it was simply a vehicle with which Christine and I could work together. To that end it's work incredibly well, despite all the writing I've had to do.
This final Thursday Thoughts question closes the 2009-2010 off-season for me, and I've appreciated reading every question and all the posts that have spilled forth from them. I may not give so much back as some, but I love being a part of the F1 community.
Today is Saturday, the penultimate day of January and the start of the weekend. Most importantly this means we can sleep. Both halves of Sidepodcast are officially under the weather today, and the lovely Christine is suffering the most.
Despite us working at less than full capacity on Friday, there were plenty of events to discuss both inside and outside of the F1 scene.
Kimi got his full time rallying career off the ground on Friday, and we're committing to covering his progress this year, starting with a dedicated Arctic Rally thread. It's a new and confusing category of motor sport for us to fathom, and Räikkönen appears to have much to learn too.
Yesterday's Friday Fun topic got everybody reminiscing on classic Formula 1 launch parties in year's gone by. I'll happily go on record and say things certainly seemed more exciting back in my day.
The McLaren team threw back the covers on their 2010 challenger the MP4-25 less than 24 hours ago, but an early leak of press images via Dank on Twitter took the edge off the silver machine's unveiling. That said, the rest of the event in Newbury went off without a hitch, with the live stream offering far more useful coverage than Ferrari's pathetic efforts the previous day.
If you haven't already, please take a look at Adie's write-up from a day inside Vodafone HQ. It's commendable that McLaren took the initiative to open doors and recognise bloggers efforts to break into mainstream F1 journalism. Although it has been noted that the team from Woking happily opened someone else's factory doors, rather than their own.
As a final word on launches, I recommend reading Joe's thoughts on viewing from the comfort of one's armchair. With zero hope of an exclusive, why would professional journalists travel from far and wide to experience the same thing as those watching at home (or even less if you factor in the leaked photographs)? There's plenty more to be discussed on this subject, do watch for more posts later today.
Apologies to anyone waiting on F1 Minute or F1 Big Picture, I may be trusted to handle a stand-in daily post, but my talents only stretch so far (plus I charge by the hour, don't ya know?). Here's wishing Christine a speedy recovery.
A constant discussion within the Sidepodcommunity is the validity of news, and how best to check sources. Here, RG shows how easy it is to make a mistake, even if it is a deliberate one.
Twitter can highlight both the best and the worst of F1 on the internet.
I could fool you. I could fool the whole world if I wanted to. It would only take a little bit of effort and time, and possibly a bit of luck, to do it. The funny thing would be that hardly anyone would question it; they would believe every single word that had been written down in front of them.
In 2009, Twitter took off big time. It does indeed feel like the majority of the world is on it. There are, admittedly, some very good uses for using the service, especially if you are a fan of Formula 1 (which I suspect you are, considering you are on this site). Follow the right people, and you are given the latest information within seconds of it being released to the media. Instead of having to wait for an article to appear on Autosport, it is out on Twitter and can be discussed even before the first update on that page is out on the internet.
But that is only if you manage to follow the right people.
Peter Sauber. In my own mind a simple legend, of course, I am totally biased. He is, of course, the owner of the returning Sauber team. Now, I don’t wish any offence onto the great man, but can you really see him being the type who uses Twitter? No, I can’t see it either. Perhaps his son, Alex Sauber might be the type (now in charge of the team’s marketing activites).
So I do indeed wonder why a certain Formula 1 “news” agency opted to pick up on the fact that Peter Sauber, on an unverified twitter account, said the following:
“second driver to be announced next week. The team is ready to work. happy new year.”
This was posted on the 30th December 2009. Sauber has only just confirmed Pedro de la Rosa this week.
Amazingly, when a certain “news” company picked it up, it spread round the internet quicker than Usain Bolt down 100m. It didn’t take long for a reliable account, in the form of Jonathan Noble, of Autosport, to make a quick check with the real Peter Sauber, to prove it was a simple fake account.
To fool the world, though. It does sound like a bit of a challenge, doesn’t it? You would think it may require me to be on the television. Or indeed, turn into a taxi driver and spot Cristiano Ronaldo walking out of White Hart Lane (fans of the BBC live text of transfer deadline day will know what I am talking about).
In fact, all it needs is a half decent connection to the internet, a Twitter account and the ability to use hashtags. When Tom G suggested in the comments that we should lead a certain “news” company up the garden path, the following tweet, on my own Twitter account, followed:
“I've heard from some sources that Campos Meta will announce Vitaly Petrov as their new driver. Bringing in 7million euros to the team #f1”
I can confirm that I have no sources inside the F1 paddock. I will also happily say that seven million Euros was plucked from the air. I don’t know however if Vitaly Petrov will go to Campos Meta 1 or not. That will have to be seen in the future. What I love about my rumour, is that it is perfectly possible, but the way to spread a good rumour is the use of a hashtag. Some F1 fans that use Twitter do indeed follow the #f1 hashtag to possibly catch up on the news.
Originally, I was disappointed at the end of the Sunday evening, that only five non-Sidepodcast people had retweeted that message. I was indeed sure that more had read it. I’ll take this time to apologise to the people who believed that message, yes, I did lead you all up a one way street. Block me if you like.
I did think all was lost, but that was until Tom (once again) came across a link on a Spanish speaking website. Although the use of Google Translator was required, it did appear that the main structure of my tweet was involved. Seven million Euros is indeed mentioned, with a company called Megafon, which is a Russian mobile phone operator.
Easy. Too easy. I could do it again if I wanted to as well, I bet some people won’t read this article properly, so won’t realise that when I say:
Ralf Schumacher is going to USF1.
That I am totally lying. It won’t happen but a select bunch of people don’t read the whole story. That is the important thing, the whole story.
My tweet could have easily been caught out; it was on my own account, in the middle of me discussing the West Ham v Arsenal game on at that time. Odd timing for a breaking news story. I have clearly no previous history of correctly breaking Formula 1 stories and I never backed it up with anything.
Check the sources, how important is that. I’m stating the obvious but probably 90% of Formula 1 fans on the internet don’t know about the best and worst places. Sidepodcast sorted that out a year ago, a page which is still relevant today. Sadly, the “news” sources which produce the most incorrect stories still seem to end up everywhere I go. Be it something like the BBC Sport website, a forum or even in general chat with friends. (When football isn’t the main discussion)
So if you are reading an article with a three letter abbreviation or a certain German newspaper near it, it is more than likely to be incorrect. If you see something on Twitter, not by an inside source, or a journalist, again, it is likely to be incorrect.
The internet. Used by bunch of liars. Me included.
A long distance call sees Joe join us from Singapore, tackling questions from the comments on the subject of street racing, a packed calendar and ghost commentating for the BBC.
Additionally, the 50th issue if GP+ magazine was released this week, so we find out what it means to Joe, how it all began, where it's going next and where it fits in the world of F1.
As ever, all of this and so much more in this episode of An Aside With Joe.
Scott has been scouting around the comments for advice on getting into journalism, particularly sporting and motorsports. Who better to ask than Stuart Codling? Here he dispenses some invaluable advice.
“What advice can you give me if I want to start a career in motorsport journalism…?”
Well, Scott, you asked – and there’s no definitive answer, because times they are a-changin’, although there are a few principles that should hold true even in the internet age.
1) Language!
This is a communications industry, so a decent command of the lingo will be your biggest asset. Yes, I know I’m stating the bleedin’ obvious here, but you would be astounded at how many people covet a job in journalism without actually being able to operate its principal medium: English. Trust me – the evidence used to accumulate in big piles on my desk.
I’ve seen some real horrors; writing punctuated so randomly that I could only imagine the author had filled some giant pepper grinder with apostrophes and commas, then sprinkled the contents over the page as if they were putting the finishing touches to a pizza. And although there is some dark amusement to be had in reading that someone claims “attention to detail” as one of their strengths, having pitched you a feature on “Bridgestone vs Mitchell tyres”, depression soon sets in.
For all that they want to write for a living, a lot of prospective scribes don’t read enough. Perhaps it’s because they see writing as a means to an end (the end in this case being involvement in motorsport) and aren’t interested enough to find out how to do it properly. So here’s a tip: read for pleasure, and do it often. It doesn’t have to be Voltaire; Terry Pratchett will do, at a pinch. You’ll learn a lot about grammar, spelling, punctuation, pace and storytelling.
2) Know your audience
As Alex said, nobody is going to give you an F1 hardcard, a wad of plane tickets and some accommodation vouchers, and say, “Here you go; toddle off and watch some races and maybe jot something down afterwards.” As a journalist you are entering into a commercial relationship with your audience. They are your customers. You are writing for them, not for yourself. You can wind them up a bit, but don’t bore them.
So: re-read your work. Is it spelled right? Does it make sense? Is it interesting enough? What can you profitably remove, for the sake of pacing, without detracting from the flow of information? A common error – particularly among writers of motorsport history – is to utterly up-end the fact bucket over the poor reader, leaving them bewildered at the flow of information. Keeping it simple is becoming increasingly important in this era of declining attention spans.
3) Practice
Having a blog is an excellent way of improving your writing because you learn by doing – and, with any luck, you’ll get instant feedback from readers. After all, you don’t run a marathon without doing the hard miles in training first.
4) Get noticed
As Boris Johnson said, “The first duty of a columnist is to be read.” Whether you’re fulfilling a commission for a magazine or newspaper, or writing a blog entry, avoid letting it slide into blah-de-blah. In the consumer age, all people want to do is get to the end of a story and move on to the next – don’t give them an excuse to flick to the end of your piece without reading it.
Say something interesting. Make every sentence count. Play to the gallery occasionally (all successful bloggers do it).
Many people criticise my erstwhile colleague Mr Bishop, but you all know who he is and you care enough about what he says to have read his work. Even if writing a whole story about how he told Ralf Schumacher to Foxtrot Oscar was perhaps, in hindsight, not the most sensible course of action.
5) Get out from behind your keyboard
Social skills are still important. You can’t interview people on Facebook (yet). A worrying number of applicants for journalism jobs are either cripplingly shy or have poorly developed social skills. They are often very good at assembling a story based on internet research, but they founder when they have to do anything face-to-face.
If you want to differentiate your work from everyone else’s – talk to people! You may – perish the thought – learn something that doesn’t come up on the first page of Google. 6) And finally
…as someone who will remain nameless once said to me, before I arrived for a job interview, “All you have to do is turn up and not be a c—t.”
Joe Saward joins us again, only this time from much further away - Australia. Topics on our mind today include the diffuser row, what drivers are doing to help down under, and what Honda must be thinking now Brawn GP are flying.
We also find out what it's like catching up with old friends in the paddock, and what one does on a Friday night in Melbourne.
In this special episode of F1 Debrief, we get the chance to talk to Joe Saward from Grandprix.com. Covering many, many subjects including travel and tourism, writing the news, accessibility for fans, plus a little bit of testing insight.
This is a golden hour of chatter from one of the paddock's most respected journalists.
This article was originally written for BellaOnline, but is republished here for posterity.
GPWEEK is a free online magazine that is available weekly. It covers a few different areas of motorsport including Formula 1, MotoGP and World Rally Championship.
The Formula 1 content is extremely well written and insightful, and as the magazine doesn't have to wait for printers, it is up to date and informative. GPWEEK is available every Monday, and after a race weekend it is full of all the gossip from the paddock, including results, analysis, and a team by team review. The pictures are sometimes stunning, and even though I skip through the non-F1 content, I do find all the pictures worth looking at. The very last page of the magazine is a "Parting Shot" and it's always something fascinating.
The online distribution model is an interesting one. The magazine is available to view online, assuming that your browser allows it. You can scroll through the pages of the magazine, which is displayed in a regular page by page fashion. Where there are advertisements you can click on the links if you want to visit for further information. If you want to keep the magazine, or can't view it on the browser, there is a PDF download available. The pictures are of inferior quality to those on the web, but it is another format to read it in.
My favourite thing about the magazine though, is that you can sign up to get email reminders that it's available. Every Monday morning I open my inbox and find the reminder that tells me GPWEEK is available. I head straight there and browse through the F1 contents, enjoy the pictures, and then carry on with my day. Without the email, I probably wouldn't remember to go there, but I think that's more of a reflection on my memory than the quality of the magazine.
There have so far been 27 issues of GPWEEK, it started in March 2008. All the previous issues are available in the archive for download, as well as the high quality online version. I highly recommend GPWEEK as worth a look, it's free and very easy to use.
