Among yesterday’s front pages was a data visualisation which, at first glance, was one of the most effective I’ve ever seen: the Independent had made an infographic showing yesterday’s £6bn budget cuts in context - as a fraction of a debt mountain.
Then I looked closer - and something’s very, very wrong.
Can you tell what it […]
In my second bout of self-promotion in a day (blast), take a look here for my latest Cif article, in which I stand up for the ancient and noble tradition of not bothering to vote. Sufragettes, eat your hearts out…
jamesrb.co.uk is officially “jolly good”. Nice.
Such is the verdict of Roy Greenslade, the Guardian’s media blogger, who kindly threw some links in the direction of his City students - much appreciated. Greenslade’s verdict on the site:
“Among those who did was James Ball, who had launched his “media musings” two months earlier. And jolly good it has proved to be.”
Naturally, this link and accompanying traffic spike has come just when I’ve written…er…nothing for about a fortnight, due to guest blogging elsewhere for a time, then being stuck in the Yorkshire wilds with limited ‘net access. Happily, it’s guilted me into putting some content together. Expect no less than 3 (yes, three!) posts when I can find a stable internet connection. Hopefully tomorrow.
So, if you’re a new reader, welcome. And if sporadic posts on student journalism, FOI, stats in journalism, and new media “musings” is your bag, feel free to add me to your feed reader. What’ve you got to lose?
And so my blogging returns here. Hurrah!
More follows soon…
I’m guest blogging elsewhere for a fortnight, so posting here will be weekend-only. It’s “production fortnight” at City university - time we use to produce the final projects for the course.
For us, this is City’s alumni magazine, XCity, which is online for the first time this year. We’re running a series of behind-the-scenes team blogs. My posts can be found here - to keep up with my thoughts for this fortnight, that’s the best place to look.
Another piece of Cif goodness to enjoy - on why we should “leave plastic bags alone”. Read it here, if you like
The current spate of stories about MPs’ expenses was set off by an investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, after which he was ordered to repay about £13,000.
I thought it might be interesting to see how much money was spent to recoup this £13,000 of taxpayers’ money, so dropped in a Freedom of Information request to that effect. The answer wasn’t enormously helpful. Printing the committee’s final report cost £2892.48, but beyond that costs “are not separately identifiable within its overall resources”
S’not a new excuse, really. Unless inquiries or agencies get in outside help (legal advice, etc), getting any information about costs is always nightmarish. It’s an interesting contradiction: if an MP is siphoning off money to his children, that’s a matter of public concern because it’s our money. It gets investigated and, in this case at least, dealt with.
If a committee carrying such an investigation is dragging its heels, employing three times more staff than really needed and otherwise being massively inefficient, well, that’s apparently none of our business. And they don’t keep the figures anyway. Pah.
Full response to my request is below:
Dear Mr Ball
Thank you for your request which is copied below, our response follows.
There are two separate elements to the inquiry into the complaint against Mr Derek Conway: the inquiry by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards into the complaint, following which he submitted a memorandum to the Committee on Standards and Privileges, and the subsequent consideration by that Committee of the complaint in the light of the Commissioner’s investigation.
The Commissioner informs me that no additional resources beyond existing resources of his Office were required for his inquiry, and that the costs of the staff and other resources devoted to individual inquiries are not separately identifiable within the overall resources of his Office.
Apart from the costs of printing and publishing the Committee’s report, the costs of the staff and other resources devoted by the Committee to this inquiry are not separately identifiable within its overall resources. The printing and publication costs incurred in relation to the Committee’s report were £2892.48.
The House will consider complaints in relation to its handling of this request. These should be addressed to foicommons@parliament.uk or Freedom of Information Officer, Department of Resources, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. Please ensure that you specify the nature of your complaint and any arguments or points that you wish to make. If you remain dissatisfied, you may appeal to the Information Commissioner at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
Yours Sincerely
XXXXXXXX
Still kicking myself over this one - Prince Harry’s Arghanistan deployment was revealed, somewhat cryptically, in a Popbitch mailout last year:
>> Big Questions <<
What people are asking this week
Which well-connected public school boy is
finally flying off for his gap year travels,
after having to abandon his previous plans for
a trip to the sun with his mates? He's no longer
so keen on exploring the desert in a tank; his
old narcotic enthusiasm may be much better
served cleaning up the poppy fields.
How obvious is that, with hindsight? At least someone broke what must be the most needless and depressing media embargo in recent history..
HT: Adam Macqueen
