http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-32690000 reading an article noticed it links to the BT article by Gareth. Just felt like sharing as i have not seen BT mentioned on the bbc site before and it made me smile a bit
Nice, innit? Just had 'em on the phone asking to talk about it on the radio, too, but turned 'em down. (They don't pay, and they wanted to do it when I was planning to be two-thirds the way to the rifle range.) S'not the first time, though. They linked to my Imagination CI-20 coverage, although bit-tech was a "reviews site" back then, apparently. Then, on a personal note, they've published numerous articles about my fundraising for the Turing Papers. I guess what I'm trying to say is: I'm sort of a big deal on the internet. (Hmm, whyfor no 'vomit' smiley?)
Sounds about right. In media land, they seem to expect you to drop everything at a moment's notice to accommodate their immediate needs. They seem unable to comprehend that you might have a job, or a life, or commitments...
It's PR for the majority of people who end up speaking though. BT clearly have no ****s to give on this matter as they are bigger than the BBC anyway. BBC should be paying BT for the PR that is this thread, in fact.
The glory should be enough. It's PR for some, but for me it's just more work. I'm happy to help out with psychology questions if it informs the public, but I'm not going out of my way to do it. There's a whole British Psychological Society they can approach that has people doing this kind of thing for a living.
Oh, the sarcasm! I am wounded, fatally wounded! <faints away> No, but seriously. I am not now, nor have I ever been, a salaried employee of bit-tech nor its various owners through the years. While I have been on the radio several times before - I once spent four hours doing the rounds of various BBC radio stations one morning, although I was bumped from BBC Five Live's schedule at the last minute - it has always been as "Gareth Halfacree, freelance technology journalist," not "Gareth Halfacree, bit-tech writer." So, were I to take the BBC up on their kind offer of giving up time my clients usually pay for but for free, I would be doing it for self-publicising reasons, not to boost traffic to bit-tech (or any other outlet for which I write, numerous as they are.) D'you know how much extra paying work I got from the last few radio interviews I agreed to? None. Not a damn thing. Do you know how many editors have said to me "hey, I heard you on BBC Three Counties the other day - fancy writing something for us?" A number between zero and none. I literally get zero benefit from doing radio interviews as an "expert" in a given subject. There are, naturally, exceptions - when I have something, beyond myself, to promote. I was happy to do radio interviews when I was raising money for the Turing/Newman Collection, because there was a good chance at least one listener would donate to the cause - a direct benefit for my time spent. That's because the pool of "radio listeners who might throw a fiver at a charity" is far, far larger than "radio listeners who are editors of major technology publications actively looking for new freelancers." It's a question of cost-benefit. In this case, the benefit is all on the BBC's side, and the cost all on mine. In other words: no sale. Now, if I were a salaried staffer working exclusively for bit-tech and I were asked to be a talking head on a radio programme, it'd be different for a couple of reasons: it'd be publicity for the site, which my boss would like, and I would be actively being paid for my time, by my boss. As it is, as a freelancer I only get paid when I send words and pictures to my editors. Time spent being interviewed on a radio programme nobody I know or work with listens to and which will, experience has shown me, lead to zero networking or job opportunities is time when I'm not getting paid. Now, don't you feel silly for not thinking this through?
Not sure if that's what you intended Gareth, but the post above comes across as a veiled pop at bit-tech's staffing/outsourcing policy. Just saying!
Absolutely not how it was intended, no. I'm a freelance journalist: if bit-tech relied on staff writers, I wouldn't be able to write for bit-tech. Bit's use of freelancers is what allows me to bring you guys the news every day, and I'm very thankful for it. (Likewise, I have other clients for which I work under the same terms: PC Pro, IT Pro, Custom PC, Linux User & Developer, Micro Mart, Computeractive, Cloud Pro, to name but a few.)
If it were me I would point them to bits owners. If bit wanted some publicity you could agree a fee and go on the show. But whatever, that's probably already more hassle than its worth.