Wednesday 9 July 2008

Legal Eagle

Another day, another course.
Media Law was the subject today, one which I find fascinating but scary in equal measure.
Doing this job day to day it's easy to forget the tightrope we walk with every story that goes into print. One slip can inadvertently damage the reputation of the person involved in the story, the standing of the paper and, ultimately, put a pretty huge dent in the bank balance.
Newspapers and other media outlets have a duty to their readers to be fair and accurate in their reporting.
Believe me, any failure to do that comes with a very high price.
A day in Tunbridge Wells meant no time for running. Just four days to go until the Crawley 10k run and to say I feel confident, well, would be a lie really. At least the weather forecast looks ok.
Finally, a moment of light relief on an otherwise stressful deadline day yesterday. For whatever reason, people seem to have problems with grasping the name of our reporter Sian Hewitt.
Some say 'Si Ann', most just settle for 'Shaun', seemingly obliviously that poor Sian isn't actually a bloke.
Yesterday, however, someone on the subs desk went a stage further and managed to add an extra letter to Sian's name.
Henceforth, she will now be known as 'Asian Hewitt'.