Journalism Year Two...aaaaaaaand ACTION!

Welcome, welcome, welcome to my new home here at Blogger.com

After a long summer break, it's time to get back into the swing of being a journalist again. New year and a new job! Having worked last year at Hosptial Radio Wey, I have gone up in the world somewhat and am now part of the team that writes match reports and updates live text on the website of League One side Swindon Town. I will be posting these reports up regularly so feel free to explore them. Here is the latest offering from Saturday's 1-1 home draw with Millwall.

http://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/page/MatchReport/0,,10341~47721,00.html

So MUCH has happened over the last few months that I would still be here at the start of year three if I mentioned everything. I will, however begin with something that deeply affected me over the last few months; the passing of football great Sir Bobby Robson. It's hard to avoid cliche when talking about the man but it IS true that he was a legend of the game and it IS true that he had a profound effect on everyone he met. Rest in Peace Sir Bobby, you deserve it.

Also in the news over the last month or so have been the party conferences. Oh to be a journalist at one of the party conferences! It was clear that the assembled media were long sharpening their knives before the conference season started but it was terrific to watch as the standard "we shall fight them on the beaches" Churchillian type speeches were rolled out one by one, accompanied by a lot of fist bashing and finger pointing. Then the interviews on Newsnight and Channel Four news (to name but two programmes) were great viewing.

One item which particularly caught my eye was a quick question fired at Peter Mandelson as he left the Labour party conference one evening: the girl asked a seemingly innocuous question about his relationship with the Prime Minister that stopped him dead in his tracks. He turned to the girl and said "uh I'm sorry...wh..who are you with...?" to which the girl replied Channel 4. "oh...you are just the worst...h...ho...how dare you...." came the reply punctuated by a wry smile; The reaction of a rat on a sinking ship.

The Tory conference, however made for pretty grim viewing I thought. Does anyone else find George Osbourne tiresome? Having to watch as his fantastic plans for the economy are hung out to dry by Paxman? No thanks. It seems to me as if electing the Conservatives would be like be like going on holiday to a tacky touristy holiday resort: it looks different and feels different but you still get the same food, same people and the same atmosphere that you would back home.

After The Sun newspaper's decision to withdraw support for Labour it seems as if everyone else is jumping on the bandwagon. The Daily Mail printed a story the day after Gordon Brown's big speech analysing Sarah Brown's fashion sense! It seems as if politics in this country is going the way of that famous quote from the television programme Yes Prime Minister regarding newspapers - "It doesn't matter who runs the country as long as she's got big t**s". Mr Brown said in an interview with John Humphries on Radio 4's Today programme "The Sun doesn't decide who wins elections, the voters do". Well Prime Minister, what do a majority of floating voters read......