pr-media-blog.co.uk

Is it me or do newspaper revamps seem to come round more regularly these days? I do like a good redesign, it means freshness even if regular readers bombard the letters pages with complaints about not being able to find the Obituaries column.

The Independent relaunched this week and Roy Greenslade, the doyen of reviewing these things, critiques here. 

The editorial penned by new editor, Roger Alton, on page 2 of yesterday’s launch edition made much of the new colour presses that will churn out the Inde from now on. There’s also reference to the use of photography to make stories come alive.

Could this be the same Roger Alton who has told one of his section editors that he can no longer commission photography because the paper can’t afford it? This particular journalist is now reduced to begging product providers to embellish stories with images in return for favours in the section.

So despite all the fanfare is the Inde still Independent?

First, a declaration of interest - I am a fan of The Guardian’s Roy Greenslade. That aside, his comments on the uneasy relationship between journalists and bloggers articulate exactly the dilemma of journalists pre-internet: writing for an invisible body of readers whose views on what you’re writing remain largely unknown. Not so now. With bloggers and, well, anyone with broadband, able to interact with the news and pass comment, the monopoly on the message no longer lies with the “fourth estate”. With the abundance of online channels and social media to participate in, the conversation is gaining currency.