Journalism posts

Operation Bullfinch: how to handle a tricky story

Regular reporting is tough enough to get right – but when you’re covering a crime story involving the sex trafficking of underage girls, it’s a legal and ethical minefield. And that’s before you think about how to handle your relationship with the police. But when the Oxford Mail newsdesk found out about Operation Bullfinch, the police investigation into an Oxford child prostitution ring, reporters rose to the challenge.

Cutting carbon begins at home

The current government promised to be the “greenest government ever”, but the UK’s carbon emissions are still too high, risking catastrophic climate change. However, many people don’t realise that 80% of emissions are as a result of local activity. We talk a lot about government action, but it’s time to bring the discussion closer to home.

How's your energy performance?

By now, EPCs (Energy Performance Certificates) are a familiar part of the rental process. They were introduced by the Labour government as part of HIPs (Home Information Packs), which were criticised for introducing unnecessary bureaucracy to the property sector. Since EPCs came into force in 2008, we’ve become used to arranging energy performance assessments and adding them to the particulars of rental properties.

Trouble in the hub

Newsquest’s “regional operation” could mean big job losses. Sub-editing jobs at the Oxford Mail and Times are under threat from plans to centralise. Subs were recently told of plans to create a “regional editorial production operation”, combining the subbing departments for for Newsquest Oxfordshire and Newsquest Wiltshire. The new regional operation would be based in Oxford.

The good news station

“I liked The Stig. He came round my house, he had drinks... and all the time he was writing a book.” For the first time since “Stig-Gate” unfolded, Jeremy Clarkson publicly shared his feelings of betrayal. But the interview wasn’t with a national paper or broadcaster. He was talking to Witney TV, an online news station that didn’t exist six months ago.

NUJ ADM: a first-time delegate's view

Written for the December issue of the Oxford & District Branch NUJ newsletter.

When I set off for this year’s ADM, I had a jumble of different worries in my head. Would people be unfriendly to me as a newbie? Would it be a world of Machiavellian backstabbing, or a snooze-inducing bureaucratic slog? Would I have to actually stand up and speak?

It's Carnival - but not as we know it

East Oxford’s most famous event will be taking place in a different location this year.  The Cowley Road Carnival, Oxford’s largest community-led outdoor event, will be held in South Park and renamed “Carnival in the Park”.

The move is happening because the event’s organisers are not confident of securing enough funding to close Cowley Road and turn it into a car-free space for the day. Closing the road incurs significant costs because of the need to re-route buses and ensure the safety of the thousands of attendees.

Greater Greater Leys?

A “greater Greater Leys” could be built as early as 2013 if city council plans go ahead. Oxford City Council plans to develop the land beyond Grenoble Road, creating a new housing estate that would surround Greater Leys.

The land in question is part of the Oxford Green Belt, which means that it has official protection from being developed and can only be built on in exceptional circumstances.

Review: the Winter Warmer at the Jericho Tavern

“The answers to our global woes won’t be found with shiny logos on a special aisle at Tesco’s...” Is that the ghost of Purchase-Free Future we’re hearing? Almost: it’s performance poet Danny Chivers with Don’t Buy It, part of a set that ridicules the human tendency to accumulate heaps of junk. His witty rhymes and repertoire of voices brighten up the chilly and still-sparse crowd. We’re even joining in with chants by the end of his set.

Warm winter windows

Oxford artists are creating window displays with a difference this winter. WinterLight Windows is a series of installations created by artist-led community groups to brighten up Oxfordshire windows this winter.