The Crucial Blog

Does the act of naming a child in a newspaper picture caption expose the youngster to paedophiles?
A simple question but an answer that engenders a big debate.

Good morning dentist - that tooth extraction you did was absolute rubbish. It's not what I wanted at all. The procedure you followed was all disjointed, your whole approach was wrong. Oh never mind I'll do it myself.Rubbish! Good morning electrician - the rewiring work on my house was not what I was expecting at all - nothing flows properly, the connections are terrible. I've rewired it all myself and this is the system I want...

Q. How many journalists does it take to change a light bulb? A1. We just report the facts, we don't change them. A2. Three. One to report it as an inspired government programme to bring light to the people, one to report it as a diabolical government plot to deprive the poor of darkness and one to win a Pulitzer prize for reporting that Electric Company hired a lightbulb assassin to break the bulb in the...

My name's Juliette and I am a journalist. There - in these current climes it sounds like an admission of something shameful. Well, the evidence coming out of the Levenson Inquiry into press ethics has indeed been shocking, disturbing and downright shameful. Only today Alistair Campbell is being reported as saying in his written evidence that the press is "frankly putrid in many of its elements" and that a very small number of people have "besmirched...

Life's full of coincidences isn't it. There I was in my last blog musing about the skill and wit of The Sun's headline writers and then, hey presto, find myself perusing an array of info from Copyblogger founder Brian Clark on the writing of great headlines and why they're so critical. And, by the way, the subs at The Sun show no signs of flagging. Only yesterday Lucky Heather was applied to a single column five...