For Women Only

We all suffer from PMT from time to time, even the most optimistic of us. One minute the world seems like a fairytale, as all goes swimmingly well in our perfect little bubbles.

But watch out, because 30 seconds later...terror dooms.

Uncontrollable anger, rage and frustration take over us as the evil hormones race up and down our bodies. You find it increasingly difficult to contain yourself, as it builds up to you flipping and lashing out over nothing.

Your blood is boiling and you find yourself being angry, so angry...but why? It is usually our nearest and dearest who recieve the brunt of it. You can see them thinking "stroppy cow," and that you have gone insane.

We haven't. We are only human - female ones at that. What can we do about it? We could warn everyone around us for a start. Tell everyone not to go near us for a few days every month? Then maybe the world would be a better place.

According to netdoctor, we need to eat low fat and high fibre foods to reduce PMT. Vitamin B6 is also supposed to help, as well as regular exercise. But don't worry, give it five minutes and you will be back in your perfect little bubble again.

Let's hope next month is a better one.

A new breed of audience needs a new breed of journalist

Professional journalism is needed just as much, if not more than ever before now we face a new audience - an online one.

Digital development director for ICP Media, Kim Hollamby brought a refreshing and reassuring view into our lecture hall today. He claimed print is not dying, it comes second place to online journalism.

Kim showed us Google's top ten searches on Hitwise, a service which monitors internet traffic. The results included websites we already know the address for, such as Argos and Facebook. This shows how task-driven our new audience is. Many can’t even be bothered to type a web address into a bar!

So with digital media here to stay and with a new type of audience to face, Kim warned us, “success today does not mean success tomorrow.” Look at all these social networking websites, for every Facebook, Myspace and Bebo, there are a thousand other websites trying to achieve the same success.

But are they really such a success? Hitwise shows a decrease in the number of hits Myspace has seen. So who knows the future of such sites? And what does this say about our new audience? They get bored easily.

We must do all we can to provide for our lazy, or should I say task-driven audiences. We need to make journalism short, tight and as entertaining as possible.

Remember user generated content has a low perceived value - our role as professional journalists is still very much in need. We should follow Kim’s reassuring words: “if you want to play this market properly you have to invest in it.”

Digital storytelling: a bright future for literacy

Daniel Meadows and the digital age: Why his new literacy is the way forward.

Digital storyteller Daniel Meadows created the first ever online magazine back in 1996. He spoke to us today about how he facilitates others into making their own media through digital storytelling.

I was impressed with his stories, which touched on a range of topics, including shoes and teddybears. He showed us how his workshops look at peoples relationships with their photographs, allowing them to tell their own personal story digitally.

These digital stories have the ability to show off our individuality, personal views and perceptions as well as being a new form of literacy. Therefore I think we should embrace them.
They allow people to adopt a voice to get their message across via a new and exciting medium.

Daniel argues we need to intervene by facilitating, in order to get the seventeen million 'non-liners' online and keep up with the most exciting time media will see – the digital age. I agree, the world will only be digitized once and we cannot afford to let people miss out on such an opportunity.

This means we are the ones to invent the future, as the digital age enables journalism to becomes two-way. Terrifying isn't it? But look at all the new doors it opens, it’s incredibly exciting, giving our future audiences a chance to feedback.

This is a new place our media has never gone before and I plan to take Daniel’s advice: “If you don’t want to be done by it, learn to do it yourself” very seriously.

BBC News Interactive: It's everywhere we go

Can we still trust the BBC to deliver our news with excellence as digitalisation kicks in?

Peter Clifton, former head of BBC News Interactive, talked to us today about how the news is delivered in an increasing number of ways. He claims the BBC offers “News you want, when you want it.” Surely this a good thing? But as the BBC promises accuracy, is this possible with such up to date and personalised news with increasing proportions of user generated content being used?

It’s difficult to miss some form of BBC News. It is delivered to us on the TV - 24 hours a day if we want. We can pick what we see - even just to catch a glimpse of the latest headlines.
It can be accessed on the BBC website, Ceefax, mobile phones and public spaces - my bus even shows it.

Do we want to suddenly find it when we're not even looking for it? I'd rather choose times to suit my mood when it comes to watching some of the doom and gloom the news gives us. There really is no getting away.

We can view the most read and emailed stories of the day on the website - but is this quality news? I mean, do we really want to know about a man and a goat?! It's certainly not my priority when I read the news.

This digitalisation is certainly a complicated business. We’re going to have to trust the BBC with its content. Maybe we should follow Peter's enthusiasm and look on the bright side. At least we'll always be in the know where news is concerned.