My media diet: Nothing much new on the menu?

Kris Hoet of Microsoft has tagged me to ask about my "media consumption."

Gulp. Here's my breakdown. And I'm now going to pass it on to Craig, Sally, Keris, Martin and Emily.

I'd love to say it was Twitter, Twitter Twitter all the way for me, but well it's not, outside of a very keen professional interest.

Deep breath, and we're off. They tried to make me go to MySpace, I said "No, no, no."

1. (Equal) Newspapers and magazines: As the director of an agency flogging features and PR services, it's important that I devour print journalism daily. I read The Guardian, The Sun and The Mail every day as well as The Birmingham Post and The Express & Star. I wrote recently about the praise due to the ranks of regional UK reporters and it irks me that their achievements are overlooked.

Increasingly, I am turning to online editions but there'll never be a time I don't want ink rubbing off on my hands.

I read the Press Gazette every week and await their redesign with great anticipation. The UK women's weeklies are also of particular interest to me, especially when I hope to spot a story I've worked on - even if I sometimes go to ridiculous lengths to try and get hold of one. I have PR Week delivered to the office but sometimes, I'm ashamed to admit, it stays in its wrapper.

1. (Equal) Blogs: I blog as often as I can (daily) at Got Your Hands Full, and as well as contributing to Twitterati, I write about funny women and Women who blog for DollyMix. I've just been made a contributor to Bridalwave and have a joint freelance writing blog with Craig McGinty. I consider Craig a wonderful example of someone who has not only harnessed the power of blogging to such an extent to allow him to leave his job in newspapers, but also a true gentleman, which is a refreshing change from some of the idiots who give the blogosphere a bad name.

Blogs I'd describe as 'must read' are Rilly Super, My Boyfriend is a Twat,Getting Ink, Doing it all again and Keris Stainton. I love the sublime Corrie Blog and wish that Nora would take a leap into full-time journalism as I'd say she's one of the most naturally gifted writers I've read anywhere.

3. (Equal) Phone - am never off it at work.

3 (Equal) Email - am never off it at work (even when I am on the phone.)

5. Twitter - My tweets tail off as life and work gets busier, but I still find myself spouting nonsense. I also take a keen professional interest of course and am delighted that I can share a platform with the much more tech-savvy Stu on Twitterati. Unlike the more senior people I've followed on Twitter, I enjoy the fun aspect of it, especially the poetry.

I've also been able to pick up on important news stories via Twitter, to blog about or pitch editors on.

6. Books. Thanks to Trashionista, I have made time to read again. With two daughters, I'm determined to pass on my passion for the written word and can't be doing with the prospect of e-books. Oh and did I mention, I've just written one? (To be printed by a publisher, not an e-book, I mean.)

Not on the list: Mobile phone (I've lost it, okay, and yes replacing it is on the 'to do' list, but it's behind getting the kids to school, sorting their mate coming for tea and getting through yesterday's workload today.)

Also missing: Facebook, bebo etc. Am tempted by LinkedIn, was scared to get "virtual flowers" ("for a lovely lady") on something called Tagged and backed off sharpish. And as for online business networking sites, my thoughts on these are explained here, courtesy of a Technobile piece.

I've enjoyed a wealth of advice and support from an online journalists' forum but there are some sharks out there.

Phew. I hope that's sufficient. All I can do is be honest, I'm a working mum in her 30s for goodness' sake. Will someone please tell me what a mashup really is? Please don't shout at me.

* Oh and the Shrek picture is off my blog because it has done wonders for my Google ranking. Craig tells me this is to do with something called the Long Tail. Okay Craig.

Go on - now tell us yours. [Linda]

Comments

[Emilly]

Hi Linda

Haha. A mashup is the merge of two records so they create a new one. The artists usually meld the names too. For example Blur and Kasabian mashed was called Blursabian There's no LSF (instead of LSF and There's no other way). Mashup is now a term used to describe all sorts of media that have been joined together.

The other term for mashup is bootleg. It started years ago when the artists used to put out there only remixes of tracks, which sometimes used samples of other songs, out on white label vinyl. Now it is easier to distribute and there are forums all over where wannabe artists share their mashup work. Get Your Bootleg On was one such site, but sadly they got a cease and desist order from the music publishing industry.

On the one hand the music bigwigs have to come down with an iron fist on mashup artists, who often create their work without permission for samples. However, in reality, they often use mashups to promote their artists. For example, Kylie v New Order was used at the Brits.

It's a world of mixed messages and grey legal areas. There! Now you are an expert!

[Craig]

In the web world a mashup is the bringing together of two or more sets of data to produce an online tool.

One of the best examples is Chicago Crime:
http://www.chicagocrime.org/

But you can also find news stories placed over maps so that there is a geographic location, and your favourite Twittervision is another example.