Bouquets and Brickbats

I'm still not sure where the idea for bouquets and brickbats originates from, but frankly I can't be arsed to look it up now, it being the hottest day of the year (so far) and all. Anyway, here goes.

A brickbat to a certain American newswire agency, for their slapdash approach to advertising job vacancies. I'm all in favour of modern technology, and I send more emails per day than I care to admit, but realistically, we are not yet at the stage where everyone has easy access to a scanner. So when you ask people to send in some writing samples alongside their CV, don't just give them an email address! And when one of them decides to take the initiative and email you asking for a postal address, for the love of God answer them! How hard can it be? Because you know what will happen if you don't? You will cause poor people - because that's what journalists are - to trudge down to Kinko's and spend 18 pounds on scanning four lousy sheets of paper onto a CD-ROM. Not cool, Agency X, not cool at all (Agency X will remain nameless until they've appointed someone to the job, as I don't want to ruin my chances. Oh what the hell, it's AP).

A bouquet to Harry's Place, for making blogging what it should be and creating a community that not only supports each other on the web, but out in the 'real world' as well. A case in point was last night at UCL, where Francis Wheen and Christopher Hitchens hosted a debate on Love, Poetry and War. Harry's Place, which has become the de facto online centre for the London media left, had managed to arrange for a discount on the entry fee for anyone who mentioned his blog on arrival. And lo and behold, the place was a sellout. Jam-packed from the word go, and undoubtedly due to Harry spreading the word online. Call me crazy, but I find it hard to believe the talk would have enjoyed as much success without the online backing, despite the high-calibre speakers. Several members of the blogosphere (cringe) were in attendance, including Norm Geras of Normblog.