I spent today finishing off the Irish Examiner's Champions League preview supplement which is published tomorrow. It was a busy old weekend with features on Wayne Rooney losing his scoring touch, Barcelona's record league run, Internazionale closing in on AC Milan and the Gareth Bale 'will he/won't he' play saga, all having to be rewritten. Great read though including excellent contributions by Ben Lyttleton, Adrian Clarke, Iain Macintosh, David Shonfield and Iain Spragg. Once more a real commitment by the Examiner, at 24 pages, to quality football coverage.
Enjoyed putting together the Irish Examiner's 32-page Champions League curtainraiser with colleagues Mike Brough and Paul Wick. Fantastic sporting commitment again from the paper. I was really pleased with the cover - but finding a gladiatorial Englishman from each of our Champions League club's was a tall order, especially after Defoe was laid low. Arsenal was particularly tough, as you might imagine. Most pictures of Theo Walcott are more gladioli than gladiator. Great cover by Paul though ... and a really good read once more by the Examiner.
Hull Daily Mail this week - running a subbing and layout course for members of the hub. Might try to take in Derby v Newcastle on Tuesday. Also putting together a 24-page Champions League supplement for the Irish Examiner and writing an article on 'radical revenue ideas for newspapers' for InPublishing magazine. The idea was inspired by Will Lewis's team in Euston who are charged with, among other things, using the Telegraph brand to "capitalise on cutting-edge ideas, driving new revenue streams by better serving our customers". This is proving a tough one to write. If anyone has come across really innovative ways for newspapers to make money, I'd love to hear them (but then, I guess, wouldn't everyone).
