UC-Berkeley invites international journalists

Applications are being accepted through Jan. 4 for a unique program providing mid-career journalists from outside the U.S. with an opportunity to pursue advanced professional training and academic study at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley.In the non-degree Visiting Scholar program, participants can audit courses offered at the journalism school and in

How NPR lures younger digital audiences

The people who listen to NPR are a lot like those who read newspapers. They tend to be wealthier, better educated and more thoughtful than the population as whole. And, like newspaper readers, they are older than the broader population, too. 

But there’s one major difference between NPR and most newspapers: The managers at NPR have moved aggressively to create differentiated digital products to

Job 1 for newspapers: Audience development

While strategic audience development ought to be the top priority at every newspaper, efforts toward fulfilling this vital mission are fitful and far between at many publications. This has got to change, if the industry intends to sustain its strength. 

The bad news for newspapers, as discussed here, is that a significant majority of the adults in the typical community don’t subscribe to the

Are newspapers losing ‘mass media’ mojo?

Print newspaper circulation has fallen to the lowest level since the 1940s and the lowest household penetration rate in modern history, raising the question of when a mass medium is no longer a mass medium. 

Because a growing amount of news consumption is moving to digital platforms, the answer, as you will see by reading on, is complicated. Here is what we know:

As discussed here last week, 

Struggling industry throttles newspaper metrics

Unable to arrest years of declining ad sales and sliding print circulation, two key trade groups representing the newspaper industry have done the next best thing: 

They effectively have stopped reporting on the metrics that make it possible to measure – and, therefore, understand and manage – the industry’s ongoing challenges. 

Earlier this year, the Newspaper Association of America, an

Omidyar’s big, bold bet on next-gen news

First, came Warren Buffett. Then, Jeff Bezos. Now, Pierre Omidyar has become the third prominent billionaire to try his hand at finding a popular and profitable business model for funding quality journalism in the digital era. 

Apart from the common bond they share with a collective net worth approaching $100 billion, each of the business superstars is pursuing a distinctly different path in

Time for Change: The Last Post

It's Time
Photo Credit:Tim Nisly

After much deliberation, much soul searching about direction, a lot of brainstorming and still a few doubts I've decided to wrap this blog up. (The blog itself will remain here but there will be no more updates.) A Letter from the Netherlands was the place I started my writing, started connecting with other expats and through this blog met a bunch of amazing people. The fact is that I only have so many hours a day and it's proving not to be enough for everything I want to do. Something has to go. So this is one of the 'things'. After five years here it's a tough decision but I'm taking a new direction, planning a rebranding under my own name (The Writing Well is also on the chop list) and I am looking forward to some really exciting developments.

However, that doesn't mean an end to my blogging - au contraire my dear friends. Expat Life with a Double Buggy is going strong and will continue to do so with a wider scope than before. I started ELwaDB to blog about expat parenting. I'm widening that with a new tag line:

"My expat way of living, loving & parenting"

This means that I'll be blogging about anything that takes my fancy that relates to expat life, parenting, living in the Netherlands, speaking a foreign language, all things British, exploring new cultures...... you name it really, I'll probably have something to say about it!

So if you are a follower of this blog get yourself over to Expat Life with a Double Buggy and follow me over there. Besides the blog, there are a million and one ways to connect with me. Well, four actually. (You can directly click on the social media buttons on the top right of this page or use the links below). 

1. Expat Life with a Double Buggy has its very own Facebook page with lots of lovely people giving their opinion on lots of expat and parenting related topics. I share not only my blog posts and articles there but wonderful musings from other people too. If you're on Facebook hop over, like and say hello.
2. I'm on Twitter. You can find me under the name AmandavMulligen.
3. I'm also on Pinterest pinning lots of different topics but particularly relevant boards include Being British, Expats in the Know, Expat Life, What I love about the Netherlands, Expat Shopping
4. And last but not least you can connect with me on Google+

I will also continue to be a guest blogger for Smitten by Britain for the foreseeable future.

I guess the short version of all this is that I'm clearing the way for a new path. I'm consolidating. All three of my children are out of the baby stage so it's time to turn a little more focus back to writing. Over five years I've evolved, my goals have changed and my plans have started to take shape. So please stay with me on the journey..... take my hand and walk the new path with me...... see you all over at Expat Life with a Double Buggy. You coming...? This way.....

P.S I think there may be a tear as I press publish this time..... I can always change my mind right?

Newspaper sales dive enters 8th straight year

As digital advertising sales soared 18% to a record high in the first six months of this year, the revenues of the publicly traded newspaper companies slipped an average of 5.5% to enter an eighth year of unabated decline.

Paced by a 145% increase in mobile ad sales, digital volume hit a half-year high of $20.1 billion, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, a trade organization.

7 tumultuous years for Tribune newspapers

A directive to cut up to $100 million in spending at the Tribune Co. newspapers is but the latest challenge to a group of iconic titles that have been twisting in the wind for seven of the most tumultuous years ever experienced by the publishing industry. 

The budget cuts in store for the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times and six other dailies published by the company add to the

Digital media get ready to get more personal

Say good-bye to one-size-fits-all content and advertising.  The age of personalization is arriving in the digital media, and it will change everything about what we read, where we eat, what we buy and even how we get to work. 

There is a race under way in Silicon Valley (and beyond) to do an ever-better job of tracking, archiving and analyzing consumer activity on desktops, laptops, tablets,

How many people really pay for digital news?

Now that roughly a third of the nation’s newspapers are charging for access to their web and mobile content, the early evidence suggests that digital audiences aren’t nearly as enthusiastic about paying for news as publishers are about charging for it.

Although digital-only subscribers make up 37.6% of the total circulation of the Wall Street Journal and 34.4% of the total readership of the New

16 Essentials to Survive the Dutch Autumn

Photo: Billy Alexander

According to my calendar this Sunday is the official start of autumn. In the blink of an eye summer faded and an unpredictable weather front crept over the Netherlands with a mischievous smirk on its face, just as we were all finishing up our ice creams and rubbing the last drops of sun cream on from the bottle. Most of us weren't quite prepared for the onslaught of the rain, hail, wind and greyness.

It's the time of year known as "four seasons in one day", also known as autumn, fall or herfst. To survive it you need sixteen items.

1. Sunglasses - when it makes an appearance the sun is still bright and strong and you need eye protection (can also prove helpful against leaves - see tip 8)
2. A sense of humour - you have to be able to see the funny side of getting hailed on in your sunglasses 
3. A rain coat - one that is very waterproof indeed
4. A rain hat - unless your rain coat has a built in hood that actually stays on your head (unlike mine which was apparently designed with the head of the Gruffalo in mind) it is worth investing in a rather fetching rain hat. Okay, it may not be attractive, but the 'drowned rat with limp hair' look isn't hot either
5. Waterproof trousers - particularly if you don't like to be parted from your bicycle. Again, not a sexy look but it is a dry look
6. Two pastic bags - one to put over your bicycle seat and the other big enough to put over your child's bike seat, should you have one
7. A gale proof umbrella - if you have the choice between a bog-standard umbrella and a super-duper wind proof monster version, opt for the latter. The Netherlands is a wasteland of decrepit, washed up umbrellas, torn apart by gale force winds and lashing rain. Don't let your umbrella become the next victim
8. A scarf - the Dutch autumn wind blows cold and wild when the mood takes it. As a bonus to keeping warm, wrapping a scarf round your face is also a clever way to avoid getting a surprise smack in the face by a wayward dry crispy leaf or two
9. Jumpers (or sweaters if you are American) - the temperature drops and it gets a bit nippy out there
10. A summer jacket - some days the sun shines and it's actually quite warm so don't hide that summer jacket away just yet
11. Short sleeve T-shirts - some days it is so warm you'll start thinking you imagined the hail, rain and wind of two days ago
12. A winter coat - and then reality hits, the sun decides it's done for the year, tucks itself up behind a big blanket of clouds and sleeps until spring. Be prepared, before you know it you'll be needing that big, thick, snuggly coat
13. Wellington boots - whether or not you are into puddle jumping you will need some kind of waterproof boots before the year is out, unless your preference is to walk around in soggy socks
14. De-icer for the car - chilly mornings ease their way in gradually and what begins as a friendly layer of frost on your windscreen soon turns into a stubborn blanket of ice
15. A selection of plastic zip up bags - it's not just squirrels that are collecting stuff in autumn, kids do it too. They collect conkers, acorns, fir cones, leaves and general crap from the floor. You're going to want to put it all in a sealed off bag. Trust me.
16. A big rucksack - last but not least you will need a really big bag to put the other fifteen items in. Think the kind of bag you see hikers and campers lugging around. 

I wish you all good luck with the decline to colder, wetter, darker days. See you all again in spring!

 

Photo: Claire Noe (Stock.Xchng)

Guess Who's a Guest Blogger for Smitten By Britain

Photo Credit: Petre Birlea

Me! I am delighted to share that I have the honour of being a new monthly guest blogger for Smitten by Britain. I've been following Smitten by Britain for a long while, keeping up to date with all things British whilst living away from British shores. When there was a call for guest posters I jumped up with my hand in the air shouting me, me, me. And she said ok.

The Smitten by Britain blog is run by Melissa who is nuts about Britain. She's in fact a Britophile, which I guess is about as close to being British that you can get without actually being British. The most important thing about Melissa is that she loves a proper cup of tea, so that absolutely qualifies her to be a Britophile!

Anyway, I'm the new British culture monthly blogger and I have kicked off my new adventure with a post on the British and their love of caravans. It hit me this summer that the Dutch are not the only ones pulling caravans along in their masses. In fact, it turns out that the British obsession love affair with caravans is more intense than even that of the Cloggies. Seriously, it is. I looked it up. Brits really are bonkers about their caravans.

Hop on over to Smitten by Britain to read more - and keep tuned in over there for more every month from me, plus tons and tons of great posts every day about all things British.

The Happy Netherlands

The second UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) World Happiness report is out and the Netherlands fared well once more. Really well actually. The Dutch are the fourth happiest nation in the world, behind Denmark, Norway and Switzerland.

In order to assess just how happy people are across the world the report concentrates on six areas:

• real GDP per capita 
• healthy life expectancy 
• having someone to count on 
• perceived freedom to make life choices 
• freedom from corruption
• generosity

Measuring the well-being of citizens is starting to be seen as serious business in many countries. And there's a good reason for that. Happy people are more productive, healthier and live longer. I consider myself lucky to live in the Netherlands, and when reports like this are published it only reinforces how blessed we I am to raise a family here. 

The USA is placed at number 17 and United Kingdom comes in at 22. Togo sits bottom of the pile.  

Where does your country come in the list? Do you consider yourself lucky to live where you do? Are you happy there?

If you want to read the whole report you can do so here.

Digital puts news consumers in control

News consumption in the digital era has become far more of a participatory activity than it was in the days when folks plopped into a La-Z-Boy to read the paper or watch the evening news. 

Publishers hoping to connect with modern audiences need to understand the radically different expectations that consumers have about when, where and how they get the news – and how they proactively mix, match

The five big decisions facing Bezos at WaPo

When Jeff Bezos takes control of The Washington Post in a few short weeks, the Amazon founder will face five enormous decisions that will shape the future of an iconic newspaper once so powerful that it drove President Richard M. Nixon from office. They’re decisions plenty of other media companies will be facing, too. Here goes: 

Local or global? 

First and foremost, Bezos will have to decide

How can they fire the photographers? Easy.

Like many others, I was distressed to learn that the Chicago Sun-Times fired all 28 members of its photo staff, as the casualties include such cherished former colleagues as the Pulitzer-winning John H. White. 

“How can they do that?” asked a number of journalists, friends and readers who called or wrote to express their outrage.  “Yes, it’s awful,” I agreed. “But, actually, it’s easy.” Here’s

Surviving on the Beach

Daymer Beach, Cornwall
(c) Amanda van Mulligen

"I don't understand this settlement behaviour," my husband said as we plonked ourselves down on Daymer Bay beach in Cornwall.

Couples and families were camped out on the overpopulated beach around us with fold away chairs with built in cup holders, portable tables, tents, wind breakers, transistor radios, enough reading material to stock a local library and a cool box filled with enough to satisfy the most ravenous of hungers for a few days should the world's food chain suddenly implode. One group had even brought their own full size BBQ and looked like they were there for the long haul.

"You don't see this in the Netherlands," he uttered, genuinely bewildered.

Anyone beg to differ?

The surprising boomlet in newspaper M&A

Beyond the headline-grabbing purchases last week of the Washington Post and Boston Globe, there has been a surprising recovery in M&A activity in the last 1½ years involving newspapers in places like Vicksburg, MS; Everett, WA; Nashua, NH, and Waco, TX. 

The boomlet has been fueled by an improving economy, the growing desire of many long-time family owners to exit the publishing business and

Smartphones are so 2012. What’s next?

With more than 50% of the population packing smartphones and tablet penetration not far behind, it’s time to start thinking about the next-generation mobile devices that will further disrupt the media landscape. 

The next wave of mobile devices will change media creation and consumption – and therefore, economics – by autonomously delivering unprecedented levels of personally relevant

Teeth Meat

That's right, I said teeth meat.
Photo: Pam Roth

Whilst I am on the subject of teeth (hop over to Expat Life with a Double Buggy for more on wobbly teeth and tooth fairies) I'd like to share my distaste with you of gums. Not about actual gums (not that gums are particularly pleasant - google gums and choose images and you'll quickly see what I mean) but about the Dutch word for gums. You know, the more I type the word gums (and hence read it in my head) the weirder a word it sounds. Gums.

Anyway, I digress. The word for gums in Dutch is tandvlees. A literal translation for that is 'teeth meat'.  If that isn't a word that conjures up horror films then I don't know what is.

Digital doctor Bezos takes on the ailing Post

The purchase of the struggling Washington Post by Jeff Bezos may be the best news the news industry has had in a long time, because it finally puts a true digital native at the helm of a newspaper company. 

Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon.Com, is uniquely equipped to bring unprecedented innovation and fresh energy to an industry whose managers run their businesses like the people of

Digital usage overtaking all legacy media

Americans this year are likely to spend as many hours consuming content on digital devices as the combined amount of time that they devote to gazing at TV and paging through print, according to eMarketer, a research-aggregation service. 

After culling through reports from more than 40 institutions, eMarketer forecasts that the average amount of time likely to be spent on digital media this year

Cliffs and Rock Pools

Land's End
Photo: Amanda van Mulligen (c)

On our last family summer holiday we went to Cornwall, England. During the two week holiday my Dutch husband managed to astound me on a number of occasions. The Cornish coastline may as well have been Mars as far as he was concerned. Cliffs and rock pools really were alien landscapes to him.

As we stood atop the cliffs at Land's End he marvelled at the beauty of the seascape before him. The jagged rocks and the rough sea, waves forced upwards by the hurdles in their path spattering sea spray into the air, the sheer drop down to the sea off the edge of the land. It is beautiful, don't get me wrong, but I knew what I was going to see. My husband had no idea what awaited him at Land's End. He was awestruck by what he saw. He was mesmerised by nature's offerings at the end of England. It was like watching a child with candy for the first time. Bright eyes, open mouth, noises of pleasure.

Confused by his remarkable reaction to the coastal scene at Land's End, I asked him what his issue was he found so novel about the cliffs and rocks.

"We don't have cliffs and rocks like this in the Netherlands," he responded matter of factly "the country ends in flat sandy beaches."

And the penny dropped. Of course. I realised I hadn't seen a cliff or rock pool for quite a while myself. Childhood holidays along the Cornish and Devonshire coast had blinded me to the magic of an English coastline. I took them all for granted: the majestic cliffs, the small, beautiful sandy coves and bays that litter the south coast of England, the numerous caves to explore and the rock pools to scour with nets for signs of life.

Exploring rock pools on a Cornish beach
Photo: Amanda van Mulligen (c)

"This is so cool," said my husband on a beach a few days later "I've never seen a rock pool before!" My children echoed his excitement, armed with nets and buckets as they watched a little crab scurry from under a rock to find safety under seaweed. The kids jumped from one rock to the next, looking for little bodies of water hidden between them. Their joy took me back to my own childhood days on the Cornish beaches, combing rock pools with my brother. I understood then my husband's reaction to Land's End. How lucky he was to see the Cornish coastline for the first time as if through child's eyes.  

Study finds elders pick web over newspaper, too

In fresh evidence of the mounting demographic challenge facing publishers, a new study from Oxford University found that online sites beat newspapers as the preferred news source for every age group – including those over 55 years of age. 

While it has become increasingly clear for some time that younger individuals are more inclined than their elders to use digital sources to keep up with the

The smartest guys in media give up on print

For all the corporate-speak accompanying the dramatic restructurings of Twenty-First Century Fox, Time Warner and Tribune Co., the simple reason these diversified media giants are jettisoning their publishing assets is that their leaders fear for the future of print.

In a historic capitulation, three of the largest companies ever built by putting ink to paper are severing their publishing

Holland: The Original Cool

I was recently approached to give my opinion about living in the Netherlands, following the Dutch tourist board's claim that Holland is the "Original Cool". I have to admit that I really like this promotion for the Netherlands. "You call it green energy, we call it tradition" has a great ring to it!



You can read my thoughts on life in the Netherlands in the resulting article by Anja Habekost Oliveira on the Frank magazine website.

What do you think? Is the Netherlands a cool place to live?

Newspaper websites need a UX fix

As a young copy editor in the days when newspaper articles clattered off Linotypes, I sometimes went to the composing room to trim stories into the spaces allotted to them.



This involved “editing” 14 inches of hot type into a seven-inch hole by scanning a slug of slugs – reading upside down and backwards – to find a seemly place to end a story, usually by throwing away the balance of news

How TV could suffer the fate of newspapers

Second of two parts. The first part is here. 

In pivoting aggressively from print to local TV, Gannett Inc. and Tribune Co. are embracing a legacy media model that could be headed for the same audience fragmentation and economic dislocation as the newspaper businesses they are trying to escape. 


As detailed here yesterday, the two iconic publishing brands have announced parallel,

Gannett and Tribune pivot to TV: Is it wise?

First of two parts. The second part is here. 

Turning away from their roots in the newspaper business, Gannett Inc. and Tribune Co. are embarked on a pair of ambitious transactions that will transform them into two of the largest players in local TV broadcasting, but here’s the irony:

They are trading their prominence in one fading media vertical for dominance in another legacy business that

Tell Tale Signs of Britishness At Home

From recipes to CDs, it's surprising what
little things give you away as non-native
Photo:Vangelis Thomaidis

I wrote a guest post for Bringing Up Brits about how my three sons, who are predominantly Dutch, stand out from other Dutch boys because I am British. It got me thinking about how I stand out as British when Dutch people come to our house.

• Music: Many of the CDs I own wouldn't have made their way into the average Dutch home. I'm talking about the very British music that never really made a name over here. The artists I mention that make my husband screw his face up in confusion. 

• Food: My kitchen cupboards and fridge contain HP Brown sauce, Colman's Mustard, Paxo stuffing, Marmite, Branston pickle, Hayward's pickled onions, Ambrosia pudding rice and custard and Bisto. And the list probably goes on. These are not items you can get with ease in your local Dutch supermarket. They are expat shop specials, or brought lovingly over by visitors from England.

• Recipe books: I have weaning books and recipe books written by Gina Ford and Annabel Karmel on my kitchen shelf. Most Dutch people will look blankly at me if I mention those baby and child (food and nutrition) specialists. And my Jamie Oliver books are in English instead of in Dutch like the majority of Jamie Oliver recipe book owners here. In fact I have a fair few British recipe books for delights such as apple crumble, Yorkshire puddings and roast dinners.

• Books: The books I own are mainly in English. Me and Amazon.co.uk are best friends when it comes to getting English language books. That also includes books for my three boys to make sure their English keeps improving, and get to know very British nursery rhymes songs and classic stories.

• DVDs: When we moved in together my husband and I amalgamated our DVD collection and there were quite a few duplicates but Dutch DVDs have Dutch subtitles available and British DVDs don't. 

• Board Games: The British version of word games is always different to the Dutch version by way of the compilation of letters. For example the Dutch scrabble version contains 2 'J' tiles, whereas the British version contains 1. Playing Scrabble in Dutch with my British version and vice versa adds an extra challenge to the game which isn't wholly necessary. And of course British classics like 'Snakes n Ladders' is unknown in the Netherlands.

• Bags: Giving a guest a carrier bag from Tesco, Marks & Spencers or John Lewis to take items home in suddenly seems exotic just because it's not from Albert Heijn or C1000.

What have I missed out? Look around you in your home - what gives you away as an expat?

The Path To Now

“Try to perceive the sequence of interests, important friends, coincidences that have occurred in your life. Weren’t they leading you somewhere?” 

The Celestine Prophecy. 

I often believe now, unknown to my younger self, that the path I was on decades ago was one leading me to a life abroad. There were signs, hints and indications in my youth that I was preparing for a life beyond my birth country, that my later life would involve speaking a second language.

The allure of the sights and smells of a foreign land
Photo: Sergi Montaner

My first trip abroad was a family holiday to Tangiers in Morocco. The sound of an unfamiliar language spoken all around me, the rich vivid colours of the North African wedding attire sparkling in the hot evening sun, the enchantment of a music so different to Western pop, the smells of exotic food cooking in the streets all served to pique my curiosity about life beyond the borders of my home land.

At the end of my first year in secondary school I went on my first school trip abroad to La Rochelle. It began my love affair with France. I homed in on French and German for my GCSEs and continued French to A-Level. My love of the French language went beyond the allure of my Liverpudlian French teacher. A school trip to Berlin a year after the wall fell enticed me to be a part of something bigger. Foreign languages were a part of who I was.

When I started looking for a university course I centred my search on a French degree. I eventually picked a European Studies course in Bradford, which led to me studying in Toulouse for a year. I use the term studying lightly. I loved the smell and bustling of the local bakery every morning, loved watching the old man in a beret that shuffled to the local supermarket in his slippers, loved browsing at the snails in the freezer compartment as I did my grocery shop - trying to pluck up the courage to actually try them.

After graduation jobs with companies like Michelin kept me speaking French but as I later settled on a career in Human Resources the need to speak a second language soon dissipated.

Fascinated by the French language at an early age
Photo: Amanda van Mulligen

Did I lean towards foreign languages from an early age because I would eventually need to live my life in a language not my own? Did the family holidays abroad as a teenager to countries like Turkey, Bulgaria, America, Greece and Cyprus ignite a spark for a life abroad, a yearning to see other cultures, how others live?

As a teenager I’d envisioned a life abroad, in France, where I spoke the language and loved the culture. Somewhere along the way I got distracted and forgot where I had been headed. My linguistic mind stayed with me, unused but patiently waiting in the background whilst I strayed from the path I should have been on.

And then one day my brother met an American girl, online, in a chat room. I was clueless. I had no computer of my own and had no idea how you could ‘meet’ someone in a chat room. After what seemed like no time at all he announced he was moving to Long Island and was getting married. One family globetrotter had fled the nest. But my own path kept me firmly rooted in England.

I was finishing my Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resources and needed to write a dissertation. The absence of a computer at home made it hard to make any real progress so I asked Santa Claus for a PC. And lo and behold Santa obliged (disguised as my father) and I became the proud owner of a personal computer. It became an indispensable companion.

One evening, for a reason I can’t remember or can’t imagine when I think back, my brother’s once uttered words, “go try a chat room. It’s fun” popped into my head. I did a search and ended in a chat room talking to a Mexican. I was getting bored when a pop up appeared from another chatter. This time it was a Dutchman. My boredom vanished.

Christmas was approaching, the millennium was closing in and my days were filled with MSN Messenger and emails. After our initial meeting I never entered a chat room again. Online chatting turned into a phone call on New Year’s Eve. Talking on the telephone turned in to visits to each other’s homes.

Seven months later my boss changed at work. She had a reputation of bringing in her own people wherever she went. My business trips planned months ahead were suddenly superfluous and I whispered to my dad that something was afoot. Something bad was looming. He told me I was being paranoid.

Then one evening, sure enough, I was summoned to the dragon’s den. She informed me that my position would end in two months. Walking home with tears streaming down my face I made a call to the Netherlands with my mobile phone. I shared the lowlights of my evening and told my Dutch partner that I needed to find a job fast so that my mortgage didn’t become a problem.

“Or instead of finding a new job there, you could move to the Netherlands…” he said and I could hear the smile on his face.

And suddenly I was back on the path I was destined to walk on.

Floundering news start-ups need help

Although nearly $26 million was donated to 50 non-profit journalism start-ups in recent years, most are flubbing the mission-critical task of finding ways to financially sustain their efforts for the long term. 

The casual approach at most news start-ups to the serious business of identifying next-generation models for journalism has got to stop. More on that in a moment.  First, the background

What’s your digital strategy? First, get a grip.

More often than you would think, an editor or publisher will contact me to ask, “What should my digital strategy be?”  

The inquiry is alarming on a number of levels.  First, because it has taken nearly two decades after the commercial arrival of the Internet for many newspaper executives to seriously tackle the seminal existential question facing their businesses. Second, because this question

When Round Pegs Don't Fit in Square Holes: Expat Career Changes

There are many people who have inspired me along my expat journey. As my family life enters a new phase the last few weeks have been a perfect time to reflect. Part of that reflection resulted in an article that I submitted as an entry for Expats Blog's latest writing contest on the topic of working abroad.

Building a career overseas can mean becoming an astute
hurdler
Photo Credit: Lars van Mulligen

I moved to the Netherlands for love so I didn't have a job lined up when I packed up my gear and headed across the North Sea one grey, cloudy September day. I tried to get myself back into the world of work as quickly as I could. I needed to because we needed an extra income. We needed a place of our own to live in. Within a few weeks of landing on Dutch soil I was signed up with recruitment agencies, applying for vacancies as they came up and making telephone calls that I thought could help me. I took it one day at a time and jumped each hurdle as it arose.

Within a month or two I had a job in my field (Human Resources) though it was temporary cover for maternity leave and a step down from what I had been doing. But I had a hold on the career ladder once more. I was made permanent. The first two years or so were enjoyable. It was new. It was challenging finding my way around a new company. It kept the mortgage payments in check. When the project I was working on finished, I was palmed out to another department. And it was then that I realised, again, that I was a round peg and yet another employer was trying to squeeze me into a square hole.

I knew things had to change. I began writing. Just for my own pleasure. My own eyes. And then I started feeding that creativity into my day job. The more I delved into writing, and in particular expat writing, the more I bumped in to the name "Jo Parfitt". A Definite Articles course later and I was fully committed to getting out of an office cubicle. I was determined to leave behind endless demotivating company reorganisations and be free of meetings about quarterly profits. I wanted to take a career turn. Others had done it, so so could I. (In fact Expat Women published one of my first articles which was on the topic of making a career change abroad).

Jo Parfitt was an incredible inspiration and motivation in the early days of my writing career (and incidentally still is). She convinced me that I could write, and furthermore, could make a career out of it. Plus she was a 'real life example' that it really was all possible. She was certainly shouting encouragement from the sidelines from day one. And with that kind of support the step out of the rat race was made a whole lot easier.

I then stumbled into a Life Coaching group run by Karen Armstrong which was also a huge source of inspiration. I honestly don't remember anymore how I came to be a part of the group, or where I met Karen (aside from it being virtually) but it too played a huge role in my writing career. The group essentially came together to look at our individual reason for being, our mission in life, and our life goals in order to satisfy our reason for being. From haphazardly trying to manage a new career idea alongside being new to motherhood I emerged from the course with a clear vision and specific goals about what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go, not just with writing but in different areas of life. I still annually review this vision and these goals and create a new vision board to match my dreams. The group of women I took that path with were in themselves inspirational and the energy was contagious. Two of those women are the driving force behind Global Niche; Tara Agacayak and Anastasia Ashman. If you're looking to work beyond borders, to change a career, to transition, then those are the women to turn to for motivation.

So, back to my latest article. Expat life can be complicated. It presents challenges. Careers can be made or broken overseas. But expat life can also offer the opportunity to start over, to take time and reflect, to try and work out where your passion lies. And if you have the right support cheering you on from the sidelines? Well. then anything is possible.

Head on over to the Expats Blog writing contest page to read my article "Letting Go of the Career Ladder". If you enjoy what you read, please like using the Facebook button on the Expats Blog page, or leave a comment there to let me know you stopped by and share your thoughts on the topic.

Come On You Horns!!

There are not many moments over the last (almost) 13 years where I can honestly say I know exactly where I'd be right now had I not moved to the Netherlands. Monday 27th May at three o' clock in the afternoon however is a whole different ball game. If I was still in England right now I would be presently be in a state of fever pitch excitement in the build up to this coming Monday. Why I hear you ask?

This Monday Watford FC, fondly known as the Horns by fans, takes on Crystal Palace for the last place left in the English Premier League at Wembley. The Championship play off final is the last 90 minutes (as long as extra time and penalties are not needed) of the Horns' 2012/13 season. And had I not moved to the Netherlands I know for sure I would be one of Watford's 34,000 allocated ticket holders. I would be there at Wembley donned in yellow. Had I still been living in England I would also have seen this amazing end to the semi final game against Leicester City from the stands, and not on You Tube:



I would have followed the unbelievable season from my season ticket seat at Vicarage Road and not through my IPad and the BBC.

Before I moved overseas I was a season ticket holder and had been for many years. My parents took me to my first Watford match thirty years ago in 1983. In 1984 Watford lost to Everton in the FA Cup Final. Heartbreak. And between 1984 and 2000 I witnessed most of the highs and lows of every season, at Vicarage Rd and at many other stadiums across England.

I was at Wembley in 1999 when Watford successfully beat Bolton Wanderers 2-0 for a place in the Premier League. The day was indescribable. The atmosphere was electric. The tension was unbearable. The celebrations were memorable and lasted until deep in the night. Thousands of people united in the particular joy that only sports fans can explain. In 2006 Watford were again in the play off final, this time played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Twice in the play off finals. Twice winners.

And so here we are, fourteen years later, days away from another Wembley appearance. This one will be a very different experience for me though. Monday is not a Bank holiday in the Netherlands and at kick off I will be in a meeting in a hospital. I'll be following the match online as much as I can and whilst it's certainly not the same as being at Wembley in the flesh, it's the best I'll get this time around. And though I can't be there, I'll be hoping the outcome is the same as it was back in 1999:

COYH!!!!!!! 

Want to be British? Get the Guide.

Going through my mails (catching up...) I found this....

This is the ultimate illustration for what it takes to be British. I mean, real, proper British. If you can't queue you're not in the British club. As a nation we pride ourselves on our queueing abilities and woe betide anyone who does not queue in the correct way. Should you fail to queue in the official manner you will be .........tutted at. A lot. And if looks could kill....... 

Lucky for inexperienced foreign queuers that us Brits are incredibly polite!

(link: http://p.twimg.com/Aw0HUoMCMAAEtWn.jpg:large)

How publishers can win at mobile commerce

In the never-ending quest by marketers to put the right offer in front of the right consumer at precisely the right time, inner space is becoming the next frontier for mobile commerce – and a major opportunity for newspaper publishers. 

Inner space is the precious geography inside a store, where marketers have their last, best chance to persuade consumers to buy what they are selling. Here’s why

Print circ fell 42% at top papers since 2005

A series of changes in recent years in the way newspapers count their subscribers masks a deep, ongoing and troubling plunge that has cut print circulation by 41.6% at the nation’s biggest papers since 2005. 

Print matters because it still produces approximately three-quarters of the revenues at the typical newspaper, according to Jim Conaghan, the vice president of research at the Newspaper

Citizen ‘journalism’ ran amok in Boston crisis

With an entire city on lockdown and the whole world watching, crowd reporting on the drama in Boston last week reached critical mass. Now, we are facing a critical mess. 

Armed with iPhones, empowered by Twitter and amplified by the high-tech witch hunt known as Reddit, perhaps more self-appointed citizen “journalists” than ever broadcast whatever came to mind in an instant, unencumbered by such

King's Day? Huh?

That is going to take some getting used to. And how dare the incoming king move Queen's Day! For as  long as I have been in the Netherlands the 30th of April has been Queen's Day. And now suddenly, in 2013, we are on the verge of celebrating the last Queen's Day for some time to come. If the current reign is anything to go by I'll be in my seventies by the time I see Queen's Day again. I'm not even going to think about that.

So it's time to start getting used to the idea that Queen's Day will be King's Day in 2014. And instead of the 30th April we will celebrate it on the 27th April. Which by my calculation will mean that King's Day will fall on a Sunday next year. Which means no day off for anyone. Not a good start your majesty......

What will you be doing to mark the last Queen's day on the 30th? Do you plan to watch the coronation? Where will you be celebrating?

The Iron Lady

Margaret Thatcher has managed to be as controversial in her passing as during her time as prime minister. Her death also reminded me of a very common language mistake the Dutch make when they speak English, that being the pronunciation of the word iron. It's not a word that you need to use very often in a second language but with the media full of "The Iron Lady" it is a word that is being flung around on every TV news channel in the Netherlands.

The Dutch say "I - RON". In English it is pronounced "IYUN". Obviously I can see why non-natives wouldn't say it right. How we English say it has no actual relation to how it is spelt. But that is the way it is.

For years I have battled with my Dutch husband to get him to say iron the right way. It's been tough. And now everywhere I turn I hear "I - RON". The pinnacle was when I heard Sacha de Boer say "iron lady" in a way only the Dutch can.

So, it's not logical, or phonetic. But it is how it's said. I can only imagine there is a herd of English teachers in Dutch schools spreading this mispronunciation on a nationwide basis, from generation to generation. It's our job, as English native speakers, to give the word iron its dignity back. "IYUN". Shout it out - IYUN.

I know there are lots of words that don't make sense in the English language. I also know my pronunciation of some Dutch words leaves a lot to be desired but the thing about the word iron is that it is said wrong on a nationwide scale. How can that be? Where does this pronunciation come from in the Netherlands? I have one thing left to say - "IYUN".

Right, I'm off to start battling with Sacha de Boer.....

Are there other words that are misspoken on a national basis? Are there notorious words in other languages that are mispronounced by other nations? 

Why paywalls are scary

The case for paywalls would seem to be compelling:  Stanch the decline in print circulation, get paid for producing valuable local content and tap into a fresh source of sorely needed revenue at a time advertising sales continue to shrink.  

All good?  Not necessarily. The reason to worry about paywalls is that they severely limit the prospects of developing a wider audience for newspapers at a

Newspaper ad sales skid for seventh straight year

Advertising sales, the predominant revenue stream for the newspaper industry, dropped for the seventh year in a row in 2012, falling to less than half the record $49.4 billion achieved as recently as 2005.

More on that in a moment.  But first, let’s put things in perspective by comparing the meteoric rise of Google, the definitive digital media company, with the epic collapse that has cut the

8 Purchases to Make the Most of Life in the Netherlands

I have entered the Expats Blog March Writing Contest with a piece on eight things you should buy if you are an expat in the land of the Dutch to get the most out of living here. Head on over to Expats Blog to read it if you  like... go on, I'll wait - Top 8 Must Buy Items For Expats in The Netherlands.

Finished? How was it? Did it resonate with you? If you liked the article please share it with your friends using the links under the article on the Expats Blog page - you can use Twitter, Facebook, Google + or LinkedIn to share. Those precious clicks could help me win one of the prizes categories. A creative comment under the article is also most welcome - how many of the eight have you bought?

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2012 Exhibition in The Hague's Museon

(c) Amanda van Mulligen

Organised by the BBC Wildlife Magazine and London's Natural History Museum the Wildlife Photographer of the Year is an annual prestigious international photography competition.

For those of you in the area the Museon in The Hague is displaying the amazing wildlife images captured by exceptional talent from behind their lenses - and I can say first hand it is well worth a visit. The images are stunning, thought provoking and mesmerising, representing photographers from across the globe.

The categories are varied and show the beautiful, the weird, the contradictions and the ferocity of nature. Some photos show the relationship between man and beast, the horror man is capable of, others show breathtaking natural phenomena.

You can find more information about the different categories and winning photos on the Natural History Museum website.

The exhibition runs until 5 May 2013 and entrance tickets to the Museon are €10 for adults which provides entry to the entire science and culture museum - which is also worth a tour round if you have not yet been. More info can be found on the Museon website.

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition in Museon, The Hague
(c) Amanda van Mulligen

‘Glory days’ of journalism? No, yes, no and yes.

In nine years of calibrating the health of the news media in the United States, the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism never has painted a bleaker picture of the performance and prospects of the press than it did in the annual report issued on Monday. 

So, why is Matthew Yglesias of Slate smiling? More on that in a moment. But first, here’s a sampling of what Pew had to say:   

Signs of 

What newspapers should cover

Last month, I talked about how newspapers often squander their scarce resources by running stories that are longer than they ought to be.  Today, I’d like to suggest what editors can do with all the space they save by not taxing the time and patience of their readers.

The way to make room for fresh and relevant coverage, as suggested previously here, is to use graphics instead of words; to stop

Why retail apps should worry publishers

From Best Buy to CVS and from Kroger to Macy’s, the biggest buyers of newspaper advertising have launched sophisticated smartphone apps to establish increasingly direct and profitable relationships with individual customers. 

These efforts should give publishers the shivers, because this new channel represents a major threat to the retail lineage that constitutes half of what’s left of the

Expat Life: I'm Changed from the Inside Out

"Nothing is comparable to the new life…in a new country. Though I am still always myself, I am changed to the marrow of my bones" ~ Goethe

I don't think there is a quote that can more accurately sum up the effect expat life has had on me. Of course I am still me, but the person that left England in 2000 seems like a stranger now. I have the feeling that I wouldn't recognise that girl from pre-expat life if I bumped into her in the street. 

Of course I am still me, but my life has changed in more ways than I can count. Consequently who I am has changed too. In more ways than I can count. 

I speak a foreign language every day. I have been through culture shock and come out the other side unscathed but changed. Expat life offered me a new career on a silver platter. There are many things I see today as 'normal' that were completely alien to me a decade ago. I sometimes find it hard to remember I had a pre-expat life. It seems so long ago, so hazy. 

My new environment has changed me, changed how I see things, changed how I think and feel about things. It has changed my daily life. It has changed me from the inside out. To the marrow of my bones.

How has expat life changed you? Have you been changed to the "marrow of your bones" by moving abroad?

So long again, Chicago Daily News

On March 4, 1978, the presses fell silent for the last time at the Chicago Daily News, an iconic and crusading newspaper that was unable to adapt to changing times. The following article, which originally appeared here in 2005, is reprinted as a reminder of what happens when a paper runs out of readers, revenues and ideas.

"It's fun being the publisher when things are going well," squeaked the

‘We’re working hard to get out of paper ads’

It’s hard to overstate the velocity and magnitude of the shift from mass to target marketing in an era when, as ComScore reports, 50% of mobile users have smartphones and 37% of digital page views occur on mobile screens instead of desktops. 

But don’t take my word for it. Instead of attempting to characterize the disruptive impact of these changes on newspapers and other mass media, I am

Why traditional publishers won’t buy Globe

When the New York Times Co. bought the Boston Globe for $1.1 billion in 1993, many of the nation’s newspaper publishing companies happily would have paid the same price for the same opportunity. 

With the Globe now on track to be sold for a tenth (or, perhaps less) of the value it commanded a decade ago, it is safe to assume that no traditional newspaper publisher will be in the scrum of

Why traditional publishers won’t buy Globe

When the New York Times Co. bought the Boston Globe for $1.1 billion in 1993, many of the nation’s newspaper publishing companies happily would have paid the same price for the same opportunity. 

With the Globe now on track to be sold for a tenth (or, perhaps less) of the value it commanded a decade ago, it is safe to assume that no traditional newspaper publisher will be in the scrum of

The Gift of Education - Pledging my Birthday to Camfed

There are moments and events which automatically make you think about your life, what you have achieved, what you have been through. There are perfect moments that allow you to take the time to reflect on how things are going. How things have gone in life.

A milestone birthday in just over a month is one such moment. Ten years ago my 30th birthday was one of the best birthdays I have ever had. My husband went all out to make it memorable. This year, with three small kids in tow, there'll be nothing so adventurous or dramatic in the planning. Or at least I hope that's the case (after all I'm no spring chicken anymore :-) !!). I've certainly no interest in celebrating in grand style (do you hear me dear husband?). In fact for most of the last year it had actually been a milestone I was dreading. Then something clicked into place and my dread dissipated into something else.

Gratitude.

I'm incredibly lucky that I get to celebrate turning 40. There are so many people that don't have that pleasure. What's more I will reach this milestone and be able to say I have everything I need in life. I have a roof over my head, we are financially stable, I have the luxury of being able to stay home for my  children and work when I can, need to or feel like it. I have the pleasure of living in a country I was not born in, to experience every day a culture different to my own, to speak a foreign language in my daily life. More importantly, I have a beautiful family. I have three little boys who bring out the best in me every day. I have a husband who has supported me with every decision I have ever made, who has smoothed out every bump I have gone over and who I can't imagine being without. In short, what more could I possible need? That's why I am pledging my 40th birthday to Camfed.

Education opens doors. I had a great education. I went through primary school and secondary school in England. I took GCSE's and A-Levels and still wanted more so I went to university and earned a degree. I even got to study in France for a year. Once I had finished with that and entered the workplace I went back to education and I did a postgraduate course on a part time basis. Years of education. All taken for granted. How different my school life would have been if I had been born on another continent. Somewhere where a good education is a privilege not a right.

My target is to raise enough money to buy the essential equipment that can keep 20 children in school for a year. £15 provides essentials like a uniform, books, pens and pencils for a boy or girl in rural Africa. Imagine that - my birthday giving others the gift of education. That is something I can smile about as I turn 40!

You can visit my fundraising page here and you can read about Camfed and what they do here. Every penny/cent helps!!

Why Digital Natives don’t like newspapers

Several years ago, the Washington Post convened a series of focus groups to learn why most individuals under the age of 45 did not subscribe to the newspaper – a problem persisting to this day throughout the overwhelmingly print-centric industry. 

It’s not that people didn’t like the Post, reported the American Journalism Review in an article describing the research project in 2005. The problem

How mobile coupons could clip newspapers

The rapidly expanding adoption of mobile couponing is poised to become a major challenge to one of the most profitable and important revenue streams remaining for newspapers: preprint advertising circulars. 

The good news for publishers at the moment is that newspapers carry 90% of the printed coupons issued annually by consumer-products companies in the United States, according to a mid-2012

Most newspaper stories are still too long

The news cognoscenti gasped when the Columbia Journalism Review recently reported that the nation’s leading newspapers aren’t writing as many long stories as they used to. But I think most stories are still way too windy.



In a moment, I’ll tell you why, as briefly as I can. First the background: 



Tallying yarns topping 2,000 words on Factiva, CJR found the number of long-form stories at

Newspaper audience aged severely since 2010

The population of people reading newspapers has aged dramatically in the last three years to the point that nearly three-quarters of the audience is aged 45 or older, according to my analysis of survey and census data. 





When I performed the same analysis using the same methodology in 2010, only half of the newspaper audience was aged 45 or higher, reflecting a rapidly growing rejection of  

Smartphone shopping perils publishers

The smartphone has emerged as the hottest shopping accessory since the brown paper sack, the latter of which, as a matter of law, now costs a dime if you don’t bring your own environmentally sustainable tote into the supermarket in my part of California. 

With nearly one out of five consumers now consulting their mobile gizmos when making a purchasing decision, smartphone shopping represents a

Auto recovery leaves newspapers behind

Although the sales of new vehicles hit a five-year peak in 2012, automotive advertising at newspapers was on track at year’s end to decline for the ninth straight year – and likely headed to the lowest level since 1979.  

The continuing slump in auto advertising at newspapers, which has persisted in spite of a healthy rebound that powered new vehicle sales to 14.5 million units  in 2012, is

Why investors embraced newspapers in 2012

Part two of two parts.  The first part is here. 

While more than half of newspaper advertising has vaporized since peaking at $49.4 billion in 2o05, the share prices of five out of the nine publicly held publishers impressively outpaced the broader stock market in 2012. 

Yesterday, we looked at the winners and losers among the publishing sector in a year when the average share price of

Happy New Year?

The most dreaded day of the year is over and we can all move on and welcome in 2013. I mean I'm glad that New Year's Eve is over.

I didn't always feel like this. The last day of the year always used to be cause for celebration, taking stock of the year behind me and looking forward to the year ahead. It was a night for fun spent with friends and family. A party night.


In the Netherlands however, the last day of the year is like entering a war zone. Normal people who wouldn't normally be associated with vandalism and causing a public nuisance suddenly develop the need to walk around town with a rucksack filled with fireworks, setting them off to cause the most noise and destruction possible. This means that rubbish bins are removed or sealed off, bus shelters are boarded up, post box openings are made so small you can barely get a letter through it and the local council sends out a brochure in which it recommends that you seal your letter box off with tape around New Year. Sounds like a real party huh?

Our street is a sea of red from the rubbish from fireworks set off on 31st December. Unfortunately those in our street responsible for all the fireworks set off are also the ones who seem only to be able to clear the direct area outside their own houses. Our garden is littered with firework trash from our neighbours. What a party that is to clean up.

And the best bit of all is reading on New Year's Day that the "celebrations" the night before were quite quiet and uneventful because only dozens of arrests were made in one town, only ten people were admitted with firework injuries at a hospital, only one young boy lost his hand, one station was vandalised, emergency workers were attacked, the fire brigade went from one fire to another..... you get the picture. Sounds like a real party huh?

What is great to see is the 'normal' display of fireworks set off across the country at midnight. Luckily the majority of Dutch people know what fireworks are for... and know how to welcome in 2013!

I hope that 2013 is a great year for you all and stealing the sentiment of a friend posted on Facebook:
"Forget the diets and the resolutions you always break.......just be the best you can be."

Happy New Year!!!

Many newspaper stocks beat market in 2012

Part one of two.  Second part is here. 

After getting shellacked in 2011, a number of newspaper stocks rebounded sharply last year, with five out of nine publicly held publishers handily outpacing the broader market. 

On average, newspaper stocks rose 20.8% in 2012, as compared with a 13.4% increase in the Standard and Poor’s index of 500 shares. But the average doesn’t properly reflect the