Newsroom staffing hits 34-year low

The number of journalists working at U.S. newspapers today is at the lowest point since the American Society of News Editors began its annual newsroom census in 1978.Newspapers now employ 40,600 editors and reporters vs. a peak of 56,900 in the pre-Internet year of 1990, according to the census released today. Thus, newsroom headcount has fallen by 28.6% from its modern-day high.As illustrated

Philly papers sold at 10% of 2006 value

After changing hands three times in six troubled years, Philadelphia’s legendary newspapers were sold Monday for a tenth of the half-billion dollar price they fetched as recently as 2006.The stunning plunge in the value of the Philadelphia Inquirer and its sister properties reflects not only the continuing contraction of the publishing business but also provides a rare glimpse into how badly

Hello Mr Magpie, How's Your Wife?

A Lonesome Magpie
Photo: Christophe Libert

Does this title ring any bells with you? If you are superstitious about magpies then asking, "hello Mr Magpie, how's your wife?"will be something that you do on a  regular basis. In fact, every time you see a lonesome magpie.

I have to admit that I do have a thing about magpies. It's my only superstition or 'weird' thing. (I don't walk under ladders either but that is more a common sense thing than superstition.) If I see a magpie, I do ask him how he's doing and enquire about his spouse. I do it under my breath in a muttering kind of way, as opposed to a full blown  'everyone can hear me' voice. I try not to appear like a complete rambling lunatic wandering the streets talking to birds. To accompany the muttering I also salute the magpie as subtly as possible, again to prevent my neighbours and random people in the street, train or school playground from thinking I am a few sandwiches short of a picnic.

When my Dutch husband first saw the mumbling, saluting spectacle he was a little perturbed. He had not seen it before. It meant nothing to him. A British thing maybe? I know I am not alone - a good friend never lets a magpie go by without an acknowledgement either...... Apparently no Dutch folklore about magpies, if my husband is to be believed.

However, where I come from folklore has it that a lone magpie is a bad omen. As one version of the poem or childhood ditty goes seeing one magpie means only sorrow. If you see two, however, you're ok:

One for sorrow

Two for joy

Three for a girl

Four for a boy

Five for silver

Six for gold

Seven for a secret never to be told

Eight's a wish

Nine's a kiss

Ten is a bird you must not miss

Why does the magpie have such a reputation of ill luck? Well, there are lots of theories, folklore and plain nonsense on this topic. There is no denying that magpies are a bit naughty, thieving nice, shimmery, silver things. So that for a start doesn't put them in anyone's good books.

They are also downright aggressive. They chase away tuneful songbirds from the garden and steal eggs from nests. I can attest to this as two years ago we had a pair of nesting wood pigeons in our garden. Those poor birds were hounded, cajoled and attacked until they abandoned the nest and the magpies presumably took the eggs. I was also traumatised as a teenager watching a magpie scoop up a duckling from its mother and fly away with it. Presumably not to keep as a pet.

Scottish folklore tells that a magpie near the window of a house signifies that death will come to the house. This rings in my ears too.

Many years ago my grandad was hospitalised with cancer. We were told to expect the worst and prepare ourselves for the end. He wouldn't be going back home. My mum and her sister kept a bedside vigil and me, my brother and my cousins visited when we could. One morning my mum and aunt went outside for a breather. Whilst stood outside the front of the hospital a single magpie flew down in front of them. They knew to go back inside. They went in to his room and my mum described that it was as if he had waited for them to return. He looked at them both and passed away peacefully. It is a story that will stay with me forever: and it's the main reason why you may just catch me mumbling and saluting in the company of magpies. I'm taking no chances.

What superstitions are related to your home or host country? Is a single magpie a bad omen in your home or host country?

Gadanke - Celebrate Your Story

As an expat you have a story to tell. You might not even realise it. You may not believe it. But the normal, every day things you do that you take for granted, that you do on automatic pilot and think nothing of, are interesting. These ordinary tasks and actions make up the moments of the life that you lead right here, right now. The things that seem mundane now will be a treasure house in the future. Want to know what I mean?

Every morning the school run routine is a "tear my hair out" ninety minute long begin to the day. I run around washing, dressing, feeding and clearing up after my sons. I then badger them to put shoes and coats on to get out the door. In a few years they won't need me anymore for any of this. My role in the school run will fade and die. I'll look back in years to come and barely remember the chaos of getting my three little men out the door each morning.


But now, when I want a trip down memory lane I'll get out my Gadanke journals. Reading about the 'mundane' aspects of my life a decade before will make me smile. Even probably cry. But these moments, seemingly nothing right now, will be captured for the future.

Katie, the mastermind behind Gadanke, believes you should "celebrate your story". She has crafted beautiful, handmade journals to help us do just that. Not only are they gorgeous to look at, but they are slathered in writing prompts and ideas for photos, memorabilia and keepsakes. I love them. You will too, I'm sure.

As expats we sure have stories to tell. About the house you lived in in France. About the supermarket you frequently shopped in whilst living in Moscow. About your favourite hang out when you lived in Dubai. About the place you called home in Norway which captured your heart. How you came to be an expat. How you live each day.

From the birth of your children to the bakery where you buy your croissants, these are the moments that make up our lives. Capture them. Celebrate them.

I want to thank Katie for inspiring me to capture the little moments, to write about the place I call home, and for prompting me to search deeper inside myself and celebrate who I am and the life I am leading.

Texel - A Dutch Island That Feels Foreign

We recently took a break and spent a few days on Texel, the closest of the Dutch-Frisian islands (Waddeneilanden) to the Dutch mainland. From the off it feels like you are really going on holiday because you have to go on a boat. Irrelevant is the fact that it is a trip of 20 minutes and a cost of 35 euro (return).

The island of Texel is quiet (at least at the beginning of March but I fear not in the summer months) and peaceful. Driving along the narrow rural roads we often had the feeling we were the only souls around... until we bumped into a massively oversized tractor on a massively undersized road..... then we prayed.

For nature lovers, beach lovers, walkers and cyclists, Texel is a real haven and worth exploring. Our kids loved it there - the animals alone were enough to keep them happy. Here's a peek....

One of the "residents" of Ecomare
Photo: (c) The Writing Well

A seal in Ecomare's care
Photo: (c) The Writing Well

One of the many birds at Eureka Orchid and Bird Park on Texel
Photo: (c) The Writing Well

Working Dairy Farm Wezenspyk gives you the chance to see
a milking robot, where and how cheese is made and of course
the cow shed
Photo: (c) The Writing Well

Itchy cow?
Photo: (c) The Writing Well

Feeding time at Wezenspyk
Photo: (c) The Writing Well

And last but not least I want to share a photo taken on the day we were leaving. It was misty. Really misty. Visibility was very poor but the children were more than amused with the remark that we were on Misty Island as they are avid Thomas the Tank Engine fans.

Texel - aka Misty Island
Photo: (c) THe Writing Well

Newspaper sales slid to 1984 level in 2011

In the poorest showing since 1984, advertising revenues at newspapers last year fell 7.3% to $23.9 billion, according to figures quietly published Wednesday by the Newspaper Association of America. Here are a few factoids to help put the industry's long-running slump in perspective::: The combined print and digital sales reported by the trade association for last year are less than half of the

Retailers are routing around the media

In a stunning reversal of fortune for newspapers, some of the biggest retailers in the nation have taken to selling advertising and featuring editorial content at their busy and heavily promoted online shopping sites. By transforming themselves into publishers, the folks who formerly depended on newspapers to reach prospective customers are building direct, powerful and sustainable connections