Mediaballs - Evening Standard

Good news from Dick Murray on the Standard!


But what's this?


Oh Dick - flay those subs alive!

UKPG offers insiders guide to transport

Telegrammed by Our International Correspondent
The UK Press Gazette is the monthly trade journal of choice for phone hackers, paparazzi and those who spend a lot of time badgering the BA press office for free tickets.

Its most recent edition furnishes readers with an eight page Insider’s Briefing to transport and how to cover it.

There-in the alumni of great communicators are all arrayed; including BBC transport men Tom Edwards (London) and Paul Clifton (South and from time to time Rail Professional), Julian Rush, who dabbles in transport for Channel 4, and John Ingham who covers the beat for the Daily Express and has done so for many years.

Interesting omissions include Robert Wright of the pink 'un and Philip Pank of The Thunderer. Perhaps, lurking behind paywalls, they are a bit harder to get hold of.

Part of the briefing lists Key Publications – recommended serious reading for those writing of wheel on rail.

Featured are Transport Times, Local Transport Today, and surprisingly, plucky little Railway Magazine. The listing helpfully gives editors email and phone numbers so they can be contacted for a swift vox pop should incident or other service perturbation occur.

Surprisingly neither RAIL nor Modern Railways gets a mention.

Meanwhile Mystic Wolmar was asked by UKPG to explain the dearth of ladies covering transport. He limply explained that “trains, planes and cars are quite male subjects of interest”.

With such searing insights a golden future for Wolmar's mellifluous tones remains assured at the nation's breakfast tables.

Inspire the next?

This just in from Captain Deltic!

Inspired by Hitachi's claim that the Super Express (the train formerly known as IEP) will be 'proudly built in Britain', Captain Deltic was moved to share this picture of an IKEA chair he 'proudly built' in Welwyn Garden City.


Eye draws attention to IKEA's policy of naming items of furniture after railway journalists and invites suggestions for future recipients of this honour.

UPDATE: A reader suggests...

How about 'The COLIN' - a flat pack bookcase, complete with instructions containing caption errors.

FURTHER UPDATE: A very naughty reader suggests...

'The NIGEL' - a large well-upholstered sofa and 'The WØLMĀR' - a self-assembly bidet...

ANOTHER UPDATE: This from a reader keen to expand the envelope...

I don't see why this should be restricted just to railway journos, why not let the wider industry share in the fun.

How about:

'The IAIN', a plastic self-inflating chair, with bonus.

'The MOIR', a dining carver with optional ejection seat (only available in tartan)

'The JIM', a stylish but eccentric hostess trolley fitted with only three high-speed castors out of four

'The MICHAEL', a newly launched left-handed upside-down egg whisk (only available in Atoc)

and finally, if you insist on journos only

'The PHIL', a slightly moth-eaten, khaki chaise longue which constantly swallows biscuit crumbs.

AND ANOTHER: This from The Master...

'The BIGLUND' - a table ideal for keeping safe hold of BlackBerrys...

AND FINALLY: These wildly off-topic offerings...

'The BORIS' - A well padded Ottoman (may arrive looking a little disheveled).

'The FRED' - A glass fronted bookcase (comes with broken windows).

ECML disruption

One for our press office friends.

What's the difference between a BBC Producer and BBC Journalist?

A sense of balance.

The Fact Compiler compliments National Express East Coast for keeping passengers informed.

Wright track?

Telegrammed by an 'anonymous' reader
"Railway Eye's man at 222 Marylebone Road makes the schoolboy error of many commentators.

"It is not pro free-market (see previous post) to think that unsustainable, flawed private-sector businesses should be given free government money to stay in existence - quite the opposite.

"The point about capitalism is that companies - whether Metronet or Railtrack - should be allowed to fail when they make mistakes.

"They should then be replaced with other companies.

"They should preferably be private-sector ones, but the world's a messy place and sometimes strange hybrids such as Network Rail are the only answer.

"It's certainly hard to argue they've done a worse job than Railtrack, isn't it?"

This is splendid. Railway Eye is now being 'sockpuppeted' - just like a real blog!

Conundrum

Telegrammed by our man at 222 Marylebone Road
Is Mr Wright dazed and confused?

How can Chris Randle's successor be pro-free market while supporting the creation of Railtrack's successor as a Company Limited by Guaranteed State Subsidy?

Has the 'Insider' won another comment franchise?