Ben Whitelaw Profile picture
Journalist, consultant, strategist. Past: @EJCnet, @TheTimes + @Guardian. @TheBJReview board. Shy #LUFC fan. I write https://t.co/8QuUotuHLD. (he/him)
Aug 9, 2021 12 tweets 6 min read
Almost exactly a year ago, I made a request on this very site for #LUFC shirts to take back to Sierra Leone, where I’d recently moved.

Ahead of the new season and having moved back to the UK, it’s about time I gave my final update — and most of all, said some thank yous.

(1/12) tl;dr: Not all football fans are like the ones we’ve seen in the news this summer. Many are brilliant and kind and generous and @LUFC, in my experience, seems to overindex in this type.

If you’re catching up, this is the backstory:

(2/12)
Jul 12, 2021 10 tweets 5 min read
Online abuse and content moderation is a niche topic and smart, nuanced reporting on it is difficult if you don’t know the space.

Here are some questions I’d be asking if If I was reporting on the abuse of #ENG players after last night’s game.

🧵 1. What training/support does England/the FA provide for players before/during the tournament to prepare for this scenario? Who can players contact in the England camp if they are abused (on or offline)?
Jan 13, 2020 8 tweets 6 min read
This ✨new✨ directory includes 30+ experiments to help news organisations of all sizes forge closer ties with their communities.

Dozens of community-driven orgs have kindly shared details of tests they’ve run so others can learn and benefit.

Here's a few worth mentioning 1/8 🇩🇰 @alfortSara at @zetlandmagasin has set up a corps of engaged members to set up local pop up meetings where people share ideas, give feedback, network and discuss articles.

zetland.dk/historie/seAAD…

2/8
May 3, 2019 5 tweets 4 min read
Few news orgs use the skills of their community like @maldita_es 🇪🇦

Their 10-question 'superpower' survey asked folks what skills they could contribute.

One person replied saying they could sing in Japanese. Another offered to fix their office door

1/x
engagedjournalism.com/resources/mald… Unlike regular surveys, @cjimenezcruz made it fun by using:
- simple, playful language
- emojis
- an explanation of why engaging the community was important
- a pic of Homer wearing a Maldita.es t-shirt

They got 2645 responses (!), 30% from new users

2/x
Nov 6, 2018 4 tweets 3 min read
Wrote for @INMAorg about how lots of news orgs are turning to paywalls (see: Buzzfeed News, Independent) without changing the journalism they produce and why that's a bad thing inma.org/blogs/value-co… 1/x I take aim in particular at the idea of 'rolling news' which a) hampers journalists' ability to tell important stories with context and b) news consumer don't tend to care for or want to pay for (because of 'perceived worthwhileness')

[@CoreyBe may have views on this] 2/x