Quality not quantity

Kim Hollamby, head of electronic media at IPC, is what he says we should be: passionate. But not in that really fake way - in a more believable straight talking kind of way.

I think the part of his talk I found most interesting was his comparison between sites like myspace and google, with magazine websites. Their similarity lies in the fact that they have all done one thing really well. The point being? Magazines are focused.

But we journalists are not to be dispirited by the rise of citizen journalism or the fact that people love visiting these networking sites - mainly because they can contribute to them. And this is because while we are still trained to do our jobs, we should be able to produce better written content than any old person who just fancies themselves as a journo. Furthermore, magazine sites will also always contain a higher standard of writing and superior images than those spaces where Joe Public can contribute.

I liked the elitist feeling Hollamby drew out of me. We may all be part of the media, but only some of us are the media. Five grand well spent I say.