Go and find something out

Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was killed two years ago this month, and today the trial of the three men accused of her murder begins in a Moscow military court. I was fortunate enough to interview this fearless, understated woman for Press Gazette a couple of years before she died (you can read it here). She recounted "stories so horrific that one’s hand refused to jot them down” of the appalling treatment that she witnessed of civilians in Chechnya by the Russian military - treatment of which she had first hand experience.

In Monday's lesson I was picked at random to provide you with some tips for shooting video (no pressure there then). So here are my tips and rules to help you get that perfect interview or shot.

We are witnessing a tipping point in American journalism in which the balance of power is tilting decisively towards new media, Financial Times editor Lionel Barber writes today. In particular the 2008 presidential debate - already dubbed the YouTube election - has "revolutionised the terms of political engagement", he says, as the mainstream media's imperial status has been shaken.

 In my local bookshop this weekend I overheard a customer asking the owner whether she had any books on chicken-keeping. She replied that he was the fourth person in a week to ask and wondered if such thoughts of self sufficiency were a sign of the times.

Similarly in my garden centre there has been a run on logs: fears of the imminent collapse of our food distribution and energy provision systems are evidently causing the good folk of East Kent to ponder survival strategies.