Press Gazette February edition: ‘Being at war is a very big deal – that story has to be told’

The February edition of Press Gazette magazine is now out (£90 a year plus a free USB stick, £40 a year for students). To subscribe, call 01858 438872, or click on this link. To view the November edition in full (the first under our new look) click here.

Here’s a snapshot of what’s in this month’s magazine:

On 9 January, Sunday Mirror defence correspondent Rupert Hamer became the first British journalist to die covering the current conflict in Afghanistan.

Last year more than 200 British journalists applied to be embedded with the British military alone.

In our five-page special report Mirror colleagues Chris Hughes and Susie Boniface write their own deeply personal tributes to their colleague.

And The Sun’s defence editor Duncan Larcombe, Jason Burke from The Observer, Marie Colvin from The Sunday Times and Alastair MacDonald from Reuters reveal how war reporters have reacted to the loss of one of their own.

Says Larcombe: “Being at war is a very big deal, and I think what motivates journalists beyond their wages, their careers, their egos, their desire to make a name for themselves, is a feeling that there is a lot going on out there – and that story has to be told.”

Also in this month’s mag:

We reveal the top 50 comment and opinion journalists working in British journalism today selected after carrying out a 1,000-strong weighted public survey and interviewing 22 senior journalists working in the field of comment. We also reveal the public and journalists’ favourites; the public’s favourite journalistic outlets for comment and opinion and the platform (print, broadcast or online) that most people prefer to read/view comment journalism.

Patrick Smith investigates the rise of the journalism mobile phone application, and finds out whether the app presents a viable digital future for journalism.

James Pallister investigates life after Borders for independent, magazine publishers. As Danny Miller from Little White Lies puts it: “So much shit has happened in the past year that the closure of Borders is just the icing on the cake.”

And Telegraph head of digital development Greg Hadfield reveals why he is leaving Fleet Street for an online business role for a second time in this month’s Big Interview.

Despite the fact that Telegraph.co.uk now attracts more than 30 million unique users a month, he says: “What is important now is we’re on a journey from volume to value. We need to identify our loyal users and pay attention to their needs specifically. What’s so great about 31 million unique users a month? You can’t meet the needs of all 31 million.”

In Comment: Grey Cardigan ambushes the Bishop of Beastville with a strategically placed copy of Razzle; Lori Miles cast her eye over some lacklustre consumer mag coverlines; Alex Thomson looks at how broadcasters covered the big freeze and Haiti; Peter Kirwan asks whether media cost-cutting has gone too far and David Banks pins down Piers Morgan on what he thinks now about those Iraq torture photos.

Also in the February issue:

A special report on journalism in the Philippines in the wake of the massacre which killed 31.
A redesign masterclass from Peter Sands.
Editorial headhunter Martin Tripp reveals how to carry off the perfect interview.
A two-page freelance section including an in-depth report on making it as a music journalist.
CNET UK features editor Rick Trenholm looks at ebook readers and finds out which, if any, are best for reading newspapers and magazines.
BBC college of journalism editor Kevin Marsh explains why journalism trainers could be leading students up the garden path with talk of “entrepreneurial journalism”.
The Guardian’s David Leigh provides an investigative journalism masterclass.
As News Corp prepares to take its websites paid-for we investigate at what point aggregation of rivals’ stories becomes plagiarism.
Mirror.co.uk sports editor Dan Silver showcases his favourite snaps from the Daily Mirror archive of four millon sports photos.
The author of a new book on journalists in film, Brian McNair, picks out the five greatest journalism films ever.
Sky News presenter Martin Stanford reveals the latest must-have gadgets and software for journalists.
Leading defence correspondents reveal what would be learned if the Iraq Inqury were to investigate British journalism’s conduct before and during the Iraq War.
And Marc Reeves reveals all about his move from editing the Birmingham Post to running an independent business news website which is in direct competition with his old paper.