The modern news library

A 1960s news library

The current issue of Refer, journal of the Information Services Group, looks at library services for writers and journalists. As well as articles about the British Library's Newsroom and a look at how scribes are using social media, it includes a piece by me about the Guardian's Research & Information team. Archive picture on the left rather more interesting than the modern open-plan office.

Nelson Mandela: a life reported, an ebook I recently edited,  tells the Nelson Mandela story as seen through the eyes of the Guardian and the Observer.

From the first mention of him organising African independence movements in March 1953, to the reporting of his funeral, 60 years later, both papers have covered all the key moments of Mandela's life. This collection of news reports, interviews and commentary, offers a unique perspective on one of the 20th century's greatest statesmen.

It was during the early 1960s and the emergence of the so-called ‘Black Pimpernel,’ that the papers started to regularly write about Mandela.

The Observer in particular took a keen interest in South African affairs. David Astor, the paper's editor, founded the Africa Bureau in 1952 as a focus of anti-colonialism and anti-apartheid in London, and his Sunday paper led the way in rousing British opinion against the racist system

Colin Legum and later Anthony Sampson became the Observer’s experts on South Africa, and they were among the first to spot the potential of the ANC. The paper covered the 1964 “treason trials” in great detail and campaigned for the men to be spared the death penalty. Mandela also asked Sampson to cast his eye over the famous ‘Why I am ready to die’ speech.

During the long years of Mandela’s incarceration on Robben Island, the papers would print the occasional interview or scrap of information. However, it wasn’t until the launch of the campaign to free him in the early 1980s that Mandela’s name began to appear again.

The book mixes news reports with more personal pieces by writers like Mary Benson who knew Mandela in the 1960s (she showed him around London when he was on the run).

However, neither paper has shied away from carrying more critical pieces such as Chris McGreal’s Stain on the icon, a honest assessment of the Mandela presidency. But there is also commentary from the likes of Gary Younge who sought to restate Mandela as a determined political activist, rather than a kindly old gent.

David Bowie: A life reviewed

From hippie singer/songwriter, Ziggy Stardust, the ‘plastic soul’ phase, experimental electronic albums to 1980s global megastar, David Bowie’s musical reinventions have rarely been predicted. On top of this, he has confounded the critics by taking on serious acting roles (with good notices), becoming an internet pioneer, venturing onto Wall Street with his Bowie bonds, and dabbling in the art world.

Bowie: A life reviewed, tells the ever-changing Bowie story as reported by the Guardian and the Observer. Starting with his elevation to pop stardom via 1969’s Space Oddity it covers most of the classic albums and tours through contemporaneous reviews, interviews and features. The book gives an insight into what critics really thought at the time, rather than the nostalgia-tinged selective memory occasionally favoured by pop historians. As such, releases that have attained near-mythic status sometimes receive less than glowing write-ups.

The book closes with a review of the The Next Day - and the beginning of a new chapter in the life of David Bowie.

Nostalgia for press cuttings

Despite the prevalence of full-text databases, digital archives and other electronic sources, old-fashioned press cuttings can still be a valuable research tool for journalists. I wrote about this, along with the nostalgia for the scrappy files, for the Guardian's Open door column.

The response was predictably misty-eyed, with the piece providing an excuse for people to reminisce about the good old days of Fleet Street. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but it was interesting to discover that a campaign has been started by a group of journalists in Leeds to try and preserve cuttings libraries. Presserve aims to identity titles which still have such collections, with a view to estimating the amount of work (and the costs) necessary to digitise the material and make it publicly available online.

More details can be found on their website and a letter about the group appeared in the Guardian.

Digging out gems from the archives

I recently wrote a piece about about how the Guardian library uses archive material in the paper. It was for the Open door column which is a good place to look if you're interested in reading about the day-to-day business of running a large news operation.

The Beatles: A band reviewed

Fifty years ago the Beatles released their first single, Love Me Do. It eventually reached No 17 in the UK charts, but this modest debut was the trigger for a musical revolution.

I've just edited a new ebook, The Beatles: A Band Reviewed, that tells the story of the 'revolution' through news items, reviews and interviews that appeared in the Guardian and The Observer. From the heyday of Beatlemania and the groundbreaking albums to the mixed successes of the solo years, it covers all the key events. It also includes not so well-known stories, such as that of a Guardian reporter who received hundreds of phone calls, night and day, from people asking if they could speak to 'Sgt J Pepper'.

Read about the very first Beatles related feature to appear in the Guardian on the paper's music blog, along some fascinating Pathé news footage.

SLA Europe: Engaging with social media