Latika Bourke Wants Applause
Jealous of public affection shown to nurses, checkout staff, care workers and the like, the SMH’s lacklustre London lady demands similar recognition.
Jealous of public affection shown to nurses, checkout staff, care workers and the like, the SMH’s lacklustre London lady demands similar recognition:
Latika Bourke, who files for the Sydney Morning Herald from London, deleted a tweet in which she called for journalists to be clapped alongside other heroes of the coronavirus frontline in the UK.
She was retweeting a Labour MP who was thanking all the key workers: “Nurses, the care workers, the bus drivers, the paramedics, the shop workers, the police officers.”
Bourke thought reporters should be added to the list.
If only there were some kind of awards for journalists, just like the big annual gala prize nights they have for those glory-seeking bus drivers.
Also in London, former ABC and Buzzfeed loser Mark Di Stefano has now resigned following his suspension at the Financial Times for video conline conference hacking:
Hi, letting everyone know today was my last day at the FT. This afternoon I offered my resignation. Thank you everyone who has given support. I’m now going to take some time away and log off x
— Mark Di Stefano (@MarkDiStef) May 1, 2020
Di Stefano, whose role as the FT’s media and tech reporter lasted for just 113 days, previously spoke with an interviewer about his dream job:
To me it was a dream job at a newspaper that I completely admire with amazing reporters. It was a compliment that after just two years in the UK I could be trusted to report for The FT …
Time to dig out the old PowerPoint presentations. pic.twitter.com/xZ1io79fZm
— Paul Davies (@impauldavies) April 28, 2020
“Journalists are expected to promote their work and their employer as an extension of their job. But these days you need to ask how every tweet reflects on you as a journalist and how it signals to the rest of the internet the stuff you are interested in and the type of person you are.”
Consider it signalled, Mark.
UPDATE. Di Stefano’s mates express their condolences:
Guardian columnist Owen Jones tweeted: “best of luck, Mark”
Arvind Hickman, news editor of PRWeek in the UK, said: “You’ve done some great work there mate. Best of luck in your next chapter.”
Ed Brewster, communications director at Chinese technology giant Huawei in the UK, said: “Sorry to hear that. Enjoy the log off”.
Few others are sorry, however:
Number of journos sending support then there’s this. https://t.co/Cqmt5SK1BD
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) May 2, 2020