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Telegraph goes blog crazy

Posted: 19/07/06 By: Oliver Luft

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The Telegraph today broke a story about an English 'Bridget Jones' blogger bringing an employment test case in France after allegedly being sacked because of her internet diary.

Not only is the story itself one of interest to the blogosphere. So too is the manner in which it came about and how the paper spun it.

Paris correspondent Colin Randall wrote how 'La Petite Anglaise' - known only as Catherine - claimed she was dismissed for bringing her employers into disrepute by blogging about her life in Paris.

The article claimed that the blog, although anonymous and never having mentioned her employers by name, contained photos of 33-year-old secretary Catherine and that the company said this led to its identification.

Mr Randall claimed he was able to break the story because two individuals from quite different generations - he and Catherine - were brought together by blogging.

He wrote in today's blog: "I am not an employment tribunal. Read the story and you will get a fair idea of your own of the pros and cons of the firm's decision.

"But I am reporter, and I know a good story when it presents itself to me. This one, in particular, raised interesting issues relevant to the online age."

Mr Randall first stumbled across La Petite Anglaise shortly after he began blogging and mentioned it in an article.

After his story drove traffic the way of La Petite Anglaise, he claimed Catherine was decent enough to acknowledge the fact.

Intermittent email contact led to her eventually confiding in him about being sacked from her job as a bilingual secretary.

In his blog, Colin Randall asked: "Is it a tale to gladden the hearts of those who see print journalism as destined to fade into history, trampled into the ground by the march of the New Media?"

A moot point perhaps, but hats off to the Telegraph for its joined-up approach in presenting the story in the paper and online and simultaneously getting the reporter to blog the-story-behind-the-story.

Shane Richmond, The Telegraph's web news editor, told Journalism.co.uk: "I think this is a great example of how reporters can help themselves and bloggers by joining the blogosphere.

"In this case, Colin got a great story and an important blogging issue has been raised in print.

"It's also heartening to note that, though Catherine is "resolutely not a Telegraph fan", it was us who ended up breaking her story.

"It shows that by joining 'the conversation' with our readers we can display a human side that sometimes fails to come across in print."

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