My apologies!

Having been so bloody busy with Catch work (thanks for that guys) I haven't had time to keep the blog as fresh as I'd like it but that's about to change! Not only has the Catch 22 course finished, but I've now got my recently repaired laptop back in my waiting arms. I might as well come clean and tell you that it's because I'd tried to access too many dodgy porn sites. Hey! Girls will be... No that's boys isn't it. Anyway... With that being said prepare for weekly updates, monthly interviews and a few extra perks. We're going to catch that 22 people, believe we will!

Publications For The Nation... And the rest of the world I suppose

Catch 22 as a whole is supported and funded by some very successful publications and us lucky Catch students get to have internships with them. Yay. Heres the boring bit. We have to delve into their wonderful worlds and find out all sorts of stuff like their circulation, their history, founders and rivals. But like I said, its for our advantage. When we do get through those sliding glass doors, click clacking across the marble it wont be a Devil Wears Prada moment where we have absolutely no idea who Miranda Priestly is. If you don't know what I'm talking about you really need to watch that film. The internships I'm lucky enough to have been put up for are at Trinity Mirror and Bauer Media. Learn all about them my pretties...

Bauer Media is a multi-platform UK-based media Group consisting of consumer magazines and business to business ventures. It has 21 brands spanning into online, TV, radio and magazines. Some of the most popular brands you may have heard of are Heat, FHM, Closer, Grazia and Empire. Within their 21 brands they have a worldwide circulation of 38million magazines a week. Closer, the weekly women's lifestyle magazine is the most popular with a weekly circulation of over 500,000 magazines. With their heritage stretching all the way back into the 50s, they also own Kiss 100 and Magic 105.4. Their main rivals would be Conde Nast and Hubert Burda Media, both in the same publication industry as Bauer.

Trinity Mirror is a company that was merged in1999 from Mirror plc and Trinity plc. They are the UK's largest newspaper publishers with five national papers, more than 150 regional newspapers and over 500 digital products including newspaper companion sites and mobile sites. Some of their newspaper titles include the Daily Mirror, the Sunday Mirror and the Sunday Mail. The circulation of the Daily Mirror in July 2010 was 1,242,446 copies daily. In August 2010, Press Gazette published a story saying that the Daily Star, Daily Sunday Star and the Daily Mail were the only national newspapers to increase readership in the tear to the end of June, according to the National Readership Survey.

Conde Nast, many people assume is just a publication name. In actual fact Conde Mentrose Nast is a man born in New York in 1873. The name Conde Nast has been around for over a hundred years and its current consumer publishing circulation is over one million copies a month between all of its magazines. It publishes in countries such as the UK, U.S, all over Europe and in China and Japan. Its most popular publications are House and Garden, Tatler, Vogue, Interiors, GQ, Vanity Fair, Conde Nast Traveller, and Glamour but they also publish Bon Appetit and Gourmet (magazines dedicated to high class dining) and Architectural Digest (a magazine dedicated to showing the sophisticated side of property). Its rival is Hearst, another major publication company.

30 Seconds In The Mind of Aaron-Spencer

Aaron-Spencer Charles

As a fellow Catch 22 student Aaron-Spencer is on the same trip as me; trying to become a journalist in a world populated by them. The 21-year-old Grenadian stud living in Mitcham, South London is interested in music journalism and world affairs and gets particular kicks reading Vice magazine.

If you had an hour to live, how would you spend that time?
I think I'd try and find a party somewhere. I love to party, I love to have fun so I think I'd like to go out with a bang
What's your favourite 'thing' this month?
Chocolate Nourishment
What makes you feel really uncomfortable?
When loads of people stare at me
You're on come dine with me, what's your menu?
For a starter I'd have hot wings, for the main I'd make pasta and chicken with cheese on top with plantain on the side and for dessert and make a chocolate cake with some cherries on top.
Would you rather be hatefully remembered or pleasantly forgotten?
I'd rather be pleasantly forgotten because I feel positivity is a strong thing

If Mr Charles has tickled your fancy follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/illhavehotwings


Favourite Website: http://www.putmeonit.blogspot.com/

Favourite Youtube clip: Timothy DeLaGhetto


Song of the Month

Catch Me If You Can

I don’t know what I’m doing here. I really don’t. For all of you out there that keep your blogs updated, your tweets sweet and your Facebook pages funky fresh; I salute you. Seriously.
Last year when my friend and I spent the whole of our summer raving, going to gigs and doing the reviews he was also trying to get himself out there. As a pretty big Dubstep DJ (now ha ha) he was constantly on Twatter, oh sorry, Twitter and forever updating this and that. During all of this time I would smile smugly and turn my back on his antics while I watched the strip show/band/acrobatics knowing that I would never miss anything because I was still living in the real world.
How truly ridiculous I feel now. Not only do I have to blog, not only do I have to read newspapers, keep up with current affairs (something that actually never bothered me before, now I find myself gagging for news) and have brilliant, fresh, amazing ideas...I also have to Tweet. Oh please God no. NO! NOOOOOO!

Confused? Yeah, me too. I am a trainee journalist doing a twelve week internship with Catch 22. They are a London based magazine, and they’re, well... pretty awesome. 
Obviously I might be a bit biased, so have a look...

http://issuu.com/catch22mag/docs/catch_22_magazine_summer_2010_issue

Before I walked through the sliding doors of Tottenham’s Bernie Grants Art Centre (I always call it the Bernie Mac centre) I thought I was the dog’s bollocks. I can officially say that I was not, and even though I may be some day I still have so much to learn. Being taught by The Independent’s journalists, Kate, Matilda and Simmy is an amazing feeling. Learning from people that are in the industry and know what they’re talking about is so refreshing after being taught by people that learnt what they teach in a book, which is NOT OK. So now I am officially a tweeter, a blogger and a status updater. Court reporting, sub editing, and being sent onto the street to find a story...Well catch me if you can because I feel like I'm on fire! 

I'm not finished just yet and with only half of the course done we still have so much to do. Much excitement to come! And with that being said... Ever wondered why people go to extreme lengths to keep their partners interested? Know anyone that's shaved their back, tattooed their clitoris or worn a Jabba the Hut outfit in bed just for kicks? No? Well then watch this space... ;)