The importance of responsible juxtaposit...

I want you to look at this screenshot as you would normally look at a webpage and tell me what you look at first: Screen shot of Sky News story on 10 March 2010 Do you, as I did, look at the image first then let your eye travel up to the headline? How many people don’t look at the headline? You could easily think this chap is Jon Venables – when the entire point of the article is to say he isn’t. Words are important but visually they’re not as strong as a photo or image on the page. It’s an obvious choice to put these two photos together but...

No bad thing...

I’d like to introduce you to Bob Mathers, management skills trainer, lover of languages and also my Dad! Bob writes regularly for Hospital Doctor online on communication and time management and by special request he’s writing a series of blogs for the Crocstar website on the English language. Take it away Bob… ...

What’s in a name?...

In the Crocstar office this week we have been chatting (amongst many other things) about the use of words in the news. There’s this recent news story about job losses at British retailer, Marks and Spencer. Take a look at the different ways this story has been told in the British media – and pay special attention to the words used in the headlines: Sky News: “Over 1,000 To Go In M&S Job Cull” (Heartless M&S – ‘culling’ their staff, like a herd of poor defenceless lambs or baby deer) The Sun: “M&S To Slash 1200...