Tableizer: turn spreadsheets into HTML tables

This is wonderful. It's like an early Christmas present. So useful. What a lovely tool.

Of course, I didn't have a need right at this moment so to demonstrate it I just took a spreadsheet at random and had a go. Here's the result:

115	31/07/08	Code Convergence - Phase 1	Prepare a 'cookbook' - a guide on how to set up and install community server for a new market and a comprehensive lists of dos and don'ts for the future
145	03/10/08	Code Convergence - Phase 2	"Code refactor of SRS" [Medium Priority] - Some design issues with our single signon library that have increased the amount of time to identify and fix bugs during the past few weeks. There would be benefit to refactoring this feature but it might also be worth waiting until after the current convergence phase as there may be other changes required when upgrading to 2008/9 anyway.
150	10/10/08	Code Convergence - Phase 2	Flight Convergence - Home page enhancements
172	05/11/08	Code Convergence - Phase 2	SEO bug - in a forum click on a post - the SEO url rewriter creates the wrong url.

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain

Thought-provoking post by Alison Gow here: Headlines and Deadlines: Achieving a more transparent newsroom.

Alison reports that there were a few raised eyebrows in the newsroom over the decision to be completely open about the fact that the investigative work behind its article "Bullied" Liverpool council staff go on sick was not its own work but the result of a Freedom of Information request made through www.whatdotheyknow.com.

I can understand why journalists would like to preserve the mystique of news-gathering but in the Web 2.0 world that's getting harder to do.

Still, at least the nationals can continue to pass AP items off as their own without people being the wiser.

The very model of a modern major newsroom

Brilliant post from Paul Bradshaw - part six of his model for the 21st Century newsroom.

This one includes six new journalist roles - a brilliant checklist (although in B2B there are of course, quite a few newsrooms which would be happy to have six journalists full stop).

Paul's six new journalist roles are:

• The Aggregator-Sub
• The Mobile Journalist (MoJo)
• The Data Miner
• The Multimedia Producer
• The Networked Specialist
• The Community Editor

Read the entire post here. Required reading for all journalists.

[It also links to this great article on Passive-Aggressive News Gathering which I hadn't come across before.]