CAITLIN FITZSIMMONS

As a freelance writer I’m very interested in new media since I believe it will be a big part of my future. It’s not just a case of print publications moving online, it’s also a case of the internet throwing up new types of businesses. Educating myself about this is a large part of the reason why I blog at Roaming Tales and The Gooseberry Fool – and use social media tools such as Twitter.

I have some exciting news to share – I’m joining EcoSalon as a regular contributor. I’ve been asked to write two posts a week, one on green travel and one on green tech and lifestyle.

My first post last week was on eco-holidays in Cornwall and today I’ve written about 5 creative ways to be a green bookworm.

The theme of EcoSalon is about going green without sacrificing style and this is something that really strikes a chord with me. I am a passionate environmentlist but I also believe that people need inspiration and a reason for hope. We shouldn’t hide from the immensity of the challenge – but if we focus on doom and gloom, we risk generating despair rather than the committed and focused action the planet needs. Despair is just as destructive to the environment as denial.

I’m pleased to be blogging for EcoSalon because the blog is committed to the environment but with an aim to empower and inspire people rather than hector or scare them. There’s enough troubling environmental news out there – the question is what we can do about it.

I fully intend to keep my own sites and my blogging duties at EcoSalon are as well as, not instead of, what I already do. It’s a paid gig so this properly falls into my day job as a freelance writer and is probably a sign of things to come in my profession.

Mondays are a busy day in media. Not only is it the publication day for the Media Guardian and the Independent’s Media Weekly, but The Australian has now shifted the publication date of its Media section from Thursday to Monday.

Today, I have an article on global business newspapers and the Wall Street Journal in The Australian, and a feature on how traditional media are adapting to the new media world in the Media Guardian’s Changing Advertising supplement.

I’m going to covering a sabbatical on the MediaGuardian.co.uk news desk for the best part of the next two months. I’ll be looking for news on all aspects of the UK media industry, so please email me with any leads (you can use the contact form if you don’t have my email address). You can keep track of what I write for The Guardian and any blog posts.

I have a feature in the media section of The Australian today about Macquarie Bank’s growing media empire in the UK. The Australian investment bank has been investing heavily in the UK media, mostly on the infrastructure and services side through Arqiva and Red Bee Media. In Australia, it owns a string of radio stations as well as media infrastructure, but it has not gone down this route in the UK and recently ditched plans for a radio station in Plymouth in Cornwall and Devon.