Journalist Spotlight: Richard Trenholm

Richard Trenholm is one of the editors of Crave, the news and features section of CNET UK, home to the latest goings-on in the world of consumer technology.

Richard also presents the weekly podcast, which just hit episode 300, and the occasional video.

Richard began writing as a journalist for (and later editor of) his Student Union newspaper and magazine. He graduated with a Media Studies degree and started at CNET as the camera reviewer. He’s also given talks in schools and ‘been fired from Wetherspoons’.

How were the Olympics interesting from a technological point of view?

It was dubbed the first social Games, and following the Twitter feeds of the athletes provided a fascinating insight into the dedication and discipline, as well the human stories, that brought them that far. Not to mention technology such as 3D filming, TV coverage of every second of the games, and the amazing photos tweeted from places like the bottom of the swimming pool.

Will technology change the way PRs and editors communicate and work (more than it already has)? 

Probably, but I’m not a fan of communicating via social media. If pitches fly at me from Twitter and Facebook and who knows where else, they’re hard to keep track of – I want everything recorded in one place, and email is perfect for that.

How do you use Social Media? 

We were nominated for this year’s AOP Award for Best Use of Social Media, so we’re proud to say that social media is an important part of CNET rather than a poor relation to the site itself. It’s perfect for hearing what our readers think about stories we’ve written, it’s a great place for us to show off fun gadgets that sit alongside the more in-depth reviews on CNET.co.uk, and it’s an opportunity give our 30,000 Facebook fans a glimpse behind the scenes. We also get to have a laugh with stuff like Photoshop competitions or games of ‘What’s In the Box?’

How do you prefer to receive pitches from PRs? Do you have any advice for PR professionals?

Always email for pitches. I spend my day writing so phone calls are generally a distraction – and almost always a waste of time anyway – but I welcome emails from anyone and everyone. Releases need price and release dates front and centre, and a link to somewhere with loads of pictures is essential.

As an online journalist, my main advice would be to remember that the Internet is global: if a product launches in the US or overseas before it comes here, we still need to see it and cover it as soon as possible – if we don’t, our UK readers can just go and read about it on a US site and that means they miss out on our piercing technology insight and jokes about Keith Chegwin.

Richard spoke at a Cision Frontline Breakfast in 2011.

Editorial information on Richard Trenholm and Crave, along with thousands of other media contacts and websites can be found in the CisionPoint media database.