I don’t envy your jobbing weekly columnist much: you have to produce something eye-catching with metronomic regularity and you live or die by the feedback you get from your readers. Of course, in the networked age print journalism doesn’t get the feedback it once did (people don’t get the Remington out to fire off a missive so much these days). Blogs and forums attract the feedback now and mostly because the effort required to express an opinion is so minimal.
By the way, if you’re passing a newsagent inside the M25 this week, do pick up a copy of Time Out, flick to page 163 and read my wife’s funny and clever piece about Doctor Who and his new sidekick (she thinks Catherine Tate is the wrong kind of role model for the millions of young girls who watch Doctor Who). Then, once you’ve got over your anger/wonder/joy drop them an email at tv@timeout.com with some feedback (good or bad). Thank you.