Readership demographics:
http://www.newsworks.org.uk/Home
Demonstrating an awareness of how language and meaning are shaped by culture and context.
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
What the papers say
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JRb95hpz1wA#!
A video mash-up to remind you just how much newsbrands drive the nation's conversations.
A video mash-up to remind you just how much newsbrands drive the nation's conversations.
Friday, 9 November 2012
Thursday, 8 November 2012
Friday, 2 November 2012
Should the media in Britain be biased?
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/unreported-world/articles/blog-should-the-media-in-britain-be-biased
As a British broadcaster I was brought up to believe impartiality is the guarantor of trust. And when there were just a few broadcasters with a virtual monopoly on the airwaves there was a big responsibility on us to serve everyone. But with the advent of more TV channels, blogs, vlogs, apps and newspapers getting into audio and video the landscape has changed dramatically. Influential figures like the former BBC DG Mark Thompson have argued for deregulation and opinionated media here too. It was all sounding quite persuasive. And despite the crisis of trust in newspapers prompted by the hacking scandal broadcast media has remained reasonably trusted up until the Savile scandal broke. So I went to America (before Savile) to look at the impact of talk radio with a fairly open mind.
As a British broadcaster I was brought up to believe impartiality is the guarantor of trust. And when there were just a few broadcasters with a virtual monopoly on the airwaves there was a big responsibility on us to serve everyone. But with the advent of more TV channels, blogs, vlogs, apps and newspapers getting into audio and video the landscape has changed dramatically. Influential figures like the former BBC DG Mark Thompson have argued for deregulation and opinionated media here too. It was all sounding quite persuasive. And despite the crisis of trust in newspapers prompted by the hacking scandal broadcast media has remained reasonably trusted up until the Savile scandal broke. So I went to America (before Savile) to look at the impact of talk radio with a fairly open mind.
Thursday, 18 October 2012
Private Eye: 50 years of famous front covers
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14969672
Private Eye's front cover has been making fun of royals, politicians and celebrities for 50 years. In the age of the viral video and the mirthful meme, why is a defiantly old fashioned design still so popular?
Private Eye's front cover has been making fun of royals, politicians and celebrities for 50 years. In the age of the viral video and the mirthful meme, why is a defiantly old fashioned design still so popular?
Monday, 15 October 2012
Old Media More Influential Than Twitter
http://www.brandindex.com/article/twitter-storm-teacup-waitrose
An example of a company that should have taken a harder look before it leapt into the deep end of the social media pool was Waitrose, whose #Waitrosereasons Twitter campaign began on 17 September.
Unfortunately for the grocery giant, instead of listing reasons why they loved Waitrose, Twitter users took the opportunity to poke fun.
An example of a company that should have taken a harder look before it leapt into the deep end of the social media pool was Waitrose, whose #Waitrosereasons Twitter campaign began on 17 September.
Unfortunately for the grocery giant, instead of listing reasons why they loved Waitrose, Twitter users took the opportunity to poke fun.
BBC reporting scrutinised after accusations of liberal bias
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/oct/10/bbc-review-liberal-bias
The BBC's news coverage of religion, immigration and Europe is to be scrutinised in an independent review following accusations of liberal bias.
Lord Patten, the BBC Trust chairman, said the review was an acknowledgment of "real and interesting" concerns from some quarters about the impartiality of the BBC's news coverage.
The corporation has long faced accusations of liberal and leftwing bias from politicians and other sections of the media.
The BBC's coverage of controversial topics including immigration, religion and the European Union will come under the spotlight in the review, which is expected to be published in early 2013. It may also include coverage of Islamophobia.
The BBC's news coverage of religion, immigration and Europe is to be scrutinised in an independent review following accusations of liberal bias.
Lord Patten, the BBC Trust chairman, said the review was an acknowledgment of "real and interesting" concerns from some quarters about the impartiality of the BBC's news coverage.
The corporation has long faced accusations of liberal and leftwing bias from politicians and other sections of the media.
The BBC's coverage of controversial topics including immigration, religion and the European Union will come under the spotlight in the review, which is expected to be published in early 2013. It may also include coverage of Islamophobia.
Tuesday, 21 August 2012
George Orwell - The Sporting Spirit
http://orwell.ru/library/articles/spirit/english/e_spirit
Orwell's essay "The Sporting Spirit" examines the effect nationalism plays on sport, where Orwell argues that various sporting events trigger violence between groups for the very reason of competition.
School competitive team sports move unveiled
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19219942
Orwell's essay "The Sporting Spirit" examines the effect nationalism plays on sport, where Orwell argues that various sporting events trigger violence between groups for the very reason of competition.
School competitive team sports move unveiled
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19219942
Monday, 2 July 2012
Friday, 15 June 2012
Martin Amis: UK 'obsessed with trivialities'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9727000/9727621.stm
Our culture is obsessed with "vulgarities and trivialities", author Martin Amis has told the Today programme.
There is an "insane interest in people who are famous for no other reason than they're famous," he said in an interview with James Naughtie.
Reflecting on the aging process, the Lionel Asbo author said that "your youth evaporates in your mid-40s" but when you turn 60 "you think, now this can't turn out well".
"Life begins to look as precious again as it did when you were a child."
Our culture is obsessed with "vulgarities and trivialities", author Martin Amis has told the Today programme.
There is an "insane interest in people who are famous for no other reason than they're famous," he said in an interview with James Naughtie.
Reflecting on the aging process, the Lionel Asbo author said that "your youth evaporates in your mid-40s" but when you turn 60 "you think, now this can't turn out well".
"Life begins to look as precious again as it did when you were a child."
Sunday, 13 May 2012
Friday, 11 May 2012
Wednesday, 9 May 2012
Wednesday, 25 April 2012
9/11: Newspaper front pages the day after September 11
The San Francisco Examiner sparked criticism with an emotional headline defended by its editor as "an attempt to get at the visceral emotion so many Americans were feeling."
Several newspapers, including The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The New York Post, USA Today, The Mirror and The Daily Express declared the attacks to be an "act" or "declaration" of war.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/september-11-attacks/8745304/911-Newspaper-front-pages-the-day-after-September-11.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/september-11-attacks/8745304/911-Newspaper-front-pages-the-day-after-September-11.html
Monday, 23 April 2012
Saddam weapons are 'a very real threat to Britain', warns Tony Blair
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1406638/Saddam-weapons-are-a-very-real-threat-to-Britain-warns-Tony-Blair.html
Tony Blair warned last night that Saddam Hussein was a "very real threat to Britain", as he agreed a detailed countdown to military action against Iraq with President Bush at their Camp David summit.
Tony Blair warned last night that Saddam Hussein was a "very real threat to Britain", as he agreed a detailed countdown to military action against Iraq with President Bush at their Camp David summit.
Terrorist or Militant or Freedom Fighter?
The Washington Post's Internal Style Guide
http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=22&x_article=558
http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=22&x_article=558
Sunday, 22 April 2012
Journalism: The Importance of Sources
Washington Post Guidelines:
The Washington Post places a premium on original reporting, and the credibility of Post journalism is the bedrock of our entire enterprise. While timeliness is crucial, the overriding concern for accuracy should always prompt us to consider whether additional reporting should be undertaken before publishing and how information should be presented and, in some cases, qualified. In a major news event, readers may soon forget who first broke a story, but they are less likely to forget a devastating inaccuracy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/guidelines/sourcing.html
The Washington Post places a premium on original reporting, and the credibility of Post journalism is the bedrock of our entire enterprise. While timeliness is crucial, the overriding concern for accuracy should always prompt us to consider whether additional reporting should be undertaken before publishing and how information should be presented and, in some cases, qualified. In a major news event, readers may soon forget who first broke a story, but they are less likely to forget a devastating inaccuracy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/guidelines/sourcing.html
Friday, 20 April 2012
Thinking outside of the Screen: Beyond Facebook: For Intellectualism
Will Self says we should embrace the intellectual challenge of
"difficult" books and art, and value works which are more taxing than
our increasingly low-brow popular culture. "The most disturbing result of
this retreat from the difficult is to be found in arts and humanities
education, where the traditional set texts are now chopped up into boneless
nuggets of McKnowledge, and students are encouraged to do their research - such
as it is - on the web."
Thursday, 5 April 2012
Monday, 19 March 2012
Thursday, 8 March 2012
Spleen and Modernity: Baudelaire and ‘alternative’ consumption
In his Le Spleen de Paris, Baudelaire encapsulates the attitude of the practitioner of “spleen” in his ‘The Dog and the Vial’, where the dog rejects the vial of perfume in favour of faeces, to which Baudelaire likens it to ‘the public’ who are worth of only carefully chosen dung for their sensibilities would be exasperated if present with beauty or genial and vital experience of senses; only ‘shit’ will do. Baudelaire’s relationship with his readership, the ‘general public’, therefore marks his the function of spleen: it is evidence of melancholy without real cause, direct and projected onto everything that passes over its gaze, dismantling it in all its pretensions and ridiculing it for all its worth. It seeks to take all authority as merely phenomenal, fleeting and ‘mere opinion’, to which it gives us, and him, a leftover – suffering and despair. Baudelaire’s work is a testament to such cold hearted sentiments and desires:
For I have from each thing extracted its quintessence,
You have given me mud and I have made of it gold.
Link
For I have from each thing extracted its quintessence,
You have given me mud and I have made of it gold.
Link
Sunday, 4 March 2012
Who reads 'The Sun'?
Here is a website that illustrates the readership of ‘The Sun’ and the demographic key below:
As you will be able to see, 90% of ‘The Sun’ readers are in categories CDE or ‘blue collar’ jobs, whilst only 10% are in the ‘knowledge professions’ (AB).
Also, have a look at the difference in age, gender and region.
National Readership Survey (NRS) demographic categories
Social Grade | Social Status | Occupation |
A | upper middle class | higher managerial, administrative or professional |
B | middle class | intermediate managerial, administrative or professional |
C1 | lower middle class | supervisory or clerical, junior managerial, administrative or professional |
C2 | skilled working class | skilled manual workers |
D | working class | semi and unskilled manual workers |
E | those at lowest level of subsistence | state pensioners or widows (no other earner), casual or lowest grade workers |
Saturday, 3 March 2012
Monday, 27 February 2012
Sunday, 26 February 2012
Friday, 24 February 2012
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