The Media Blog

Journalists unite against racism

Journalists from both sides of the media's political divide are joining forces on Monday evening to discuss the rise of racism and Islamophobia in the UK. The event, entitled 'In Denial? Racism, Islam and the Media', will take place at Bloomsbury Baptist Central Hall on Monday 1 November and starts at 7pm. If you can make it, get along.

Speakers will include Steve Bird, The Times ; Hugh Muir, The Guardian and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, The Independent, joined by Weyman Bennett, Joint secretary of Unite Against Fascism.

Venue [map]: Bloomsbury Baptist Central Hall, 235 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8EP.

Paxman 'will steal your wallet and buy a new fridge with your Mastercard'

The Guardian has published extracts from a forthcoming The Thick Of It book, based on the award-winning BBC TV comedy. 

Such books often fall flat but the signs are this is a little more promising than the usual spin-off stocking fillers that hit the shelves at this time of year. Here are some highlights from Malcolm Tucker's briefing note on the presenters who lie in wait for hapless politicians. As fans of The Thick Of It might expect, Tucker's trademark turn of phrase is a little colourful:  

Paxman
He is still the daddy. You can't beat him. When cocky youngsters occasionally try he slaps them down, steals their wallet, fucks their wife and buys a new fridge with their Mastercard.

Gavin Esler
...People breathe a sigh of relief when they know it's going to be Nice Smiley Gavin and not Death Mask Of Shergar Paxman. Don't be fooled. He fucked George Galloway so hard his beard fell off...

Kay Burley
Being interviewed by Kay is, as we all know, like being interviewed by a backward child. That's obviously great most of the time. But occasionally she will throw you a curveball like a child might – "Why is there war?" "What is Europe?" – and if you can't answer it's you who ends up looking like the thick-as-pigshit chancer.

Adam Boulton
I know you want to laugh, but don't. Really. It just reflects badly on you. Try to pretend he doesn't look like a male Sandi Toksvig with a glandular complaint. (Oh, and you know I sometimes say that you should imagine an interviewer naked in order not to be intimidated? For the love of Christ don't do this with Adam.)

The Thick Of It is written by Armando Iannucci, of course, whose credits also include Knowing Me, Knowing You and I'm Alan Partridge. However, the writer was less than impressed this week to see he'd been missed off an invite list for the press launch of a new online-only series of Partridge episodes:

That beer's got a bit of a Motorhead on it

There's no shortage of surprising celebrities cropping up in television adverts at the moment, but did I really just see Lemmy doing an advert for Kronenburg with an acoustic version of The Ace Of Spades?

Oh, I did...

Should ‘old’ media reflect social #trends?

A piece of research out today claims ‘old’ media is not giving people what they want, based on an analysis of social media and online trends.

But doesn't this miss the point of the differences which exist between them?

The beauty of online media – and social media – is that we can get the news we want and can be a part of the conversations that interest us.

But some may say the problem with online media – and social media - is that we can get only the news we want and be a part of only those conversations that interest us.

This isn’t just bad for people’s world view or pub quiz general knowledge, it can also deny us those moments of wonderful serendipity that are such a part of reading a newspaper cover to cover.

Serendipity

Serendipity is a tough sell though as is the notion we should be prescribed news in these days of democratised social media. People were turned off ‘old media’ because it didn’t cover everything – or sometimes anything - that interested them. As such it's easy to see why those disenfranchised by a limited and prescribed menu of content headed online in search of niche and specific and those conversations they cared about.

But then Big Media has cottoned on to a degree, starting to draw ever-more content from social media, and drawing upon the online zeitgeist to shape the content it wants to feed back into the online frenzy.

Hence so many iPad stories.

This would seem common sense of course. Today’s Twitter #trend is tomorrow’s news story but don't we need the media to challenge us - and push the conversations on - not simply cater for what we've already said we want?

Twitter

If we go to see a popular band in concert we all want to hear the songs we already know. But if bands stopped writing new material we'd have stagnation. Likewise if the media stuck to the debates, issues and stories they already know are popular, then we end up with stagnation. 

A piece of research out today from media monitoring agency Kantar claims social media and ‘old’ media are still worlds apart.

And to me that sounds a good thing.

Of course newspapers shouldn't allow themselves to become irrelevant but nor should we assume Twitter trends are representative of anything other than what people are discussing on Twitter. Nor should we assume what people discuss on Twitter is all that interests them or the only perspective they want to see on an issue or story.

The example Kantar uses is the coverage of the Comprehensive Spending Review last week.

Kantar studied thousands of print articles, and millions of online comments and found ‘old’ media discussed (in order of prevalence):

1. Welfare cuts   
2. Higher education funding   
3. Public sector job cuts   
4. Housing   
5. Defence   

Meanwhile, social media discussed:

1. Banks
2. Higher education funding
3. Police
4. BBC
5. Museums/art

But it would be wrong to confuse ‘what people discussed’ within the still fairly unrepresentative constituency of social media with what the media should cover. 

It would only take particularly active communities around one issue – or even one super-connected blogger or Tweeter - to skew the assumed relevance to the broader population.

Philip Lynch, evaluation director at Kantar Media is quoted as saying: "The differences between online debate and what the press covered were quite polarised. It is a complex media environment in the UK, and our findings highlight the gap between what newspapers consider important, and what people actually want to talk about."

I know social media has an ever broader and more inclusive constituency with each passing day but I think it’s still far too early to start suggesting today’s trending topics should inform this evenings running order on the News At Ten.

There’s only so much Justin Bieber news we could take.

Non-story of the week invites a trawl through the Daily Mail's family album

The Daily Mail is first with the scoop that - bear with me - Ed Miliband's Russian cousin went to the same Moscow university as Stalin's daughter.

Or something, or nothing.

In the mind of the Daily Mail, this most tenuous of links even warrants a picture of Miliband and Stalin side by side as if some kind of warning to the British public.

Not only is this talk of a "connection" utter nonsense it is also surprising that The Daily Mail would want to go down the murky path marked 'famous tyrants we have known'.

Because in the grand scheme of things, Miliband's cousin going to university with Stalin's daughter rather pales in comparison to the fact the Daily Mail's founder was an acquaintance of Adolf Hitler (a fact we may have mentioned previously). In fact here's a picture of Harold Harmsworth hanging out with Hitler.

 

'Nobody gave ecstasy to disco kangaroo'

No, your eyes do not deceive you. The Irish Daily Star last week went big on a story that is unlikely to feature as a plot thread in Midsomer Murders anytime soon.

It's a story that that leaves us with so many questions; the first of which is how did we manage to miss this nugget, published on the 20th October?

The story goes that the man pictured (he's the one on the left) was presented with said kangaroo during a "packed birthday bash at a plush Dublin hotel." He's clearly a man with friends who know how to think outside the box when it comes to solving the problem of what to get the person who has everything.

Picture yourself at that plush Dublin hotel – a hotel that one can only assume has a dress code relaxed enough so as not to turn away marsupials – wouldn't there be a few questions going through your mind?

Where did you get a kangaroo at this hour ... in Dublin; why did you get a kangaroo at this hour?

In any case, the one thought unlikely to be going through your head, apart from 'I hope he doesn't already have one', is what would happen if I gave this kangaroo ecstasy?

The imbibing of said disco biscuit by said kangaroo appears unconfirmed. It would take an eye witness, who is also an expert in kangaroo behaviour (and possibly an expert in kangaroo disco behaviour, both clean and assisted) to get to the bottom of the claim.

Animal rights groups are less than impressed.

With so many unknowns and unanswered questions, let's just take the front page for what it is. Look at that headline – it's like something you'd come up with if you were playing consequences. Look at the caption: "party animal". Extra points also go to the Star for the juxtaposition of the Wayne Rooney story (Roo - geddit?).

Tabloid gold, it is certainly a story with a long tail.

The original screenshot can be seen on Kiosko.net - a visual daily press directory that gives access to the world's largest news sites and displays a readable image taken from the frontpage of each newspaper.

There goes the Knighthood...

I wonder if it was automation or sheer dumb luck that was to blame for the very unfortunate page lay out below. See if you can spot it...

 
(Clue: just because they're pictured wearing a high visibility vest below a headline about Spanish prostitutes all wearing high-visibility vests, it doesn't make everybody on this page in a high-visibility vest a Spanish prostitute. Especially the Queen. Thanks to everybody who flagged this. The Poke also has it this morning.)

Take That! good press conferences

If Take That's comeback shows are as good as their comeback press conference their fans are in for some very long nights and plenty of product placement next summer.

Here are the highlights:

A long time ago, in a brainstorm far, far away...

...somebody suggested putting R2-D2 and C-3PO in an advert for hairdryers and washing machines. And would you believe it, it actually happened.

This advert for Curry's and PC World certainly got people talking when it screened during The X Factor on Saturday. An angry mob on Twitter branded this a new low for George Lucas's duty of care towards the Star Wars legacy (...and you thought Jah Jah Binks was his nadir? By the time you've seen R2-D2 flirting with a vaccuum cleaner you'll be ready to give The Phantom Menace another go. But don't.)

You can't blame Curry's however, they were probably as surprised as everybody else when Lucas Arts gave permission for this advert to happen.

And the kind of sci-fi blasphemy not seen since Lieutenant Starbuck launched a chain of coffee shops notwithstanding, it's actually a pretty impressive advert - as these things go. 

Next week, Chewbacca in the new Allied Carpets advert.

'Social' vies for 'future of TV' accolade

Anybody who has been on Twitter during TV shows such as The X Factor, The Apprentice - or major televised events such as the World Cup or General Election - over the past few years will be well aware of the growing trend towards widespread 'social' TV-viewing. 

In fact, it would be impossible to miss the growing popularity of people simultaneously watching while discussing particular scheduled television programmes with the almost limitless virtual living room, full of friends, acquaintances, total strangers and celebrities that Twitter affords.

And now broadcasters appear keener than ever to foster the trend - with good reason. 

Hashtags

Viewers of certain BBC programmes, such as Have I Got News For You, may recently have noticed the introduction of on-screen, or on-air, hashtags (above) for those wanting to chat about the show on Twitter while they watch.

Seen by some as counterintuitive, broadcasters clearly see the potential of encouraging their viewers to do something else while their programmes are on; creating loyalty and the kind of 'talkability' which draws in other viewers.

But it is also striking a blow for good old-fashioned television schedules in what is meant to be an on-demand age, as viewers must tune in when the show first airs to be part of the conversation. That's good news for commercial broadcasters - and their advertisers - in particular.

The 'Ex Factor'?

You may remember when Express proprietor Richard Desmond took over Channel Five it was widely reported he had hit shows such as X Factor in his sights. 

Cue much fawning over Simon Cowell in the pages of the Express...

Let the courtship begin:

"SIMON Cowell is irreplaceable..." (22 July)

Another glass of wine Simon...?

"Cowell achieved global stardom with his hit TV talent shows, including American Idol and The X Factor, and has become one of the most famous names of the entertainment industry in recent years." (19 August)

Did I tell you how great you look tonight?

"X Factor supremo Simon Cowell has been recognised as "a true star" at a prestigious television festival." (18 September)

Would you like to come up for a coffee?

"SIMON Cowell is the man who has everything..." (8 October)

But then earlier this week it was announced that: "ITV secures three more years of X Factor."

So what does the Express have to say about Cowell and X Factor today, ahead of tonight's show...?

"If Simon claims any more of these utterly mediocre acts are ‘the future of British music’, I may have to get my ears syringed. Or emigrate."

This followed Frederick Forsyth on Friday using his Express column to urge readers to boycott the X Factor (an issue I struggle to believe Forsyth has ever lost much sleep over):

 

It's probably just a coincidence.

X-Factor, 'Rocky' Robinson, 'Proud of the BBC' ...top 10 Media Blog posts this week

1. The X Factor effect on iTunes

2. Nick Robinson: Come and have a go if you think your placard's enough

3. Bit of a long shot... 

4. Mitch Benn: Proud Of The BBC

5. Andrew Marr dislikes bloggers... and bald, spotty, single, ugly people

6. If the CAPS fit?

7. ...though they do say so themselves

8. Sugar adds spice to Twitter

9. Censor sensibility: She said WHAT!?

10. Kelly Brook naked? There's NOT an app for that*

(*We suspect the popularity of certain search terms is responsible for a lot of persistent Google traffic to this particular post from the archives.)

Bit of a long shot...

As 'long shots' go, this Tweet reminds me of a fabled eBay lot: "For sale: Wedding cake, would suit couple called Claire and Stephen". This one also has a marital theme:

 
I bet she was inundated.

Nick Robinson: Come and have a go if you think your placard's enough

This is the moment Nick Robinson, street-fighting man and BBC political editor, lost his rag with an anti-war protestor, taking matters - and the man's homemade placard - into his own hands...

 Nick Robinson: 'Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.'
 

Mitch Benn: Proud Of The BBC

Stand-up comic Mitch Benn may earn some of his salary from the BBC, but you can't buy this kind of passion. He's most definitely 'Proud Of The BBC'... 

The X Factor effect on iTunes

Love it or hate it there's no denying the commercial clout of The X Factor - a money-making machine disguised as a TV talent show, where the singers are to the adverts what nachos are to sour cream, salsa and cheese. And while ITV may still be grudgingly dutybound to interupt the adverts with occasional performances there are plenty of other revenue streams flowing out of the format... and not all into Simon Cowell's pockets. 

iTunes

Just check out the iTunes chart today, to see what impact a performance can have on the original artist whose song is performed. There are 12 songs in the top 200 today that were performed on last night's show. And while the top three are fairly current and may have been doing well before their undoubted boost from the X Factor, the rest are either new entries or re-entries:  

1. Just the way you are - Bruno Mars (sung by Matt Cardle)
2. Barbra Streisand (Radio Edit) - Duck Sauce (Diva Fever)
35. Barbra Streisand (Original Mix) - Duck Sauce (Diva Fever)
65. Jealous Guy - John Lennon (Aiden Grimshaw)
83. Feeling Good - Muse (Rebecca Ferguson)
88. Feeling Good - Nina Simone (Rebecca Ferguson)
91. My Life Would Suck Without You - Kelly Clarkson (One Direction)
99. Purple Rain - Prince (Treyc Cohen)
114. I'd Rather Go Blind - Etta James (Katie Waissel)
117. You Don't Have to Say you Love Me - Dusty Springfield (Mary Byrne)
132. If I Ain't Got You - Alicia Keys (Paije Richardson)
179. Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen (Storm Lee)
187. A Song For You - Donny Hathaway (John Adeleye)

In fact, the only three songs not to appear in the iTunes chart today following last night's show are: Hard Knock Life (Jay-Z) sung by Cher Lloyd; Help Yourself (Tom Jones) sung by Wagner and You Really Got Me (The Kinks) sung by Belle Amie. 

Elsewhere on the top 200 are plenty of other songs that have re-entered or lingered in the chart after being covered either in the first live show or during the auditions or boot camp stages:

13. Billionaire - Travie McCoy (performed by both FYD and John Adeleye)
26. Airplanes - B.o.B (Belle Amie)
36. Mad World - Gary Jules (Aiden Grimshaw)
61. Viva La Vida - Coldplay (One Direction)
77. Turn My Swag On - Greg Street feat. Soulja Boy (Cher Loyd)
141. Airplanes - Starlite Singers (Belle Amie)
161. Billionaire - Hit Masters (FYD, John Adeleye)
181. Turn My Swag On - Soulja Boy (Cher Lloyd)

It would seem that if any songwriters have a large tax bill to pay, or school fees to meet they could do worse than encourage the X Factor judges to pick one of their songs for next week's show.

Andrew Marr dislikes bloggers... and bald, spotty, single, ugly people

Andrew Marr doesn't like bloggers:

"A lot of bloggers seem to be socially inadequate, pimpled, single, slightly seedy, bald, cauliflower-nosed, young men sitting in their mother's basements and ranting ...the so-called citizen journalism is the spewings and rantings of very drunk people late at night."

I'm not sure why somebody's age, gender, marital status or physical appearance is relevant to their ability to do a job (Marr, let's be honest, is no Adonis). In fact, his comments are somewhat at odds with the BBC's own statement on equal opportunites:

"The BBC is committed to promoting equal opportunities for all, irrespective of colour, race, religion or belief, ethnic or national origins, gender, marital/civil partnership status, sexuality, disability or age."

...Just don't be a bald, single, spotty young man if you want to work with Andrew Marr because he's having none of it.

Sugar adds spice to Twitter

Many people may have first been alerted to Alan Sugar's presence on Twitter - as @Lord_Sugar - by his spat last week with TV property show host Kirstie Allsopp who he branded a "lying cow". But that's not the only treat in store on Sugar's Twitter page (if you scroll a little further down, and we're playing catch-up a little here). Sugar also surveyed his followers to find out - rather bluntly - "which newspaper do you HATE the most".

You would imagine he already had an answer in mind, hence asking the question. There's some explanation of the 'methodology' below, but you can scroll past that to the results:

Deleted: Banksy does the Simpsons

Sadly the powers that be appear to have removed the video we were linking to on YouTube.com - many apologies for the dead-end.

If the CAPS fit?

Interesting use of capitals here from the Mail:

Not...... a MUSLIM?!*

Clearly the capital letters are intended to convey a level of shock and outrage which might only have been warranted if the words in capitals were 'A SERIAL KILLER' or 'A PAEDOPHILE'. But they're not.

That said, I'm sure there are plenty of fathers at the Mail who would rather see their little Tabatha come home from university with a Muslim on her arm than a Guardian columnist. In fact, all this story needs is a Romanian man on incapacity benefit and it would be the Daily Mail's nightmare game of 'Snog, Shag, Marry'.

(*Update: The Mail has now changed its upper case MUSLIM to a much less shouty 'Muslim')