Tag Archives: Gordon Brown

Why Jeremy Paxman is the new Charles Wheeler

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Tonight he steps up to get the first ever Charles Wheeler Award at Westminster University from his boss Mark Thompson, the BBC director-general. Paxo is now the worthy wearer of Wheeler’s Crown. Well deserved.

Charles loved words and using them. So does Paxman. Witness this week, Paxman calling Esther Rantzen a ‘retired television nabob’. Ouch.

It’s what good journalists do; we use words. Charles transformed any film which he reported. I’ve seen very so-so stories become very good watches when reported by Wheeler. Paxman, lest we forget now that he is in a warm studio, was the best film reporter of his generation. Look at some of the films from the Central American frontline 30 years ago. The man learned early.

Charles liked to cause mischief. All good hacks do. He was once heavily censured by the BBC bosses for being rude to royalty on tour. Did he care? Not a jot! Think Paxman and Blair: ‘Do you and President Bush pray together?’ and my all-time favourite to Shaun Woodward, the new MP for St Helens in deepest Lancashire: ‘Mr Woodward did your butler vote Labour?’ (Woodward is very rich and was parachuted to St Helens. He did have a butler).

Charles was less the master of the studio than Paxo has become. Charles always looked a mite uncomfortable, Paxo not. A caged animal waiting for its prey. It’s no wonder Gordon Brown refuses to be interviewed by him. Paxo takes Newsnight up a gear when he presents it.

Both are, to use that wonderful English word, ‘curmudgeonly’. So what? There are too many smiling faces on TV and too many autocuties. Curmudgeons find things out – even if they do not make huge numbers of friends. But then good hacks are loners.

For all of their similarities (and differences) who can begrudge Paxo the title of King of the TV Journalism jungle? Not me.

John Mair is a senior lecturer in broadcasting at Coventry University. He produced last month’s Media Society Annual Award Dinner for Jeremy Paxman.

Note: updated with subbing corrections 21.05.09

Sea change: did online campaign group force political transparency?

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It’s an interesting landmark: a quickly put-together online campaign in the UK may have influenced a political reversal. Gordon Brown has cancelled proposals for MPs to protect the details of their expenses.

The House of Commons leader, Harriet Harman, cited lack of cross-party support as the reason behind the change, according to the BBC report.

Meanwhile, the Guardian reported:

“The decision is a major victory for freedom of information campaigners and follows growing opposition led by the Liberal Democrats to the proposal, and website campaigns urging the public to email their MP objecting to the move.”

Does this show something of a sea change in political influence? Note that the campaigners directly mobilised their supporters, without reliance on mainstream media.

Tom Steinberg, founder of My Society, the organisation behind the campaign, thinks traditional media manipulation tools had little effect.

He comments on the MySociety blog:

“This is a huge victory not just for transparency, it’s a bellweather for a change in the way politics works. There’s no such thing as a good day to bury bad news any more, the internet has seen to that.”

Matthew Cain, over on his BacAtU blog, gives five reasons why he believes the campaign had clout, and points out that Stephen Fry helped the cause too… with a humble re-tweet on Twitter:

But, also today, a reminder of the way media connections have traditionally worked, with the appointment of a new head of political lobby, the Financial Times’ Jean Eaglesham. But how much influence and inside knowledge does the lobby have anymore?

Press Gazette reported:

“Eaglesham dismissed any suggestion that the need for constant ‘rolling’ news has diminished the quality of parliamentary reporting.

“She said: ‘Clearly it’s a risk we’re all aware of, however, now we also have the added value of more analysis and breaking news through blogging and other online content. Things change so fast now, it’s fascinating.'”

The role of the lobby was discussed at the end of last year in the House of Lords. Hazel Blears talked about the influence of the political bloggers in November, in an address to the Hansard Society.

Thomson Reuters gets social with Gordon Brown

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Thomson Reuters went all out this morning in its coverage of Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s speech at the company’s London office.

First off the organisation’s own coverage: the Newsmaker event was twittered by Reuters journalist Mark Jones, whose updates were fed into a special microsite.

There was also video of the PM’s announcement originally livestreamed on Reuters’ website – including a handy dropdown menu that lets you skip through the clip to different key moments.

A full transcript and text article of the speech have also been published on the site.

But in addition to Reuters’ own reporting on the event was live footage streamed using mobile phones and hosting service Qik by social media bloggers Documentally and Sizemore.

“With Gordon Brown due to start talking on the present economic crisis what can two beardy blokes with a few laptops and small cameras possible hope to add?

“Well nothing directly on what is about to be said. I have as much interest in current politics as I did in marketing movies. I’m here with Christian [Documentally] to start conversations around the NewsMaker event that are currently not part of Reuter’s remit,” wrote Mike Atherton aka Sizemore in a blog post.

Below is Documentally’s mobile video of the Newsmaker:

The pair also used social media tools such as online site Phreadz, which builds multimedia forums around content submitted by users, to generate discussion around Brown’s speech.

“I sincerely hope that following today the idea of getting these events discussed on social media platforms such as Twitter, Seesmic and Phreadz becomes a natural part of the news media’s roadmap,” added Atherton.

Baldy blogger’s posts published in charity book

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Adrian Sudbury, the journalist-turned-blogger who sadly passed away this week, is to have his blog posts published in a book for charity.

Adrian, who chronicled his battle against leukaemia on Baldy’s Blog, set-up a campaign to make education about bone marrow donation compulsory in UK schools and colleges.

The volume will feature posts from the blog and a selection of comments from its readers, as well as photos of Adrian and a foreword by Gordon Brown, whom Adrian met as part of his campaign.

All proceeds from Baldy’s Book will go to leukaemia charity The Anthony Nolan Trust.

Baldy blogger wins regional journalism prize

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Adrian Sudbury, who has blogged about his experiences as a sufferer of terminal leukaemia, was named multimedia journalist of the year in the Press Gazette’s Regional Press Awards on Friday.

Huddersfield Daily Examiner journalist Sudbury accepted the award with a video message, while at the ceremony his parents asked the audience to support his bone marrow donation campaign.

The campaign, which aims to make education about bone marrow, blood and organ donation a compulsory part of sixth-form education in the UK, has already led to a meeting with Gordon Brown for Sudbury.

The Hull Daily Mail was named multimedia publisher of the year and daily newspaper of the year (above 40k) at the awards, and picked up the prize for best front page.

Google Zeitgeist videos: Salman Rushdie, Chad Hurley, Gordon Brown, Will Lewis, Eric Schmidt, Larry Page, Sergey…many more

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Google has just held its two day European Zeitgeist conference in the UK bringing together a host of captivating speakers, here are just a few of the session videos – many more on the Zeitgeist YouTube channel.

Matthew d’Ancona interviews Chad Hurley

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA_Lw9zCT2E]

Sir Salman Rushdie

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka1Y1BY19Vw]

The future of online video panel with Ashley Highfield and others
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKmsUWuh0CU]

Eric Schmidt, Larry Page, Sergey Brin

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1acoC5zjgM0]

Content vs community panel part 1 (Inc. Mattias Cohler, Facebook, & William Lewis, editor of The Telegraph)

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7awAN8ceIgc]

Content vs community part 2

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aan24cfI1bg]

Baldy blogger’s campaign goes to government

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Regional newspaper journalist and blogger Adrian Sudbury’s campaign to encourage more bone marrow donors will be heard by government ministers only 24 hours after its official launch.

Sudbury, digital journalist with the Huddersfield Examiner, has spoken openly about his battle with leukaemia on Baldy’s Blog, recently telling readers he only has weeks to live following a relapse of the disease.

In his latest post he explained that his dying wish was to ‘educate more people about what it is like to be a bone marrow donor’.

The Examiner has taken on Sudbury’s challenge by launching an official campaign, which will now see the journalist address health minister Alan Johnson and Ed Balls, secretary of state for children, schools and families, at Westminster, the paper reports.

At the meeting, he will explain the system in Germany, where school children are educated about bone marrow donation as part of their curriculum.

All the best Adrian – we will be thinking of you.

UPDATE – The Examiner has now posted a video of Adrian’s meeting with Gordon Brown.

Happy Birthday BBC News website

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The BBC News website celebrates its 10th birthday this week – though no exact date can be pinned down according to the corporation.

The look of the place has changed a lot in the last decade as this screengrab from December 1 1998, courtesy of the Way Back Machine internet archive, shows (though even then you can get your news in video and audio, and Gordon Brown still manages to top the bill).

BBC News website 1998

But the changes aren’t over given the recent goings on at the Beeb: the future promises an on-demand personalised news service, more user-generated content and an integrated multimedia newsroom.

Notably, BBC News Interactive – the department that set up the BBC’s news site – will cease to exist. In his blog, Steve Herrmann, former editor of BBC News interactive and now editor of BBC News website, says the integration process has ‘clear benefits’ for the website.

But Herrmann also acknowledges the risks involved. “From my point of view, I am concerned that the editorial coherence of the news website should not be sacrificed in the name of efficiency,” he writes. Shouldn’t integration naturally strengthen editorial coherence? Many of the porn games on my list are created by individual geeks or small teams, and the fanbases that play them offer direct input on what they want to see and play. The creators of games like Summertime Saga and Wild Life court feedback from their players via platforms like https://pornova.org , while an entire online community has sprung up around Fenoxo games like Corruption of Champions and Trials in Tainted Space. Message boards, polls, and direct messages are just a few of the ways players interact with their favorite game designers, who are quick to implement what their fans want.

What the BBC News website will look like by the end of this year, let alone by the end of another ten, is anybody’s guess, but what would you keep and what should be the first thing to go?