Friday 24 May 2013

If it bleeds, it leads

Drummer Lee Rigby of 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, aged 25. 
May he Rest In Peace.



THE OLD adage "if it bleeds, it leads" was in full evidence in the media coverage of the tragic killing of Royal Fusiliers Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich on Wednesday.

Almost all of the national newspapers carried the horrifying image on their front pages of one of the perpetrators Michael Adebolajo, clutching a meat cleaver in his bloodied hands.

The evening bulletin of the ITV news, broadcast at 6.30pm, showed an exclusive video which the attacker had forced a member of the public to film.

And, of course, the rolling news went into an inevitable overdrive. There were the ubiquitous live blogs on the websites of the BBC, the Guardian, the Telegraph and elsewhere.

Meanwhile, BBC political editor Nick Robinson landed himself in hot water by describing the suspect as being "of Muslim descent", whatever that means.

At first, Robinson defended his description as having been taken directly from a quote by a Whitehall source - but, later on his blog, he gave a full apology "for using a phrase that, on reflection, was both liable to be misinterpreted and to cause offence".

ITV was also on the defensive after it had received hundreds of complaints for its broadcast of the aforementioned video - but it defended its decision as "editorially justified".

"We carefully considered showing this footage ahead of broadcast and made the decision to do so on a public interest basis as the material is integral to understanding the horrific incident that took place yesterday," said an ITV News spokesman.

"It was editorially justified to show such footage in the aftermath of such a shocking attack, and we prefaced it on ITV News at 6.30pm and News at Ten with appropriate warnings to make viewers aware in advance of the graphic images about to be shown."

Sky News executives opted not to show it on the grounds of taste and that it could be a potential platform for terrorists, but the BBC did join ITV in showing the clip on its later bulletins.

Now, the issue for the print media with breaking news events is that, by the time they publish the following day, the images are already very much in the public domain.

Even if the broadcasters had chosen to be more cautious and not shown the video, the chilling material could easily be found on Twitter and other social media outlets.

It is therefore not difficult to agree with Media Guardian commentator Roy Greenslade that the newspapers would have "looked completely daft to ignore what was already in the public domain".

After all, to do so would be tantamount to self-censorship, and again I agree with Greenslade when he states that editors "cannot edit in order to ensure they protect us from the feeble-minded".

As for those who suggest all that newspapers or broadcasters are interested in is their sales or ratings - well, there is always the option not to buy the paper and always an off-button on the television remote.

At the same time, though, it is important that newspaper chiefs show some respect for the victim and his family in their editorial decisions.

The Sun, The Daily Star, The Telegraph and The Times all took the curious (and, in my view, incorrect) decision to include Mr Rigby's stricken body on their front page.

In his column, Greenslade again defends the newspapers on the basis that they "needed to convey the brutality of a murder that appeared to have been carried out as an act of terrorism" - but it comes across as a breach of privacy to me.

Indeed, ITV has since sensibly edited the video on its website to obscure Mr Rigby's body.

Nevertheless, it was the Guardian with perhaps the most harrowing front cover. Its editors chose a full-page close-up photo of Adebolajo with his words "You people will never be safe" running alongside.

If that is not the dissemination of irrational fear - so often railed against within that very newspaper - then I do not quite know what is. 

Of course, it is not just the media which has stirred up the reaction to Mr Rigby's death.

While the action can accurately be described as terrorism, the repetition of the phrase over and over again by media commentators and politicians has served little purpose than to stir up more tension.

Similarly, the actions of Home Secretary Theresa May calling an emergency COBRA meeting and Prime Minister David Cameron cutting short his holiday both smack of politicians wanting to be seen as decisive, regardless of the consequences.

Instead, they have arguably made the situation worse and played right into the hands of bone-headed extremists like the English Defence League, which has already sadly caused some damage

Would the numbskulls have acted in the same manner if the media and politicians had have reacted differently? Very possibly so. 

But, have the media and politicians treated the matter as sensitively as they could have? Almost certainly not. 

After all, there were some very good news stories related to this horrific incident which almost immediately restored my faith in humankind. 

Witness the bravery of the mother and daughter who tended to Mr Rigby just yards from the knife and meat cleaver-wielding terrorists.

Or, how about giving more coverage to Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, the cub scout leader who confronted the terrorists just seconds after their attack, asking them to hand over their weapons?

"It is only you versus many people, you are going to lose," said Mrs Loyau-Kennett to the terrorists at the scene - if only the Guardian had used those words on its front page instead.

Saturday 18 May 2013

Eurovision 2013: Barefoot Emmelie becomes a Great Dane

FAVOURITE Emmelie de Forest justified her strong pre-show odds after 'Only Teardrops' won the 58th Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo for Denmark.

The 20-year-old from Randers chalked up 281 points to finish ahead of Azerbaijan's Farid Mammadov on 234 and Ukraine's Zlata Ognevich on 214.

Those were the only three countries to breach the double century in what was a much tighter contest than last year when Sweden's Loreen blew the opposition away with 'Euphoria'.

Of course, for that edition, the United Kingdom entered 76-year-old crooner Engelbert Humperdinck - and, this year, 61-year-old Bonnie Tyler was chosen by the BBC to represent our interests.

In fairness to Bonnie, she did much better than her predecessor, picking up points from seven different countries, including seven from Ireland, five from Malta, and four from Spain.

In total, she received 23 points to finish in 19th place out of 26 - not a bad effort taking into account just how insipid her ballad 'Believe in Me' actually was.

Reflecting on the result, the Welsh singer said: "I'm sure a lot of people will be disappointed on my behalf but I have really enjoyed my Eurovision experience.

"I did the best that I could do with a great song. I don't feel down and I'm ready to party."

At the bottom, no country suffered the complete indignity of nul points - but it was Ryan Dolan for Ireland who surprisingly brought up the rear with just three points all night.

That was somewhat of a surprise for his song 'Only Love Survives' which seemed primed to do well, bringing the acts to a close amid a flurry of pyrotechnics and topless, oiled-up drummers.

Perhaps Europe had just got bored of the entire show by then. Or, more likely, Ireland's desperately low score was just punishment for the appearance of Jedward for the last two years.

EUROVISION 2013: THE RESULTS 
Voting for the United Kingdom: Ireland (7), Malta (5), Spain (4), Romania (3), Switzerland (2), Slovenia (1), Sweden (1) = 23



CountrySong - ArtistPointsDouze
01DenmarkOnly Teardrops - Emmelie de Forest281(8)
02AzerbaijanHold Me - Farid Mammadov234(10)
03UkraineGravity - Zlata Ognevich214(5)
04NorwayI Feed You My Love - Margaret Berger191(3)
05RussiaWhat If - Dina Garipova174(2)
06GreeceAlcohol Is Free - Koza Mostra feat. Agathon Iakovidis152(2)
07ItalyL'essenziale (The essential) - Marco Mengoni126(3)
08MaltaTomorrow - Gianluca120(-)
09NetherlandsBirds - Anouk114(1)
10HungaryKedvesem (My darling - Zoohacker remix) - ByeAlex84(1)
11MoldovaO mie (A thousand) - Aliona Moon71(1)
12BelgiumLove Kills - Roberto Bellarosa71(1)
13RomaniaIt's My Life - Cezar65(-)
14SwedenYou - Robin Stjernberg62(1)
15GeorgiaWaterfall - Nodi Tatishvili and Sophie Gelovani50(-)
16BelarusSolayoh - Alyona Lanskaya48(1)
17IcelandEg a lif (I am alive) - Eythor Ingi47(-)
18ArmeniaLonely Planet - Dorians41(-)
19United KingdomBelieve in Me - Bonnie Tyler23(-)
20EstoniaEt uus saaks alguse (So there can be a new beginning) - Birgit19(-)
21GermanyGlorious - Cascada18(-)
22LithuaniaSomething - Andrius Pojavis17(-)
23FranceL'enfer et moi (Hell and me) - Amandine Bourgeois14(-)
24FinlandMarry Me - Krista Siegfrids13(-)
25SpainContigo hasta el final (With you until the end) - ESDM8(-)
26IrelandOnly Love Survives - Ryan Dolan3(-)

EUROVISION 2013 RUNNING ORDER
BBC One, 8pm

Click on the links for the official Eurovision videos of each of the songs. Odds supplied by Ladbrokes. See www.oddschecker.com/tv/eurovision/winner 


CountrySong - ArtistOdds
01FranceL'enfer et moi (Hell and me) - Amandine Bourgeois150/1
02LithuaniaSomething - Andrius Pojavis250/1
03MoldovaO mie (A thousand) - Aliona Moon100/1
04FinlandMarry Me - Krista Siegfrids25/1
05SpainContigo hasta el final (With you until the end) - ESDM250/1
06BelgiumLove Kills - Roberto Bellarosa150/1
07EstoniaEt uus saaks alguse (So there can be a new beginning) - Birgit100/1
08BelarusSolayoh - Alyona Lanskaya150/1
09MaltaTomorrow - Gianluca80/1
10RussiaWhat If - Dina Garipova14/1
11GermanyGlorious - Cascada33/1
12ArmeniaLonely Planet - Dorians150/1
13NetherlandsBirds - Anouk25/1
14RomaniaIt's My Life - Cezar50/1
15United KingdomBelieve in Me - Bonnie Tyler50/1
16SwedenYou - Robin Stjernberg
17HungaryKedvesem (My darling - Zoohacker remix) - ByeAlex66/1
18DenmarkOnly Teardrops - Emmelie de Forest8/13 fav
19IcelandEg a lif (I am alive) - Eythor Ingi100/1
20AzerbaijanHold Me - Farid Mammadov12/1
21GreeceAlcohol Is Free - Koza Mostra feat. Agathon Iakovidis20/1
22UkraineGravity - Zlata Ognevich9/1
23ItalyL'essenziale (The essential) - Marco Mengoni25/1
24NorwayI Feed You My Love - Margaret Berger11/2
25GeorgiaWaterfall - Nodi Tatishvili and Sophie Gelovani20/1
26IrelandOnly Love Survives - Ryan Dolan25/1

RELATED LINKS
- Official Eurovision website (Facebook - Twitter)
- Official Eurovision Youtube website
- BBC Eurovision website
- Wikipedia Eurovision page

PREVIOUS REPORTS
2009 - Norway storm Eurovision
2010 - Lena out of the world with 'Satellite' as UK finish bottom
2011 - Azerbaijan surprise leaves Britain feeling Blue
2012 - Loreen lives up to her billing as Sweden win

Thursday 16 May 2013

On second thoughts...


HELLO again. I have decided to write here again; I suppose I just couldn't stay away.

Of course, I elected to stop updating this blog about a month ago with the aim of reducing the amount of unproductive time I spend waste on the internet.

Guess what? It didn't really work. I still spend waste far too much time online - on forums, on Facebook, on the BBC and Guardian news sites... and, ahem, elsewhere.

Indeed, on second thoughts, my blogging was actually a much more positive use of my time on the web - even if I think I did sometimes focus on the quantity over the quality of my posts.

Consequently, I am now returning to the fold and I intend to cover my usual interests with write-ups on politics and the media, football, cricket and other sports.

In addition to all that, though, I would also like to write more articles from a personal perspective about my issues with anxiety and depression.

Obviously, there are many personal matters which I will discuss in therapy that will not be published here. But, if I can perhaps share a few things which are helping me every now and then, my posts may even become half-decent reference points in themselves.

Anyway, this is just a quick post to say it's good to be back, more soon. Oh, and thanks for reading again. :-)

Friday 3 May 2013

Local elections 2013: UKIP arrives on the mainstream scene (results only).

OVERALL COMPOSITION
PartyVote Councils
Councillors
CON25%18(-10)1116(-335)
LAB29%3(+2)538(+291)
LD14%0
352(-124)
UKIP23%0
147(+139)
GRN
0
22(+5)
OTH9%0
187(+24)
NOCn/a13(+8)n/a
NOC = no overall control (i.e. no party has a majority)

FULL RESULTS
UNITARY
Bristol (⅓)
Cornwall
Durham
Isle of Wight - NOC gain from Con
Northumberland
Shropshire
Wiltshire

COUNTY COUNCILS
Buckinghamshire
Cambridgeshire - NOC gain from Con
Cumbria
Derbyshire - LAB gain from Con
Devon
Dorset
East Sussex - NOC gain from Con
Essex
Gloucestershire - NOC gain from Con
Hampshire
Hertfordshire
Isle of Angelsey
Kent
Lancashire - NOC gain from Con
Leicestershire
Lincolnshire - NOC gain from Con
Norfolk - NOC gain from Con
North Yorkshire
Northamptonshire
Nottinghamshire - LAB gain from Con
Oxfordshire - NOC gain from Con
Somerset
Staffordshire
Suffolk
Surrey
Warwickshire - NOC gain from Con
West Sussex
Worcestershire

MAYORAL
Doncaster - Ros Jones - LAB gain from Ind
North Tyneside - Norma Redfearn - LAB gain from Con

SOUTH SHIELDS BY ELECTION LAB hold
Emma Lewell-Buck Labour12,49350.5% (-1.6%)
Richard Elvin UKIP5,98824.2%
Karen Allen Conservatives2,85711.6% (-10.1%)
Ahmed Khan Independent1,3315.4%
Phil Brown Independent Socialist7503.0%
Dororthy MacBeth Brookes BNP7112.9% (-3.6%)
Hugh Annand Liberal Democrats3521.4% (-12.8%)
Howling Laud Hope Monster Raving Loony1970.8%
Thomas Darwood Independent570.2%
Total votes: 24,780 Turnout: 39.3% Majority: 6,505