You can't survive without The Sun, and you can't escape its gravity. It's big news, everyone's talking about it, and why not? After all, The Sun's chosen allegiance does seem to dictate the future of the Government.
But let's be honest for a moment, does The Sun's shift spell the end for Labour? Let me try to answer that by posing another question: Who, before this landmark event, thought that Labour had the remotest chance of winning the next general election? Anyone?
This is a pretty obvious case of switching teams according to whoever sits at the top of the league. Once again, The Sun will be able to claim that they were the influence; that Labour dominated for fifteen years while The Sun held their hand, but they sank as soon as they lost the support of Britain's favourite rag.
Well I have a bigger claim: Every year, I decide to support a Formula 1 driver. Every year, my chosen driver wins the championship. This has never failed! Honestly, my influence is undeniable; whichever driver gains my backing is victorious. I simply wait until the last corner of the last lap of the last race of the season before deciding who to cheer for.
I can't help wondering why The Sun waiting for so long before changing beds. They give Labour's failures as the reason for abandoning them, even including an actual poster entitled "DOSSIER OF THEIR FAILURES". Why on Earth would a paper shout about the fact that they've been supporting a spectacularly failing political party for so long? It makes them look a bit silly to me.
By the way, it might be worth mentioning that there's water on our Moon. I know; it's easy to overlook something as scientifically and historically insignificant as the discovery of life's most essential substance on the only celestial body to bear human footprints. We could even be forgiven for neglecting to spare a thought for the years of scientific research bound to result from this at a time when a newspaper has decided to change teams for a few years. In case anyone is interested, I suppose I'll sheepishly put forth the fact that this discovery has been made right when China and India are getting stuck into the whole space race thing, the glory on offer further accelerating progress in this area and giving space travel the dose of nitrogen tetroxide that it has needed for years.
Oh, and on the subject of scientific research, the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva is scheduled to be fired up again in about six weeks. If it doesn't break this time, The Sun may turn away from David Cameron and become a supporter of Higgs Boson in time for the election.
The Sun Goes Down on Brown. Meanwhile, Moon is Moist.
Posted by Andrew Giddings
in Wednesday, 30 September 2009
A Few Goodies
Posted by Andrew Giddings
I've been cruisin' and perusin' the internet and have found some interesting stuff to share.
This first one is a page of Guardian articles explaining and commenting on how libel laws are changing and damaging investigative journalism. For me, investigative journalism is one of the most interesting and exciting parts of the profession and it strikes me as a real shame that this important public service is being stifled. As an indication of how savage and far reaching UK libel law has become, the USA are even setting up their own laws specifically to protect their writers and journalists from the British courts. The law is mentioned in this very angry Guardian piece which also contains information on several libel cases which will have not only journalism students, but pretty much anyone who has anything to do with any kind of public forum, quaking in their footwear. It also mentions the "guilty until proven innocent" idea, which I raised in our Media Law lecture, as do a a few other websites. I'll have to consult McNae's and speak to Chris in order to achieve a better understanding of exactly how this works.
Here is a link to a page of the Nieman Foundation at Harvard. This page is plastered with articles about journalism and changes occuring within the industry, so it's full of ideas of what to expect from the world when we graduate. Never hurts to get ahead of the game. There are many articles of interest on there, so I shall add it to my 'Strong Links' list. Note that this page appears to change quarterly, though they do have an archive.
Drilling a little deeper into Nieman, this is a cracking piece on investigative journalism, and new ways in which this is being carried out in the modern world. Well worth a look.
Lastly, if you like things a bit techy, here is an example of one of those methods, crowdsourcing, and how The Guardian used it to compete with The Telegraph during that lovely expenses scandal.
Prison Showers and Descartes
Posted by Andrew Giddings
in Tuesday, 29 September 2009
Today's lectures were Media Law and History and Context of Journalism.
Media Law was an introduction to give students an idea of what to expect over the coming weeks, though my inquisitive mind, spurred on by a fear of prison showers, prompted me to ask questions which weren't due to be answered for some time. I shall be paying much attention to Media Law, not only to avoid incarceration but also to work out exactly what a journalist can get away with.
The afternoon held the lecture for HCJ. A rapid-fire history of Renaissance philosophers may seem to have little to do with journalism, but in fact the connections are numerous. Firstly, one role of a philosopher is to make sense of the world, condense their observations into some snappy and understandable text before flinging it at anyone who'll pay attention and/or money. Sounds familiar. Also, intensive philosophy study puts a sharp edge on the mind (albeit less in the manner of a barber with a strop and more like Hephaestus with a big hammer) . The ability to take an idea and discuss it in detail from several angles is a useful thing not only in journalism, but in everyday life. Finally, in the introduction to 'History of Western Philosophy', Bertrand Russell says that, "The studying of these questions, if not the answering of them, is the business of philosophy." This can be applied to the work of a journalist also. Though if the challenge is along the lines of exposing leathery ties between a senior politician and Max Mosely's favourite "nightclub", I'll do my best to disremember a certain libel case and provide an answer.
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About Me
- Andrew Giddings
- I am a twenty-something year-old student studying BA Journalism at the University of Winchester. The idea of this blog is to give readers some insight into the course as well as providing classmates with additional notes and information.