News Corp
Leave a CommentSo, no bid at the moment for BSkyB. It all seemed so easy in the end. There is still time to ressurect the News of the World for an edition this weekend. No need to have closed it, one senses?
Magritte at Tate Liverpool
This exhibition, The Pleasure Principle, has all the favourites – the bowler-hatted ordinary men raining down over the houses, the train coming through the fireplace, the pipe (the one that is not), the daylight darkness (the streetlights shine whilst the sky is bright and blue), the couple kissing shrouded from one another, etc.
In all, it took about 3 hours to go round the whole exhibition. To a painting, they are mostly familiar. One possible exception is the gallery with examples of his commercial work – artwork to advertise cigarettes, fashion, theatre and cinema posters. Some of the motifs are visible, but not quite so strident. Rarely was he political. Though he did depict the Belgian fascist leader, Léon Degrelle, looking into a handheld mirror (one of Magritte’s motifs) and seeing Adolf Hitler. And on only one occasion is a picture with a grey sky depicted; again a scene from the war.
Equally unfamiliar are the home movies that he made with his wife and other members of the surrealist movement in Brussels. Their playfulness is enchanting as they do strange things, using their bodies as objects for Magritte’s moving art (he was not a very good cameraman; reassuringly, the movies are no better than the ones I made on Super 8 when I was 10 years old).
http://www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/exhibitions/renemagritte/default.shtm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/jun/10/rene-magritte-pleasure-principle-exhibition
Björk – Biophilia
Yesterday I had my chance to see Björk perform Biophilia at the Campfield Market in Manchester. It was a curious event. There are 8 new songs, not really enough for a show in its own right so she interspersed the new songs with old ones for which I have no explanation of the choice (other than the fact that they are great songs). Indeed, pure genius to end the whole show with her revolution anthem, Declare Independence. In these times of instablility in the Arab world and Europe (was there ever a better anthem for Greece with its call to ‘set up your own currency’?) ‘Raise your flag’, she implores. Rousing stuff.
- Sharpsichord
As for the new songs, most are great, a few not so, but any body of work has weak links. Björk has more of those than most. But she is forgiven by virtue of her uncompromising creativity and sheer talent and commitment. The new instruments, particularly the Tesla Coil with its electrical sparks providing an incredible percussion along with awesome visuals, are worth investigating. The ‘Sharpsichord’ with its over-sized ‘ear trumpets’ looked like H.G Wells’ time machine (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/8481926.stm). The Pendulum Harps – four swaying rods with strings at the weighted end – accompanied a lone Björk on the final song, Solstice. These curious artefacts, however, pale into insignificance against Björk’s own voice and the glorious backing given by the ’30 piece’ female choir that provided the wall of sound – the Biophilia sound – that one takes away.
On first hearing, it is difficult really fully to digest Biophilia’s profundity. The stunning visuals projected onto both sides of screens circling the stage gave a flavour the the complexity of Biophilia and its ‘unseenness’ – small, inside us, under water and under the surface of the earth. Also, as some commentators are describing it, the genius of getting David Attenborough to voice-over the scene setting introduction and to announce each new track. The start, consequently, is a ‘hairs on the back of the neck’ moment, at least for those of us of a certain age.
News International Crisis
And now they have closed the News of the World. What would Woodrow Wyatt have said?
It has really taken off. Rebekah Brooks is really in the firing line. Fortunately she was on holiday when the phone of Milly Dowler was hacked.
The Attorney General has told the Commons, however, that the Government CAN block the sale of BSkyB to News Corporation. Let us see.
Sky News
So, Rupert Murdoch will be able to buy BSkyB, but only if he makes Sky News an arm’s length operation.
- Rupert Murdoch
The issue is one of news pluralism. Murdoch represents a significant media magnate for the first time attempting to link both print and broadcast media.
Some media organisations, for example, the Guardian, are naturally opposed to this and have made their concerns clear to Jeremy Hunt, the Culture Secretary. Hunt along with his boss, Cameron, have paid many visits in recent weeks to Murdoch Towers. Purely social, of course. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/organgrinder/2011/jun/20/news-corporation-rupert-murdoch?INTCMP=SRCH
The political concerns have been largely commercial; notably, the impact of cross-advertising of newspaper titles and general television entertainment. But let us not forget all of that phone tapping that has been going on within the Murdoch newspapers; particularly disturbing is the news today (4 July) that those journalists tapped into the mobile phone of Milly Dowler that may have impacted on the police investigation into her murder (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jul/04/milly-dowler-voicemail-hacked-news-of-world). Maverick journalists, of course.
These worries are bad enough, but when one reads the adulatory words of former Sun editor Kelvin McKenzie in Friday’s Guardian (1 July 2011), one can see that the plot has not been understood. MacKenzie’s headline, ‘Thank God for Murdoch’, is sufficiently illustrative of his position. It is true that Murdoch was bold in building his satellite TV operation. The risks were high and he has been rewarded for taking them. But Sky News is a problem. It is not, argues MacKenzie, Fox News in the US. That is a very interesting statement. It suggests, rightly, that Fox news is far from plural, unbiased and legitimate. Whether Murdoch would want to turn Sky News into Fox News is a debateable point (would it serve his objectives in the UK?), but the maintenance of particular news values are certainly important.
Those values have served him well and maintain him as a serious power broker in UK politics despite being neither a UK national nor being elected. Good journalism is an essential part of any healthy democracy, but power of the Murdoch flavour is such that journalists do not need to be asked to ‘report’ in the right way. They do it as a matter of course. In Bachrach and Baratz’s famous phrase, this is the ‘power of non-decision making’. Journalists instinctively know what is the right way to do their (Murdoch’s) journalism. Murdoch simply does not need to make that call to the editor to achieve compliance.
Why Journalism is Culpable
Journalism in the UK is poor. The media outlets they support foster this. They report a very sanitised and formulaic news. Fortunately there are some alternative sources out there. Media Lens contributors (www.medialens.org) constantly re-interpret reportage for us. Aljazeera provides reportage that is unmatched in the UK (www.aljazeera.com) and John Pilger in the New Statesman is compelling; always challenging.
The Independent released in 2009 as a podcast a roundtable discussion between Ann Leslie of the Daily Mail (oddly), Robert Fisk, the Independent’s Middle East correspondent and Martin Bell formerly of the BBC. Readers of this blog may care to listen to it here: http://tinyurl.com/yzdguas
Open Space Learning event
The concept is discussed at length in a book authored by Nicholas Monk, Carol Chilington-Rutter, Jonothan Neelands and Jonathan Heron.
The dissemination conference on 27 June 2011 included both theoretical and practical elements. The book authors provided the background drawing on theories of pedagogy (Augusto Boal, Paulo Freire, Howard Gardner and David A Kolb), sociology (e.g. Stuart Hall, Fernando Ortiz), performance (the concept of the ensemble) and the ‘trans’ (for example, transgressive, transcultural, transdisciplinary, transcendent, etc.).
OSL is challenging for all. Tutors have to accept that in this situation they are there to be ‘dethroned’ of their knowledge; i.e. students discover their tutors do not have all of the knowledge in the room. Criticially, the interaction in creative spaces involving play renders the learning experience both memorable (students remember the sessions) and memorisable, in that the content is also captured.
Rehearsal Room
The learning spaces themselves are interesting. The University of Brighton’s and Sussex’s inQubate creativity centres came from the same conceptual space. Warwick elected – by virtue of their proximity to, and collaboration with – the Royal Shakespeare Company, to create a rehearsal room and a studio space (pictured). No desks.
Studio
The ensemble of students at the heart of the method, in some cases, act out roles. For example, first year chemistry students acted out elements in the periodic table, capturing their properties and those of the elements next to them in the table (see notes below). This built up a rapid knowledge about both elements and the table. As a foundation for, and complementarity to, more traditional chemistry teaching, it certainly seemed to capture the imaginations of both students and professors.
Jonathan Heron
There are a number of dependencies. This trial had the skills of a very talented facilitator, Jonathan Heron. Be under no illusions, he is a rare resource. Secondly, ‘lead learners’ acted as conduits and evaluators. Naturally, they were self-selected and all very keen and evangelical about the method. Students are known to be sceptical of activities that do not carry grades. Lead learners, therefore, carry the metaphorical torch for an alternative experience that potentially does more than enhance the learning experience.
The team’s technical lead, Robert O’Toole, has integrated a platform called Evernote. The platform enables the uploading of content relating to events immediately. In the session, content was being generated throughout by users with iPads and other mobile devices. Evernote is demonstrated here: http://www.evernote.com/getit
My notes from the event are here: OSL
Ecology of a Whole Campus Approach to Creativity
I’m attending a conference entitled: The Ecology of a Whole Campus Approach to Creativity at the University of Warwick (http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/iatl/projects/osl/). The brief goes as follows:
What is Open-space Learning? “At a practical level OSL is an example of what might be recognised as the workshop model” of teaching and learning. The workshop is the basic unit in pedagogic interaction between
facilitator and participant in OSL. The open space of the workshop allows its participants to become producers of knowledge by creating an environment that prevents the reformation of the rigidly hierarchical arrangements of lecture theatre and seminar room.”
Royal Watching
3 July 2011
I wonder now how the Dutchess is feeling after her first brush with people who not only are un-interested in her, but positively hostile to the institution that she has married into. Quebec was always going to be a challenge, but the posters and chanting may well have surprised her after all of the adulation.
30 June 2011
The lovely couple have now gone to Canada to test the water of popularity. A complete load of drivel this morning on the Today programme again on this topic. They devoted 7 minutes to this subject at a time of global crisis and domestic strikes.
Some commentators seem to live in some bizarre world where this kind of privilege and deference is preferred. In this case I refer to Amanda Foreman, US-based author of Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire, and Richard Fitzwilliams, former editor of International Who’s Who and royal commentator in the UK. Listen at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9526000/9526607.stm
23 June 2011
Now we’ve got a new picture of the Queen and the Duke. All part of the run up to the Jubilee. The picture is fantastically composed by the German photographer, Thomas Struth. He talks about the picture on an interview on the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9520000/9520539.stm). Worth a listen.
As for the picture, remind me not to be like that when I get old. As a symbol of the monarchy, we republicans are winning.
12 June 2011
It’s all ramping up nicely. What a splendid fellow is the Duke of Edinburgh (picture http://www.freeloader.co.uk). What a brick he has 
been to the Queen as she carries out her duties on behalf of the nation. She’s had a birthday as well. Many happy returns Maam, or however one is supposed to say it.
Ah yes, that very ordinary Dutchess, Kate, or whatever we are supposed to call her these days, is now advertising for a Dresser/Lady in Waiting. It’s just that the public engagements can sometimes mean two or three changes of outfit and it is just too much responsibility for the poor woman to manage. She needs someone to take on clothing responsibilities. Internal appointment, though. It was a big enough story for BBC Radio 5-Live to devote a mind-numbingly irrelevant 10 minutes to it on the Drive show in the week. The Firm has certainly reasserted itself as it heads towards the Jubilee next year. To that end, I have changed the heading here from the previous Royal Wedding to Royal Watching.
1 May 2011
I tried to avoid it. When Charles got married, I cycled up to Bridlington with no radio. Lovely sunny day; I enjoyed myself. This time, I drove to Hull, but I listened to the radio with my companion. I’m disappointed with the BBC and some of the ‘reporters’. Why did Jonathan Agnew and Eleanor Oldroyd stoop so low? Naughtie, again, being reduced to talking about dresses and Victoria Beckham’s hat. Jane Garvey, you are better than this!
This pictures sums up much of it.
Of course, I do not really understand. Why would anyone be interested in this couple, and particularly this family? Why would so many people go to Central London on that day? Why are there so many fatuous arguments given by those people for being there?: ‘I wanted my children to be part of history’ is the one that annoyed me the most. What kind of history is this? At a time of major global unrest, why do these people not send their children to Syria or Libya? There is plenty of history being made there!
Then there is the security expert on Radio 4 who discussed the security organisation for the event. Quite without irony he talked about all the phone ‘listening’ that had been going on to ensure that the event passed without incident. Who are the people who had their calls intercepted? Did the Home Secretary sanction this?
19 November 2010
The Royal Wedding has been announced. How macabre is it the Prince giving Ms Middleton his mother’s old ring? What kind of thinking is behind this? Clearly the House of Windsor is going to use this occasion to claim back some lost territory, but any connection with the late Diana would seem to me a little risky. However, if the ring symbolises a new ‘peoples princess’ then Ms Middleton has a lot to live up to. And whilst the House of Windsor may have ‘learned’ something, clearly Ms Middleton (and her advisors) have not. If I was her father, the advice would be ‘love counts for only so much. They are a bunch of aristocrats; we may be rich but we are vulgar by comparison. Keep searching….’
At least we may get the day off (helping the country’s productivity).
Global Criminals
23 June 2011
Another one off the list. James J. Bulger picked up yesterday. He’s 81 years old. (See entry 29 May.)
Maybe now there is room on the wanted list for some bankers?
12 June 2011
How interesting and coincidental. My Global Criminals section a couple of weeks ago reported 7 Africans wanted by Interpol. Yesterday, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, wanted for his alledged involvement in the Nairobi and Dar es Salaam embassy bombings has been allegedly killed by Kenyan authorities. Oddly, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, was not on the list.
29 May 2011
The time came for the authorities to pick up Ratko Mladić; seemingly no point in sheltering him any
longer. Off to The Hague to join Milošević and Karadžić. Osama bin Laden’s time also came, though no Hague court for him, oddly. The picture of Barack Obama (right) watching the execution along with his aides and Hilary Clinton will become iconic for its surrealism. There was a $25 million reward for information leading to his apprehension.
Who’s left? The FBI website still has Bin Laden on its top ten list (though with a red banner supporting the word ‘deceased’). The other nine are petty by comparison worth each a paltry $100k with the exception of James J. Bulger worth $2m with 19 counts of murder to account for. Interpol has 7 Africans from Sudan, Congo and Uganda on its recent list wanted for crimes against humanity. There are still 7 sought for the Rwandan genocide. And with Mladić in custody, the Balkan’s most wanted is Goran Hadžić, wanted for 14 counts of war crimes, most infamously, the 1991 Vukovar massacre of 250 people.
Crimes against humanity are incomparable. That said, crimes against the global economy ought to attract the attention of the International Criminal Court. Some of the accused might be easy to pick up as most are regularly advising Barack Obama on economic policy or sit in Ivy League universities in the US. I recommend readers to view Charles Ferguson’s documentary film, ‘Inside Job’ to view the evidence. It’s also worth looking at Adam Curtis’s latest documentary ‘All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace’ to see just how indictable some of the bankers and politicians are.
Be informed 