Emma Barnett

New home for all of my work & tweets

2011-03-14T02:24:00.000-07:00

From today onwards Emmabarnett.org will be the new digital home of all my writing, broadcasting and tweeting. Please click on the link above to see my work.

Cheers,

Emma

Twitter got me.... retiring this blog four years on

2010-07-19T08:05:00.000-07:00

Having realised that it is nearly a year since I last updated this blog, I think it’s time to officially pen a long-overdue retirement letter.

It has served me well since 2006 when I created it as a journalism student. However, now all I seem to have the time or inclination to update regularly is my Twitter feed. Communicative technology has moved on and happily, so have I.

I will continue to keep my story feed flowing at the top of this page, publishing links to my latest articles, which can also be found on my Telegraph journalist page.

Many thanks indeed,

Emma Barnett

Site specific theatre is the future

2009-08-11T15:39:00.000-07:00

Sixteen is an unforgettable social and theatrical experience. Would I recommend to it to everyone? Probably not, but being about a council estate, while being staged in an actual council estate, makes this a gritty and all too real experience for even the most broad-minded.

It’s the eve of October’s 16th birthday and the official opening of the Kensal Youth Club. Raised in an illegal squat by her failed actor father Mikey and failed chef aunt Beth, the squat has finally become legitimate, and trying to become the heart of the estate’s community.

However, there is a nasty undertone to the preparations, as the severe bruises all over October’s body take centre stage, tacitly and then later, loudly.

Paedophilia and incest are unpalatable topics society wants to bury and forget. And yet in Sixteen, we are forced to confront it as a possible reality between father and daughter, Mikey and October.

Tension mounts as October’s mother, Oleta, who abandoned her in the squat at birth, returns as a relatively high-flying journalist, with twisted messages for the nest she left behind.

SPID specialises in site-specific theatre and it’s a very powerful tool. By staging this play in the heart of a real-life council estate, when the Kensal Youth Club comes under attack from angry youths outside, the audience sat around the performance space on old sofas and mattresses, feel just as vulnerable as the characters. The environment forces the spectators to become part of the action and removes the usual comfort blanket of being a bystander.

Sixteen is violent, emotional and uncomfortable. All the things a play sometimes needs to be. You go to the theatre to be removed from your world and transported elsewhere. This really does that and makes you think about other parts of society. Mark Frost delivers a fantastic portrayal of Mikey, while Hoda Bentaher’s October is a heart-renderingly damaged performance. Unfortunately the only role which didn’t seem to gel narratively or seem at all conceivable was Laurietta Essien’s Oleta.

Sixteen, written by Helena Thompson, is showing at Kensal House Estate, Ladbroke Grove, July 23-August 28.

Review published Monday August 3 2009 in The Stage newspaper

State of the Rag

2009-04-29T16:08:00.000-07:00

Just been to see State of Play with Aussie bad boy Russell Crowe and her Maj, Helen Mirren.

I actually really enjoyed it, despite Ben Affleck’s regular occurrence on screen. In fact he was rather good – although his lips seem to have got thinner and he’s grown a facial wart.

The plot is gripping and as a journo, it makes you love the old skool investigative hacks even more. The blogger is ripped apart – oh the irony as I post these thoughts on the very same mocked vehicle – and the revenue strain newspapers are facing is communicated throughout. The conflict of newspapers’ destinies mixed in with the constant temptation to lower editorial standards to sell copies and buck the downward revenue trend, is all packed in.

Except Mirren really isn’t a very convincing editor at all. Rarely am I disappointed by Dame Helen, but in this film she is too weak and too exaggerated in the same breath.

But she sure scrubs up well – as I saw with my very own eyes at the Baftas three nights ago. Just thought I would drop that in there….

Crowe is cast perfectly and leads a strong plot magnificently. Go see and judge for yourself.

Wanted: Sexy, Powerful, Haunting Hedda

2009-03-30T06:31:00.000-07:00

I am reviewing plays for TimeOut now, which is great. Went to see Hedda Gabler at the Courtyard Theatre, Hoxton, last week and still not a patch on the ultimate Gabler - Amanda Donohoe [pictured] - Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre, October 2001.

Hedda Gabler, the female Hamlet, conjures up images of lust, manipulation and a terrible descent into despair. Ibsen’s masterpiece may have been published in 1890, but his powerful protagonist will always pull the crowd. Gabler returns from a honeymoon tour with her new husband, the bumbling academic, George Tesman, only to find life as Mrs Tesman is not quite all she hoped for. An old admirer reappears, her husband’s academic rival, Eilert Lovborg, and Gabler’s jealousy is ignited by his spiritual connection with a sweetly innocent Mrs Elvsted and the success of his latest book. Fully consumed, she sets about bringing everyone down.

Each director creates their own Gabler, however Dean Taylor’s vision lacks the subtlety which gives the character its enduring allure. Gabler (Josephine Short) begins so ostensibly tortured that she burns out almost immediately. You want to see her gradually descend into no longer being the mistress of her own thoughts. Instead Short delivers it all up-front and the audience is patronised by a recurring eerie piano soundtrack that plays each time she is moved to destruction. She does however, have the looks and full voice to give the character presence.

By far the strongest performance comes from Lovborg (Greg Cheverall) who beautifully nails the odd appeal of a clever man clinging to sanity’s edge. The lovesick Mrs Elvsted (Sarah Fortune) and the imposing Judge Brack (Daniel Jennings) are also convincing. However ultimately it’s Hedda you come to see and this delivery just doesn’t pack the punch it ought.

http://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/event/134991/hedda-gabler.html

Skiing Break

2009-03-20T04:47:00.001-07:00

Skiing time for me... so anon.

Catch you in a week.....

Branded Humour

2009-03-20T04:42:00.000-07:00

Two nights ago I had the pleasure of hearing the wonderfully droll Jo Brand at a WACL (Women in Advertising and Communications – London) event at Le Meridien Hotel on Piccadilly.

It was my first time at a WACL event and to my pleasant surprise, men were allowed in too. I had visions of being back at school – no boys allowed – but thankfully some testosterone was permitted – even if they found Brand’s humour quite hard to stomach at times. I liked watching the blokes squirm a little.

Brand was on true top form, cracking her usual self deprecating range of jokes – my personal favourite being her gag about plaiting her unshaved bikini line before a charity swim.

I then met her properly outside having a fag and we bonded over Dulwich village - where she lives and my boyfriend is from. “Big up the south east London massive” was our parting phase despite my Mancunian roots…

She is a legend.

And by the way, WACL is cool. I direct that at all those male media types who joke that it stands for wide arsed something lesbians. Fact.

Recession-Proof Journalism?

2009-03-18T10:37:00.000-07:00

Last week I was invited to speak at Cardiff University to the journo grads in the classroom I only graduated from just under two years ago.

After finishing my undergrad degree in History and Politics at Nottingham University, I studied at Cardiff University for nine months on the postgraduate magazine journalism course.

I was so frustrated and determined to get a job the whole way through, that now I have one and freelance regularly, I vowed to always help anyone on the way up.

So although going back and talking to 30 people, only a couple of years younger than myself, was quite a daunting prospect – I knew I had a lot to say and felt compelled to do so – give something back as it were. (However cheesy and contrived that sounds – but it’s true).

To be honest, I was greeted with an enthusiastic but an understandably anxious group of grads, all about to try and get a job in one of the most competitive sectors during one of the worst recession in modern times. And being good journos in making – they were acutely aware of this fact. Probably didn’t also help that the latest batch of Media Weeks I was holding, all carried big headlines announcing the swathes of severe redundancies by media owners across press, TV and radio over recent weeks.

Despite all that – I was determined to offer a message of realistic hope. I offered 12 handy hints but really I think the most pertinent piece of advice was to network, network, network. Most of the conventional routes are now shut with recruitment freezes in place across most media companies. In addition journo grads should be doing writing-related jobs like copyrighting, to earn their keep while writing for free for nationals. It may not be the most auspicious start but you need to keep afloat while getting decent brands onto the old CV.

12 handy hints:

Always send a good looking print version of your work as well as an electronic version to potential employers. And go beyond the call of order. Send something memorable like a podcast of an article and ensure you send a photograph of yourself so they can remember you. (A professional one mind).
Look out for all grad schemes on newspapers. One of the surest bets in hard times like these and if you have missed the boat this time round, tailor your work experience and freelance to that publication in the coming year to make your entry as strong as possible next time round.
Exploit work experience placements for all they are worth. Introduce yourself to as many people as possible– on the other magazines as well – so you can keep as much connection with the company as possible. Have initiative and get in early. Do anything that is thrown your way – no matter how demeaning. It’s your attitude they will remember.
Attend media lectures and events as a freelance media hack. Gigs like POLIS and Westminster Forums are good one to seek out. All the hacks and media owners will be there, making it a fertile networking space.
Obvious but necessary – keep up with all media news sites like Media Week. Press Gazette and Media Guardian. They will run stories on departures, cuts and new opportunities – which should acts as signposts for vacancies. Sign up to all email bulletins.
Engage with as much social media as possible. Twitter and blogs – keep it all going as it’s the best example of your work, style and interests. Link to all your favourite journalists and try to engage with them on the topics of the day.
Create a separate blog with all your work on it. The electronic portfolio is the way forward.
Gorkana offers key moves and contacts. If someone is covering for someone else, it is likely they will be stretched – so you could get in touch and offer a helping hand? Also keep a record of all contacts that come up on the alerts and make a separate word document to save them in.
Email journalists about their articles. Start a rapport with your favourite hacks about their work. Build this relationship so you can later cash in on it by asking for contacts for freelancing etc. Don’t go in hard about yourself. No one likes desperation.
Be organised about pitching. Find out copy deadlines and get yourself a USP for each title you approach. Being a specialist or offering something niche is getting increasingly valuable.
Don’t get into subbing or production if you don’t want to do it. They are good skills but the jump to editorial is a harder one than you think.
Accept all work at the beginning. Never be too proud and remember, you will sometimes need to write some rubbish to earn a living in order to buy you the time you need to write the stuff you really want.

Manchester’s Latest Land of Art

2009-03-17T04:56:00.000-07:00

As an avid art fan, I am always saddened by the dearth of galleries and new material in my home town of Manchester.

The Manchester Art Gallery’s resting collection is wonderful and weaves seamlessly together with the history of the city. However its exhibitions are few and far between – plus when they do arrive, they are often rather short and lacking in material which engages the voyeur for a long time. Its exhibition space on the top floor, is surprisingly small and limiting. Same goes for the Whitworth Art Gallery on the outskirts of town – except its exhibition space seems to be roomier.

Having now lived in London for the last two years, it’s a stark comparison to draw - however wonders never cease because this weekend when we were back up north, we discovered a new art gallery called Artlands. Shock, horror, something new for art lovers in Manchester? Surely I must be dreaming?!

I say we – my boyfriend actually discovered this hidden gem. He was probably so bored of the two galleries I always drag him around, he felt he had to find his own salvation. Buried in the basement of the Friend’s Meeting house, next to the city’s Central Library, are two corridors which make up this space and feature some bold work.

We saw a photography exhibition called “The Space Between” by award-winning and German-born photographer Christoph Bangert. He was commissioned by the New York Times to spend time in Iraq in 2005 and capture life over a period of nine months.

The results are powerful. I thought from the ads, it would be a look at the prettier parts of Iraq – the landscape and culture – but I was wrong. It starts with some beauty – but the space in between takes over. A wall panel explains this space consists of that void between two cultures, the void of war, of peace, of two lives…. And so on.

Hence Bangert pulls no punches and smacks you in the face with the reality of those harmful voids.

Get ready – Artlands is finally going to serve something exciting to those famished Manchester art enthusiasts. We hope. But typically, like all new and exciting ventures, its banished underground and smells a little. However the piano rehearsals going on elsewhere in the versatile building add a welcome cultural soundtrack to the artistic bunker experience.

Check it out.

(photographs copywrighted by Bangert)

Fink like the Fink

2009-03-16T09:04:00.000-07:00

Last week I went to hear Daniel Finkelstein, chief leader writer of The Times, speak at an UJIA event. I knew that the evening’s discussion was going to centre on Israel – but I was pleasantly surprised when it turned into a masterclass on how to communicate effectively about its political landscape– as opposed to a history lesson.

All too many times, while sitting in a pub, I have wandered into what start as relaxed “chats” about Israel and felt my sanity slip away as I struggle to effectively put the Israeli side across.

I think the Fink Tank has got it right. Most people don’t think that the state of Israel shouldn’t exist and if you stick to the more macro arguments, a far better conversation will ensue. The minute the chat turns to which side of the school fence the bomb landed in, you can forget it.

Reminding people why the need for a state of Israel very much still exists is the way to go.

Also lambasting the BBC for being biased against the Israeli case, will only encourage people to think the views that you don’t want to promote, are the norm. Just name and shame the individual cases of bias. Don’t tar Aunty with one brush – especially with decisions like these coming to the fore.

Cresswell's mission impossible?

2009-03-16T03:51:00.000-07:00

Last week I profiled ITV's chief operating officer, John Cresswell, for Media Week. Here's my take on what he had to say about the hamstrung ITV's future:

Six hundred job cuts, total losses of £2.7bn in 2008 and a potential £300m drop in ad revenue in 2009 are just some of the challenges John Cresswell, ITV's chief operating officer, must successfully surmount in the coming year.

For a man facing one of the greatest challenges in UK broadcasting history - to keep the free-to-air commercial market leader afloat - he's on fairly good form. But then again, recent weeks have given him plenty of practice in batting away difficult questions about the future of the beleaguered broadcaster.

Over the past 18 months, ITV's share price has been decimated and the broadcaster embarked on its first major cost-cutting wave last October, slashing 1,000 jobs across the then 5,500-strong company.

ITV restructured its sales team and made as many efficiencies as it could, safe in the knowledge the regulators were coming round to cutting most of its public service broadcasting duties.

However, by the unveiling of ITV's 2008 results last week, in the pit of an ever-worsening recession, further cuts and desperate asset sales are being doled out by executive chairman Michael Grade. Gone are the online and content targets Grade set in 2007, due to poor market conditions.

Revised strategy
So how does Cresswell answer those who say ITV no longer has a strategy and is cost-cutting its way to profit? "The strategy is the same, but we have had to calibrate it for the volatile economy and remove the targets," he explains calmly.

"Our original strategy was in three parts: stabilise and grow our channels business, grow the production business, and increase online capability - all of which we have done."

However, with a consensus that the TV ad model is broken, as ITV's group strategy director Carolyn Fairbairn admitted last week at a London Business School Forum, ITV's options for delivering a healthy return to shareholders are running out.

Grade has warned that writing ITV off in the depths of a recession is "dangerous", blaming its current state on two factors - the recession and regulation.

The recession has certainly eroded the possibility of hitting the £1.2bn revenue target in Global Content by 2012, as this was heavily predicated on an acquisition strategy, a hard business plan to follow in a troubled economy - although ITV has bought companies such as independent producer 12 Yard.

Equally, the Competition Commission's decision to block Project Kangaroo, the joint VoD venture between ITV, Channel 4 and the BBC, has jeopardised the broadcaster's ambitious revenue target of £150m by 2012.

Furthermore, ITV's online strategy lacks detail. Cresswell is confident ITV will be able to raise revenue from its archived content, but is vague on how. Syndication on open platforms such as YouTube are possibilities, but ITV must retain the sales.

Cresswell says: "Online video is still at the heart of our strategy. Plenty of people are knocking at our door wanting to use our content." He is also hoping to salvage some of the Kangaroo technology, which he describes as "stunning".

When pushed, Cresswell discloses that he expects ITV.com to break even each month by the turn of the year. But that's the greatest indication of any sort of financial target an understandably strained Cresswell is willing to give.

The need for deregulation in terms of relaxing the contract rights renewal mechanism, which prevents ITV from raising its ad prices, is less compelling in the current market, with analysts saying the lack of advertiser demand will not warrant big price increases from ITV.

Cresswell says: "We don't think CRR is an appropriate remedy while ITV is substitutable. ITV is a premium brand, so we ought to able to charge a premium price - it's not about jacking up prices."

Cuts and asset sales form another part of ITV's survival plan. The sacred £1bn programming budget has finally been cut by £65m this year, with a further cut of £75m in 2011. Six hundred job cuts will span the whole business, with a large chunk coming from ITV Leeds. The commercial team will be spared yet another restructure, but there will still be job cuts.

Assets for sale
Friends Reunited is for sale and SDN, ITV's Freeview business and one of the company's most strategically and financially valuable business assets, is being ominously "reviewed".

Cresswell insists both assets will be sold only when the "time is right" and they aren't "forced sales". However, the depreciation of Friends Reunited and the low price SDN would fetch in the current market must smart.

Meanwhile, mergers and take overs are still low on the "save ITV" wish list. Cresswell kyboshes rumours of an ITV merger with Channel 4 and Five, calling it a piece of blue-sky thinking on one slide of a presentation to Lord Carter's Digital Britain steering committee. And he is very uncomfortable about a potential Channel 4/Five merger, since it would throw up "a lot of state aid issues".

Cresswell is not a fan of speculation - and he baulks at his name being included in a list of Grade's potential successors at the end of 2010. He says: "I have a very full day job at the moment and there is no point speculating on a process that is a year away and will be undertaken by the board."

Well, at least that's one certainty about ITV's future: Michael Grade will leave and, beyond that, who knows? As Cresswell concludes: "There is no point speculating. Only when you understand what your target is, then go for it."

But just what ITV can still aim for beyond basic survival in the current economic climate is seemingly a work furiously in progress.

Monkey Business

2009-03-11T07:22:00.000-07:00

Kathryn Hunter has broken many boundaries during her successful acting career, including being the first British actress to play King Lear. Now she is taking to the Young Vic stage as an ape man in a one-woman show, Kafka’s Monkey. She spoke to me about her career. Read it this week in The Stage. Full text to follow…

A Night Less Ordinary?

2009-03-09T17:10:00.000-07:00

Ok so tonight I went to see some London theatre courtesy of A Night Less Ordinary the government scheme to get people under 26 into theatres for free.

In the end it was £10 to see Joe Orton’s Entertaining Mr Sloane – long story but still pretty cheap considering it was at The Trafalgar Studios on the fourth row…

Having seen What the Butler Saw while at uni, I was excited to see another Orton play with the wonderful Imelda Staunton and the oh-so fashionable Matthew Horne aka Gavin from BBC Three’s Gavin and Stacey.

Well I wish I could say the absurd comedy of Orton tickled me pink, but it just didn’t. Staunton rose beautifully to the challenge of her character, Kath, a strange and lonely 40 year old woman - who takes in Mr Sloane (Horne) as a lodger. She quickly becomes his mother and lover all rolled into one but finds competition for his affections in the shape of her closet homosexual brother.

Then there is Dadda… the old doddering father who still lives with Staunton and jibber jabbers about. But that’s it. The play has a weak plot and to be honest I found it all one level. Most of the lines were shouted and the messages lost all meaning – not that I am sure there was all that much to learn.

Alas after last week’s triumph – Miller’s A View From the Bridge – which I really should have blogged about (but instead tweeted – apologies), tonight was a little too ordinary for my liking.

The Ultimate London Breakfast

2009-03-01T15:55:00.000-08:00

After much searching I have come to the conclusion that The Wolseley on Piccadilly is my favourite establishment in the big smoke for breakfast.

The food, service and décor all make for a truly wonderful experience. Extremely high ceilings and black and gold lacquered furnishings, give this place an oriental feel not too dissimilar to how I imagine life in imperial Shanghai to have been in the golden 1920s.

I personally recommend a fresh OJ, the pancakes and crispy bacon or the herb omelette…. However not quite worked my way through all the options yet and still desperate to get on the old kippers and mustard.

Make sure you book though and if you can aim for mid week – much higher chance of interesting celeb and politician spotting…. Always a bonus over some beautifully plated up pig.

Naturally my recommendation is totally professionally driven – the amount of media types in there at all hours is quite astonishing. I particularly enjoyed seeing Channel 4’s chief exec, Andy Duncan, deep in conversation with a colleague only two tables away from a pasty looking Tory boy George Osborne a couple of months ago post his oligarch scandal.

Not so 'Touched' sadly

2009-02-27T02:15:00.000-08:00

Massive apologies for the embarrassing hiatus….. I got myself Twittering and this poor blog suffered…. 140 characters just seems less daunting… but promise to be better!

So to catch up:
A couple of weeks ago I popped along to see ‘Touched…for the very first time’. A new one woman play written by Zoe Lewis debuting at the Trafalgar Studios with Sadie Frost in the leading/only role. My views are below – as printed in The Stage newspaper:

Sadie Frost’s return to the stage for the first time since 1988 was an exciting prospect and the celebrity-sprinkled audience was really rooting for her. The only problem? It was like Frost doing a mildly amusing stand-up show and not like Frost playing a plump girl from Manchester called Lesley who is obsessed with Madonna.

Sure she gets the northern accent and Lewis’ occasionally sharp and apt script makes the whole thing tick along easily enough, but it is more like watching a candidate presenting their speech and drama monologue exam entry.

Frost begins by playing Lesley at 14 and finishes playing her in her 40s. It’s fair to say she gets more convincing as she heads nearer her real-life age, but frustratingly the character never seems to get any deeper - nor does she accrue any wisdom.

Lewis is trying to show the effects of having a feminist mother as Lesley ends up with a great career but no husband or family of her own. And even when Madonna, her idol, opts into family life, although Lesley feels cheated (despite having a so-called fabulous life, job and friends), she still can’t shake the memory of the first boy she loved and ends up frustrated and alone.

You know from contextual reading that Lewis is reflecting parts of her own life, but the deeper debate you want Lesley to probe only skims the surface. Instead Lewis prefers her protagonist to waltz around the stage in fashion fad clothes to period music - which incidentally is wonderful, especially as Frost has a fabulously nubile figure and an extreme watchability - and only lightly muse on these issues. High points? Frost’s graceful movements and comic timing - despite several noticeable line stumbles.

So as the real-life paparazzi broke on to the stage and her celebrity mates cheered, Frost unfortunately remained Frost - right before the audience’s eyes.

A Simple Yet Powerful Reunion

2008-11-24T10:07:00.000-08:00

A lovely little production called Hope and Glory on in London at the Prince Edward in Bayswater:

You would be forgiven for fearing this play was going to be a little contrived from the sound of the premise: it’s set in heaven and centres on the reunion of two lovers who have been separated for 50 years, after the man was killed in action during the Second World War.

However, it comes as a wonderful surprise that the treatment of such a simple plot is handled with depth and very believable emotion. Antonia Reid and James Rose, who play the lovers, have a fantastic chemistry, so much so it is a little awkward for the audience at times, who are made to feel as if they are intruding on a very private conversation.

The language exchange is natural and the pace even. At times the script does waiver in its credibility, but controlled and sensitive acting keeps it on course. You learn about how this couple’s life could have been. He has watched her every move from heaven for the last half century and she has spent her life trying to move on but failing. All is not lost as they have the afterlife to pursue their dreams and an overriding sense of peace comes across.

An hour is long enough to get a taste of what such an anticipated reunion would be like, but short enough to leave you wondering what happened next.

The references to heaven and God were cringeworthy, but thankfully few and far between. Hammond’s roles are largely perfunctory and don’t add much value, for this play is about two people, and two people alone, having a heartfelt reunion that anyone, anywhere can relate to.

Finally: Art Worth Your Time

2008-10-21T07:49:00.000-07:00

If you are feeling bored by art exhibitions at the moment – Francis Bacon at the Tate Britain should definitely sort you out.

No punches are pulled by the curators of this show as Bacon’s warped psyche unashamedly fills 10 rooms.

And yet I cried during this exhibition. Certain friends have found his portfolio frightening and disturbing – and yet I found it clever and emotional.

A pal of mine described him as a scruffy homosexual and with one look at photos of his studio, you can see why a neat-freak gay guy might say that, but you need to look closer.

Yes he lived the Soho boho life before Soho itself even knew it was gay and liberated. Yes he cavorted in wine bars till the early hours and drank himself silly – but he had a mind and a real talent.

He managed to make my boyfriend, even in his own hungover state, feel like he understood him. Bacon in his earlier work used cubes drawn around people to represent the entrapment people feel on a daily basis. Your job, your goals, the expectations of others – it’s all there on his canvases.

I love the way he chose the mouth to represent emotion. When his work progresses on to portraits of the people who played a key role in his life, sometimes the mouth is the only part of the face which you can pick out. Once you have identified that - you can identify any subject's mood. It’s an incredibly powerful way of tracing a person’s form and feeling. With Bacon’s painted people – start with the mouth and then the rest sort of follows. The angular twists in his faces and the blurred vision of limbs gives an electrifying image of movement, struggle and animation.

Triptychs then start to play a key role in his work. Three huge panels showing the development of an image or scene. My tears fell in the room dedicated to his lover George Dyer, who killed himself before Bacon’s largest solo show in Paris.

The mundane images of Dyer coming home or even sitting on the loo just sum up those normal parts of daily life missed and gone forever after death becomes reality to the ones you love.

Go see Bacon but what’s more enjoy it because, compared to Rothko at the Tate Modern, there’s talent to behold and admire. Plus you know what you are seeing and feel free to interpret something of substance. It’s that good, the Tate Britain team don’t even need to spend months writing lengthy side panels of explanation. The art speaks for itself and what’s more – it actually says something worthy of your attention.

Give Me American Gangster Any Day

2008-10-13T10:10:00.000-07:00

Gomorrah was billed as a real look at the real mafia. None of this Americanised schmaltz with the likes of DeNiro and Pesci beating up people with pay phones while shovelling crazy amounts of coke up their schnozzes. And yet I found myself wishing I was watching Casino or Goodfellas only half an hour into this monster three hour long effort.

It fell somewhere between a documentary and a film – not a good place for any piece of entertainment to lie.

Several separates stories were going on at once and yet there was no attempt to weave them together in any effective or artistic way. This left me confused and frustrated.

There needed to be a prologue to this film to explain what the Gomorrah actually is and how there are two sides to the battle and which part of the city of Naples is involved in which part. Basically this ‘docufilm’ needed a prologue. No director should assume an intelligent and well read audience. A film goer should be able to go into any cinema, sit down at the start of a film and be entertained and educated.

I don’t object to being confused, even for the entire duration of a film, (my patience runs a lot longer than a lot of my friends) as long as I am enlightened at the end of it.

Gomorrah just ends. And after far too long in my opinion.

Yes there’s an epilogue but not one which connects to the drama you have just seen therefore it fails to elicit an emotional response – it was kind like the end of a bloody BBC documentary a new research team have put together.

I am not doubting the acting was good – it was that good I think it was nearly real – as in documentary real – but it just failed to entertain or rivet me – the one duty of a filmmaker.
Call me callous as I believe the real story of the mafia is no where near as sexy as the first halves of most Scorsese films but at least they grab you.

Equally I hate it when these gangster films are too much like Guy Ritchie’s mob attempts or others like Layer Cake. The Business (director – Nick Love) however, was understated and quite budget but genius – violent and yet entertaining.

Directors – stay true to authenticity, but give us, the audience, something to chew on too. Make a documentary and then our expectations are different – but make a film – we need something more.

A Windy Dream of a Night

2008-10-05T13:39:00.000-07:00

The last night of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Globe was really wonderful and even the groundlings would agree – despite England’s weather dishing out the worse rain and wind it had.

The trick with all Shakespeare is really listening to the dialogue. It moves quick and its not quite our language any more, but the trick of good directing and acting, is to give that spice and modern twist that when you do tune in, you marvel at the bard’s genius.

Jonathan Munby did that with this inspired production. Particularly wonderful was Paul Hunter playing Bottom. I know the role instantly gives the actor a head start in terms of popularity stakes, but he really acted his ass off – ‘scuse the pun and got the rowdy mob giggling.

A spurned Helena played by Laura Rogers played her role with a strong wit and understanding of character. Very limited set made for imaginative use of props and the fairy queen’s throne – a certain huge pink rose – made all female audience members, regardless of age, a little green with envy.

The Dream is a silly one and yes a little unbelievable as unrequited love becomes requited with the juice of a magic flower in the fairy kingdom, and yet the madness and frivolity of it all, made for joyful watching – even for drenched groundlings.

Lacklustre...

2008-10-03T08:26:00.000-07:00

This week I reviewed Bolt Production’s Lusting After Pipino’s Wife at London's Tabard Theatre for The Stage newspaper:

Unfortunately this play fails to deliver what it says on the tin: “a bitterly sharp, caustic comedy set on the urban battlefront of the war of the sexes.”

Instead the audience are faced with a distinctly unsharp script, with unconvincing verbal exchanges. No battle of the sexes properly ensues - just babyish gripes.

The premise is quite simple - two pairs of friends trying to figure out love and life. Two of them get it together, while the other two try and put them off due to their own insecurities.

It’s a difficult one to call as a lot of the fault needs to be attributed to the play’s author, Sam Henry Kass. Actors can only work with the words they have been handed, and this is a play where the dialogue is totally contrived and characters are more caricatures than three-dimensional people.

However, inspired directing and skilled acting will always help a poor script improve in the eyes of an audience. Unfortunately again though, the actors move clumsily around the stage and are poorly positioned when exchanging dialogue. There was too much gesticulation and not enough pauses to allow any reality to sink in.

Even the mores sensitive lines are lost in the actors’ rushed monologues. You can see the thinking behind the characterisation, but it just doesn’t come through.

Small gestures aren’t small enough, and large ones are too much. But on the whole you know these actors are better than the script selected for them.

No Errors in this Comedy

2008-09-29T09:29:00.000-07:00

Last week I reviewed the Warhorse Theatreworks’ imaginative production of Comedy of Errors at London's Cockpit Theatre for The Stage newspaper:

This take on one of Shakespeare’s loveliest farces is done with skill and a wonderful lightness of touch.

Set in a seaside town, the actors proceed to remain faithful to a script centred on the classic identity mix-up. Two sets of twins, two sisters and a very camp police officer are just a few of the characters you will meet. What more could you ask for in a line-up?

But what’s truly brilliant about this adaptation is the energy and interpretation of this farcical tale. Music plays an integral part to the piece and some fantastic dancing and singing contemporises certain scenes. The jokes fly thick and fast, with lots of ad libbing that only increases the chuckle factor.

Particularly strong performances came through from the twin slaves - the two Dromios - played by Monique K Squeri and Maeve Leahy. Their physical synchronisation and facial expressions were a joy to watch - but to be honest, there isn’t a weak link in this team.
Stephen Shapland and Leahy must also be mentioned for their musical performances in addition to fine acting.

The wardrobe mistress has gone to town creating a forties war-time pin-up look for the women and a classic suited look accompanied with trilbies for the men.

Associate directors Wegrzyn and Harvey really have created a well paced and finely crafted treat for both the ears and eyes. The choreography, music and comic timing all weave together effortlessly and leave you smiling as you exit this colourful show.

The Dutiful Duchess

2008-09-12T09:18:00.000-07:00

Finally I like Keira Knightley. Five films, endless poster campaigns and hundreds of magazine interviews later, I like her and it’s her latest role as the Duchess of Devonshire that has swung it.

She’s grown up and it shows. I found the film, contrary to many reviews, strong and thought provoking. Forget the Diana comparisons, although the three person marriage reference rings spookily true, the Duchess of Devonshire is a well brought up woman who only cheats on her husband once cheated and what’s more, she sticks the marriage out till death for the enduring love of her children.

I am thrilled that such entrapment doesn’t have to be the case for men or women today, but I think the restraint Knightley’s character shows in the face of such unhappiness and humiliation by her emotionally retarded husband, the Duke, Ralph Fiennes, is awe-inspiring. It reminded me of the quiet strength women had to have before they could openly emancipate themselves.

Knightley’s performance is convincing and the stuff that goose-pimples are made of. A few years ago watching her try to convey the emotion that comes with giving up a child or the most precious thing of all, oneself, wouldn’t have convinced me or provoked my sympathy, However in the Duchess, when Knightley falls, we fall the whole way with her.

Saint Joan - The Survivor

2008-09-08T08:44:00.000-07:00

I took my mother to see Joan Rivers last week. Some may say a little blue for one’s mother – but I think my mother is the exact target audience for Joan’s swearing and sick humour.

This is because although she still shocks my age group, we’re shocked because this woman is old enough to be our grandmother and not because what she’s saying is truly awful.

Whereas my mother was actually wincing and then howling with appalled laughter.
The show: Joan Rivers, A Work in Progress, is an interesting concept. Half play, half stand up – Rivers exposes her life story but within the context of a half scripted drama, you can appreciate her more at a distance and reflect on her life experiences and not just laugh absent-mindedly at them.

And she’s had it tough, in parts. As expected, the suicide of her husband comes up and compared to her previous comic treatment of this tragic episode, she shows the audience some of how it must have really felt and brought a tear to my eye with her vivid recollection.

But despite all the personal trauma, I think the saddest and most wonderful thing about Rivers' life is her addiction to being a star. The whole play occurs in her dressing room – the place she reveals will always feel like home. It’s sad because you can be cast out and be nothing one day, and wonderful, because when you own it, you own the world.

I personally didn’t know Rivers had been cast out of TV for nearly 20 years and her comeback was her sharp red carpet commentary role. I’ve grown up with ‘that’ being Joan Rivers – nor did I know that she coined the crass yet catchy phrase: “Who are you wearing?”

I love that and the show ends on a real high – showing Rivers as the fighter she really is while walking up a lovely fake red carpet, having just placed her fabulous feathered wig on her head.

Olympics? What Olympics?

2008-08-11T16:17:00.000-07:00

The Olympics are finally here. Except you might not have caught that much of them yet.

If you don’t have Sky, or fancy watching them on your computer (which you probably spend all day looking at), the BBC is only showing coverage between 7 and 8pm on weeknights.

Well the tax-paying general public can really enjoy catching that easy slot. Thanks Auntie.

Maybe the idea underpinning this piece of scheduling genius is if we miss this set of games, we can work really hard to ensure we can afford the next lot in our own backyard.

Go Team GB. Catch you in 2012 if I’m lucky.

We Love the Pain

2008-08-11T15:34:00.000-07:00

Out clubbing it in Manchester on Saturday night, I was pleasantly surprised that a woman was commanding the decks in a bar slap bang in the middle of the Northern Quarter = cruddy area of Manc land that is now considered ridiculously chic, think Hoxton.

Anyway there she was. Through the drunken haze she appeared like a beacon of understated cool. Big headphones, thick fringe and a contained enthusiasm – this female DJ rocked a joint filled with Liam Gallagher throw-backs and fat Mancs loving their booze filled weekend freedom.

And then she did it. Having convinced the bar owner some bird could control the decks and a too-kool-for-skool Northern crowd, she beautifully abused her dominance and started playing power ballads.

Sheer genius. By that point most men were too pissed to hide the fact they loved them as much as women. But the women no longer cared for their male specie. They were dead to us now as we entered the world of massive 80s hair and broken hearts. We all turned and saluted the Aphrodite of the decks for fulfilling our every need.

She played them all and gave us the night. The only things missing were our hairbrushes and bathroom mirrors. But then came the finish and what a finish it was: Bonnie Tyler, Total Eclipse of the Heart. What else?

To be honest I’m still not quite sure what happened next. Sheer ecstasy? Crazy displays of passion you never show anyone other than your reflection? But the mixture of the booze and the joy that so many other people felt the power and pain of the words in the same way, just sent us all into an orgiastic frenzy. Head-banging ensued, as did passionate screaming.

But it was all for the love of that female DJ. She knew more than any other man what a woman really needed at the end of a boozy night, and it was definitely Bonnie Tyler, not a wet snog.

Ah Manchester, the cream of culture.

Wonderful Warbling Walters

2008-08-05T03:24:00.000-07:00

“Take your brain out and leave it by the door.”

That was the advice given to me before I went off with my excitable female friends to see Meryl Streep live the dream in this summer’s cure to recession blues – Mamma Mia.

It’s awful for at least the first 15 minutes – but then you slowly stop cringing, peep through your fingers and begin to smile.

What I loved is the cast really take the mickey out of themselves and that’s what makes this film fun as opposed to terrible. But actually Meryl Streep and her daughter, Amanda Seyfried, have no need to do that – as they can really sing and manage quite moving performances in the middle of a camp flapping Colin Firth and a constipated tone-deaf Pierce Brosnan.

But the real comic genius is, as ever, Julie Walters. Always the consummate professional, I believe everything that woman touches turns to gold. She cries, I cry. She laughs, I laugh. And that is the mark of true acting genius.

Pankhurst Would Be So Proud

2008-08-05T02:48:00.000-07:00

Two nights ago I watched with keen interest as a couple of typical middle England Hampshire ladies went on a world tour of legal brothels.

Their mission? To find the perfect brothel to bring back to the UK. Then once having created that, with Channel 4 reporter Nicky Taylor’s help, inside a caravan, - may I add - legal loopholes and all - push for the legalisation of brothels in the UK.

Prostitution is legal. Brothels aren’t. Police have prostitution liaison officers that visit brothels and have cups of tea while on a visit. The Inland Revenue take brothel owners’ money but with the caveat that on your tax return you write ‘massage parlours’ as your source of income and not brothel keeping – although the two are the same.

But remember you can go to prison for running a brothel.

Confused? I am. As are most of England. These Hampshire ladies, Jean Johnson, 62, and Shirley Landells, 73, are part of the Women’s Institute – the most wonderfully English female institution. After those five prostitutes were murdered in Ipswich (see my blog entry dated: 15/12/06) they made it a resolution to help make prostitutes’ lives safer and secured the backing of the Hampshire WI.

They are now on a mission to convince the members of the national WI to back their resolution and have already delivered a petition to 10 Downing St.

I will watch their progress with keen interest and have already started thinking about joining the WI, even though I am in my twenties, don’t have two black Labradors or a baking tin.

If anyone can change this befuddled part of the law and help make prostitutes lives safer, it will be the WI. It makes so much sense – I can’t believe it hasn’t been attempted sooner by its membership. Watching the programme I was taken back to my school days, when I loved learning about the Pankhursts and their mission to emancipate women in a whole other way. I hope the WI will achieve what no other group has been able to, finally sorting out this grey area of UK legislation while keeping working for the improved conditions in a profession that will never go away.

The suffragettes have cometh again – accept this time they’re tackling sex not votes – but still a shed load of hypocrisy all over again.

So women let’s unite and join our nearest WI’s today.
http://www.thewi.org.uk/section.aspx?id=7

Live or Die by the Pen

2008-08-04T09:09:00.000-07:00

I can’t decide – is it better to tell a friend what you really thought after seeing their play or to lie to them?

This question is even more confusing for me, as I also review theatre professionally so my opinion is often sought out post-production by my actor friends. I try to tell them I’m there to relax and ‘I know nothing’ in a mock Italian accent, but despite my protests – I always end up on the spot and feeling quite awful about anything I say.

I only ask this because I have been to a number of Edinburgh previews lately and, well…they’ve been interesting.

So I tried to tell the truth after one of the more out-there shows I attended, but when I opened my mouth? Silence. I stood there opening and shutting my paralysed trap like a confused fish. How could I slate any part of what my friend had been working on for the last year? How could I tell him I failed to understand or connect with anything he has spent his life crafting? So I smiled and told him it needed more structure and it was like Marmite – people will either love it or hate it.

I now feel like a terrible friend and an even worse critic. I’ve had to review some really awful things in the past but I think the key to a good appraisal is to recognise some skill or effort that will be in there, regardless of how deep sometimes. I have issues even being a critic half the time. What gives me the eye? What gives me the right to trash or praise a piece of work that has taken months, in mere seconds?

But then it comes down to the fact that I care too and will do my utmost to ensure it is a fair reflection of what the audience can expect. Because at the end of the day, theatre is a commercial transaction like anything else and those customers have a right to know how their money and time is going to be spent. But as it’s all so incredibly objective, reviewers have a duty to ensure their copy is as balanced as possible so there is room for a difference of opinion and the play doesn’t face instant ruin.

In the age of the blogger, (slightly ironic in light of where I am writing right now), there is an argument that professional critics are less necessary, but I honestly think they are more essential now than ever before. Professional criticism carries a great deal of responsibility with it. An actor or director’s project can live or die by your words – so reviewers better choose them carefully and not just gape like a confused fish.

Me, Myself and Ms Head

2008-08-04T08:18:00.000-07:00

Here is the unabridged version of my review for The Stage newspaper of 'A Conversation with Edith Head' - a play currently showing in the Studio Space, Leicester Square Theatre, July 29 - August 31:

In one sense she is the “master of self promotion” and in another, she’s “the woman who isn’t there”. It’s this diversity of character aptly portrayed by Susan Claassen, that makes ‘A Conversation with Edith Head’ such lovely watching.

Edith Head, arguably the greatest ever costume designer to the stars, has come to London in the shape of Susan Claassen. In her time, this small determined power-force, won eight Oscars, had a career spanning 58 years first at Paramount and then Universal, and dressed all the greats, from Mae West to Grace Kelly. She died at the grand age of 83 in 1981.

It was supposedly after watching a TV biography of Ms Head, Susan Claassen knew she could play her and promptly with Paddy Calistro, co-author of Head’s posthumous autobiography, joined forces to write this script

And she was right. Set in 1981 while working on Steve Martin’s ‘Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid’, you are welcomed as an audience who has come armed with questions and a burning curiosity about Head’s world. Even if you know nothing about her or the stars she clothed, you can just tell from Claassen’s high quality of acting, she is capturing Head’s essence with her every crafted move. She actually becomes her, a feat helped also by the fact she bears a strong resemblance to Head. The loving way Claassen handles clothes, her biting wit when answering the planted questions from the floor, and even her exaggerations of success, seems uncanny and adds to the charm of this show.

The set is stunning; littered with mannequins, autographed photographs of Hollywood stars and of course, her treasured Oscars.

It is however, a show with quite limited appeal. You either need to know about Head or really want to know about her. You can’t recommended this play to just anyone because it really is like an evening with Edith Head and therefore not something everyone would sign up for.

Mae West once said to Head, “When you find your magic, stick with it”. Head certainly found hers but the realisation that she only ever threw her magic onto others and spent her life in someone else’s shadow, is one realisation too many by the end of the show, which Claassen portrays with aplomb.

Co-authors, Claassen and Calistro, do assume a certain audience, but if you fit the bill, you’re in for a great evening of old-school glamour and wonderful recollections.

See my review at: http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/21448/a-conversation-with-edith-head

Notting Hill's alternative food market...

2008-07-28T10:31:00.000-07:00

Ok so another secret treasure I had heard about on the grapevine is a food market, tucked behind Waterstones, just next to Notting Hill Gate Tube stop.

What happens? I leg it up there from my humble abode on Ladbroke Grove on Saturday to find it shuts at 1pm. What time was it? 1.15pm. A girl’s gotta eat after a Friday night out but she’s also gotta sleep!

So until next week…..

London's Hidden Oasis

2008-07-28T09:50:00.000-07:00

It may have been hot this weekend but I have found the perfect answer – a secret oasis tucked away in the Victoria & Albert Museum.

The John Madejski Garden is a beautiful garden-cum-restaurant with a stunning oval cool shallow pool in the centre. Set in one of the picturesque courtyards, it is surrounded by blue and purple hydrangeas and intricate green plastic screens – as inspired by a Chinese garden.

Children and adults paddle quietly, while others look on sipping a glass of rose or nibbling some moist carrot cake.

Paddling is seriously wonderful in the heat. Something about getting your ankles and nothing else wet, is incredibly relaxing and soothing. It hits that spot that needed cooling while giving you a floaty and pensive feeling.

It takes you back to your childhood except paddling occurred back then in a garden encircled by fence as opposed to the 19th century grandeur of the buildings at the V & A.

I would have loved to report my opinions on the exhibitions, especially the Supremes and the new jewellery show, but alas I paddled till closing time, enamoured by the coolness of the water and the beauty of my surroundings.
So go find this secret spot but don’t tell everyone.

Brotherly and Sisterly Love

2008-07-18T09:37:00.000-07:00

I watched the last episode of the current series of American drama, Brothers and Sisters, this week and surprise surprise, was in floods of tears by the end of it.

I don’t know what it is about that show but it gets me every time. It must be a combination of Sally Field’s and Calista Flockhart’s big watery eyes locking and sharing an emotional moment practically every five minutes that does it.

As a mother and daughter pair – it could not be more perfectly cast. I loved Ally McBeal (Flockhart’s first slightly manic comedic role), an insane amount and needless to say once I started office life, was more than dismayed to learn not every company has unisex toilets where people break into Barry White at the flush of a loo - or a bar with Vonda Shepherd encouraging all employees to karaoke with her.

What’s more, the reappearance of Rachel Griffiths from my previous favourite American drama, Six Feet Under, is a joy.

Call me a soft touch but I find the family relationships in this programme, although totally contrived at times, convincing and heart-warming – making for addictive watching.

And what with a near bout of incest being thrown into the mix, it’s getting ever-so-slightly raunchier.

However Brookside still wins hands-down with its full-on incest tale of Nat and Georgia! Oh them were the days when TV knew how to really shock…

Travel East with the Tate this Summer

2008-07-13T15:51:00.000-07:00

‘Leila’ is the real star of the Tate Britain’s 'The Lure of the East’ exhibition. A curvaceous woman, draped swathes of red and gold material, reclining in a harem, her eyes follow you around the gallery.

This exhibition gathers together an impressive collection of paintings made by British artists of the Orient in the mid 19th century. The Orient in this context refers to the parts of the eastern Mediterranean world which could be accessed with relative ease after transport developments in the 1830s, namely: Palestine, Egypt and Turkey.

The Tate curators once again have excelled themselves and not only created an intelligent collection but also used the space thoughtfully. For instance in the room 5, ‘Harem and Home’, an attractive screen has been erected in the centre to demark the two areas clearly. And the way the light trickles through the prettily shaped gauze, only authenticates the atmosphere and makes you feel like you have walked into a shisha bar in Istanbul way back in the day.

The paintings of Jerusalem, ‘The Holy City’, were particularly arresting. The Wailing Wall and Dome of the Rock, are shown so clearly, they have a photo-quality to them.

But it is ‘Leila’ that arouses, because it is ‘Leila’ who epitomises what the British came to associate with these wondrous-surrounding harems in East. She has luscious lips like a Rossetti and a bountiful figure Beryl Cook’s women would envy. But it is her sexual confidence that will grab both male and female spectators alike. And despite the rest of the paintings in the room giving a supposedly more realistic vision of how the harem functioned on a daily basis (i.e. it was just a place for women to congregate – no eroticism involved) it is ‘Leila’s’ painter, Frank Dicksee, whom we all want to believe.

The Orient in the mid 19th century conjures up images of exotic spices, crowded market places, plumes of smoke and mysterious women smiling through shimmering veils.

If you want to keep the dream alive, go visit Tate Britain and spend some with ‘Leila’ in room 5. You will be transported to that very place.

2007-07-09T08:01:00.000-07:00

Rebekah Wade eat your heart out - Courtney Cox is set to sex up our image of the typical tabloid editor in this evening's new sitcom 'Dirt'. Channel 5 US is going to deliver a helping of smutty journalism every Monday starting from today.

Cox will shock loyal Monica Geller fans as she plays a character still obsessed with control but in a more power-hungry and relentlessly evil way.

Top tip? Watch out for the reading-proofs-on-the-bed scene. Monica would be physically ill at the thought.

2007-07-09T06:07:00.000-07:00

Rupert Murdoch is a busy busy man. His plan to take over the Wall Street Journal seems to have finally worked. The Bancroft family have for whatever reason 'relaxed' and Dow Jones's jewel will fall into the lap of Murdoch very soon.

Ranked no.2 in today's The Guardian Media 100, Murdoch is as powerful as ever with his raft of dot.com assets including the mighty Myspace bought earlier this year - but is the acquisition of WSJ one step too far?

I am all for the free markets inevitably born out of capitalism, leading to the creation of moguls - but surely it is dangerous for so much media control to be in the hands of one man?

Media owners will always be around but such conglomeration is worrying. All our news will be skewed one way and one way alone. Within a couple of years the WSJ will be providing the content for Fox News - a concept I find scary and bewildering. The future of our industry is becoming very narrow indeed – ironic in this age of mass information and convergence some may say.

The Great British Summer of Food and Literature

2007-06-23T07:26:00.000-07:00

This summer is the summer of highbrow festivals for me. Having done the whole Glastonbury, V and Leeds fest thing – I am trying something new. I am not saying my days of long drops and no showering are over – just temporarily suspended.

First I tried The Guardian Literary Festival held in the quaint Hay-on-Wye. A fabulous day of bimbling around crazily full bookshops, drinking real ale and listening to the tales of Gwyn Thomas (Wales’s poet laureate) was had and I felt all the more culturally enriched for it. The organisation was superb and the atmosphere one of real middle-class middle-England fabulousness.

I would attend again but definitely making sure I booked to see more speakers in advance. As lovely as Gwyn Thomas’s recollections of the Welsh landscape were, I felt the musings of Alan Yentob and Andrew Marr may have been more up my street – had they not been sold out. I would have also loved the opportunity to join the walk-out on Vivienne Westwood’s ramblings about white rabbits and top hats. The queen of British fashion thought nonsensical pretentious talk would curry her some favour amongst the literary lovers. Unfortunately for her - they can smell a fake far off and with her tickets being the most expensive of the day – the mutiny was fully justified by all accounts.

Next up was the ‘taste’ of London festival. Another very civilised expedition indeed. Regents Park was a wonderful backdrop for the capital’s best chefs to display their wares. Although we were let in 15 minutes late, the rest of the day ran without a hitch. In fact it all became a bit of a blur –what with all the free sherry, port and wine tasters going round every time I turned a corner. Le Gavroche served us braised beef with dauphinoise potatoes and lobster and brandy soup. Cocoon dished up beef on hot rocks and steamed sea bass dumplings. Michael Moore stuffed us with duck and plum sauce, scallop wontons and tuna slices spiced with wasabi. The list goes on and on and on.

The Leffe tent held a beer tasting master class – which gave us shelter at the perfect time during the half hour the heavens chose to open. I never realised just how civilised drinking beer could be. For future referece, order Leffe Brun with a dark chocolate dessert and crème brulee with Leffe Blonde. Hoegaarden partners well with spicy foods like curry whereas cherry beer complements lemon desserts. I think beer gets a hard time. If you know what you are doing, beer is just as complicated and pretentious as wine!

As I waddled home, fully ashamed of how full and slightly drunk I was – I felt happy, relaxed and like a full-on foodie.

What’s more I was still squeaky clean (bar a little chocolate sauce here and there) and had no need to delouse myself like post Glasto. Literary and food fests could be the way forward after all, for the more mature and civilised me.

Web 2.0 Gets Dangerous

2007-05-21T16:40:00.001-07:00

Heat just got better. Now not only can you read about Jordan's lax parenting - you can watch footage of it too at the newly launched the magazine's new website.
Life is just not right at the moment. And it's about to get much much worse with Jodie Marsh's television quest to find a man. Intrigued? Caitlin Moran's got it sorted.

Oldest Listings Magazine Flops

2007-05-14T06:34:00.000-07:00

A few months back I applied for a reporter post on one of Europe's oldest listings magazine: What's on in London and was knocked back because I wasn't available to start right away - down to me wanting to complete my journalism diploma.

And how happy I am that this was the choice I made. Today it has emerged in MediaGuardian that Strand Magazines, publisher of the ill-fated copy, has gone bust and left numerous contributors thousands of pounds out of pocket.

I just hope these journalists are duly compensated. To be honest I really wasn't impressed with the printed copy I saw. Timeout for now, has cornered the listings market and something slightly more impressive will have to emerge to steal the limelight.

Theatre Watch: The New Statesman

2007-05-10T16:13:00.000-07:00

I went to the theatre last week to see Rik Mayall do his worst in The New Statesman. It couldn't have been more politically pertinent in light of Blair's imminent departure. Here were my thoughts:

Rik Mayall is back and doing what he does best: being very pervy and very funny. Alan B’stard has moved over to New Labour because under Blair, it’s more conservative than the Tory party. In his bid to try and join the exclusive ‘Trillionaires Club’ who are ruling the world, he seduces Condoleezza Rice, kidnaps Tony Blair and orders the assassination of Arabella Lucretia B’stard – one of his five wives.

Mayall settles comfortably back into the role of B’stard – the nation’s favourite right-wing politician. His pelvic thrusts, flared nostrils and endless two finger signs made the audience weep with laughter. The jokes were politically current and apt – the only thing was – it didn’t quite work as a play.

The other characters were either badly developed or badly acted - or possibly even both. It was too close to call. The New Statesmen is definitely a one man show and seemed more like a stand-up performance with some cringe-worthy ancillaries cluttering the stage, as opposed to a well-rounded play with a cast of distinguished comedic players.

Jon Culshaw’s voiceover of Blair adds comedy value but nothing made the tears roll more than the man himself: Alan B’stard – nearly the most amoral politician of his generation.

D-Day for Blair

2007-05-10T15:51:00.000-07:00

Well it's here. Blair is going and we finally have a date 27th June and after his moving speech today - I'm pretty gutted.

I particularly liked the way he said he came into office 10 years ago as an optimist and was leaving still with that characteristic intact. Yet again he gave a speech filled with those slightly strange pauses but delivered the usual quality of thought in an eloquent and heartfelt manner.

I think everyone today in our "blessed nation" (as Blair put it) will be feeling the void they didn't know they would - just as I predicted a couple of posts ago and much to my delight the BBC's Nick Robinson said today in his blog too!

Blair has kept the UK, with its lack of empire or pretty much anything else to offer, on the international political stage. Admittedly through a lot of shoulder-to-shoulder standing with Bush, but anyone who has a problem with that needs to cast their over the last century's political history and see the same pattern emerge. Macmillan did it with JFK in order to get nuclear powers, Thatcher with Reagan to get support in the Falklands and now Blair in order to keep our place in international politics.

He has been an incredible statesman and in this age of increasing summitry - this couldn't be a handier asset. The world knows the UK via Blair which I am proud of. 10 years in the business - he knows what he's doing. I am just not feeling too confident about the world knowing my country via Gordon Brown yet.

Bottombrushing Drives Women To The Tills

2007-05-04T09:13:00.000-07:00

A wonderful new word was introduced into my life today: bottombrushing. Apparently the reason why women buy magazines quickly in shops as opposed to standing there for hours reading them like men (and then often not buying) is because they do not like to be bottombrushed by other shoppers passing through the aisle.
That is genius market research.
Mel Nichols, from Haymarket came in and spoke to us today about job applications. Not only did he tell us about bottombrushing, he gave us some very handy tips too.
The search for a job continues....

We're all Blair's Babes

2007-05-01T17:52:00.000-07:00

Just a query: Is anyone else finding it slightly unnerving living in a country where we know our leader, elected to serve his whole term, is about to step down? It's quite a strange reality and slightly unsettling in these dangerous times.

Gordon Brown will be our leader within the next few weeks. Fact. And all the Labour Party can do is pray that the Iraq legacy dies with Blair. I personally feel this is totally unfair and as ever, the mob is fickle and loves a scapegoat.

He has been our leader for 10 years and is definitely the politician of our times. I don't profess to love all he has done, but by God he has done well. His oratory skills are phenomenal, diplomacy brilliant (the special relationship has not seen such good days since Reagan and Thatcher) and his capability to seem to genuine in the face of all adversity, is unique.

Testament to all this was the eagerness of the people to meet him last week on his tour of the UK. Suddenly the outrage of the Iraq war was forgotten and the British general public were clamouring for a look.

We will miss Blair whether we realise it or not.

Ramsay does pubs? F***ing Brilliant

2007-05-01T17:19:00.000-07:00

I did go to The Narrow, Gordon Ramsay's first pub, last week and promised to report back. The food was stunning. The location not so much.

Foodwise - very reasonable as promised on the tin. £47 for two people who both had starters and mains and 3 glasses of booze between them is pretty good value I thought. And for such high quality food as well.

For starters: the homemade pork pie's pastry was wholesome and everything pastry should be. Even the usual stodgy filling, seemed light, flavoursome and full of goodness (as opposed to fat). My partner's thick white onion and garlic soup looked and tasted the part. Both thick and creamy, it went down as smoothly as a warm sorbet.

After such a fine start we were pretty stuffed but with resolute determination we mustered up the energy to prepare ourselves for our hearty mains. Mine was battered monkfish, hand cut chips and peas. (note the menu doesn't say that the monkfish is battered but I was happy all the same) The beer and vodka(?) batter melted with a drop of saliva and the pure white meaty fish treat inside, flaked beautifully with each bite. And I don't even usually like peas, but with some of his fresh tartar sauce, even they were irresistible.

The man's slightly strange-sounding lamb-neck pie with a buttery mash was equally as delicious. Well so his empty plate and gravy smattered tash seemed to say as I did not sample his food for fear of not being able to finish my own.

Unfortunately we were beaten by the time the dessert menus came round - but the cheese plate did look very tempting to finish my wholesome posh pub grub eating experience off.

The Narrow is situated on the quiet banks of the Thames just down from Canary Wharf - that eerie patch of land which is so redeveloped that all the housing looks like it is from a Barratt Homes advert- a sort of dull post modern version of Pleasantville. You either get the DLR there or drive - as there is a wonderful private car park. And although the outside part would be lovely on a summer's Sunday, it just felt a little cold and isolated. The restaurant itself isn't huge and lacks the flair of its chef's character - or anyone else's for that matter.

My advice? Go for the warmth and perfection of the food but not the building or location.

News Loves Me

2007-05-01T17:00:00.000-07:00

Speaking of journalists on the news, (see post below) the BBC's director general Mark Thompson has declared this setup as the future of news presenting. Poor old Moira Stewart has lost her regular gig (even though they have been casually edging her out for years) and demanded to know why.

Well in this was her answer. Citing the example of the 10 O’Clock Newsand BBC Breakfast News, Thompson said: “We tend to use journalists to read the news headlines.”

This makes me very happy indeed. I have made the right decision to formally train as a journo and not just try and cruise on to news-reading because I have an inoffensive face and well-dyed blonde hair! I am what the people want. Huw Edwards went to Cardiff University to do my course too and see him now.

I am aware that I have trained as a magazine journo but I am hoping when I am older, slightly curvier around the edges and wiser, I could seamlessly hop across to the small screen for some Sunday morning culture show action or just read the news as well as Anna Ford did. After all, her dulcet tones are something to aspire to.

I am sorry Moira but you have had a good innings. The talk shows you will now be booked on to discuss your woe and the inevitable publishing of your autobiography will set you up for life. Let the TV dawning of the journalist cometh.

Trade With Style

2007-05-01T16:18:00.000-07:00

So being quite new to the world of trade journalism - I didn't know what to expect. I found it highly specialist, news-heavy and quite hard work. I have a great deal of respect for the people of The Stage newspaper - and that is not because they have given me some freelancing to do - it is because they really are experts in their field and the total authority in theatrical industry.

In only my short time with them in the office, I already feel like what I thought was a broad knowledge of theatre has widened and deepened dramatically ('scuse the pun). Ballet press conferences, the industry's richest and Oxford Playhouse folklore are now all part of the grey matter I am forced to call my brain.

Trade journalism may not be as glamorous as consumer but it is just as thorough and interesting - and fully ahead of its own game every step of the way. I also think it is amazing how the broadsheets pick up stories from the trade publications and run with them like they have never been printed. Last week for instance, Alistair Smith, the news editor, broke this story and it was covered the following week by all the newspapers and television news. He was invited to speak on both Sky News and Channel Five news and off he went to be their specialist spokesperson.

I am liking this increasing blurring of print and broadcast boundaries. Being an expert on TV sounds good to me. In fact just being an expert sounds really appealing.

Off to a press conference tomorrow on digital archiving. Tres excited and looking forward to reporting back. I just hope the tasty snacks on offer are as delicious as the pastries I devoured at today's conference.

Hear Her Now

2007-04-29T08:52:00.000-07:00

As promised here is my interview with the alt.folk princess herself. Check out the link to her new single London Town and for more of a taste: www.myspace.com/lauramarling.
Absolutely infectious.

Alt.folk gets a princess

2007-04-16T10:53:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of interviewing Laura Marling the other night and watching her perform in Fopp's basement on Tottenham Court Road.

Delightful and sincere - are the two words that spring to mind. My full review will be out on The Times website in a few days.

Until then.

Narrow bridges the gap

2007-04-16T10:42:00.000-07:00

Gordon Ramsay has finally done what all his fans wanted - made a place we can eat for less than our inheritance is worth. Narrow is the lovable foul-mouthed chef's first gastro pub and I have managed to book myself a table in two weeks time.

I am salivating at the thought and will report back faithfully. I was fortunate to be taken for some wining and dining at Claridges a few months back and I have to say the taste of the belly of roast pork, soft sea bass and pink champagne is still lingering.

It's not just the food at his places - it's the whole package. The service was so attentive I felt like the waiters were mind-readers and had been tending my every need for years. The upholstery on the seats was as soft as fine bedding and the little tasters served in between courses were like spoonfuls of flavoursome heaven.

I can only hope that the pub experience with Ramsay is as good as everything else he does and at half the price! Bonus. Watch this space.

Tragedy - When the Feeling's Gone

2007-04-16T10:29:00.000-07:00

I think a lot of people are missing the point about Kate and Wills's break-up - it's actually really tragic that their love affair has ended. Yes she may have seemed as hounded as Diana - but guaranteed - the relationship has just run its course and that is just plain sad.

I am not going to expose my romantic side too much - other than I think the end of any long term relationship you think is going to be the one which lasts forever is just devastating.

You will feel lost, terrified and pretty desolate - oh yeah - and feeling naked to the eyes of the British nation can't really be helping either of them.

But on the upside as India Knight put it - she and him can now let their hair down and relish their twenties in a different way. Kate won't have to wear a hugely mature hat for some time again and Wills won't have to worry about Woolworth's mug range of him and Kate showing his receding hairline off in a bad light.

I am still very sorry for them though. University love and all...It's the makings of real stomach churning stuff.

NUJ - Get your priorities sorted

2007-04-16T10:11:00.000-07:00

I am absolutely outraged that this is deemed acceptable action by a Union meant to manage the actions of the media - not world politics. What right do the NUJ - which incidentally I have paid my measly ten pounds to be a member of this year - (for the perks I have yet to receive - other than a pretty membership card) - have to start delving into issues that are not within their remit?

To say the boycotting of Israeli goods is necessary in order to "condemn the savage, pre-planned attack on Lebanon” last summer and the “slaughter of civilians in Gaza” over the last few years - I'd say that a) they are a little late to come to the rescue, b) the attack was not pre-planned in the way inferred - it was responsive to hundreds of Katusha rockets flying into Israel every day and c) if America, Britain and Israel cannot sort this out - let alone the leaders of the Palestinians - who seem to favour imprisoning their own people in settlements to use them as political pawns (cf Arafat) - how are the NUJ planning to make an impact with their token boycott?

I would like to stress here that although I am pro-Israel, this does not mean I do not have immense sympathy for the victims of the Lebanese war - on both sides or some awareness that Israel makes errors too. The scenes of terror on the streets of Lebanon were incredibly upsetting - but as were the scenes in Israel. (Obviously much less reported in the mainstream British press)

Regardless of anybody’s political views on the Middle East, we must all urge the NUJ to stop getting ideas above its station. It is not as if the British media is free of problems - far from it. So why not actually do the job we journalists rely upon you to do?

And speaking of that...A few months ago I blogged about the NUJ trying to help all those people trying to break into the media by stopping the frequent exploitation that goes on with work experience. It is still very much happening so sort it out NUJ. Your meddling in world politics is stupid, totally misplaced and making our Union look utterly ridiculous.

Just one word: why?

2007-04-02T02:16:00.000-07:00

Iran are cruising for a war and I for one am scared. Can it be both possible and necessary that we can be at war in three zones at the same time?

What I don't get is - why does Iran seem to want to taunt Britain into a position where we have no choice but to invade to reclaim our troops? Then what do you know - the world will still blame us!

Ssshh we are talking about anti-Semitism

2007-03-16T10:43:00.000-07:00

So Leeds University is fast becoming the new patch for Islamic-Jewish student rivalry. The latest incident being the cancellation of a lecture by German academic - political scientist Dr Matthias Kontzel.

The controversial lecture called "Hitler's Legacy: Islamic anti-Semitism in the Middle East" was called off two days ago for fear of Kontzel being attacked as the Univeristy had not made sufficient security provisions.

The Times say it all better than I can here but I really do feel uncomfortable about this. I am sure Leeds University are only trying to avoid trouble but we live in a country where freedom of speech is a rite of all. As somebody so wonderfully put it on The Times comment section - "now Leeds University cancels a seminar on anti-Semitism for fear of offending anti-Semites."

By no means am I saying that all Muslims and members of Leeds I-soc are anti-Semites but I just know that if the situation was reversed, the University would have no reason to fear any members of J-soc posing the same security threat. That's just not how it rolls in Hillel house. They may complain, they may verbally cause a fuss, but the violence levels are pretty slim in J-soc - slim to none.

What I would like to know is why is Leeds University so scared of I-soc?

She always wants More

2007-03-16T09:47:00.000-07:00

We had the pleasure of having the interesting Helen Roberts in to talk to us today. Roberts is the Real Life editor of More magazine - which sounds like a job not for the faint-hearted or anybody too attached to their scruples.

For this is the woman who gets all those freakish stories you can't believe are true: My 3ft Bloke is Great In Bed and I'm 3st 7lbs and I still think I am fat etc. Her Machiavellian tactics seem to shock a lot of my class - but the way I see it is it's a job. Do it or don't. The great thing about our industry is that there are so many routes.

Helen Roberts found something she was good at. She can chase any story and make it a reality - essentially a skill I see as vital for any section of our profession.

I think I have it in me to do her job but I have as yet to find out if I would enjoy it. Real life stories are a whole other industry and whole other mindset that are both still very alien to me.

But as ever I open to new challenges and willing to try my hand at some real life scoops. Watch this space...

Light my Fflam

2007-03-14T08:48:00.000-07:00

Move over Glastonbury and T in the Park, Fflam is a-coming. Ok maybe spoken a little prematurely but this is pretty exciting stuff. Wales is to getting its first major dance festival.

Fflam (the Welsh for Flame) is happening between 13th-15th July (2007) down at Swansea Bay and Keane are to headline the event alongside some other big names including Placebo. To keep the Welsh flavour, the good old Manics are putting in a performance, as are the local Newport boys, Feeder.

I say, as a temporary Welshwoman, this is an exciting and incredibly overdue move. Although having done Glastonbury a couple of years ago and undeniably it being a time so unique and wonderful (and bloody muddy - see image of myself and friends embracing mother nature), each music festival has a character of its own and in turn gives a character to an area. Wales is an extremely beautiful place that I would have never discovered if I hadn't come to study here, just as I wouldn't have discovered the prettiness of Shrewsbury, if I hadn't had to trek to find a hotel for the night in the middle of V festival. You also make great memories of an area from having danced, sweated and slept on its earth.

Bring it on Swansea and let's get the rest of the UK enjoying the Welsh countryside.

Magazines: TV's new darling

2007-03-14T06:55:00.000-07:00

As magazines thrive in the face of potential death of print by internet, TV seems to be trying to cash in. Deadline, is ITV2's new reality TV show which will follow Janet Street-Porter trying to mould a team of 10 celebrities into an editorial machine. Yes that's right - welcome to the reality TV mag.

They will have to cope with the pressure of trying to make a real-life glossy as the tape rolls. I just hope that they do actually produce all the copy and Street-Porter pulls no punches. If this is the case - fabulous TV should follow and hopefully a fabulous mag?

From the reality product to the real McCoy, the BBC has been following the team of Grazia around for the last 6 months. An article in The Observer Woman magazine at the weekend called it the magazine which has captured our era. From all accounts, the women in charge sound like they are dedicated, down-to-earth and celeb-obsessed. All in all - probably mirror images of their readers - hence they know exactly what they want and can deliver the goods.

And finally we have Ugly Betty. Ok so from the sublime to the ridiculous. This Devil-Wears-Prada-wannabe shows bored audiences the inner workings of exaggerated Mode mag. Not the greatest - but nonetheless this year's American sitcom has chosen a magazine office - not a coffee house, a court of law or suburbia to cover and there has got to be reason for this trend.

The way I see it? Magazines not only provide scintillating information, but are created by pretty scintillating folk too! The atmosphere is electric, dynamic and usually pretty stylish. At least that's the way I have chosen to interpret this new spurt of interest. Not biased or anything...

Show us the money

2007-03-11T18:32:00.000-07:00

Vanity is blinding so many people from the truth. All those who give away content for free to the media moghuls (aka UGC) are so happy to feel like they have expressed themselves/ possibly got their name accredited for whatever the contribution, are simply being ripped off.

Reading The Observer's Media section today - John Naughton cited an excellent quote which I am also going to borrow. Nick Carr, a very well-established and respected blogger says:

"One of the fundamental economic characteristics of Web 2.0 is the distribution of production into the hands of many and the concentration of the economic rewards into the hands of the few."

So beautifully put - need I say more? Other than there are still so many people who need to be taught how to properly make use of the tools with which they can produce material. I have written about this situation at more length here.

Perhaps this could be the area in which the media moguls start ploughing some money into - the digitalising of the technophobes (like myself) in the modern age. Surely we all have the right to know how to fully express ourselves in a so called e-democracy and then all have the right to be rewarded for any contributions we make?

Mr Interpretation

2007-03-11T17:40:00.000-07:00

Simon Lewis, former PR to the Royal family and currently the Group Corporate Affairs Director for Vodafone, was back in last week to debate with us young journos and PR trainees. His motion? "PR has a duty to tell the truth." And yet when directly asked by a hack what did the truth mean to him, he answered something to effect of: the truth is however you interpret what is told to you - and if you (the PR practitioner) are only at liberty to tell some of the truth, then the truth can be partial truth.

Confused? I certainly was. This motion had been argued by Lewis earlier on in the week against the mighty Max Clifford - who swears by lying for his clients as the only way to do PR and to protect his clients. I don't really see the point of these two successful men arguing about PR in general though, as they occupy two separate worlds within the profession. Clifford is a publicist and Lewis is in corporate PR. Of course Clifford cannot support the notion that his type of PR must be truthful, when his clients only ever employ him when they need certain things spun in a better light or stopped from going to press.

Equally however, I see Lewis's point that in his line of work it does not pay in the long run to "lie" about anything as he is dealing largely with consumers that expect a certain level of transparency within the service his company provides.

Lewis lost the debate in London but won it here in Cardiff. Notably though he was the only debater present and I am sure if Clifford had popped in, the story might have been a little different - even though I don't think they are rightly paired for such a sparring match in the first place.

My bold fellow magazine journo and I still stuck to our guns and voted against the motion. My particular reason being that PR people are solely employed to be artistic with the truth and good luck to them I say. Lewis could barely answer any question fielded to him without using the phrase "Well it's how you interpret what is said" as his way of explaining how he can always deliver some FORM of truth. Confused again? And that's the point - Simon Lewis is that good at his job, he never really says anything straightforward at all. Very impressive I say.

I condone the work of PR folk. In fact I like it and if I didn't like expressing my own views so much, maybe I could have done it myself. It's a well-paid job that requires training and can give us journos some really good perks. (NB travel journalists never join in the whole hatred of PRs chat) And it is up to us to be savvy enough not to fall for any of their versions of truth when they are doing some form of crisis management. Unsuccessful PR will follow and good journalism will prevail. The choice is ours. Let's just make sure we interpret it right.

Name and Shame 'em NUJ

2007-03-06T12:00:00.000-08:00

Ok so I know work experience is completely essential to enter this crazy-paced world of the media but a lot of the time media companies give out no expenses or any thought for why people are there in the first place. I have been very fortunate in the majority of my placements but I was still happy to read that the NUJ are naming and shaming the bad eggs and drafting up some work experience guidelines.

Maybe then the days of running to Starbucks could be over. I do not for one moment want to sound as if I am overestimating my self-importance. I do not expect by any means to walk into an office and immediately be given a whole load of writing to do - but I do expect to be give the chance to prove myself and then, and only then, be allowed to do some work that at least relates to my chosen career.

And I do believe that travel expenses should always be offered. Working for gratis is the norm but with no other wage coming in - how else are we meant to afford our fares?

As ever the NUJ look out for us journos. I just hope it has some effect for the sake of all those unfortunate fabulous writers in staring dimly into space as they sort the post and fetch the coffee.

Listen up kids

2007-03-03T02:11:00.000-08:00

Students take heed. It is our legacy.

I'd give myself an 8/10?

2007-02-26T17:15:00.000-08:00

To be told by the editor of one of Britain's leading newspapers, that video can be richer and more powerful than the written word, is quite an odd thing indeed.

But sure enough that is what was said to us by Alan Rusbridger, editor of The Guardian, last week. He was actually talking about an article he had recently written where he felt the 2,000 words he had produced, would have been outdone by a film of the remarkable woman he was interviewing. "Text is more important for depth and power but all my readers would have wanted to see my subject, not just imagine her."

So we journos are being told to tool up once more. Rusbridger gives himself a 5/10 for his technology capabilities, saying we should easily be on an 8. I agree. Unfortunately I just wish the editor of The Guardian had more of an idea about where journalism is going with its online capabilities so we young hopefuls knew too.

I found his lecture one of the most interesting we have had so far simply because I felt, like so many feel with his newspaper, that here was an editor talking our language and to us.

I do naughtily sort of pine for the paternalistic journalism that was the norm 10 years ago though. And I think Mr Rusbrigder does too. He called the days where journalists could come into the office and not have any obligation to reply to readers' letters, (let alone even read them) advertise for some decent UGC and worry about any bloggers being ahead of the game on their scoop, "Beguiling". He talked fondly of the days when it was just journalists who knew the secrets and then could reveal them however they liked to their readers, with a sort of happy nostalgia.

His "nice and comfy world" of top-down journalism may have disappeared - but he loves the new uncertain virtual world, more and more each day. And I can see where he is coming from. Personally from that era, I just really want the old - skool boozy lunch to make a come back.

Manchester la la la

2007-02-20T18:31:00.000-08:00

Manchester and Birmingham went head to head last week in a battle to be considered Britain's 2nd city. Justice prevailed as Manchester came out top. The BBC survey found that 48% of people believed Manchester to be the second most important city whereas only 40% voted in favour of Birmingham.

Now I know my opinion may be slightly skewed, being a Manc and all, but come on, the Birmingham Bullring? You got to be kidding me. Yes admittedly it did take an IRA bomb for Manchester to get its act together and totally regenerate the place, but it really is beautiful now.

The former mills around Great Ancoats are now swanky loft-like-living spaces. The new Hilton is touching the sky and I believe we genuinely have the largest Next store ever!

Leave it out Birmingham. We've got it covered.

The Journalist develops a conscience?

2007-02-20T18:21:00.000-08:00

The director of our course, Richard Tait, was back in last week to give us a good talking to about the importance of strong ethics in journalism.

Never betray your source, keep really good records and don't just "sex" up your story for the sake of it - was the basic jist of his advice. His lecture took us through, blow by blow, the happenings of the Andrew Gilligan mess-up. It was a fascinating insight into how an embellishment really can wreck lives - most tragically that of Dr David Kelly.

It seems this need for ethical journalism is spreading though. We can but hope. At least journalists still poll higher than politicians in the general public's trust stakes. Just.

Romping Rik

2007-02-19T04:17:00.000-08:00

“I am bloody well hung and no, I have not shagged Dawn French!” Ah good old Rik Mayall is just as fabulously disgusting and immoral in real life as so many of his beloved characters.

The pleasure was all mine on a rainy Friday morning in Cardiff. He has fully revived Alan B’stard for the stage - except this time he is emulating Blair – a Tory gone over to the other side to create New Labour. The New Statesmen sounds politically current and deliciously politically incorrect.

Rik held the press enraptured darting in and out of being himself and the rejunvenated Alan B’Stard. Watch this space for my profile of him – but the best part of the interview really was when he exclaimed – “Oh fuck it” and gave me a big smacker on the corner of my unprepared mouth! Yes Rik Mayall enveloped me in a two second clinch and I revelled in each second of it.

For this was mine and Rik’s second meeting. The first being a year ago at his book signing in Waterstones in Manchester – where he cheekily held my bottom during our photo pose and cheekily wrote in my book, “Fancy meeting me downstairs in between the book aisles for a 5 minute romp?”

So on Friday I couldn’t resist reminding him of our previous meeting and about his proposition. His brilliant reply was: “And did we romp?” Priceless. Utterly priceless. And then followed the great moment when our smooch occurred. He is the stuff all celebrity press conferences should be made of.

Now I am feeling like I need to be a full time celebrity reporter and then obviously become one myself simply by proxy!

Rik rocks

2007-02-14T08:26:00.000-08:00

I love Rik Mayall. Always have and always will. Bottom was undoubtedly the TV highlight of the week.

Tomorrow I am off to a press conference with him in Cardiff's New Theatre and I just can't wait.

Looking forward to reporting back.

Anna misses the deadline

2007-02-14T08:05:00.000-08:00

Ok so first of all the media chit chat was about the death of print journalism but we seem to be surviving for the moment. Now the talk turns to the death of the weeklies. These mags are just seemingly too slow for news in this quicker-than-ever world. Poor old Anna Nicole Smith didn't even get any coverage in People magazine as unfortunately she died just after they had gone to press on a Thursday. Slightly inconvenient some might say.

They had to make do with a story about a psycho female astronaut instead.

Film Watch: Venus

2007-02-08T16:30:00.000-08:00

Three hilarious codgers, Maurice (Peter O‘Toole), Ian (Leslie Phillips) and Donald (Richard Griffiths) meet every day in a North London café to exchange tips on the latest death-defying medication, pore over actor friends’ obituaries and talk luvvie shop. All once fine actors are now relegated to playing corpses in television dramas. Life is pretty simple; they call each other dear, drink endless cups of tea and reminisce about their youth.

But when Jessie (Jodie Whittaker) walks into their lives, it’s like a tornado hitting an ancient idyll. She is Ian’s great niece who has been sent to look after him. He imagines a shy type who will cook homely dinners and run his baths. Instead she is a foul-mouthed ladette whose idea of a gourmet meal is a packet of Monster Munch and a Barcardi Breezer.

Ian despairs but womaniser Maurice sees her potential and embarks upon educating her in the sights of London. What unfolds is a strange and unnerving affection between the two.

O’Toole deftly guides the audience through a potentially awkward script. Love tales between septuagenarians and twenty-somethings are not often palatable. Although occasionally erring on the inappropriate, O’Toole’s love of his Venus humanises older members of society.

Whittaker gives a gritty performance and provides the perfect foil to the old men’s philandering. Definitely a British starlet in the making.

This is a must-see for those who enjoy wry British humour. The chemistry between O’Toole and Phillips is magical. London looks beautiful on film and a Corrine Bailey Rae soundtrack gives the whole thing a modern lift. But beware Venus may leave you feeling nostalgic, vulnerable and impulsive.

Professors of Information

2007-02-08T15:54:00.000-08:00

Richard Tait has pretty much seen and done it all. He's edited Newsnight, Channel 4 News and been the Editor-in-Chief of ITN. And that's just to name a few of his accolades. Most importantly of course he also the current director of our journalism school.

His talk was fascinating, ranging from the role the blogger plays in today's journalism to the importance of having a code of flexible ethics to work to.

But I thought one question he raised was particularly interesting: is journalism a profession or a trade? By definition a profession is an occupation requiring advanced learning - so journalism doesn't totally fit into that box - as one can just fall into it.

But I refuse to think of it as just a trade that can just be learned by anyone. Obviously it can be in some respects but I feel journalists deliver an important service that requires skill. We discover all those things that other people wouldn't know without us. We ask the questions that others can't. We have a duty to inform and what is more we have to master how to present that information in a stylish, informative and entertaining way. That is no easy feat.

Profession we are then.

A rare read

2007-02-01T20:03:00.000-08:00

In light of all the terrible goings-on yesterday in Birmingham I felt that this story was a beacon of hope in an increasingly hopeless world.

What is left indeed?

2007-01-28T18:15:00.000-08:00

I would not call myself left-wing in any sense. I was not brought up in a typically left-wing environment. My political, economical and social views do not lean naturally in that direction and yet what it now means to be left-wing is not something even certain left-wingers want to be!

I was enthralled by the debate being conducted across the Observer's Review section last Sunday all about columnist Nick Cohen's new book: What's Left? How the Liberals Have Lost Their Way. For Cohen was a big lefty along with his whole politicised family. As lefty as they come so to speak. He is arguing that nowadays to be 'left' is to be so anti-American that one must never berate the terrorists when they commit terrible crimes, but rather blame the Americans for provoking their actions in the first place.

Bravo I say. There is not enough of this type of truth being freely aired. We are just too politically correct for my liking. He's got my book money waiting.

Art Watch: Leaving a firm impression

2007-01-28T16:46:00.000-08:00

A stroll around the Sainsbury wing of The National Gallery will do any lost soul the world of good. For the impressionists are in town.

And it is a fine collection too. Monet's foggy Houses of Parliament alongside his hazy vision of the Grand Canal, Venice makes for a real visual treat. Take a walk round the corner and Renoir's Boating on the Seine will dazzle. Another meander will bring you to The Boulevard Montmarte at Night according to Pissarro's light brush stroke. Then lo and behold, Georges Seurat's imposing Bathers at Asnieres, will suddenly loom above your head and a step back will be necessary to fully appreciate his meticulous pointillist technique.

After Degas's Ballet Dancers have pirouetted past and Toulouse Lautrec's Two Friends have finished their whispering, you might feel the need, as I did, to start all over again in order to fully appreciate just how effective each blob of paint really is in creating movement, light and likeness.

What may appear to be a simple droplet of paint up close can become a street light, a person or a window from a far. This was the beauty of the impressionists. They wanted to challenge the traditional ways of painting so they would be able to capture the world around them even better than the masters before them had.

Manet, Renoir, Seurat, Pissarro, Morisot and Sisley were fathers of this radical school. They tested the boundaries and persisted with perfecting their new techniques against a barrage of insults. And thankfully for the development of art and the general voyeur's sake they did.

Newwws

2007-01-28T16:16:00.000-08:00

With Ian Hargreaves words ringing in my ears: "TV channel news sites are the main source of online news," it seems apt that there is currently a massive drive for newspaper sites to get their act together.

All over the tube's billboards is The Telegraph's slogan 'Newwws' advertising their new and improved site.

What's more The Times is about to get on board too. Its facelift is due some time this week.

Look ready as Britain's oldest newspapers get the newest looks.

BBC boys play nicely for a change

2007-01-28T14:50:00.000-08:00

I am not sure what was more astounding this evening. Seeing the footage of Richard Hammond's terrible car crash or witnessing Jeremy Clarkson being nice on national television.

Well the two came hand in hand on tonight's Top Gear. Hammond quipped his way through what was obviously some very emotional film while his co-presenters struggled to create their usual banter. The images of the car's right wheel shredding its own rubber was enough to make anyone's stomach turn - but then to see the vehicle flip over and crash along the neighbouring grassy verge at an almighty 213 mph just really shot my nerves to dust.

Richard Hammond is obviously a survivor. Anyone who can be dragged along the ground by their head at that speed and then have it shown and joked about in front of the nation, is not only a legend but a true entertainer.

He may never want it mentioned on the show again but it is a miracle that has changed the face of Top Gear forever.

Local news is good news

2007-01-28T14:02:00.000-08:00

Ian Hargreaves, former editor of The Independent, the New Statesman and deputy editor of the Financial Times came in to speak to us aspiring journos last Thursday. Understandably we were all excited to hear from a man with such an astounding C.V. The first part however, was just a tad dull.

He proceeded to take us through pages and pages of Ofcom research about where people like to access news from and other such related topics. In my opinion this was an area of his speech which should have taken the form of a handout. Although I did find one of the study's results particularly fascinating. More and more people were recorded as saying that they wanted less celebrity news and yet we, in the UK, are one of the biggest consumers of it. Hargreaves quite correctly pointed out that this chasm between what people say they want and their actual actions, reveals a side of people that they don't really like about themselves.

What does it boil down to? We hate admitting that we enjoy mindless celebrity gawping. Not only do we enjoy it. We bloody thrive off it. Methinks it is time for the hyprocrisy to end.

The latter part of Hargreaves's talk was the best part though. Namely because away from data, this is a man who knows journalism, can spot the trends and most importantly, the future too.

Apparently us journos who want to make some fast cash need to be capitalising on the lack of local news coverage there is both in print and online too. It seems ridiculous that it is easier to access news about a small village in India than it is to find out any information about the goings-on at your local chip shop.

So move over moghuls...the locals are about to land it big.

Go Big Bro!

2007-01-18T16:57:00.000-08:00

Big Brother has finally done something respectable - it has achieved some reality. That is the latest eruption from the D-list celeb housemates has shown a true slice of the prejudiced undertones that underpin our society.

Endemol, BB's production company, should not be berated for highlighting what many prejudiced fools like Jade Goody actually think of anything remotely more foreign than a packet of Walkers - they should be applauded.

Michael Portillo put it quite well on tonight's This Week show. When people are in stressful situations, as the BB house undoubtedly is, they often resort to some sort of racial diatribe. You only have to bear witness to the majority of road rage incidents, to hear some of the same sorts of remarks that have been springing out from that gobby mouth of Miss Goody about Bollywood princess, Shilpa Shetty.

The choice is now the British public's. If Shilpa is voted in tomorrow night and Jade is evicted, then our reputation as the mother of democracy and tolerance might stay semi-intact. If not and Shilpa is evicted, I shudder to think what that says about us as a nation.

Women: stay hairy

2007-01-16T17:25:00.000-08:00

Men cannot handle pain. This is a well established fact. They even admit it themselves.

But they also cannot stand hair. That is female body hair. It is alright for them to turn up for a date looking like a yeti but the woman must always be free of all hairs, except those on her scalp and possibly forearms - if not too visible or dark.

Do they have any idea of just how much discomfort women go through to pluck their bodies clean? If they had to wax any hair, especially any near the nether regions, the howls of pain would be unimaginably bad.

We have to deal with the legs, the pits, the bikini line, the brows and any other fertile spot on a daily basis. And this list fails to detail the meticulous process involved in making sure all shaving/waxing rashes are also eradicated before any cross-gender contact occurs.

Yes that's right, bodily hair removal could actually be a full time job for most women. So this is why I fully empathise and support Shazia Mirza's New Year's resolution to no longer shave any part of her body.

Unfortunately I suspect that my significant other may have something to say on the matter if I followed suit.

The holidays are officially over

2007-01-16T17:05:00.000-08:00

For all my many readers out there in cyberspace - I am back. It has taken me a while to admit it, but yes the Christmas holidays are officially over and my duty to blog has taken over me once again.

My holiday basically consisted of a week of work experience and then two weeks of totally mind-numbing laziness. The sloth would have been the best creature to compare my vegetated-self to. In between mouthfuls of calorific food and gulps of booze, I marvelled at Saddam's hanging and at how ugly Sonia's face really is during another cheerful Eastenders Christmas special.

And that was that. Oh the joys of 2007 are now ours for the taking...

It's all about The Times

2006-12-20T03:13:00.000-08:00

Even though I am only 21-years old, I have done my fair share of work experience gigs in the wonderful world of newspapers and magazines.

These have ranged from farcical times at society magazine Tatler to one lazy yet incredible day at The Idler.
My range of experiences have been broad but there is one place I have kept coming back to and that is The Times.

This is because it is a place filled with brains not pretensions. The journalists have worked hard to get where they are and therefore have some memory of what it is like to be on work experience. This is why they ensure you do more than just the post.

Currently I am spending some time with the times2 lot and really liking the fact that:

a) they all know my name
b) I have been giving writing and researching to do
c) so far I have made no tea and had 5 cups made for me, and counting
d) it is exciting as we go to press every day at 2pm

The icing on the cake?
They printed a baby by-line of mine today!

It's the Jonathan Ross show don't you know?

2006-12-16T17:48:00.000-08:00

Jonathan Ross has fully lost it. I know the show is called Friday Night with Jonathan Ross but he has taken the focus on himself way too far.

Guests come and sit on his uncomfortable looking sofa - very similar to ones seen in counsellors’ offices - and instead of the 20 minutes being about them, it is about Mr past-it-Ross.

How can he possibly love every single person's work who comes on the show and then expect us to believe any of his film reviews on Film 2006 have any truth in them?

Ross's only way of keeping up with the kids is by being increasingly uncouth, swearing a lot and adjusting his tie to the sound of half-hearted laughter. I feel increasingly sorry for his poor wife and kids, often the butt of his inappropriate jokes.

A good interviewer should ask those questions you have been dying to hear the answers to and would never have the opportunity, or the balls, to ask yourself. They should not just say something random, run with it for a cringe-worthy amount of time and barely let the interviewee speak.

Ross needs to strip back to basics and check out his71 -year old ITV counterpart - good old Michael Parkinson. He may be old school, but he is a damn good interviewer. Why else would he still be on television in a prime time slot?

There is too much of Jonathan Ross in his talk show. And there is too much of him everywhere else. He gets every gig. Personally I feel Britain needs someone new and quick. And how did he do this?

And has anyone else noticed that he is starting to scarily resemble Terry Wogan?

Maybe it’s a Radio 2 thing.

Leave poor Wills and Harry alone

2006-12-15T18:33:00.000-08:00

Enough is enough. This Diana probing has gone on for far too long. And even though a line has 'officially' been drawn under the whole thing now - the conspiracy theorists will continue until they are blue in the face and none the wiser.

Diana may have been the Princess of some people's hearts but she was also a mother. A mother of two sons who still live on today under the media's glare. They deserve a break. Their mother needs to be laid to rest along with all the ridiculous stories surrounding the ACCIDENT that put her there.

And as for Mohamed Al Fayed- he really is going about getting a British passport all the wrong ways. Calling the Royal family murderers? Smooth.
Just now when to pipe down.

For the full extent of the insanity that Lord Stevens's 832-page report has caused, check this out.

Protection for prostitutes

2006-12-15T17:14:00.000-08:00

The Ipswich murders are so gruesome that it is hard to imagine what good could have come from them.

As minor as this seems, in comparison to the price of lives, the media's treatment of these women has been truly remarkable. Although prostitutes, they have all been shown as real women who had lives - beyond their jobs - which included family, friends and loved ones.

They have not just been depicted as soulless prostitutes and judged per usual. I hope that this represents a step forward in Britain's regular attitude towards prostitution. It may not be legal over here yet, but it goes on all the same and always has done. The difference is though, the awfully English temperament dictates that although people know it is happening, they must never speak of it, unless to condemn. Sheer hypocrisy is the always the English way. A hush hush attitude over anything remotely socially awkward.

This remains the case despite the fact we now have prostitution officers in the police force, openly signposted brothels and countless advertisements in the backs of newspapers every day.

England needs to get real and see these women need protection not judgement.If Ipswich doesn't prove this - I shudder to think what will.

What a difference an 'a' makes

2006-12-15T16:55:00.000-08:00

Ok so my technophobia is now something I am known and loved for - I have to vent my rage at how anal html or as I prefer, geek- speak, really is.

There I was uploading my very first long piece of online journalism, when suddenly everything in one of my columns goes red. As in - everything became a link. And yes for the record I am aware of how boring this may be to recount - but after re-doing the html three times - which may I add took over an hour - it was still red.

By then I was seeing red. The problem all along was that I hadn't properly finished a previous bit of coding. As in I had missed out this: /a. That was it. No more. No less.

Online may seem speedy, but geek- speak requires a level of precision I despise. Computers do start sending me a little loopy after six hour stints - although I am still loving the blog.

Me, myself and my bloody laptop

2006-12-09T08:32:00.000-08:00

Anyone else getting sick of 'studying' to become a journalist and yet never having any time to read any newspapers or magazines?

The irony is killing me. I forced to do exactly what I said I would never do and that is read my news online. Gone are my lazy student afternoons with The Times and all its glorious supplements. Now I just tap tap tap away at my laptop. Is this how journalism is always going to be? Me, a cup of hot sweet tea (which I am seriously considering adding some booze to) and my partner in life: Mr Packard bloody Bell.

Something's got to change! But why does it look so good on the Sex and the City though? Oh I know - maybe it has something to do with the fact that Carrie has fabulous shoes, clothes, food and a cool little apartment - in NEW YORK not CARDIFF. My window looks out on to a burned down mosque and a dodgy garage - which strange men permanently enter into through a very small door. I suddenly see the difference.

Oh and the fact she has a job - where she can just write about her own life and never have to do any research - isn't that the essence of blogging?

I need to live this dream - or maybe get paid by someone to blog.

Going to do a week at The Times next week - maybe if I can find Murdoch in his iron palace - he might consider it.

Ok now I am hallucinating and need to do some work.

I started World War III

2006-12-06T18:17:00.000-08:00

So apparently I am living with the enemy. As in - the bedroom directly below me contains a PR person. Oh shit - do I need to start watching my back? Because apparently they are public enemy number 1 to us journos.

But the thing is I just don't feel remotely passionate about this so-called heated debate- in the real world. But then in the Cardiff University microcosm - I suppose I have felt myself get slightly bothered this week.

What happened was:

I may have been shown where the PR students' blog was, and then may have been sworn to secrecy, and then may have told a few journos, who may have all gone a little crazy and then a PR vs. Journos war may have erupted in good old blogosphere.

Post our mock press conference last week with the PR students- tensions have been slightly fraught. We magazine lot were told to be naughty but when it came to my group's turn -we had to be tame as apparently some PR tears were shed. Boring - and yet our group were still insulted on this infamous blog - although we were as good as gold. It is not my fault that our PR girls' nerves were shot to shit, that spelling errors plagued the press packs and the only answers given were something along the lines of - "we just do not know that yet."

Apparently our 125 word long articles were shit. I beg to differ. With the greatest respect the PR girls spoke and presented themselves beautifully - apart from the one girl who felt the need to slam the door in our faces (you know who you are) - but they simply lacked in-depth knowledge and a command of their topic. We struggled to even make an article. Can you imagine if it had to have been longer than 125 words? Sorry to the newspaper lot who had to do just that - well there's another reason for you guys to think you are better, more serious journos than us... see I am helpful!

OK, I have ranted - but I have saved it for my own blog - not just taken to defacing the PR one. That's a bit too mainstream nowadays. In general though - I do have the greatest respect for the PR industry because I believe we journos occupy one half of the same coin. I call for peace.

Our mock conference was such a silly exercise and I did feel genuinely bad to the PR lot as they had obviously been working seriously on this presentation for a long time. I know this as one keen Clifford-wannabe lives below me and she knew her stats.

So I, as architect of all this week's blogging chaos, will try and make amends in my next feature piece - which will seek to flesh out the specifics of this heated relationship and actually show how beautiful it can really be.

Hurray -Guess who's back

2006-12-06T18:11:00.000-08:00

Ok so need to ammend one of posts - Press Gazette is back and I am very happy.

This is also bad as I was speedy in replacing my work experience slot - I now have a week at The Stage. Bah, choices - what is a media-minded culture vulture to do?

Watch this space...

Or don't. It may get dull.

Quality not quantity

2006-11-30T14:04:00.000-08:00

Kim Hollamby, head of electronic media at IPC, is what he says we should be: passionate. But not in that really fake way - in a more believable straight talking kind of way.

I think the part of his talk I found most interesting was his comparison between sites like myspace and google, with magazine websites. Their similarity lies in the fact that they have all done one thing really well. The point being? Magazines are focused.

But we journalists are not to be dispirited by the rise of citizen journalism or the fact that people love visiting these networking sites - mainly because they can contribute to them. And this is because while we are still trained to do our jobs, we should be able to produce better written content than any old person who just fancies themselves as a journo. Furthermore, magazine sites will also always contain a higher standard of writing and superior images than those spaces where Joe Public can contribute.

I liked the elitist feeling Hollamby drew out of me. We may all be part of the media, but only some of us are the media. Five grand well spent I say.

Goodbye Press Gazette

2006-11-27T13:37:00.000-08:00

It is sad times when an institution closes its doors - but after 41 years Press Gazette could fight no more. I only just began reading it this year and was a real fan. Hence why I applied to do a week of work experience there.

Bad news: I got it.

*Give people the tools they need

2006-11-23T13:37:00.001-08:00

We are living in an age where supposedly everybody is getting online, making digital stories and "joining the debate." The reality is however, most people just don’t know how.

So how democratic really is the media and the online world?

Murdoch’s famous speech was obviously inspired by Dan Gilmor's book - We the Media – when he stated that we needed to make our news services more interactive so users can contribute. He has yet to explain to the majority of the world, how to do this.

It is almost like everybody is reading, but hardly anybody can write. So how can there be dialogue, if people can't talk back?

Citizen journalism is growing though. In 2000, Korea produced the first ever newspaper written by its readers, Oh My News, which still enjoys big commercial success. The world has been following suit ever since - get ready for the 2007 U.K launch of Al Gore’s user generated Current T.V. So on the surface the media has never seemed as democratic since it got online.

I want to examine this notion of a participatory media, what we should be teaching people, and how it is already being done. My article will address the chasm there is between the reality and the rhetoric which surrounds this perception of the world being in a conversation with each other, via the internet.

I have already interviewed my inspiration for this feature, Dr Daniel Meadows. I now hope to question Richard Burton, Iain Dale and Daniel Finkelstein – as well as some “real people.” I am also aiming to organize some time with Capture Wales - to try and learn a few techniques myself.

*Jack of all trades, master of none?

2006-11-23T06:07:00.000-08:00

Sarah Radford seems to be a very busy lady. As an online reporter for The Newbury Weekly News, she also still contributes to the print edition and doubles up as an all-in-one camera crew while making the videos to accompany her stories.

And yet, as stimulating as her job seems to be, the role of the journalist, seems to have become a whole lot harder. We have to be broadcast wizards, internet experts and still have all the old fashioned skills. I am thinking a dramatic increase in our wages is needed.

Despite finding that videos do enliven articles, I am not particularly impressed by the quality of the ones on Newbury Today. They have a very YouTube- esque feel which I think decreases the level of professionalism of the publication. The demand may be for journalists to double up as broadcasters, but until we are any good at it – let’s stick to what we know.

The Daily Express and The Independent have come under fire for their inadequate websites. Radford thinks, “Everyone has accepted that they are going to have move forward,” but there is still the ongoing battle with the “ageing editorial team.” It is the way we are all headed but there is a part of me that strongly identifies with this ageing editorial team. For, I only ever wanted to be a writer with a pad, a pink trench coat and a really good pen. I never imagined I would have to marry my computer in the process; but considering I am now a keen blogger, I think I am on the right track.

Being the best

2006-11-22T17:40:00.000-08:00

This does not need words - the headline says it all!

Marlene you need to read this!

2006-11-22T14:11:00.000-08:00

Every morning, I and many groggy others, endure two hours of car crashes, murders and arson attacks. Yes, welcome to the stories of shorthand.

Our lovable yet militant Commander in Chief, Marlene Lewis, dictates these disturbing passages without batting an eyelid or changing her tone.

But something serious has happened. The fictitious town used in many of the tales, Oxdown, (you all know the symbol) has lost its gazette. Other NCTJ courses apparently take their relationship with good old Oxdown a little further and pretend to write for its weekly rag.

I don't know how I am going to break the news to Marlene but I am sure I will find a way. It did happen back in August.

Even so, I am gutted. Read about this tragedy and the history of this glorious town - only known about by the elite set: British journalists.

Israel deserves some better press

2006-11-21T14:41:00.000-08:00

Israel rarely gets good press - as the media usually prefer to back the underdog - in this case- the Palestinians. That is why Amir Gissun , the guy in charge of "Israel's explanation department," a.k.a their international PR, has permanently got his work cut out for him. But never more so than now, with the launch of al-Jazeera's English speaking television programme.

Gissun has turned to a new piece of internet software - the "internet megaphone" to help in his mission impossible. This is a device where the special “megaphone” software has to be downloaded by those who sign up to Give Israel Your Support. It then alerts them to any anti-Israeli chatrooms or internet polls that pop up, in order to enable them to post contrary viewpoints and be as proactively supportive as possible.

As good as this is though - the press will still paint the picture they want of big bad Israel. Even Stewart Purvis, who covered this subject in yesterday's Guardian Media, still ended his supposedly "pro" coverage with a harsh quote about Israel needing to shoot a photo of their opponents before shooting them - in order to get good press.

However tongue-in-cheek this glib remark was meant to be - I think Purvis obviously doesn't understand the nuances of the Israeli PR machine compared to its opponents. Israel's representation in the media is severely deficient and does need to be addressed. This is mainly because Jews like to keep their heads down and not cause a fuss - especially when it is connected to their much persecuted faith and anything to do with the contested Holy Land.

They also prefer to use a more subtle rational approach when explaining the Israel situation and not rely upon massive spin or propaganda techniques. Al Jazeerah and other such models are, and have been, the absolute antithesis to this approach. I believe the representation of Israel needs to change and quick.

Purvis talks of how Gissin was able to get Reuters to admit a photograph of Beirut had been doctored by a Lebanese photographer to make the damage cause by the Israelis look worse than it was. This is not the first time I have heard of such tricks. The point is though - there seems to be no watchdog for the Israeli side, so the opposing propaganda machine can go wild, safe in the knowledge that hardly any Jewish leaders or journalists will come to her defence.

When the ceasefire was called between Hizbullah and Israel in the latest war, certain sections of the press were allowed to claim a victory for Hizbullah, simply on the grounds that Israel had experienced a harder fight than they had reckoned for and because they had failed to claim an outright victory.

They did not fail. Israel has one of, if not the, hardest armies in the world. What they did do, in agreeing to a ceasefire, is show massive restraint. Israel could have annihilated any part of Lebanon it chose, and contrary to what many believe, they didn't do this. The majority of the bombings were kept as close to a strategic plan as possible. Did anyone, except the few usual defenders like Julie Burchill, say this on behalf of Israel?

And lets not forget that the Israeli hostages that were taken by Hizbullah, which sparked this war, have not yet been returned. What about their families?

If you do want to hear the Israeli side occasionally -The Jerusalem Post is still your best bet.

On the prowl

2006-11-20T19:33:00.000-08:00

Just for the record, I have entered a whole new level of investigative journalism today. In a bid to write a profile piece on an interesting Cardiff character, I found myself on the doorstep of a local massage parlour.

Let's just say the Eastern European welcome was hardly friendly. Although I did see more than I bargained for. Not that any bargaining ensued.

My quest to speak to a masseuse continues...

Our Magazine Messiah

2006-11-20T17:23:00.000-08:00

Good time for: magazines
Bad time for: newspapers

Nicholas Brett, deputy managing director of BBC magazines has won the Mark Boxer Award for outstanding editorial contribution to magazines in this country, at last week's 2006 Magazine Editor's Awards.

Phew that was a mouthful - but it had to be said because I feel, having had the pleasure of his company for a whole afternoon a couple of weeks ago, very very proud. Brett came to our journo department, infected us mag journos with his passion, and wowed the crowd with some home truths:

Magazines are the future.
Magazines put readers first.

Only today, this sentiment has been echoed by former editor of The Face, Richard Benson in the Media Guardian. He feels certain newspapers are getting too caught up with the latest mod-cons - like blogs and vodcasts - and are no longer concerned enough with their job: newsgathering. Both Brett and Benson highlight the increasing wearing of magazine's clothes by newspapers.

Let's face facts. Newspapers are now feature heavy, laced with numerous supplements and an increasing amount of images. Sound familiar?

Magazines are the ones who are amazing at creating communities and giving a sense of belonging to niche markets. They are the focused creatures who make friends, not readers.

Newspapers need to accept what they are and remain good at it because their sales are falling, and they are in danger of becoming "daily magazines"as Harold Evans once so wisely predicted.

Once again, congratulations Mr Brett. Your passion certainly deserves the prize.

Iraq hits home

2006-11-20T16:23:00.000-08:00

It has taken three years for the Iraq war to touch me personally. My best friend's boyfriend was over there, translating for the British army, when he became one of two servicemen to be seriously injured in last week's tragic "river patrol blast."

He has lost an eye, has a ball bearing rolling precariously close to his heart and needs some serious surgery. It is the first time I have actually tried to picture what is going on over there. There he was just patrolling on probably one of the most fascinating waterways in the world at present, the Shatt Al Arab - which divides Iraq and Iran - in the bright light of day, when his world was suddenly plunged into darkness.

I am not, however, about to do what is expected: have a rant at Tony Blair. I am instead going to call upon one of the best articulated defenses of the nature of decision written by The Times Comment editor, Daniel Finkelstein, a couple of weeks ago, to explain my reasoning.

I don't believe Blair had any way of knowing quite what mess we were about to embroil ourselves in, but I, like many of the now turncoats (David Cameron a case in point) believed Saddam Hussein had to be deposed. This is what a chain of events had led many to believe was right and that is why I have no time for those who now hypocritically choose to forget their original convictions and jump on the 'blame Blair' wagon.

But make no mistake - although I did condone the original moves to war - it is a bloody mess now and quite frankly I cannot see a way out in the forseeable future.

I just pray that my friend does not become another statistic.

Thinking of you.

Mr Interactive tells it how it is

2006-11-16T06:48:00.000-08:00

Pete Clifton, head of BBC News Interactive doesn’t mince his words. He talked, we listened. And considering he runs one of the biggest websites in the world, that’s the way it should be.

It is important to remember that User Generated Content (or UGC to the more high tech amongst you – which now includes me) has always been around, it is just now people can send it to the various media centres via their mobile phones, as opposed to coming into the newspaper office to have a moan about a cat stuck up a tree. And Clifton is dedicated to nurturing this evolving partnership between the journalist and the members of the general public.

All the pesky problems that were put to him he brushed aside without worry. The perpetual question about the death of the journo came up again and seeing as he didn’t look like he wasn’t dying on the spot and even talked about his recruitment prerequisites, I believe we may be safe…and even in demand.

Clifton was also asked how he felt about users never being paid by the BBC considering Channel Five’s new policy to do so and he said what we all knew. The BBC is our trusted brand and encourages the culture of sharing information just for the sake of good old fashioned news reaching the masses as quickly and as reliably as possible.

And talking of old fashioned practices, they seem to be the ones held in the highest regard by Mr Interactive himself, as he wonderfully concluded by telling us wannabe journos: “If you can't spell, you can fuck off.”

Do me a favour and blog off - It's all getting a little too repetitive

2006-11-15T15:06:00.000-08:00

To blog or not to blog? This debate is oh-so-passé. We are all doing it – even me – the most unwilling online diarist of them all.

Richard Burton, in his lecture last week, caused a furore by saying we should only blog if we are “someone to be truly listened to.” Why not focus our attentions on the bit of Burton’s chat that was truly inspiring instead?

He described the moment he took over the editorship of The Telegraph online, as one which finally made him feel how a real journalist could be. He had discovered a world which gave him a broadcasting capability, demanded he corrected mistakes by the second and meant he could instantly receive readers’ feedback. Or as he has so recently put it on his blog; he found the “place for the printed word with no edition.”

Well, even my anti-web writer’s ears pricked up to this articulately made point. Online journalism is not for the faint–hearted. In the click-cut throat world of the web, people have no loyalty. It is wherever delivers the most current information that can guarantee the punters. Burton then suitably advised us aspiring journos to only “sleep when we are dead.”

This is the first lecture on new media that has made me feel like online journalism could be more exciting than print. During the first six hours of the 9/11 happenings, Burton had already pushed the publish button 148 times.

Now all I need to learn is where the dratted publish button on this blog is.

*Please teach us

2006-11-15T15:02:00.000-08:00

Dr Daniel Meadows has a real point. It might have been slightly lost in the midst of his provocations, but it is true: most people do not know how to make use of all new media has to offer.

But according to Rupert Murdoch last year, we are all demanding that our news providers engage us in a conversation and not just dictate the news. I am now wondering how can everyone join the debate if they do not know how to?

The buzz word seems to be "blogs" and still so many of my peers struggle to know what they are. Just after Murdoch's controversial speech it was revealed that 56% of Americans hadn't even heard of them and only 3% read them. If Al Gore can provide Current T.V, an online television station, which largely consists of UGC and yet also manages to instruct people how to make the content in the first place - how much hassle can it really be?

Meadows obviously considers Dan Gilmor's book, "We the Media", the bible. In it he wrote: "The basic notion is that if people have the tools to create their own content, they will do that, and that this will result in an emerging global conversation." This seems to encapsulate the sentiment behind Meadow's Bafta award winning project, Capture Wales.

This is a programme where Meadows and his team give the people the camera and actually teach them how to use it, so they can make their stories and enter into the "conversation." Murdoch and co should be teaching the masses, not just preaching to the few who already know how. Then we will get real participatory dialogue.

Mr Iain Dale - The Even-Tempered Revolutionary of 'New Media'?

2006-10-19T15:06:00.000-07:00

Iain Dale has won me over. His lecture today was truly inspiring. Here was a man who really did have an answer to everything fired at him. I have been watching his television channel this week and although it has not bowled me over yet, I now feel I have a better comprehension of the logic that underpins it. Dale and his team want to give those people, who have interest in programmes like ‘This Week,’ more of what they actually want. This is television station that has none of the stipulations a regular programme has. If an interview is getting heated, the viewer is permitted to see it all, as opposed to an edited version, simply because this station has the time and none of the obligation.

Learning to Love the Blog

Dale’s love of the blog was also hugely infectious. His fervent advocacy of politicians being able to appeal more to the electorate, by creating their own blog, also made a great deal of sense. Only 20 out of 656 MP’s currently have one. This theory was temporarily put into jeopardy though, when a potential problem was pointed out to him by a member of the audience. Surely spin doctors would be just as capable of manipulating politicians’ blogs – making people as sceptical of blogs as they already are of the newspapers? Mr cool-as-a-cucumber-Dale instantly eradicated this worry, by explaining that if a blog just contained spin, people would realise in an instant, maybe post some abuse and never read or trust the blog again.

I think Iain Dale is definitely making the most out of our democratic right to have total freedom of speech. His ‘think-what-you-like-because-you-can’ policy really appeals to me. It doesn’t matter to him if you do not like his blog or his show because that is your right. All that matters to him is that he gets to comment honestly on the world in the only forum on earth that lets you do so. If you like 18 Doughty Street, then watch it. If you like his blog then read it. If you don’t, maybe still read it, as at least he is being frank about his views and then comment on it. The point is, in the dawn of this new media, which centres on the blog, internet television and social networks, the choice is entirely yours. Iain Dale is just trying to provide an honest commentary on life, which in this day and age of spin and heavily edited news, I think is somewhat revolutionary.

Print versus Online - you decide?

2006-10-16T15:02:00.000-07:00

Ever since I began this course I have felt an immense pressure to ‘get online’ and prepare myself for the inevitable decline of print journalism. Ironically this very blog is an example of how the world of media is definitely changing all around us. I, however, along with many other journalists, retain the right to still want to have my work published in print – not just in the highly intangible cyber world.

Call me vain - but there is something of thrill to be felt after spending a long time labouring over a good thousand words and then seeing your name on some glossy paper in the hands of readers. I am not denying that Amanda Powell’s speech was a truly informative insight into one the world’s most widely read and respected news sources, but personally, the idea of each piece needing to be so ‘user-friendly’ and brief so that the reader can simply access the information and quickly click elsewhere, does not fill me with inspiration. Ms Powell told us that the average time a person spent on the sight was 3.12 minutes and if that time was to increase, it meant the site was not accessible as it ought to be – not maybe that the pieces were more enthralling?

I cannot foresee the death of the newspaper or magazine in the near future, so I am not panicking. Consequently while they are still around, they will always be my preferred type of journalism. I am not adverse to online journalism (and would gladly always contribute to both types of medium) but I am going to have to side with Andrew Neil this week, who was quoted in the Press Gazette as saying ‘in the age of the internet, the magazine is the better bet. This is now a magazine country.’ I am fully aware that he has personal motivations for this statement (namely his re – launch of The Business as a magazine) but I am with him on this one. Magazines are incredibly aesthetic and dynamic news-heavy creations that too are ever evolving. And with nearly 8,500 different magazines published in Britain this year, (and increasing) they may just be the ones to perpetuate the future of print journalism alongside online. Lucky for me I am on the magazine option.