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You are here Home | Topics | Media
SOS - Save Our Slugger!
Help fund Slugger's new software: Or mail it direct to Slugger! You are here Home | Topics | Media |
October 27, 2005
Britain and Ireland launch reception...
 We are still working on getting the comments back, although I know it's killing some of our bloggers to know what people think of the various issues we kick up through the various blogs, as much as it has frustrated some of you not being able to have your say! The company doing the transfer is working as quickly as it can, but it is a complex procedure if we are to retain all the back stories from the last year or so. Thanks again to all of you who have made it happen! Just keep watching this space! October 25, 2005
SOS - Save Our Slugger! - Update
Good news. The cost of the re-fit of Slugger is going to cost £500 plus VAT with an additional $150 for the new software. That just about matches the amount that your generous numbers of £10s and £20s have brought in in just under a week. We're hoping to get the ball rolling as soon as possible. In the mean time we all owe Abi and River Path a huge vote of thanks for keeping us afloat in all kinds of cyber-weather on a purely pro-bono basis for the last three years! Folly of objectivity (and blog disaggregation)? Jeff Jarvis has seen the latest movie version of the life of US broadcast journalist Ed Murrow, a man who firstly faced down Joe McCarthy's anti American activities committee and then came to embody the mainstream anchorman. Jarvis argues that whatever claims to virtue that Murrow had, his claim to objectivity in the news has had a debilitating effect on the mainstream media's capacity to tell a straight story (reg needed). [more] Press Council to follow Lawlor debacle? One of the weak planks in Andrew Gilligan's early morning reporting on the UK governments Iraq dossier was that it was based on a single unnamed source. Though the subject matter was less serious in terms of national interest, the misreporting of the circumstances of Liam Lawlor's death at the weekend, across the Irish media, similarly seems to have been (or so the Independent alleges) based on a single source, a Guardian correspondent in Moscow. [more] October 21, 2005
Guardian journalist to tell his story
The Guardian's Newsblog is trailing Rory Carroll's own account of his abduction and subsequent release, with, for now, an extract and a brief audio report[mp3 file].. and it's worth pointing to the brutal contrast with Saadoun Sughaiyer al-Janabi, defence lawyer for one of Saddam Hussein's co-defendents, abducted and murdered yesterday, and Muhammad Haroon, 37, the editor of al-Hakeka newspaper, who was killed by unknown gunmen on Monday. Update From the Newsblog. Read Rory Carroll's full account here, also available seven minute audio file[mp3] October 19, 2005
£268 is a bloody good start!!
Right. A big, big thanks to those who've given so far. We've raised a credible £268 since lunchtime. I've asked the Big Blog Company to look at the problem and come up with an estimate so we all know what we're going for more clearly. I really don't want anyone to overstretch their budgets. I repeat, (and no doubt will again) if only half our regulars stretch to a tenner, we will be able to transfer Slugger to 'industrial strength' no problem. There is no other way around this. We have cycled 88,000 comments in the last 13 months. There are no free off-the-peg solutions to that kind of comment traffic. We're relying on the readers (and well wishers) to get us back in the saddle! On caution.. and media reports I noted that the general tone of the Independent Monitoring Commission's report was one of caution. And at a press conference in Dublin this afternoon members of the IMC emphasised that cautious tone. Lord Alderice, on the point that some media reports of the IMC’s 60-page dossier had said that the IRA’s criminal activity had stopped - “That is not what we have said.” Perhaps the BBC.. and RTÉ.. should reconsider the focus of their reports? [more] SOS - Save Our Slugger! Right, we were nearly gone there for good. It looks like we've road tested Moveable Type's capacity to take comments to destruction. The same thing happened last year. Then we had to move hosts leaving the fat old 2002-4 site behind to set up camp here. But now precisely the same thing has happened. The comment script seems to have 'bowed open' and is leaking all over the place. For this reason the comments zone have to be closed or we risk losing the whole site permanently. [more] October 12, 2005
Come on in, the water's lovely!
A lot of coverage of the BBC's bid to persuade government to increase the BBC's budget by £5.5bn over seven years from 2007, also here, the proposal would mean a rise in the licence fee from £126.50 to a projected £186.89 in 2013-14 - in the Guardian the figure is reported as £150.50. This follows the cuts announced in December, and an expected 7,000 job cuts over three years, by the new director general, Mark Thompson. Unfortunately, for the BBC, as many have pointed out - including the Chairman of the Commons Media and Sport Select Committee - that's the same Mark Thompson who, when chief executive of Channel 4 accused the BBC of swimming in a jacuzzi of cash. [more] October 11, 2005
Getting on the wrong side of the bloggers
Excellent analysis from Alan Connor on the very private nature of blogging and how one corporate ad campaign fell flat on its face when it profoundly misunderstood how blogging works. October 08, 2005
Daily Ireland: levelling off or heading back down?
Interesting Daily Ireland figures from ABC. The primary figure shows a slight drop from the last figures. It will be hard news for the newpaper's bid to break into the difficult all Ireland paper market. It won't do the paper's campaign to bring in serious avertising revenues in any good. Harry's gone - but where? One journo expresses his grief (and paranoia?) for the loss of one of the British blogosphere's star bloggers, Harry (formerly known as Hatchett) from Harry's place. Whatever way you look at it, there's some weird stuff going on here! Update: Pete's worked out what the real scoop is here. Harry's been taken up into liberal heaven: the Guardian that is! October 05, 2005
New room, same Broom
Thanks to the October 04, 2005
Journalist under threat from Republicans?
September 30, 2005
Ethics, the media and politics: your questions?
Third post today on the Media Conference in Derry, but we now have the names of the media panel on next Friday night. If you can't get along, you have a chance to put your questions to: Pat McArt, editor of the Derry Journal, Paul McFadden from the BBC, Malachi O Doherty, former editor of Fortnight, and Poilin Ni Chiarian, Northern correspondent of Foinse. A selection of your questions will be asked from the floor of the event in Derry. Why the truth matters... As a warmer for any of you planning to hit Derry next weekend, for the debate about politics and journalism. Excellent review by Jerry Fodor in this week's Times Literary Supplement of a dense but pertinent philosophical argument by Simon Blackburn in favour of using the relatively simple semantic concept of truth rather than weighing every statement in only terms of its presuppositions, origin and bias. It may hurt the head a bit, but worth persevering with. [more] There's no Fs in ethics... The Social Study Conference at the Tower Hotel in Derry next week. They'll be putting the media under the microscope and asking several pertinent questions, including: are politicians and governments at the mercy of journalists?; are journalists at the mercy of the demands of media moguls?; who exactly is running the country? [more] September 27, 2005
Tabloid speaks the truth and takes the heat...
If a newspaper's primary role is to speak truth to power, the last place you might expect to find it is amongst a tabloid press, more associated with raking for scandal to end a politician's career. In this week's Blanket, Mick Hall argues that the Sunday World has been speaking its truth in the teeth of some nasty recriminations from one potent seat of power in Northern Ireland - Loyalist paramilitaries. What's blogging for? Open discourse, freedom of speech, new and independent voices, knowledge tools, navigation guides to the net, new news carriers, nodes in a global network, virtual conversations. Take your pick. Alan Connor on the BBC Magazine looks at a range of challenges to the independent blogger. Shots that shook the world... IF certain news stories weren't recorded on camera, would they be seen to be as important? I doubt it, but anyway, ITN is asking the public to vote for its 'Shot that Shook the World'. A fair selection? Locally, the Omagh bomb figures in the 'Global Conflict' category. September 23, 2005
Weekend comes early....
Slow blogging today I'm afraid. I'm off to Belfast in twenty minutes. Good luck to Tyrone and the Down Minors on Sunday. Happily I'll get to see them on TV this time out rather than listening to crackling LW signals at the top of a nearby hill. I'll blog as and when I get the opportunity over the weekend. Ronald..? Where's yer trewsers? The Guardian reports on the latest evolutionary leap in McDonald's increasingly sophisticated marketing strategy.. exclusively for the Japanese market.. for now.. and they have [some] pictures too[free reg req].. Hmm.. but did the inspiration come from this somewhat scarier source? [more] September 22, 2005
Handbook on blogging censorship...
This looks like it might be a good investment. A Handbook for bloggers on censorship, and how to avoid recriminations. A sign that with a degree of media power comes some serious responsibility. Available free online from Reporters sans Frontières. September 20, 2005
Speak only of that which you know...
Reader Moderate Unionist, brought my attention to this stanza from the John Godfrey Saxe poem "The Blind Men and the Elephant" (which I'm sure most of us remember from primary school) seems to wrap up the current gulf in understanding in Northern Ireland. It's worth repeating: [more] See no evil, hear no evil, speak no sense... THE performance of the Orange Order in the public eye over the past few days has been shambolic. There is no doubt that the reputation of the Order internationally and at home is in dire straits, even when the opportunity is handed to it on a plate. Former UUP MP David Burnside reckons even the Mafia have better PR (though fortunately he sidestepped such a position himself early in his career). The Order's inability to provide leadership or accept any responsibility is a lesson in how to lose friends and not influence anyone. Smaller, fatter, and online... THE decision of the Guardian to switch to a more compact Berliner format has prompted some online soul searching about the future of the newspaper. With so many form of digital media providing news too, will newspapers become a niche market? Or will they adapt to survive, gradually integrating with their online counterparts? September 19, 2005
How riots are seen in the US...
Interesting headline in this report on Gerry Adams' visit to the US. No such thing as a normal life for journalism... Former Guardian editor Peter Preston believes that the answer to the troubles of the print media is to integrate their mainstream operations with their online activity: [more] September 18, 2005
a campaign of intimidation and terror
In The Observer, Henry McDonald reminds us that the UDA are still attempting to prevent journalists at the Sunday World from reporting the UDA's continuing paramilitary and criminal activities by threatening retailers selling the newspaper, and by threatening distributors. That would be the same UDA who, according to Peter Hain, are still officially maintaining a cease-fire.. and one of whose leaders met Irish President Mary McAleese when she visited a primary school in South Belfast[archived but the opening line remains] on the 8th Sept this year - the Irish Echo also reported the meeting |
Slugger O'Toole records news, commentary and diverse opinion on Northern Ireland. Produced by Mick Fealty News, tips or crits here: mick.fealty -at- gmail.com Topics a long peace?books Britain Conflict Culture Economy Education election 2003 Election 2005 Enviroment environment Europe Gaeilge Glossary Government Highlights Human Rights Humour International Manifesto Media Nationalism Negotiations Parties Policing Soapbox Society Sport the south unionism
Highlights
Out with the crystal ball...Just a Mo... Commenting Policy A backgrounder on the McCartney affair Northern Bank raid and political fallout, so far
Readers comments
More corrupt than last year? - (4)Living on an island or in a state? - (31) a combination of historical ignorance and monumental self-pity - (42) Payout time... - (4) New Lansdowne revealed - (24) Far right 'imagination'... - (13) Nazi comments were a sectarian slur - (3) The price of peacemaking... - (17) belfast metropolitan area plan unveiled - (23) Why (or rather how) Alec Reid was right... - (37)
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