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Hobbes vs. Question Time
We invest a lot in opinion and opinion formers. As the BBC tenders for Question Time, it might be worth considering the value of public deliberation. Here’s the philosopher Thomas Hobbes writing about deliberative assemblies in De Cive: there all have an opportunity to show their wisdom, knowledge, and eloquence, in deliberating matters of the…
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Gardening, ‘New’ Media and Auntie
The news that the BBC might soon look at online advertising [DS] reminded me of a panel I sat on recently with an exec from a national newspaper. He was talking cogently about his title’s online strategy. It was moving towards audio-visual content. It was all about niches, said the exec. Panellists and audience nodded.…
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Tali Telly Ban
Ok, apologies for the dreadful headline. Reporting both sides in a conflict does seem to invite political criticism, as CNN has discovered. Here’s the BBC attracting flak from the Conservative Party’s defence spokesman, Liam Fox. He said: “I am disgusted that the BBC should broadcast an interview with a Taliban ‘adviser’ while our troops are…
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MoD Dir of News email to ITV News execs
Because The Times doesn’t seem to have reproduced James Clark’s email in full from their print edition, here it is: All I’ve just watched two bulletins on hospital care tonight on ITV News. As bad a hatchet-job as I’ve seen in years. Cheap shots all over the place, no context, no reasonable explanation. Like the…