Oh dear! A bit of a disaster for the Hammers today. I was just about ready to start believing we might escape the drop after the win at Arsenal. I knew it was too good to be true. I’ve not got much to report on the research front as I was at work on Thursday and Friday. I haven’t done anything today either as we’ve been running around Harrow shopping and trying, unsuccessfully, to sort some banking stuff out. This comes after a rather late night out celebrating a birthday in Balham last night. Anyway, hopefully, I’ll manage to get something done this evening.
One comment I wanted to make refers back to the ABC figures I mentioned in my last post. I thought there was quite a mixed picture but the fact remains that newspaper readership in the UK remains very high and quite stable. This means that traditional media still retain massive power in setting the news agenda and therefore dictating what the politicians talk about. It just confirms my thesis for this last essay I’m working on which is that politicians hope new media will affect the balance of power between them and the media but in the end I don’t think the change is going to happen any time soon.
Saturday, 14 April 2007
Wednesday, 11 April 2007
Media Power
After a day at the office yesterday, I have finally got round to starting work on my final essay of the year which will be looking at how new technology has affected the traditional relationship between media and politics. I’ve started doing a bit of background reading and have added three books, by Andrew Marr, John Lloyd and Steven Barnett and Ivor Gaber, to the ‘Reading List’ section. Hopefully, they’ll provide some good starting points for whatever argument I decide to construct on the issue.
I suppose new technology is inevitably affecting the relationship with politicians perceiving it as a means, finally, to brake away from the power of the ‘middlemen’ and speak directly to the public. I’m not sure that the end of the traditional press men is that close though. Changing formats, such as freesheets, seem to be keeping old media well in the fight. This week’s ABC figures might give us some interesting clues.
Of course Ofcom have reported a massive decline in use of traditional media among teenagers. It seems therefore that the mutual dependency which has kept politics and media in a love hate relationship since the Victorian era is waning. Will this be good for democracy?
I suppose new technology is inevitably affecting the relationship with politicians perceiving it as a means, finally, to brake away from the power of the ‘middlemen’ and speak directly to the public. I’m not sure that the end of the traditional press men is that close though. Changing formats, such as freesheets, seem to be keeping old media well in the fight. This week’s ABC figures might give us some interesting clues.
Of course Ofcom have reported a massive decline in use of traditional media among teenagers. It seems therefore that the mutual dependency which has kept politics and media in a love hate relationship since the Victorian era is waning. Will this be good for democracy?
Sunday, 8 April 2007
Kissing & Cuddling
Here's a story from Sky News referring to the latest political 'scandal'. Of course, I would imagine this story has been kept up someone's sleeve for a while. The SNP's challenge to Labout plus Mr MacNeil's direct involvement with the instigation of the cash for honours investigation is bound to have earnt him a few enemies.
It is also touches one of the big debates in political communication. It's the issue of how much damage you do to the reputation of politics and politicians in general when you rubbish your opponent. Negative campaigning is a marketing trick which politcics has embraced without much benefit!
'Kissing And Cuddling'
Updated: 18:47, Sunday April 08, 2007
An MP has made a public apology to his family after a newspaper revealed he had a "drunken romp" with two teenagers.
The SNP's Angus MacNeil admitted his part in an incident, where he was reported to have kissed the girls in a hotel room.
He described the meeting as "wrong and stupid".
It was Mr MacNeil's complaint to police that sparked the ongoing cash for honours investigation.
The Western Isles MP, 36, apologised for the "embarrassment and hurt" caused by his actions.
Judie Morrison and Catriona Watt had told the Sunday Mail about the encounter in Shetland, in July 2005, when they were aged 17 and 18.
It was reported to have taken place weeks before Mr MacNeil's wife gave birth to their child.
Mr MacNeil said in a statement: "There is no allegation that anything further happened and I wish to make that absolutely clear.
"It was a lapse of judgement two years ago, for which I am sorry."
Judie and Catriona, from the Isle of Lewis, who study music in Glasgow, had been on a pub crawl when they met the MP in a hotel.
Judie, now 19, said he bought them lots of drinks before asking if they wanted to go to his room.
The student told the Sunday Mail: "We all ended up kissing and cuddling together but I was not kissing and cuddling with Catriona."
It is also touches one of the big debates in political communication. It's the issue of how much damage you do to the reputation of politics and politicians in general when you rubbish your opponent. Negative campaigning is a marketing trick which politcics has embraced without much benefit!
'Kissing And Cuddling'
Updated: 18:47, Sunday April 08, 2007
An MP has made a public apology to his family after a newspaper revealed he had a "drunken romp" with two teenagers.
The SNP's Angus MacNeil admitted his part in an incident, where he was reported to have kissed the girls in a hotel room.
He described the meeting as "wrong and stupid".
It was Mr MacNeil's complaint to police that sparked the ongoing cash for honours investigation.
The Western Isles MP, 36, apologised for the "embarrassment and hurt" caused by his actions.
Judie Morrison and Catriona Watt had told the Sunday Mail about the encounter in Shetland, in July 2005, when they were aged 17 and 18.
It was reported to have taken place weeks before Mr MacNeil's wife gave birth to their child.
Mr MacNeil said in a statement: "There is no allegation that anything further happened and I wish to make that absolutely clear.
"It was a lapse of judgement two years ago, for which I am sorry."
Judie and Catriona, from the Isle of Lewis, who study music in Glasgow, had been on a pub crawl when they met the MP in a hotel.
Judie, now 19, said he bought them lots of drinks before asking if they wanted to go to his room.
The student told the Sunday Mail: "We all ended up kissing and cuddling together but I was not kissing and cuddling with Catriona."
Saturday, 7 April 2007
Rowing?
It looks like it is going to be a nice day so we will be going to the boat race. I have no interest in rowing really, nor in Oxford or Cambridge. But one of the strange things about living with people who come from all over the world is this strange urge to show them really English stuff, most of which you've never even seen yourself. Regardless of the sporting activity, I'm sure the picnic will be fun. Clare will want to go to church this evening so I will have to make sure I go easy on the beer.
I've also just learnt that Entreprenuers in Action have won a new contract with the DfES so i'll have to get on to that on Monday. I've got a few calls to make and a few write ups to sort out on that front so it looks like the bank holiday is booked up. Somehwere I've got to fit in my essay. I've been thinking about how to get hold of some journalists to talk to about how new media is changing the relationship between media and politics. It's like trying to get blood out of stone although I can always refer back to the thoughts Lawrence Shaw gave me a couple of months back.
Finally, a quick one liner on the now concluded Iran incident. In PR terms, I think Iran views its most important audiences as the internal one (obviously) and the midle east in general, where it is working hard to ensure it secures it's position as teh region's leading power at the expense of Saudi Arabia. In that respect, job well done. Whether in the long term their strategy continues to be as successful as it has been over the past three or four years is another question.
I've also just learnt that Entreprenuers in Action have won a new contract with the DfES so i'll have to get on to that on Monday. I've got a few calls to make and a few write ups to sort out on that front so it looks like the bank holiday is booked up. Somehwere I've got to fit in my essay. I've been thinking about how to get hold of some journalists to talk to about how new media is changing the relationship between media and politics. It's like trying to get blood out of stone although I can always refer back to the thoughts Lawrence Shaw gave me a couple of months back.
Finally, a quick one liner on the now concluded Iran incident. In PR terms, I think Iran views its most important audiences as the internal one (obviously) and the midle east in general, where it is working hard to ensure it secures it's position as teh region's leading power at the expense of Saudi Arabia. In that respect, job well done. Whether in the long term their strategy continues to be as successful as it has been over the past three or four years is another question.
Friday, 6 April 2007
End of Term
Pointless fact of the day: There was a time when there were 500 spelling variations for the word ‘through’ and sixty variations for ‘she’! Where did I learn this? From Melvyn Bragg’s ‘The Adventure of English’ which I am reading at the moment. It’s packed full of bizarre and fascinating facts about the language and a pretty entertaining read.
Anyway, what’s been going on over the last few days? The formal classes for my Masters have now ended. Our last lobbying class on Tuesday ended in the pub, which then caught fire. On Wednesday I presented the political communications campaign plan by myself following illness and foreign travel by team mates. Our ideas for raising awareness about STDs among teenagers seem to go down well with the lecturers. We’ve been going on about new media so much now it’s starting to sound old. Now, it’s just a case of waiting for all the marks to come in.
Speaking of which, a mark did come in at the end of our last core module class in for which our guest speakers came from TfL. The assignment in questions was this blog. It seems to have gone down well as I got a 75 for it! Apparently I can be quite humorous which was somewhat surprising. All that’s left to do now is a final essay for political communications and my dissertation on perceptions about the potential of new media in political communications. Luckily enough one of the essay titles in political comms covers this specific subject so I’ll be killing two birds with one stone.
The quest to get some MP input for the dissertation seems to be going rather badly as both Dianne Abbott and Meg Hillier seem unable to take part at the moment. I am still deciding whether I am going to be a pest about it and keep trying. Maybe, once the summer holidays arrive they’ll have a little more time to spare. Maybe. I still have to hear from Tom Watson but I suppose everyone’s away for Easter so I won’t chase up again for another couple of weeks. There’s no great rush at the moment.
Yesterday was also my last day as a ‘temp’ at Propeller. After Easter, I’ll become a proper employee, which is good news! At least there’ll be a bit more money coming in so we won’t have to stay cooped up in our little studio on the Harrow campus so much. It also looks like I’ll be doing some proper client work too, initially for CITY A.M. It’ll be good to get back into doing some proper PR after this sabbatical.
In the meantime, I’ll just enjoy the weekend. I might do some work on my dissertation questionnaire but as it seems like the weather’s going to stay fine we’re thinking of going to watch the boat race. We’ll see.
Anyway, what’s been going on over the last few days? The formal classes for my Masters have now ended. Our last lobbying class on Tuesday ended in the pub, which then caught fire. On Wednesday I presented the political communications campaign plan by myself following illness and foreign travel by team mates. Our ideas for raising awareness about STDs among teenagers seem to go down well with the lecturers. We’ve been going on about new media so much now it’s starting to sound old. Now, it’s just a case of waiting for all the marks to come in.
Speaking of which, a mark did come in at the end of our last core module class in for which our guest speakers came from TfL. The assignment in questions was this blog. It seems to have gone down well as I got a 75 for it! Apparently I can be quite humorous which was somewhat surprising. All that’s left to do now is a final essay for political communications and my dissertation on perceptions about the potential of new media in political communications. Luckily enough one of the essay titles in political comms covers this specific subject so I’ll be killing two birds with one stone.
The quest to get some MP input for the dissertation seems to be going rather badly as both Dianne Abbott and Meg Hillier seem unable to take part at the moment. I am still deciding whether I am going to be a pest about it and keep trying. Maybe, once the summer holidays arrive they’ll have a little more time to spare. Maybe. I still have to hear from Tom Watson but I suppose everyone’s away for Easter so I won’t chase up again for another couple of weeks. There’s no great rush at the moment.
Yesterday was also my last day as a ‘temp’ at Propeller. After Easter, I’ll become a proper employee, which is good news! At least there’ll be a bit more money coming in so we won’t have to stay cooped up in our little studio on the Harrow campus so much. It also looks like I’ll be doing some proper client work too, initially for CITY A.M. It’ll be good to get back into doing some proper PR after this sabbatical.
In the meantime, I’ll just enjoy the weekend. I might do some work on my dissertation questionnaire but as it seems like the weather’s going to stay fine we’re thinking of going to watch the boat race. We’ll see.
Thursday, 29 March 2007
Progress .... Sort of
Well, over a week has gone by and there’s been no news from the MPs on whether they’re interested in taking part in the research. I shall have to hassle them I suppose. Things are looking a bit brighter on the local politicians front. I have had quite a few responses from local councilors and two face-to-face interviews have been finalised. Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks things will calm down a little and I’ll be able to focus a lot more energy on getting things set up. Meanwhile, it’s just office work and trying to get my remaining assignments done before we break for Easter.
Tuesday evening’s PA strategy presentation went OK, I think. Mind you, I did get stuck on a question after I’d finished which was a pain. Oh well, it’ll be perfect next time.
I also forgot to mention that I had my interview with Michael Vella, the rugby league player who plays with Hull Kingston Rovers, published last Sunday. My dear old Mum has sent me a scan of it but it’s not quite good enough to upload. So, I will just have to wait for the paper to send it to me. That should take about three months then.
Tuesday evening’s PA strategy presentation went OK, I think. Mind you, I did get stuck on a question after I’d finished which was a pain. Oh well, it’ll be perfect next time.
I also forgot to mention that I had my interview with Michael Vella, the rugby league player who plays with Hull Kingston Rovers, published last Sunday. My dear old Mum has sent me a scan of it but it’s not quite good enough to upload. So, I will just have to wait for the paper to send it to me. That should take about three months then.
Monday, 26 March 2007
Back from the North
Over the weekend I didn't work on this project. As we were in Stockholm, I took the opportunity to wonder around by myself while Clare did her cross cultural communication stuff. My tourist experiences took in the Army Museum and the History Museum. Clare did manage to get enough free time for us to go round the old town together. Overall, I'd have to say that it was a very pleasant if rather expensive weekend.
I've also got two presentations coming up as we end the near of the organised study modules on the course. The first one, tomorrow, will be a Public Affairs strategy for Entrepreneurs in Action. The second, for tomorrow week, will be a political communications campaign on rasing awarenes about sexually transmitted diseases. I'm also in at Propeller four days this week. In other words, there's not going to be much time to work on research for this particular project.
Still, when I have something new to add, I will.
I've also got two presentations coming up as we end the near of the organised study modules on the course. The first one, tomorrow, will be a Public Affairs strategy for Entrepreneurs in Action. The second, for tomorrow week, will be a political communications campaign on rasing awarenes about sexually transmitted diseases. I'm also in at Propeller four days this week. In other words, there's not going to be much time to work on research for this particular project.
Still, when I have something new to add, I will.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
