Last week I thought that I had traced the origin of the Mail’s recent obsession with BC and AD back to Peter Hitchens column on September 18th of this year. In this article, Hitchens wrote: The BBC’s Chief Commissar for Political Correctness (whom I imagine as a tall, stern young woman in cruel glasses issuing… Continue reading History Repeating
Category: media
Some Doctor Who Theories (Revisited)
Back in May, after two episodes of Doctor Who series 6, I made some predictions about the rest of the series. Now that the series is over, it’s time to go back over those predictions to see how I did. There were nine of them. The eye-patch lady is going to be important.Excellent start. The… Continue reading Some Doctor Who Theories (Revisited)
The Pod Delusion
A quick plug for The Pod Delusion. Their latest episode was published today and it includes me talking about the Mail’s BBC/BCE story. Getting the piece recorded was all a bit last minute and rushed, but I enjoyed doing it and hope to do more stuff with them in the future. I highly recommend listening… Continue reading The Pod Delusion
BBC BCE Addendum
A couple of interesting new developments in BCE-gate. Firstly, the BBC have apparently had a large number of complaints about this issue and yesterday they published a response on their complaints page. Complaint We received complaints from people concerned about press reports claiming that the BBC has replaced the reference terms BC (Before Christ) and… Continue reading BBC BCE Addendum
The Birth of a Meme
It’s not often that you can trace a tabloid meme back to its beginnings. Over the last week we’ve seen the birth of a new tabloid meme and, luckily, we’re able to see where it comes from. Here’s the seed. It’s from the Frequently Asked Questions page on the BBC Religion religion web site. Why… Continue reading The Birth of a Meme
Reading the News
I’ve always considered myself to be a Guardian reader. For probably twenty years I bought a Guardian most days and read it on the tube on my way to college and, later, my job. The routine was always the same, I’d read the Guardian in the morning and a book on my way home in… Continue reading Reading the News
The Mail on Teenage Abortions
A lot of tabloid watchers have obviously been looking elsewhere today, but the Mail still manages to peddle its usual level of bullshit. I was particularly drawn to this piece [istyosty link]. In it they examine recent Department of Health figures on the number of girls of sixteen or under who have an abortion. The… Continue reading The Mail on Teenage Abortions
Watching the Press – Notes
Today, at Opentech, I gave a talk called “Watching the Press“. Here are some notes and references to go with the talk. Downtown Abbey The Daily Mail claimed that two hours of material were being cut from Downton Abbey for broadcast in the US – because the plot was too complex for US viewers to… Continue reading Watching the Press – Notes
Some Doctor Who Theories
We’re two episodes into the new series of Doctor Who and from what we’ve seen so far the arc plot is going to be even more complex than last year. Here are a few theories that have occurred to me over the last couple of days. They aren’t spoilers in any meaningful way as I… Continue reading Some Doctor Who Theories
Daily Mail on Google and Adele
Today, the Daily Mail published the most hysterical pile of anti-internet crap that I think I’ve ever seen. And that takes some doing as Daily Mail articles usually combine a complete lack of understanding of the internet together with the deep distrust and fear that Mail writers have for most of the modern world. In… Continue reading Daily Mail on Google and Adele