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

Media-Watchery Blogging Meet-Up Thingy

At Opentech in May I gave a talk about the informal Media-Watching project that I’m involved with. It’s a loosely-affiliated group of bloggers who like to point and laugh at the British press. Well, the group is about to become that little bit less loosely-affiliated loosely-affiliated. A number of us are going to meet up… Continue reading Media-Watchery Blogging Meet-Up Thingy

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

Opentech Approaches

This year’s Opentech conference is this coming Saturday at ULU. It’s earlier than usual this year, so it might have crept up on you a bit. I’m speaking at the conference again this year and I’ve been promoted to the main room. I’m on in the 4-5pm session speaking for twenty minutes on “Watching the… Continue reading Opentech Approaches

Independent URLs

Today Twitter got very excited about a story on the Independent web site. Actually, it wasn’t the story that got people excited, it was the URL that was being shared for the story. The story was some nonsense about Kate Middleton’s face being seen in a jelly bean. The URL was: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/utter-PR-fiction-but-people-love-this-shit-so-fuck-it-lets-just-print-it-2269573.html And if you… Continue reading Independent URLs

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

Snow vs Global Warming

Every winter as the snow starts to fall we get some some climate change denier claiming that the existence of snow categorically disproves the existence of climate change. This weekend the race was won by Richard Littlejohn who added the following to the end of his column in the Mail on Sunday. It’s late November… Continue reading Snow vs Global Warming