The Real Channel Four

A reminder that C4 does still have some soul came with its reminder last week that media frenzy is not something new.

The Seven Sins of England reminder me that the social problems that face us in society are not something new. Damn. Binge drinking was a problem in 1697, and in 1850 a report on crime complained about what C4 subtly described as 'Slaggishness'.

Now I must admit it was a bit rubbish, and having Sky+ it I was a bit disappointed, but its a great way to remember that issues were essentially the same 300 years ago, and that the major shift is that we have now discovered a million and one ways to communicate them.

The detail of society and technology is different, but we will always look back and see those good old days.

While some seem to think it was a great return to Channel 4 programming, others thought it was some weak attempt to hark back to the 'cutting edge' of the 80's. To be honest I'm undecided, but whatever it made me think, and that takes some work!

Thanks for all your help Michael

Michael has done a lot for Newcastle... well he's cost us £27m anyway!

It shows you something when 3,500 Geordie's "want their money back" while a player is down 'injured'.

Was good to see that he'll be alright for the England game though. Shame he can't finish a game for Newcastle without getting stretchered off with concussion.

The Final Countdown

Lack of any posts this month, but for the last day of the season you have to celebrate that despite being managerless we're better off than some others...

Flash my mob!

Flashmobbing, i-mobbing or what ever you want to call it. It may be a sign of social networking and may be behaviourally significant, but on a Wednesday night in Victoria it just gets in the way of my getting a train!

Learning Stuff

Having decided after over six years in the wonderful world of media to attempt to gain a qualification, with the induction of the IPA Advanced Certificate, so far it has at least assured me that I vaguely know what I'm talking about.

The first exam of the year is on Friday (30 mins multiple choice and worth about 5% of the total grade - like being at Uni again!). It is 7 years since I last sat a formal examination, but I'm praying that the fact I got over 80% on each of the 'self test' papers will get me through.

If not... anyone know if they're looking for tube drivers?

I defend...

For once in my life an unnamed Guardian reading friend of mine made me feel quite liberal. Being a fluffy media type not that suprising that I occasionnaly have these feelings, but I tend to lean right rather than left when debating with this person.

It was merely a drunken coversation about the merits of C4's documentary the other day about climate change. Strangely the argument turned to freedom of speech as 'Mr Lefty' told us that the documentary should have not been aired. Now for someone who spent three years studying politics with this young man, and having myself focussed on freedom of speech, I was shocked to hear such ramblings.

Is it a sign of age? Do we all at some point hit 'the wall' and decided that we are the only ones educated enough to make decisions, and that we should protect 'the masses' against this evil nonsense?

While I don't support what was said on Channel 4, or what was debated in later days on Newsnight by a variety of 'experts', I defend to the death blah blah blah. In all honesty though it really did make me realise that even those few remaining idealists amongst us believe in equality amongs their own, but not us all sometimes.

Hey ho - life isn't always as it seems

http://www.channel4.com/news/climate_change

Inherent Racism

Ok, this is just an introduction into a range of posts which will be made over future months, as I read more on the subject. With such a controversial subect its not something which I am wanting to delve into too deeply until my own arguments are fully formed, but hopefully the use of this blog - which if you are reading its because you've stumbled across it rather than been invited in - will allow me to see the development of my arguments over time.
Having recently read an article in the New Scientist and having just finished reading Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, this is something which certainly seems to be a area which is heavily researched, but not freely discussed.
The bottom line to me at the moment is that nuture has a major impact on our views, and prejudice. The difference between good and evil, being the difference between black and white etc is a deeply important part of todays society, and whatever the pc brigade say or do, the world is inherantly a racist place. I am not claiming that everyone in the world is a racist. I am arguing that everyone has views which are prejudiced and which no amount of education alone can stop. Many decisions in our lives are what Gladwell would call 'thin-sliced' and such subconscious 'choices' cannot be controlled over a short period of time. Anyone who thinks that it is possible to do this is a fool to himself.
Even in typing that sentence I have been sexist through the use of the word himself. An argument exists that such actions make me inherently sexist, as my unconscious actions say that any important decision is, by default, made by a man. This is not the case, this is a paraniod argument over social conditioning. My belief is that a woman can be a chairman, but this sort of belief is not take into account if you take a traditional feminist stance on my use of language, because society chooses to 'thin-slice', and if you don't actually know what you are thin slicing then you will always find that your gut reaction is as useful as the toss of a coin.
When we here people using the term institutional racism or sexism we se it as a negative. This is not necessarily the case. The denial is a negative, the realisation of the truth is a very positive thing. What we must do is accept the reality that hundreds of years of history have an impact, and that in the future we will be able to change things, but at this moment in time we must accept reality, and decide how best to deal with it to make the world we live in a more accepting one.