Nothing like a good loser
14/06/07 13:57 Permalink
There's nothing like a
good loser, and this
is nothing at all
like one. It's Katy Hopkins, Uberbitch from The
Apprentice, talking about how mediocre the final
was and how lousy the final pair actually were.
I had coffee with ex-Apprentice candidate James Max the other week and we discussed the current bunch. He'd met most of them and thought Simon was excellent. He'd never struck me as up to much and we concluded, I suspect rightly, that the eventual winner simply came over less well on television than in real life. There are a lot of people like that and looking at them through TV glasses distorts our view.
But the Hopkins rant looks to me like it's about something else. Once she was out, she had no reason to care who won. It's about keeping yourself in the public eye by continuing to make daft comments after the curtain has well and truly gone down.
My best guess is that Kate wanted some sort of notoriety and fame, a businessy Simon Cowell if you like, and styled her comments to the camera accordingly. The problem is that there's not much call for a businessy Simon Cowell. And even if there were, it would need to be someone with style who could come up with something not just cutting every time but witty too. When she said Kristina Grimes used waffle to cover her backside and it was a shame she couldn't do the same with her choice of skirts it worked because it was politically incorrect, bitchy but also funny. When she suggested Adam Hosker should go back to his "little Northern chums" it was an insult with no panache.
The very real difficulty Hopkins now faces is that people have seen through the act. She tried to look ruthless but at the last minute, when Sir Alan Sugar demanded that she consider her choice's effect on other people, she crumbled. Completely. She's now portrayed herself as a ruthless businesswoman who can't quite deliver, which isn't a particularly useful place to find yourself. (If she wants to take advantage of my media training service she's welcome, but I always advise people not to rip into the competition and I don't know if she can help herself). There's very little left except someone trying to seem foxy in a posh dress on the News of the World website but actually just looking like a catty posh woman in a downmarket tabloid.
Mind you, we're still talking about her. Who said nobody ever remembers who came third in something..?
I had coffee with ex-Apprentice candidate James Max the other week and we discussed the current bunch. He'd met most of them and thought Simon was excellent. He'd never struck me as up to much and we concluded, I suspect rightly, that the eventual winner simply came over less well on television than in real life. There are a lot of people like that and looking at them through TV glasses distorts our view.
But the Hopkins rant looks to me like it's about something else. Once she was out, she had no reason to care who won. It's about keeping yourself in the public eye by continuing to make daft comments after the curtain has well and truly gone down.
My best guess is that Kate wanted some sort of notoriety and fame, a businessy Simon Cowell if you like, and styled her comments to the camera accordingly. The problem is that there's not much call for a businessy Simon Cowell. And even if there were, it would need to be someone with style who could come up with something not just cutting every time but witty too. When she said Kristina Grimes used waffle to cover her backside and it was a shame she couldn't do the same with her choice of skirts it worked because it was politically incorrect, bitchy but also funny. When she suggested Adam Hosker should go back to his "little Northern chums" it was an insult with no panache.
The very real difficulty Hopkins now faces is that people have seen through the act. She tried to look ruthless but at the last minute, when Sir Alan Sugar demanded that she consider her choice's effect on other people, she crumbled. Completely. She's now portrayed herself as a ruthless businesswoman who can't quite deliver, which isn't a particularly useful place to find yourself. (If she wants to take advantage of my media training service she's welcome, but I always advise people not to rip into the competition and I don't know if she can help herself). There's very little left except someone trying to seem foxy in a posh dress on the News of the World website but actually just looking like a catty posh woman in a downmarket tabloid.
Mind you, we're still talking about her. Who said nobody ever remembers who came third in something..?
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An appalling matter
12/06/07 19:45 Media
issues Permalink
I was distressed to
hear of the death of Banaz Mahmod at the hands of her
father and uncle, as I'm sure were the vast, vast
majority of people. Its implications are way beyond
the remit of a small and self-appointed media blog
like this.
What I do consider my business, though, is the reporting of it. Why is the media dignifying this and other filthy little murders with the term 'honour killing'? Every time a report mentions it this seems somehow to validate it, to give it a title it doesn't merit. Even if used in inverted commas, the term puts it into some sort of special category as if we have to understand something about the culture of these people before passing judgment.
It was murder, pure and simple. I suggest it's time to stop calling it and cases like it anything else.
What I do consider my business, though, is the reporting of it. Why is the media dignifying this and other filthy little murders with the term 'honour killing'? Every time a report mentions it this seems somehow to validate it, to give it a title it doesn't merit. Even if used in inverted commas, the term puts it into some sort of special category as if we have to understand something about the culture of these people before passing judgment.
It was murder, pure and simple. I suggest it's time to stop calling it and cases like it anything else.
Tony Blair
12/06/07 19:15 Media
issues Permalink
So Tony Blair is
calling the media a 'Feral Beast' with the
Independent one of the worst offenders. The BBC
report on the speech is here,
BBC political correspondent Nick Robinson's blog
entry on the subject is here.
Personally I think the media is an easy target. We're not always popular and when some sections of the press decide someone's day in the sun is over, it's not pretty - they do tend to go for them. But Blair here is talking about the Independent. It may not be a broadsheet any more but it retains broadsheet sensibilities.
I can only conclude that this is all about people disagreeing with him over central issues. The Indie was among those papers celebrating ten years ago when Blair became PM. I don't recall any complaints then. As the years have passed and the spin grown more blatant it's become disillusioned and critical but it's never been as venomous as, say, the Mail.
So what do we make of this attack on the Indie? With a little regret I have to say it looks like calculated spin yet again. The red-tops would have been easy targets for Blair but nobody really takes the news stories seriously anyway. The Mail is his sworn enemy so there's no point in going for them - it would be too predictable and non-newsworthy.
But the Indie? That's different. A left-leaning paper being criticised by a Labour PM. Yes, that's non-obvious so yes, that might hit the headlines if the speech is dressed up with a few spicy words. Sorry, does this sound cynical? It should. This is a PM who wants to make the maximum impact with a few words and that, I believe, is the reason he's rounded on this particular example. You could almost call him 'feral'
The Independent's site is silent on the subject as I type; typically, perhaps, the Guardian has reported the Indie's view instead. You couldn't make that up.
Personally I think the media is an easy target. We're not always popular and when some sections of the press decide someone's day in the sun is over, it's not pretty - they do tend to go for them. But Blair here is talking about the Independent. It may not be a broadsheet any more but it retains broadsheet sensibilities.
I can only conclude that this is all about people disagreeing with him over central issues. The Indie was among those papers celebrating ten years ago when Blair became PM. I don't recall any complaints then. As the years have passed and the spin grown more blatant it's become disillusioned and critical but it's never been as venomous as, say, the Mail.
So what do we make of this attack on the Indie? With a little regret I have to say it looks like calculated spin yet again. The red-tops would have been easy targets for Blair but nobody really takes the news stories seriously anyway. The Mail is his sworn enemy so there's no point in going for them - it would be too predictable and non-newsworthy.
But the Indie? That's different. A left-leaning paper being criticised by a Labour PM. Yes, that's non-obvious so yes, that might hit the headlines if the speech is dressed up with a few spicy words. Sorry, does this sound cynical? It should. This is a PM who wants to make the maximum impact with a few words and that, I believe, is the reason he's rounded on this particular example. You could almost call him 'feral'
The Independent's site is silent on the subject as I type; typically, perhaps, the Guardian has reported the Indie's view instead. You couldn't make that up.
Spell check annoyance
07/06/07 13:21 Journalism in practice
Permalink
I hate it when this happens. I hate it I hate it I
hate it. Someone for whom I've just done a shedload
of work has commented that they're disappointed I
didn't spell check before sending the copy to them.
Let's be straight here,
I'm not complaining that they shouldn't have said
anything. Far from it; due to circumstances beyond my
control the copy was a few days late as well so in
view of both of these factors I knocked a few hundred
quid off outstanding monies owing. I don't want
dissatisfied customers any more than anyone else.
What I hate is that my system is supposed to check and alter the spelling of my documents automatically. It's one of those Word for the Mac things.
And what I really hate is that I've been using this set-up now for two years, give or take. And I've had the impression that it's been working properly. I'm now very grateful to the contact who told me things are coming through looking shoddy, but I can't help wondering: how many sub-standard pieces have I been sending out to people who're just too polite to say anything?
What I hate is that my system is supposed to check and alter the spelling of my documents automatically. It's one of those Word for the Mac things.
And what I really hate is that I've been using this set-up now for two years, give or take. And I've had the impression that it's been working properly. I'm now very grateful to the contact who told me things are coming through looking shoddy, but I can't help wondering: how many sub-standard pieces have I been sending out to people who're just too polite to say anything?
Work-life balance, bah
05/06/07 18:50 Coffee machine moments
Permalink
With a bit of luck, you won't read this until the
morning. With more luck I wouldn't have been writing
this in the evening but it wasn't to be.
Not that I'm obsessed
with this blog or anything. It's just that I've
agreed to do this piece for a supplement for one of
the Nationals. Two pieces in fact.
OK, five pieces, but three are done. I agreed to do these in January/February with a long deadline, and the reason three of them are done is twofold. First, if I'm honest, I organised them better. Second, though, the case studies who'd agreed to be profiled, the PRs who set them up, didn't suddenly get in touch a fortnight ago after loads of delays and tell me they weren't going to play.
So here I am. Tuesday evening. Typing. Actually, typing and hoping against hope that the people - no, let's call them saints! - who've agreed to step in at the last minute, one of whom is in France and the other in America, will hit the 'send' key on their preliminary answers to me so I can check they're the right people and follow up with some questions to get some quotes.
Work-life balance? Don't make me laugh...
OK, five pieces, but three are done. I agreed to do these in January/February with a long deadline, and the reason three of them are done is twofold. First, if I'm honest, I organised them better. Second, though, the case studies who'd agreed to be profiled, the PRs who set them up, didn't suddenly get in touch a fortnight ago after loads of delays and tell me they weren't going to play.
So here I am. Tuesday evening. Typing. Actually, typing and hoping against hope that the people - no, let's call them saints! - who've agreed to step in at the last minute, one of whom is in France and the other in America, will hit the 'send' key on their preliminary answers to me so I can check they're the right people and follow up with some questions to get some quotes.
Work-life balance? Don't make me laugh...