Category: Media

This year is Penguin Books’ 70th Anniversary, so when I read this story, in The Guardian a few weeks ago, I got quite excited. In May it will release the Pocket Penguins, 70 paperbacks priced at �1.50 from classic and contemporary authors. Oooh. Which books are they publishing? It might be fun collecting the lot?…

I think I can see both sides of the Ken Livingstone situation, with him claiming to have been targeted by Associated Newspapers over the last 24 years. On the other hand, being told your job is like a concentration camp guard’s is not very pleasant. Now Blair’s weighed in, speaking on that most august of…

While I was sitting through some trailers for the umpteenth time at the cinema last night (and mainly the same ones I’d seen the previous night) a couple of thoughts occurred to me. Actually, they’ve occurred to me many times in the past, but for the purposes of this narrative, it fits in well to…

Ray Snoddy has penned a very good piece about what 2005 might bring in the UK’s media world. Unfortunately, the online version is subscription only at Brand Republic, so I’ll paraphrase some of his points here. Given the state of the dollar against the pound at the moment, he doesn’t see ITV as being sold…

The Golden Globe nominations have just been announced and there’s the usual hullaballoo about them, but what exactly are the Golden Globes? Well they’re awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association – an important sounding institution. Hollywood’s films are of interest around the world, and it’s only right that the various critics “who disseminate information…

I ended up as a late replacement for the Virgin Radio team in the Eat My Goal football quiz this evening at the CC Club. I was definitely being carried by the rest of the team, but it was tough competition with teams from several mens mags, Five Live, Xfm, Talksport, LBC, The Daily Mirror…

I get to see the Radio Times every week, and around this time of year, it’s stuffed full of catalogues for you to pick your presents in time for Christmas. Not too long ago, I noticed that the Innovations catalogue was back from the dead (it was previously shut down, which meant that I could…

Last weekend, it was The Guardian giving away Cinema Paradiso in the paper, and this coming weekend it’s The Times which is giving away A Private Function. Every weekend, you can scout around to see what DVDs and CDs are being given away. Express newspapers shrink-wrap at least two CDs every week – they normally…

It was very sad to hear today that Paul Foot had died. He was 66 and on his way to a holiday in Ireland. Paul Foot was one of those journalists you can only respect – he believed wholeheartedly in Socialism and wrote it as he saw it. There are plenty of obituaries scattered around…

Listened to an enthralling documentary from the BBC World Service entitled TV Invasion, trying to detail the impact that television has made to the Himalayan country of Bhutan since its arrival in 1999. At the same time, the country also got the internet, so you’d think that it’d be quite an upheaval. But the country…

Yesterday’s Mail on Sunday had a free gift that really sums up everything I hate about that company. They were giving away free stickers for your car number plate. Many new cars now come with “Euro” numberplates – little European flags on the left hand side of the plates. Having these plates means, I think,…

Remember that somewhat hyperbolic, and ever-so-slightly misleading Fox News opinion piece by John Gibson? Well because Fox News is broadcast via Sky, they get to fall under Ofcom, who have today upheld a number of complaints made about it. This in itself probably doesn’t mean a great deal. However. repeat offences could result in sanctions…

A couple of stories. First off, Mediaguardian has the story (free registration reqd.) that a couple of small Welsh villages are the first in the land to become digital-only. In many respects, it’ll be areas like this that’ll be the most problematical in the fullness of rollout. It’ll take a lot of transmitters to get…