The topic of violent imagery in the news generated great interest in Bournemouth Media School’s first debate of the year.   The small room was packed, as staff and students joined the discussion “If it bleeds should it lead?”

The panel was chaired by Associate Dean Karen Fowler-Watt, who opened the session with an arresting slide-show of images from the Haiti Earthquake.

Vanessa Edwards took the side of deregulation, claiming it was unfair to the victims of violence not to portray the truth of their experiences.  She also raised the concern that TV news is becoming sanitised, while other visual media become increasingly graphic.

Debating on the other side of the table,  Bournemouth’s BA Journalism Programme Leader Dan Hogan claimed there was a danger of using graphic images to sensationalise and entertain rather than inform.  He also raised the issue of privacy along with standards taste and decency.

The debate is one of a series being organised by the Media School.   On October 25th the team will be asking whether the BBC’s move to Salford is a good idea. 

Click below to hear a podcast of the debate: 

http://bit.ly/bMKHtW

Some of the most senior female executives in British TV are to speak at a controversial event in Southampton.

Former BBC One Controller Lorraine Heggessy will be joined by the MD of production company Ricochet, Jo Ball, to debate whether television is “No Career for a Woman”.

The event is being hosted by the Southern Centre of the Royal Television Society at Southampton Solent University. The organisers say the panel will explore the challenges facing women who choose a career in TV as record numbers of female workers leave the industry. They’ll also be asking whether TV really is a good career for a woman.

The event on November 17th is free to attend, but places should be booked in advance by contacting the RTS Southern Region.

Courtesy Speers and Giddy Ox

New Media Woman’s Editor Vanessa Edwards reviews the touring production The Rebel Cell at Poole’s arts centre The Lighthouse.

There’s often something rather illicit about going to the theatre at The Lighthouse. At the start of the evening the bar is crowded, but just before the curtain rises hundreds of classical music fans head one way for the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s latest concert. In contrast, just a few dozen theatre buffs turn the other way and shuffle into the front few rows of the colossal theatre space.

This evening was no different as I joined college and school students along with a few adventurous oldies to see the rap play The Rebel Cell. I wasn’t optimistic. It’s tough for the most hardened actor to play to a house that’s barely a quarter full. I’ve seen a lot of depressed faces look out from that stage. I hadn’t bargained for the sheer passion and bloody-minded determination of Baba Brinkman and Rowan Sawday. They came, they spat and they conquered.

Sheer passion and bloody-minded determination.

The Rebel Cell is an illegal terrorist organisation fighting for freedom just a few years into the future. A terrorist attack at the 2012 Olympics has sent the UK into a downward spiral of dystopia, with a Fascist government, a Guantanamo-style detention centre in Glastonbury and the supermarket Tesco running pretty much everything. The leader of the Rebel Cell MC Dizraeli has been thrown into prison. In a desperate attempt to get him to confess to the Olympic bombings, the government arranges for old friend and journalist Baba Brinkman to interview him on live TV.

Intelligent, cleverly structured rap poem.

What follows is an intelligent, energetic debate about the merits of capitalism, anarchy and friendship, delivered entirely as a rap poem. The discussion is punctuated by scenes from the young men’s past as rap artists. Refreshingly, the political philosophy never feels laboured or difficult to follow. Just when things get complicated, the cleverly structured flashbacks take the audience back to brighter days as they join the rappers at the Glastonbury Festival. The whole performance is illustrated with creative and well-executed video imagery and special mention should go to the third member of the team on the decks.

The audience clapped and cheered at every opportunity.

There was little doubt the characters felt real to the young audience. They cheered and clapped at every opportunity and when the two rappers embraced briefly before parting, the scene was greeted with a chorus of “ahs” – quite genuine and spontaneous.

Perhaps Brinkman and Sawday’s greatest achievement though was to generate enthusiastic audience participation in the mostly empty auditorium. I watched in fascination as the elderly couple at the end of my row yelled “Bomb Tescos” with some conviction and then got up to dance. It’s the most fun I’ve had at the theatre for years and it made me think. As I passed the Tower Park Tesco on the way home I was quite tempted to stop off and daub a few choice messages on the window. Then I remembered I still have £30 of vouchers on my Clubcard and decided to give it a miss. Public protest has its limits.

Check-out The Rebel Cell on You Tube:

Courtesy BBC Television

A formidable cast of female stars is due to appear in the new series of the BBC show “Would I lie to You?”   Contributors will include comedians Miranda Hart and Ruth Jones, along with actor Keeley Hawes and TV personalities Kate Silverton and Fern Britton. 

This will be the fourth series of the popular show hosted by Rob Brydon, with regular team captains David Mitchell and Lee Mack.    Eight episodes are currently in post production, along with a compilation programme, at Outpost Facilities and Pinewood Studios.  The series is a BBC / Zeppotron co-production and is expected to air later this year.

Unlike many comedy panel shows, WILTY has a great record of including female contributors.  Past guests include Claudia Winkleman, Ronni Ancona and Gabby Logan.

The angry reaction from games companies in the UK was swift.  Dr Richard Wilson, chief executive of the video game trade association TIGA told the BBC the decision was “a kick in the teeth” for the industry and a “betrayal” of promises made by the coalition partners before the election.  The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), who act as a trading body for the gaming industry, said they were both disappointed and confused by the Chancellor’s announcement.  Their Director General Michael Rawlinson told the Telegraph the decision was “a terrible blow.”

This change of policy comes in striking contrast to the coalition government’s recent words of support for the UK’s media industry.  In a keynote speech earlier this month Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt described the UK’s production of digital media as being “quite simply extraordinary significance for Britain’s economic future.”  He told an audience in London that he considered his responsibility for media policy to be “one of the most sacred I have.”  Mr Hunt may consider his responsibility to be sacred, but if he intends to maintain practical government support for the media, he looks likely to be facing a serious challenge.

Media and the arts already facing government cuts.

The media and the arts are already proving to be prime targets in the government’s spending cuts.  Funding to modernise libraries has been scrapped, along with a loss of more than £47 million for projects at the British Film Institute.  Mr Osborne’s Budget annoucement of 25% real terms cuts in government spending can only be a sign of further assualts on media and the arts. 

Along with cuts in direct funding, spending reductions are likely to make a significant impact on the thousands of media workers employed in the public sector; in education, video production, press and PR.  With the Coalititon’s antipathy to so called “government spin” many must fear their jobs will put them in the front line for staff cuts.

More broadband – but will people be able to afford it?

The Budget does restate the Coalition’s policy on broadband rollout and confirms that the 50p “landline tax” will be scrapped; however there is still little detail about the true extent of the government’s broadband ambitions.  The Budget repeats the government’s goal of universal broadband access of at least 2Mbps; however while many people may be given access to broadband, fewer may be able to afford it, as the VAT rise will see an increase in the price of broadband packages.

The VAT increase will also hit media companies selling products direct to the consumer.  There may be a flurry to buy larger goods before the January deadline, after that it’s feared there may be a dramatic fall in sales. Research conducted by the price comparison service uswitch.com before the election, showed consumers were more worried about the VAT rise than they were about an increase in interst rates.  Six out of ten consumers said they were planning to drastically alter their spending plans.

While VAT will not affect books and newspapers, there is little other good news for local and regional news media already in crisis.  Newspapers and broadcasters can only wait for the autumn when the Department of Culture, Media and Sport is due to publish its local media action plan.

Who are the media winners?

So how might the media industry gain from the Emergency Budget?  Many media workers are self-employed or work for small and medium sized companies.  There has been a guarded welcome for the Budget from such small companies.  The Federation of Small Businesses said the Budget would please the vast majority of its members, although it raised a cautionary note about rises in Employer National Insurance Contributions.  

Plans to cut Corporation Tax have also been widely welcomed.  The website Real Business said today that this was “A very good measure by Chancellor George Osborne.  Not only will cutting the corporation tax rate to 24 per cent help to make Britain more competitive internationally, it will also encourage businesses to set up here rather than abroad.”

So with these benefits, overall it could be argued that the media industry is only being asked to accept its fair share of the government’s austerity measures; however those employed by the games industry would probably disagree. 

View the full text of the emergency Budget here:

http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/junebudget_easyread.htm

Courtesy New Line Cinema

NMW’s editor Vanessa Edwards finds plenty of reasons to avoid the latest movie in the Sex and the City franchise.

Sex and the City 2 has become a product-placement cliché..

Watching Sex and the City 2 is like browsing through an Argos catalogue. The film displays scene after scene of things you can’t afford, promoted by bevy of blank-faced, anodyne models. The franchise has ceased to be a witty and insightful comment on the lives of modern women and become a product-placement cliché.. Along with the usual designer gear the film promotes a dreary directory of less glamorous consumer goods. Each of the women has a different brand of mobile phone (Charlotte mentions hers more often than Samantha mentions her private parts), Carrie’s biggest gripe is a flat screen television and there is even a plot built around a well-known make of luxury car.

The girls discover that excess doesn’t make you happy and then buy some more stuff (just in case.)

For a while it looks like this overwhelming buffet of consumerism might cheer up our heroines. In one scene they gasp in delight as they’re offered the chance to travel in FOUR luxury limousines. Perhaps they are each secretly delighted at being given the chance to avoid talking to the vacuous, self-obsessed friend who sat next to them on the flight over? But it doesn’t take long before they make the shock discovery that spending huge sums of other people’s money is not going to resolve the terrible lack of fulfilment in their lives. A valuable lesson is learned, they buy some more stuff (just in case they were wrong) and it’s cocktails all round.

Of course Sex and the City was always about excess. Nobody who admires a man nicknamed “Mr Big” is likely to be interested in philanthropy. But somehow I hoped that as the women (and their fans) aged, in changing economic times, the producers might have considered moving the series forward. Surely there are some valuable and interesting things to be said about the role of women in our changing world? Or perhaps the sad truth is that America only sings from one song sheet and that ditty is consumerism. It may not make anyone happy, but it keeps a few people singing all the way to the bank.

“If you want to know what you’ll be doing tomorrow, look at what teens are doing today.”

Sandberg told the audience at the Nielsen Consumer 360 Conference in Las Vegas just 11% of teens are now using email, preferring SMS messages and social networking sites.   She believed that email would die in the same way as letter-writing has become a forgotten craft.

“When … invisible victims become visible, that’s when people are moved to act.”

Sandberg went on to suggest it’s the unique ability of social networking to create personal relationships, that makes it such a powerful tool.    Using a variety of personal stories to illustrate her point,  Sandberg explained how she believed social networking could also transform the way companies relate to their customers.

Courtesy of BBC News

Ugly Betty star Ashley Jensen is coming back to the BBC to star in a new comedy pilot.

She’ll play a high-powered advertising executive who buys a farm on her boyfriend’s credit card when she discovers he’s cheating on her.  The show will be called Accidental Farmer.

Ashley delighted to be working in the UK

The former Extras actress said: “I am really looking forward to working in the UK again on Accidental Farmer and getting my feet dirty in a farm somewhere in Yorkshire!

“It’s a great script and I love animals, though I have never worked with them before!”

Cheryl Taylor, Controller, BBC Comedy Commissioning, added: “We are delighted that Ashley Jensen is taking on the role of our Accidental Farmer and very much look forward to seeing how an urban sophisticate gets to grips with country life.”

Accidental Farmer commissioned by BBC One and BBC Comedy

The programme was commissioned by Jay Hunt, Controller BBC One, and Cheryl Taylor, Controller BBC Comedy Commissioning.

Executive producers for BBC Comedy Productions are Jo Sargent and John Yorke and the producer is Ellen Taylor.

Accidental Farmer is written by Daisy Coulam and directed by Mandie Fletcher.

Picture Courtesy Talkback Thames

One of the most powerful women in British television, Lorraine Heggessey, is reportedly leaving her post as Chief Executive of production giant Talkback Thames.

According to The Guardian newspaper, Heggessy will be replaced by Chief Operating Officer Sara Geater, until the post can be filled permanently.

Heggessey joined Talkback Thames in 2005 after spending five years as Controller of BBC 1. It’s not known what she plans to do next.