Murdoch Media: “This Is The Corruption Of Democracy” // Blog for The Independent
http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/05/22/we-have-to-address-media-monopoly/
The Curious Case Of Boris & The Bacon Sandwich // BLOGGED
http://almostflash.tumblr.com/post/23163831920/the-curious-case-of-boris-the-bacon-sandwich
We all know it’s a rite of passage in political engagement to have a spitting hatred for Boris Johnson. But believe it or not, you idiots out there (well, of the 38% of you that actually bothered to fucking vote), thought he’d be good for London. So, well done. Here’s a cheers to you electing the Upperclass Twit of The Year for 2012 to be our leader for the next four years. Four fucking years. Nice one.
So when the email came through for an opportunity to meet with the man himself for a breakfast press affair, it’s little wonder I pressed the enter key quicker than my own body knew possible.
I’ve never liked Boris. He’s a media candidate clown that makes even the shiniest of David Cameron posters feel as though they border on sane. The Mr Blobby to your Saturday morning kids show if you will. Surely I’m not the only one cringing every time his press team force him up on stage? It’s got to be a public humiliation thing, some reality TV shite that’ll air on some dodgy sky channel in a few months, and then, well, the jokes on us. Anyway, back to breakfast.
I get into the BT Tower, and decide that, it being 9:30 in the morning, I’d head straight for the bacon rolls. That was after all the idea of the invite, wasn’t it? Oh? What’s that you say? There’s a press conference too? Shit. I nab myself a seat and attempt to hide amongst the curtails of the British press.
Moments later a man working for BT, who goes by the name of Livingstone, gets up on stage to introduce Boris. Of course, hilarity ensues, because of the mayor thing and all that. Funny seeing businesses try irony isn’t it? Boris tumbles forward towards the stage, while the crowd of journalists and photographers chuckle in his wake.
“I’ve been walking around London for the last few months, some of you may know, talking to other people who are cheesed off for one reason or another”. Yep, nice start Boris, only one hilarious word thrown in, and a reference to the fact everyone in London doesn’t really want you as their Mayor. Cool Let’s continue..”In the words of the Popular Front of Judean people, ‘WHAT ARE THE OLYMPICS EVER DONE FOR ME?”. Well, at the minute, not much, apart from got me a free bacon sandwich. No complaints. “Did you know it’s still possible to get into the Olympics?” oh god..
“There’ll be 45 meter long zip wires, there will be zorbing, there’ll be a 55m tall observation tower, a have a go sports zone,” Whey. London’s saved from austerity repression at last. A zip wire is just what we need to make the Olympics truly go bang this year. It’s not like we’re paying him god knows how much a year to do nothing is it. Oh, we are? Fuck. Well that’s £150,000 down the drain. But still, maybe the zip wire will be our saviour? Who knows, maybe he’ll get on it and zip out of existence. Still, at least Boris understands what London needs. That’s if you think London needs something you’d find in dodgy corner of a Sainsbury’s car park to be truly Olympic. Alas.
“ABOVE ALL. YOU’LL BE ABLE TO WATCH THE WHOLE THING ON BT’S MASSIVE TV SCREENS”. That’s it Boris, you’ve sent me over the edge. A television? How good of you.
Long story short, Boris didn’t really do much other than bumble on about his real, promised, sincerity to London, after all, he’s got another 4 years of these corporate press launches. And even this one is enough to send me completely barmy. So, while I watch Boris take press interviews after the event, and as I toddle about getting my hands on the last few free teas and coffees, I find myself having an epiphany. Being Mayor’s a bit shit init. Par the paycheck, all that happens is you get twats like me shouting at ya’. And the fact Boris still finds some sense of hilarity to every situation is kind of admirable. It’s all this that’s killed Ken over the last 25 years, and that whole dead-behind-the-eyes emo look is so very 90’s. So, fair enough, Boris. Nice one. I’ll give you it to you, this time. Just promise me you’ll put on a hog roast. “I’ll make sure,” he says, answering what is probably the oddest interview question he’ll ever have to answer by a member of the press.
London is saved.
#M12: Has Occupy lost it’s touch? // Blog for The Independent
http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/05/14/occupys-m12-march-was-out-of-touch-and-alienating/
The Media In Austerity: Exploitation & Corruption // BLOGGED
http://almostflash.tumblr.com/post/22789888303/the-media-in-austerity-exploitation-corruption
Today I want to ask you a question - one that remains unspoken, existing as an unwritten rule for the budding freelancer that should never be contradicted. A question many of us probably don’t have the balls to answer because of employment, reputation, or its consequences. But, you know what, fuck it. I’m going to say it, and live with the practicality it probably doesn’t do me any favours in the long run. So, dear world, I ask you, WHY, in the age of health & safety, risk assessments and equal opportunities are young journalists being exploited by the media system, and a number of people who justify unpaid labour as a consequence of austerity?
Yes, these are tough times, and yes we are all struggling. But stepping on the ambitions of those who spend years being trained by support networks, mentoring groups, and institutions founded for the good of the public isn’t doing any favours to the aspirations of a generation who’re already being fucked over by political austerity, face totally unpredictable futures, and cuts to their education.
Years may be spent teaching these young voices that they can be anything they dream of, but the reality is, they’re only training to be thrown into a system where they’re told they’re just a deficit of monotone voices, unworthy of any time, support or payment.
There’s an attitude in this system that all this work is for my own benefit. And that’s bullshit.
It’s sad, that in such a modern, controlled society such as Britain, that a corporation can be a manipulator of morals, teaching young journalists that it’s right that they should expect to work on a corporations behalf only to help add to their own experience. And it’s the individual corporations that rely on this attitude to make up their workforce, simply as a way of keeping costs to a bare minimum, and making those at the top more prosperous. Where is the line drawn between experience and reality? And why are a number of publications allowed to exploit this loophole?
Just think next time you’re buying that highstreet publication, and think what happened in the process of its production. Just as the high street technology or fashion manufacturers pay pence to the poor Asian communities, out west, the same suffering goes on daily in London. Is it morally right for these publications to knowingly operate without paying their labourers, because there’s a sense, or common ‘knowledge’ that working for free is the ‘only’ thing to do as a young journalist?
And is it fair that a generation, fucked over by politicians, the police, and mainstream society, be willing to accept that working for free is the only way to be ‘successful’?
So, I’ll ask you one last time. For the sake of myself, and the other young journalists I see struggling to make ends meet every single day. Can you really support a publication that exploits the young writers, media fiends, and creative people whose unpaid work mean these bastards still continue to exist, letting their publishers profit while it’s writers remain skint and fucked over?
No. Fuck off.
Photovoice vs. London Marathon // News piece for Live Magazine
http://www.live-magazine.co.uk/2012/05/photovoice-x-ldn-marathon/
Britain’s Indie Olympiads: Bombay Bicycle Club live from Alexandra Palace // Review for Clash
http://www.clashmusic.com/live-review/bombay-bicycle-club-live-at-alexandra-palace-london
Live Magazine: Campaign Post
More young people die on the road than any other type of injury. Numbers were down last year due to the powerful work of TFL’s advertising, and this year the ‘Look out for your mates’ philosophy is going one stage further.
Hosted directly on Live Magazine’s website livemagazine.co.uk/stopthinkwin and promoted across key partner sites and blogs, TFL in partnership with M&C Saatchi, created a clever game aimed at getting 11-14-year-olds to look out for their mates on the road.
“We’re thrilled to have partnered with TFL on this campaign to help save lives of young people who do not take road safety seriously. It’s really important to know how to look out for yourself and your mates. If you don’t, then who will?”
livemagazine.co.uk/stopthinkwin
A Letter For Our Youth // Comment for Evening Standard
Alas tabloids can be a cunt for context..
The riots, a frivolous weekend of urban joy-riding and grand theft auto lunacy – a consequence of growing crime rates, sour politics or a disenfranchised youth? The argument rages on. But while Mayoral candidates spin their whipped egos into webs of fiction, this country’s youth stands in an unacceptable position. “It’s a vicious cycle - you either end up in a minimum skills job without much career improvement opportunities, or you have to sacrifice financial stability for an unknown amount of time just to get a foot on the ladder,” says photographer, Jon Barker. The youth’s political absence is not a consequence of ignorance, but more a problem with politics dishonesty. When education is being cut, but investment pours steadily into the lucrative city institutions, it’s any wonder we build our own political forums as a means of expression and education. “We’re the tokens of a broken generation,” cries poet Kate Tempest, but if we can form communities in the darkness of urban living, why do we still continue to be misinterpreted by politicians?
Young people aren’t stupid, they realise that politics is just a game of deception. But having their skills devalued, courted as ‘teenage angst’ doesn’t help affairs. It’s hard to get past the immoral and vote for anyone when their pledges just seem as fickle as thieves. You can spend a year just looking for a position, not ever being offered an interview, and that’s for minimum wage work. “I have tried dozens of times asking for work in shops, cafes and boutiques and constantly I am met with boundaries and ‘were not hiring right now’ it’s tedious and disheartening..” says student, Lucy Porter. It’s not like this countries youth aren’t aspirational, but at every step we’re told we’re just the deficit of a broken system. Devalued, and misunderstood, it’s any wonder why we take to the internet to broadcast our misfortunes. We’re a set of networked, entrepreneurial individuals, driven by happiness rather than profit or manifesto. That isn’t any dream; it’s the reality of a changing social understanding. So, why not invest in the supposed hoddie-primed, angst fuelled youth? The desperate and lost souls who try so hard to make ends meet. We’re not the ones who crave for a sour relationship with society.
Daughter: Live from Islington Assembly Hall // Review for The 405
http://thefourohfive.com/review/article/daughter-islington-assembly-hall-london-12-04-12
The Mayoral Debate: A Fresh Perspective // Comment for The Activist Project
http://theactivistproject.tumblr.com/post/21322098514/the-mayoral-debate-a-fresh-perspective