A day on the picket line

I got the train down to Brighton today to show solidarity with striking colleagues at the Argus who are fighting plans to move their subbing operation to Southampton.

After a quick diversion to pick up a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts for the strikers, I hopped in a cab and headed to the Argus offices.

Continue reading “A day on the picket line”

Advertisement

The UK media in crisis (Corporatism in crisis)

Beyond the banks and the retailers, there are two very live and interconnected issues in the UK at the moment where people are clashing with the damaging effects of corporatism.

The first is in the media. Corporatism came late to the media in the UK, the media was a tool of corporations, so, for a long time, it was fairly protected. At least until the ’80s, most UK newspapers generally had a proprietor, broadcasting was divided between the public-funded sector (the BBC) and an atomised private sector (independent television used to be owned regionally and feed into a central broadcasting channel – ITV).

Continue reading “The UK media in crisis (Corporatism in crisis)”

Journalists, job losses and Question Time

In between bouts of meaningless comedy (I do have a hangover today after attending the London launch of Firefox 3 last night), I decided to be serious for a bit and watch Question Time. It was definitely an interesting show – it says a lot about the ridiculous state of British politics that the guest speaking most sense was a former Apprentice contestant (Saira Khan). Oh, and their young competition winner – sheesh! A UKIP supporter, do they really still exist?

Continue reading “Journalists, job losses and Question Time”