Beware of the Arab backlash

Further to the ports story published yesterday, DP World has announced that it will sell its American holdings to a US company, seemingly saving George W. Bush from a dramatic confrontation with congress. The company said that it wished to preserve the strong relationship between the United Arab Emirates and the United States.

Hussein Ibish (pictured), of the Foundation for Arab-American Leadership, said that DP World and the UAE had been forced to submit to "demagogues and populists". American businesses must now be wary of an Arab backlash, with Boeing seen as particularly vunerable having won a $10 billion order from the UAE's flagship airline Emirates in November 2005.

In the US, representative Peter King, Republican of New York, said that Bush had greeted him by saying, "It looks like good news for all of us." Perhaps the majority of Americans will welcome the news but the Middle East’s, and indeed the world’s, perception of it as a fair, democratic nation has probably just dropped a little in the process.

Church in Kansas sinks to new low

It is difficult to put into words what could possibly motivate a person to use someone’s funeral as a means of protest. However, that is exactly what a small-minded group of individuals are doing in the name of Christianity in Kansas. The Topeka-based Westboro Baptist Church has outraged mourning communities by standing outside soldier’s funerals with vile signs that read "God Hates Fags". The group’s message is that soldiers are being struck down by God because they’re fighting for a nation that tolerates homosexuality. Around 60 of the group’s 75 members travel the country to picket military funerals preaching their message of hate at the most inappropriate of times. Recent moves by four states to introduce new laws limiting such protests have been welcomed by the group for bringing attention to their cause. The group plan to challenge the laws as being in opposition to the First Amendment. By sinking so low as to use the death and bereavement of others as a means to preach their message they will instead lose any support they may have received from conservative America and further marginalise the Christian right-wing movement.

Xenophobia surrounds ports debate

Yesterday the House Appropriations Committee voted by a 62-2 margin to bar DP World, which is run by the government of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, from holding leases or contracts at US ports. Now I don’t recall the last time I supported George Bush on any issue but this is clearly getting out of hand. Republicans and Democrats are jumping on the xenophobic bandwagon and basically saying anyone from the Middle East is a potential terrorist. Now please correct me if there are other genuine reasons behind the decision, but as far as I’m aware no-one had any problem when Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co., a British company that holds contracts at several US ports, crossed the Atlantic. However, as soon as a Middle East-based business bought them it became an issue. America cannot push the values of democracy and capitalism on Middle Eastern countries and then throw it back in their faces when it affects them. I don’t know the full motives behind President Bush’s threat to veto any legislation emerging from Congress that blocks the Dubai ports deal but I believe that in this case Bush has the moral upperhand.

Ooh, argh not much news at the Daily Star

Now I know that the Daily Star is hardly among the market leaders when it comes to breaking quality news stories but today’s issue really appeared to be struggling for even a bit of celebrity gossip to spice up the usual array of semi-naked teenage girls. On the front page the newspaper lead with the story of a tree that looks like Elvis Presley (to which a further full page was devoted inside) and, on page 17, Joe Mott’s ‘double award winning’ hot section discovers that Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding "does a gruelling 50 sit-ups a day to achieve her perfectly flat tum". One can only wonder aloud how "hard worker" Sarah finds the time to record any hit singles.

Our governments must win us over first

The US ambassador to Baghdad, Zalmay Khalilzad (pictured), finally conceded yesterday that the rise of religious extremists in Iraq "would make Taliban Afghanistan look like child's play". Khalilzad told the LA Times that "we have opened the Pandora's box and the question is, what is the way forward?". Well being honest with the public is a good start. An opinion poll published by the Washington Post and ABC News yesterday revealed that four out of five Americans believe civil war in Iraq is likely. Unfortunately, Donald Rumsfeld responded by saying that reports of sectarian violence had been exaggerated by the media and General Peter Pace, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, claimed that "attacks are now down compared to last year". If anything the attacks have been downplayed by an American media that, until very recently, was seemingly terrified of questioning the administration's decision to go to war. While the fact that both the UK and US government's lied about weapons of mass destruction was the subject of public outrage in Britain, in America it seemed widely overlooked - as though it were merely a 'side'-issue'. Until their own people begin to trust them how can the two governments even begin to "win the hearts and minds" of the Iraqi people?

Newspapers must remember their primary goal

The constant barrage of free DVDs to boost flagging newspaper ratings can’t disguise an inferior newspaper and long-term circulation rates will always suffer. When Sarah Sands was appointed as editor of the Sunday Telegraph she replaced in-depth articles with glossy, lifestyle features and free DVDs. While the give-aways fuelled short-term circulation gains, eventually the sales were back to the level of her predecessor. While the Barclay brothers have been ruthless in dispensing with Sands after just 8 months, it is widely reported that the new editor, Patience Wheatcroft (pictured), will place quality news back on the agenda. Newspapers are slowly waking up to the fact that free DVDs are a short-term answer and to retain, and indeed attract, readers they must remember the primary purpose of media is to deliver content to consumers.

TV losing the battle for our attention

According to a survey by search engine giant Google, the average Briton now spends more time shopping online and surfing the web than watching TV. Whilst the survey found that we spend 148 minutes a week watching TV, the average person in the UK now dedicates 164 minutes to online activities. One-third of those questioned said they planned to increase the time they spend online. Within 10 years the internet has reached over a billion worldwide users, something television took decades to emulate.

While these figures do indicate the growing wave of online consumption, they fail to take into account two important facts. Firstly, TV companies are increasingly delivering their channels over the internet and therefore the two are not mutually exclusive. However, perhaps more importantly at present, is the fact that many people spend eight hours a day in front of a computer screen at work. In most cases they are connected to the internet and another recent survey showed that people spend two hours a day browsing the web when they should be working. This has undoubtedly increased the figures for internet consumption. However, it is also important to note that in most houses there is just one computer hooked up to the internet, usually resulting in just one person browsing the web. In the case of the television set there are usually multiple people watching it who, in future, may spend that same time online when households get more computers linked up to the web.

Arctic Monkeys publicity machine rolls on

"I ant got no dollar signs in my eyes that might be a surprise but its true"

(Perhaps vampires is a bit strong but ... Arctic Monkeys)

I still haven't worked out new music sensation the Arctic Monkeys. They seemingly burst out of nowhere onto the music scene, with 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not' becoming the fastest-selling debut album in British chart history. Aside from handing out a few CDs to fans none of the publicity was self-generated and seemed to revolve around fans raving about them on internet sites such as MySpace.com. The publicity-shy boys didn't even appear on their own album cover in a bid to stay out of the limelight. The Yorkshire band then candidly followed this up with the decision not to appear on the Brits award show, in what was alleged to be a move to protect their image and reduce the hype surrounding them. Of course this only served to increase it.

Today the Wall Street Journal Europe reported that their management team is traveling around radio stations across the United States asking them not to play any Arctic Monkeys' songs in a bid to reduce the hype. Now to me this just seems like a red rag to a bull ("please don't play our music, it's really good but we don't want to be too famous just yet" kind of thing) and I find it hard to believe their management team aren't aware of the consequences of what they are doing. Maybe they are genuinely acting in the boys' best interests or maybe they are acting as instructed by the band (knowing fully that they are merely dousing fire with alcohol) or perhaps it has all just been one of the most shrewdly conducted PR campaigns of all time. Whatever your opinion on the subject, I would suggest that Wal-Mart may be wise to turn to the Arctic Monkey's PR team, rather than bloggers, in their ongoing bid to improve their image.

Wal-Mart could change the role of the blog

In an effort to boost an image that is coming under attack from all forms of media, Wal-Mart has turned to bloggers to save its public image. The US retail giant is working directly with bloggers, feeding them exclusive news items, suggesting topics and, in some cases, even inviting them to visit its corporate headquarters. In a move that smacks somewhat of desperate last attempt to prevent its image from following the same path as McDonald’s, the biggest retailer in the world claims that they do not compensate the bloggers. However, those that have sold their souls to Asda’s parent company may just find an increase in traffic from newspaper reporters covering the story and online articles carrying highly sought after links. Wal-Mart is also offering bloggers the one thing that they may never have the opportunity to get their hands on again – first-hand news from a primary source.

Whereas blogs usually provide comment on the news after the mainstream media has reported it, these "lucky" bloggers have found that they are the one’s reporting and making the news. This could signal a dramatic shift in the role of the blog. If more and more major corporations decide to give press releases to bloggers before the normal media outlets, we could find people turning to blogs to get their news. The media will no-doubt balk at the idea that blogs could replace them and will suggest this will just lead to biased stories and readers only finding out what the major corporations want us to hear. However, when ABC does a story on Disney or Fox News reports on General Motors is there any real difference? In the case of blogs there will at least be many more questioning the news and the blogs that reported it. In most cases blogs don’t answer to anyone, something very few journalists can really claim.

Austrians determined to make a martyr out of Irving

Not content with having locked up David Irving for three years for holocaust denial, the Austrian authorities has now been banned the British 'historian' from talking to the press. The Republic of Austria seems determined to make a martyr out of Irving and by denying him the right to expose himself to further ridicule with his deluded views of the world they add validity to the right-wing’s argument that it is a Jewish conspiracy to silence him. In recent years Irving has received very little media coverage and only a small minority of National Front groups paid any attention to him. Irving knew that by entering Austria he would draw attention to himself and his ideas. The publicity stunt backfired when he was jailed - which I’m almost certain he didn’t believe would happen - but has still helped re-ignite his "cause" and bring his crazy notions of history back to the attention of anti-Semitic’s everywhere.

BBC may charge overseas visitors

"Even if all the newspapers begin charging once again people will just turn to other sources like the BBC for news and insight"

Having stated this in an article on newpapers charging for content only yesterday it appears as though I may have been a little hasty in my comments. The Guardian reported today that a senior executive at the BBC has said that the corporation could start making money from overseas vistitors to its websites. Well I guess I should have said that people will just turn to sources in their own country. It's about time all those free-loading foreigners who don't have to pay a licence fee pay to look at our BBC website stump up. Come on all you Daily Mail readers, back me up here?!

Here is the link to yesterday's article:
http://globalmediainsight.blogspot.com/2006/03/ft-free-for-week.html

Global Media Insight in the news!

Just three days after launching, Global Media Insight has made page two of The Guardian. 'Today on the web' looks at Tony Blair and God with quotes from six blogs. And guess who provides the last quote? Global Media Insight of course! The quote is: "At least Blair has finally admitted he is accountable to someone", with a link to this website below.

Here is the link to the original story:
http://globalmediainsight.blogspot.com/2006/03/blair-waits-for-gods-judgement.html

Women await gritty new title

Emap has announced plans to launch a weekly magazine aimed at women who want a slightly heavier read than the usual celebrity gossip and 'real-life' stories. The media giant plans to spend £12 million on the launch, which comes on the back of the hugely successful 'lads' magazine Zoo. The women's magazine is expected to launch in June 2006 and will be edited by Julian Linley, the current deputy editor of Heat. So does this mean that Chantelle and Preston are off limits? Somehow I doubt it. Oh well, Preston's great-great-great-great grandfather did oversee slavery being abolished throughout the British Empire - just add that in to your Celebrity Big Brother marriage story and surely that constitutes a little more in-depth than Heat would normally go?

Don't look at The Sun

The question should be how did Veronica Lorraine keep a straight face when writing this and does anyone know any other country where this story would constitute news (on page seven as well)?:

"SIR Elton John keeps a straight face as he and “husband” David Furnish stroll past a naked mannequin in a shop window. Rocker Elton, 58, kept his gaze fixed firmly ahead — while his 43-year-old partner also resisted any temptation to ogle the plastic hunk in Los Angeles. The bottom line is the pair — pictured out shopping in swanky Rodeo Drive — still only have eyes for each other following their civil “marriage” three months ago. " (Source: The Sun)

The Sun re-writes history

We all know that Rupert Murdoch likes to make history, with The Sun newspaper-led campaign driving Tony Blair's New Labour into power in 1997 and Fox News' ever so slighlty biased coverage helping George Bush back into office last year . However, it seems Murdoch has decided that making history alone isn't enough - now he wants to re-write it. After decrying the BAFTA awards for failing to give Brit Rachel Weisz an award ("BAFTA Brits Heart Broke"), today's edition of The Sun (page 12, 6 March 2006) said that "Rachel, 34, was tipped to win again after her triumph at the BAFTAs". So in the spirit of the moment Global Media Insight would like to congratulate Vigo Mortensen on winning the Best Actor award at this year's Oscars for A History of Violence.

Racist lecturer allowed to teach

Following the news that a high-school teacher in Colorado has been suspended for questioning George Bush, Leeds University has refused to sack a lecturer who said he supported a theory that black people were inferior to whites. In an interview with the student newspaper, Frank Ellis, a lecturer in Russian and Slavonic studies, stated that the BNP was a "bit too socialist" for his liking. Ellis claimed that the average IQ in Africa was 70, which would be "very close (to), or within the range of, mental retardation". While allowing those in education to have a right to express their views is one thing, this case is clearly another thing altogether. Ellis should not be allowed to teach in an academic environment where he belives that some of his students are inferior to others because of the colour of the skin. Even putting aside the fact that he is an abhorrent racist, Ellis will clearly favour some pupils over others based on their race and, whatever you feel about allowing freedom of speech, that is reason enough to terminate his contract. Jay Bennish must be shaking his head in amazement.

Be careful what you write about

Whatever their opinion on the subject, newspaper columnists may want to take a minute to ponder what they write before they submit their next article for print. The Birmingham Mail's Maureen Messent, 67, has been arrested after admitting to have given her cancer stricken Aunt a fatal does of morphine more than 30 years ago. Messent's editor said she knew the consequences of what she was doing but wanted to support calls for the limited legislation of euthanasia. Messent was arrested in Birmingham last Thursday by police from Devon and Cornwall, where the columnist said the incident took place.

Teacher suspended for questioning Bush

It's a sad day when teachers are no longer entitled to any opinion and issues of free speech are brought into play in a country like the USA. However, it has happened in a high school in Denver, Colorado, where social studies teacher Jay Bennish has been placed on leave for questioning George Bush. Denvish was tape-recorded by a student saying that the president's State of the Union address "sounds a lot like the things that Adolf Hitler used to say. We're the only ones who are right, everyone else is backward and our job is to conquer the world ". Bennish even closed his speech by saying that he wasn't " implying in any way you should agree with me …. What I'm trying to do is to get you to … think about these issues more in depth". Would this have happened if Bennish had praised Bush and a liberal student played the tape to his parent. I doubt it very much. Teachers are entitled to have an opinion and should not be in fear of questioning the government in a democratic nation. Education is the one place that should be free from too much government interference and if debate can longer thrive in this environment, where can it?

Bush turns up empty-handed in Pakistan

Poor old George Bush, things just seem to go from bad to worse for the US president. First he gets hit on the shoulder with a tennis ball while attempting to play cricket in Pakistan ("I don't quite have the skills yet") and now the local press is angry that he didn't bring them any sweets: "Pakistanis generally feel that he has not even given a lollipop to Pakistan" one local newspaper cried. Come on George if you are going to trade nuclear secrets with their neighbour and bitter enemy at least bring them a Hershey bar or something.

Are you watching USA? Your boy took a beating tonight

"Joe Calzaghe, whether it's because he likes Welsh home cooking, or whether his promoter didn't want to see his revenue stream dry up, hasn't demanded The Big Fight, The Big Test, The Career Definer, until now. It could be argued by a first year law student that he's even avoided The Big One. That doesn't bode well for the Welshman. Lacy KO2."

This was ESPN writer Michael Woods' pre-fight verdict on the big Calzaghe/Lacy contest. The American media is particularly inward looking when it comes to sport, often deriding non-US sports as less athletic then football, basketball or baseball. They fail to see that sporting contests aren't always about who is the tallest, heaviest or quickest and the elements of skill in sports such as soccer. When it comes to boxing they believe that any fighter who doesn't come to their country to fight is either sheltered or lacks ambition. Calzaghe has been world champion since the late 1990s but has never received much credit or attention in the US press and they were quick to play down his chances against their boy Lacy. Well it was good to see both the US press and Lacy hold their hands up after the fight and admit that they underestimated the bhoyo from the valley.

"The classy Lacy gave the victor his proper due: "He fought a perfect fight." Undoubtedly. On this night, Joe Calzaghe fought with the aplomb of a duly confident veteran who knows that he's seen it all inside the ring. Not since Roy Jones schooled James Toney in 1994 has a fighter so completely schooled an opponent in a heavily hyped, pick 'em bout." Michael Woods (post-fight).

(Source: The Sweet Science)

Blair waits for God's judgement

Interviewed by Michael Parkinson on his talk show tonight, the prime minister suggests his decision on Iraq will ultimately be judged by God. Whatever your opinion on the subject at least Tony Blair has finally admitted he is accountable to someone. Although surely it comes as no surprise that it is the same all knowing deity that holds George W. Bush to task.

Also, has anyone told Mr Blair that however much favour he wins with the American people having been born outside the US he still can't be president?

Cole fights back against Murdoch's 'cowardly' journalism

I am pleased to see that Ashley Cole and his lawyer are attacking the "cowardly journalism" at The Sun and The News of the World. Too often the the tabloid newspapers in the UK get away with insinuation and innuendos through the layout of the page. Ashley Cole may never have been named in any of the articles but it was obvious what they were trying to infer and this wasn't the first time they have used this journalistic "device". Reputations can be shattered and newspapers who rely on whispers and rumours to create stories may be a little more careful in future.

Here is the statement from Cole's solicitor Graham Shear:

"These proceedings were commenced because these newspapers published false and offensive articles designed to tell readers that Ashley had behaved in what the News of the World described as a 'perverted' way with other professional footballers. The newspapers knew there was no basis to name Ashley but arranged the articles and pictures in such a way that readers would identify him. There is no truth whatever in these allegations. Ashley Cole will not tolerate this kind of cowardly journalism or let it go unchallenged. It is disgraceful that he should be faced with this kind of unpleasant insinuation and innuendo at a time when he is trying to focus on this summer's World Cup and his forthcoming wedding. These proceedings will be vigourously and actively pursued."

A History of Violence overlooked by Oscars

I must admit I was disappointed to see that A History of Violence did not receive any Oscar nominations. I thought that Viggo Mortensen at least deserved a Best Actor nomination and possibly even Ed Harris as Best Supporting Actor. The film worked on so many levels and did an amazing job of portraying the violent culture that lurks beneath the seemingly peaceful existence of many small town communities in the American midwest. Brokeback Mountain and Good Night, Good Luck have taken all the critical plaudits with this gem seemingly overlooked by many. Mortensen was superb as Tom Stall and the movie showed that he has moved on from Lord of the Rings, unlike many of his co-actors.

FT free for a week

One of the last remaining newspaper websites to still charge users to view content, the Financial Times, is to offer readers an opportunity to view the site for free the week beginning 6 March 2006. To be honest I don't see much opportunity for sites to charge for viewing content when all the competition is offering the same thing for free. Even if all the newspapers begin charging once again people will just turn to other sources like the BBC for news and insight. The only thing that stands in the FT's favour is that it appeals to a niché audience but I still believe it will become free in time.

The Sun shies away from the limelight

The Sun today dedicated a front page headline to "Ashley's fury over gay orgy claim" with the news that Ashley Cole is suing "two newspapers" for identifying him as gay. Turn over to page four, read to the end of the half-page story and you will discover that Mr Cole is suing ... The Sun. What a bashful bunch Mr Murdoch's cronnies are.

Good news for BT customers...

For all BT broadband users who impatiently download movies and wish that their connection was four times faster, good news ... BT has announced plans to speed up the nation’s broadband internet access with speeds up to 8MB a second. The move will pave the way for the autumn 2006 launch of a video-on-demand service. BT’s retail arm will offer a free upgrade to the new speed to its 2.3 million broadband customers from April 2006, provided they agree to a new 12-month contract.

Welcome news from the OFT

The news that Office of Fair Trading has cleared the way for a new London afternoon commuter newspaper to rival the Metro will be welcome news for less right-wing leaning individuals. Associated Newspapers will no longer have their stranglehold on the "underground" network. Reports that the Guardian Media Group are among the companies interested in publishing a free commuter newspaper makes the news even better. Perhaps all those travellers who choose to read the free Metro over daily newsapers in the morning, and then the Evening Standard on their way home, won't have quite such a poisoned view of those around them.

Independent editor issues veiled threat

Simon Kelner, editor-in-chief of the Independent, has claimed that the 2.5% pay rise Independent News & Media is offering is "as generous as we can (be) in the circumstances". Staff have been warned that if journalists do not accept the company’s pay offer job losses will inevitably follow. National Union of Journalist members will vote on whether to strike in support of a 5% pay rise.

"If our pay offer is accepted, we will make an undertaking that there will be no compulsory redundancies for the next 12 months," Kelner said.

With too many people desperate to break into the media and work for peanuts, journalists are finding that increasingly pay rises do not correspond to national trends in other industries. Reports of journalists with post-graduate qualifications working for just £10,000 a year are widespread and a Google search will bring up numerous stories on the subject. However, as long as students continue to be prepared to work for low-level wages this trend will continue with someone always willing to work for less and more good journalists moving into PR.

Trinity cancels share £250m buyback

Trinity Mirror has hinted at the possibility of further internet acquisitions after cancelling a £250 million share buyback programme. Britain’s largest regional newspaper publisher said it was conserving cash to allow "headroom for investment", which included buying more advertising-driven websites. The group acquired four classified websites in 2005 for £92.7 million. Chief executive Sly Bailey said that she "would point to what we have already bought as an indication of where we might be going".

Advertising at the Daily Mirror owner’s national division fell 9.2% in 2005, with the regionals unit dropping 2.7%. Advertising across the whole group slumped 13.5% in January and February 2006. Like-for-like revenues fell 1.3% to £1.1 billion last year, but pre-tax profit rose 6% to £220.9 million.

(Source: The Guardian)

Germany favourites to win World Cup?

A story in the Guardian today on Adidas contains an intriguing quote on the German team's chances in the upcoming 2006 World Cup:

"... Klinsmann, manager of the young German team which has been a heavily backed favourite to regain the trophy ..."

Heavily backed favourite? Huh? In light of the FIFA president's comments on bird flu, is that the favourite to host the tournament perhaps?

Keeping Skype simple

I recently started using the fantastic VOIP programme Skype. My girlfriend, whom I met at graduate school in the USA, and I are separated by the Atlantic Ocean and long conversations can be extremely expensive. However, this service allowed us to talk for free just by both downloading it. Initially I just plugged an old pair of headphones into the microphone socket in the back of the computer and listened through the speakers. In my eagerness to make better use of the product I purchased the Bluetooth Motorola Wireless Internet Calling Kit and the Logitech Quick Cam. However, after installing both devices the quality of connection became terrible and I was unable to hear anything my girlfriend was saying (and she was unable to hear me). There was a lot of static and it kept cutting out. I figured maybe it was just a bad connection but the next day it was still awful. Eventually in frustration I unplugged both devices and instantly the sound quality returned to near perfect. I have now returned the Bluetooth headset and the quality is once again superb using simple appliances. Be warned about expensive, hasty purchases - sometimes the cheapest devices are the most effective.