'Not just talking the bullshit, but actually living the bullshit'

Here's a US general election report from The Onion that mocks the public as much as it does pandering politicians, making for a vicious and heartfelt piece of satire:

‘When it comes to electing the leader of the free world, voters look to issues like a candidate's relationship with their ex-wife, did they ever smoke, where do they vacation, what's their exercise regimen. These are the kind of core bullshit issues that people really care about.’

New standard set for video satire

For those who think that Mad TV is the height of satire, this year the New York print and online publication The Onion has once again moved the satire goalposts: it has set up the Onion News Network video news site.

Viral videos frequently use satire or ironically post laughable ‘serious’ clips from news programmes putting forward extreme viewpoints, but ONN's excellent production values and actors are the best I have seen, extending perfectly the deadpan style of the long-running print and online editions.

The joy of watching is when you reach that particular point after the first few seconds of each story at which the starched suits, stern expressions and searching interview questions are revealed to be acting under some insane logic.

This beats the hit-and-miss humour of Burbank and has only been exceeded by Brass Eye to my knowledge. Let's hope they keep this venture going.

Inheritance stacks

The piling up of the post-conference reporting on the two leading parties' to-ing and fro-ing on inheritance laws is now likely to have an impact on another financial issue that could affect the Tories before they get anywhere near No 10.

One wonders whether today's loss of £8m from the Tory piggy bank was judged in favour of the benefactor's family largely on account of one particular "delusional" statement he made about Margaret Thatcher, who he called

‘the greatest leader of the free world in history.’

The judge's ruling may then be even more political than you might first assume - not only did the ruling lose £8m of what could be a much-needed future election fund, but recent Tory policy makes an appeal against the ruling unlikely. Which party would want to be seen to be attempting to prise money out of the hands of a dead man's family, just at a time when it has pledged to raise the tax threshold so that

‘In a Conservative Britain you will not be punished for working hard and saving hard.’

No, that would never do.

99 Red Balloons... and One Blue One

The increasingly media-savvy conservatives playing the song ‘99 Red Balloons’ and marching around Westminster today wearing Gordon Brown masks in honour of Labour's 99 ‘stealth taxes’ (god I hate this oppositional expression) are probably quite aware that they're making a double protest.

So there's these apparently sneaky taxes, but there's also the ‘stealth’ message of at least the principle of opposition to the Iraq war, to which the Cons are publically opposed, and which is the subject of Nena's song about an accidental and unnecessary war:

99 Decision Street
99 ministers meet
To worry, worry, super-scurry
Call the troops out in a hurry
This is what we've waited for
This is it boys, this is war
The president is on the line
As 99 red balloons go by

BBC's Iraq Week begins

‘A new poll out today shows that Iraqis are increasingly insecure and pessimistic about their future’, says the lead News 24 story today. Well, who would have thought?

But still, the Beeb are to be commended for their decision to increase their coverage, when studies have shown that many viewers report ‘tuning out’ when war coverage appears on the main news broadcasts.

It was refreshing this morning to see Huw Edwards back out on the front line, and to see behind the scenes of the coverage, where video editing equipment sits in tents protected only by five second mortar warning alerts. This is one of many ways in which the Beeb is finding a new angle, and doing it in a useful way.

I realised just a few minutes ago, at 13:09 local time, Baghdad, that the interview I was watching with Baghdad citizen Usama Ridha was the only interview with ‘the man on the street’ I had seen in a long time (Months? A Year?) which wasn't in the immediate aftermath of a bombing, or some other kind of attack on one side or another.

These interviews are what the BBC calls the ‘My Iraq’ segments. Just talking to people on the ground to give a picture of what life is like rather than just what a certain bombing has resulted in (which we can guess without help) is a much-needed fresh approach from a return to more traditional journalism.

1997 Week: ‘Panorama Revisited’

BBC 4's mini-series on the Blair years, the ‘1997 Week’ programmes, continued with tonight's superbly effective political piece, ‘Panorama Revisited’.

By the simple conceit of looking back at clips from the Panorama programmes broadcast that year and then having the ever-charming Jeremy Vine give ‘what happened next’ updates, we could see simply how well Labour had lived up to their promises. The short answer is ‘Not very well.’

Labour succeeded in making considerable reforms to the the role of the monarchy and its public representation, and in the advancement of gay rights, ultimately leading to the introduction of civil partnerships in 2005. But in terms of tests provided by more conventional political problems, weaknesses have abounded. Some choice moments:

Mandelson, 1997: ‘It's wonderful to have a discussion with a group of people and see so many great ideas being put forward [for what should be in the dome]. I really think this is going to be a success.’

Street interviewer, 1997: ‘What do you want to say to the people up there trying to work out what to put inside the dome?’
Man on the street: ‘They should burn it down.’

Jeremy Vine, 2007: ‘The dome's biggest problem was that it was trivial. Half the expected number of people turned up.’

John Prescott, 1997, interviewed about the dismal efficiency and safety record of the tube: ‘I've been in office for about six weeks now ... Talk to me again in five years.’

Jeremy Vine, 2007: ‘Five years later, the tube was facing its worst figures in history. Mr Prescott had been relieved of his duties on the matter.’

Documental

Over the weekend my growing lust for quality documentaries was greatly eased by the discovery of two excellent online film archives dedicated to the underrated artform.

Anyone wanting to see incredible things they've never seen before and that have the power to move them and who has tired of the unreliable cinematic assertion, ‘BASED ON A TRUE STORY’, should get right on to the two websites below, which - somehow - are still provided free of charge to anyone with a net connection.

• PBS Frontline
  which features not only around 50 broadband quality, full length watchable documentaries, but also has fascinating background information on all of them which is fascinating to any journalist or media lover.
  

• Obscured TV
  which features older, hard-to-find documentaries produced by various organisations and again watchable online.

It's especially nice to see that in these times where various investors are about to venture along with YouTube and Veoh into the word of web broadcasting, some websites are already quietly leading the way.

Big Brother turns silent

Where crowds have normally stood baying for blood outside the Big Brother house in London every Friday night, as the contestants wait for a decision on tonight's ‘eviction night’ programme, an eerie silence is the only accompaniment to Mrs McCall's unusually toned-down stand up.

In response to the alleged racist comments made on Celebrity Big Brother and targeted towards contestant Shilpa Shetty, watching the show has actually become more interesting tonight, as the show has a quiet and even tense atmosphere. The process of sorting out of the comments made by Jade Goody, which some have deemed racist, has given the programme a structure and direction it usually lacked.

Although they must now be aware of the issues after Big Brother's pointed questions, (What did you mean when you referred to Shilpa using the term ‘Shilpa Poppadom’?) the housemates are still likely to be surprised by the remarkable coverage the show has received across all media, and from low and high-brow news sources alike; and even around the world. Not to mention the direct pressure the Television Network Channel 4 has felt from the record 30,000 complainants who have taken issue with events on this month's series.

The show is not only going out today without its usual live audience, but as of yesterday, has been stripped of its Carphone Warehouse advertising deal. The mobile phone company's slightly twee adverts formerly wrapped each segment of the programme, and their and muscial stings were part of the big brother package, like the Oakenfold theme tune. It will be interesting to see how much Russell Brand's loudmouthed daily Big Brother review programme has also changed when it airs later this evening.

The web concensus: looking around on web pages and blogs, the verdict generally seems to be that the comments made by Jade were not in fact racist, but that she and her friends were engaging in bullying, and the comments may be excused by her lack of the intelligence needed to realise how hurtful her remarks may have been. The anti-bullying charity with whom Jade was working has taken steps to disassociate itself from her.

Whatever the public as a whole feels, it seems to be the case that no one in their right mind is failing to watch Big Brother, even if they can't stand the reality genre. When David Cameron asked the public to use their ‘off buttons’ to complain about the programme, even Tony Blair had to voice his disapproval in the Commons.

It will be interesting to see how the UK reality genre responds to this challenge: although one must assume that the programme's already elevated ratings must be surging up and up, will ratings start to become secondary to the (very necessary) editorialising that has been going on in recent days?

Boy, 14, sails into the record books

Those watching today's News 24 Coverage around two o'clock today were likely to be disappointed by the coverage of schoolboy sailor Michael Perham's arrival at Antigua after setting out from Gibraltar six weeks ago.

After a slew of technical problems resulting from the blurry, jumpy video stream from the reporter waiting with a crowd at the Antiguan docks to receive his guest, and further problems when Michael actually arrived (‘You're standing on the audio cable!’) it became apparent that other than uttering the word ‘fantastic’ neither Michael nor the person in the studio had any idea about what to say.

In Michael's case, his tiredness no doubt contributed to his brief replies, but the interviewers should have done better to get some single grain of detail from their subject. Perhaps if they had bothered to read his blog or asked any questions beyond the humdrum ‘how do you feel’ rephrased about ten to twenty times something would have come of it.

Michael's arrival was part of a three-way link up connecting him with a presenter in the N24 news studio and with his family home where a second interviewer and his relatives watched those fuzzy images from the BBC broadcast. Although the studio presenter did try to get the other two parties talking, nothing was really said through the technological barrier.

The only people who could string some sentences together were Michael's mother and particularly his grandmother, whose replies seemed to suggest that there had been some tests on the way. But their reponses were not followed up by the interviewer with the simple question ‘What kinds of tests has Michael had to face?’ The Beeb were perhaps unlucky that the most powerful statement, which gave the story some depth of feeling and a sense of a struggle rather than just a relaxed sailing holiday, was his mother's unrepeatable line ‘He's been through some shit.’

I would hope that in future more efforts will be made to get some element of detail other than joyous reaction, which is a necessary part of the story, but shouldn't be the story. It would also be nice if they should do something about the dreadful quality of the sub-webcam technology that is used to meet the demand for pictures in many parts of the globe, but does so very poorly, and with audio often so full of pauses the barely half a report can be heard, as was true in this case.