The England team have weathered the storm and are into the last 16 of the World Cup. As usual, certain characters have emerged from the team such as goal scorer Jermaine Defoe or manager Fabio Capello to take the spotlight and portray the ‘personality’ of the England team as a whole – a personality that may well be based on fact, or the manipulation of public feeling at the time. The success of Wednesday is cause for English celebration certainly, but one look at news headlines reveals a hyper-confidence generated by the press. The Guardian’s sports headline read ‘Mission Accomplished’ while the Telegraph stated ‘Bring On The Germans’ when in actual fact, the team played Slovenia and the result was only 1-0.
The promise of the forthcoming England vs. Germany match has ensured that the victory over Slovenia and the draws in the earlier group games are nothing but a hazy memory as the English press fill the public with promises – The Daily Express’ headline was ‘Land of Hope and Glory’. Forget the team’s inability to ease to the top of their group, the media – and therefore much of the public too – have a distinct tunnel vision for the final on July 11th. Read the rest of this entry »
They don’t come tougher than General Stanley McChrystal, who was until this evening the top US military commander in Afghanistan. Up at dawn for an eight mile run, allowing himself only one meal a day, surviving on four hour’s sleep, he was the soldier’s soldier who outran, outfought and outsmarted not just the enemy but his own men. As they will have said, echoing the Duke of Wellington’s famous quote “I don’t know what he’ll do to the enemy but by God he frightens me”. But McChrystal was brought down by the power of the media.
A few ill chosen remarks to Rolling Stone magazine (who ever thought it had such power today?) and he was hustled back to Washington and relieved of his command faster than you can say “I was quoted out of context”! For that is the clue to successful handling of the media. Always be aware of the context – in this case the need for a clear, consistent message which re-inforces that the military operation is at one with the political will of the nation. No matter what the frustrations, insulting your President and the US Ambassador does give the enemy ammunition.
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England’s World Cup campaign has been turbulent to say the least. Think back to John Terry being stripped of his captaincy after revelations of adultery came to light several months ago. The team have suffered not only on the pitch but in the players’ handling of the media during the tournament.
Wayne Rooney highlighted the frustration with both his and the team’s performance with an outburst against the England supporters who had proceeded to boo the team after their match against Algeria. It was understandable for him to feel betrayed by his fans – the very people he was there to represent – but a derogatory outburst was not the way to vent those frustrations.
So now we know. But for days before the budget speech, we were well softened up. Reminded frequently that every single man woman and child in Britain will share the pain. The lights will go out all over Britain, and we will not see them lit again until…the next boom.
The £195 million spend on the Saville Report into the Bloody Sunday events has, at last we can confidently assume, got to the truth of what happened on that awful day. 14 entirely innocent people were gunned down by soldiers who fired the first shots. The Army then lied about their actions. Most of the people killed were either fleeing or going to help the injured.
Pretty astounding and exciting because as the story unfolds we believe it, well, I did.
These events did happen, just not all at the same time, as Tom explains. But the idea of an action causing a reaction, which snowballs, is highly plausible today for the following reasons.
Love it or loath it, Big Brother has, over the past 10 years, gained unfathomable popularity and recognition as the Godfather of reality TV.
On July 18th 2000, 11 hopefuls who were unaware of the potential of the show (along with its producers) to boost their celebrity, entered the house. Commonly blamed for ‘dumbing down’ television and creating celebrities out of people who are now simply famous for being famous, the show had undeniable impact on our viewing habits.
This year’s General Election has seen many a political blunder, which put politicians’ media handling skills to the test. Managed differently, the image of the person in question could be cast in an entirely different light.
Take Alex Salmond, for example. Accidentally caught posing in front of an advertisement for the new horror film, ‘The Crazies’. The message he sent to the world was a picture of himself standing under the words ‘The Crazies’ – in his party’s trademark colours, no less. Read the rest of this entry »
Why does the BA strike matter? The plight of several thousand inconvenienced passengers for four days isn’t enough to propel it on to the front pages of every paper in the land. No, the real story is that of the key players in this dispute.
Celtic Football Club’s manager Tony Mowbray looks out over the vast wasteland of a ten point gap behind Rangers in the SPL. The howling of the wind in the wilderness Celtic currently inhabit is still not loud enough to drown out the cries of anguish of the club’s devoted fans. So how does Mowbray boost morale? Unaccountably, he gives vent to a tirade of abuse of one of his star players Aiden McGeady.
