Dutch show kids public
A Dutch programme adopts reality TV format to raise awareness of organ donor shortage
With reality TV, we have seen ‘ordinary people’ cohabit in a camera-filled house where ‘privacy’ seemingly does not exist; bachelors have publicly sought prospective partners; contestants battled it out shipwrecked on an island and aspiring ‘stars’ have attempted to shine on talent shows. Yet, the latest programme has managed to not only break form traditional reality TV formats, but stir controversy unlike any show before.
This programme consisted of kidneys and donations. Already, this seems tricky and a highly personal and sensitive subject to adopt for a reality show. Yet it merely gets more complicated. The main participant was a 37-year-old terminally ill woman, known as Lisa. She selected , on the basis of “history, profile and conversation with her family and friends”, one of three contestants to receive her kidney once she dies. While she was to make the final decision, viewers were encouraged to send text messages saying who they believed should get the kidney. This was the format for the Dutch De Grote Donorshow (The Big Donor Show), recently broadcast in the Netherlands.
What Simon says
Amira Hashish talks to Guardian columnist and former editor of The Times Simon Jenkins
Simon Jenkins is no stranger to the hectic environment of a press office. He seems perfectly at ease in the newsroom in which we meet. Indeed, the former editor of The Times is as accustomed to such surroundings as the stereotypical Englishman is to the countryside. Jenkins started his career at Country Life magazine, then moved to the Times Educational Supplement and from there to the Evening Standard, before editing the Insight page of The Sunday Times.
He was editor of the London Evening Standard from 1976-78, and then political editor of The Economist magazine from 1979-86. After founding and editing The Sunday Times Books section, he was editor of The Times from 1990-92. In 2005, he announced he was leaving The Times and he joined The Guardian that summer after a break to write a book. He is currently promoting his latest book, Thatcher and Sons.
A lower class?
Media asks the age-old question - why do even scholars see media studies as a Mickey Mouse subject?
As much as media studies has become popular in recent years amongst students, some academics and a lot of journalists continue to question its merits.
Of course the term ‘mickey mouse subject’ has become all too patronisingly familiar to those studying for media-orientated degrees, but is it a fair reflection on course content? Are they ‘serious’ enough and are they ‘worthwhile’ (whatever that is supposed to be)?
A deceiving web
The internet provides a forum of communication but easily becomes a forum of exploitation
We have all been affected, disturbed and perhaps even perplexed by the disappearance of Madeline McCann, the story that has dominated the press for the past fortnight. Madeline, who turned four on May 13, was taken from her room in a holiday apartment where her family were staying on holiday in the Algarve, Portugal.
Media coverage has been devoted to finding her but only one suspect has been questioned: Robert Murat, 33, a police interpreter who aided in the investigation and spoke to reporters soon after Madeline’s disappearance.
Media Encounters
How mediated is your life? Two Cardiff students reveal their media habits
Amy Davies, a second year Journalism, Film and Media student from the Midlands, considers herself as an extremely frequent media-user. She produced a media diary to show her media consumption.
09:00: Wake up and switch the TV on to find an old episode of Frasier on Channel 4. Use this as background noise while getting ready to go to university.
Soap drama too close to reality
One of the biggest stories to hit news headlines this week has been the abduction of three-year-old Madeline McCann from her parents’ apartment while on a family holiday in Portugal. What has followed is the decision by the producers of Coronation Street to re-write an already filmed storyline involving the kidnap of baby Freddie Peacock, out of the fear of causing upset to the McCann family.
The storyline, which was due to take place over the coming weeks, was to feature Freddie Peacock disappearing in “mysterious circumstances” after a house fire. Scenes have already been filmed for the storyline, which according to ITV was due to run for several months, but now several scenes have been cut and will now have to be re-written because they bare many similarities with Madeline’s disappearance.
Carrdiff Student Media Awards 2007
Cardiff students donned their dresses and suits for the Cardiff Student Media Awards 2007 last Saturday.
The awards, held at the Hilton Hotel, saw members of gair rhydd, Quench, Xpress, The Photographic Society and The Film Society all gathered under one roof to celebrate the various achievements of Cardiff University’s media.
National Tragedy: The new way to line your wallet
This Easter holiday on the 16th April, while we were all taking a well-earned break before the summer exams strike with avengence, 32 innocent students and staff from Virginia Tech University were senselessly killed.
In one of the most terrifying shootings in American history the face of terror is unmistakable, making the face of loss and grief all too common. What makes the story even more chilling is that this shooting was not in a place of war but in a place to be regarded as a sanctuary of safety.
Do we all just have stars in our eyes?
Emily Woodrow on the rise and rise and rise of celebrity and why reading about Gavin Henson kicking off in the Taf is worth a giggle
There is never a shortage of celebrity news and gossip in today’s media. Who’s marrying who? Which designer made the dress so and so is wearing and how much did it cost? It seems the public can’t get enough of the trivial yet admittedly addictive world of celebrity.
This is at least the attitude supported by BBC director general Mark Thompson, who has disputed recent claims by the chancellor Gordon Brown asserting that the public mood is in fact shifting away from celebrity culture and towards a greater interest in serious issues.
Journalists under fire: Can you handle the truth?
If your answer is no, then close your eyes and ignore the facts. If your answer is yes, read on and find out about the deadliest countries for journalists to operate in, about those who are behind the killings and what has been done to punish the crimes against the freedom of the press.
“His name was Ahmed and he worked for Al-Iraqiya, a television station which is part of the US-backed Iraqi Media Network. He was an Iraqi journalist killed by insurgents who punish local journalists for cooperating with Western organisations. The day after Ahmed’s death, insurgents circulated a list of media staff and posted it on the walls of Mosques in Mosul. Soon, more journalists were to have his fate”.
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