Title: Introduction to the British Isles
1Introduction to the British Isles
2Newspapers
- Quiz. Complete the following with the help of the
textbook and your own background knowledge - What proportion of British people read
newspapers? - Where and when do British people buy newspapers?
- Match up the pairs of opposite types of
newspaper a. broadsheet i. Sunday b.
national ii. tabloid - c. daily iii. Regional
- 4. What are the differences between quality and
popular newspapers? - 5. One recent change has been the introduction of
compact newspapers. These are quality papers in
tabloid format, such as the Independent and the
Times. What do you think was the most likely
reason for this development - a reduction in production costs
- the quality papers hope to drive tabloids out of
the market - c. the smaller format is more popular with busy
modern readers
3Newspapers
- Quiz. Complete the following with the help of the
textbook and your own background knowledge - What proportion of British people read
newspapers? About 80 (according to ODriscoll
it is now considerably lower in terms of copies
purchased but this is the figure for the test!) - Where and when do British people buy newspapers?
Typically in the morning, at newsagents
letterbox delivery organised by the newsagents
on the streets in larger cities later in the day
(evening papers late editions) - Match up the pairs of opposite types of
newspaper a. broadsheet i. Sunday b.
national ii. tabloid - c. daily iii. Regional
4Newspapers
4. What are the differences between quality and
popular newspapers? Generally difference in
topics (more scandal/celebrity-oriented stories
in popular press) difference in language (more
formal in quality papers) much less coverage of
politics and national/international news in
popular newspapers.
5Newspapers
- 5. One recent change has been the introduction of
compact newspapers. These are quality papers in
tabloid format, such as the Independent and the
Times. What do you think was the most likely
reason for this development? - a reduction in production costs
- b. the quality papers hope to drive tabloids out
of the market - c. the smaller format is more popular with busy
modern readers - c is the correct answer here although
ultimately the production costs may be lower, the
inital outlay on expensive equipment means that
costs would take a long time to recoup the
qualities know that they have no hope of driving
tabloids out of the market, though they may hope
to attract some of the middle class readers of
the Mail and the Express.
6Newspapers
- Which newspapers have the highest circulation
figures? - 8. Who is Rupert Murdoch? It is rumoured that he
managed to persuade Tony Blair to promise the
British people a referendum on the European
constitution, even though Blair had previously
ruled this out. How do you think he is able to be
so influential?
7Newspapers
- 7. Which newspapers have the highest circulation
figures? - The Sun (ca. 3.8 million copies sold daily) and
its sister (Sunday) paper, the News of the World
(ca. 5 million sold each Sunday). - The highest circulation for a quality is the
Daily Telegraph. ca. 700 000 daily.
8Newspapers
- Other newspapers
- Tabloids Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, Daily
Express - Compact qualitiy newspapers the Times, the
Independent - The Guardian and Observer Berliner format
- Broadsheets Daily Telegraph, Financial Times,
Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Times
9Newspapers
News magazines Private Eye (satiriical
magazine) circulation ca. 250 000 The Economist
- circulationca. 160 000 Prospect, New
Statesman, Spectator (ca. 25 000 each) The Week
10Newspapers
- Who is Rupert Murdoch?A media magnate owner of,
among other things, Fox TV, News International
(publishers of the Sun, News of the World, the
Times and the Sunday Times), Random House
publishers. (He is Australian but his interests
are worldwide.) - It is rumoured that he managed to
persuade Tony Blair to promise the British people
a referendum on the European constitution, even
though Blair had previously ruled this out. How
do you think he is able to be so influential?
Anyone, like Murdoch, with so much influence on
the media can inevitably influence politicians.
In the case of Blair and the referendum, Murdoch
had supported Blair in the general election (the
first time the Sun had encouraged its voters to
vote Labour) and Blair did not wish to lose this
support.
11Newspapers
- 9. In the 1990s newspapers were criticised for
intruding into the private lives of celebrities.
What was the most famous instance? (It was widely
debated in 1997) - Diana, Princess of Wales. The fact that
paparazzi were trying to photograph her with Dodi
Fayed at the time of their deaths (though it
later emerged that the driver of the car had been
drunk and that Diana, Fayed and the driver had
not been wearing seatbelts Dianas bodyguard,
who had been wearing a seatbelt, survived), led
to calls for curbs on press freedom.
12Television and Radio
- What does BBC stand for?
- How is it funded?
- What is the reputation of the BBC?
- What role does the government play in the
regulation of the BBC? - One example of government censorship of the BBC
involved, for example, TV interviews with Gerry
Adams in the late 1980s. What happened? - What other TV channels exist apart from BBC TV
and how are they funded? - What are some of the most popular TV programmes
in Britain?
13Television and Radio
- What does BBC stand for? British Broadcasting
Corporation - How is it funded? Directly, by the government
indirectly through the television licence fee. - What is the reputation of the BBC? Generally
positive it has a reputation for producing
quality programmes, unbiased journalism, and, as
part of its charter, fulfils an educational
remit. As well as two national tv channels, 5
national radio channels (plus digital offerings),
regional tv and radio and a comprehensive online
presence (www.bbc.co.uk), it runs the annual
Proms (Promenade concerts) music festival and a
number of orchestras, both symphony and light
orchestras. - What role does the government play in the
regulation of the BBC? The government is
responsible for the BBC Charter (new charter came
into effect on 1st January 2007) which outlines
the rights and responsibilities of the BBC
(including how much money it receives and how it
should be spent) it also is responsible for
appointing the Board of Governors who are
responsible for the direct oversight of the BBC.
14Television and Radio
- One example of government censorship of the BBC
involved, for example, TV interviews with Gerry
Adams in the late 1980s. What happened? - The government outlawed the transmission of
interviews on television. The BBC got round this
by showing Adams but dubbing his voice with that
of an actor whose accent was as close to Adams
as the BBC could find. A caption beneath stated
that, due to government regulations, the voice of
an actor was being used but that the words spoken
were those originally spoken by Adams. -
15- 6. What other TV channels exist apart from BBC TV
and how are they funded? ITV (made up of a
number of different independent companies)
Channel 4, Channel 5. Funded by advertisements.
However, news on the independent terrestial
channels is produced by one company, ITN
(Independent Television News), owned jointly by
the various companies. In addition, satellite,
and, to a lesser extent, cable channels are also
available. As in Germany, some of these are free
to view, some are subscription channels The
largest of the companies is Sky another of
Rupert Murdochs holdings.
16- 7. What are some of the most popular TV
programmes in Britain? Coronation Street (ITV
soap), Eastenders (BBC soap), Casualty (BBC drama
series), various reality tv shows such as Big
Brother and Im a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!
Makeover shows such as Groundforce, What Not to
Wear
Trinny and Susannah from What Not to Wear
17Focus Media and the Government
- Gilligan, Kelly and the Hutton Report
- September 2002 Government produces dossier about
alleged Iraqi weapons of mass destruction,
including claim they could be deployed within 45
minutes - May 2003 BBC Today programme's Andrew Gilligan
broadcasts report of claims that Downing Street
"sexed up" dossier, with 45 mins claim included
against intelligence agencies' wishes - 10 July 2003Dr David Kelly named as suspected
source of report as government continues to deny
the story - 17 July 2003 Dr Kelly found dead
- August 2003 Lord Hutton begins six weeks of
hearings about the circumstances around Dr
Kelly's death
18Media and the Government
- Gilligan, Kelly and the Hutton Report
- Huttons conclusions
- Dr Kelly probably killed himself because of
extreme loss of self-esteem and would have seen
himself as being publicly disgraced - Dr Kelly would have felt his job was at risk and
that his life's work could be undermined - Andrew Gilligan's report that Downing Street
"probably knew" the 45-minute claim in its Iraq
dossier was wrong was a grave allegation and
attacked the integrity of the government and the
Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) - It is not possible to reach a definite conclusion
as to what Dr Kelly said to Mr Gilligan - Satisfied Dr Kelly did not say to Mr Gilligan
that the government knew the 45-minute claim was
wrong or that intelligence agencies did not
believe it was necessarily true
19Media and the Government
- Gilligan, Kelly and the Hutton Report
- Huttons conclusions
- Editorial system at BBC was defective in allowing
Mr Gilligan's report to go to air without editors
seeing a script - BBC management failed to make an examination of
Mr Gilligan's notes of the interview with Dr
Kelly - There was a defect in the BBC's management system
relating to the way complaints were investigated - BBC governors failed to investigate Mr Gilligan's
actions properly
20Media and the Government
- Gilligan, Kelly and the Hutton Report
- Huttons conclusions
- The Prime Minister's desire to have as compelling
a dossier as possible may have subconsciously
influenced the JIC to make the language of the
dossier stronger than they would otherwise have
done - The JIC and its chairman, John Scarlett, were
concerned to ensure that the contents of the
dossier were consistent with the intelligence
available to the JIC - The dossier could be said to be "sexed up" if
this term is taken to mean it was drafted to make
the case against Saddam as strong as intelligence
permitted - But in the context of Mr Gilligan's report,
"sexed up" would be understood to mean the
dossier was embellished with items of
intelligence known or believed to be false or
unreliable. This allegation is unfounded
21Media and the Government
- Gilligan, Kelly and the Hutton Report
- Huttons conclusions
- There was no underhand government strategy to
name Dr Kelly - It was necessary to have Dr Kelly before the
foreign affairs committee The MoD was at fault in
the way it dealt with Dr Kelly once his name was
made public - MoD failed to tell Dr Kelly his name would be
made public - Dr Kelly's exposure to press interest was only
one of the issues putting him under stress
22The Guardian, September 19, 2003
23Media and the Government
- Further fallout
- resignation of Gavyn Davies, the Chairman of the
BBC Board of Governors the BBC Director-General
Greg Dyke (whose resignation was greeted by mass
protests by BBC staff) the journalist at the
centre of the dispute, Andrew Gilligan - Hands off the Beeb! campaign
- Widespread claims that political interviewers
were being forced to dumb down and be less
aggressive when dealing with members of the
government - Review of the BBC Charter (at that time in
progress) - New Charter came into effect on 1st January, 2007
Board of Governors abolished and replaced by
BBC Trust which is independent of BBC Management.
Main other change the BBC must demonstrate
public value for everything (including online
offerings) it produces - Hutton widely regarded as a whitewash
immediately followed by Butler inquiry on
intelligence leading up to Iraq war
24Leisure activities
- Gardening, DIY
- Sports football
- rugby
- cricket
- golf
- fitness centres
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29Leisure activities
- Theatres
- Concerts
- Museums
- Art galleries
Barbican Arts Centre, London
30Tate Britain (formerly the Tate Gallery)
Tate Modern opened 2000 Formerly Bankside Power
Station
31Festivals
- Proms
- BBC Promenade Concerts
- Founded by Sir Henry Wood
- 2006 73 concerts from July 14th September 9th
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33Festivals
- Edinburgh Festival
- International Arts Festival founded 1947
- Tattoo
- Fringe festival
- Jazz festival
- Film festival
- Book festival
34Festivals
- Hay-on-Wye Guardian Hay Festival May/June
- Largest literature festival in Europe
- Town population ca. 1900
- Number of bookshops 39
35Notting Hill Carnival
- Largest street festival in the world, apart from
Mardi Gras in Rio - August Bank Holiday Weekend
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37Holidays
Traditional seaside holidays Brighton (Prince
Regent) Blackpool Scotland Glasgow Fair -
Doon the Water to Helensburgh, Largs
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