milne media

White House spat with Fox News hots up

I'VE an inexplicable interest in the US media and politics. I blame basketball, trash TV and the West Wing.

So I can't help but find this spat between the White House and Fox particularly interesting and not a little amusing.

It couldn't happen here though, could it? 

Scottish Broadcasting Service - or Nats TV?

SOME pretty radical proposals from the SNP administration on the future of broadcasting in Scotland that may well prove popular with sections of the public and, whisper it, maybe some people within the industry itself too.

Interesting the announcement comes just as STV is mired in a multi-million pound battle for survival with ITV.

Co-incidence?

War reporter Allan Little honoured by Edinburgh University today

WAR reporters are a big thing on the Milne Media bookshelf.

There's accounts from the likes of Sandy Gall, Fergal Keane, John Simpson, William Shawcross and John Pilger to name a few.

Jeremy Bowen who provided days of huge entertainment on one particular trip is up there too, while Chris Ayres' book War Reporting for Cowards remains one of the funniest I've had the pleasure of reading.

But it is a home grown talent who captures the attention today.

Hologram Sham?

After many 'oooohs' and 'aaaahs' over how clever those CNN techies were for creating a hologram for the US elections, it seems you shouldn't believe everything you see.

CBC are carrying a tale that would suggest it was all, well, a bit fake.

Only in America, eh?

Expect it on a BBC screen soon....

Jonathan Ross - what do his critics want, blood?

Jonathan Ross has now stepped down from presenting the British comedy awards in the latest bout of contrition over his ramblings on the ex Russell Brand Show.

But where will it stop?

How far must he go before he's been flogged enough in public. 

Resignation? Suicide?

The biggest joke, for me, is the great British public who have been reaching for the complaints line at BBC HQ like humorless sheep.

I mean, what kind of person actually complains over something like this.

Why Is UK Media So Angry Over Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross?

The whole Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross affair really is a national scandal.

Not because of their idiotic musings on the radio - that was just stupid - but then they always are.

But the hysterical, indignant political opportunism that is shrieking off every newspaper front page in the land.

And, earlier this week, the Prime Minister "wading into the row" as one put it.

Who gives a ...

Atholl Duncan Bites Back At Scottish Press

BBC Scotland's head of news Atholl Duncan has strongly defended plans by the Beeb to increase online local news video after newspapers attacked the idea on grounds it will erode their markets.

He told The Drum today that he would expect such a development to actually enhance the local and regional news coverage of rivals.

Duncan claimed: "We want to support Scotland's local newspapers."

The full article can be read here.

A decision on the plans will be made by the BBC Trust in March.

The Scottish Daily Newspaper Society has already voiced its objections.

They claim it will "seriously distort" the market.

Reporting, er, London..?

Oh dear, do we really want a Scottish Six?

An email fluttered its way through cyberspace to me last night from a good friend, another journalist, with the following:

After the BBC 6'oclock news I settle back to watch Reporting Scotland..and BBC News London comes on.

I might be in some bizarre parallel world here, but it's definitely the London news. When I should be hearing about the Glasgow East by-election, I'm hearing about Boris Johnson's problems.

I thought it might just be the Sky, so I tried it on terrestrial as well, but it's the same. I keep expecting someone at the Beeb to notice the problem and put Jackie Bird on, but it's not happening.

People will be going bonkers about this, Scotland not having its own news.

Jackie Bird had a right embarrassed look on her face.

So just what was going on? Why were we denied another chance to hear about the Glasgow East by-election?

A fire alarm going off at Pacific Quay apparently.

Read about it here in today's Herald.

BBC's New Multi-Media Newsroom

Steve Herrmann on BBC News 'The Editors' blogs had this to say about the Beeb's move to its new Multimedia Newsroom.

With some weird looking pictures.

And comments galore, which are almost worth going through.

But not quite.

Live News Cameras - TV News For Your Computer

Worth knowing about.

Good if there was a UK version too, although livenewscameras.com does have Sky News UK and BBC World News.

The video above comes via another decent site called G4TV which is worth a view every once in a while.