Thursday, May 28, 2009
Image of Jesus in Jar of Marmite
That's what it said on the newspaper placard. Sorry to dip into newspapers again but I think this could be important for the following reasons:
1) A new field of study
I think I may have stumbled upon a new field of study for journalism professors – the humble placard (I know there's a proper technical term for them and I'll look it up in a minute). The words used and what they convey about the newspaper and its understanding of its readers could yield a rich seam of research.
2) Slow news day
If the best that a paper (in this case the moribund South Wales Post, Cardiff's dying evening) can come up with is a jar of Marmite in which a 36-year-old mum thinks she can spot the delineation of Our Saviour (great guy, shame about his Dad), then not much has happened in the preceding hours. Here's the story – it was the splash online when I checked.
3) Plagiarism
When I Googled the term "Jesus face" one of the links led me to this story on the Daily Mail's website: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1189188/The-Marmite-messiah-How-mother-Jesus-ja.html Look familiar? You can check the times of posting for yourselves.
4) The internet is killing journalism
Who is going to pay 40p (or whatever) to check out this story when a Google search (other search engines are available) will bring up a lot of "Jesus face" stories: aubergines, cushions, cinnamon buns, potatoes, Kitkat bars– you know the drill.
5) But most of all, journalists are killing journalism
Viz, all of the above.
UPDATE
Just found this story via Nieman Journalism Lab: love the phrase "Big Iron" to describe press corporations.
UPDATE 2
Read Dan's comment(s) below and then feast your eyes on this story about a very tired fish.
1) A new field of study
I think I may have stumbled upon a new field of study for journalism professors – the humble placard (I know there's a proper technical term for them and I'll look it up in a minute). The words used and what they convey about the newspaper and its understanding of its readers could yield a rich seam of research.
2) Slow news day
If the best that a paper (in this case the moribund South Wales Post, Cardiff's dying evening) can come up with is a jar of Marmite in which a 36-year-old mum thinks she can spot the delineation of Our Saviour (great guy, shame about his Dad), then not much has happened in the preceding hours. Here's the story – it was the splash online when I checked.
3) Plagiarism
When I Googled the term "Jesus face" one of the links led me to this story on the Daily Mail's website: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1189188/The-Marmite-messiah-How-mother-Jesus-ja.html Look familiar? You can check the times of posting for yourselves.
4) The internet is killing journalism
Who is going to pay 40p (or whatever) to check out this story when a Google search (other search engines are available) will bring up a lot of "Jesus face" stories: aubergines, cushions, cinnamon buns, potatoes, Kitkat bars– you know the drill.
5) But most of all, journalists are killing journalism
Viz, all of the above.
UPDATE
Just found this story via Nieman Journalism Lab: love the phrase "Big Iron" to describe press corporations.
UPDATE 2
Read Dan's comment(s) below and then feast your eyes on this story about a very tired fish.
Labels: fourth estate, Jesus, newspapers, Paul Dacre, print journalism
Monday, November 03, 2008
Clarkson shares in Top Gear's success
In an interesting addendum to the last post, according to a report in the Guardian (part written by Cardiff Magazine Journalism graduate Owen Gibson) Jeremy Clarkson is on a deal that allows him "to share in the commercial exploitation of Top Gear around the world". That must be a bit like having points in a Hollywood movie.
In another addendum, never, ever mention the fact that the first Lord Rothermere, founder of the Daily Mail, had Nazi sympathies, both with Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts in this country and Adolf Hitler's real deal in Germany. Because if you do mention that fact and the Daily Mail's current editor Paul Dacre hears you (especially if you say it on the radio, for instance), he is likely to go "barmy" ('A source at the Mail said yesterday that when Brand mentioned Hitler, editor-in-chief Dacre went "barmy"') and come after you with the big stick of British newspaper journalism at its finest.
And when I jokingly said that the Mail is a boiling bucket of hypocritical pus, I actually meant to say that it is like unto a whited sepulcre.
In another addendum, never, ever mention the fact that the first Lord Rothermere, founder of the Daily Mail, had Nazi sympathies, both with Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts in this country and Adolf Hitler's real deal in Germany. Because if you do mention that fact and the Daily Mail's current editor Paul Dacre hears you (especially if you say it on the radio, for instance), he is likely to go "barmy" ('A source at the Mail said yesterday that when Brand mentioned Hitler, editor-in-chief Dacre went "barmy"') and come after you with the big stick of British newspaper journalism at its finest.
And when I jokingly said that the Mail is a boiling bucket of hypocritical pus, I actually meant to say that it is like unto a whited sepulcre.
Labels: Adolf Hitler, Barmy, Blackshirts, Cardiff Journalism School, Jeremy Clarkson, Lord Rothermere, Nazi, Oswald Mosley, Paul Dacre, Top Gear, Whited Sepulcre
