The second Scottish enlightenment?

With the Scottish Government publishing its white paper on constitutional reform, it now seems that a referendum on independence is now inevitable. 

Prime Minister Alex Salmond proclaims that Scotland cannot reach its full economic potential unless it is independent. On the face of it, this seems like a pretty bold thing to say. However, before analysing the merits of this claim, is it purely a coincidence that this comes amid a 'revival' of Scottish culture?

Recently there has been an increased interest in Scottish culture and traditions. Whilst most people would cringe at the stereotypes of whisky, shortbread and haggis, it appears that descendants of immigrants to America and Canada feel a certain nostalgia for the icons of their ancestors' homeland. Even their new-found love for Scotland could support a drive for independence.  

Economically, it seems as tall order to survive as a nation the size of Scotland. Having said that, if countries like Luxembourg and Andorra can survive then why shouldn't the Scots have a go?

On a sporting level, the Scots have always had independence. Any Scotland football fan worth his salt will gladly tell of victories over England at Wembley, perhaps most famously in 1967. Even in rugby, the Scots are fiercely proud of their sporting independence. In nearly every mainstream sport (with the exception of athletic/olympic sports) every home nation has independence from the union. 

The minority SNP aims to devolve powers almost wholly to HolyRood with just matters of defence and foreign affairs still residing at Westminster. With various political commentators urging the Scots to drop the idea of a referendum on something so critical during this recession period, my bet is that they will do the exact opposite. With many disillusioned with the current Labour government, the advantage already lies with those who are pro-independence. 

Scotland has long craved for a split from the UK. Who knows, in the current climate, they might just get their wish. 

WINOL week four

Another successful week for the WINOL team. As well as reporting much more hard-hitting news, the presentation of the whole outfit has a wholly more professional look. 

People are now coming to news conferences with stories already filmed and ready to go which gives the editors a much richer pool of news stories to choose from. As a result, the news content this week sounded and looked far more like a regional news programme than any of the previous editions. 

The one problem that I think holds back the project a little is the time it takes to upload the bulletin onto the internet. Clearly this is something that can't be helped; the internet is a fickle mistress and if she's not in the mood...

From a personal perspective another fairly solid week. It has been tremendous fun so far being involved in the sports planning and presenting. Despite that, I am starting to warm to the idea of installing a second earpiece kit in the studio due to the fact that after every VT, it seems as if I'm on screen looking like a goldfish while I wait for confirmation that I am on air. 

Andy Steggall was a fantastic help for the sports team. Having been quite conservative in our script writing, it was quite refreshing to be told that we can really let ourselves go and have some fun with our scripts. All of this means that I'm relishing this week's edition! 

Latest Match Report

After a cold yet exhilerating game of football (even by Third Division standards!) here is my match report.

http://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/page/MatchReport/0,,10341~48471,00.html



As an aside, I'm very envious of the first years. Why? Because with Chris and Brian now recording podcasts for them to download they can now listen to the content of the HCJ lectures without actually turning up! Tsk the young-uns these days....they seem to have everything delivered on a plate to them....

WINOL week three...and it's live!

Our first live edition of WINOL felt and looked a lot more professional that the previous two editions. Clearly there are some production issues to be sorted out. As the content improves week-by-week, we can now start turning our attentions to more studio-based problems such as the set, lighting and the autocue!

Having said that, the standard of content and output that we are producing has vastly improved from the basic bulletins I saw from last year's year three students. Having the guest editors in so far has been (personally) a tremendous help. Drawing on their advice has been crucial in setting a benchmark for us all to strive for. 

From a personal perspective, another good week in the presenter's chair especially as I had to deal with the autocue not keeping up with me again! Thankfully I managed to cover it well but perhaps a little more rehearsal time next week perhaps....? 

It looks as if we're all settling in to our roles nicely and that can only mean one thing: improved content and a much more professional look and feel to the output.

WINOL Week Two and Steinbeck

With the second WINOL dummy run now behind us, I think it's fairly safe to say that we are slowly beginning to gel as a news team. Speaking purely for the sports team, we're starting to think over a week ahead in terms of news which is fantastic if something falls through we can always slot something else in.

From a personal perspective, another week in which I would (on a scale of 1-10, 10 being highest) rate News Production, Enjoyment and Knowledge Gained with a big, fat 10. I've most certainly been bitten by the telly bug ever since I presented the sport last week! Although there was a slight mishap with the autocue, I got through it with a minimum of fuss; a huge confidence boost. Definately better on the timings this week too, bring on the live edition next week I say!

Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath was the topic for Thursday's lecture. Having read another classic of his Of Mice And Men, it's easy to see how Steinbeck was pilloried for his ellusions to socialism (or more correctly communism, when the time period is taken into context; McCarthyism, Red Tide etc.). At the heart of his writing is the temptation and seduction of pastures new for people who literally had nothing.

The crux that underpins the entire novel is, I think, a reference to a method of achieving pure socialism. If everyone has nothing then are people made more aware of collective values and conciousness? Is this then where we see true humanity?

The style of writing is also important with Steinbeck: the way his books are so simply and accessibly written, with all the lyricism and poetic elements of novel-writing stripped away to reveal an almost raw depiction of what life is like for immigrants (wow, A-Level English Literature came in handy for something!).

Immigration has become a hot topic in recent weeks with the ultimately pointless appearance of a certain someone on a certain flagship BBC debate programme. As an immigrant (of sorts) myself it always makes me laugh how people with clearly foreign surnames claim they want to kick out anyone who is not a native. A "native"? In this country? Invaded by Romans, Normans, Vikings and Saxons (not in that order I hasten to add I do know my history!) then surely anyone who is Italian, French, German or Scandinavian has claim to being a native Briton!

With the recent influx of Eastern Europeans into the country they seem to be getting the brunt of the anti-immigration flak. My story is a little bit different to those who either come to work or merely to sponge off the soft-touch UK benefits system. Having been forced from their homes by the Soviets both sets of my grandparents' families were taken to Siberia. They then came to Africa with the Free Polish Second Corps through India then Asia Minor and then down to Rhodesia and Tanganiyka. When the war ended, they were told they could return to Poland if they wished or go and start a new life in another country. With the new communist government in place my families chose to come to the UK like many others did but for those who returned to Poland, they were quickly seen as being a potential problem to the newly installed government and were either executed or exiled.

As a result, any factually correct Polish history and culture was doctored to suit the Soviets which has a knock on effect today, where most (not all but certainly a lot) of Poles coming to the UK today have either a warped view of their own history or don't know anything at all. My grandparents knew that this was happening - people in Soviet Poland were actively taught in schools that the millions of Poles like my family in the UK, the US, Australia and beyond were traitors. Therefore I, like many of my contemporaries, have been brought up with this history in an attempt to stop the truth being erased from history altogether.

Not a lot of people know that.

WINOL week one

One week down on WINOL, six to go. Exhausting but fantastic fun at the same time not only because I got to present the sport but also because for the first time, we are all coming together as a news team finding, shooting, editing and producing news. 

On a side note, here is my report from Swindon Town's sleep-inducing cup tie against Woking on Saturday. 

http://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/page/MatchReport/0,,10341~51086,00.html

Citizen Kane is indeed a cultural watershed. In filmography terms it is incredible to imagine how certain scenes were filmed. The one that sticks in my mind is when the camera shows an exterior shot of a club where Kane's washed-up-singer of a second wife is headlining. The camera pans up and goes through the sign and drops down through the skylight. In modern terms, a fairly routine establishing shot but how they managed in the thirties with huge cameras and fairly limited movement is breathtaking.

Chris's allusion to the character of Kane being central in the creation of Mr Burns in The Simpsons was very interesting. Having known of that before watching the film, it was easy to pick out certain characteristics that both of them share: The miser sitting in his cavernous mansion with all his money completely isolated from society, the megalomaniacal passion for control. When Kane bought every journalist from The Chronicle to come and work for his paper is reminiscent of the move pulled by Monty Burns when he replaced his workforce's softball team with retired baseball professionals!

As a spectacle I thoroughly enjoyed it. Admittedly I'd have to watch it again and perhaps even a third time in order to fully appreciate the numerous cultural references. 

Eurosceptics

It has been a while since my last post however, no excuses for not blogging! Even though our new WINOL project has been both entertaining and exhausting, blogging should be as staple as breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

Last Thursday's lecture has enlightened my thinking on the tabloid press. It is so hard to imagine in this age of hi-tech and fantastic technological advances how radical the introduction of a picture-based newspaper would have been all those years ago. What is also striking is how quickly one man can change the entire face of a medium in one fell swoop. I'm sure Northcliffe and Swaffer et al. would be slightly perturbed by the way Rupert Murdoch has expanded the red-top empire. Or would they? The initial mandate of the first tabloids was to make news accessible to the most simple of people, primarily using captioned photos to tell their story. In a more roundabout way, the red-tops of today perform the same function. With up-to-the-minute news and comment on the latest X-Factor show or the latest football or celebrity rumours as an example.

In the news, David Cameron is sweating after the Czech Republic threatens to test his policy on the Lisbon Treaty. Having been deemed constitutional by the Czech parliament, President Vaclav Klaus is expected to become the final EU leader to sign the Treaty enabling it to pass into law. This has now caused Mr Cameron to backtrack on his "cast iron guarantee" to hold a referendum on any EU treaty".

I shall never understand the mind of a politician as long as I live. Is this not proof that the three main political parties are all the same? Just plumping for the middle ground to please everyone? In this sort of situation, if Cameron were to be elected Prime Minister, then he MUST hold a referendum on something as major as handing more power to Europe! It's mind-boggling how he could possibly renege on a deal to hold a referendum on a decision that would affect everyone's lives in some way, shape or form. 

As know Eurosceptic Klaus is expected to sign anytime soon, is this a sign of the political future? Everyone being overwhelmed by the EU? Barry Legg, the former Conservative Chief Executive sums it up in a sentence: "How can David Cameron claim he'll fight to repatriate powers from Brussels when he won't fight to implement his own words?" 

Modern politics in a nutshell I think...