Global Journalism Review
by email
The
independent, not-for-profit community journal, an alternative voice for the
caring people of
© Brennan Publications 2nd Year ISSN 1743-2243
Volume 2 (No. 57AA) WEB EXTRACT
This is the first
issue of
Now beginning our
second year, we are confident that what is being done in
_______________________________________________________________________
Qur city in 2005: Who runs Derby, Middle
Towards the shape of things to come
by a special correspondent
The 24-hour drinking
binge is about to hit our city. Do we
want it ? Who
benefits, and who loses ? Can we refuse it ? Is there time to stop it, or even to delay it ?
Of the new
legislation on opening hours, many of the country’s 43 chief constables have
already said they do not want it, and of the rest, there will be some (as
always) who are against it but will not stand up to be counted (as with some
bishops, in face of an illegal decision to go to war).
The city council has
already put in train the government order to take over the administration of
liquor licensing (scroll down for the
report by a council reporter).
Is it true, that
there is an unholy alliance between big business (priority, profit above all)
and big government (priority, power above all) ? Are we simply accepting massive change in
the way in which we live and work, without a fight ?
As more and more
plans for development are revealed, and especially those involving more
drinking holes, do we have to accept still more ?
The latest plans for
that imposing city building recently vacated by the Derbyshire Building
Society, and bought by a bookmaking company, include a fried-chicken restaurant
which may match the so-called “Taste of the Real Australia” (kangaroo meat)
established across the road, and the Wild Coyote pub around the corner.
Will our Labour
councillors stand up and protest against these New Labour policies, as they did
over the post office closures ?
Electionitis approaches
As the general
election approaches, will the local political party officials succeed in their
attempts to persuade voters that they have little or nothing in common with
their leaders in
One senior Labour
member, in a criticism of
A Tory wrote to
refute the suggestion that the party locally does not have enough young
members, and is still influenced by an older generation of Thatcherites:
“Not true – but in any case, we could do with a taste of Thatcherism…” That, too, on an
off-the-record basis.
An active Lib Dem supporter agreed that its
precarious hold on the eight-seat Cabinet is a constant strain, with the Tory
half becoming more disgruntled by the day.
That person also accepted the widely-held view that, with its commitment
to social justice versus big business greed, the Lib Dem party would have preferred Labour as
its natural partner in the alliance.
Labour was offered that choice right at the beginning,
and its refusal is now seen by some as the mistake of the century.
It is tempting to
believe that the council’s solitary Independent, Frank Leeming,
is in the best position in the 51-seat council.
At least, he can weigh up every issue on its merits for the city,
without reference to Stalinist or Thatcherite
dictators in
Stirring the
religious pot
The problems caused
by religious sensitivity and the latest calls for special treatment for various
sects have to be faced in our multicultural city. But what is
multiculturalism ?
The closing of Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s
play, Behzti, in Birmingham, after aggressive Sikh
protests, the savage criticism of the BBC by Christian elements for showing
Jerry Springer – The Opera, on television, not to mention the death threats
against Salman Rushdie for his book, The Satanic
Verses – all these events must have resonance in a society which has long had a
worldwide reputation for tolerance.
The words on this
subject of the respected commentator and Guardian writer, Timothy Garton Ash, have been welcomed by many: “If our goal is to
achieve a multicultural society that is both free and peaceful, then what we
need is not the multiplication of taboos but the expansion of tolerance.”
At the last census
the statistics for
Most of the Muslims
live in
The story is that
this tactic is being followed in every constituency in the country where there
are large numbers of Muslims. Many
cities now have Muslim Labour councillors, and they appear to be divided about
what some see as a deeply devious
Margaret Beckett hopes to be
returned again in
Unelected
Establishment
Who and what is seen
as the Establishment in our city today ? Some members obviously believe, but will not
say on the record, that it is the business-dominated
None of the political
parties appear to be taking a critical look at this massive quango,
with a claimed 650 members, the vast majority of whom are unelected and feel no
compulsion to defer to the council we have elected.
The latest from that
quarter is the proposal by one leading business member that business, not the
council as at present, should provide the chairman.
There are many
questions to be asked and answered in 2005, and especially in the next few
months, before polling day.
Media monopoly
The
There were protests
not only by journalists and advertising companies when, in 1994, the Conservative
government agreed to the sale of the Nottingham Evening Post to the Daily Mail
and General Trust, to complete its East Midlands network.
This followed an
inquiry by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, which attached four
conditions to the sale:
That the company did
not re-enter the paid-for weekly market in the East Midlands; did not launch an
East Midlands edition of the Daily Mail; agreed to set up an editorial board to
maintain editorial independence at the Nottingham Evening Post, and promised
not to distort or restrict competition in the region,
These conditions were
still being debated seven years later.
In a report by Jon Slattery in Press Gazette of
In 2004 there were
new concerns when the company expanded coverage by its free morning paper,
Metro, to include the
There are two radio
stations, BBC and commercial, which do not bother to send reporters to council
or cabinet meetings, and prefer hours of disc-jockery
and childish quizzes to reporting and discussing the real issues of life in our
city today.
As for the
university, it impresses
Derbeians more for its building
developments than for its scholarship.
Morale among the staff declines as the drive for “efficiency” continues,
at the expense of
original and meaningful
research.
It could be called
part of the Establishment for its patronage, its assiduous courting of the
great and the good and retired public servants for its council and other
bodies.
Perhaps one reason is
its obsession with the market, the demands of businessmen, some of whom go
broke or retire early with enormous pay-offs for failure. It shares this
obsession with other universities which strive to make up for a lack of
scholarship. The new vice-chancellor has a tough job, and we wish him well.
Reasonable
concerns
The Derby Guardian is
now in its second year, and in spite of a campaign to dissuade people from
supporting this not-for-profit venture with a subscription or donation (on the
grounds that it is too small, and in any case one payer can freely email it to
many non-payers, which on a large scale is clearly unfair but not illegal), it
will continue to put the reasonable concerns of Derbeians
before all else. - JB
Letters to the editor
Letters are invited, but our city’s quota of the usual whingers and single-issue obsessives
should apply elsewhere. Anonymous
letters will not be printed, but will be followed up if from genuine
whistleblowers. Letters of 300wds or more are
likely to be cut, except in special circumstances: 200wds, acceptable, 100wds,
welcomed ! There is no need to go back
over old ground.
For subscription details for the weekly email full version, contact brenmedia@btinternet.com
About us. At
the annual meeting of
Protected by Norton Anti-Virus System
brenmedia@btinternet.com
Editor James Brennan
Webmaster Michael Cormac Walsh
Copyright Brennan Publications 2005