Facebook has notched up 500 million users this week. The Guardian had data on where they all are, and a data analyst at Tableau, Ross Perez, put this into a great visualisation.
No one I’ve spoken to is encouraged by the line in culture secretary Jeremy Hunt‘s statement that reads: “The changes I have proposed today would help us deliver fantastic culture, media and sport, while ensuring value for money for the public and transparency about where taxpayers’ money is spent.”
Do they take us for fools? This is doublespeak. Obviously I have personal reason to be grateful to the Film Council – indeed, I have a second project with it – but I am not alone. Every single writer, director and producer I know in this country considers the Film Council essential to film-making in the UK. Along with BBC Films and Film4, the Film Council was the main port of call for those of us trying to get feature films off the ground, especially if those films tended, like Granny, to be outside the mainstream.
It was staffed not by bureaucrats but by people who had made films, who loved film, who knew film-makers and understood their struggles. And they were good at what they did, as any rollcall of Film Council-supported movies demonstrates: Vera Drake, The Last King of Scotland, My Summer of Love, Bend it Like Beckham, Fish Tank, to name but a few. For everyone £1 of lottery money invested, British films are reckoned to generate £5 at the box office.
One criticism of the coalition’s proposed spending cuts is that their severity will cause a double-dip recession. With the axing of the Film Council, the rug is being pulled out from underneath the industry. Economically, everyone from writers to caterers, actors to electricians, producers to taxi drivers will feel the impact. Culturally, this crass, narrow, bigoted move impoverishes us all.
It’s very good to see Lars Dahle joining the blogosphere. Lars is Principal of Gimlekollen School of Journalism and Communication in Kristiansand, Norway, where I am now an adjunct lecturer. He’s heading up the media and technology stream for Cape Town 2010 (3rd Lausanne Congress). A couple of his early posts have focused on the question of how we engage with the news. He proposes twelve questions to reflect on while watching the news:
I propose the following set of criticial questions when watching, reading or listening to global, regional, national and local news:
To what extent did the various news stories engage you, interest you and captivate you? Why?
What themes, issues and conflicts are represented in the selected news stories? Why do you think those have been chosen?
Which of the stories are highlighted as major news? How and why?
Which sources and interviewees have been selected in the major news stories, as far as we can tell from the published news? Why do you think those persons have been selected?
Which perspectives and angles have been chosen in the editorial introductions, the actual interviews and in the graphic presentations? Why do you think these journalistic and editorial decisions have been made?
Whom do you identify with in the major news stories (if any)? Why?
Would you describe the major news stories as essential and important? Why? / Why not?
What kind of essential areas, topics and perspectives are missing in these news stories (if any)? Why? To what extent may this be representative for the news industry?
What kind of professional and personal values do you discover among the journalists in the major news stories? To what extent do you identify with these values? Why? /Why not?
If the Christian faith, Christian organizations or Christian individuals are covered in the news stories, how are these portrayed? Why?
To what extent did the news stories leave you with a sense of involvement, hope, excitement, indifference, despair – or maybe with a mixture of such feelings? Why?
The final session of my course on the Old Testament prophets at Bible & Culture 2010. This is the second part of the material on Ezekiel and his promises of restoration.
The fourth session of my course on the Old Testament prophets at Bible & Culture 2010. This is the first part of the material on Ezekiel and his promises of judgement.
Schloss Mittersill was rebuilt in 1528 after being burned down in a peasants’ revolt. For the last 40 years it has been a conference centre, particularly for groups connected with IFES. Bible & Culture has been held here for four years, a joint project by the Schloss and IFES. More on the history here.
This is a fabulous interactive infographic of all the Doctor Who monsters (not all of them are villains, really – the Ood, for example) since the first episode in 1963.
My outline of the structure of Ezekiel prepared for my course on the Old Testament prophets at Bible & Culture 2010. This is, of course, partly derived from other outlines in various commentaries.
Outline of Ezekiel
View more documents from Tony Watkins.
Tony Watkins is a writer and speaker on Christian faith and contemporary culture, with a particular interest in film. He is the Managing Editor of Culturewatch.
Made the mistake of not finishing Child Tax Credit renewal on paper and posting before going away - just taken me 28 minutes on the phone!08:06:19 AM July 30, 2010from HootSuite
