So according to Wikipedia, privately educated, PPE at Oxford, worked as a management consultant at KPMG, gig at the New Statesman at 25.
Urban v's the Commentariat
- Thread starter Belushi
- Start date
I agree with lots that McKenzie has to say and did scratch my head when she started publishing articles through RT. I guess we've all got bills to pay though.
Threshers_Flail
Well-Known Member
Can anyone explain why Josie Sparrow ain't keen on the LRB? I'm quite fond of the unread pile of copies I have in the corner of my room.
Threshers_Flail
Well-Known Member
Yeah fair enough, she was reaching there.
YouSir
Retired from Urban
Most people amongst the self-proclaimed Left Wing Commentariat ultimately make their decisions on the key factor of 'but I want to do it' anyway. All the justifications following on from that are just fluff. They want money, they want a platform, they want to feel relevant, so they delude themselves as to reasons why it's essential to some wider struggle that they pop up on Murdoch TV. Don't think that's overly worth getting offended about though really, most of them are neither journalists or activists, they're just people with opinions and they only stand out because so few people in the media landscape are playing that role with any kind of Left Wing credentials. Practically though they're of no more use than the likes of Dan Hodges on the Right and Tories never get as excited about his incessant stream of pish as the Left does about Jones, Sarkar or Blakely.
As far as expanding cultural power within the media goes shit posters, vaguely popular YouTubers and parody accounts have done more to irritate and subvert the mainstream narrative than the big talking heads ever have. Plus they're less likely to drift off into Paul Mason-esque insanity to keep their names on the billboard.
As far as expanding cultural power within the media goes shit posters, vaguely popular YouTubers and parody accounts have done more to irritate and subvert the mainstream narrative than the big talking heads ever have. Plus they're less likely to drift off into Paul Mason-esque insanity to keep their names on the billboard.
Lurdan
old wave
From the mention of Grenfell I assume she's referring to Andrew O'Hagan's 2018 essay 'The Tower' which took the 'interesting' viewpoint that Kensington & Chelsea Council and the hard pressed functionaries in the 'TMO' it set up to manage it's housing stock were really doing their best but had been caught between central Government policy and cuts on the one hand, and a faction of unreasonable stroppy tenants on the other. It had it's arse kicked at the time - for example here and here.
Only this week it was cited at the Inquiry, by one of the legal teams representing bereaved survivors and residents, as exemplifying the Council's viewpoint and initial justification for its actions and inactions. I don't think it's 'controversial' to suggest that the evidence heard at the Inquiry hasn't really supported the notion that the Council and the 'TMO' should be classed among the victims of the fire.
(While I thought the article, the authors response to his critics and the LRB's silence over the criticisms were disgraceful, it wouldn't lead me to boycott the LRB myself. But since I choose to spend my limited resources elsewhere it doesn't really arise).
cupid_stunt
Chief seagull hater & farmerbarleymow's nemesis.
TalkTV thread -
Piers Morgan rehired by Murdoch for his new TalkTV
Why do you ask? Not sure why. Just sprung to mind. Do you though?
www.urban75.net
They are currently testing with a looped promo, launches on Mon 27th April.
ska invita
back on the other side
On the whole she comes across as someone who knows what they are talking about, but like all economic commentators she also seems to get it just as wrong as the rest of them...ive yet to find anyone who talks about economic near future who does much better than predicting yesterday.So according to Wikipedia, privately educated, PPE at Oxford, worked as a management consultant at KPMG, gig at the New Statesman at 25.
There are a few marx-influenced economists who have had big City jobs I'm vaguely aware of...names escape me though Michael Roberts is one - i think he was a trader. (eta Tony Norfield another IIRC)
Maybe considering Grace's childhood background this kind of TV gig is best for her - a good fit - I think she should knock herself out with it.
One of the problems of tv talking heads with any left bent is they are so few and far between that is easy to quickly feel disgusted by them popping up everywhere - if they were one of a 100 as opposed to one of 3 I think it would be easier to swallow
Lisa M is a massive hypocrite btw for the record there.
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ska invita
back on the other side
interesting point - unprovable - but interesting. None of my close friends or family use Twitter for example (one person does) - not even to read.
tv/ corporate media in general, definitely has a different demographic audience to (corporate) social media.
hitmouse
so defeated, thinks it's funny
Yeah, I boycotted it from 2018-2021 for precisely that reason before giving in on the grounds that my old grudge was starting to feel a bit stale and they didn't seem to have done anything comparably bad since? Still rankles that O'Hagan's still an editor or something similar there though.
YouSir
Retired from Urban
You don't really need to participate for it to have an effect though. Even if you just consume trad. media then, chances are, a lot of the talking heads you'll see are there because they've built (or maintained) their relevance/fame/marketability on social media. Even if most people don't use it and especially don't follow a load of political accounts those in the media do and the more they use it to build their own audiences the more they legitimise it as a platform to pay attention to. Think they only occasionally realise how self-defeating that can be when the usual 'ban internet anonymity' and 'evil internet trolls' stuff goes around.
YouTube is an even bigger thing, I'd say that with Trump and certainly the anti-vaxx stuff that was a far bigger motivator for those out actively protesting and doing stuff than even Fox News.
ska invita
back on the other side
Quite possibly, indie (social) media definitely strongest with those at the extremes of political opinion but corporate media still massively influential and dominant.. And hegemonic
YouSir
Retired from Urban
Debatable, certainly with younger demographics. Not to say that social media isn't similarly open to corporate influence - it absolutely is, but the trends for news consumption especially are only going in one direction and it's not young people turning their TVs on or buying newspapers.
ska invita
back on the other side
Agree, but there's 40 years before this generation fades out so this demographic still crucial
Threshers_Flail
Well-Known Member
Thanks, I had no idea.
Brainaddict
slight system overdrive
I think there's a general problem with successfuly left voices not being involved in or reflecting what is happening in struggles on the ground. Surely your role as a left media voice should be to channel people into these struggles? I can forgive a privileged upbringing if people allow themselves to be used as a voice for others in mainstream media, and if they are using their positions to channel energy into movements. But that's not what happens. It's not what Blakeley does. Or what most of them do. So what's the point? Proving you can argue a point against TND? That's not going to grow any movements for change.
I imagine they see themselves as somehow keeping the 'overton window' open by voicing left ideas on mainstream channels, but in reality its sheer tokenism by those channels. 95% of their content points the other way. So on their own terms I think these commentators are being outsmarted by the channels/papers they work for.
I imagine they see themselves as somehow keeping the 'overton window' open by voicing left ideas on mainstream channels, but in reality its sheer tokenism by those channels. 95% of their content points the other way. So on their own terms I think these commentators are being outsmarted by the channels/papers they work for.
Rob Ray
Weight is meaningless
Freedom's collective principles aside, as a personal thing I think the questions when engaging with mainstream media for most groups should generally revolve around whether a) you'll get a fair hearing b) the audience might be open to listening c) is there a point to doing so?
A turn on GB News for example? Obviously not. Even if you win the debate in front of a tiny audience of batshit moustache twitchers, the next hour of programming will involve the show doing a public "what I'd have said if I'd remembered" shower moment and all you get is a Twitter dunk that will barely register outside your existing fans. Wartime considerations aside, RT was actually a considerably better prospect when it was allowed, because while your audience is a weird one it may well be interested and you get more space to say your piece. I'd still not (and I'm certainly not defending Lisa McKenzie), because I'd rather not be associated with the likes of Galloway and Max Keiser, but I can see why people might.
TalkTV will be more similar to GB with a strong dose of Fox, and I'd see Blakeley acting primarily as the bullied liberal outnumbered 3:1 in every conversation, which is absolutely standard on Fox, for example. She'll act as cover for their general programming while changing few, if any, minds. No doubt it pays well.
A turn on GB News for example? Obviously not. Even if you win the debate in front of a tiny audience of batshit moustache twitchers, the next hour of programming will involve the show doing a public "what I'd have said if I'd remembered" shower moment and all you get is a Twitter dunk that will barely register outside your existing fans. Wartime considerations aside, RT was actually a considerably better prospect when it was allowed, because while your audience is a weird one it may well be interested and you get more space to say your piece. I'd still not (and I'm certainly not defending Lisa McKenzie), because I'd rather not be associated with the likes of Galloway and Max Keiser, but I can see why people might.
TalkTV will be more similar to GB with a strong dose of Fox, and I'd see Blakeley acting primarily as the bullied liberal outnumbered 3:1 in every conversation, which is absolutely standard on Fox, for example. She'll act as cover for their general programming while changing few, if any, minds. No doubt it pays well.
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nogojones
spelling is overrated
Could always get an honest job.
I think she works in higher education / academia now.
nogojones
spelling is overrated
So she just does RT and GB for shit and giggles
ska invita
back on the other side
Aye, this is what I meant by the house always wins
I didn’t realise she still was. Some time ago when I saw her published by RT.
Fozzie Bear
Well-Known Member
It's wrong and bad to post up embarrassing things from people's youth.
But goddamit if this is wrong, I don't want to be right.
An excellent find courtesy of Splits and Fusions archive:
splitsandfusions.wordpress.com
But goddamit if this is wrong, I don't want to be right.
An excellent find courtesy of Splits and Fusions archive:
Odds & Ends: Comrade Jones and the ISKRA Journal
ISKRA was apparently an email discussion list at the turn of the century. I don’t remember it although I was on a number of similar lists eg UK Left Network around that time. The ISKRA list w…
splitsandfusions.wordpress.com
ska invita
back on the other side
Would he have been aged fifteen when he wrote that ??It's wrong and bad to post up embarrassing things from people's youth.
But goddamit if this is wrong, I don't want to be right.
View attachment 321271
An excellent find courtesy of Splits and Fusions archive:
Odds & Ends: Comrade Jones and the ISKRA Journal
ISKRA was apparently an email discussion list at the turn of the century. I don’t remember it although I was on a number of similar lists eg UK Left Network around that time. The ISKRA list w…
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Fozzie Bear
Well-Known Member
Well yeah, born 1984 so 15/16 I guess. An odd editorial choice.
chilango
Hypothetical Wanker
Fozzie Bear
Well-Known Member
Also all the fuss about Blakely appearing on this show seems to have been somewhat overstated in the end:
steeplejack
trapped lbw for a duck
Just catching up with this thread. Jesus Christ what an image. Looks like a shit NFT artist trying to interest you in his "new wallet".
Either that or an 80s rock manager back on the straight and narrow after a lost decade hoovering up all the coke on a remote Caribbean island
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