State of Play’s call to arms to journalists must be heeded

On the face of it, Kevin Macdonald’s film State of Play is nothing more than an excellent crime thriller, with the interesting foible of being told from the viewpoint of the press rather than the police.

But for journalists, the film represents much more.

Russell Crowe’s lead turn as Cal McAffrey exposes all the problems the industry is currently facing. His newspaper, the Washington Globe, has recently been taken over by a multinational media conglomerate (MediaCorp) and is facing cutbacks.

As the paper’s editor, played gloriously by Helen Mirren, puts it early on in the film: “Our new owners have this crazy idea that we should make a profit.”

And that, in short, is the major issue facing journalists today. Gone all the glory days when Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s incredible painstakingly slow investigative journalism brought about the Watergate scandal that ended the Presidential career of Richard Nixon.

Writers such as Paul Foot, one of Britain’s finest ever journalists, would not be taken on by a newspaper now as they do not produce articles quickly enough.

Newspapers are now seen as more of a business than a service. Rupert Murdoch is probably at fault for this as much as anyone, his huge Wapping production base where the Sun and the News of the World are made taking the first steps to destroying the heart of journalist’s past in Fleet Street.

Now reporters are consigned to telephones and e-mail for interviews and aren’t given the chance to fully develop all the leads on a story. Most important to newspaper bosses now is speed, rather than quality of writing and accuracy of facts.

State of Play also addresses the difficulty journalists face with protecting their sources while still attempting give both sides of the story. Cal is friends with congressman Steven Collins and while he tries to do the best by his college pal, he has to also hassle him for information for his story.

Publishing unedited press releases as news stories is common, and online opinion pieces, seen by many as soft journalism that is only a level up from the humble blogger sat in his bedroom eating Wotsits, are becoming commonplace.

Quantity rather than quality is now the mantra issued by newspaper bosses. If a reporter is not producing the goods on a daily basis it is only going to be a matter of time before they are shown the door.

Kevin Macdonald, the film’s director, has stated in interviews that he intends the film to act as a call to arms to the industry. But journalists cannot themselves do anything without changes filtering down from boardroom level. Journalism in this country is dying a slow and painful death, especially at local level.

Macdonald has opened Pandora’s Box with State of Play. The industry must act.

[Again, this was an original article for Buzz]

Potter films could be great...or not.

British director David Yates has his hands full with the film adaptation of the last of the Harry Potter series. It’s now two years since the final book in the franchise, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was published, and the enormity of the task facing Yates is growing.

Although the trio of young actors that are central to the story, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, have grown into their roles beautifully, each book in the series crams in more plot than the previous. Early on in the planning stages for Deathly Hallows the decision was taken to split the film, but nowhere in the book is there an obvious opportunity to cut it down the middle.

Much of the opening half is spent with Harry, Ron and Hermione on the run from Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Where to, we don’t know. In the book J.K. Rowling’s skill fills the pages with a sense of climbing tension, something Yates will be under pressure to replicate.

The deliberate dullness of this part of the book also poses a tough choice for Yates. If he cuts down on part of that time, the challenge faced by Harry will seem lesser, the helplessness Rowling conveys would disappear, and the film would be in danger telling a story that was too straightforward. In short, it would be another Da Vinci Code, a series of problem-solving missions around a linear plot sequence, and no thrills whatsoever.

Of course, whatever Yates does with the pair of films, they promise to be massive smashes and make distributers Warners a huge pot of cash. The Potter phenomenon has gone supernova, with eleven million copies of Deathly Hallows sold within 24 hours of it going on sale. Indeed, the sheer vastness of the series was probably at least partially behind any decision to make two films rather than one. Two films equals two gigantic piles of cinema receipts.

But it’s more than that. Deathly Hallows has the potential to be a great film. But Yates has many difficult choices to make. The sheer number of deaths in the film will make it hard to be family friendly, and the bloody battle at Hogwarts that is pre-curser to the final showdown between Harry and Voldemort could rival Peter Jackson’s version of Helm’s Deep in the second Lord of the Rings film, if it were to be approached in a similar manner.

But the need to keep the film as a 12A rating is likely to keep bloodshed to a minimum and many of the book’s deaths will probably be brushed over as a result. Even Rowling herself struggled with this, killing off two main characters in the latter stages of the story, Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks, with little fanfare, despite their deaths orphaning a baby boy.

Yates will also need to decide whether or not to include the final scene of the book, Rowling’s epilogue, which ties up any questions about the futures of Harry, Ron and Hermione and some of their schoolfriends, albeit in a rose-tinted, slightly half-baked manner.

No doubt the makeup department could work their magic and make Radcliffe, Watson and Grint look old enough to play parents, and the prospect of a possible follow-up series focussing on one of Harry or Ron’s children’s adventures at Hogwarts would be tempting.

But with the release of the sixth film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, coming soon, and rumours already persisting that the film concentrates too much on romantic sub-plots, Yates is sure to be keeping his ear to the ground for any tips.

[This was a wholly original article for my University final project Buzz, which I'm sure will turn up on this here site eventually]

The Music Magazine closes

A national website based in the North East has been closed down by the Sunderland student who created it two and a half years ago.

The Music Magazine featured reviews of the latest albums as well as interviews with bands and features on the state of the industry.

Washington-born Scott Goodacre started the website three months after he began a Journalism degree at the University of Sunderland.

Scott said: “I didn’t think that there would be any opportunities to do what I wanted to do at University. I thought setting up The Music Magazine would be the best way to get the experience I need.”

Scott is now coming to the end of his three-year course at Sunderland and with a job offer on the table from a Newcastle PR firm he is unable to devote the time necessary to keep the website going.

He said: “The problem I’ve had is that my writers aren’t reliable as I can’t afford to pay them. I don’t make any money out of it and never have and with my new job starting soon I won’t have the time to keep it going.”

But Scott hopes that he will be able to resurrect TMM when he is settled into full-time employment.

He said: “I’m going to keep the website up, but not update it. My plan is to look again at the situation in a few months and hopefully I’ll have the time to revisit it.

“The best bit about running TMM has been the free gigs and the free CDs. I’ve paid to get into one gig in three years and I can’t remember the last time I had to pay for music.”

But Scott refused to entertain the possibility of giving the site away to someone else to run.

He said: “I’ve put a hell of a lot of time and effort, and even sometimes money, into building up the site and increasing our traffic.

“I don’t think I could bear seeing someone else profiting from my hard work. But if Bill Gates came in with a silly offer, I’d have to consider it obviously!”

Ultimately TMM could not compete with websites such as Drowned in Sound that have been around for a lot longer and are even able to have a paid staff, although even DiS have been struggling lately and rumours suggest they could be forced to shut down if no investment is found.

The closure of TMM is a blow to North East music fans, who will have to find somewhere new to get their fix of reviews, news and features.

[This article was originally published on InJournalism]

Danny Wallace feature

Danny Wallace - the finest comedy writer in Britain?

There aren’t all that many British writers that have had their moderately successful tale of a man taking on a weird and wonderful challenge, but mostly sitting around in his flat drinking tea, made into Hollywood movies.

But Danny Wallace is one such man. Yes Man was recently release with all the star treatment. Jim Carrey and Zooey Deschanel took the lead roles, both failing to break their stereotypes, Carrey pulling daft faces and making his character pretty unlikeable throughout, and Deschanel playing a two-dimensional love interest.

But even if the film was feelgood dross, with a cheesier ending than a packet of Wotsits, at least it brought the talent of Danny Wallace to the attention of the wider public.

Wallace’s stock has been gradually rising over the last few years. A drunk bet with a mate started his career in the public eye, after he challenged his friend Dave Gorman to find 54 other men called Dave Gorman. The pair’s tale then became a stage show, a book and a television series. Gorman and Wallace have since gone their separate ways, but Wallace’s career has gone from strength to strength.

His first solo venture into books came with Join Me, in which he starts his own collective (“it’s not a cult, it’s a collective” becomes the slogan) to avenge a failure of his uncle to start his own mini-society in Switzerland.

Join Me continued with the template laid by Are You Dave Gorman?, with Wallace travelling far and wide to try and persuade people to become Joinees to what was eventually dubbed the Karma Army. Joinees were instructed by Wallace to complete Random Acts of Kindness, starting with making an old man smile, and moving on to Good Fridays.

The charm of the book lay with Wallace’s boyish idiocy, coupled with his frequent laugh-out-loud moments of double entendres and faux-pas with the foreigners he comes across on his journey.

Wallace eventually reached his target of 1000 joinees after his friend Ian, who had ridiculed the project throughout, submitted his passport photograph to join. The Karma Army are still active, although Wallace now plays a more withdrawn role.

The idea for Yes Man stemmed from an unlikely encounter with a stranger on a bus, who told him that he should be open to more opportunities, that he should say yes more.

Wallace took the advice to heart, saying yes to everything and everyone, taking him on long, pointless trips and whistle-stop holidays. The book brimmed with vitality, similar to cult 70s book The Dice Man in that the next chapter could take Wallace anywhere depending on what opposrtunites presented themselves to him. It was that ramshackle nature that persuaded Hollywood to sit up and take notice.

Wallace since moved into television, presenting various programmes including Castaway and Horizon.

His third book Friends Like These was published last year and sees him trying to track down 12 old school friends who were listed in an old diary. The tale is tinged with sadness after he finds one of his old friends has since died, but also with great joy, as Wallace reacquaints himself with his best friends from his youth.

Wallace is a special talent. His books have that rare ability to make you guffaw out loud in public, while also having the page-turning quality of a thriller. But Wallace is also capable of tugging on the heart-strings. It all makes him a versatile writer, and one of Britain’s brightest talents.

[This article was originally written solely for my University final project Buzz, but was later published in both The Wear and on InJournalism]

Giggs’ PFA win is as blatant a sporting conspiracy as you will ever see

I wrote this after Ryan Giggs won a leading football award in April. It's another ranty piece, but with a bit of thought behind it.


I hope Nemanja Vidic has reported the robbery he suffered at the hands of his fellow professionals last month in the PFA Players’ Player of the Year awards.

United’s veteran winger Ryan Giggs took the prize, despite making only a dozen Premier League starts when he was named the winner.

The decision makes a mockery of the award. Giggs would struggle to get into United’s best eleven of the season ahead of Carlos Tevez, Darren Fletcher and Park Ji Sung, but the players of the top flight have spoken and named the Welshman as the winner, the first time he has collected the accolade.

There is no doubting that Giggs has been a magnificent pro. He has won everything the domestic game has to offer with Manchester United, and has shown a terrific loyalty to the club he has been with since he was a schoolboy.

A few years ago when Giggs was out of the side for a spell, there were rumours he would leave the club and enjoy a huge payday by signing for Inter Milan.

But even though media reports suggested the move was a done deal, Giggs stayed and fought for his place successfully, and has had a solid if unspectacular impact on the club’s fortunes ever since.

Perhaps even more baffling was the omission of United’s midfield general Michael Carrick from the final shortlist of six players. The Wallsend man has this season at last developed beautifully into a worthy replacement for Roy Keane.

Carrick’s shielding of the defence has been a major factor in Rio Ferdinand and Vidic being so dominant defensively and in Edwin van der Sar’s excellent goalkeeping record.

Rarely can a team penetrate the midfield marshalled by Carrick let alone break through the back four. However, while all three of the above men were nominated, Carrick missed out.

His unerring long passing has also started moves for countless United attacks, as he finally fulfils the potential Sir Alex Ferguson saw in him to pay what many thought was a vastly inflated transfer fee of well over £15m to Tottenham Hotspur for his services.

Vidic perhaps suffered for his wobbly display in Liverpool’s 4-1 drubbing of United at Old Trafford, where the Serb looked constantly shaky against the pace of Fernando Torres, and was eventually sent off for hauling down Steven Gerrard outside the area. Fabio Aurelio curled home the resulting free kick and Liverpool marched on to victory.

Van der Sar’s challenge stuttered with some uncharacteristically dodgy goalkeeping throughout March, and no stopper has won the award in thirty years so a win for the Dutchman was never likely.

Players are probably bored of voting for the other two candidates Steven Gerrard and Cristiano Ronaldo, as they have won it for the past three years between them.

Arguably that leaves Giggs as the logical choice, but there are many players from outside the big four clubs that would have been worthy candidates.

Fulham’s Brede Hangeland has marshalled his side into European contention with some monumental defensive displays that have led to the giant Norwegian being linked with a move across London to Arsenal.

Manchester City’s Stephen Ireland has also earned rave reviews for his commanding midfield displays this season but he was instead nominated for the young players award.

Phil Jagielka and Joleon Lescott have formed the strongest all-English defensive partnership in the league and both have received international recognition from Fabio Capello this term. With Everton reaching the FA Cup final and looking as solid as ever in a European slot, the pair both being missing from the list looks like a huge oversight.

It will be interesting to see how the other awards pan out come the end of the season, with several football writers claiming they will look outside of the big clubs for their winners.

If you have any requests by the way - let me know! I've got various things I'm planning to put up but it'll be a pretty random approach to their order.