Does ‘neoliberalism’ help us understand media?

Is ‘neoliberalism’ a concept that works for understanding media? As I left a workshop last Friday at University College London, on the subject of ‘postneoliberalism’, I asked myself this question. My initial, rather impulsive, answer at the beginning of the workshop was no. But I need to put that answer into context. The workshop was … Continue Reading

Easy how-to guide on constructing a news clip

This is really brilliant stuff. Charlie Brooker on his excellent BBC show Newswipe (which I think is easily superior to The Daily Show) encapsulates how to construct a news clip. It rests on the idea of news clips having an easily recognizable form; which reminds me of the classic debates in studies of media effects … Continue Reading

Revisiting the work of Roger Silverstone

Although I’d always been aware of Roger Silverstone’s work in media studies, for some reason, I had managed to virtually ignore him until I came across his last book, Media and Morality. And even then – somewhat embarrassingly – my attention was piqued by the mere fact that the book’s subtitle (on the rise of … Continue Reading