There’s a new site on the block – Counterfire.org.
It has been set up by many of those that resigned from the SWP a month or two ago and goes a little like this…
News and theory publication Counterfire was launched today with a plethora of reports and essays focusing on the crisis in capitalism, imperialism and war and popular culture.
The website is being launched on International Women’s Day with a 60 strong team including an investigations team, an industrial unit, arts reviews and peer reviewed publications.
Lindsey German, author of Material Girls, Women, Sex and Work and convenor of Stop the War said: “We live in a world of growing conflict, crisis and inequality and Counterfire is a much needed new voice calling for fundamental change.”
Adrian Cousins, editor of the new site, said: “Counterfire includes snappy news articles alongside expert analysis of the most important issues today with original design, photography and video. There is a blog aggregate so those interested in the movements know where to come.”
John Rees, broadcaster and author, said: “The journalism and analysis on Counterfire will provide a welcome alternative to the discredited and failing policies of the political elite.”
Elly Badcock, women’s officer at SOAS and women’s editor, said: “It’s fantastic that on the 100th International Women’s Day this powerful new site which uses the latest technology is providing a platform for the new feminism of the 21st Century.”
The site features daily news from the movements including articles on protests, petitions and campaigns alongside theory analysing the economy, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and campaigns against the BNP and the English Defence League.
Go have a look round.
If you don’t want to get yourself reputation for being a cunt, don’t hang around with cunts. It’s quite simple really.
I don’t prescribe to the thought that all Tories are shits. Misguided maybe, delusional possibly, wrong definitely. But when one of the Tory ‘approved’ bloggers goes about business like this, you gotta wonder.
Angry Slug (a.k.a. Unslugged) has the scoop…
These three tweets were posted last night on Twitter by a blogger who calls himself “Tory Bear”. His tweets, and blogs, are generally a series of childish personal insults, smears and innuendo, but even he has sunk to a new low here.
Perhaps I am wrong, but I always felt that mocking politicians was fine, but mocking disability is just cheap and nasty.
Read the rest
Tory Politico has received a Nasty-O-Gram from an organisation calling themselves Politico…
(click to enlarge)
The letter then goes on to explain how people are going to get confused between an American “media company covering national politics and Washington governance” and a British blogger that talks about British politics from a Conservative angle.
Oh, they also want Tory Politicos’ domain name.
First of all, who the fuck uses Alexia to gauge a website? No fucker I’ve heard of.
Secondly, 57.3% of TPs’ visitors are from the UK, according to Alexia. So, the vast majority then, and even more so for visitors of TPs’ site that get routed through a foreign country for some reason, like AOL. As TP points out…
While I can understand why they are saying only 57% of visitors are from the UK this is a wholly false claim. According to Google Analytics, which has been tracking traffic since the site launched, 85% of readers are from the UK with only 5% coming from within the United States.
Thirdly, what sort of fucking lawyer uses the word ‘presumably’? This smells like a fishing expedition to me.
Fourthly, the word ‘politico‘ is a word that is in common usage, as opposed to a word made up especially for a product or brand, and so is not copyrightable.
This isn’t the first time Politicos’ lawyers have surprised someone…
The College Politico has received a cease-and-desist letter from lawyers for Politico, demanding that he stop using the word “Politico” in his name — and that he give them control of his domain.
It doesn’t look like Politico have won that one (yet) as The College Politico is still going.
But there’s more. And it’s quite shitty too…
Dear Reader:
Faced with a trademark legal challenge and protracted litigation by the publishers of the newspaper and website ¨Politico,¨we have reluctantly chosen to change the name of our publication, from“La Política” to “CandidatoUSA.”
Politico won that one. The letter continues with how it happened…
The publishers of Politico – launched in January by Washington D.C.-based Allbritton Communications, also owners of seven ABC television affiliates and three other news channel outlets – claim La Politica infringes on their trademark.
The name change odyssey began,without our knowledge, on July 11when Jim VanderHei, Politico’s co-founder and editor, called me.
He had heard of our plans to launch La Política and wanted to know more. I gave him details of
our preparations to launch an electronic trade newsletter on the business of reaching Hispanic voters.
At his suggestion, we agreed to talk again after the launch of La Política on November 5 to explore avenues of collaboration between Politico and our publication.
It sounds promising for La Politica. Not even launched yet and already someone backed by a big news company is interested in working with them.
We did launch on November 5. But next day, instead of a call from VanderHei, we received a two-page aggressive and threatening letter from Politico’s attorney demanding that we “cease and desist” from the use of the La Política name because they hold a registered trade mark in the term “The Politico.”
This is Jim VandeHei. I would post a picture of him but, well, given his history…
The chap behind La Politica wrote to Jim and even offered to go to Washington to talk about how they might resolve this nicely, but no. That didn’t work.
Anyway, because of the money behind Politico, La Politica capitulated and La Politica now points to Politico.com.
I have no idea how this is going to play out, whether TP being British based is going to work in his favour or he will just end up being extradited, or if Politico are gonna leave it and are just trying their luck, but what ever happens, I wish you the best of luck with it, Tory Politico.
Baroness Buscombe has expressed an interest in expanding the remit of the PCC to cover blogs as well…
“Some of the bloggers are now creating their own ecosystems which are quite sophisticated,” Baroness Buscombe told me. “Is the reader of those blogs assuming that it’s news, and is [the blogosphere] the new newspapers? It’s a very interesting area and quite challenging.”
She said that after a review of the governance structures of the PCC, she would want the organisation to “consider” whether it should seek to extend its remit to the blogosphere, a process that would involve discussion with the press industry, the public and bloggers (who would presumably have to volunteer to come beneath the PCC’s umbrella)
Well, to quote a rather eloquent gentleman of a crimson hue…
Well, with all due respect, Baroness, you can fuck right off.
Because, basically the PCC is a useless pile of shit that seems to have the only function of staving off statutory regulation for the press industry.
Bollox to that. Which is why I’ve put my name to Unitys’ letter of a collective response to the Baroness at Liberal Conspiracy. Reproduced below…
Baroness Buscombe
Chair
Press Complaints Commission
Halton House
20/23 Holborn
London EC1N 2JD
Cc. Rt. Hon. Ben Bradshaw MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Cc. John Whittingdale MP, Culture, Media and Sport Committee
17 November 2009
Dear Lady Buscombe
Re: Extension of PCC regulation to UK Blogs/Blogging
We write in regards to your apparent proposal that the PCC should consider extending its remit to the ‘blogosphere’ as reported by Ian Burrell of the Independent on 16 November 2009 (1).
While we are grateful for your interest in our activities we must regretfully decline your kind offer of future PCC regulation. Frankly, we do not feel that the further development of blogging as an interactive medium that facilitates the free exchange of ideas and opinions will benefit from regulation by a body representing an industry with, in the main, substantially lower ethical standards and practices than those already practiced by the vast majority of established British bloggers.
Although we would not wish you believe that this criticism relates to all your members – The Guardian, in particular, has adopted a number of practices, not least the appointment of a Readers’ Editor to deal with complaints, which we consider to be the current gold standard in ethical journalistic practice amongst national newspapers – It is nevertheless the case that the vast majority of national newspaper titles routinely fall well short of both those, and our own, standards and that our direct experience of dealing with the Press Complaints Commission shows the organisation to be, in the main, complicit in those failings.
To give but one recent example of bad practice, of the many that bloggers have documented in over the last few years, an article published by the Tabloid Watch blog in October, covered documented, in some considerable detail, the tortuous process that one of its readers had to go through in order to get the News of the World to retract a manifestly untrue and inflammatory statement by one of its regular columnists, Carole Malone. In this particular column, published in July 2009, Malone made use of an all-too-common and utterly racist myth that ‘immigrants’ (meaning asylum seekers) receive free cars on arriving in the UK (2), a myth that is most closely associated with the propaganda output of the British National Party.
All you have to do to get everything Britain has to offer is to turn up illegally with some sob story of how your own country is too dangerous or that you’re a lesbian who’ll be shot if you stay there and Hey Presto, it’s like you’ve won the lottery! And, in effect, they HAVE.
Free houses, free cars, free healthcare and free money. Hell, they don’t even have to work or speak the language. Even the suggestion they should is seen as racist in Brown’s Britain.
They can just live as they did before, only with a whole heap more money and zero responsibility to the country providing it. (3)
What we find most striking about the process documented by Tabloid Watch is the extent to which the PCC actively sought to facilitate the News of the World’s efforts to avoid undertaking practices that we, as bloggers, take for granted as being standard practice in our corner of the Internet; i.e. the prominent publication of an honest and open correction of a factual error on the original article in which the error, itself, was made. Instead, as we invariably find to be standard practice amongst, particularly, tabloid newspapers; the correction and cursory apology (4)– when it was grudgingly issued after what Tabloid Watch described as ‘two months of wrangling’ – appeared in a location other than that of Malone’s column in the newspaper’s print edition and on its website on a page utterly divorced the article to which it relates, which was removed its entirely, and in such a way that only someone searching specifically for the retraction would ever be likely to find it. (5)
To all intents and purposes, the retraction might as well not have been issued, for all that it would apparent to visitors to the News of World’s website that it had ever been made.
This is but one clear example of a practice that would be unacceptable amongst established bloggers and one of many that bloggers who specialise in monitoring the national press for accuracy have documented in recent years. For a blogger to engage in such practices, which include ‘stealth editing’ of articles, after publication, to avoid owning up to factual errors and removing and/or refusing to publish critical comments from readers, especially those that highlight and correct factual errors.
For an established blogger to adopt such practices would do incalculable damage to their public reputation; this being, after all, all that we have to trade on.
To the vast majority of national newspapers such conduct is no more than standard operating practice.
Consequently we would suggest that before your even consider turning your attention to our activities, you should direct your energies towards putting your own house in proper order. Should you succeed in raising the ethical standards and practices of the majority of the national press, particularly the tabloids, to our level then we may be inclined to reconsider our position. Until that happens, any attempt by the Press Complaints Commission to regulate the activities of bloggers will be strenuously resisted at every possible turn.
Regards,
Unity – Ministry of Truth (6) and Liberal Conspiracy (7)
References
1. Ian Burrell. PCC to regulate UK bloggers? Independent Minds. [Online] 16 November 2009. http://ianburrell.independentminds.livejournal.com/8357.html.
2. MacGuffin. How the PCC Doesn’t Work. Tabloid Watch. [Online] 25 October 2009. http://tabloid-watch.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-pcc-doesnt-work.html.
3. Malone, Carole. I’ll Give You a Real Benefits Sob Story. News of The World. [Online] 26 July 2009. Article no longer available online. Key content quoted by Tabloid Watch: http://tabloid-watch.blogspot.com/2009/07/carole-malone-and-bnp.html.
4. Press Complaints Commission. [Online] [Cited: 17 November 2009.] http://www.pcc.org.uk/news/index.html?article=NjAzNQ==.
5. News of The World. Illegal immigrants & cars . [Online] [Cited: 25 October 2009.] http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/showbiz/564615/Illegal-immigrants-amp-cars.html.
Supporting Bloggers/Blogs
6. Ministry of Truth. [Online] http://www.ministryoftruth.me.uk.
7. Liberal Conspiracy. [Online] http://www.liberalconspiracy.org.
If you haven’t already, put your name down in the comments there.
There’s always one, though isn’t there? Martin at Layscience.net sees this differently…
What the PCC needs is change. What the PCC needs is fresh blood to move in and shake things up. What better solution then to fill a syringe with new media magic and jab it straight into their cold, dying heart?
As long as British bloggers are not compelled by law to submit to regulations – and to my knowledge there is absolutely no serious suggestion that they ever would be – then the voluntary participation of leading bloggers in the PCC could in principle be an excellent idea.
While we’re on the subject of the PCC…
The PCC – the body currently speaking of the potential to ‘regulate’ blogs (more) – has at every stage refused to investigate or even publicly acknowledge the attempt by the Managing Editor of the The Sun to attack me instead of addressing the evidence I presented.
[That “me”, by the way, isn’t me, it’s] Tim at Bloggerheads who has posted the letter from Graham Dudman to the PCC about Glen Jenvey, Ummah.com and Bloggerheads.com.
It’s disgusting and all I can say is, Graham is a cunt. But then what do you expect from a Murdoch lackie.
Go and read it for yourself as it’s a bit pointless me going through it here.
from: Britney Rowley
reply-to: rowleybritney@yahoo.co.uk
to:
date: 12 August 2009 02:19
subject:
From: Britney Rowley (Ms)
mailed-by : msn.com
Dear Friend,
I am Ms. Britney Rowley, a co-recording producer for late Michael Jackson the great legend King of Pop who has just passed away on June 25, 2009. While I was working with Mr. Jackson, he deposited some funds for charitable trust organizations with a secured private institution and up till date nobody knows about the existence of these funds.
Due to the recent crisis going on in Jackson’s family concerning his assets. The Jackson family is now searching for late Michael Jackson undiscovered properties and money which might lead to the discovery of these existing funds. My reason for writing you is that I have decided to retire and resettle and now want the money to be moved out of this institution to you, where you will receive it and keep it safe for me until I come over to meet with you there. I need a trustworthy business partner and friend who will advise me on proper investments in your country and how I can live comfortably. I have obtained and secured all back up documents to support whoever I chose as help to this money.
For your assistance and help in receiving and investing this money, you will benefit a reasonable part of the total money. I will give you my full contact details and I would appreciate it very much if you give me yours including your phone number where I can reach you. Please send your reply through my e-mail rowleybritney@yahoo.co.uk
Best regards,
Britney Rowley (Ms)
Thanks for the offer Ms Rowley, but I think Jackos’ assets should go to his family not me and you.
I am boycotting this years Total Politics Blogging Guide.
I’m not so deluded to think that this place is popular enough to get in and so me saying I’m not going to participate is a bit like saying ‘next week, I’m not going to walk on the moon’. The same amount of effort is required to achieve both.
But I am saying I want no part of it. Rather than just watch the poll happen and have no part in it, by not voting for anyone, although there is a fucking huge list of people that deserve a vote in a propor poll, and also by virtue of being part of that niche blog genre I like to term Rather Shite.
The reasons are two fold.
- All the underhand techniques used by the Fail Dale to keep himself ‘right’ and the results of stuff like this poll with the right results.
All that stuff is understandable. The blog is part of Iains’ revenue generation machine. It is a small part of his TV appearances, speaking engagements and publishing ‘things’. It may not actually generate revenue itself, apart from a small amount from Messagespace, but it is where people can find him, where Iain can show off his expertise, his knowledge.
Iaian needs to be right on his blog, otherwise it will impact on his other areas. And a man’s gotta eat. Right? It may not be right, but it’s understandable. That’s business.
- The second reason is because Iain Dale is a cunt.
It’s one thing having a commentor leave a comment accusing someone of being a member of the Labour Party or refusing to engage in debate on neutral territory, so that you can’t control it, when you’ve been called on a point. It’s really childish to play the victim instead of just apologising for/removing the offending article. They’re relatively small things. Leave teh internets and these things disappear, or at the worst need a little explanation/can be laughed off.
It’s a completely different when help is requested and offered but then not given and still insistent that it was. Especially when the help is to investigate proper, serious accusations and isn’t just a load of hot air but involve the Rozzers, in the real world.
So there you have it.
Who needs a rigged and flawed beauty contest anyway?
