Time to end "batting practice" aka trolling

I have to agree with Keith Olbermann here.  Social media should be for respectful debates, not trying to hit people out of the park.



As Anita Doth sang back in 2000, Enter Love, Delete The Hate #deletethehate

Boston Marathon Bombings: Suspect in custody

Later on, I will talk more about this, but I have to say this now.  Boston Police have someone in their twitter team who is quite a poet, for in tweeting about the suspect's capture, they wrote this.

The hunt is over.
The search is done.
The terror is over.
And justice has won.

Very poetic and very appropriate.

Ian Beaumont Live & Direct on The Source FM 96.1

It's been a while since I wrote regularly here on Viewpoint.  That's mostly because my attention is focused currently on a new project.  I'm hosting a new show on The Source FM in Falmouth, called Ian Beaumont Live & Direct.

The show airs live on Tuesdays from 11am to 1pm and is broadcast on 96.1 FM in Falmouth, Penryn and surrounding areas, incluidng St Mawes, Flushing, Carnon Downs, Mabe and Devoran.  It's a music based show, and I play a number of very familiar tracks, and some less well known ones including tracks by local artists and brand new music.

Even when I'm not on the air, you can keep up with the programme in various ways.  I have a programme page at The Source FM website at http://www.thesourcefm.co.uk/programmes/ian-beaumont-live-and-direct where you can leave me messages for inclusion on the show.

You can also like the show's Facebook page, and interact with me there at http://www.facebook.com/IanBeaumontLiveAndDirect.  You can leave comments, requests and suggestions there too, I do love reading your comments.

The show also has a twitter feed at https://twitter.com/IBLiveAndDirect and you tweet me at any time, just start your tweet with @IBLiveAndDirect and it'll wend its way to me.

Or if you're on Google Plus, you can add the show to your circles to keep updated with the show.  You'll find my page at https://plus.google.com/102337430810815788919.  Again, your comments are most welcome.

So, if you are in Falmouth, Penryn or the surrounding parishes, and can hear us clearly on 96.1 FM, or if you're outside that area, and near a computer where you can point your browser to http://www.thesourcefm.co.uk/listen, please join me, every Tuesday at 11am UK time, for 2 hours of great music and good company.  It wouldn't be the same without you.

Why I write on Viewpoint and on Twitter

Well, it seems that I have caused somewhat of a stir on Twitter with my coverage of the Police and Crime Commissioner elections.  And quite frankly, that pleases me no end, because it means that I am doing my job on this blog, and on my twitter feed, which has in many ways become an extension of this blog.

My goal with this blog has always been to challenge the myths and misconceptions about the news stories and about life in general.  That can be done many ways.  One way is to present both sides, where both have strong cases, and there is no clear right or wrong answer.  But I prefer it when the facts are clear and unambiguous, and in those situations, when you still have people who argue that black is white, then you need to challenge them, with unvarnished, undiluted facts and truth, and watch as they try to spin their way out, and end up spinning out of control.

Now I know that half the world will not agree with any single opinion of mine, and I'm comfortable with that.  But, when your opinions are based on something easily disprovable, expect to called on it.  My friends have done it to me in the past, and I expect no less from them.

I know that some people just cannot handle being told the truth, upfront, straight and to the point.  But if I get people thinking about it, and responding to what I write, then frankly, I have done my job well.

Murdoch claims independent journalism threatened by "dominant" BBC.

So James Murdoch, the head of NewsCorp in Europe, says a dominant BBC damages independent journalism in the UK.

The hypocrisy of that statement is positively drooling out of his mouth even as he says it.

NewsCorp has never been interested in independent journalism. All they are interested in is making sure that the conservative viewpoint is the dominant viewpoint. All other viewpoints are to be disparaged, dismissed, and generally made fun of. To them, there is only one truth, the one they manufacture to fit their own prejudices, whether it happens to fit the facts or not.

It gets better! Giving the MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh Television Festival, he said "The expansion of state-sponsored journalism is a threat to the plurality and independence of news provision."

He said this with no sense of being a hypocrite, no sense of irony, seemingly no sense of anything. If he had, he wouldn't have said what he said.

News provision has been dominated by conservative media over the years, especially in newspapers. UK newspapers are predominantly conservative in political bias, and that bias has been getting steadily more pronounced over the years, especially since the 1990s.

Broadcast news has less choice, with BBC, Sky and ITN basically dominating the market, and no other provider really stepping up to the plate since the demise of BSB back in 1990.

NewsCorp really wants to dominate news provision over here, in the way that FOX News Channel dominates cable news in the US. They see the BBC as a barrier to that kind of dominance, a barrier that doesn't exist in the same way in the US.

There's another fact that renders his statement factually incorrect. You're reading it. A blog. There are millions of them, across the world. There is also Twitter, which I consider to be the digest version of the blog. Tweets of no more than 140 characters, meaning you have to be very concise with your text.

If I were to tweet this, it would come out something like "Murdoch says BBC threatens independent journalism. Massive hypocrisy, blogs and tweets are the new independent journalism." That comes out at 123 characters. You'd be surprised what you can say in 140 characters or less.

Blogs and tweets are the new independent journalism that anyone can do, and best of all, anyone can read you. My own blogs and tweets have been followed and read by state governments, multinational companies, broadcasters, and politicians. I can't pretend that I am a major influence, but it is fascinating to know these people are interested enough in what you write to read it.

So you see, it just goes to prove that James Murdoch's statement was not only factually wrong, but way behind the times. Sky is not the new kid on the block anymore. There are media moguls a plenty out there on the web, and some of them may well be the next Rupert Murdoch in the next 10-20 years.