Wednesday 30 April 2008

media guardian story

A peak of 10.6 million viewers watched Manchester United qualify for the Champions League final on ITV1 last night, April 29.
The audience peaked across the last half hour of United's 1-0 semi-final victory over Barcelona between 9pm and 9.30pm at 10.6 million and a 40% share, according to unofficial overnight ratings.
Across the whole of ITV1's coverage between 7.30pm and 10pm, an average of 8.6 million and 34% tuned in.
The peak was 400,000 viewers up on last week's semi-final first leg between Liverpool and Chelsea, who play again tonight - this time on Sky Sports.
The football easily beat the BBC1 competition, Holby City and Waking the Dead, although both dramas posted respectable numbers.
At 8pm, Holby City attracted 5.7 million viewers and a 23% share, up 300,000 and one share point on last week, then at 9pm Waking The Dead held firm on last week's 5.9 million, with share at 23%.
On Channel 4, Gok Wan's style show How To Look Good Naked drew 2.5 million viewers and a 10% share at 8pm, with another 135,000 tuning in on the Channel 4 +1 catch-up service an hour later.
Then at 9pm, the second helping of medical show Embarrassing Bodies attracted 2.3 million and 9%, down 300,000 and two share points on Monday night's opener. A further 320,000 watched on Channel 4 +1.
The show is running for four consecutive nights, and last night turned its attention to breasts.
Its audience just edged out Channel Five's CSI repeat - which drew 2.1 million viewers and an 8% share - while both were a long way in front of BBC2's The Age of Terror. The Peter Taylor documentary drew 800,000 and 3%.
At 10pm, BBC's news romped home with 5.7 million viewers and a 29% share to News at Ten's 2.5 million and 13%.
Channel 4's Jacques Peretti documentary, Michael Barrymore: What Really Happened, pulled in 2.1 million viewers at 10pm, 12% of the audience. It drew 147,000 more viewers on Channel 4 +1.
BBC2's Later Live… with Jools Holland could only manage 600,000 and 3%.
Earlier, the soaps did the business, with Emmerdale drawing 6.5 million viewers and a 32% share at 7pm to ITV1, while BBC1's EastEnders pulled in 8.9 million and 39% at 7.30pm.
BBC2's coverage of the world snooker championship averaged 1.3 million viewers and a 6% share between 7pm and 9pm.

ms jones' questions

Media Quiz week 8
1)ITV were fined £4m b'coz of phone scandal
2)Women mag called 'EVE', core readers are women (30 +)
3)Miley Cyrus has offended her young fans through taking sexual photgraphs and revealing her body too much
4)iTunes (Apple)
5)Financial Times

Media Quiz week 7
1)Charles Allen
2)Newsday (Rupert Murdoch)
3)Coca Cola is beign targeted because they are sponsoring the Olympics.
4)Murdoch
5)March of the Penguins, the 2005 documentary that cost $3m to make and took $127m globally at the box office.

Saturday 26 April 2008

media guardian story

Local newspaper publisher Newsquest has told prepress staff at some of its titles that their jobs will be outsourced to India.
Prepress staff at papers in Sussex and Wiltshire, who design ads and check editorial pages before they are sent to the printers, have been told their positions are at risk.
Newsquest Sussex, publisher of Brighton's Argus newspaper, announced that 21 jobs will go as work is outsourced to a third-party supplier, Express KCS, an American company with operations in India.Staff were told of the move last week and there is now a four-week consultation period before the notice of termination of contracts.
At present there are 31 staff in prepress - 22 full-time and nine part-time - which are set to be cut to the equivalent of 10 full-time jobs.
The prepress staff design ads and check editorial pages for quality before sending them to the printers, which are based in the same building, Argus House, at Hollingbury.
Journalists at the titles fear that sending pages electronically to and from India before they are printed each morning in Brighton could jeopardise the quality of Sussex's daily newspaper, the Argus.
Steve Sibbald, national officer for newspapers at the Unite union which represents the workers, condemned Newsquest's actions as "a worrying development".
He said staff at Newsquest Wiltshire, which prints titles including the Swindon Advertiser, were also told last week that a dozen prepress jobs would be outsourced.
Newsquest said in a statement given to staff whose jobs are at risk that the company is "continually looking at production efficiencies", with a new software system in the pipeline.
"In addition, we are proposing to move a substantial proportion of our advertising setting in Brighton to a third-party supplier Express KCS who are an American company with operations in India," the statement added.
"The combination of fully electronic workflow, improvements for our property net system and the service from KCS would enable us to run the prepress operation in Brighton with fewer staff."


Globalisation
It is thought that Newsquest has been outsourcing work to India for about six months from Stourbridge in the West Midlands, although it is understood no jobs have been lost there.
Sibald said: "We are not whining about globalisation. That is old news. What is worrying is that these titles sell themselves as local papers for local people.
"But at the same time they are making local people who aren't on huge salaries redundant and moving their jobs 5,000 miles away to India where people will work in bad conditions for far less money," he added.
"Newsquest is a profitable company and this is a bloody con.
"PDFs can be sent electronically from Worcester or Mumbai or Delhi. But what is at risk is the origination and the local feel of the papers."
Staff numbers have already been cut at Newsquest Sussex this year, with two of the company's monthly magazines axed within the past month.
The Brighton Source, a glossy entertainment magazine covering music, clubs, fashion and food, was shut down with the loss of two editing and design jobs.
Rocks, an ethical lifestyle magazine covering environmental issues, was also closed and its editor made redundant.
Newsquest Media Group, a subsidiary of US newspaper giant the Gannett Corporation, publishes more than 300 newspapers nationwide.
Newsquest Sussex prints the Argus - formerly the Evening Argus - every Monday to Saturday and a series of free weekly Leader and Life titles across the county.
Newsquest managing directors at Sussex, Wiltshire and Stourbridge had not responded to requests for comment by the time of publication. Leighton Jones, Newsquest's group print director, declined to comment.

THIS ARTICLE IS IMPORTANT AS IT LOOKS INTO A NEWPAPER COMPANY WHO HAVE MADE WORKERS REDUNDANT, AS THE POSITIONS ARE BEING FLED TO PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN INDIA. TOWARDS THE END OF THE ARTICLE THERE IS A SECTION ON GLOBALISATION WHICH IS ALSO AN IMPORTANT FACTOR AS THIS 'LOCAL' NEWSPAPER IS LOOKING TO EMPLOY PEOPLE ABROAD, FOR LESS MONEY AND WORSE WORKING CONDITIONS, LEAVES US TO ASK IS THIS REALLY A SIMPLE 'LOCAL' NEWSPAPER?

Thursday 17 April 2008

media guardian story

The Apprentice continued to build its audience last night, Wednesday April 16, hitting the 7 million viewer mark as its contestants took on a photography challenge.
BBC1's hit business reality show averaged 7 million viewers and a 30% audience share in the 9pm hour, up 100,000 and three share points on last week, according to unofficial overnight ratings.
The fourth episode of the Apprentice peaked at 7.6 million viewers and 32% in its final quarter hour from 9.45pm.
Last night's audience was another record for The Apprentice, which debuted with 6.4 million viewers and has now averaged 6.7 million across its run so far.
There was more misery for ITV1's talent show drama Rock Rivals, which pulled in just 2.2 million and 10%, the same performance as last week.
Rock Rivals was again beaten by Channel 4's offering: after five weeks of trailing Grand Designs, last night it was pipped by the documentary Child Genius, which drew 2.3 million viewers. A further 154,000 watched Child Genius an hour later on Channel 4 +1.
BBC2's documentary Dan Cruickshank's Adventures in Architecture added 400,000 viewers and two share points on last week, with 1.9 million viewers and an 8% share from 9pm.
Over on Channel Five, Indiana Jones: The True Story drew 1.4 million viewers and a 6% audience share.
In the 8pm hour, Channel 4's Property Ladder dropped 600,000 viewers on last week's series debut, attracting 2.8 million and 12%. The show had another 227,000 viewers on Channel 4 +1.
Property Ladder saw off BBC2's Natural World documentary about a plan to create a moose reserve in Scotland, which was watched by 2.3 million and 10% between 8pm and 8.50pm.
Also in the 8pm hour, BBC1's Traffic Cops scored 5 million viewers and a 22% share, while ITV1's The Bill won the slot with 5.4 million and 24%.
At 10pm, The Apprentice spinoff show You're Fired! was a hit for BBC2, attracting 3.3 million and 16%.
This put it ahead of Channel 4's US import Desperate Housewives, with 2 million viewers and an 11% share, and ITV's News at Ten, which trailed with 1.9 million and 9%. A further 107,000 watched Desperate Housewives on Channel 4 +1.
BBC1's news won the slot, averaging 4.7 million and 24% over 35 minutes.
On BBC2, Newsnight had a strong evening, most likely boosted by the audience inherited from You're Fired!, attracting 1.4 million viewers and a 10% share between 10.30pm and 11.15pm.
Angus Deayton clip show Comedy Sketchbook averaged 2.2 million and 18% from 10.40pm to 11.30pm.
Earlier ITV1's soaps drew the best audiences of the night: Emmerdale was watched by 7.2 million and 36% from 7pm, then Coronation Street pulled in 9.5 million and 45% half an hour later.
THIS IS IMPORTANT AS IT LOOKS INTO THE DIFFERENT PROGRAMMES THAT ARE BEING WATCHED. THE APPRENTICE HAD MULTITUDINOUS AMOUNT OF VIEWERS SUGGESTING THAT WE ARE LIVING IN A CAPITALIST SOCIETY AS EVERYONE IS CONCERNED WITH MONEY AND THE MEANS OF MAKING MONEY

Tuesday 8 April 2008

1970s

1970:
-Biafra surrenders after 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria.
-Doctors are writing 4.8 million prescriptions for Librium in England alone.
1971:
-Shillings disappear in Britain and decimals come in.
1972:
-Bloody Sunday,peaceful civil-rights march in Derry descends into chaos as British paratroopers open fire, killing 14 irish civilians.
-Newsround, first news programme for children.
-Second longest running soap on Brit tv = Emmerdale.
- Supreme Court rules that death penalty is unconstitutional (June 29).
-Eleven Israeli athletes at Olympic Games in Munich are killed after eight members of an Arab terrorist group invade Olympic Village.
1973:
-Great Britain, Ireland, and Denmark enter European Economic Community.
-Chile's Marxist president, Salvadore Allende, is overthrown.
-Watergate Trial, trial of 7 men accused of bugging the Democratic Party HQ in Washington leads to constitutional crisis.
-First teletext system is devised by BBC technicians.
-Fourth and biggest Arab-Israeli conflict begins as Egyptian and Syrian forces attack Israel as Jews mark Yom Kippur, holiest day in their calendar (Oct. 6
1974:
-Local Government Act reforms local government; replaces counties with metropolitan and non-metropolitan county and district councils.
-Patricia Hearst, 19-year-old daughter of publisher Randolph Hearst, kidnapped by Symbionese Liberation Army, later she takes part in the gang's terror activities, claiming she had been brainwashed.
1975:
-Equal Pay Act makes it illegal for men and women to have different terms and conditions of employment.
1976:
-Supreme Court rules that blacks and other minorities are entitled to retroactive job seniority.
-Trial of Liberal MP Jeremny Thorpe begins after allegations that he had arranged to murder a man with whom he had had a homosexual relationshiop.
-Bill Grundy from Sex Pistols says F word live on early evening tv, Pistols are dropped from their record label, the punk movement gains nationwide publicity.
1977:
-First woman Episcopal priest ordained.
-Elizabeth II celebrates her Silver Jubilee; 25 years on the throne.
1978:
-Winter of Discontent': during strikes power cuts and fuel shortages commonplace.
-Over 900 members of Reverend Jim Jones' cult die after a mass suicide/murder at their compound in Guyana, where poisoned juice is distributed, or force fed to his followers.
-Home cooking is in decline as people turn to takeaways, Delia takes charge!
1979:
-Margaret Thatcher becomes prime minister (first woman to hold the office).
-Oil spills pollute ocean waters in Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.
-Revolutionary forces under Muslim leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, take over.
-Soviet invasion of Afghanistan stirs world protests (Dec. 27).

1960s

1960:
-Kennedy elected as President-seventy million people watched.
-Queen first message at Christmas.
-Top Nazi murderer of Jews, Adolf Eichmann, captured by Israelis in Argentina (May 23)—executed in Israel in 1962.
-Communist China and Soviet Union split in conflict over Communist ideology.
-The Pill goes on saleOral contraception which is 99% effective has a liberating effect on the English approach to sex.
1961:
-Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space.
-First episode of Songs of Praise.
-U.S. breaks diplomatic relations with Cuba.
- Cuba invaded at Bay of Pigs ( an unsuccessful invasion of Cuba by Cuban exiles, supported by the U.S. government) by an estimated 1,200 anti-Castro exiles aided by U.S.; invasion crushed.
1962:
-Marilyn Monroe dies of a drug overdose at age 36.-Government regulations force studios out of the talent agency business.
-Kennedy orders Cuban blockade.
-Cuba releases 1,113 prisoners of 1961 invasion attempt.
-Burundi, Jamaica, Western Samoa, Uganda, and Trinidad and Tobago become independent.
1963:
-JFK assassinated, shot and killed by Jack Ruby, Dallas nightclub owner
-Civil rights rally held by 200,000 blacks and whites in Washington, D.C.; Martin Luther King delivers “I have a dream” speech (Aug. 28).
-Kenya achieves independence.
1964:
-Nelson Mendela sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of high treason, sparking off protests around the world.
-Top of the Pops.
1965:
-Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and more than 2,600 other blacks arrested in Selma, Ala., during three-day demonstrations against voter-registration rules.
-Malcolm X, black-nationalist leader, shot to death at Harlem rally in New York City
-Churchill dies.
-'Tomorrow's World', a show about new technologies and inventions.
-Kenneth Tynan first person to say F word on tv.
1966:
-England World Cup.
1967:
-First heart transplant.
-Coronation Street, 20 million viewers.
-Stamp with Queen on it.
-Sexual Offences ActThis Act ends the total ban on sex between men which has been in place since 1885.
1968:
-Sudents riot in Paris as they object to the apparent closure of the city's uni. hundreds arrested.
-First black woman police officer.
-First issue of Time Out. The essential listings guide to everything that's cool in London.
-"Rivers of Blood" speech. Enoch Powell makes his "Rivers of Blood" speech in Birmingham, stirring up racial prejudice and calling for forced re-patriation of immigrants.
1969:
-Stonewall riot in New York City marks beginning of gay rights movement.
-Neil Armstrong, first man to walk on the moon.
-Kray Twins convicted of murder. The East End's most notorious gangsters are convicted at the Old Bailey. The Kray twins were celebrities as well as violent criminals.
-Concorde was created.
-Benny Hill's first appearance - known for chasing scantily clad women, Benny Hill is one of this country's top comedy exports.
-voting age reduced to 18.
-Women's Liberation Workshop is founded.
-Parliament votes to outlaw capital punishment.

1950s

1950s
1950:
-Korean War begins when North Korean Communist forces invade South Korea (June 25).
-First BBC programme for toddlers.
-Saturday morning children's programming begins.-Phonevision, the first pay-per-view service, becomes available.
-First time television images are transmitted across the channel.
-BBCs first broadcast from the House of Commons.
-Assassination attempt on President Truman by Puerto Rican nationalists (Nov. 1).
1951:
-King Geogre opens the Festival of Britain, marking the anniversary of the Great Exhibition of 1851-capturing the post-war public's imagination.
-Julius and Ethel Rosenberg sentenced to death for passing atomic secrets to Russians (March).
- Libya gains independence (Dec. 24).
-Television cameras are allowed on 10 Downing Street for the first time.
-CBS in the US transmits the first colour programme.
-Hydrogen bomb developed.
1952:
-George VI dies, his funeral is broadcasted live on television, first time a monarch's funeral could be shared=establishing a tradition of Royal television events; his daughter becomes Elizabeth II (Feb. 6).
-Identity Cards are abolished.
-The first programme for deaf children (BBC)
-BBC's first major panel games, 'Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?'
-London smog kills 4,000 Londoners from respiratory diseases
1953:-James Watson and Francis Crick discover the structure of the DNA, they announce that they have "found the secret of life", their work explains genetic inheritance.
-To counteract the threat of television, Hollywood thinks big and develops wide-screen processes.
-East Berliners rise against Communist rule.
-Egypt becomes republic ruled by military junta.
-Julius and Ethel Rosenberg executed in Sing Sing prison.
-Moscow announces explosion of hydrogen bomb.
-The Queen's coronation is the first time TV gets a bigger audience than radio! (BBC)
-First British science-fiction series (BBC).
-Panorama airs as a cultural review (BBC).
-Heart and lung machine first used in surgery.
1954:
-The revenue for television broadcasters finally surpasses that of radio broadcasters. Gross revenue for television is $593 million.
-Algerian War of Independence against France begins (Nov.); France struggles to maintain colonial rule until 1962 when it agrees to Algeria's independence.
-First in-vision weatherman-George Cowling (BBC).
-First transmission of newsreel (BBC).
-Television Act becomes law.
-'The Grove Family' is first soap for adults (BBC).
-David Attenboroug becomes a star!
1955:
-Rosa Parks, a black American, refuses to move from the white section of a bus in Alabama=boycott of local buses by blacks and helps set in motion of the US Civil Rights movement (Martin Luther King).-James Dean dies in a car accident at age 26.-BBC's monopoly of British TV is over as ITV begins broadcasting.
1956:
-First European Cup Final
1957:
-first Earth-orbiting satellite—the Space Age begins.
-Lewisham Train crash, 92 people die when 2 trains collide in the fog
1958:
-European Economic Community (Common Market) becomes effective
-The first CND protests.
-Blue Peter.
-Notting Hill riots.
1959:
-M1 motorway opens.
-First Sikh temple in Southall.
-Rumors of cheating on quiz shows erupt into a national scandal.
-Cuban President Batista resigns and flees—Castro takes over.
-Tibet's Dalai Lama escapes to India.
London's economy and jobsManufacturing firms flourished during the 1950s, particularly those making consumer goods such as televisions, washing machines and radios. 'White collar' jobs were on the increase as an office boom brought over 50,000 new jobs to London and service took a bigger share of London’s overall economy.By the 1950s services accounted for 51% of London’s economy, manufacturing accounted for 42%. Women benefited most from the new office jobs. During the 1950s women came to outnumber men in London's offices, for the first time ever.

2000s

2000
- George W Bush is declared president elect
- Big Brother launches.
- ITN news channel launched.
- Child of Our Time begins.
-Reformists win control of Iranian parliament for first time since 1979 Islamic revolution (Feb. 26).

2001
- US terrorists attacks. September 11th bombings of the World Trade Centre
-In response to Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, U.S. and British forces launch bombing campaign on Taliban government and al-Qaeda terrorist camps in Afghanistan (Oct. 7). Bombings continue on a daily basis. Background: Afghanistan.
-Race riots in Cincinnati continue for several days following a shooting of an unarmed black man by a white police officer (April 7 et seq.).

2002
- 17th Football World Cup begins
- BBC four launches
-Tamil Tigers and Sri Lankan government sign a cease-fire agreement, ending 19 years of civil war (Feb. 22). Background: World in Review
-India's worst Hindu-Muslim violence in a decade rocked the state of Gujarat after a Muslim mob fire-bombed a train, killing Hindu activists. Hindus retaliated, and more than 1,000 died in the bloodshed (Feb. 27 et seq.).
-U.S. and Afghan troops launch Operation Anaconda against remaining al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters in Afghanistan (March 2). Background: Taliban Timeline and Afghanistan

2003
- After giving Saddam Hussain and his sons 48 hours to leave Iraq, Bush orders the firing of missiles on the country’s capital
-Ariel Sharon elected Israeli prime minister (Jan. 29).
-Suicide bombing destroys UN headquarters in Baghdad, killing 24, including top envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello (Aug. 19).
-Palestinian suicide bombing in Jerusalem kills 20 Israelis, including 6 children (Aug. 19).
-Suicide bombers attack two synagogues in Istanbul, Turkey, killing 25 (Nov. 15).
-Saddam Hussein is captured by American troops (Dec. 13).
- Leni Reifenstahl dies

2004
- Tsunami kills hundreds and thousands of people.
- The Secret Policeman documentary looks at institutional racism within the police force.
-Spain is rocked by terrorist attacks, killing more than 200. Al Qaeda takes responsibility (March 11).
- Michael Moore releases Farenheit 9/11
- Mel Gibson releases Passion of the Christ

2005
- Desperate Housewives (Kiran’s Independent Study)
- Iraq elections take place
-Pope John Paul II Dies (April 2). Benedict XVI becomes the next pope (April 24).
-Tony Blair becomes first Labour Party prime minister to win three successive terms, but his party loses a large number of seats in the elections (May 5).
-The European Union abandons plans to ratify the proposed European constitution by 2006 after both France and the Netherlands vote against it (June 16).
-London hit by Islamic terrorist bombings, killing 52 and wounding about 700. It is Britain's worst attack since World War II (July 7).
-Group of Eight industrial nations pledge to double aid to Africa to $50 billion a year by 2010, cancel the debt of many poor countries, and open trade (July 8).

2006
-A Danish newspaper challenges taboos against illustrations of Muhammad by printing several negative cartoons depicting him. Angry demonstrators throughout the Muslim world smash windows, set fires, and burn flags of Denmark and other nations whose newspapers reprint the cartoons (Feb. 4 onward).
-Saddam Hussein is convicted of crimes against humanity by an Iraqi court (Nov. 5), and hanged in Baghdad. A witness videotapes the hanging using a cell phone and captures the chaos that unfolds as Shiite guards taunt Hussein (Dec. 30).

1990s

1990
- Thatcher steps down from prime minister. John Major comes in
- British Satellite Broadcasting makes its debut but the company is quickly hit by financial difficulties. It then merges with Sky
- Yugoslav Communists end 45-year monopoly of power.
- Nelson Mandela is freed after being imprisoned for 27yrs.
-The X rating is replaced by NC-17 (no children under 17).

1991
- The Broadcasting Standards Council is set up to monitor sex, violence and bad language on radio and tv.
- Europeans end sanctions on South Africa (April 15). South African Parliament repeals apartheid laws (June 5).

1992
- Previously agreed by EC governments in 1991, the treaty on closer political and economic union between European states is finally signed.
- Channel 4 ‘The Big Breakfast’ begins
-Bush and Yeltsin proclaim a formal end to the Cold War (Feb. 1).
-US lifts trade sanctions against China (Feb. 21).

1993
-Vaclav Havel elected Czech President (Jan. 26).
-British House of Commons approves European unity pact (May 20). Maastricht -Treaty takes effect, creating European Union (Nov. 1).
-Twenty-two UN troops killed in Somalia (June 5).
-Clinton agrees to compromise on military's ban on homosexuals (Jan. 29).
-Five arrested, sixth sought in bombing of World Trade Center in New York (March 29).

1994
-Thousands dead in Rwanda massacre (April 6).
-South Africa holds first interracial national election (April 29); Nelson Mandela elected President.
-Israel signs accord with Palestinians (May 4), peace treaty with Jordan (Oct. 17).
-IRA declares cease-fire in Northern Ireland (Aug. 31). Ulster Protestants declare cease-fire (Oct. 13).
- Friends and ER begin.

1995
- OJ Simpson found not guilty.
- The Rhona Cameron show for gays and lesbians.

1996
- First GM food goes on sale.
- The Simpsons arrive to the BBC.
-France agrees to end nuclear testing (Jan. 29). Background: nuclear disarmament
-Britain alarmed by an outbreak of "mad cow" disease (March 20 et seq.).
-Ethnic violence breaks out in Zairian refugee camps (Oct. 13); Clinton approves plan for UN-backed relief mission for 1.2 million Hutu refugees starving in eastern Zaire (Nov. 13). Hundreds of thousands return to Rwanda (Nov. 15–18).

1997
- Channel 5 launches.
- The ‘Teletubbies’ begins.
- News 24 launches.
-Tony Blair leads Labour to huge victory making him the youngest prime minister.
- Princess Diana and Mother Teresa die.
-US, UK, and France agree to freeze Nazis' gold loot (Feb. 3).
-Hong Kong returns to Chinese rule (June 30).

1998
- Viagra goes on sale.
- ITV screens a three-part series about the wave of women MPs that have arrived with the advent of Tony Blair’s Labour Gov.
-ITV2 launches.
-Europeans agree on single currency, the euro (May 3).
-India conducts three atomic tests despite worldwide disapproval (May 11, 13). Pakistan stages five nuclear tests in response (May 29, 30).
-US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania bombed (Aug. 7). US cruise missiles hit suspected terrorist bases in Sudan and Afghanistan (Aug. 20).

1999
- Total Eclipse (I remember this I thought I was going to be blind if I looked directly)
- Queer as Folk- gay sitcom which received complaints about the sex scenes
- Last transmission of ITV’s news at 10
- Television cameras are allowed into the House of Commons for the first time on an experimental basis.
-Nelson Mandela, first black president of South Africa, steps down (June 16), and Thabo Mbeki takes over.
-Pakistani government is overthrown in the midst of economic strife and intensified fighting with India over Kashmir (Oct. 12). Background: 1999 in Review.
-The world awaits the consequences of the Y2K bug, with more drastic millennial theorists warning of Armageddon.

1980s

1980
- Debut of Margaret Thatcher’s ‘truly favourite programme.’ In 1984, the PM performs in her own sketch with Nigel Hawthorne and Paul Eddington to mark the 20th anniversary of the National Viewers and Listeners Association
- The oil tycoon is shot at the end of the second series of US soap Dallas, promoting a national obsession over who pulled the trigger and even a BBC report.
- Women police officers have been on Britain’s streets since the 1949, but it isn’t until the 1980s that TV really takes notice
- Telethons come to the UK for the first time with the BBC’s appeal show. Comic Relief follow in 1988
- 6 US embassy aides escape from Iran with Canadian help
- US diplomatic ties with Iran
- Ronald Reagan elected president in Republican sweep
- Ted Turner launches CNN, the first all news network

1981
- Lord Scarman’s report following the Brixton race riots leads to the introduction of the Police Complaints Authority and other measures aimed at improving trust improving trust between the police and ethnic minority communities
- A worldwide TV audience of 750 million watch the Royal wedding which features the first Buckingham Palace ‘balcony kiss’
- The Supreme Courts rules to allow television cameras in the courtroom

1982
- Roger Graef and Charles Stewart’s fly-on-the-wall series for the BBC following the Thames Valley Police is broadcast a year after the 1981 race riots
- Falklands War
- Channel 4 launches
- ‘The Young Ones’ sitcom full of topical references to Thatcher’s government, police brutality and the Bomb.
- ‘Brookside’ The show’s continual use of the word ‘pissing’ and ‘bollocks’ lead to tabloids to dub the new station ‘Channel Swore’

1983
- Terrorist explosion kills 237 US marines in Beirut
- BBC 1 Breakfast Time a month later TV AM begins on ITV

1984
- The longest industrial dispute in British history begins over proposed pit closure in Yorkshire. Miners return to work in 1985 after national campaigns of support, pitched battles with police and 10,000 arrests.
- Micheal Buerk reports broadcasts from Ethiopia about the famine
- Italy and Vatican agree to end Roman Catholicism as a state religion.
- 300 Three hundred slain as Indian Army occupies Sikh Golden Temple in Amritsar (June 6).
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi assassinated by two Sikh bodyguards; 1,000 killed in anti-Sikh riots; son Rajiv succeeds her (Oct. 31).
Toxic gas leaks from Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, killing 2,000 and injuring 150,000 (Dec. 3).

1985
- Eastenders begins at 7pm then moves to a later time after various complaints of it often containing gritty subject matter
- Gorbachev become Soviet Leader
- The Home Secretary Leon Brittan asks the BBC governors to stop the broadcast of At Edge of the Union an edition of Real Lives about extremists in Northern Ireland.

1986
-Nuclear disaster in Ukraine more than 10,000 dead.
- 5 years after the first cases of Aids were discovered. John Hurt narrates the ‘Don’t die of ignorance’
-Spain and Portugal join European Economic Community
- US supreme courts bars racial bias in trial jury selection.
- US supreme courts reaffirms abortion rights.

1987
- Women are able to become priests in the Church of England
- ‘Rising star of the New Right’ The series spans Thatcher and major governments and often pre-empts the sex scandals and other embarrassments that plague the Tories in the late 80’s
- Prime Minister Thatcher wins rare third term in Britain.
-US supreme courts rules must admit women
- Fatal Attraction the film is released.

1988
- The government fails to prevent the broadcast of ITV’s investigative documentary about the British Special Forces’ controversial killings of 3 IRA gunmen in Gibraltar. The Sun newspaper had a headline ‘Storm as SAS Telly Trial’
- Benazir Bhutto first Islamic woman prime minister

1989
- Neelema and Kiran were born
- Channel 4 helps cement its reputation as the broadcaster most attuned to multicultural Britain, with a sitcom ‘Desmonds’ set in Peckham.
- Sky launches the UK’s first satellite television service.
- ‘Blackadder goes forth’ sitcom set during the First World War set in the trenches.
- Fall of the Berlin Wall
-Salman Rushdie's novel Satanic Verses is published and sparks immediate controversy. Islamic militants put a price on his head.

Tuesday 1 April 2008

Which company is Microsoft in merger talks with, and why?ITV to support a share price.Which Broadband provider narrowly avoided sanctions from the ASA this week? Virgin MediaWho featured on YouTube, describing scientology as 'a blast'? Tom CruiseWhat, according to Screen Digest's latest report, is behind a 38% increase in online TV viewing? BBC IPlayerWhich controversial E4 drama is set to return for a second series?SkinsWhich 3-month strike looks set to be resolved just in time for the Oscars? Hollywood's striking film and TV writers.
Which film surprised the bookies by winning the most Baftas?
Edith Piaf biopic, La Vie En Rose
Which recent media scandal appears to have hit BT's share price?
Mini laptop
Which black comedian has recently criticised the media for being 'too white and too middleclass'?
Lenny Henry
Who has attacked the BBC, complaining that its programming decisions are based on 'its own survivalist needs rather than the licence-payer's desires'?Grange Hill creator Phil Redmond has criticised the BBC for axing the school dramaChannel 4 have just made a new appointment. Who have they appointed and why is that appointment controversial? Jonathon Ross and Celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal is set to be the first to move in a deal reported to be worth around £1m - twice what the BBC felt it could offer.Which popular website has been banned in Pakistan, and why?You Tube because of anti-Islamic film clips.
What aspect of the internet is culture secretary, Andy Burnham, determined to crack down on?
film production to recorded music, from advertising to fashion.
Didn't he do well to reach 80? (Question: who on earth am I talking about?)
Bruce Forsythe
ITV's programming has recently undergone a revamp. Which audience were they attempting to reach out to?
younger, upmarket viewers
Which pair of auteurs won an impressive number of Oscars last week?
The Coen brothers
2. Which royal was the subject of a controversial media blackout recently, and why?
Prince Harry, an Australian magazine wrote about that the third in line to the throne was on deployment in Helmand Province
3. Why is Michael Grade under pressure this week?
ITV's profits fell 35% year on year and with the company's share price faltering.
4. Which natural history presenter bowed-out on Monday night, and how many viewers tuned-in to watch his swansong?
David Attenborough, 6.1 million viewers.
5. Which Tory peer and one-time Daily Telegraph owner has just been jailed for embezzlement?
Conrad BlackWhy is BBC Worldwide's acquisition strategy under fire?lower profits this year.2. Which series of programmes has opened the BBC up to allegations of racism?
White Season
3. Why has the ASA banned the latest ad for Ghd's hair straighteners?
because it was likely to cause serious offence, especially to Christians, and banned it from British screens.
4. Why are some blaming the press for the suicide of Chief Constable Mike Todd?
Unconfirmed reports stated that Todd's behaviour over the past few days had concerned colleagues, and there was speculation that a Sunday newspaper was planning to run a story on him.
5. Which glossy women's mag is about to undergo an online re-launch?
Cosmopolitan