Jazzy old soaps by Mr Sophocles

[alexsarll]

I don't seem to write about books on here very often, even though (partly because?) they're probably my favourite medium. Perhaps it's because they're usually a slow-release drug; one sees a film or a concert on a given night, but a book will be read over the course of days or even months. For instance, Fred Hoyle's October The First Is Too Late was my pocket book for two or three weeks, and after I finished it on Monday night I had no particular urge to mention it here; it deserved neither a recommendation nor an advisory warning. So why does it get a mention now? Well, it concerns a somewhat nebulous event through which different ages of the Earth come to co-exist in different regions. Britain is in the present day (1966), France in 1917 or so and Greece is somewhere BC during the war between Athens and Sparta. And I was unpleasantly reminded of this last night by watching Newsnight's Stephanie Flanders interview representatives of Rural America. I'm just surprised they didn't burn her as a witch when they saw the camera. And they let these creatures vote?
I can't work out if they schedule Newsnight right after Yes, Minister deliberately, or if it's just me finding patterns again. But after you've been mustering vaguely outraged chortles at the political opportunism shown in the latter, it's quite a slap in the face to see a report on the supposedly democratic South Korea suppressing the horror stories of defectors from the nightmarish North because they interfere with the South's policy of "constructive engagement" with the North. And as a phrase isn't "constructive engagement" as Sir Humphrey as they come?
Oh, and can we please add floods in Bangladesh to the list of things which may be sad but are Not News?

I've also just finished Frederik Pohl's Outnumbering the Dead*, which depicts a society where the vast majority of people are immortal. The protagonist is one of the few who by terrible genetic mischance is not. As with All Men Are Mortal, my main objection is that I don't need to be confronted by immortality to have an ever-looming sense that I was horribly cheated by being mortal.

*or possibly 'Outnumbering the Dead'; if you don't count the illustrations which inexplicably reference Space 1999, it comes in at 98 pages. Where is the dividing line?

Comments

[rentaghost31.livejournal.com]

so are you saying we shouldn't be told about things like floods in bangladesh?

[(Anonymous)]

The family house, of the nice man who delivers our curry, is under water. Bangladeshi floods are local news in Finsbury Park - and probably for most of the rest of Britain for that matter.

They are also worse than they have been for 60 years according to the man on Today. It's because the rain fell in the east of the country you see.

Robin

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

I'm not saying it should go on the grounds of irrelevancy to British news programmes; the same logic should be applied to home 'news' such as 'Opposition/Government Makes Ill-Defined Criticisms Of Government/Opposition'.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

But IT'S ALWAYS BLOODY FLOODED. Bangladesh is a flood plain masquerading as a country. Like 'Israel, Palestine at loggerheads', such things should be left on specialist websites (bangladeshwaterlevel.com?) until there is some actual NEWS ('Bangladesh Finally Builds Flood Barrier').

[rentaghost31.livejournal.com]

It's not always flooded - these things are seasonal, dear. Sometimes it happens more drastically than at others. Which is when it hits the news. Most of the aid charities have pages updating on disaster situations across the world, but I agree with what Robin said, above.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

OK, it's flooded at the same time every year. I don't expect 'Northern Lights Seen In North' to make an annual appearance in the news each winter! I want NEWS. Unless it's truly apocalyptic the actual NEWS ('Electrician Has 10,000 Times Normal Human Resistance To Electricity') is generally hidden somewhere at the bottom of Page 7.

[rentaghost31.livejournal.com]

But what is news for you isn't necesarily news for other people. we all have different interests, and the news needs to deal with all of them.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Agreed in principle, but within that I still hold that NEWS should be NEW.

[rentaghost31.livejournal.com]

But news can be recurring, as it deals with different people each time. For example: "soldier shot in NI". Repetitive, unless you happen to know the soldier concerned. Is that news or not?

So "flood in Bangladesh" could be a different bit of Bangladesh than normal, could be affecting different people , like Robin's Mr Sunderban. Its all subjective.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

'Soldier Shot In War Zone' - definitely not NEWS.

[london-imp.livejournal.com]

'Obesity caused by poor diet and lack of exercise'

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

You're getting the hang of this! Also in the front pages of today's paper - 'Teacher leader backs 'a clip round the ear'' and 'Parent of victim says killer should be punished severely' = NOT NEWS.

[london-imp.livejournal.com]

I find it amusing the amount of sloppy journalism that is allowed. I would say that the Bangladesh floods are newsworthy, (given the current humanitarian crisis in Sudan) it is in the public interest.

I do like Private Eye's piss-takes on the headlines, can't think of any off-hand but along the lines of 'A woman who was going out with a man, is now going out with someone else'

[rentaghost31.livejournal.com]

I would say that the Bangladesh floods are newsworthy,
Thank you. But Alex, you do have a point, and I agree with Rob on the obesity caused by poor diet and lack of exercise type stories, even if they are what the government needs us to know.

[rentaghost31.livejournal.com]

i disagree. although then again, i would also like to hear how many civilians are kiiled in the same war zone as this 'soldier'. which is something one doesn't hear very often.

[(Anonymous)]

Watching as much news as I do, it is rarely a shocking 9/11 style event that is entirely novel. It is usually a vivid example of an ongoing issue such as it being the case that Bangladesh is a very poor country prone to natural disasters.

Also, it can often be a story that the journalist wants to write because it illustrates something they think/know to be true. Reporting Rifkind and Portillo saying 'Howard had a bad week last week but it is hard being leader of the Opposition', hardly seems devastating. But the journalists knew Howard had had a bad week and wanted peg to hang it on.

Sorry, went on a bit there.

Robin

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

It's like all these articles trying to peg the self-harm thing as NEWS. It's not. Do a feature on it, put it on the front of the second section, sure, but don't put it on the cover of the Independent.

[london-imp.livejournal.com]

Would you say that was mostly liberal 'leftie' papers that did that, or are all papers guilty of promoting a feature to the front page?

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's just a broadsheet vice, no - the Right's current favourite is variants on 'People From Poor Countries Want To Live In Rich Countries'.

[(Anonymous)]

Most news is basically a small new aspect to a feature. It's the context of the feature that creates the meaning to the news.

Robin

[rentaghost31.livejournal.com]

they were on about it on the radio for ages this morning too. :(

[(Anonymous)]

But it's unusually flooded - it's never got into Mr Sunderban's house before.

Robin

[pippaalice.livejournal.com]

Heh! Hurrah for Robin. Poor Mr Sunderban.

[rentaghost31.livejournal.com]

And how the hell are you supposed to build a flood barrier on the ganges delta? They have already artificially raised the ground level to build villages. And dams can be very political:
"The construction of the Farakka Barrage at the head of the delta in West Bengal is a cause of major tension between India and Bangladesh. India claims that the port of Calcutta is being detrimentally effected by deposits of silt and by the intrusion of saline seawater. To counter these effects fresh water is diverted into the Bhagirathi River via a large canal from the Ganges at Farakka. However, after its construction the salinity of water and soil increased markedly . Also recurring floods caused by siltation and the opening of the Farakkaits Barrage sluice gates during the monsoon season resulted in extensive damage to crops. Soil moisture and groundwater levels continue to decrease and the ecosystems of the region are being damaged. Bangladesh claims that the Farakka Barrage deprives the country of a valuable source of water on which it depends because the Ganges waters are vital to irrigation, navigation and prevention of saline incursions in the Bangladesh Ganges delta region. Bangladesh holds that there should be joint control between India and Bangladesh over the waters of the Ganges as an international river. In 1980 the Ganges Barrage Project was set up by the Bangladeshi government in an attempt to maintain the ecological balance and save crops and property from the recurring floods and droughts. Interim agreements have been reached between India and Bangladesh on this issue - the "Treaty Between the government of the Republic of India and the government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh on Sharing of the Ganga/Ganges Waters at Farakka" signed on December 12, 1996, but a permanent settlement has not yet been attained."

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

OK the actual NEWS development would be 'Bangladesh Moved To Somewhere Sensible'.

[rentaghost31.livejournal.com]

Bangladesh is somewhere sensible. It is incredibly fertile and has lots of food. Its just a bit wet occasionally.

[perfectlyvague.livejournal.com]

As far as I remember from some brief research I did on this last year, the Bangladeshi gvt have been spending international funding to try and resolve the crisis on other things - I may be desperately wrong and apologies if I am, but there is a fairly corrupt and nasty back story regardless of the detail

[perfectlyvague.livejournal.com]

Last year I ended up researching this for a play we were devising, the problems with the flood plains and the Bangladeshi government's apathy out there have been bubbling under crisis point for YEARS - it should have been big news a long time ago - but then there are stories like this all over the world.

[invadergaz.livejournal.com]

Why don't they justban such non-news to a kind of marquee-ticker like many stations do for the stock´market, so you don't have to look if you don't care, but if you do, you have all the information you need available instantly, eg.:

Bangladeshi villages flooded 14(+4); Suicide attacks in Israel 2(+1); fatalities from attacks 13 (+15%); Bad child-actor comebacks 1(-2); American Arms Sale profits from Sudan:3.6B$(+300M$)

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Damn fine plan!