Hold the Headline

Does anyone else find it incredibly irritating that we’re constantly fed uninteresting/unimportant American news in our TV bulletins, online and radio?

Take last week for example. Bill Clinton had to make a trip to hospital as he’s got a bit of a dodgy ticker (too much weed, cigars and ‘sexual relations’ I reckon). This made it into a fairly prominent position on the BBC website and was one of the leading stories on the telly. Bill Clinton was an excellent President. He helped push through the Northern Ireland peace process, lowered unemployment in the states and brought about unity in the international community. However, he was US President. He had no (direct) control over the UK. No British person cast a vote for him and he certainly hasn’t lived here since being President.

Why then, does this displace UK or European news from the headlines? Had he been involved in a kidnap plot, actually died or maybe had another affair then it might be worth hearing about. What next, is George W having a pedicure going to be the lead story on News at 10?

Our news should cover stories that matter to us. I’m sure that day a pensioner was mugged in the street, or a child was hit by a car. That is unpleasant news but it matters. We need to know that these things happen so that we can lobby for better policing or ensure that people have respect for older people. I couldn’t care less if Bill has a dodgy heart. It’s obviously a concern for his family or any women that happens to find themselves beneath him, but it doesn’t affect my daily life. If there is a mugging in my local area, or somewhere else in the country, then I’ll be more aware and can look out for similar things happening. It’s got to the point where we were being told about record snow on the East coast of America. IT DOESN’T MATTER TO US!!!!!!!! We’re in the UK!!! Tell me about something important.

What makes this worse is that there is rarely any information about anywhere beyond the States or our immediate European cousins. When there is a flood in Bangladesh we hear about it for 5 minutes on one day and then it’s forgotten. If there’s a fire in tower block in Kenya we don’t hear about it at all. Sure, the news from the States might be very easy to get hold of as the TV networks are more developed, but one of the roles of the BBC is to bring the UK news from the whole world. That’s why millions of pounds of licence fee money is spent on sending correspondents to all corners of the globe.

Reporting of banal news only helps to build the general malaise in UK society.

In the UK, and London in particular people have no respect for their local environment. People throw rubbish on the ground, spit in public and let their dogs shit wherever they like without cleaning it up. We need to be energised about local issues, know what the problems are and take appropriate action. Of course, there are local news bulletins and pages on websites but they’re generally poor quality and a lot of the news reporters take the word ‘lightweight’ to a new floatier level.

To summarise I want the following:

1. UK news to be given greater prominence across UK news organisations
2. Local matters to be made more important
3. ‘World News’ to truly be global, not just USA

A big kinda problem...

Business meetings are often amazing places. You meet with some of the brightest clients, suppliers and colleagues to learn exciting, interesting information or tips to help you think about things differently and do your job better. They help to move important issues forwards and can solve many problems.

Unfortunately they can also be intensely boring and irritating. As I find an increasing percentage of my time in meetings, I’ve started to notice clear traits and expressions that drive me mad. There are people who don’t speak loudly enough, those who speak too loudly (I think I’m one of these people), those who fidget, pick their nose, leave their ringtones on and many who simply sit there bored, unable or unwilling to contribute.

However, there’s one that has started to drive me mad beyond belief. It’s people saying ‘kinda’. I work in the media industry and I think that means I’m more exposed to the ‘kinda’ plague than most. There’s a lot of hot air spouted and very few interesting or insightful things to say.

There are 2 problems with ‘kinda’:

1. The use of ‘kinda’

‘Kinda’ has evolved beyond the basic word you use to fill pauses while you speak. There are many of them. ‘basically’, ‘in terms of’, ‘erm’... It seems as though ‘kinda’ is a word people use when they’re trying to sound knowledgeable. What the user doesn’t realise though is that it’s demonstrating the exact opposite. For example:

• “I think that we kinda have to spend more on X...” NO! You don’t ‘kinda’ think. You do think that.

• “ I’ve put together a kinda business plan” Is it a business plan or not? I want a business plan, not a kinda business plan. If it’s not a business plan then turn it into one. Fast!!!

• “What this graph kinda shows is...” If the graph doesn’t totally show us what you’re trying to show then it isn’t a good graph to show. Try again.


2. ‘kinda’ is not even a word!!!!!

Why is it appropriate to use a fake word in front of important people? If people were saying ‘kind of’ then I’d be slightly less irked by the situation. I also reckon people would start to use the phrase less if they thought about what it actually means. By masking behind a fake word, the protagonist has introduced a shroud of false knowledge that perhaps they even they believe.

Now I’d like to point out that I don’t immediately think you’re no good at your job or presenting if you use ‘kinda’. I’ve been guilty of using it myself in the past. I would, however, urge you to listen out for it and put a stop to using it before I turn in Michael Douglas in Falling Down.

Get in line

Security at airports. The least enjoyable part of plane journey. Long queues, getting undressed and being touched by strangers. Oh yes, and they’re now taking naked photos of you too. If a club tried doing that it’d be closed down and the owners locked away. We all hate it but it’s a necessary evil to stop terrorists blowing us into many pieces.

However, last time I was at an airport I saw something that really hacked me off. I don’t travel frequently enough to know of it’s available across the board, but Luton Airport charge £3 to enable people to queue jump. How dare they? How is this possible?

Security is something that everyone has to go through. You can’t turn up at the post office and pay £3 to go to the front of the queue. Who made it acceptable for a rich business traveller or a well to do family to skip to the front of a queue, leaving the great unwashed to stand miserably watching the great and the good breeze by.

Some might argue that it’s a choice. You can pay £3 if you want to get through faster, or you can wait in line for free. This is nonsense as offering a £3 premium service automatically makes the rest of us have to wait longer. It slows down the standard service, which is already painfully long.

I think it’s unfair on parents to have to justify the situation to their kids. They already get to see how people in 1st class travel by being forced to traipse through that section on the way to the back of the plane with the plebs. Now there’s another sign that you’re not good enough for you kids. That you’ve not tried hard enough or worked hard enough to be able to provide the best for the family. A family holiday is expensive and it’s disgusting that a two tier structure is created where it is not welcome.

In my eyes this is a thoroughly disgusting practice and should be stopped immediately.