Posts by Matthew Littlewood
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Indeed, what a powerful image. Just a minor correction from me, the article was by one of Glen's cowrkers, not Glen. Still, astonishing stuff all the same.
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My friend Glen Johnson in Egypt, with his take on the unfolding events, just two days ago. I can't wait for the follow-up piece. This observation seems particularly acute.
...[R]emarkable was the virtual replacement of religious references by civic ethics that wpresumed to be universal and self-evident. This development appears more surprising than in the case of Tunisia, since in Egypt the religious opposition had always been strong and reached virtually all sectors of life. The Muslim Brotherhood itself joined after the beginning of the protests, and like all other organized political forces in the country seemed taken aback by the developments and unable to direct them, as much as the government (along with its regional allies) sought to magnify its role.
This, I think, is substantially connected to the two elements mentioned previously, spontaneity and marginality. Both of those processes entailed the politicization of otherwise unengaged segments, and also corresponded to broad demands that required no religious language in particular. In fact, religion appeared as an obstacle, especially in light of the recent sectarian tensions in Egypt, and it contradicted the emergent character of the Revolution as being above all dividing lines in society, including one’s religion or religiosity. Many people prayed in public, of course, but I never saw anyone being pressured or even asked to join them, in spite of the high spiritual overtones of an atmosphere saturated with high emotions and constantly supplied by stories of martyrdom, injustice, and violence.
Like in the Tunisian Revolution, in Egypt the rebellion erupted as a sort of a collective moral earthquake—where the central demands were very basic, and clustered around the respect for the citizen, dignity, and the natural right to participate in the making of the system that ruled over the person. If those same principles had been expressed in religious language before, now they were expressed as is and without any mystification or need for divine authority to justify them. I saw the significance of this transformation when even Muslim Brotherhood participants chanted at some point with everyone else for a “civic” (madaniyya) state—explicitly distinguished from two other possible alternatives: religious (diniyya) or military (askariyya) state.
May we live in interesting times....
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I was lucky enough to be in that position at a time (1991) when the then-National government was very keen to move people to Taskforce Green and/or Job Plus. We did Planet magazine on that basis for about 18 months.
It paid only what the dole paid, but instead of being hassled to do something where my skills would be wasted, I was able to do something that developed my skills – and which, I think, had beneficial effects for businesses around us. I certainly increased my own value in the employment market, and thus paid more tax than would otherwise have been the case. I also worked bloody hard.
The irony is that TFG and Job Plus operated without anything like the level of accountability demanded by PACE. They were very loosey-goosey indeed. But that was then, this now …
Ha! That reminds me of my time working as a paid staff member for Critic. I got paid for about 10-15 hours a week, realistically worked there 20-30 hours a week, but because of the discrepancy and the fact I was receiving partial benefit, I had to go through the rigmarole of WINZ each week, and being sent on courses I was either (a) overqualified for or (b)almost entirely irrelevant . I could understand their point of view (after all, I was technically "still on" the dole), but it was still frustrating to say the least.
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HuffPo? A site which doesn't pay most of its writers and has done precisely zero original reporting on this story? Seriously?
Read the book if you want to find out how much value working journalists added to this project.
For god's sake, Don, the biggest risk faced by HuffoPo bloggers is probably RSI. The NYT has field reporters who get kidnapped, assaulted and occasionally killed in the line of work. There are sound and reasoned criticisms of that can be made of the Times' approach, but this sort of glib MSM-hatred doesn't really wash.
When I found out exactly how HuffPo treated its "reporters"- and how much original reportage it actually does- I stopped reading it. I soon discovered that its only real use was a hub for outsourced material, because they sure as heck don't produce any of their own- aside from the occasional bits of commentary, but the work there is no better.
I mean, this is a "news" hub where interns have to actually pay to work for it. Whatever the treatment of interns in the MSM, I bet you none of them would treat willing and eager young journalists and reporters as shabbily as that.
As RB said, there are very legitimate criticisms to take up with the NYT. But that doesn't negate the incredible amount of great investigative work and commentary they have done and continue to do, even as the paper seems to be in dire financial straits.
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A slight digression, but here's my friend Glen's account of the action just two days ago before the "announcement"...pretty frightening whichever way you look at it.
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My friend (and fellow Canterbury Journalism grad) classmate Glen Johnson has got caught up it in all. All due respect to Frank Bunce, but I can't help but feel that Glen's ordeal was somewhat more arduous than his. Then again, Glen already has prior form: see here and here. Keep an eye out for this guy, he's seriously good.
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(ETA: Or do you mean ‘themes’ of success within the show itself? In which case: of course. American work culture is a whole different, weird-ass beast…)
Yep, that’s it. What struck me about the US version of the Office is that it didn’t really seem like that bad a place to work in. Oh sure, the jobs were pretty menial, and their boss was a walking gaffe machine, but there was none of the soul-crushing claustrophobia and toe-curling management-beauracratise that was such a hallmark of the original version. It seemed like people actually want to get ahead in that particular environment, whereas in the UK version, the two “heroes” ,Tim and Dawn, can only fufil their dream if they manage to escape.
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Muse: Linky Love, in reply to philipmatthews,
Word. Best sitcom ever.
The recent Conan O'Brien/Jay Leno fiasco reminded me about how much that show got right about the backroom politics of the night-time talkshows. The way those two egos banged heads against each other- and the messy way it was resolved-pretty much played like an episode of the Larry Sanders show, albeit at slightly higher stakes and bank balances. Which isn't too surprising- the original series was based on Shandling's own experiences in that world, and the early 90s mad rush for supremacy in the wake of Johnny Carson's retirement.
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I guess my biggest problem with Skins is that I'm obviously more than two decades outside the target demographic (and at least twenty years older than most of the writers and cast). But if you really want to get right down to it, is there more filth and moral degeneracy in a series of Skins or six months worth of Corrie and East Enders?
It's probably a tie between the two, certainly the realism levels are about the same! That said I have always been quite impressed by how relatively un-patronising Skins is to its characters though, as opposed to something truly dire like Hollyoaks or Jersey Shore, which revels so much in their cretinous behaviour as to suggest the makers really don't young people at all, except for the money they bring them. Also, it's good to see a use for retired British sketch comedians that's at once credible and knowingly demeaning.
I still think the gold standard is Freaks and Geeks though- admittedly, it's a very different kettle of fish ( Skins isn't about the "in" crowd per se, but even the nerds in it have a more bacchanal lifestyle than most teenagers). And I just can't stand how fundamentally self-serving and obsessed with winning Glee is...but that's for another rant :)
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Re: The Office (US Version). I have too main problems with it. One: it's gone on way too long and seems not to know how to end. Two: it's as hypocritically obsessed with success as almost any other US sitcom. And besides, if you want the real US version of the Office, look no further than the scabrous, billious, Larry Sanders Show, which oozes awkward contempt from every pore.