Ministerial blogger David Miliband will be the keynote speaker at the New Statesman's New Media Awards on 24 July. And guess what? His pisspoor blog has been shortlisted for an award. Astonishingly, neither Guido, Tory Radio or your humble servant have made the shortlist. Shurely shome mishtake?! Interestingly, BackingBlair is nominated for the Advocacy Award - presumably the NS judges realise that BlackingBlair does exactly the opposite of what it says on the tin. Ah, got it. Might be something to do with the proprietor's allegiances with one G. Brown!Last week the New Statesman published the first issue since its redesign. I have to say it's a drastic improvement. Slightly larger format, more pages and a much more readable feel. You may not believe this but I subscribe to the New Statesman. I suppose my only slight concern is the number of comedians who are writing for it at the moment - Rory Bremner, Mark Thomas and now Julian Clary. Mark Thomas is just barking mad and sees a conspiracy round every corner. I'm having lunch with NS editor John Kampfner tomorrow. Do readers of this blog read the NS? If you do, leave some comments and I'll tell him what you think of the redesign.
13 comments:
Don't worry Iain, we've got Ken Dodd, Jim Davidson and errm... umm....
...... and, of course, not forgetting Boris.
Am I bovver'd?
More readers. More profitable.
Did you really expect them to be politically neutral? Just look at their panel of judges.
I have subscribed for aound 6 years since its acquisition by the rogue Robinson(lover of the good life and Madame Joska). The new look is AAA. The cover with its different attention getters grabs your gaze and scrutiny. It reminds me of an US journal whose name escapes me. Inside layout an improvement. Well done NS.
Its a good idea btw to take in different media. Michalea Wrong not bad on Africa and L Hilsum worth reading.
On Guido's theme.....
.... less listeners not profitable..... BUT
Am I bovver'd?
Maybe The Spectator should do something similar - only bigger and better.
Yes, the Miliblog is pisspoor, he has even admitted that he isn't allowed to talk politics. Surprisingly he allowed my comments about his Naked Civil Servants to remain for two days, before deleting them. I guess he followed this link
http://south-shields.blogspot.com/2006/06/office-sex.html
and didn't care for what he saw.
Awards indeed!
I have already written about the number of comedians...
My great era of reading the Statesman was the late 1970s, and I have been trying to think what the magazine would have been like if it had taken the same approach then. Something like this, I imagine:
Freddie "Parrot-Face" Davies on the future of the Common Market;
Dickie Henderson on the Palestine Question.
And next week:
Mike and Bernie Winters debate the Bullock Report on Industrial Democracy.
http://liberalengland.blogspot.com/2006/06/new-statesman-you-have-to-laugh.html
New Statesman is tediously repetitious. the Spectator is like a souffle under its new management sans Mark Steyn and the NS tries to be something portentous but is simply ponderous with recycled Pilger and relics of the past.
Don't get Rory Bremner to write on satire - since his Party came to power he has lost the ability to be incisive and meanders
I too bought the new New Statesman earlier this week to see the new cutting edge journalism. It was not to be found.
Uou can see my review here:
http://mantex.blogspot.com
I'm not surprised they have too many comedians. After all to support left wing ideas....you've got to be joking.
I agree re. Bremner. It's just sanctimonious 'isn't Blair awful' Crouch End dinner party stuff and laboured jokes which reek of midnight oil. I'd sooner have Mark Thomas' Trotskist bile anyday. I don't generally like Trotskyists (particularly Mark Steel with his crap Indy column and snarling QT appearances) but at least with Thomas there are one or two decent jokes.
As for John Pilger, his capacity for doublethink is pretty much summed up by:
murder of trade unionists in Colombia - outrageous, when the US can be blamed for their murder (when they back a government whose army is linked to the paramilitaries responsible for such murders)
murder of trade unionists in Iraq -silence, except to say of the insurgents who kill them 'We can't be choosy'.
He still has his moments (like the programme on the Chagos Islanders). Overall, though, he's like Dave Spart, only far more malevolent and holier-than-thou. As for the anger and indignation, it's like reading some left-wing version of Melanie Philips. What fun it would be to put those two (plus Peter Hitchens and Robert Fisk) on a desert island.
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