Drawing kindly provided by Irish Times Cartoonist, Martyn Turner
The upcoming referendum is sadly more likely to be decided upon by raw emotion rather than hard facts, writes Paul Allen.
“A vote is like a rifle,” according to Theodore Roosevelt. “Its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.” Read More
The media’s obsession with simplicity and scapegoats often means the real story can go unreported, writes Paul Allen.
Every drama needs a villain and this week Francesco Schettino neatly fitted the bill. The captain of the Costa Concordia, which crashed into rocks off the Italian coast and capsized, was portrayed as a lazy stereotype in a veracious media environment that loves simplicity. Read More
It was slick. It was savvy. And it could well prove to be Team Murdoch’s saviour.
Rupert Murdoch’s performance at the select parliamentary committee in London, where he was grilled for two hours, was a polished, professional and painstakingly manufactured PR master class.
As father and son sat down looking like Mr Burns and Smithers, the phone hacking scandal had already knocked 12pc off the value of News Corp shares, which cost the Murdoch family a cool $750m (don’t shed to many tears, the family’s stake is still worth about $5.2 billion). Read More