another lousy hatchet job on factory international - this time from the guardian. the comment about whether MIF needs a new venue for the festival is silly - it’s been created for use all year round and will not house the majority of MIF events for that matter. The journalist also admits that its way too early to tell how well the space works but not before criticising it. I’m not an apologist for either FI or MIF but I resent everyone turning up to give something a kicking just because it’s new and weird and had something to do with George Osborne.
Simon, given your track record in The Mill's comments I think MIF urgently need to hire you for their press team to articulate their vision and rebut the haters.
ha ha! unavailable. i have a completely open mind as to whether it will be any damn good, nudging slightly towards being positive about the prospects. it's the premature judgement that irritates me. i do think they need someone though as what your colleague was told by john mcgrath sounded spectacularly woolly. all the best!
“This is disgraceful,” tweeted The Sunday Times’s northern editor David Collins. “Right on Market Street, the main shopping district [...] Manchester city centre’s businesses, the city council and police need a more joined up approach to creating a family friendly environment in the city”.
Maybe “disgraceful" but perfectly understandable, unless you’re a purblind corporate media hack like David Collins, lackey to Murdoch. (How can any “journalist” look themselves in the mirror without blushing with shame, working for such a creature as that.)
But to me it’s a source of wonder that our children and young people are so docile and obedient and prepared for the most part to behave and toe the line when they observe the corrupt and discredited society around them which we — the older generation(s) — have created for them to inhabit. Venal lying politicians like Johnson, treacherous party leaders like Starmer (broken every pledge he made and reneged on his commitment to “labour values” under Corbyn). Spending billions on nuclear weapons "which will never be used" the politicians assure us. Think for a moment -- the £205 billion it's costing to renew Trident (final cost will be at least twice that amount) would settle all pay disputes, give teachers, doctors, nurses, rail workers etc a fair cost-of-living rise, fund the NHS, renew and replace our water and sewage network -- and still have billions left over. And the climate crisis which our young people will have to endure when we who are responsible are safely dead and gone.
All you have to do is look around at this society, with its gambling and greed credo of something-for-nothing, empty celebrity glitz and glamour with fame and wealth being the prize goals our young people are encouraged to desire and daily bombarded with. And a corporate media in the hands and pockets of a few billionaires you can count on the fingers of one hand. Young people might not fully understand or be able to trace the nexus of power and influence that rules all our lives; they might be indifferent or apathetic to political movements (who can blame them?) but they're not stupid. They feel and experience the unseen and hidden forces and fluctuations all around them, and they know they're being screwed. They know they're being cheated and lied to, and yet feel helpless to do anything about it. As in France at the moment, with social unrest on a scale unprecedented here in the UK, there comes a violent rupture or release of pent-up frustration that results in kids blocking trams and throwing eggs. Maybe it's the British way of protest. I'm just thankful it isn't any worse, and hope to god it never becomes so, but is it any wonder?
The incident Friday is appalling and will do so much damage to the reputation of the city centre. I don’t think you can underestimate the scale of the challenge facing the council and GMP after the years of cuts they’ve faced. GMP especially have nowhere near the resources required to stay on top of a city centre with the number of complex issues as Manchester.
Question: Is the University of Manchester paying for advertising (“sponsoring”) in The Mill, writing its own copy in the style of news? If so, what social responsibility ethics does this project? And how much do they pay for the privilege?
Hey Kevin - thanks for this. yes, they are paying sponsors - we tend to have one paid sponsor per Monday Briefing, which allows us to diversify our revenue and fund more journalism. Probably not fair for me to say how much an individual organisation pays, but it's in the hundreds of pounds for one of these sponsorship slots. We don't promise any editorial benefits to organisations who sponsor us of course - we'll outline our approach in a little explainer soon.
another lousy hatchet job on factory international - this time from the guardian. the comment about whether MIF needs a new venue for the festival is silly - it’s been created for use all year round and will not house the majority of MIF events for that matter. The journalist also admits that its way too early to tell how well the space works but not before criticising it. I’m not an apologist for either FI or MIF but I resent everyone turning up to give something a kicking just because it’s new and weird and had something to do with George Osborne.
Simon, given your track record in The Mill's comments I think MIF urgently need to hire you for their press team to articulate their vision and rebut the haters.
ha ha! unavailable. i have a completely open mind as to whether it will be any damn good, nudging slightly towards being positive about the prospects. it's the premature judgement that irritates me. i do think they need someone though as what your colleague was told by john mcgrath sounded spectacularly woolly. all the best!
“This is disgraceful,” tweeted The Sunday Times’s northern editor David Collins. “Right on Market Street, the main shopping district [...] Manchester city centre’s businesses, the city council and police need a more joined up approach to creating a family friendly environment in the city”.
Maybe “disgraceful" but perfectly understandable, unless you’re a purblind corporate media hack like David Collins, lackey to Murdoch. (How can any “journalist” look themselves in the mirror without blushing with shame, working for such a creature as that.)
But to me it’s a source of wonder that our children and young people are so docile and obedient and prepared for the most part to behave and toe the line when they observe the corrupt and discredited society around them which we — the older generation(s) — have created for them to inhabit. Venal lying politicians like Johnson, treacherous party leaders like Starmer (broken every pledge he made and reneged on his commitment to “labour values” under Corbyn). Spending billions on nuclear weapons "which will never be used" the politicians assure us. Think for a moment -- the £205 billion it's costing to renew Trident (final cost will be at least twice that amount) would settle all pay disputes, give teachers, doctors, nurses, rail workers etc a fair cost-of-living rise, fund the NHS, renew and replace our water and sewage network -- and still have billions left over. And the climate crisis which our young people will have to endure when we who are responsible are safely dead and gone.
All you have to do is look around at this society, with its gambling and greed credo of something-for-nothing, empty celebrity glitz and glamour with fame and wealth being the prize goals our young people are encouraged to desire and daily bombarded with. And a corporate media in the hands and pockets of a few billionaires you can count on the fingers of one hand. Young people might not fully understand or be able to trace the nexus of power and influence that rules all our lives; they might be indifferent or apathetic to political movements (who can blame them?) but they're not stupid. They feel and experience the unseen and hidden forces and fluctuations all around them, and they know they're being screwed. They know they're being cheated and lied to, and yet feel helpless to do anything about it. As in France at the moment, with social unrest on a scale unprecedented here in the UK, there comes a violent rupture or release of pent-up frustration that results in kids blocking trams and throwing eggs. Maybe it's the British way of protest. I'm just thankful it isn't any worse, and hope to god it never becomes so, but is it any wonder?
aggro at deansgate locks yesterday evening. Hundreds of little kids.
The incident Friday is appalling and will do so much damage to the reputation of the city centre. I don’t think you can underestimate the scale of the challenge facing the council and GMP after the years of cuts they’ve faced. GMP especially have nowhere near the resources required to stay on top of a city centre with the number of complex issues as Manchester.
Question: Is the University of Manchester paying for advertising (“sponsoring”) in The Mill, writing its own copy in the style of news? If so, what social responsibility ethics does this project? And how much do they pay for the privilege?
Hey Kevin - thanks for this. yes, they are paying sponsors - we tend to have one paid sponsor per Monday Briefing, which allows us to diversify our revenue and fund more journalism. Probably not fair for me to say how much an individual organisation pays, but it's in the hundreds of pounds for one of these sponsorship slots. We don't promise any editorial benefits to organisations who sponsor us of course - we'll outline our approach in a little explainer soon.