Wherever two or more are gathered..........

As a former local journo, I may have the advantage of knowing how far - in measurable fact - the news values of contemporary pseudo-local newspapers owned by large media corporations drift from those taught on NCTJ courses. But any reasonably detached and objective person can giggle hysterically at the polyfilla used to fill all the cracks where the stories are supposed to go.

So it was that yesterday I was sniggering at some of the district news items with another atheist, particularly the prominent coverage of a horticultural show in a Ramsey church. 

“Why”, we cried out in collective disbelief,  “is it news that a church was full of vegetables?”

After further consideration we have the answer.

The key word there is ‘”full”. Be it vegetable, animal or mineral – in 2013 any more than two collected in a Ramsey church would be unusual enough to merit a picture.

Media studies for beginners

Absolutely everything that’s wrong with the Manx media is typified by a front page item in this week’s Examiner.
Apparently:
"Manx Radio has revealed a new logo in what it describes as its ‘biggest image change in its 45-year history.’"
If nobody up at Radio Cowshed has worked out yet that radio is not actually a visual medium that explains the crap that they pass off as 'programming'.
On the other hand, that the local newspaper puts this on the front page suggests they have a few problems with the concept of newsgathering too.