Elections and Democracy;

Parliament can run for up to five years, but during this time the prime minister is able to call an election whenever felt necessary (hen he/she feels the people are on their side), when the governing party no longer have a majority or if there is a vote of no confidence. Though before this happens the Queen must dissolve parliament.
Prime minster John Callaghan lost his position by one vote in a vote of confidence, this bought on the winter of discontent 1979.

The government at present have introduced fixed term elections of five years, meaning the next election (unless there is a vote of no confidence) will not take place until the 7th of May 2015.

To be able to vote, you must be registered on an electoral register of a constituency - there are around 45 million people in the country on a register and is therefore an incredibly useful tool for journalists when it come to finding people. Citizen abroad can vote, but not many do and there has been in a rise in the numbers of people voting by post - around 15% of all votes in 2005 were of this kind.
Though there are people who cannot vote at all; Those under 18 years of age, non British citizens (except those from Ireland and other commonwealth countries) and Prisoners, but this goes against European court rulings which says that criminals have the right to vote.

Representation of the peoples act made many changes as to who could vote over the years;
- 1918 - men over 21 and women over 30were able to vote.
- 1928 - universal suffrage - all adults over 21 were able to vote.
- 1969 - anyone over 18 years of age were then able to vote.

How do you win?
Any over the age of 18 can stand in an election, but winning comes down to who is 'First Past the Post'. 'FPTP' is a majoritarian voting system, which allows the MP with the most votes to be elected in each constituency, though this system does not reflect the national percentage of votes in the seats awarded to parties. In 2005, Labour won half of the seats in the commons but only had 35% of the votes. This system is also said to lead to tactical voting, it also allows the possibility of a hung parliament which other voting systems don't. This was the case in 2010 and resulted in a 'Con-Dem' coalition because neither Labour nor Conservative parties held majority of the seats in the Commons, raising arguments on how democratic the current government is because it isn't really a representation of the people.

Some would argue that we are in need of an electoral reform and should introduce a proportional representation system, such as AV, which will distribute seats in accordance with the national percentage of votes, through preference voting - when a constituents first choice of MP is no longer in the running, the second (or third and so on) preference vote is used and so it solves the problem of 'wasted votes.' The liberal democrats insisted on a referendum in 2011, as part of coalition agreements, to ask the nation whether they wanted change - the answer was no.

Spoiled voting papers in any election are disqualified, most votes are rejected because they have not been marked or because they have been marked too many times. Recounts of votes are allowed in cases where votes are incredibly close.

History and context of journalism lecture/reading five:

Seminar Paper - Bureaucracy; Max Weber

Marx, Nietzsche, Weber and Freud were described as the ‘big four’ skeptics of the 19^th century who based their thinking around Kantian ideas. They were great skeptics and strongly rejected the idea that things exist as we see them; instead we are under false consciousness. Emphasising the Kantian idea of ‘mind over matter.'

Though all similar in that thought, all approach the idea of ‘no absolute or absolute truth’ differently; Marx insists that class interest is the reason for what each person believes to be the truth. Nietzsche believed that we should never be obedient and what with think is true should be based on instinct; obedience is to keep us in place. Weber believes that truth is simply rationalisation which creates ease of bureaucratic agenda. 

The enlightenment of the 18^th century clouded faith in culture and caused pessimism among the people. Nietzsche believed that God was dead and the future will be filled with violence. Marx believed the people were adamant for Bonapartism which caused stagnation of society. Weber believed society was disillusioned and Freud believed we are in pursuit of our desires.

The Paris commune was seen as evidence of an uprising of a dictatorship of the proletariat, but after its sudden fall, a conservative approach was taken on by society, emphasising traditions and religion but most importantly for the French and Germans, the military grew strong, causing heightened racism, imperialism, social stagnation and anti-Semitism up until the First World War. It was at this time Prussia evolved into the German, bureaucratic state. 

Prussian bureaucracy (government by many administrators or officials) had many great benefits at the time. New jobs were created which improved social status and formed a new class; the middle class, dismissing Marx’s’ ideas of polarisation and showing there were many things he did not consider, such as loaning money to the proletariat so that they became part of the middle class and owning shares in large companies similar to his ideas of common ownership and ownership of capitalism. This form of government pushed imperialism to its peak with Africa being possessed. It also meant state intervention in economics, leading to strict regulation which outlined a ruling class ideology; values of the bourgeoisie were spread downwards by passing on culture - the opera was adapted to attract the middle class in the form of theatre. Though German social democracy was at its peak and introduced the foundations of a welfare state. At this time Max Weber began his analysis of bureaucracy.

Max Weber was a German socialist who believed in Kantian philosophy; that objects in themselves have no absolute reality, and held a non-teleological view of existence; that things happen at random and we are not headed toward a final purpose.

His analysis suggests that bureaucracy is characterised by a hierarchical division of labour directed by explicit rules, impersonally applied, staffed by professionals, who do not in any sense own the 'means of administration' and live off a salary, not from income directly from the performance of their job. He attacked Prussian bureaucracy to be an objective and neutral servant of society, and emphasized that every bureaucracy has interests of its own, feeding off of 'Credentialism'(the preoccupation evident in modern societies with formal educational qualifications). He believed that credentials, a fixed salary and stability of staffing are required “for the efficient functioning of an administrative machine.”

For weber, there are ideal types of sociological organisation; socialism, nationalism, liberalism etc. and that behind them is a method and hypothesis and successive approximation of truth. He then compared this to social reality and came to the conclusion that there is no absolute knowledge but it is possible to be honest and have reason to able the belief. This is known as agnosticism.

He furthered his ideas of sociological ideals with his analysis of what he what he believed to be four types of fundamental social action;

1.      Instrumental – the belief that our actions are rational in order to achieve goodness; going to university will generally get you a good job.

2.      Value – the idea of doing something because it is accepted to be good practice, and is again an example of rationalisation.

3.      Affectual – Something we do for emotional reasons.

4.      Traditional – this is something we do because society has always done it.

He also outlined that bureaucracy manifests impersonal application of general rules; to Weber this is the most important feature of bureaucracy. It underlies the fact that bureaucrats do not own their equipment or their job, and receive a salary because these things ensure reliable rule-following. And so categorises legitimate authority into three types of domination; 

1.      Tradition Authority - Figures who have always commanded respect over the ages so we continue the tradition, also linked to patriarchy.

2.      Charismatic - These are figures we follow or obey because they have a dynamic way of presenting their arguments and opinions. Although on many occasions, this type of authority merges with the traditional kind. (Weber emphasises the rationality of bureaucracy in charisma and traditional authority. Charismatic behaviour is whichever method is well-adapted as a means to one's ends and can be irrational and rational. But value rationality is used to rationalise those goals. Weber usually sees rationality as a form of efficiency).

3.      Legal Rational/Bureaucratic - Figures who are above us in rank and only command respect if they themselves follow the rules they preach.

Weber sees bureaucracy as a supremely efficient way of conducting administration, hence why it is used within capitalism and in institutions. It allows institutions to out-perform competitors and continues to spread because of its survival value for social institutions. But views it as a ‘distasteful triumph’ and identified negative impacts bureaucracy may have on society. 

He believed that there will be cultural exhaustion through the rationalisation of religion, that the principle of formal equality will eventually rob each individual of nobility and any artistic genius, the prevalence of the central principles of the renaissance and enlightenment would be destroyed; Nobody would be able to live outside of the state and we will eventually lose sense of creativity. There would be a sense of de-skilling and rationalisation of the production line.

Weber views bureaucracy in a similar way that Marx views Capitalism. Its spread is inevitable and will affect all areas of life. Though Marx insists capitalism can be overthrown for the good of the people, Weber believes and accepts bureaucracy is inescapable.

Party Politics;

Today's lecture outlined the significant rises and fall of the Labour Party and Conservative Party, conflicts between the two and reforms and bills which changed British politics from the 19th century to the present day.

 

The 19^th century bought with it harsh living and working conditions with poverty at extreme levels because of the growth of the population. The industrial revolution was in full swing and demand for production was at its peak. These conditions caused the people to become conscious and began to realise what they wanted and to get that a revolution was need. The French revolution is a significant reflection of politics this century, but the UK by passed such revolution because their politics was considered to be more ‘sophisticated’ and willing to compromise. This is show through the Reform Act of 1832, which shifted representation towards towns and the north.  From here the Corn Laws were repealed and the tory vs Whig system ended with influences from John Stuart Mill.

J.S.Mill, outlined what was later named ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ freedom (by Isaiah Berlin) and believed that freedom should enrich the lives of the individual not curtail it. He accepted members of the working class needed help and this came in form of positive liberty, using the state as a tool to give means for true freedom (welfare).

Voting reforms began and women and the working class were entitled to the vote and franchise acts were increased.  But the improving conditions of the working class meant they began to demand greater things from the government up until the First World War, which began the rise of the Labour party influenced by the German social democrats. In 1926 there were national strikes and bought with the unrest was a resurgence of conservative politic in the years of the depression.

The Second World War made way for the first labour government which had a secure majority and bought with it may social reforms which included the formation of the NHS, Keynesian economics*, trade unions etc. as well as the dismantling of the British empire. But this was of great shock to the War time conservative leader, Churchill, who was sure to become Prime Minister. The Attlee Government was most famous for the implication of the Beveridge report. Even though Beveridge was a modern liberal, he wished for social justice and in the report wished for compulsory public funded system of education, healthcare, pensions and social security.

In the 1970’s disaster struck for the labour party; the people demand industrial power to be reduced and companies to be privatised in a general strike because of Callaghan’s attempt to limit pay rises to curb inflation. The answer to the peoples demands was Margaret Thatcher; a new right conservative combining neo liberal economics with traditional conservative values, who had a motive to attack the minors to prove that she was not the woman to mess with and send a warning to other smaller unions. The privatisation of companies and de-regulation of the markets caused a boom in economics and people began spending and borrowing more than ever before, but her drive to keep unions at bay cause uproar. Her ideal society was a meritocracy and demanded that people work to achieve rewards.  There was a major clash between left and right wing politics in the 80’s with Kinnocks manifesto being described as the ‘longest suicide note in history’, campaigning against Thatcher. He wanted to get rid of nuclear weapons, nationalise companies and higher taxes.

Thatcher’s days as prime minister were bought to an end by John Majors ‘back to basics’ campaign which stood for family values, honesty and traditional British values. But his cabinet was made up of sleazy MP’s, which meant a boom for tabloid press and the use of public interest libel defence because of the contraction between MP’s behaviour and Majors Manifesto.

Jonathan Aitken, a guardian journalist was jailed for Perjury because he lied on oath about his dealings; he claimed he would use a "sword of truth" to end the lies spread by the media at this time.

In 1997 the people of the UK chose a new government in the form of New Labour, with Blair winning by a major landslide. New labour changed what the labour party stood for, amending clause four to what Blair considered fit for modern society, and becoming part of ‘third way’ politics. It is identifiable that there are barely any socialist intentions left with the New Labour Party, they have changed views of social justice to emphasize ‘equality of opportunity’ rather than other socialist views of ‘equality of outcome’ or ‘absolute equality’, but have retained the welfare state.

History and Context of Journalism Lecture/Reading Four;

The Dreyfus Affair and J'accuse;

The Dreyfus affair played an important part in establishing the powers of journalism - keeping tabs on the powerful. 
The events that lead up to the affair were the defeat of Sedan 1874 and the Paris commune.
The defeat of Sedan 1871was the result of the Franco-Prussian war; Napoleon was dragged into the war without any allies. He was defeated and captured at Sedan. The French army failed the country, despite how proud of the army they were. Those in Paris chose to keep faith in the french and defy the Prussians, instead of backing down like the rest of France and paying them compensation for a war they were tricked into. They were also forced to give up the key industrial provinces', Alsace and Corrine.
The Prussians became the Germans in 1871 and had Paris surrounded throwing more problems at the french; lack of food and a humiliated army.
The Paris Commune;
As landlords returned, rent was demanded with interest. The new government were demanding a monarchy, but the people feared that this would spur on another war and so this lead to a revolt. The people fought back between March 18th and May 28th 1871. in a way that would be described as the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, dropping the government and working together for the masses. Though, the formation was essentially a council, but gave a lot of power to women at the time meaning new reforms for women's suffrage scaring the monarchies greatly. Leading to the destruction of the commune- 20 to 30,000 people were executed and highlighted the significance of the power of the people, and women were targeted because of their new powers, people were found guilty for being in Paris; the monarchies fought back. It changed European politics dramatically; what Marx had written years before was shown to be almost achievable, yet at the same time showed the consequences of ignoring the monarchy.
The Dreyfus affair;
The army was in a fragile state because of the overseas empires of 1874. The Jews were beginning to be blamed for undermining French greatness and the Parma council bribe from them absent money; sparking anti-antisemitism. The french were still paranoid about another war and so their military gathered spies for all European countries.
The affair itself pit the right against the left; Army and Catholics were against (anti Dreyfusards), the republicans and the Jews were for (Dreyfusards).
 The secret information of the French was found in the German embassy, passed on to the military and found by French spies and were determined to find out who had betrayed them - the army implicated Capitain Dreyfus - he was a Jew, intelligent  and from Alsace (almost foreign). He was found guilty of treason, then banished to Devils Island in 1894.
After Dreyfus' conviction, an officers declares that the defence is wrong, but the supervisors do not care because Dreyfus is a Jew. The court took the case to trial officer called Esterhazy he was tried but then acquitted.
A journalist Emile Zola wrote the famous article J'accuse, which named the men who wrongly convicted Dreyfus. But was then convicted of libel. He fled then fled to London after anti Jew riots were popping up all over France, right wing news papers called for the removal of all Jews citizenship.  The army being to see weaknesses in documents of the case and saw it was weak. An officer called Henry was praised for patriot forgery and described as a martyr to the Jewish syndicate. A change of government brings Dreyfus back to France, but he is found guilty once again with "extenuating circumstances".
 

Lazare; Anti-Semitism and Nationalism

-          A nation is described as an agglomeration of individuals who have shared language, religion territory , law, customs, manners, spirit and historic mission.Though many question this and argue that a nation is purely a concept not of reality.

-          The nation continues as long as this self-consciousness and the consciousness of the community of thought and interest have not disappeared. This is important for the Jews because they do not have a father land. Instead they are integrated into other nations. This is where anti-Semitism can spring from.

-          The Jew does not exist as a race, rather a nation with various elements possessing unity.

-          The Jewish nation stays strong because of religion, social condition and the external conditions forced upon them.

-          To be part if this nation one has to accept that god and the laws emanating from him.

-          Torah; outlines laws of God. Then became the laws of Israel.

-          The Jews have lived like a people who had a fatherland of its own.

-          Their education preserved their traditions, as well as their language and lived in similar conditions sharing their religion which all constitutes a nation.

-          Though, they have ever considered themselves exiles and have deluded themselves with a dream of restoration if Israel’s kingdom on earth.

-          They have preserved ancient patriotism, even their chauvinism, despite disasters and misfortunes, and have religiously kept the idea of their supremacy. Looking with disdain upon all who are strangers to this law.

-          Talmud taught them to be this way (considered antisocial and the most abominable code of law and ethics).

-          This law is very different from those of the countries they live and they follow their own codes, before those of that country.

-           Anti-Semitism was one of the ways the peoples would try to reduce these strange individualities.

-          Jews appeared a danger they were a people whose mentality did not agree with the national mentality, whose concepts were opposed to that ensemble of social and intellectual conceptions which constitutes nationality.

National politics;

The journalist is considered to be the fourth estate; a watchdog of authority and have privilege of national politics.

Legal rights (1)

John Wilkes (Hero Journalist) was forced into exile many times, he was Major of London, and elected three times whilst in Prison as a Member of Parliament  He  was involved in The North Briton newspaper, which attacked Lord Brute (PM) & King George III, and Contempt of Parliament. John Wilkes is significant in gaining free speech as part of the constitution. He was responsible for reforming parliament and used protection if city of London against Westminster, as well as establishing statutory QP for reporting on Parliament, local authorities and many other statutory QP.

Legal Rights (2) comment/freedom of expression;

Fair comment provides a defence if a comment is supported by facts, is honest, a matter of public interest and not hateful. Defence of libel is much stronger if it is about a public figure. In the US, the representation of the people act allows journalist to publish unbalanced articles about elected officials, without risk of being sued for Libel. It is considered a criminal act if it is broken.  In the UK, rules of privilege mean that whatever is said within the Houses of Parliament can be reported with the defence of qualified privilege.

Westminster - Commons and Lords;

In the House of Commons, voting is known as a division. Parties will try to influence the way MP’s votes by using the whipping system, which come in three levels (one line; voting is optional, two line; voting is necessary unless there is a ‘pair’ absent, and three line; voting is compulsory and disciplinary action may be taken if an MP doesn’t take part). Though there can be a free vote on matters of conscience within the commons.

The House of Lords scrutinizes new bills which have already been passed through the commons and have been voted on using the whips. The Lords is an unelected chamber of government, originally made up of hereditary peers, but now a Lord is usually someone with expertise in a particular area (considered very undemocratic).  For laws to implemented,  it is preferred that the Lords come to the same decision as the Commons, sometimes through much compromising, but  the House of Commons is ultimate superior because of the Parliament Act and in some circumstances can pass a bill without the Lords agreement. The lords are not allowed to vote on taxation and finance.

Hansard is a report of daily proceeding in parliament and available for public viewing. 

Political parties are usually funded by subscriptions from members, donations the wealthy, government funding.

Voicing; the P's

Some tips for recording for radio;

PACE;
- Should be consistent and not monotonous - pace should e=be slower than ordinary conversation but not so slow it becomes dreary.
- Once you've slowed down. slow down again.

PAUSE;
- Well placed pauses arrest attention and allow a moment to breathe.
- Pause to allow proper phrase spacing, as well as punctuation.
- Pause to give the listener time to digest the information.
- Mark your script where you think you need pauses.

PHRASING;
- Grouping words into sense unit - spoken in one breath - though it may not be necessary to take another breath in between two.

PITCH;
- is the position of sound on the tone scale. Variation gives colour and depth of meaning, tending to raise for the important words then fall.

PRONUNCIATION;
- most accents and dialects are acceptable, provided words are clear.
- beware of misconstruction of words.
- record yourself then listen back.

Two Minute (and a Bit) Radio News Bulletin;

SCRIPT;

Story One:

Winchester LibDem MP's reject the new NHS reform bill, believing the changes will have no immediate effect or no effect at all because of recent budget cuts.

A ConservativeHome  reporter suggests that going through with the bill is the 'most dangerous path' for Cameron, possibly dividing the coalition and pushing away party's supporters.

The Prime Ministers efforts to change parts of the bill have settled some disagreements in parliament, but are causing conflict elsewhere. 

Online petitions have been started and MP’s urging those against the reforms to sign it through on twitter.

The bill is currently awaiting scrutiny of the House of Lords and will determine Cameron’s decision.

Story Two:

Winchester councillors are pushed to decide whether to refurbish or relocate the River Park leisure centre.

Because of the dramatic rise in maintenance costs over the last few years, Councillors have agreed the problem needs to be solved.

But Chris Pines believes a rebuild will threaten the space and funding the development of affordable housing, with a possibility of costs reaching twenty million pounds.

The site currently being assessed in Bar End holds the potential of an Olympic sized pool, which is highly favoured by swimming group directors. 

But Pines suggest that this site could hold over 100 new homes; 

AUDIO: Chris Pines interview.

IN: ‘We’ve got enormous…’

OUT: ‘…it’s a no brainer really.’

DURATION: 00.20

Story Three:

Winchesters commuters were introduced to a new way of using Blue Star bus service;

The key card allows customers to buy pre-paid travel passes, which allow unlimited travel for 7, 30 or 90 day periods.

The company have introduced the key with reduced prices as an incentive to try the new service and it is hoped, by the Go Ahead Group, that the key will reduce waiting time at stops and help lower their carbon footprint.

While also saving the customer money when compared to prices of regular tickets.

We asked a Blue Star driver his views on the success of the Key;

AUDIO:  Blue Star Buses.

IN: ‘I think it’s too…..’

OUT: ‘…it will be.'

DURATION:00.09

Story Four:

Naomi House have organised a 'Moonlight Walk' on the 17th of March, to raise money for the Sutton Scotney hospice.

The charity are re-organising the event following last year's success, and have opened the walk up to men as well as women.

Did The CCRC Make The Right Decision For The Appeal of The Warner Case?

After reading the CCRC documentation of the Warner case we are able to make conclusions as to whether or not we believe the case was treated in the right way by the commission. A section 19 investigation of the case was approved by the CCRC;  all evidence was reassessed. 

During this reassessment, Forensic evidence suggested that the fibres, on the jumper that Mr Warner was wearing on the night in question and left at the Pools home, were indistinguishable from the fibres that were found on the bed sheets found at the house. More forensic evidence suggests that hairs on the bedding, that did not match those of Mrs Pool, had an incomplete DNA profile matching Mr Warner’s. The chances of the DNA being unrelated to Mr Warmer were said to be 1 in 680, overturning assertions that he never went upstairs. Though all items of forensic evidence had all been destroyed before this investigation.

The section 19 investigation found evidence to implicate another suspect of the murder of the pools, Mr Smith, after his fingerprints were found on the front porch. The CCRC requested an investigation into this character which revealed that he was a member of the police force and has a record as a ‘peeping tom’ and was charged for harassment. The investigators highlighted these points because of the methods Mr smith used to go about his doings – he used back windows for entry to houses and described his own actions during his ‘peeping’ activities to be very similar to the description of the man he had seen, in his witness statement on the night of the murder of Mr and Mrs Pool. But the commission still thought it wasn’t possible that anyone other than Mr Warner committed the crime because of the jumper fibres; but there was no connection between Smith and the Pools, which i believe to be suspicious.

In spite of this, the commission identified that Mr Warner took a shirt belonging to Mr Pool, again suggesting he did in fact go upstairs, and had lied in his early statements to the police, so his trustworthiness was already in question, and that there was a fingerprint above the kitchen drawer suggesting where the murder weapon had come from. Mr Knox, a man Mr Warner lived with, gave evidence to suggest Warner was out until after the estimated time of the murders and his behaviour the morning after the murder was said to be suspicious (taking footwear from the night before out of town with him).

I believe the two pieces of forensic evidence used in defence of dropping the case are the most important, though the DNA profile was incomplete, the chances of cross contamination of the bedding and jumper are slim (they were stored by police separately) and suggest to me that Mr wasn’t telling the truth about going upstairs, particularly after lying before. and so I think that the right decision was made by the CCRC in not taking the case to the court of appeal.