Panorama and the Thatcher Interviews

A discussion of broadcast interviews by Robin Day and David Dimbleby with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher for the BBC's current affairs series Panorama on the theme of the NHS

BBC’s Panorama, war coverage and the ‘Westminster consensus’

Relations between the British government and the BBC are often fraught at times of armed conflict, particularly in the absence of national consensus. A pattern of pressure on, and intimidation of, the BBC underlies efforts by successive governments to set the agenda for reporting 'in the national interest'. The effects of such pressure is considerable and, some claim, has led to over-dependence on official and 'establishment' sources in the BBC's coverage of conflicts. Such over-dependence, it could be argued, is typified by the 'flagship' current affairs series Panorama which has been accused by current affairs practitioners and media analysts of generally reflecting a 'Westminster consensus'. This paper examines Panorama's coverage of the invasion of Iraq to explore claims that Britain's longest-running current affairs series largely reflects 'elite opinion'. Textual and content analysis of an archive of Panorama programmes related to the war is used to examine the charge that Panorama draws on a limited range of 'establishment' views and perspectives in its war coverage, whilst marginalising more critical opinions and explanations

Context and change in Japanese music

Although Japan is often portrayed as culturally and ethnically highly homogeneous, its music culture has long been extremely diverse, especially so with modernization and globalization. Thus we begin by problematizing the term ‘Japanese music’. We then aim to provide broad historical, cultural and theoretical contexts within which to understand the subsequent genre-specific chapters, by introducing a range of cross-cutting topics, issues and research perspectives - for example: Japan’s interactions with other cultures throughout history; sociocultural contexts of each genre, including issues of patronage, audiences, class and gender; social structures and mechanisms of transmission; music theory in Japan; aesthetic concepts; and research culture. We conclude with a view into the musical future, considering the impact of educational policies, globalization and so forth

Context and change in Japanese music

Although Japan is often portrayed as culturally and ethnically highly homogeneous, its music culture has long been extremely diverse, especially so with modernization and globalization. Thus we begin by problematizing the term ‘Japanese music’. We then aim to provide broad historical, cultural and theoretical contexts within which to understand the subsequent genre-specific chapters, by introducing a range of cross-cutting topics, issues and research perspectives - for example: Japan’s interactions with other cultures throughout history; sociocultural contexts of each genre, including issues of patronage, audiences, class and gender; social structures and mechanisms of transmission; music theory in Japan; aesthetic concepts; and research culture. We conclude with a view into the musical future, considering the impact of educational policies, globalization and so forth

Memory and history on the 2016 CND march in London

An account of the 2016 CND march in London and the geographical political and emotional links to previous movements for peace and social justice

Panorama's coverage of 9/11 and the 'War on Terror'

The BBC's 'flagship' current affairs series Panorama backed away from reporting on the 9-11 attacks despite having a senior reporter with relevant expertise in the area. Subsequent coverage lacked investigative depth, recycled commonplace analogies with Hollywood films and drew unfounded links between the 9-11 leader Mohamed Atta and Iraq. This chapter examines Panorama's much criticised coverage of the September 11th attacks, drawing on textual analysis of archival material and interviews to revisit a disturbing chapter in British current affairs coverage. The chapter explores the journalistic practices which led to such a failure, including the role of the 'star' reporter, managerial interference, over-reliance on official sources and a culture of caution. It examines how Panorama failed to separate fact from fiction in its use of Hollywood imagery and intelligence services disinformation which contributed to a politically charged atmosphere of fear. It will also closely examine Panorama's claims about the subsequent anthrax attacks which have since been traced back to a US bio-weapons laboratory. These claims which tenuously linked Al Qaeda and foreign powers were staged in highly dramatic ways drawing on horror and science fiction tropes and marked a further blurring of boundaries between fact and fiction. Panorama's coverage, in this respect, was typical of the media's response to the 9-11 atrocities and their aftermath by amplifying fear, echoing official lines of inquiry and avoiding awkward questions, for instance, about the role of domestic agents in the, now all-but-forgotten, anthrax attacks. The many failures of Panorama's 'investigative journalism' of this critical episode in recent history proved extremely useful to the Bush and Blair governments. The chapter concludes by reviewing the lessons that can be learnt from Panorama's initial failure of nerve and subsequent failure to investigate

'Panorama's coverage of 9-11 and the war on terror'’

The BBC's 'flagship' current affairs series Panorama backed away from reporting on the 9-11 attacks despite having a senior reporter with relevant expertise in the area. Subsequent coverage lacked investigative depth, recycled commonplace analogies with Hollywood films and drew unfounded links between the 9-11 leader Mohamed Atta and Iraq. This paper examines Panorama's much criticised coverage of the September 11th attacks, drawing on textual analysis of archival material and interviews to revisit a disturbing chapter in British current affairs coverage. The paper will look specifically at journalistic practices which led to such a failure, including the role of the 'star' reporter, managerial interference, over-reliance on official sources and a culture of caution. It examines how Panorama failed to separate fact from fiction in its use of Hollywood imagery and intelligence services misinformation which contributed to a politically charged atmosphere of fear. It will also closely examine Panorama's claims about the subsequent anthrax attacks which have since been traced back to a US bio-weapons laboratory. These claims which tenuously linked Al Qaeda and foreign powers were staged in highly dramatic ways drawing on horror and science fiction tropes and marked a further blurring of boundaries between fact and fiction. Panorama's coverage, in this respect, was typical of the media's response to the 9-11 atrocities and their aftermath by amplifying fear, echoing official lines of inquiry and avoiding awkward questions, for instance, about the role of domestic agents in the, now all-but-forgotten, anthrax attacks. The many failures of Panorama's 'investigative journalism' of this critical episode in recent history proved extremely useful to the Bush and Blair governments. The paper will conclude by reviewing the lessons that can be learnt from Panorama's initial failure of nerve and subsequent failure to investigate