OXFORD MEDIA SOCIETY
Committee Recommends: Week 3
Welcome to our 3rd Week edition of ‘Committee Recommends’, where we round up content from across the media that we’ve enjoyed this week, from opinion pieces on the world’s response to unrest in Nigeria, to discussions of film scripts. We hope you find something you enjoy!
Our ‘Recommends’ series is a round-up of news articles, long reads and internet miscellany to keep you informed and entertained.
Photo © Capri23auto (pixabay.com)
LONG READS
Why sanctions aren’t the way to help Nigerian people
“Good intentions mean very little when we refuse to treat history as the lesson it has always been”
After a year protest-led change in which normal people, rather than Governments, have taken the responsibility of societal change upon themselves, this article from gal-dem’s Fope Olaleye is particularly pertinent as it undermines the notion that Government interference is ever helpful.
Viruses have busy social lives that we could manipulate to defeat them
“If your social life has suffered during the coronavirus pandemic, you may not want to know that the virus has a social life too. And it is probably better than yours right now”
The new field of ‘sociovirology’ is applying evolutionary theory to understand how viruses spread. In this engaging piece for the New Statesman by Graham Lawton, the developments are explained in a way that even a humanities student might understand.
Netflix’s brutal content strategy explored
“New business is important, but not if it comes at the cost of pushing out their existing fanbase”
Netflix’s near-cornering of the streaming market hasn’t arisen out of being nice. However, it seems that perhaps people are starting to notice – NME’s Paul Bradshaw considers the consequences.
How much does News Corp care about fact-checking?
“It’s a crucial moment in modern media, mainly because the tech platforms seem to be trying to heed the traditional responsibility of publishers, while the world’s most powerful traditional media organisation, News Corp, seems willing to overlook it.”
As the roles of social media sites and traditional sources of news begin to melt into one another, the scuffling for authority over what conjecture is considered harmful and what is not is continuing apace, as this Guardian article explores.
IN THE NEWS
EU Common Agricultural Policy
The EU has this week passed laws paving the way for further intensification of farming, posing what some commentators have warned is a fateful blow to the climate.
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: ‘Execution’ video
Videos appearing to show two Armenian prisoners being executed in cold blood promises to further intensify conflict in the region, and could lead to the involvement of the international judicial powers.
Protests in Poland
Laws passed to further restrict Polish women’s already limited access to abortion have caused a wave of protests across the country.
A BIT OF LISTENING
Script Apart
A podcast in which famous and accomplished screenwriters are asked to take us through their first screenplays, including Stephen Merchant and Armando Iannucci, and all proceeds go to charity. What’s not to love?
WATCH LIST
Dirty Money
After a presidential debate in which it felt like half the time was spent mud-slinging over murky financial dealings, this binge-worthy Netflix documentary may cause a few missed deadlines, but it will also place the candidates for the White House in the frightening context of a worldwide web of dodgy dealings.
That’s all for this week. Interested in writing for us? Contact us to chat about submissions.