Monthly Archives: July 2011

America’s sweetheart and the star malfunction: Doris Day and Jennifer Aniston

Posted on July 30, 2011 by samiraahmed

In Jeanine Basinger’s book on the old Hollywood studios’ star-making system, The Star Machine there is a great little section on how Doris Day became a huge name, while the similarly talented and wholesome Rosemary Clooney did not. Basinger put … Continue reading →

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The space shuttle: the shape of things that never came.

Posted on July 18, 2011 by samiraahmed

Or How The Space Shuttle Promised Me The Universe, But Left Me On The Gantry Of Broke Dreams. It seems appropriate that the final Space Shuttle mission launch got pushed off the front pages and main broadcast news coverage by … Continue reading →

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Exclusives, damned exclusives (and some lies).

Posted on July 7, 2011 by samiraahmed

UPDATED: FRIDAY JULY 15TH 2 senior NI/NewsCorp executives have quit within hours today: Rebekah Brooks and Les Hinton. NI’s Legal chief Tom Crone left earlier this week after more than 20 years. And Rupert Murdoch apologised in person to the … Continue reading →

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Eet is, ‘ow you say, uncanny, no?

Posted on July 5, 2011 by samiraahmed

Fans of Asterix will need no reminding that the comic featured a youthful Jacques Chirac as a thrusting young politician in Obelix and Co (1976). But this morning provided a particularly delightful example of the potential of looking at politics … Continue reading →

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Don’t misquote me — lessons in interviewing from Johann Hari and Ed Miliband

Posted on July 2, 2011 by samiraahmed

Two incidents this week revealed  quite useful lessons about responsible interviewing. The Independent’s star columnist Johann Hari was found to have been quoting interviewees from other sources, while passing the quotes off as his own interview. Here’s Johann Hari’s own … Continue reading →

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