Six Billion Ways conference (free)

by Newswire    
March 5, 2011 at 9:00 am

Across the world, ordinary people are paying the price for crises they are not responsible for. Climate change caused by the rich world is devastating the poor world through flooding and droughts.

A financial crisis caused by the greed of the big banks is resulting in unprecedented cuts to public services in Europe, and worsening poverty around the world.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Whether it’s corporations profiting from war, ‘austerity’ hitting the poorest hardest, or sweatshop workers paid a pittance, people are fighting back. From the grassroots to the global, communities and movements are imagining and creating a world where people and planet come before profit, and democracy trumps corporate power.

6 Billion Ways is a day that explores this resistance through discussion, ideas, action and the arts.

With speakers and practical workshops for all ages, debates, films, music and art, 6 Billion Ways is your chance to inspire and be inspired, and to make connections with others who want to challenge injustice and inequality, both in the UK and globally.

The event is free to attend, today, from 9:30am to midnight, in Central London.

See the website for more details

A film about the 2009 event

Watch: ITV film on ‘tax gap’ features UKuncut

by Newswire    
March 4, 2011 at 3:10 pm

Big businesses could be avoiding paying billion of pounds in tax – by working within the system legally.

But are they playing fair when the government says it is short of money? ITV broadcast a documentary yesterday evening on the ‘tax gap’. Watch it below.

Part 1: 10 minutes

.

Part 2: 13 minutes

Notes from a male dominated media industry

by Jennifer O'Mahony    
March 4, 2011 at 2:43 pm

In the last two months I’ve been working as a freelance journalist for the first time, and I had an interview at a national newspaper for a job.

Scenario 1: During my group interview for the job, there were around 6 male editors and executives present, and one woman. The people interviewed were evenly divided: 6 men and 6 women.

Scenario 2: Yesterday, I interviewed Ed Balls and John Denham at a video games lab in Liverpool. The Labour representatives organising the event were all male. So was the councillor present. The one woman in the room, Angela Eagle MP, left as I arrived, so there was a local journalist, Ed Balls, John Denham, Liam Byrne, and their special advisers, all male.
continue reading… »

Spending cuts across London councils hit Labour hardest: a comparison

by Guest    
March 4, 2011 at 10:45 am

contribution by Anjum Klair

Councils in London have started to pass their financial budgets, and further councils in London will decide on how to make savings in the coming days as a result of the funding reductions they are facing from Central Government.

The chart below, produced from Government figures, gives more detail about the relative scale of cuts across London Boroughs and also shows that poorer boroughs with high deprivation levels – like Islington, Haringey, Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Newham – are among the hardest hit in London.
continue reading… »

Want to see BBC News reported right? Try this

by Sunny Hundal    
March 4, 2011 at 10:00 am

Worried that the BBC is going to start replacing all instances of ‘cuts’ with ‘savings’ in their reports, and drive you mad with rage?

We have the solution.

Say hello to the ‘Honestificator’, by Robert Manuel of b3ta.com (with thanks to @bengoldacre).

He says:

Ben Goldacre wrote me an email, “Apparently the govt have leaned on the bbc to use the word “savings” instead of “cuts”. be nice if someone made something that resubstituted “cuts” back in. “thehonestificator”. whatever.”

Two seconds of googling for “search replace bookmarket” finds me this script by sixthgear, which I can quickly hack to make the BBC tell the truth.

So this is how it works.

1. You drag this link –> The Honestificator <– to your bookmarks bar in your browser and it should become a bookmark.

2. Go to a BBC story where they’re trying to be desperately nice to Tory ‘savings’.

3. Press the link you just saved and it will tell you the truth!

Much thanks to @RobManuel again.

Osborne claims international opinion is with him; this chart disagrees

by Duncan Weldon    
March 4, 2011 at 9:10 am

On Monday, at the launch event for the IPPR’s collection of essays on growth, Wendy Carlin gave an excellent talk on growth, policy and rebalancing.

One graph from that talk, which I hadn’t seen before, really speaks for itself – an international comparison of fiscal stimulus/tightening in 2011.
continue reading… »

New survey: media still very biased towards men

by Newswire    
March 3, 2011 at 7:55 pm

Three quarters of news journalists are men according to exclusive new research commissioned by Echo Research, out tonight.

It also shows women cover just 30% of reporting on business and politics.

‘A-Gendered Press?’ is released tonight to mark the upcoming 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day.

Research findings include:
» 74% of news journalists are men, whilst women make up just one third of journalists covering business and politics. Just 3% of sports journalists are women
» Traditional subjects that women might have been expected to dominate are also covered by men, with male journalists now making up 49% of lifestyle reporters and 70% of arts reporters
» Women are less likely to be in senior positions, with eight out of the top ten newspapers having almost twice as many male editors as women editors
» Stark gender divide throughout the whole of newspaper industry with women making up just 30% of all newspaper journalists

The research also highlights stark differences between papers:

» The Independent had the lowest proportion of female staff, employing 25% women, followed closely by The Sun (26%) and the Daily Telegraph (26%)
» The Daily Mail and the Observer had the highest proportion of female journalists, both employing 36% women, closely followed by the Daily Express (35%)
» Women were most likely to be editors at the Sunday Times (40%) the Times (39%) and the Guardian (37%)
» Women were least likely to be in editorial positions at The Daily Mirror (21%) and The Sun (24%)

The full report, ‘A-Gendered Press’, was launched today at the Met building in Tottenham Court Road to mark the 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day.

The study was conducted by Echo, which surveyed the top 28 national papers by circulation size.
The research was carried out in October 2010.

From a press release

Watch: a message to IDS from Merthyr, Wales

by Newswire    
March 3, 2011 at 7:35 pm

Message from Merthyr is a short documentary (broadcast on the BBC last week) looking at how the 2011 benefit cuts will impact Merthyr Tydfil.

Gemma and Donna Griffiths (Two Sisters) make a 15m film about several people in their community who will suffer.

In response to Iain Duncan Smith’s comment suggesting many people in Merthyr don’t realise they can get on a bus to Cardiff to look for work, Gemma and Donna leave the Gurnos estate at 5:50am to get in to Cardiff for 8:15am, to see what jobs are going.

suggested by planeshift

I’m the fourth NUS candidate: why you should vote for me

by Guest    
March 3, 2011 at 6:29 pm

contribution by Thomas Byrne

The other day, Liberal Conspiracy interviewed the three “front runners” in the race to be National Union of Students President. What they failed to mention is that there are only four candidates. I am that fourth candidate, and I’m grateful to this site for giving me the right to be heard.

The reason I was not featured was quite simple: I’m not left-wing. But that doesn’t mean my platform can’t be appealing to those on the left.
continue reading… »

Lessons from the council budget controversy in Hackney last night

by Don Paskini    
March 3, 2011 at 3:20 pm

Last night Hackney Council passed a budget with £44 million of cuts, amidst protests from anti-cuts campaigners. Having looked at their budget, I think councillors have done very well in extremely difficult situation.

There is an irony in watching protesters who say all political parties are just the same with one breath, while with the next protesting against the Tory/Lib Dem decision to end Labour’s policy of giving more money to the most deprived areas.
continue reading… »

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