Negatives

Brian Duffy was one of the greatest British photographers ever, standing alongside David Bailey and Terence Donovan as one of the creators of the image of Swinging London. He shot the cover of Bowie's Aladdin Sane, created iconic Benson & Hedges adverts, shot the Pirelli calendars for 1965 and 1973, and helped produce the film Oh! What A Lovely War.

And then in 1979 he gave it all up, burning his negatives, and not taking another photo for 30 years.

His path into photography was unconventional - he came from a working-class north London background, but thanks to a radical project run by London County Council, he was exposed to art galleries, ballet, opera, and other art forms as a child. This took him to art school where he initially studied painting before switching to fashion design (he claimed because he wasn't the best painter and he wanted to meet girls). With this, he got work at Harper's and then London Vogue, getting sent to take photos and helping redefine the look of fashion photography.

BBC4 recently showed a documentary, The Man Who Shot The 60s, about Duffy, with contributions from David Bailey, Joanna Lumley and other people who know or knew him. He's still alive (though not in good health) and friends with Bailey, and he held an exhibition of old and new work in London in late 2009.

The TV program included Duffy visiting the house that held his old studio and talking about the moment he burned his photographs.

NARRATOR: Throughout the 70s Duffy was still in demand, but his 20 years at the top were beginning to take their toll.

DUFFY: 99.9% of my work was advertising: putting cream on babies' bums and rubbing it on; people putting toothpaste in their gob and doing this; putting something on their hair and doing that. That was 99% of my work. Crap.

HIS FORMER ASSISTANT: I think certainly by the time I came to work for him I think he was getting bored. He was still interested in trying new techniques, but there weren't many jobs that we did which I would say extended him.

DUFFY: The people who were hiring me I didn't like. You know it's like being on the game, disliking the men who are fucking you.

We're going to King Henry's Road because that's where I had the studio. And we're going there, which of course will be very exciting for you and for I guess the inhabitants of King Henry's Road.

Now this story might be absolute crock of shit and lies; it's the way I've been able to put it together in my cranium. I came in to start work and the assistant said we haven't got any toilet paper and I realised in a moment, in a flash, a trice: I was now commander-in-chief, managing director, senior partner, making decisions about toilet paper. And I thought, this has got to end: either by me murdering my staff, killing myself, or setting fire to the whole fucking thing.

I asked them all to leave and during the course of that morning decided to burn my negatives. My career went down the bog with a piece of paper.

So here we are, Linda. I set fire to boxes of negs which burned very inefficiently and I stoked them. And finally somebody turned up on the other side of that, that was a wooden fence, said, "What are you doing?" It was obvious what I was doing, burning stuff, and they said, "You can't do that. We're from the council." And so I put it out.

INTERVIEWER: I understand that as you were burning your work that Bailey played a part in all of this. What role did Bailey play?

DUFFY: Absolutely useless. I guess he was driving up the road, so he came in. I think he stood there like a spare dick at an Italian wedding and then said, "Oh, I could look after that for you." I said, "Don't bother," and then - went. Somebody later said or he said to them he helped me save them. He did no such thing. See that's the sort of turd he is.

INTERVIEWER: It was an incredibly significant moment in your life, wasn't it?

DUFFY: Not really, no. Just one thing I didn't want to do any more, that's all. When anything's destroyed people will wonder what was there. Well, it could have been a crock of shit that I left, worse than the stuff we've still got. Everybody think it might be full of gems.

(Transcribed from TV by myself)

In the 1970s most of his work was for advertising. Although he loved the technical challenges of creating complex images, he didn't seem to view his work as art and was slightly bemused by the way that a camera is an art-making machine that can be used by anybody. Photography is the closest of all art forms to advertising, even more so than filmmaking. This post follows another entry on lost books, TV, and music.

Will the internet save journalism?

A new study by Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism investigated news sources in Baltimore to study the changing nature of news media - the rise of blogs and websites, the decline of traditional newspapers. They found 95% of new stories came from traditional media (print, tv, radio, and niche media [e.g. trade press] - including the websites of these organisations) and only 5% from new media (blogs, twitter, websites). The web was the place where stories broke, both from traditional and new media.

On 6 major news stories studied in depth, 83% of all reports were repetitions of other stories without new information. Mainstream newspapers generated 48% of new information, TV 28%, and new media 4%. In the areas covered in detail, 63% of new stories came from government officials (mainly the police) while 15% were initiated by the press, 12% from citizens, and 10% from colleges/universities. They found numerous instances of press releases being reproduced word-for-word in news stories.

Many people in the blogosphere believe that bloggers can take the place of newspapers. There is some way to go. The researchers found just two news stories that originated from new media: one a posting on the police's twitter feed, and one by an investigative blogger who found a story about local government plans to put listening devices on public transport. Maybe we need more bloggers?

Murder mystery

Rodrigo Rosenberg was a 47 year old lawyer living in Guatemala City. In April 2009, gunmen on a motorcycle attacked kill his client, industrialist Khalil Musa. This sort of killing is not unusual in Guatemala, a country rife with corruption and organised crime. Musa was killed alongside his daughter Marjorie, with whom Rosenberg was having an affair. Rosenberg spent weeks investigating the murders, becoming convinced it was part of a plot linked to left-wing president Alvaro Colom.

On 10 May 2009, at 8am, Rosenberg left his home on a bicycle, and shortly afterwards he was shot dead by assassins driving a Mazda. At his funeral, his friend Luis Mendizábal handed out copies of a video that Rosenberg had made four days before his death. In it, Rosenberg accused President Colom of trying to have him killed, naming the President's private secretary Gustavo Alejos and businessman Gregorio Valdez as accomplices. Guatemala was thrown into turmoil with protestors filling the streets and politicians demanding the president resign.

A team from the UN arrived to investigate the killing. The street where Rosenberg died was overlooked by several security cameras, and the investigators were able to identify the killers and eventually force them to talk. They discovered that Rosenberg had bought mobile phones and used them to makes death threats to himself, and even more incredibly he himself hired the assassins who gunned him down in the street. Rosenberg had fabricated evidence to frame Colom and in dying sought to pin his own death on the man he believed had killed his girlfriend - with Marjorie Musa dead and hopes of justice unravelling, suicide seemed not that bad an option.

It is a plot worthy of the darkest film noir or most convoluted Agatha Christie. Source: The Guardian.

Proscribed

It has just been announced that Islam4UK (founded by Anjem Choudary) and parent group al-Muhajiroun (founders Omar Bakri Muhammad and Anjem Choudary) are to be banned under 2000 Terrorism Act, which allows the home secretary to proscribe groups which are "concerned in terrorism". Its offshoots the Saviour sect and al-Ghurabaa are already banned. But who else is banned? The following list is taken from the Home Office website; see also Guardian and Wikipedia.

Irish groups

Continuity Army Council (CAC) - NI Republican group, split from Provisional IRA in 1986
Cumann na mBan - Irish women's paramilitary group, linked to Irish Volunteers, formed 1914
Fianna na hÉireann - Name used by various Irish Republican groups, originally a youth group in West Belfast early in 20th century
Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) - Northern Irish Republican group, split from Official IRA in 1972 because they believed the OIRA was too moderate, has now renounced violence
Irish People's Liberation group (IPLO) - Split from INLA in 1986, shut down by PIRA in 1992
Irish Republican Army (IRA) - Various Irish Republican groups going back to early 20th century, of which Original IRA, Provisional IRA (traditionalists who split from OIRA in 1969 after OIRA recognised British and Irish governments), Continuity IRA (broke from PIRA in 1986 when PIRA recognised Republic of Ireland), and Real IRA (broke from PIRA in 1997 over PIRA's support for peace process) are most well-known
Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) - Loyalist Northern Irish group, founded by Billy Wright, who left or was expelled from UVF in late 1990s; claimed it was ceasing operations in 2005, but may continue as a purely criminal gang
Orange Volunteers - Loyalist NI group, formed from members of Loyalist Volunteer Force and Ulster Defence Association following 1998 Drumcree conflict
Red Hand Commando - Loyalist NI group, linked to Ulster Volunteer Force
Red Hand Defenders - Loyalist NI group, with members of Ulster Defence Association and Loyalist Volunteer Force
Saor Éire - Trotskyite Irish Republican group active 1967-75
Ulster Defence Association (UDA) aka Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) - Loyalist NI group; used UFF name for terrorist actions; formed in 1971 and ended armed campaign in 2007
Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) - Loyalist NI group, founded 1966, ended armed campaign in 2007

Other international groups

17 November Revolutionary Organization (17N) - Greek Marxist group; named after 1973 rising against Greek military junta; anti-USA
Abu Nidal group (ANO) - militant Palestinian group, secular and socialist
Abu Sayyaf (ASG) - Filipino Islamic group fighting for autonomy for Bangsamoro region; name means "father of swordsmith"
Al-Gama'at al-Islamiya (GI) - Egyptian Islamist group
Al Gurabaa (aka Al-Ghurabaa) - British Islamist group, formed from Al-Muhajiroun which disbanded in 2004. Name from hadith "Islam began as something strange and will end as something strange ... paradise is for the strangers (al Ghurabaa)."
Al Ittihad Al Islamia (AIAI) - Somali Islamist group allegedly linked to Al-Qaeda; now defunct
Al-Qaeda aka Al Qaida - Islamist movement formed by combining the wealtho of Saudi Arabian Osama bin Laden with the expertise of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, inspired by ideas of Sayyid Qutb
Ansar Al Islam (AI) - Kurdish Sunni/Wahhabi group
Ansar Al Sunna (AS) aka Jamaat Ansar al-Sunna - "Army of the Followers of the Sunna", Sunni Iraqi group founded in 2003, possibly linked to Al-Qaeda in Iraq
Armed Islamic Group (Groupe Islamique Armée) (GIA) - Algerian Islamist militia who hijacked Air France Flight 8969 and killed thousands of Algerians
Asbat Al-Ansar - Lebanese Sunni group, allegedly linked to Al Qaeda; name means "League of Partisans" or "Band of Helpers"
Babbar Khalsa (BK) - Sikh group trying to create independent Khalistan in Punjab; founded in late 1970s
Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA) - campaigning for independence for Pakistani region of Baluchistan/Balochistan
Basque Homeland and Liberty (Euskadi ta Askatasuna) (ETA) - Basque separatists, Marxist
Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) - Egyptian Islamist group led by Ayman al-Zawahiri; affiliated with Al-Qaeda
Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain (GICM) - Moroccan terrorist group responsible for Madrid train bombings
Hamas Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades - Palestinian Islamists, military wing of Hamas
Harakat-Ul-Jihad-Ul-Islami (HUJI) aka Harkat-Ul-Jihad-Ul-Islami - Sunni terrorist group founded in Pakistan during Soviet occupation of Afghanistan; backed by Pakistan government and linked to Osama bin Laden
Harakat-Ul-Jihad-Ul-Islami (Bangladesh) (Huji-B) - Bangladeshi branch of above
Harakat-Ul-Mujahideen-Al-Alami (HuM/A) and Jundallah - Pakistani Islamic group; active in Kashmir; formerly Harakat Ul Ansar (HuA); links with Osama bin Laden
Harakat-ul-Mujahideen (HM) - Pakistani Islamist group, split from Harakat-Ul-Jihad-Ul-Islami
Hezb-E Islami Gulbuddin (HIG) - Afghan Islamist faction of Hezbi Islami Party; funded by Pakistan in 1980s
Hizballah External Security group aka Hizballah Military Wing - Lebanese Shia Islamist group
International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) - Sikh pro-independence group
Islamic Army of Aden (IAA) - Yemeni Islamist group
Islamic Jihad Union (IJU) - Uzbek Islamist group, split from Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) - Uzbek Islamist group, operated out of Tajikistan and Afghanistan trying to overthrow President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan
Jaish e Mohammed (JeM) - Pakistani Islamist group, "The Army of Mohammed"
Jammat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) - Bangladeshi Islamist group, set off 500 bombs in August 2005
Jeemah Islamiyah (JI) - Southeast Asian Islamist group, active in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Brunei; derived from Indonesian Darul Islam movement
Khuddam Ul-Islam (Kul) - Islamist group sprung from Jaish-e-Mohammed
Jamaat Ul-Furquan (JuF) - Islamist group linked to Khuddam Ul-Islam
Kongra Gele Kurdistan aka Kurdistan Workers Party (Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan or Kongra-Gel) (PKK) - Kurdish Marxist nationalists active in Turkey, formerly led by Abdullah Öcalan
Lashkar-e-Taiba or Lashkar e Tayyaba (LT) - South Asian Islamist group, based in Pakistan; seek independent Kashmir
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) - Tamil militia fought for independence from Sri Lanka until defeated by Sri Lankan armed forces in 2009
Palestinian Islamic Jihad - Shaqaqi (PIJ) - Palestinian Islamic group descended from Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood
Revolutionary Peoples' Liberation Party - Front (Devrimci Halk Kurtulus Partisi/Cephesi) (DHKP/C) - Turkish Marxist-Leninist group; split from Devrimci Yol aka Dev Yol which in turn split from People's Liberation Party-Front of Turkey (THKP-C), which split from Revolutionary Youth Federation aka Dev Genç; "Party" refers to political side of organisation, "Front" the military
Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb - Algerian Islamist militia; formerly Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (Groupe Salafiste pour la Predication et le Combat) (GSPC); founded by Hassan Hattab, formerly of Armed Islamic Group (GIA) who broke with the GIA because of their slaughter of civilians; decimated by mysterious disease in January 2009
Saved Sect (al-Firqat un-Naajiyah) or Saviour Sect - Islamist group from UK, descended from Al-Muhajiroun; believed to be headed by Omar Bakri Muhammad; founded 2005, banned 2006
Sipah-E Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), renamed Millat-E Islami Pakistan (MIP) in April 2003 - Pakistani Sunni Islamist group
Lashkar-E Jhangvi (LeJ) - Palestinian Islamists, splinter group of Millat-E Islami Pakistan
Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) - Libyan Islamist group, opposed to Colonel Gaddafi; some people link them with Al-Qaeda, but they claim to oppose attacks on civilians; may have been involved in MI6 plan to kill Gaddafi in 1996
Tehrik Nefaz-e Shari'at Muhammadi (TNSM) - Pakistani Islamist fundamentalist group; control area around Swat in Pakistan; founded by Sufi Muhammad in 1992; may now be in alliance with Baitullah Mehsud's Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
Teyre Azadiye Kurdistan (TAK) aka Teyrebaz Azadiye Kurdistan - Kurdish group active in Turkey, attacking tourists; may have split from Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) or may be subgroup of PKK

Ideally someone from Rock Family Trees could produce a more visually appealing presentation of this data.

Sic ASA Parrot 2

More Advertising Standards Authority adjudications from the end of 2009.

Britvic, who make Tango orange drink, had "no intention to imply oral sex with a bull and they were concerned about any distress caused to those who had interpreted the ad in that way. They had carried out qualitative research groups with 17-20-year-old men before producing the campaign, and none of the respondents had interpreted the ad's headline as referring to oral sex with a bull." In what context would 17-20 year old men admit thinking of oral sex with a bull? The advert said: "Too much Tango made me suck a bull's udder." Another ad, "too much tango made me shave my nan", had "definitely no intention to imply the shaving of vaginal hair".

Press TV, the Iranian government's English-language satellite news channel is truthful! Well, truth is relative. The ASA said, "We considered that '24/7 TRUTH' would be seen as the station's opinion of the information it provided rather than an objective claim." As long as they "provided the full story as they saw it" there is no need to prove the reporting actually was true. This will surely be a comfort to TV news organisations everywhere.

If a company's response to a complaint starts like the following, you can probably guess the outcome:

The Watermark Club Ltd (the Watermark Club) said the word "holiday" originated from Holy day, used to describe a day of festivity or recreation where no work was done. They defined other words, for example "second home", "residential property" and "holiday lodge". They said a "second home" plainly meant a place where one did not live as ones permanent home no more or less and underlined that in all probability if you were away from your primary home you would be on a break or on holiday.

A complaint was upheld against holiday home property company Watermark Club, which was told that it had to make it clear you couldn't live in your new waterside home between "January 6 and February 5 of each year", amongst other restrictions.

liverock.org.uk advertised a fake Dionne Warwick concert on Magic FM. One punter "paid £296.00 for four tickets to the concert and subsequently found out that Dionne Warwick was not performing".

British Airways advertised the delights of Guangzhou (Canton), despite not actually flying to Canton - they suggest you can fly to Hong Kong or Shanghai and go from there. Complaint upheld.

British Gas will phone ahead to warn you before they come around. Except if they're coming to read your meter.

Car dealer Stoneacre Motor Group gets in trouble for advertising a scrappage scheme but not scrapping the cars.

Daily Mail misleading over a promotion for "free bulbs".

It's ok for Peta to say that eating meat gives you man-boobs.

Virgin Media in trouble for being rude to ginger-haired people!

The same presenter appeared on 2 different TV shopping channels at the same time, but this was found "unlikely to materially mislead viewers".

Best product idea of the bunch: Extend-A-Room offer to make your house bigger by constructing a new room in just 1-2 days (basically, it's a conservatory). Sadly, it seems they're not quite that fast.

With any recession come recruitment scams, such as the unimaginatively named JK Data and DH Data, and escort agency First4Companions. Meanwhile recruitment firm Pro-Tax was caught exaggerating its influence. And it strayed over into training: Redwood Futures were misleading wannabe accountants and The Ensign Group taxi drivers. Belmont Sporting's gambling system isn't any use either.

Martini won't make you beautiful! An event at a Pitcher and Piano bar promised "Stay beautiful with Martini". According to the ASA code, alcohol does not enhance attractiveness.

Digital Satellite Warranty Cover Ltd seem to have some method of getting hold of Sky customers' addresses and sending them direct mail. (Admittedly they could find out simply by looking at someone's house that they have Sky.)

Dating site eHarmony was criticised for claiming "2% of American couples who had married in 2007 were likely to have met through eHarmony" - their evidence doesn't show that - and because 20% of applicants got no matches at all.

Mobile Phone Xchange Ltd will exchange many mobile phones for cash! But not all.

Products and services that don't work as claimed: Easylife Pelvic Back Pain Belt; Dore program for treating dyslexia and Asperger's syndrome; Estee Lauder's "wrinkle-fighter" Perfectionist CP+ Wrinkle Lifting Serum; killyourstutter.com; Lloyds Pharmacy hay fever reliever; Advanced Hair Studio; Gymform Vibro Max; Larsen Health Care's chiropractic treatment for IBS, colds and asthma; Pain Ease electric patch; jennysweighlosssuccess.com; Omega XL artery cleaner; and Direct Beauty Products' silk anti-aging pillowcases. In all these cases, advertisers failed to produce evidence of claims (although the Estee Lauder stuff does work as well as any cheap moisturiser).

Greens, black, and white - immigration, race, and newspapers

This entry considers the media's reporting of immigration, and the politicians and campaigners who oppose immigration. It focuses on two men who are both much quoted on immigration matters: Conservative MP Damian Green and former diplomat Sir Andrew Green, and the newspapers that publish their words. There are often complaints from the right that there is no proper debate on immigration, so this is as close as we get.

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Damian Green is the shadow minister (i.e. Conservative party spokesperson) on immigration. Although there are many problems with Britain's migrant-processing bureaucracy that he could concern himself with, Green is most often to be found giving anti-immigrant quotes to right-wing newspapers.

In October 2006 the Sun published a story accusing Muslims of vandalising a house that soldiers had planned to move in to, and of making threatening phone calls to the soldiers. The Sun later published a correction saying "no threatening calls were logged at Combermere Barracks from Muslims and police have been unable to establish if any faith or religious group was responsible for the incident." The original article featured damning quotes from Damian Green and another Tory MP, Philip Davis. Davis later apologised for his comments, saying "Newspapers and television media approach people every day and ask people their reactions to events they relate to you. Everybody makes their comments in good faith presuming that the story is true." Green has not apologised, and nor has he learnt about the honesty of the press.

The Express on June 20, 2007 reported misleadingly on the leather sofas, "designer shelving" and "10 showers and 10 toilets segregated for men and women" supposedly awaiting illegal immigrants in a camp near Calais planned to replace the old Sangatte holding camp closed in 2002. The BBC pointed out "The charities say they are already providing such services in the town, although not in one location, and have earmarked a site for the centre. [...] However, the authorities in Calais say it would not be like the original Sangatte because the proposed centre would not provide accommodation." The Express failed to mention that the new centre was not a holding camp and merely relocated existing provisions, asking Damian Green for a statement that concluded: "This latest revelation shows that the Government continues to fail to protect our borders", despite the fact that the centre was to be built in France.

An Express story on 4 December (now removed from their website but cached by Google) claimed "Migrants use 'joke' degrees to live in Britain", saying foreigners were taking degrees in theatre studies in an effort to remain in Britain. Green was quoted at length: "This is a late recognition of the chaos surrounding student visas. The important thing is to close this loophole without destroying hundreds of legitimate college courses." However the newspaper admitted that the chairman of the Migration Advisory Committee "said there was no evidence that immigrants were using qualifications from any of the organisations listed to get into Britain."

He also came up with a quote when the Express produced questionable claims under the headline "Each illegal immigrant to cost us £1 million" (at the same time contradicting Boris Johnson's idea of an amnesty for illegal immigrants). The figures were based on a report by anti-immigrant campaigners Migration Watch which assumed each immigrant family would be on benefits till the sole family wage-owner was 80 years old (4 years above the mean male life expectancy); this is despite government research suggesting immigrants brought a slight net benefit to the economy.

The Express reported in March 2009 "One in seven primary school pupils do not have English as their first language. The increased figure has prompted Tory immigration spokesman Damian Green to demand an annual limit on immigration." As Tabloid Watch noted, that has actually been Conservative policy since 2005.

In October 2009 he got his photo on a Daily Mail story despite never even being quoted in it. It's possible the paper's staff confused him with Andrew Green of anti-immigration pressure group Migration Watch. The article dubiously claimed (headline) "Migrant facing deportation wins right to stay in Britain... because he's got a cat"; the migrant's lawyer Barry O'Leary apparently "told the Sunday Telegraph that the cat was one detail among many in the case" used to show the immigrant had settled in the UK, but one of the judges commented on it so it became an easy hook for the story.

On 27 November 2008, Green was arrested "on suspicion of conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office and aiding and abetting, counselling or procuring misconduct in a public office". It was believed that he had made contact with a civil servant in the Home Office called Christopher Galley. Bob Quick, assistant commissioner in the Metropolitan Police in charge of the Green investigation, informed MPs what Galley had told him:

He [Galley] said Green offered to look out for a position for him but told him that, 'He wanted as much, how can I say, as much dirt on the Labour Party, the Labour Government, as possible. And so he wanted as much information to damage them as possible'. Galley also stated, 'Well, at the end of each meeting he always tends to say, "Yes I am looking, I'll try and find something, I'll put your name about", but nothing ever seems to happen'.

Green was never charged.

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Sir Andrew Green is the chair of Migration Watch, which campaigns against immigration. It claims on its website to be a "think tank", says "genuine refugees should be welcomed", and praises "many immigrants [who] have made a valuable contribution to our society in terms both of skills and diversity". Andrew Green is often quoted in newspapers and news media (not just right-wing ones; the BBC is a frequent consumer of his utterances) condemning everything about government immigration policy, frequently alongside remarks from Damian Green, but never defending refugees or praising the contribution of immigrants.

Many people have questioned whether Green is a racist, and whether his stated reasons for opposing immigration are his true ones. Officially, Migration Watch is only worried that there may be too many people and that immigration is insufficiently controlled: "There must be a serious question as to whether we can successfully integrate immigrants at such a rate."
(Guardian January 7, 2007)

There's certainly an argument that the government has failed to increase funding and support for public services to match the influx of immigrants, but do the following sound like complaints about a shortage of doctors or school places?

"Our society is being fundamentally changed against the clearly expressed wishes of the public"
(Express August 22, 2008)

"The numbers of migrants are now so great as to change the whole nature of our society"
"In central London primary schools, only 20 per cent of pupils are now classified as 'white British'."
(Mail October 22, 2009)

"The working class has been the most affected but it has been silenced by the forces of political correctness."
(Express January 3, 2009)

"One has to ask, too, whether there could be a political aspect. Immigrant communities are predominantly Labour voters. If they had all been budding Conservatives, one wonders whether the situation would have been allowed to continue for so long."
(Mail March 31, 2008)

"mass immigration under this government was a deliberate policy concealed from the public, and especially from the white working class whose lives and neighbourhoods have been most affected."
(Mail October 27, 2009)

He's said time and time again that he doesn't care about EU immigrants: "The big issue remains the very large numbers coming to the UK from outside the EU"
(Express February 18, 2009)

"The rapid rise in the Muslim population is just one way in which mass immigration promoted, even encouraged, by this Government has affected the whole nature of our society."
(Express December 14,2009)

The Express reported on October 23, 2009 "Aside from brave mavericks such as Frank Field, Nicholas Soames and Andrew Green, the chairman of the Migration Watch think tank, there have been no mainstream political figures willing to speak up for the widely held view that immigration is out of control and the British national identity under threat."

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This raises two questions. First, are right-wing anti-immigration campaigners commenting on newspaper stories without finding out if they're true or false? And secondly, are they hiding their true reasons for opposing immigration?

Follow the dead celebrity: more Twitter advertising

In June, furniture store Habitat published tweets with tags related to the protests in Iran. Twitter users are encouraged to mark the topic of their posts with a hash-tag such as "#iran", and twitter.com keeps a chart of the most popular ("trending topics"). Users often click on tags in the top ten to find out what they're about, being taken to a sampling of Twitter posts (tweets). If you can get on this list, there's the chance that a lot of people will read you - Twitter seems increasingly popular as a news source whether you're interested in the latest celebrity death or political protest. Habitat's Twitter feed displayed messages tied to the protests over Iranian elections, such as: "HabitatUK: #MOUSAVI Join the database for free to win a £1,000 gift card." Habitat apologised and claimed they had no knowledge of this promotion but refused to say who was responsible. (BBC; Register)

According to The Register, One Riot (a Colorado-based search engine for Twitter and similar social media sites) is offering Habitat's morally-dubious strategy to everybody, with its new idea: "trending ads". Described as "a stream of ads that are related to trending topics as they emerge across the social web", the idea is that a company provides a marketing message (like "win a gift card!") and One Riot links it to trending topics. A spokesman for One Riot linked his service to dead actress Brittany Murphy, telling the Register "As an advertiser, you have no way of knowing that the everyone is going to be searching for Brittany Murphy. You can't build ads ahead of time. We index your site and then build the ads for you."

One of the risks of any open medium is that people will try to use it to make money, and that the advertising messages may overwhelm the content, destroying the utility of the original source - many people feel this way about email, faced with the endless spam. In a method similar to that of One Riot, each big news event (the death of Michael Jackson, Tiger Woods' infidelity) is accompanied by unsolicited email whose subject line or content promising salacious video or images, only to lead you to some dodgy online store or compromised website, or trick you into downloading a virus. It's a battle that web search also has to fight, with Google constantly tweaking its systems to remove scraper sites and link farms.

Already, the majority of Twitter users seem to be selling something: Twitter does allow you to exchange messages with your friends in a little closed world, but plans for Twitter to be used as an advertising and market research platform require people to continue to interact more openly, to use hash tags and see what other people are writing about. Without people like One Riot, Twitter will go bankrupt, but with them it may not have any genuine users. Twitter has shown signs of being the conscience of the internet; it will be ironic if it starts making money from dead celebrities and political protests. Mainstream news media always sell more copies when it's bad news, but they don't promise to put a photo of the latest corpse in the middle of your press ad.