2013 All Ireland Senior Football Championship review

Glory for Jim Gavin's Dublin.

I remember watching Jim Gavin strut into Parnell Park for his first press conference when he was being unveiled as Dublin senior football manager at the start of the season. He looked calm, determined, and confident. It was the same humble look Gavin had when he watched the Dublin captain Stephen Cluxton lift the Sam Maguire trophy at the end of the Championship. Gavin has instilled a quietly relentless winning ethos into this Dublin panel. And it paid dividends.

                                              

Dublin were crowned both League and Championship winners this season. Dublin overcame Tyrone by a single point at the end of April to secure the Division 1 League title. And it was the same winning margin when they beat Mayo by 2-12 to 1-14 at the end of September to ensure Sam Maguire was staying in the capital. The football final wasn’t the most exciting of games but it was an All Ireland final that saw the two best teams of the summer competing. It was also a final played by two teams who endorse an expansive, skilful style of play.

This season saw Joe Brolly condemn Sean Cavanagh’s manhood after a cynical performance which has plagued Tyrone under the leadership of Mickey Harte. The GAA has had to endure a lot of negative press over widening gaps in quality between teams and over negative styles of play creeping into the game. Let’s not forget the tactics of Jim McGuinness and his Donegal team. But perhaps a new strategy is needed after Mayo dismantled his Donegal outfit by 16 points in an All Ireland quarter final. Dublin brought a breath of fresh air to the football Championship through Jim Gavin’s game plan.

Gavin inherited a talented panel of players whose foundation had been put in place by Pat Gilroy. However, Gavin blended experience with youth perfectly. Gavin worked with many of the rising stars of Dublin GAA during his tenure as under 21 manager. Paul Mannion, Jack McCaffrey, and Ciaran Kilkenny looked like seasoned veterans for Dublin throughout their campaign. Mannion and McCaffrey were both nominated for Young Player of the Year with the Clontarf man, Jack McCaffrey, collecting the accolade.

Dublin’s solid central line of Stephen Cluxton, Rory O’Carroll, Cian O’Sullivan, Michael Darragh MacAuley, Paul Flynn, and Bernard Brogan all picked up All Star awards thanks to a successful season with the Dubs. Midfielder Michael Darragh MacAuley picked up the Player of the Year award due to a outstanding season.

It was heartbreak in the final for a second year for Mayo, having lost to Donegal in 2012. It’s now 63 years since Mayo have achieved All Ireland glory. Dublin’s dominance has the potential to develop into a mini-dynasty if nurtured in the correct manner by the meticulous Jim Gavin and his coaching staff.

Aside from Dublin bossing the All Ireland, the big story of the early part of the Championship went to London GAA. Paul Coggins, London manager, managed to transform a bunch of limited footballers into a competitive side who reached the Connacht final. Their semi-final victory against Leitrim was one of the highlights of the season, winning by a single point in a 2-11 to 1-13 victory. London’s campaign highlighted the seldom positives emigration has in the world of GAA

Lorcan Mulvey evades the Leitrim defence and is the first London player to be nominated for an All Star award.

My abiding memory of the Championship this year is undoubtedly the All Ireland semi-final between Dublin and Kerry. Legendary broadcaster, Michael O’Muircheartaigh, claimed it was the best game he has witnessed since 1948. Games between these two football hotbeds have been historical landmarks in the world of the GAA.

                                                           

It seemed fitting that in a year where we lost one of the most iconic figures in the GAA, Dublin’s own Kevin Heffernan, that a match of this magnitude between these two counties occurred. ‘Heffo’ was described as having an “incalculable impact on Gaelic games” by GAA president Liam O’Neill.

Kevin McManamon scores a late goal to secure All Ireland glory for Dublin.

It was two teams playing football the way it should be played. The 3-18 to 3-11 scoreline flattered the Dubs who blitzed Kerry with a late 2-02 orchestrated by super-sub Kevin McManamon, just like in 2011. Modern greats of football all played their roles. The O’Se brothers, Maher, and Cooper for Kerry and Cluxton, Brogan, and Connolly for Dublin.

It was as good as any Dublin vs Kerry match gets. Two traditional rivals battling it out in a gripping encounter. For all the history that this fixture possesses Dublin triumphed in a match which was retro, yet absolutely modern.

S.DAWSON 16/12/13

2013 All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship review

Before a sliotar was pucked in this years All Ireland hurling championship, many thought it was a two horse race between Kilkenny and Tipperary. Indeed this frame of thought was further backed up when Kilkenny overcame their local rivals Tipperary in the league final by three points, on a scoreline of 2-17 to 0-20. Beaten league semi-finalists Dublin and Galway were expected to be competing with the favourites at the business end of the Championship. Subsequently, the foundations were set for another predictable year for hurling fanatics across the country.

The season unfurled with Dublin and Wexford playing out a dull draw, with the Dubs coming out on top in the replay. Next up for Anthony Daly’s men was a trip to Portlaoise to battle against Kilkenny under the leadership of Brian Cody, in his 15^th year of inter-county management. Surprisingly Dublin managed to hold Kilkenny to a draw in the Leinster semi-final and a replay was due to be held the following week at the same venue.

Many thought Dublin’s chances had evaporated and Kilkenny would see off the resilient Dubs at a second chance. You just don’t get two chances to beat Kilkenny. However, Dublin succeeded in beating the Cats for the first time in 71 years by 1-16 to 0-16 in an enthralling game of hurling. Liam Rushe put in a man of the match shift in what was the greatest performance by any Dublin player I have witnessed in the blue and navy jersey.

Galway comfortably saw off the challenge of Laois to meet the Dubs in the Leinster final. Dublin’s odds were fast becoming shorter for All Ireland glory after their historic victory against Kilkenny. They overcame the challenge of Galway by 12 points securing their first Leinster title in 52 years with an emphatic victory.

Surprise results were not only found in Leinster. Just like Kilkenny toppling to lesser opposition, start of season favourites Tipperary were defeated in the Munster semi-final by a well-drilled Limerick side, on a scoreline of 1-18 to 1-15. In the quarter final of the competition Clare, under the management of the enigmatic Davy Fitzgerald in his second year as manager of his native county, overcame Waterford, Fitzgerald’s previous location in inter-county management.

Cork went on to comprehensively beat Clare in the Munster semi-final by eight points. But this was not the last time these teams would meet. In front of a partisan crowd in the Gaelic Grounds, Limerick claimed their first Munster title in 17 years after beating favourites Cork, by 0-24 to 0-15.

The qualifiers were coming to the later stages and Kilkenny and Tipperary were drawn together in an encounter many hurling purists were envisaging as a bigger match then both provincial finals. Nowlan Park was the venue and the stage was set for Henry Shefflin to make an eagerly awaited return from injury. The ‘King’ made a late cameo appearance and was greeted with a chilling roar as he entered the field of play to help the Cats see out a three point victory.

The atmosphere of a Kilkenny vs Tipperary match is something all Irish sports fans must experience at least once in their lifetime. It’s often difficult for those of us living in the metropolis of Dublin to understand the colloquial rivalries of these two hurling strongholds. Even chatting to Kilkenny fans as I left O’Moore Park in Portlaoise after a Dublin victory, they weren’t overly disenchanted. Why? Because they had a crack at the Premier county, Tipperary.

In the other qualifiers Waterford and Clare were quietly and efficiently seeing off the respective challenges of Westmeath and Laois. A Wexford side, which brought Dublin to a replay in the early stages of Leinster, saw off a poor Carlow team before being comprehensively beaten by Clare by ten points in stage three of the qualifiers. Clare showed no remorse in extra time stepping up a gear to see off the challenge of Wexford.

With Tipperary bowing out in the earlier qualifying round and Kilkenny not at their expected best, some savvy punters were keeping a close eye on Davy Fitzgerald’s young Clare team. The Clare vs Wexford game preceded another gripping encounter which needed extra time to separate the teams. An ageing Kilkenny side saw off a plucky Waterford team by three points on a scoreline of 1-22 to 2-16.

An extremely exciting hurling championship came to its quarter final stage in the last weekend of July. It was Cork vs Kilkenny and Galway vs Clare in a double header played out in what many perceive to be the home of hurling, Semple Stadium in Thurles. Cork saw off the challenge of Kilkenny by five points. Henry Shefflin saw red in what was a very harsh decision in the eyes of many neutrals. There was an eerie atmosphere that this result signalled an end of an era for Kilkenny hurling.

Although a plethora of injuries in 2013 didn’t help the cause, it would be an almighty shame if Shefflin was to bow out of inter-county hurling in such circumstances. However, Cody was ratified as Kilkenny manager for their 2014 campaign. Only time will tell if Cody can bring future success to a team who know they underperformed this season.

Clare continued their winning streak by beating Galway 1-23 to 2-14. Many questioned Davy Fitzgerald’s tactical nous coming into the hurling championship but critics were silenced when Clare employed a sweeper system which quelled the attacking threat of Joe Canning for Galway. The hurling championship which kept churning out epic encounters had Dublin vs Cork and Limerick vs Clare as the semi-final fixtures, as these underdog counties came to the fore at the end of the hurling campaign.

Dublin and Cork played out one of the games of the year which the Rebels won by 1-24 to 1-19. The scoreline certainly doesn’t reflect how close the game was. The sides were level an astonishing 15 times throughout the 70 minutes. Ryan O’Dwyer’s sending off and a goal scored by Pat Horgan, who had a red card rescinded so he could partake in the match, proved to be the pivotal moments of the game. Many were tipping Dublin for an All Ireland double in both codes of the game, but Cork’s victory now made them strong favourites for All Ireland hurling glory.

In the other semi-final Clare beat Munster champions Limerick, 1-22 to 0-18. It was undeniable that Davy Fitzgerald was doing a magnificent job in transporting the success of a young under 21 Clare team into a promising senior side who could put it up to any side on their day. Davy Fitzgerald had managed to bring this Clare side to an All Ireland final in only his second year of managing them. The Banner county were on the precipice of claiming their fourth All Ireland title. All that stood in the way was Cork.

Clare and Cork already met on three separate occasions throughout the year. Clare got the better of their Munster neighbours both times during their league campaign, including a high scoring relegation play-off in the Gaelic Grounds. Clare were victorious on a scoreline of 0-31 to 2-23. However, almost three months later in the same venue Cork won by eight points in the Championship. There wasn’t much between these two teams as they faced into their September showdown, after being ranked as outsiders at the beginning of the All Ireland Championship.

The All Ireland final would eventually go to a replay thanks to a late point from young corner back, Domhnall O’Donovan, with the last puck of the game. Cork must have seen this as a missed opportunity in a match which was far from a classic. What unfolded in the replay could not have been scripted. An enthralling game from start to finish. A late call up to the starting 15 was young corner forward Shane O’Donnell, who put in the individual performance of the year with his early hat-trick.  

Clare defend their goalmouth in large numbers in the All Ireland final

Both teams started the game with such ferocity, one would think the game would have a lull. It didn’t. Cork showed great fight in coming back from an eight point deficit in the first half but late goals from Conor McGrath and Darach Honan sealed a famous victory for the Banner county. Clare eventually came out on top by 5-16 to 3-16. Davy Fitzgerald had constantly referred to his Clare side as the “little fish” and it was his school of young hurlers who brought the Liam McCarthy cup home to Clare.

It was no surprise that Clare dominated the All Star team with eight representatives. Tony Kelly also made history in becoming the first hurler to receive the Young Hurler of the Year award and Hurler of the Year award in the same season. Credit must be given to Jimmy Barry Murphy for bringing an unfancied Cork so far in the Championship. It was a refreshing year for hurling with the big two of Kilkenny and Tipperary bowing out before the semi-final stage.

This young Clare side will be the ones to beat next year as they look to retain their title. A resurgent Dublin and a Kilkenny side who will still be feeling the pain of defeat, will be chomping at the bit to topple Davy Fitzgerald’s men in what is sure to be another frantic and entertaining All Ireland hurling Championship.  

S.DAWSON 27/11/13

The future of Irish football

The League of Ireland has reached an all time low, ranking 43^rd out of 53 European countries in the latest UEFA coefficient rankings. Albania, Kazakhstan, Latvia, and Iceland are now deemed to have a stronger football foundation than Ireland. The national side took a beating too, plummeting to 59^th in the latest FIFA world rankings, their worst ever placing. In the past decade Irish domestic football has enjoyed, and endured, many similarities with Irish society. Both found their long-running poor fortunes spike in the early 2000’s. However, both have had to endure serious downturns as a result in recent years.

Shelbourne football club are the best example of the madness which spread through Irish football in that era as they went from within twenty minutes of Champions League qualification to potential expulsion from the league, homelessness, and financial life support in little over 30 months. On Wednesday the 11^th of August 2004, a capacity crowd of 24,000 people passed through the turnstiles of Lansdowne Road to watch Shelbourne enjoy their most famous night as they held Spanish giants, Deportivo La Coruna, to a scoreless draw. The following Thursday, Shelbourne entertained Derry City in a crucial FAI cup match in Tolka Park which a crowd of just over 800 viewed the 1-1 draw. Irish fans don’t have an affiliation to sport; they have an affiliation to success. 

In 2011, Shamrock Rovers became the first Irish side to qualify for the Europa League. They played against established European sides such as Rubin Kazan, PAOK, and Tottenham Hotspur. Sell out crowds of 7,000 came to watch their historic Europa League encounters yet the average attendance for that season was under 4,000 people. The grim reality is that Irish domestic football is on its knees and a drastic change is needed for the revival of this essential facet of Irish football.

In the past seven years, there has been financial strife plaguing the League of Ireland. Dublin  City, Sporting Fingal, Monaghan United, and Galway United have all ceased to exist. At the end of the 2008 season, Cobh Ramblers faced expulsion from the league as they failed to meet the financial criteria required to gain a licence to play domestic football in Ireland. Cork City and Derry City both succumbed to financial pressure and had to create a new club for their respective cities. This is the seventh time Cork have had to regroup after attaching different names – Bohemians, City, United, Athletic, Hibernians, Celtic, and FORAS – to the Munster club throughout their tenure in the League of Ireland. Shelbourne, Drogheda United, and Waterford United all came within days of dissolving due to debts amounting to millions of euros. 

The majority of fans who support the national side do not give domestic football a chance due to the pandemic of Sky’s coverage of the Premier League. However, they must realise that under FIFA ruling, if a country has no domestic league than they are not permitted to compete in any international tournaments. It’s obvious the league needs an immediate overhaul in order to attract the casual football fan. Despite this, some positives can be taken from the league as players such as David Forde, Seamus Coleman, James McClean, Wes Hoolahan, Conor Sammon, and Paddy Madden are all ex-League of Ireland players who travelled across the water to apply their trade in England, and are now fully capped international stars.

The FAI has attempted to improve underage football in Ireland with the appointment of Ruud Dokter as high performance coach. However, this will only see young Irish talent improve, if all goes to plan, but still make the trip to England to seek a football career. As long as credibility can only be earned by emigrating, football in Ireland will remain in its current state. In order for the League of Ireland to be respected by the majority of Irish football fans, the FAI has to start respecting it.

Former Ireland manager, Giovanni Trapattoni, is on record as saying: “in Ireland, unlike Austria and Sweden, has no league”. Through his broken English, he ignores the fact that without a domestic league his trip to the European Championships in 2012 could not have been possible. This is the same football tournament that pictures of the FAI chief executive, John Delaney, in a state of obliteration being carried on the heads of travelling fans without his shoes and socks, went viral on social media networks.

Delaney says he takes “a grave offence” at criticism of his behaviour during Ireland's dismal European Championships, insisting that he was “entitled” to a night out. With the FAI battling insurmountable debt from loans taken out to fund the Aviva Stadium, and their ‘international vantage club’ tickets not selling as planned; Delaney and the FAI must create a regeneration plan for the League of Ireland in order to see sustained competitive football on a national level for Ireland.

Ollie Byrne, former chairman of Shelbourne FC, once said: “the buck stops with me, I have to face the firing squad; I have to take blame for all this”. Perhaps it would be wise for John Delaney to take the advice of this former League of Ireland stalwart. A new professional attitude needs to be implemented by the FAI in order to create success. Ireland needs to step away from a ‘win or lose, were on the booze’ attitude. Without a flourishing domestic league, the national team will never compete at optimum levels. The League of Ireland needs to be nurtured not neglected in order for trips to Poznan, Paris, and afar to continue for fans of Irish football.  

S.DAWSON 02/10/13

Suicide among the Travelling community - a silent killer

In Ireland, for many years there has been a social stigma attached to suicide. Speaking about suicide has been a taboo for the Irish, particularly for men, for too long. The notion of opening up and speaking about feelings and emotions has always been suppressed. Showing that you are feeling sad or troubled is a sign of weakness for many Irish men, and it is not seen as the appropriate way to carry yourself. Thankfully times are changing.

Irish society is going through a transition. Ireland is moving away from being a theocratic state and developing into a modern, multi-cultural nation. Equality is the agenda of the current state. And through this, avenues have opened up for people to feel comfortable talking about depression. There are numerous suicide related charities that have been set up within the last ten years such as Console, Samaritans, Youth Suicide Prevention Ireland (YSPI), and Suicide or Survive (SOS). These charities all deal with suicide for a specific group. Along with these charities, Crosscare is a social care agency which has been running since 1941 which also deals in detail with suicide, and in particular suicide among the Travelling community. 

Crosscare has expanded their work within the travelling community recently by setting up the National Traveller Suicide Awareness Project. This is a community development approach to the issue of Traveller Suicide. The project works nationally with Travellers and Traveller organisations to support and provide resources for their work on developing responses to the issue of Traveller suicide. This organisation has done colossal work since its inception in 2011. Its initiative ‘safeTALK’ is a half day suicide alertness training programme. It prepares participants to identify people with suicidal thoughts and connect them to suicide first aid resources. 

No single reason can be attributed to the cause of suicide. There are a plethora of reasons for a catalyst for suicide. A broad range of reasons for Traveller suicides have emerged recently such as troubled suicides, motiveless, bereavement, violence, and shamed suicides. The most common form of suicide among the Travelling community is bereavement suicide. What is of major concern is that in 40% of cases where a Traveller took his/her life following the death of somebody close, that death itself was also a suicide. It seems to be a cyclical problem with no clear solution. 

Between 2006 - 2012, the average rate of suicide among Travellers was 3.7 per 10,000 people. This is three times more than the average rate of suicide of the total population of Ireland during the same period of time, which was 1.2 per 10,000 people. The most frequent method of suicide used is hanging, which accounts for almost 57% of all suicides within this time frame. 80% of Travellers who have died by suicide used this means of death. Members of the Travelling community have spoken out against the Government for not implementing policies to combat this rampant problem.

It seems the anger of the Travelling community is justified. Before Fine Gael came to power in 2011 they outlined in their manifesto that: “we will increase funding for the National Office for Suicide Prevention to €10 million to reduce the incidence of suicide and self-harm”. As of now, the Chair of the Director at the National Office for Suicide Prevention remains unfilled. Petra Daly, director of the National Traveller Suicide Project, said these statistics were “horrifying”. 

The Travelling Counselling Service has called on the Government to ring fence 5% of the mental health budget to ensure measures to tackle suicide are implemented in a culturally sensitive way. Brigid Quilligan, director of the Irish Traveller Movement, said that the high suicide rate among Travellers can be linked to hatred in Irish society. Last Thursday, at a Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence, and Equality, Ms Quilligan said that: “some of the hate towards us is because we are seen as deviants, villains, and a subculture - people who won’t conform or participate in society”. 

She went on to say that: “we’ve been devalued within society. Never before in my lifetime, have I seen such hate as I’ve seen in the last five years.” The Travelling community feel ousted and segregated from society. There are an estimated 30,000 Travellers in Ireland and the recognition of the Travelling community as an ethnic group is vital to their survival. There is an urgent need to begin to deal with, and understand, the reality of suicide and mental health issues on a national basis and how they affect minority groups. 

Travellers believe they cannot discuss their feelings in case it shows a weakness, while those forced into settled accommodation complain of feeling “boxed in”, according to Ms Quilligan. It is no surprise that suicide is predominately a male issue as they are seen as the provider in a Traveller family. For the total population of Ireland, male suicide is four times as common as female suicides. Within the Travelling community, the male suicide rate is 91%, over nine times as common as a female. 

However, there is no overnight cure to suicide. If those more vulnerable to suicide are those who lack self-esteem and experience cultural anomie then the Travelling community must promote their cultural identity. But this can only be done when the unprecedented hatred towards Travellers is eradicated. Futures need to be formed for the current crop of Traveller children, whether they choose to retain a separate identity or to integrate. The challenge for service providers is to encourage them and give them dignity and a purpose in life, while at the same time avoiding isolating Travellers from their community.

For an approach towards suicide prevention to be successful, it must involve building on the strengths within the Traveller community; strengths such as strong family and kinship ties, religious beliefs, and a high tolerance for troubled members. These strengths must be developed in order to protect high-risk individuals against suicide. Travellers need to be informed of the incidence of suicide and areas of risk, and given the necessary supports, so that they can be involved in the delivery of suicide prevention strategies. And when this is implemented, then the Travelling community can come to terms with combating the silent killer of suicide. 

S.DAWSON 30/04/13

News Corporation - A media empire

News is a constructed social reality, not a mirror image of events. Therefore, it is important to investigate what is actually being constructed and what the social context is. Furthermore, it is essential to reveal the influence owners have on media corporations. This is essential because journalism is one of the world’s most important social, cultural, and political institutions.

The media shapes the way people see the world. Good, ethical journalism is tied with democracy. Journalists have the power to inform people’s political decisions. However, unethical journalism in the form of oligopolistic corporations can negatively influence people’s political decisions. Consequently, it is of paramount importance that people understand the power of media ownership.

The company I am choosing to investigate is News Corporation. The media mogul behind this company is the CEO, Rupert Murdoch. It has global interests with the leading share of the media market in Australia, China, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and United States of America. It has diversified companies covering television, newspapers, film, publishing, and sport. It is more commonly referred to as Newscorp.

Newscorp is one of the largest worldwide media conglomerates on the planet. It is able to attain oligopolistic control not only of a specific media industry, but of mass media as a whole. It does this through cross-ownership of various combinations of media enterprises, such as newspapers and television networks. The ownership and conglomeration of varied media businesses in one market allow Newscorp to maintain its controlling position as a media oligopoly. 

Newscorp sets media agendas. It can influence the mindset of mass amounts of people. What I intend to show through this article is how Newscorp can almost control the views and opinions of an entire nation. In Asia and America Murdoch’s media empire has a total audience of 4.7 billion people. Murdoch inherited his father’s business in 1953. Since then, he has gone on to create a multi-national corporation which employs over 31,000 people worldwide. These employees are very closely knit and their journalistic ethos is very similar. Consequently, we are force-fed agendas and policies approved by Murdoch in the form of broadcasting and publishing coming from divisions of Newscorp.

Newscorp rules the media world through its synergy. It attributes its global success to its vertical integration and horizontal integration. Some of the notable divisions of Newscorp include: Fox (Studios and Broadcasting), Sky, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Harper Collins, American Idol, and News International. It is through these influential media outlets that we are suffocated with media agendas. Our understanding of cultural context comes from these divisions and thus opinions are formed. News is the social glue that connects society. It is through these facets of Newscorp that society as we see it is depicted.

Agenda setting is the process by which Newscorp presents certain issues frequently or prominently, resulting in the public perceiving those issues as being important. Newscorp have set agendas and their branches have very particular ways in how they put issues in the forefront of our minds and how they present those issues. This ultimately results in them deciding how we portray public figures. Newscorp can transfer their agendas internally within their media branches. This is then consumed by the political class who are seen as decision makers.

It is thought that the public require a story to be reported for at least three weeks for it to be important. Therefore, Newscorp can control what we perceive to be important news, by the amount of time it is reported on. This leads to gatekeeping. Gatekeeping is any action within a media organisation that involves selection or rejection of a potential item for publication or broadcast.

Overall, Newscorp embodies the theory of hegemony. The theory purports that the masses are controlled by an elite few, not through coercion but by manufacturing their consent. This is evident as Newscorp itself is run by the Murdoch dynasty. However, Newscorp owns a media empire across the globe with major holdings in United Kingdom (BSkyB and News International), Italy (Sky Italia), Germany (Sky Deutschland), New Zealand, (Harper Collins), Canada (Harper Collins), Australia (146 regional newspapers, including The Australian and Herald Sun), India (Star TV and Harper Collins), United States of America (Fox, National Geographic, WSJ, NYP, hulu.com, and Harper Collins). It also holds majority shares in social network site, MySpace, which creates revenue from across the globe.

Consent is manufactured in a variety of subtle ways in order for the elite to retain cultural control. It is an unquestioned order of society, because subconsciously the masses believe that this is the way things should be. An example of the control a media outlet has can be seen in America. In 2000, John Ellis was the head of the Fox News political analysis team. He is also the cousin of George Bush. In the early hours of November 8th, 2000, Fox News declared that George Bush had won the, impossible to call, pivotal state of Florida. This victory meant that Bush secured the 271 electoral votes needed to win the presidential election. In a matter of minutes, every other news station in America followed suit.

This controversial call was made at a time when the lead of George Bush was plummeting. The decision to call the vote in Florida was pivotal in the presidential election, and it was made by a channel that has forever supported the Republican party. Even now, the Florida result remains undecided. The unusual and unexplained coincidence of a disappearing margin for Bush and Fox’s unilateral call, combined with the secret communications between John Ellis and the Bush camp, provide sufficient thought that there may have been an illegal conspiracy to steel the election. This was fuelled by Fox, a division of Newscorp.

With every news channel declaring Bush had won the swing-state, it shows how consent can be manufactured in an unquestioned and subtle manner. Not only did Fox declare Florida to be a Republican victory, but so too did every other station. This meant that whatever channel people were watching, they were informed of a victory for Bush. A victory which transpired to be laced with controversy.

This embodies the dangers of media hegemony. A media owner can use their institution to further their own particular interests. In this case it was John Ellis, an integral member of Fox, using Fox News to further his interests in the presidential elections for his family member, George Bush. This media concentration leads to a reduction in the number of information sources and to uniformity of content. This results in misinformation being reported to the public. 

The rich and powerful class who own or control the media use them to maintain the status quo. Therefore, radical ideas are suppressed, ridiculed, or ignored, and attention is diverted from serious issues by a consent diet of trivia. Fox encapsulates the ethos of Newscorp. Since it's inception it has supported right-wing capitalism. In years gone by, Fox aired pro-Reagan propaganda while it has slated the Kennedy family. Roger Aisles, president of Fox News, was head of propaganda for Republican presidents Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, and George Bush Snr. 

David Brock, CEO of Media Matters of America has stated that: “Murdoch has no objectivity”. Newscorp is so powerful that they can openly air biased reports. All Fox contributors are on annual contracts. However, Fox ensure that well respected figureheads of conservative America speak on air, while only inviting liberal speakers who are not highly educated and thus utter inane ramblings on air. Murdoch does not even attempt to hide his pro-right capitalistic agenda through Fox.

Divisions of Newscorp have the power to act together to stamp out competition and this leads to this hegemonic society. Newscorp helps to recruit and maintain support for a single set of attitudes, ignoring others of equal validity. These ideas are then seen by more people as normal. Such opinions are not spread in a cynical way; they are simply what those who work in Newscorp consider to be reasonable and true.

The ideologies of Newscorp are compiled of capitalistic and right-wing political attitudes. Undoubtedly, Newscorp has a leading role in all facets of media. As previously mentioned, vertical integration is the method behind the global expansion and global influence of Newscorp. Vertical integration occurs when an organisation established in one part of the production chain gains control of other parts of the production process.

In relation to Newscorp, this can be seen as it diversifies into various parts of the production process. Fox studios produces a programme which is then broadcast on Sky Television. News Printers Groups owned by Newscorp then prints the paper needed for News International which consists of The Sun, The Times, and The Sunday Times to promote the original product which is being broadcast. It is a carefully run system which Murdoch and Newscorp have full control over.

This vertical integration promotes shows that are aired on Sky. For example, before Sky acquired rights to broadcast Formula 1, and subsequently created a channel devoted solely to Formula 1 racing, it never reported on the sport. It never advertised or even commented on it until this deal was secured in early 2012. It was as if this sport, which started in 1947, did not exist until 2012. 

In sporting terms, the same can be seen with football. Sky has a majority share of the rights to air English Premier League and Scottish Premier League matches, as well as European Cup matches. As a result, their sports news channel focuses solely on English and Scottish football. A viewer of Sky Sports News would not be aware of world class football leagues across the globe. Football leagues which are arguably played at a much higher standard than those in Britain. 

However, because BSkyB do not have the rights, they do not report on any football news coming from these football hotbeds across Europe. Even Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland have restricted coverage of football matches played in their respective countries. As Sky is the leader of broadcasting, the public consequently do not have the full spectrum of sporting options available and are forced to divulge in a small selection of European football.

Along with vertical integration, horizontal integration has been omnipotent in the success of Newscorp. Horizontal integration is when a media organisation gains control of their competitors within that segment of the production process. In terms of Newscorp, this is evident as The Sun, The Times, The Australian, The WSJ, The NYP, The Irish Sun, The Papua New Guinea Post-Courier, and The Sunday Times, to name but a few newspapers, are all under the control of Newscorp. 

This expansion and takeover of similar companies wipes out competition and leads to agendas being set upon people reading the majority of papers across the globe. Newspapers account for just under 16% of revenue received by Newscorp, which amounts to a figure of $4.5 billion. The kingpin of Murdoch’s newspaper empire comes in the form of News International, based in Britain.

The main holdings of News International are The Sun, The Times, and The Sunday Times. The now defunct News of the World was also a leading newspaper within this organisation. News International was purchased by Murdoch in 1969 and has developed into a highly successful division of Newscorp. Like other divisions such as Fox, News International sets many agendas too. It advocated strong support for both the Falklands War and for the War on 'Terror'. 

Characteristics of hegemony are seen in the form of favouring consensus politics. In 1997, News International strongly supported Tony Blair’s Labour campaign, and in particular  their anti-tax policies. However in recent times it has swung support to the Conservative party under the leadership of David Cameron, who is good friends with Rupert Murdoch which is surely no coincidence.

Although News International has great influence on the newspaper readership of Britain, it has come under pressure recently in the form of the Leveson inquiry. The Leveson inquiry has the potential to change the format of print journalism forever through changes in the NUJ Code of Conduct. It originated from alleged phone hacking carried out by employees of News of the World, a tabloid newspaper belonging to the News International family.

This has resulted in Rebekah Brooks, former editor of News of the World, being charged and is awaiting trial in September of 2013. The phone hacking revelations and the inquiry which followed are sure to have negative affects on Murdoch and his media empire. Murdoch himself, along with his son James, was called in front of the inquiry to answer questions relating to their journalistic practices and ethos.

Indeed Newscorp is an extremely powerful company. However, constraints may stem from the Leveson inquiry, which shows that no matter how powerful the corporation may be, it is not untouchable. Another example of a regulatory body, similar to the Press Complaints Commission, which has brought constraints on Newscorp is Ofcom.

Stemming from the Leveson inquiry, Ofcom are carrying out an investigation into another division of Newscorp, namely, BSkyB. Ofcom has a duty under the Broadcasting Acts 1990 and 1996 to be satisfied that any person holding a broadcasting licence is, and remains, fit and proper to do so. The regulatory body is continuing to assess the evidence that may assist it in discharging these duties which includes assessment of the Leveson inquiry.

Ofcom have written to and have met with relevant authorities to explain their duty to be satisfied that persons holding broadcasting licences are fit and proper. They have asked them to keep Ofcom informed of any information which may assist them in assessing whether BSkyB, including controlling directors and shareholders of Newscorp, is and remains fit and proper to continue to hold its broadcast licences.

As this is an ongoing duty, there is no fixed date by which Ofcom must draw a conclusion. Ofcom assess all the relevant evidence and will come to a decision in due course. Although Newscorp is a powerful multi-national media empire, it will not always abide by certain constraints, even though the Leveson inquiry has the power to transform journalism as we know it. 

This investigation is not the first BSkyB have been subjected to. In 2003, Sky attempted to purchase Manchester United, a leading football club in England, for £623 million. The Competition Commission, an independent public body, conducted an in-depth inquiry into this takeover. Subsequently, the Office of Fair Trade ruled that no media company should be allowed to own over 10% stake in a football club.

Murdoch, who appears repeatedly when Newscorp is mentioned in the news, bears the accumulated meaning of his past appearances because he is embodied in an individual character which can be seen as more powerful than the corporation itself. No matter how much bad press Newscorp receives, Murdoch will still be seen as a powerful figurehead. 

Indeed the times are changing, and journalism will have to change too. The evolution of journalism can not be ignored. Whether it is through a more electronic form of journalism, or through changes in journalism ethics as a consequence of the Leveson inquiry; either way, journalism is evolving.

Having said that, Newscorp, under the leadership of Murdoch, still holds an almighty amount of power in the media world, even with certain constraints placed upon his company. The general concept of news is that it offers a window on the world. However this idea is obviously flawed. The news cannot cover every event that happens in the world, and so events are carefully selected on the basis of what is deemed more newsworthy.

As I previously explained, through both vertical and horizontal integration, Newscorp owns a sizable amount of the world’s media. In a society which is utterly perpetuated by popular media every minute of the day. Our lives are controlled by the news media - whether radio, television, print, or on the web. However, despite supplying us with all of our daily information, the media does nothing to ensure unbiased, objective reporting. Sensation has become a mainstay of our capitalist society. Sensationalise, shock, to sell more papers, to get more viewers, more listeners.

For example, once a story is chosen to be reported there is a further threshold of drama. The bigger the story, the more added drama is needed to keep it going. A good example of this is the death of Princess Diana, where we saw twenty-four hour television coverage on Sky News, a division of Newscorp, which was filled-out with items that would not normally reach national television, such as primary schools commemorating her life. Events which in themselves would normally not reach the threshold of newsworthiness were made into dramatic stories in order to keep viewers tuned into Sky.

As society stands in its current form of accepting the news we are fed from intertwined media corporations, nothing will drastically change. Newscorp can have constraint after constraint placed upon them, but they will still be revered as a media powerhouse. Unless people en masse, take a stand against Murdoch and his corporation, nothing will change. The majority of people are apathetic towards Newscorp. Subsequently, the reign of Murdoch and his media empire looks set to continue for many years to come. 

S.DAWSON 24/04/13

Jake Bugg @ The Academy

If you are to listen to the remarks of Ian Brown, Noel Gallagher, and Morrissey, to name but a few, the future of English guitar music is in good hands. Jake Bugg can attribute his sudden rise to fame to the fact that he is the most original sound to come from this Independent genre since the Arctic Monkeys burst onto the airwaves, in the early 2000s. 

On a dreary Sunday night in the Academy on Abbey Street, emerged a blurry-eyed Nottingham teenager. Jake Bugg - born Jacob Kennedy - has been pegged as Nottingham’s own Bob Dylan. And although he draws many similar traits, he holds his own in style. He ushers in a personality of genuine yet suave.

His style can be seen throughout the crowd. A plethora of Fred Perry polo’s buttoned high with accompanying Pretty Green parka’s draped low, flirting with an obligatory pair of Adidas trainers. Worn by a crowd ranging from early twenties to a sizeable group of the thirtysomethings. It is obvious that Bugg has garnered a strong following from the Definitely Maybe era of northern English music.

Strutting onto the stage to a scratchy recording of classic folk hit, Cross Hill Blues by Robert Johnson, Bugg stares aimlessly into the crowd.  Even though he has nearly no interaction with the tightly packed venue, except for inaudibly muttering the name of each song before he begins, he resonates a sense of ownership of the venue already. His first song, Fire, is crisply sung. It leads into a gig which could be categorised in two halves.

He belts out his more rock ‘n’ roll hits with Seen It All being the highlight in his arsenal of infectiously catchy choruses accompanied with melodious rifts. The tune depicts the life of his council estate upbringing, in the sleepy East Midlands village of Clifton. Reminiscing of a drug fuelled party where: "I made my way inside past a thousand crazy eyes, then a friend took me aside said everyone here has a knife…I swear to God nothing shocks me anymore, I’ve seen it all".

From the outset it is easy to see why Bugg has been compared to a concoction of Alex Turner’s lyrical flow with the stance of Lee Mavers, of The La’s fame, in how he strums his right hand effortlessly across the strings of his electric guitar. Add to this the swagger of Ian Brown (from when he was in his prime) and nonchalance of a Gallagher brother, and you are left with a chasm of talent that is Jake Bugg.

Bugg’s lack of interaction with the crowd isn’t for a want of not wanting to be there, by any means. Each note is precisely pitch perfect and sung with such meaning and passion that many would never attribute to this teenage sensation. Although some people have been critical towards Bugg for co-writing some of his material, he claims complete ownership when singing.

It is clear Bugg is at his best when singing about his past experiences. Before a run of slower songs are performed, Bugg reaches his optimum level when singing Two Fingers. He utters lyrics such as, "skin up a fat one, hide from the feds", but this is not to be smirked upon. It is clear Bugg is an emotionally strong character as he notes his troubled family upbringing with, "He’s with my momma they yellin’ and fightin’, it’s not the first time I’m praying for silence". He sings this with such vigour that you can almost relate to his early anguish.

He portrays a more tender side in the latter part of the show. His two man band leave the stage for a rousing version of Ballad of Mr Jones, which is met with near silence. This is not due to lack of knowledge of lyrics on behalf of the crowd, who have been in great voice throughout, but out of respectful silence towards the master class of his performance.

Bugg finishes up with his hit single Lighting Bolt, which rounds off a deceptively interrelating gig. Although he may not speak to the crowd much; he connects through sombre lyrics and hard hitting rhythms which are shadowed with excellent basslines and a steady drumbeat that gives great structure. Bugg reservedly cracks a smile as he thanks the audience through his blood-shot eyes. 

His encore ends with Folsom Prison Blues, in honour of one of his favourite artists. He then pompously flicks his plectrum into the front row and fades into the dark background of his self-entitled backdrop. With his unique voice and masterful skill with a guitar, Bugg has certainly stamped his authority on the music scene and is sure to open the floodgates for many more lone warriors. The gig, like Bugg himself, was retro; yet absolutely modern. 

S.DAWSON 12/03/13