Does art mimic society or vica versa?

Or does society get the media it deserves?

Although our country is falling into a bottom less pit according at least to some sections of the media,that is not how the entertainment business portrays us


Take a look at Ally Fogg writing on Comment is Free

Of all the fallacies surrounding the influence of the media on society, perhaps the greatest is that this process is a one-way street. For every nihilistic game of Grand Theft Auto there must be a hundred victories of good over evil. For every Chatsworth Estate on our screens there's a dozen Balamory's. All things considered it's a wonder that modern Britain isn't a dead ringer for Walnut Grove

What is he trying to say.

Well the media for him,far from painting a picture of a society in decline actually does the opposite and

hours of slick programming that sends out precisely the wrong message.

Rampant morality and righteousness infect the schedules from CBeebies to Midsomer Murders, with crimes being solved, wrongs being righted, good people being rewarded for good behaviour and bad people being punished for their sins. How on earth are we meant to encourage criminality and violence when we have the officers from Sun Hill actually catching the guilty every week?

Surrounded by not just television it seems but also

Entire racks of the newsagent are taken up by magazines devoted to men's health, health and beauty or good parenting, while almost every other publication contains page after page of sensible lifestyle advice from doctors and nutritionists

.

So Mr Cameron,looks like we already have your nudge society courtesy of the media.

Radio 4 launches a new media show

The BBC is launching a new media show in October.

The BBC press release says

The show will focus on the fast-changing world of media in all its forms – print, television, radio, online and telecommunications.
The programme will engage with key players from within the industry, including those making the decisions, driving the changes and developing the latest technology.
Subjects such as creativity, culture and censorship within the media will be discussed alongside those of business and ethics.

It will be presented by Journalist and former TV executive Steve Hewlett and will go out on Radio 4 every Wednesday at 1.30pm.

What the media commentators are saying

In the Observer Geoffrey Wheatcroft celebrates the 90th birthday of its former editor in Chief Conor Cruise O'Brien.

Next Saturday, Conor celebrates his 90th birthday. In the course of an amazing life, he spent several years at The Observer, as editor-in-chief and columnist. For this paper, Conor was a proud adornment. For him, the Observer years were merely part - though an enjoyable part, at least to begin with - of a life that took him from public service in Ireland to an African civil war to professorship in America to government ministry in Dublin. And with all of that he has published a shelf-full of books, a number of which ought to be read by anyone who cares about literature, politics or history.

The Observer itself makes the news in the Sindie followng the resignation of Roger Alton,Donald Trelford writing that This is no time to write off the 'Obs'

Last week's drama, while doubtless unsettling to Observer journalists, has to be seen in perspective. The paper's immediate demise was regularly predicted during my 18 years as editor, and it changed owners three times in that period. It is now on its fifth editor since I left in 1993, so another change in the hot seat – from Alton to his long-time deputy, John Mulholland – hardly constitutes a major crisis.

The Times carries the story that

Toilet humour creates stink for BBC boss

THE director-general of the BBC, Mark Thompson, has been accused of referring to Tessa Jowell, the former culture secretary, as “Mrs S*** For Brains”
The BBC was yesterday forced to issue a rebuttal after two senior television executives insisted they had heard Thompson use the phrase when he was head of Channel 4. Thompson’s supporters believe the story has been circulated by his enemies to undermine his position.
The remarks about Jowell, now Olympics minister, were uncovered by Maggie Brown, a journalist and author of a book on Channel 4.