Archive for the ‘Society and culture’ Category
Thursday, September 22nd, 2011
Jim Ellinger of Austin Airwaves does great work supporting community radio near and far. Their most recent project involves supporting the establishment of community radio on the island of Borneo. They're looking for donations of equipment and cash. Check here to see if you can help.
Posted in Alternative Media, International Affairs, Radio, Society and culture | Comments Off on Austin Airwaves seeks support for its Borneo project
Thursday, June 16th, 2011
Two different suggestions today from Labour politicians about appropriate ways to mark Bloomsday. Joe Costello notes that Ireland has one of the lowest numbers of public holidays in Europe (9 per year, only exceeding the 8 of England and Wales) and suggests that making the day a holiday could provide ...
Posted in Education, Income and poverty, Labour issues, Society and culture | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, November 30th, 2010
Compare and contrast:
There are fears of (more) deaths, particularly of pensioners and the homeless, as Ireland undergoes below-freezing conditions. (That's not a metaphor for the economy!) Local authorities are struggling to keep roads gritted, with limited budgets available for this purpose (and effect still being felt from repair costs after ...
Posted in Income and poverty, Society and culture | Comments Off on A tale of two news stories
Sunday, November 21st, 2010
When I talk with my students about PR I explain that the first rule of crisis communication is to 'fess up - get out in front of the rumours and claims, admitting the truth (in order that you can have a say in framing that truth).
This week the Irish ...
Posted in Citizenship, migration, race, and ethnicity, Electoral politics, Income and poverty, International Affairs, Labour issues, Political activism, Society and culture | Comments Off on Communicating in a crisis – what the Irish government did wrong (part 1 of 80-180 billion)
Monday, May 24th, 2010
For broadcasters, there can often be several different regulatory structures governing the same set of activities - which adds, of course, to the complexity of decision-making by managers and others.
I was reminded of this today when I saw this tidbit from Inside Radio (the story itself is behind a pay-wall):
AG: ...
Posted in Electoral politics, Freedom of the press, Media regulation, Radio, Society and culture | Comments Off on Intersecting regulatory structures
Thursday, October 29th, 2009
Fianna Fáil backbenchers have been predictably reactionary in their response to the proposal to reduce the drink driving limit in Ireland. However, there have been some interesting suggestions from the head of Macra na Feirme (the young farmers' association), who has largely supported the change, while looking for policy changes ...
Posted in Society and culture, Tobacco and drugs | Comments Off on Drink driving in Ireland
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
Le sigh! World Carfree Day 2009 (today), would fall on the first rainy day we've had in a while here in Cazenovia. So, rather than biking in - as I usually do - I ended up getting driven in to work. It's a short enough journey (under a mile) that ...
Posted in Society and culture | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
Well this could be awkward. (Are we expected to cut off all communications?) The EU is threatening a visa war with Canada, because of its withdrawal of visa waivers from visitors from the Czech Republic. That decision, in turn, had been prompted by a large number of applications for asylum ...
Posted in Citizenship, migration, race, and ethnicity, International Affairs, International law and structures, Society and culture | Comments Off on War declared! (kind of)
Sunday, May 24th, 2009
People 'fed up' with negativity of Opposition
So goes a headline in tomorrow's Irish Times. Intrigued when it showed up in my daily email bulletin, I clicked through. Had there been a survey showing annoyance on the part of the public? Were the opposition failing to strike a chord with the ...
Posted in Corporate media, Society and culture | Comments Off on Misleading headlines in the Irish Times
Thursday, May 21st, 2009
The Irish Times aren't generally known for coherent or incisive editorials, but their reaction to the Ryan report makes for sobering reading:
We have to call this kind of abuse by its proper name – torture. We must also call the organised exploitation of unpaid child labour – young girls placed ...
Posted in Citizenship, migration, race, and ethnicity, Education, Prisons and crime, Society and culture | 1 Comment »