I mentioned that I’d been asked to take part in a panel session at the MeCCSA / AMPE Conference 2005 at Lincoln University. There’s an awful lot of really fascinating stuff going on – much of it while I’m on stage elsewhere with a bunch of radio types – but I have to say I’m really looking forward to this session.
The panel discussion I’m part of is loosely based on the Radio 4 programme ‘Any Questions‘ – only the topic itself is radio. Delegates have been invited to submit questions, and then the chair calls upon them to put them to the panel to debate and discuss. Bryan Rudd‘s the chair – and the panel is billed as follows:
Jane Hill
(Director of Programming for the Lincs FM group)Charlie Partridge
(Managing Editor – BBC Radio Lincolnshire)Neil Stock
(Head of Radio Programming and Licensing – Ofcom)Andrew Dubber
(Lecturer/Broadcaster, Auckland University of Technology, NZ)Dr. Tim Wall
(University of Central England & Chair of the RSN)
To be perfectly honest, I’m a bit of an afterthought in this. Bryan had a few other people in mind to talk about issues of community broadcasting, but for various reasons, none of them could make it. Then two days ago, he thought ‘I know – an international perspective! I’ll get Dubber – he’s a bit foreign… ‘
And here I am.
After a three hour train journey, a free vege lasagne at the university and a beer at the local hotel, I find myself in the White Hart – a very old hotel overlooking the Lincoln Cathedral.
Apparently Richard II stayed here – and rumour has it it’s haunted. That said, I’m in my room as I type this, and it seems unlikely I’ll see any ghosts tonight. There are some very old features to the room – decorations, chandelier, etc – but rather a modern array of bathroom and coffee-making facilities. A ghost would just be a bit incongruous.
Bryan’s recording the session tomorrow, and I’ve asked him to check with the panellists to make sure I can upload it as an mp3 for anyone interested to have a listen to (in case you missed it, that was particularly aimed at my students).
I’ve had a quick scan through the programme, and it’s such a diverse array of interesting media topics over the three day event, it’s difficult to get a handle on what else would be crucial viewing. I missed Janey Gordon‘s paper The Culture and Communication of the Mobile Phone, though I’ll ask her for a copy – and I would have liked to have been there for Barbara Cairns‘ ‘Freezing Out Dissent – New Zealand Broadcasting Structures in Neo-Liberal Times’.
Apparently Barbara and I have some mutual acquaintances at AUT. She mentioned Wayne Hope and Susan Boyd-Bell.
Also of note, Prof. Martin Barker (no relation to the Shriekback drummer, as far as I can ascertain) is presenting key findings on the Lord of the Rings international audience project.
What strikes me as odd, though, is that in such a packed inter-disciplinarian line-up of speakers from all walks of media at an international media conference in 2005, almost nobody seems to be talking directly about blogging.
There’s a lot of talk about regulatory regimes, some mention of grassroots journalism, e-Democracy (whatever the hell that is), digital technology and media literacy, online opinion polling, and even ‘New Media Territories’ (again – huh?) – but only one actual mention of weblogs: Sarah Pedersen’s ‘Why Do Women Blog? An investigation into the motivations of women journal bloggers’.
Among this smorgasbord of media brain treats, there is one particular shining light in the programme that needs highlighting. It’s not John Farnsworth’s no doubt excellent piece on ‘Portable Sound Technologies and Mobile Social Networks’, Jason Toynbee’s ‘Why Copyright Matters for Media and Cultural Policy’ – or even the panel discussion on the state of documentary production.
It’s Roberta Pearson‘s paper – second to last of the 126 presentations on offer: ‘Authorship and the American Television Writer-Producer: A Case Study of Joss Whedon‘.
There are some very clever people at Lincoln University this week – but Joss Whedon? He’s a genius.
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As to my minimum album-a-day (and no maximum) listening for today, I managed a fairly diverse range of styles with all my travelling. I just grabbed a few of my own discs, supplemented that with a small pile from the library, put on the big headphones, and just gulped down some jazz, blues, reggae, and rock. In that order.
8. Gary Bartz Ntu Troop – Juju Street Songs Prestige (1973)
9. Son House – Delta Blues and Spirituals Capitol (1970)
10. Max Romeo and the Upsetters – War Ina Babylon Island (1976)
11. Gomez – Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline Virgin (2000)
