Media spotlight on Jamie

Jamie Oliver is back on our screens with his latest mission ‘Jamie’s Ministry of Food’ which demonstrates his use of public relations tactics. A clever stunt was to set it in Rotherham where plain-speaking Julie Critchlow was last filmed supplying children with junk food whilst Jamie was fighting for healthy school dinners. However, when faced with a football stadium full this idea backfires and only a few are tempted to try his steak sandwich, and more importantly his ‘pass it on’ experiment. You have to admire his tenacity when he returns to the stadium and inspires the men who came forward, with his visual display of the philosophy. His programme has been slated in the media for “stereotyping the northern working classes as intellectually challenged junk-munchers” and John Gilding, leader of the Conservative group of Rotherham council defended his town amid the concerns of stereotyping. Yet it's Julie, who seems intent on Jamie failing, that led him to the town in the first place. However, one thing he has certainly achieved is media coverage and the start of a debate around this important life skill, which has to be a good thing.

Bluetongue - evaluating the latest threat to civilisation

How the media love a story that contains all if not any of the following...cuddly animals, politicians desperately trying to appear knowledgeable, a threat to the nation's health, a chance to rehash an old story. All of these came together in the latest animal health scare: Bluetongue.

The media, as one, pronounce this as yet another cataclysmic assault on the livelihoods of the farming community. Yet the facts seem to be far less interesting. The outbreak has been predicted for some time as the virus has been carried by midges across Northern Europe, and there are several approaches that can be taken to ensure the continued wellbeing of cattle, as well as milk and meat supplies. So what is the fuss all about? Well from where I sit, not a lot. The real threat to the farming industry remains Foot & Mouth and Bluetongue whilst still an unpleasant and unwelcome arrival is of considerably less significance, I would be surprised to see it appearing in the mainstream media again next month.