How the Visual Media Affect People

In modern society, media Is everywhere, and It Is almost Impossible to avoid. The mass media have become such an ordinary, everyday part of society that many people fail to realize the immense impact which the mass media have on all aspects of society – including political, economic, and ideological aspects. The mass media influence the way we vote, the things we buy, the way we act, the values we hold, and the way we perceive reality. The media can be very helpful to people and their children who carefully choose he movies and shows that they watch.With high-quality programming in various fields of study-?science, medicine, nature, history, the arts, and so on-?TV and videotapes increase the. Knowledge of the average and the well-educated person; they can also improve thinking ability. Moreover, television benefits elderly people who cannot go out often, as well as patients in hospitals and residents of nursing faceless. Additionally, It offers language learners the advantage of ‘real-life' audiovisual Instruction and aural comprehension practice at any time of day or night.And of course, television and video can provide almost everyone with good entertainment-?pleasant ways to relax and spend free time at home. Nevertheless, there are several serious disadvantages to the visual media. First of all, some people watch the tube' for more hours In a day than they do anything else. In a large number of homes, TV sets-?as many as five or more In a single household – are always on. Instead of spending time taking care of their kids, parents often use the tube as an ‘electronic baby sitter. As a result, television and video can easily place family communication as well as physical activity and other interests. Secondly, too much TV-?especially programming of low educational value-?can reduce people's ability to concentrate or reason. In fact, studies show that after only a 20. Minute minutes or two of visual media, a person's mind ‘rel axes' as It does during light sleep. Another possible effect of television and videotapes on the human brain is poor communication. Children who watch a lot of TV may lose their ability to focus on a subject or an educational activity for more than ten to fifteen 24. Mute minutes. Maybe it is because of the visual media that some kids-?and adults too-? develop attention deficit disorder ADD, a modern condition in which people are unable to pay attention, listen well, follow Instructions, or remember everyday things. A third negative feature of the media is the amount of violence or horror on the screen-?both in real events in the news and movies or TV programs. It scares people and gives them terrible nightmares; the fear created by media images and language can last for a long time.On the other hand, frequent viewers of ‘action programming' unusual about violent crime, fight, killing, and other terrible events and behavior. Studies show that certain personality types are like ly to have strong emotional reactions or dangerous thoughts after some kinds of ‘entertainment. ‘ They may even copy the acts that they see on violent shows-?start fires, carry and use weapons, attack people in angry or dangerous ways, and even worse. Because of the visual media, some people may become dissatisfied with the reality of their own lives.To these viewers, everyday life does not seem as exciting as the roles actors play in movies or TV dramas. They realize they are not having as much fun as the stars of comedy shows. Furthermore, average people with normal lives may new famous media personalities, who seem to get unlimited amounts of money and attention. Also, media watchers might get depressed when they cannot take care of situations in real life as well as TV stars seem to. On the screen, they notice, actors solve serious problems in hour or half-hour programs-?or in twenty- second commercials.Yet another negative feature of modern television is called tras h TV. ‘ These daily talk shows bring real people with strange or immoral lives, personalities, or behavior to the screen. Millions of viewers-?including children-?watch as these ‘instant stars' tell their most personal secrets, shout out their angry feelings and opinions, and attack one another. TV watchers seem to like the emotional atmosphere and excitement of this kind of programming-?as well as the tension of the real but terrible stories on TV ‘news magazine' shows.What effect does frequent viewing of such programs have on people's lives? It makes television more real than reality, and normal living begins to seem boring. Finally, the most negative effect of the tube might be addiction. People often feel a strange and powerful need to watch TV or play a CD even when they do not enjoy it or have the free time for entertainment. Addiction to a TV or video screen is similar to drug or alcohol dependence: addicts almost never believe they are addicted. Even so, tr uthful media addicts have to give yes answers to many of these questions.

Research Paper on Impact of Attitude on Job Satisfaction Essay

The survey showed positive and negative relations with job satisfaction. It was clear after the survey that high organizational commitment, high core self-evaluation and positive behavior towards the organization resulted in high job satisfaction. Whereas emotion should be controlled by employees to achieve satisfaction on the job. On the other hand cognition is a controversial issue. High cognition may either affect satisfaction of an employee positively or negatively. The relationship between job satisfaction and cognitive dissonance is negatively related. The findings suggest incorporating these attitudes of employees may provide organizations with the potential to improve job satisfaction significantly. Keywords: Organizational commitment, emotions, cognition, behavior, cognitive dissonance, core self-evaluation, job satisfaction.†Job satisfaction is defined as â€Å"the extent to which people like (satisfaction) or dislike (dissatisfaction) their jobs† This definition says job satisfaction is a general or global affective reaction that individuals hold about their job (Stahl & Michael, 2004). The traditional job satisfaction facets include: co-workers, pay, job conditions, supervision, nature of the work and benefits. Job satisfaction mainly implies doing a job one enjoys, doing it well, and being suitably rewarded for one’s efforts. Further, job satisfaction implies enthusiasm and happiness with one’s work. The Harvard Professional Group (1998) sees job satisfaction as the keying ingredient that leads a person to recognition, income, promotion, and the achievement of other goals that lead to a general feeling of fulfillment. Job Satisfaction is influenced by a lot of factors but in our survey we concentrated on a few and they are organizational commitment, emotions, cognition, behavior, cognitive dissonance and core self-evaluation (Zidle, 2012). There are many methods for measuring job satisfaction. By far, the most common method for collecting data regarding job satisfaction is the  Likert scale  (named after  RensisLikert). Other less common methods of for gauging job satisfaction include: Yes/No questions, True/False questions, point systems, checklists, and forced choice answers.

Race and Color Discrimination Essay

Who are the major people that had made a different in the race and color movement? What as society done to improve the way to perceive other people that do not have the same color or race as us? This are all major questions people have in mind when trying to solve Racism affects people lives in many ways depending on race, gender, & class though gender usually goes with sexism. Though there have been many efforts to reduce its power it is still in life. Today there are still efforts being made and some have been successful such the racial boundaries Barack Obama has crossed despite being biracial and how many people are taking a stand. Racism today seems to affect mainly African Americans as some people are very prejudiced against them such as the Ku Klux Klan whose power may not be as strong as it once was still exists. The other ways that African Americans are affected are stereotypes. There countless even for other races for example me. I have mistaken to be Indian a lot of times and sometimes still am even though I am Bangladeshi. Some stereotypes for other races would be the Chinese and Japanese they are sometimes expected to be smart, have squinty eyes, and be a workaholic while they may be not. I know someone who is partly Japanese she does not seem to have squinty eyes nor is she a workaholic. Racism also comes to everyone’s’ lives through the way we exposed to it. For example go to some place and then be shut out because of the color of your skin or be cast out because you’re Asian, African-American, or even middle eastern. For now that is all I can say but if you’re not satisfied please leave a message on my bio page and/or improve it yourself in anyways you can.

Chinese Businesses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Chinese Businesses - Essay Example Over the centuries, these socio-economic affiliations helped ties the Chinese and Filipino in a strong spirit of affinity. In the 21st century, mutual trade and investments provide a solid pillar in the long-standing, friendly relations between the two nations (Philippine Embassy Beijing 2004). In Singapore, there was a phenomenal influx of Chinese migrants during the nineteenth century. Multitudes of Chinese migrants filled the island for commerce and work with the institution of Singapore as a colony of Britain in 1819 (Ee 1961). During this time, secret societies emerged that Chinese migrants became associated with. These secret societies contributed to the development of Chinese businesses in Singapore in early days. Chen (2001) narrated that around 60 million Chinese people have built communities in countries other than China. They cover a range of ethnic and linguistic subdivisions bound by their common origin, and are collectively known as the Overseas Chinese (Weidenbaum 1996). Although rather small in terms of the entire population of their host countries, they play a vital role in the economic setting of South East Asia, where they dominate a majority of the firms' wealth in the region (Yeung, 1996). According to Tsang (2002 p. ... Most of them are into small and medium enterprises; however, play a significant role in the economy of the Philippines. Some of these entrepreneurs hold large companies and are valued as some of the most well-known Philippine' business tycoons. According to Wong (1985), the traditional Chinese family business (CFB) is "a small-scale, domestically oriented, form of business organization that originated in China several hundred years ago and was dispersed throughout South East Asia by emigrating Chinese minorities in the 19th and 20th centuries". Shapiro and Erdener (2003) modernly called them as the Chinese family enterprise (CFE) in which they defined as "the larger, internationally active, family-owned Overseas Chinese enterprise that evolved from the traditional CFF outside China". Yeung (1999, pp.106-11) narrated that some of CFB turned into CFE that have become famous international conglomerates are Fortune Tobacco under Lucio Tan in the Philippines and the Far East Organization under Ng Teng Fong in Singapore. "Among the Overseas Chinese, family business was evolving in new directions that deviated from tradition and paved the way for international expansion". As they internationally expand, CFEs typically created powers and capabilities in their host markets as the basis for competitive advantages in the foreign country environment. In some South East Asian countries where ethnic discrimination is at large by the dominant cultural group, the CFB expanded their business network beyond the family. This led them to form unions with national governments. The main advantages of the CFE based on characteristics over other form of business structures are listed below. According to Chen (1995), the main lead of the CFE is its capacity to grab commercial portals of

How the Brain Mediates and Controls the Sensation of Pain Term Paper

How the Brain Mediates and Controls the Sensation of Pain - Term Paper Example Now, with the advent of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, and other non-invasive assessment technologies, the less invasive, but more direct and accurate examination of the brain has been made possible. The areas of the brain which now respond and which manage pain perception and sensation can now be laid out and understood by practitioners. The more technical processes of pain sensation and mediation can now be assessed and evaluated. It is popular knowledge that the brain controls and manages all types of sensation and feelings in our body. Understanding the more specific patterns which explain these control functions in the brain are more complicated and need a more thorough analysis. This study shall now seek to discuss how the brain mediates and controls the sensation of pain. It shall first present an anatomical discussion of pain sensation, and then a deeper analysis of brain mediation and control of pain shall be carried out. An emphasis on the central mechanisms of pain and the bi ological and neurochemical processes underlying them shall be presented in this paper. This study is being undertaken with the purpose of establishing a clear and comprehensive understanding of the brain functions as it mediates and controls pain sensations. ... In effect, sensitized nociceptors can cause secondary shifts in the central activity processing which causes hyperactivity, making input from the A? fibers to be felt as pain (Baron, 2000). As a result, these patients spontaneously experience pain alongside sensitivity to heat. A similar analysis by Pawl (1999) discussed pain as assessed by the brain through function images. In his analysis, he was able to confirm that during the pain experience, increased activity in the sensory pathways from the thalamus to the sensorimotor cortex was apparent. Pawl (1999) also established that the contralateral hippocampus became active during experimental heat pain; during acute pain, activity in the amygdala was also increased. In studies covering chronic pain, the nociceptive disruptions often activated the same areas; but these same areas were manifestly less active in instances of pain which originated psychogenically (Pawl, 1999). This analysis implies the more apparent pathways for pain dep ending on the kind and the source of pain. Based on the analysis by Yaksh (1999), the regulation of afferent processing is at the level of the spine. Yaksh analysis is more detailed in terms of the involvement of the NMDA and the NKI receptors. Aside from systems which can reduce excitability, the post-tissue injury pain condition is marked by the upregulation of gain. As a result, continuous small afferent excitation triggers a cascade which is instigated by the release of amino acids and peptides. With the activation of the NMDA and NKI receptors, there is a rise in intracellular calcium and the stimulation of the kinases and the phospholipase A2 (Yaksh, 1999). The NMDA then acts as the phosphorylate membrane channels and receptors; while the NKI causes the

Construction of Hong Kong International Airport Assignment

Construction of Hong Kong International Airport - Assignment Example The 1984 Declaration also stated that British rule over Hong Kong was to end in July 1, 1997. Meanwhile, firstly, Hong Kong Airport was under pressure as it became smaller and difficult to handle the increasing number of people and cargo (Perren, 2005: 1). Secondly, the rapid increase of Hong Kong’s population made it a dense city, and thirdly, residential houses were constructed next to the Kai Tak airport, which was very risky to the population. The above issues instigated the need of constructing a new airport in Hong Kong. David Wilson, Hong Kong’s British governor, came up with an idea of building an airport before the 99-year land lease ended in 1997. The new Hong Kong International Airport, at Chep Lap Kok, was to be constructed on an artificial island after the flattening of Chep Lap Kok and Lam Chau Islands. The construction of this airport called for support from the UK and Chinese governments as both governments signed a memorandum of understanding that estab lished the parameters of control of the construction of the airport. The airport came into existence after the investment of more than $20 billion USD in the construction. In overall, the whole project comprised constructing large tunnels, a high-speed rail system, new superhighways, suspension bridges, cargo and freight terminals and the airport. The construction of the airport started in 1991, and it was officially opened in 1998 (Craig, 1998: 98). The stakeholders and their success The major stakeholders during the construction of the new Hong Kong International Airport were the governments of Britain, China and Hong Kong. Firstly, the British government was involved because Hong Kong was a British territory. Secondly, the Chinese government was involved because Hong Kong was to fall under the authority of the Chinese government after the expiry of the lease, and thirdly, Hong Kong was involved since it was the local government. Conflict of interest ensued among the stakeholders because of future social, political and economic benefits. However, tension among the stakeholders was cooled down after the signing of the memorandum of understanding in 1991 by the British and Chinese governments. The bodies that were charged with the task of supervising the construction of the new airport were: The Sino-British Airport Committee Board and the Provisional Airport Authority. In essence, the airport’s financial and policy framework was negotiated by the Sino-British Airport Committee Board while the design and development of the whole project was overseen by the Provisional Airport Authority. Additionally, the Provisional Airport Authority had the objective of financing and delivering the following complete infrastructures: the tunnels, bridges, cargo and freight terminals, railway connection and the airport (Annual Report 2009/10, 2009: 47). The stakeholders who were involved in the construction of the new Hong Kong International Airport managed to drive the project into a major success. Firstly, the success of the project was seen when the two governments of UK and China signed a memorandum of understanding that ensured the construction of the airport. Secondly, the memorandum of understanding by the two governments ensured a smooth transition of Hong Kong after the 99-year lease expired in 1997. Thirdly, the

Vietnam War and American Pop Music Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Vietnam War and American Pop Music - Term Paper Example Feminism, African-American Civil Rights Movement, Anti-Vietnam War Protests and even Sexual Revolution occurred in the Sixties. But there is no revolution in that era that has had the profound effect like the one the Vietnam War had. The Vietnam War has left a huge mark in America’s social psyche, and subsequently made an impact in the collective consciousness of the American people. Many films have been made, songs, books and even TV shows that echoed the sentiments of the people during that time. This era changed the people’s view on media, politics, the government and other institutions. If the people in the other eras before trusted the government with its actions, this era saw that the people did not trust the government as much because it deployed their sons to another country, in what the Americans viewed as a futile war. The Vietnam War actually started in 1955. As an offshoot of the Cold War between the Communist Russia and the Democratic United States, the Vie tnam war is also about the battle of communism and democracy. It was between the communist Vietnam (North), controlled by the Viet Congs and the democratic Vietnam (South). The US, as a protector of liberty, tried to protect the democratic Vietnam from the communists who were trying to unite Vietnam by making the country a wholly communist one. Because of this threat to democracy, America rounded up its troops, mostly composed of young men. In 1960, the first massive recruits occurred, doubling up in numbers in 1962, and in 1963, the world saw that the American troops have tripled in number. These young troops were to be deployed in Vietnam. This happening, along with other socio-cultural movements in the 60s, spurred a massive protest movement. It has to be noted that this era saw the African-Americans being granted equal rights, the women equality with men, the environment being taken importance, etc. This war added to the agenda that the people were so keen to push. The people di d not want to wage war, unlike the government. The people pushed for peace and focusing on the environment, not having their sons, brothers and husbands killed. This conflict between the people and the government spurred the people’s disillusionment on the American government. This event, the Vietnam War, challenged their views pertaining to their leaders and their heads of state. It was inevitable anyway, the troops were sent to fight in the war. For nineteen years the United States has been deploying troops over at the Asian country. They lost the war. This fueled the masses’ discontent for the government. This discontent permeated through the pop culture. It has made its way in the people’s everyday lives, especially with the movies and music. Art is a reflection of reality. Music and movies are art forms and they do reflect reality in whatever form they can, intentionally or not, since the creators’ consciousness also reflects the events that happen a round him, through the art he has been making. This is especially true in protest music that made its way into the lives of the Americans in the 60s. Protest music is a result of a musician’s conscious effort to be heard. The rise of protest music in the United States was seen during the time of the Vietnam War. True, protest music existed way before, ever since man started to sing, but the Vietnam War, with the

Need for a Lean Initiatives Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Need for a Lean Initiatives - Research Paper Example Management is a complex function that determines a company success, delivering of affordable goods and quality goods, a trustable delivery and continuous innovation throughout the companies’ entire functioning chains (Arnheiter & Maleyeff, 2005). Determinants of efficient management are measured by the companies’ market network and the shareholder value. If the two factors increase then the companies have realized good management skills. Nike and Adidas are two European countries that work with an aim of outdoing each other from the market by improving their strategic management. Most of the strategies are based on their supply chain and marketability of their products. The aim of this study is to compare and to contrast the management styles of the two companies in the context of how they affect organization behavior. According to Locke and Romis (2012), a lean management system incorporates a strategy that ensures daily progress, meaningful purpose, and lasting value. The Footwear market is characterized by dynamic factors; most of the changes are short period. The demands in the market are not flexible, and the purchases are sometimes high and other times small. Additionally, the products from the manufacturing industry to the market usually follow a short product lifecycle. Adidas Company has instituted lean initiatives in management, focused to decrease the costs and to improve their supply chain processes. However, lean initiatives make the company prone to risks that occur because of relying on other supply chains, elements and other interruptions (Locke & Romis, 2012) Nike Company has adopted a management strategy referred to as a Subcontracting Management Plan. The strategy has advantages for the company marketing strategies, and it ensures that the markets are unique from other companies offering similar products, and the production process is determined by the

Cargo Cult Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Cargo Cult - Essay Example Even though cargo cults continue to be discovered, they ceased to exist as a phenomena â€Å"as soon as anthropologists figured out how to explain† it (Dalton 2000:345), however, they can be seen as a successful (in certain aspects) revitalization movement for the indigenous population, who often needed to vent out their frustration with the new way of life under the colonizers. Cargo cults, as the specific millenarian movements in the Melanesian region are called, were not studied very closely before the twentieth century; after F. E. Williams published The Vailala Madness and the Destruction of Native Ceremonies in the Gulf District in 1923, interest as well as publication on them have increased (Long 1974:403). Usually, a cargo cult is formed when some member of the tribe has a dream (a myth-dream) whereby the rest of the tribe is instructed to follow certain orders, which can include touching things or ritualistic destruction objects, or not going to their garden to work, or dance around open altars (Stephen 1997:1) or even baptism and insistence on giving up local culture in favor of the European (Long 1974:410); what is more, as Worsley notes, there is also the â€Å"cultivation of large gardens and the building of stores, sheds, jetties and landing-grounds for the reception of good which will never come† (Dalton 2000:358). According to the native rituals and social norms of the Melanesians, anyone who could give a lot of material gifts to others was automatically someone to be respected and looked up to. With the arrival of colonials, who brought with them many material products, the natives saw their material wealth and automatically assumed that the colonizers were respectable people. As, on the converse side, the person who could take gifts but could not give anything comparable in return was frowned upon according to the same norms, therefore, the Melanesian, based on their own cultural norms, lost respect in their own eyes. The product s that the colonials brought with them were things that the natives wanted, but which the natives, in their lack of exposure to technology, had no idea how to produce even though they had been seeing them delivered to piers and landing strips. Certain cargo cults were formed, whereby certain mythological stories were exchanged to make sense of just why nothing that arrived was for them but for the colonizers. As per this explanation, the ancestors of the natives were busy making things for their descendants, both within the volcanoes that the locals worshipped, and living amongst the lands of the colonizers, disguised as white men. These ancestors were sending all the cargo that they had accumulated and manufactured to the locals, however, the white colonizers, entrusted with the transport of the cargo, were robbing the natives by changing the labels of the cargo to steal it and claim it as their own (Long 1974: 409). It can be argued that the irrational rituals were created in a bi d to get the wealth of the colonials (Lindstorm 2000:296). Clearly, this shows a sense of resentment on the part of the natives who felt not only threatened by the colonization but also used and abused. As Burridge puts it, the natives have their own rituals and ways for proving â€Å"their integrity as men. But faced with a white man, the moment passes them by. They feel themselves children of sin†

History of Dance Essay Example for Free

History of Dance Essay INTRODUCTION: Once upon a time there was dance! In dance there are many forms. There is Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Hip hop, partner dancing, modern, and country and western. Dance originated many, many years ago. People used it to express emotions and stories. As time went on so did new dance techniques. Ballet came into the world around the 15th century Italian Renaissance and it slowly became the backbone for all dancing styles. As Albert Einstein said â€Å"dancers are the athletes of God. † SPEECH: Danced changed throughout the centuries *Centuries* As stated earlier the 15th century was the beginning of Ballet. During the time of both the 15th and 16th centuries ballet was only performed in royal courts where performers would get the audience to participate. Male dancers were the majority of dancers during this time period. To portray women in their performances they wore masks. In the 17th Century King Louis XIV (14th), who also was a dancer, performed in The Sun King ballet de la nuit. Louis XIV also founded Academie Royale de Musique (The Paris Opera. ) Ballet was becoming more theatrical during this time period, and female dancers were becoming the majority of performers. The ballet Les Indes Galantes (the gallant Indies) was the first ballet to feature women. During the 18th century the costumes were very extravagant. These costumes included masks, wigs, corsets, and hoop skirts. All were big and voluptuous. Two rivals, rebels, and amazing dancers at this time were Marie Camargo and Marie Salle. Marie Camargo started dancing in 1726. Because of Camargo’s gracefulness and quickness she ditched the traditional costume by shortening her skirt and wearing slippers to improve her techniques (leaps). Salle who started dancing in 1721, danced in a muslim costume (greek robe like), hair down, and unornamented to express that dance should be natural and expressed. Both dancers opened many new doors in the world of ballet. The 19th century was the time where ballerinas were the most popular performer in Europe. The Romantic Movement evolved during the 19th Century. Which was concerned with the supernatural world of spirits and magic and often portrayed women as passive and fragile. The use of pointe shoes were increased during this time period. Pointe shoes are satin shoes with wooden blocks in the toes to keep dancers on their toes all the time. Each pointe shoe is constructed to the dancer, no two pointe shoes are alike. As dance continued in the centuries it continued to change and flourish. The 20th century was the century where different styles and forms began to break away. Traditional ballet was still there but a more modernized version came into play. In order to move forward from this point you need an understanding of the types and styles there are in ballet *Types and Styles of Ballet*. There are two styles in ballet and they are story and plotless. Story Ballets, obviously, tell a story. Between the music and the dance a story is portrayed. Popular stories told were love stories. Another type of ballet is plotless. In a plotless ballet, no story is portrayed. Instead an image is created and aims to cause emotion. The three styles of ballet include classical, neo- classical, and contemporary. Classical reached its height in the 19th century, when you think of ballet this is the first thing people normally think about. Many graceful and and flowing movements are depicted in this style. Neo-Classical Ballet was introduced in the 20th century. Speed and energy in these dances were increased. In this style classical form was manipulated a lot and the rules for classical were broken. Contemporary Ballet was influenced by the movement of modern dance. Many new moves and techniques were established. Floor work and the turning in of the legs was a major change. There was a greater movement and body line in this style. With the changing of ballet through the centuries and the difference in types and styles, five positions and moves were always constant *ABC’s Of Ballet*. As a dancer, when I think of ballet I immediately think of the five positions. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th. I know, I know not hard to remember. These positions have been around since the start of ballet in the 15th century. This is the grammar of ballet and the classical building blocks. No matter what century, type, or style of ballet these positions are there. Ballet is a whole new world when you think about it. Theres so much information that many people do not know. There is information I don’t even know. Here are some random and fun facts I discovered. Mindless trivia or surprisingly interesting? *Mindless trivia or surprisingly interesting? * A professional male dancer lifts over 1 ? tons worth of ballerinas during performances Most ballerinas go through two to three pairs of pointe shoes a week Tutus cost up to $2,000 to make and take 60 to 90 hours of labor with 100 yards of ruffle First ballet dancers didn’t dance in tutus or satin shoes-more focused on footwork and positioning 3 hour performance is equivalent to 2 90 minute soccer games or running 18 miles (and they say dance isn’t a sport). Pointe shoes add a minimum of 7 inches to a dancer A Prima ballerina can complete 32 fouette turns while staying in the same place. After pointe shoe is HOT to the touch Those are only a pinch of information there is from the world a ballet. CONCLUSION: In conclusion ballet is definitely the backbone to dance. Without its evolution from the 15th Century Italian Renaissance dance would not be where it is now. When you think of ballet don’t think of it as a little thing, ballet is full of history, it even teaches you many things such as gracefulness, poise, stamina, discipline, and lots of technique. Dancers all around the world are connected to one thing and that is ballet. â€Å"I dance because there is no greater feeling in the world than moving to a piece of music and letting the rest of the world disappear† Unknown You lose yourself and find yourself THANK YOU.

The Gettysburg Address Analysis

The Gettysburg Address Analysis The famous Gettysburg Address was a speech made by Abraham at the November 19, 1863. At dedication of Soldiers National Cemetery, a cemetery for Union soldiers killed at the battle of gettysburg during American civil war. And what I found interesting g This speech was not going to be one of the most important at that day! However, it was a motivational speech for the citizens of the United States of America. It was a speech made in a time of confusion and sadness for them which generates hope and motivation in them. He was talking about some important issues as the equality of all people making it one of the most recognized speech by the United States, and for some other countries it has been known as a popular and perfect speech Lincoln has done. Gettysburg Address Lincoln spoke to the nation about the past and history; spoke of the nation as a unit as everybody together and gave the nation hope and faith. In a speech that was comprised of only 10 sentences and 272 words. Lincoln was able to strike that would resonate not only with his audience but one that would resonate through time. First one important meaning of Mr. Lincolns speech and which introduced what he will say, he was talking about the history of the nation, giving the nation a national history lesson beginning of what was before, what was at that moment and what will be using the syntax with three different paragraphs, using pause to show clearly the major ideas. He was talking about conceived nation, and more importantly. The country conceived in liberty, in base on and naming the ancestors and the founding fathers, who created a nation with freedom, as an example he said our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation conceived in liberty. Reminding everyone how the nation started, how at that moment the people were and how they will do what they will. In addition, the second most important theme is that the Gettysburg Address was talking of the nation as a unit. He is using repetition with the words we, us, people, our, for example, he said, We are met on a great battle-field (Abraham Lincoln Outline). He was showing the audience that everybody is the same, and everybody is at the same level with the same importance. Mr. Lincoln also touched a very important point for anyone since he understood that everyone is equal, and in any situation, the nation will be a unit nation, in which everybody together will help each other equally. He also used several words of the Bible, and knowing that the United States is one of the countries with most Christianity in the world, he knew that will unite them even more, because they felt as one region, as a biblical unity, which will succeed. The President ends by talking of God. and a new type of freedom for the people of the United States by the will of those people and those they have elected to govern the country. The words are also reminiscent of the start of the Constitution We the People. Finally, another important theme in Lincolns speech is that he as knowledgeable person talked about the future, he was talking again with biblical words, as an example he said, We cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow (Abraham Lincoln Outline). He was talking also about freedom, liberty, honor, he was giving the nation new hope; therefore, he changed his mood and tone to create attitude and to change audiences attitude, giving to that part of the needed importance. The speech was also inspiring them to get new goals everyone together as a unit, making them sure they could not stay there and they had to move forward, to understood that things should not stayed there and in a large sense the nation, they had had a new birth and had a new start ahead with goals and hopes for the future. In closing, Mr.Lincolns speech The Gettysburg Address was a speech that is not too long and took the attention of many people, taking their hearts, remembering things of the past, talking about a present what they were living and speaking of a future that will arrive with hope, he also spoke of unity and equality, that all people are equal; therefore, they should not left things there in opposite go ahead for new things, realizing that they had a new birth where they could begin again to improve. It was an encouraging speech for the United States, in which Lincoln was known as a normal person, just like other citizens with goals for the future, giving the nation the encouragement they needed, and helping them to be the nation they are now, with a lot of successful and with a good future ahead. He finishes with a powerful triple that has become famous throughout the world: of the people, by the people, for the people. And I guess this is the real definition of democracy.

Procurement Route Selection and Analysis

Procurement Route Selection and Analysis The purpose of this report is to evaluate the procurement routes of construct a new auditorium with high specification technology for Heriot Watt University. The report includes defining several procurement routes, determining the recommended procurement route for this project. This report also covers the evaluation of influence factors and the potential benefits for adopting the recommended procurement route. Background Heriot Watt University (HWU) is planning to build a new auditorium at the existing grass land next to HWUs park with the land area of approximately 1500m2. The proposed auditorium is single storey with mezzanine floor with total 1950m2 gross floor area. The requirement and the need for auditorium shall be perfect for conferences, lectures and presentations, includes the facilities as following: 200 comfortable tiered seats, high specification technology, multimedia theatre with air conditioning, full size interactive screen and computer driven presentation facilities, In view of the HWU top management has decided to build a new auditorium, the projects procurement strategy has to be formed for achieve the optimum balance of risk, control and funding for this project. 2.0 Procurement Strategy Procurement is the amalgam of activities undertaken by the client to obtain a building (BPS, 2nd Edition, 1990). The projects procurement strategy is established for identify the most appropriate way of achieving the projects objectives and the value for money. The key steps in implementing the procurement strategy as following:- Finding out the real needs for the auditorium project and the projects objectives; Analysis the procurement routes for the auditorium project Evaluating the procurement strategy and the influence factors Implement procurement strategy and design team selection and contractor selection for the project Final handover for operation and review successfulness of the project There are many factors are able to influence on procurement strategy and subsequently influence on the selection of procurement route. We have listed down some most important factors for top management to consider for the procurement route. The project objectives and the clients capabilities HWU with a history dating back to 1821, has established one of the top UK universities. The objectives of the project are to build a new comfortable auditorium with high technology and to be able to complete within the cost limit, to the required quality and within the time constraints. In view of HWU is not a regular developer of works, the risk to HWU for this auditorium project shall be minimized. The HWU shall be the single point of contact and responsibility for the project during design and construction and in the event of the building failure. During the design stage, our HWU top management would like to implement their concerns and reliable ideas into the project. The high specification technology with special equipments would like to require some changes to the design due to the unable fixed cases. Risk management Risk management is critically important to project success. It involves identifying and assessing risk, assigning the right risk owners and continually managing, monitoring and reporting on key risks. (OGC03, 2007) In order to determine the most suited procurement route, the necessary comparison of varies procurement routes such as Traditional Route, Design Build route, Management Contracting Route Construction Management Route, etc will be done. Chosen of any route will have its own risks. When the procurement route is determined, the specific key risks, that HWU adopts, must be managed efficiently. The Project Constraints The constraints of the project are that contractor is able to consider the possible impact on neighbouring buildings and the potential concerns of the neighbours. They shall apply for a new entrance and temporary access to the construction site to minimize the impact to campus. The temporary access shall be reinstated to original. The noise pollution during the day time shall be limited in 75 dBA and in 55 dBA during night time. In order to raise the Environmental, Health and safety standard for this project, we have proposed to use the precast components for column, slab and staircase. The consideration and adoption of precast components is not only greatly simplified the construction sequence but also help to reduce construction wastage with such practices. Another consideration of reduce potential environmental impact is to adopt the interior drywall partition. Interior drywall is widely used in the commercial sector to build staffs offices. With consider the above factors, the procurement strategy shall be based on the following principles and guidelines:- The design should be fully meet the project objectives. The project should be based on a firmed price and limited time to construct. The auditorium must ready for operation by End of 2013 for the new intake in Jan 2014. The contract award should be based on the companys capacity and capability instead of lowest price. Selection of contractor intends low risk to HWU. 3.0 Procurement route selection and analysis Once the procurement strategy has been formed, the procurement route then can be selected with consider the clients specific requirement and how the clients risks will be minimized. Various procurement routes have emerged to identify the procurement systems in current use, some more advanced procurement practices are often used currently as shown in Figure 2. Traditional Procurement Routes The traditional procurement consists of the appointment of designer consultants by client before call for tender, and the appointment of a contractor on the other side after tender. The construction project is managed by HWUs project management with no concurrent sequence works that have to occur by following each other as brief, design, tendering construction. The traditional procurement route is varies in Traditional Sequential route and Traditional Accelerated route. Traditional Sequential route means the Contractors bid will be submitted based on the completed design documents and completed tender cost documents as normal. Traditional Accelerated route has requested the client to appoint the contractor earlier on the basis of partial information by negotiation or in competition. The contractor is able to be involved in the project as early as possible. The contractors experience, knowledge and existing materials and equipments can be considered in the final design. Design Build Procurement Routes The DB procurement route has changed the traditional sequence of work. It requires HWU to develop the tender documents that will send to possible contractors for provide and return their design proposal and relevant cost. DB has met the clients intend for a single-point of responsibility in an attempt to reduce clients risks and control the overall costs. DB is allowed the design and construction works concurrently to reduce the total project duration when compared with traditional routes. DB is also firmed the overall price prior to construction with low cost risk, so that HWU will not necessary to expend huge resources to close involvement. DB is varies in several types such as: Turnkey, Package deal, Design build, Develop construct. Turnkey is adopted the DBs principles and extended the contractors responsibility to include the commissioning and fit-out of facility, that same as EPC (engineering, production construction). The contractor has been placed with responsibility, risk and power and the client has the least risk in all procurement routes. Develop Construct is adopted DB with two-stage tendering and novation for give the client greater control over both design and cost. The client will has the higher risk among DB routes. Refer to Figure 3: Risk distribution among DB routes Management Procurement Routes Construction management is a construction manager who appointed by client to advise the client on a fee basis. The client has to involve into contracts with numerous contractors that requested the client is experienced and has to be totally involved with faster response to decisions. Construction management is normally suitable for complex building project. Management contracting can be defined as a management contractor appointed by client will advise client on the program and buildability. It requires the client a good quality brief and relies on a good quality project team. There are higher risk on the uncertain actual cost and total construction duration when compare with DB route. See below Figure 4: Risk analysis between Client Contractor. Other Procurement Routes There are other aspects of procurement routes such as Prime contracting, Partnering, Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), etc. Partnering is a procurement philosophy that will ensure the cooperating working between client and contractor and the problems can be solved over adversarial attitudes and practices. Partnering, Prime contracting and PPP procurement routes are mostly suitable for major and huge projects. In view of build the auditorium is a small project, it is recommended that these complex procurement routes are unsuitable or unnecessary. Procurement Route Selection In view of build a new auditorium is able to consider as a straightforward small project, we suggest that the Design Build procurement route shall be adopted. DB procurement route has considered and minimized the clients risk. Refer to the Figure 5: Summary of Client Risk in Advance Procurement Routes. The client has to avoid to loss control for the project and to avoid a very high price rate, the Turnkey and Pachage deal are not recommended for adoption in this project. Hence, we are suggesting to adopt the Design and Build to this project. DB is a more refined form of a package deal which obtained recognition from the JCT in 1981 with the publication of the JCT Standard Form of Building Contract with Contractors Design (CD 81). Figure 6 is shown the procedure of DB project. By chosen the DB procurement route, HWU knows the total financial commitment early in the projects life, and also knows that HWU does not introduce changes during the course of the works. DB has advised the direct negotiation and contact way between the client and the contractor. This has improved the communication lines and enabled the contractor not only to fully respond for the contract but also to adapt more promptly to meet the clients needs. The contractor is responsible for the whole of the design and construction of the building. Responsibilities are not split between designer and builder so that the client finds himself looking to separate parties in the event of a building failure. (BPS, 2nd Edition, 1990) 4.0 The Advantages and Potential benefits of DB route When the DB procurement route is chosen for the project, HWU starts out on a path to success by adherence to the objectives, time, cost and quality requirements of the project. Wider Choice of Design By invited three or more contractors to tender for this project, different with the traditional route, more designers will provide wider idea and design intend, HWU has the wider choice to select the best design that has fully understood and achieved the project objectives. Before HWU top management have decision to choose the contractor, they can input their concerns and comments to the design rather than request changes during construction stage. When both HWU and contractor agree with the amendment, the contract is ready to award accordingly. Time Cost Saving DB saves time and cost for the client, HWU, when it is providing the opportunity to achieve innovation in the delivered facility. Time and cost savings result from the ability of the design-build team to fast-track the project by overlapping the design and construction phases of the schedule. Because the HWU does not need to provide a full set of biddable construction documents, cost savings are also associated with design. Reduced Risk with lesser involvement DB allows the client, HWU, to avoid being placed directly between the architect/engineers and the contractor. HWU does not take on significant risk because of avoid the position on direct involvement. Even more importantly, the contractor will take the responsibility for design errors and omissions under DB route, and HWU is able to relive the major legal and managerial responsibilities. From HWUs view, the DB is a tool to fix many problems associated with the traditional route of contracting for design and construction separately and sequentially. We have also compared the procurement routes as shown in Figure 7. 5.0 The disadvantages of DB route A disadvantage of DB is that the contractor may use an existing building system or modular building form so that the contractor can reduce design time and save their own design fee, may lack aesthetic appeal. By chosen the DB procurement route, HWU is able to be aware of some serious failures among building systems and shall undertake careful research before award the contract. There is no independent architect and consultants to advice and to protect HWUs interests, is another disadvantage of DB route. In order to avoid a blind monitoring, HWU can employ an agent to perform this role on behalf. The agent shall supervise the works from brief, tender stage to design and construction stage, until handover the completed project to HWU, to make sure that the contractors proposal and works are complied with the required objectives and standard. Next, once HWU issued the contract, it will be costly for HWU to change the design, materials or works. HWU has to finalize the requirement before the tender and has to finally amend and confirm contractors proposal before sign the contract. Finally, HWU shall be aware of the responsibility for high quality risk. Some contractors concern with simplifying construction activities are able to lead to a reduction in design quality, as a result, it makes design and build inappropriate for this project in which high specification technology is required. Hence, HWU shall write clearly into the brief for the quality requirements. 6.0 The Alternative Procurement Route In case of the client has more concern on the cost control and changes of design and function, we have propose the Traditional Accelerated route as the alternative procurement route. As mentioned early in clause 3.1, Traditional Accelerated route has allowed the client to appoint the contractor earlier on the basis of partial information by negotiation or in competition. The two-stage tendering will be used to appoint a contractor as early as possible to the project. During the 1st tender stage, the design may not be completed and the tenderers will submit a price based on the available information. Until the 2nd tender stage, the additional design information will ready and the packages are finally priced. The client may comprise negotiation with the contractor (winning tender from 1st stage). When the price agreed, the client can award of the contract as traditional lump sum contract to contractor for commence the works. By compare with the traditional single-stage tendering, the benefit of Traditional Accelerated route to the client are: Shorten the tender period and quicker start on site works; Design stage can extend to construction period, may not requested to complete for tender package. By select the Nominated Sub-contractor, the quality is able to control by the client. The contractor can consider their experience to the design and their existing or extra resources to this project, that they may have a lower price package. The traditional accelerated route is suitable for our client who is not required much experience and the quality and buildability may also achieve the requirement. The client has to consider the risks during 2nd tender stage that the contractor may not meet the clients requirement. This can be resolved by spend more time to get alternative contractor involve and seek the agreement. 7.0 Demonstration of procurement Researches on Selecting Project Delivery Systems found that DB projects are delivered 33.5% faster than projects that are designed and built under separate parties. The researches also showed that DB project are constructed 12% faster for construction stage and have a unit cost that is 6.1% lower than traditional projects. (PDS 1998) 8.0 Conclusion The Design and Build is the recommended procurement route to HWU for this auditorium project. In order to achieve HWUs expectations and vision of delivery of the project, HWU is also to be an integral part of the design process. A well completed auditorium project with DB route will include HWU in the initial design process of programming and schematic design, and will include HWUs involvement not only in design stage meetings but also in the further interim reviews of the design, construction, functionality and even aesthetics at various steps along the design and construction process. DB has its ability to consider all relevant factors that would influence the desirability of the project. The best value selection of DB procurement route provides for the consideration of both cost, time and other more subjective factors such as project management, quality control and team reputation.

Paul the apostle :: essays research papers

INTRODUCTION   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  John Wycliff was a theologian and early proponent of reform in the Roman Catholic Church during the 14th century. He initiated the first translation of the Bible into the English language and is considered the main precursor of the Protestant Reformation. Wycliff was born at Ipreswell, Yorkshire, England, between 1320 and 1330. He died at Lutterworth December 31, 1384.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  John Wycliff’s family was of early Saxon origin, long settled in Yorkshire. In his day the family was a large one, covering a considerable territory. 1324 is the year usually given for Wycliff's birth. Wycliff probably received his early education close to home. It is not known when he first went to Oxford, with which he was so closely connected till the end of his life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  He was at Oxford in about 1345, when a series of illustrious names was adding glory to the fame of the university, such as those of Roger Bacon, Robert Grosseteste, Thomas Bradwardine, William of Occam, and Richard Fitzralph. Wycliff owed much to Occam. He showed an interest in natural science and mathematics, but applied himself to the study of theology, ecclesiastical law, and philosophy. Even Wycliff’s opponents acknowledged the keenness of his dialectic. Wycliff’s writings prove that he was well grounded in Roman and English law, as well as in native history. A family whose seat was in the neighborhood of Wycliff's home, Bernard Castle, founded Balliol College, Oxford to which Wycliffe belonged, first as scholar, then as master. He attained the headship no later than 1360. When he was presented by the college (1361) with the parish of Fylingham in Lincolnshire, he had to give up the leadership of Balliol, though he could continue to live at Oxfor d. His university career followed the usual course. While as baccalaureate he busied himself with natural science and mathematics, as master he had the right to read in philosophy. More significant was his interest in Bible study, which he pursued after becoming bachelor in theology. His performance led Simon Islip, Archbishop of Canterbury, to place him at the head of Canterbury Hall in 1365. Between 1366 and 1372 he became a doctor of theology. In 1368 he gave up his living at Fylingham and took over the rectory of Ludgershall in Buckinghamshire, not far from Oxford, which enabled him to retain his connection with the university.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It was not as a teacher or preacher that Wycliffe gained his position in history; this came from his activities in ecclesiastical politics, in which he engaged about the mid-1370s, when his reformatory work also began.

The Satire of Animal Farm :: Animal Farm

The Satire of Animal Farm Orwell's book, "Animal Farm", is full of satire. This satire is Orwell's way of communicating problems and resolutions. The main message in Animal Farm is that power cannot be divided equally. There will never be equality for all. Once power is obtained it is always abused, and power causes all to think as the leader does. Equality does not exist, for it is impossible for everyone to be equal. There will always be a leader and there will always be followers, and they will never be equal. A society in which all are equal will never exist because people will have different opinions on the way that the society should be run. "This arrangement would have worked well enough if it had not been for the disputes between Snowball and Napoleon. These two disagreed at every point where disagreement was possible." Snowball and Napoleon are battling for control of the farm, they both want to be the leader because they know that the leader has the most privileges. The animals that are in charge, the pigs, do less work than the other animals. "All that year the animals worked like slaves." The title of leader is highly sought after, because the leader tells everyone what to do without actually having to work. The pigs not only do less work but they receive more food. "Once again all the rations were reduced, except those of the pigs and the dogs." The fact that the pigs receive more food than the other harder working animals, shows that the farm is full of inequality. This type of governing is wrong, and Orwell wants it to stop. Less power should be given to the leader, so that the leader and his followers can be more equal. Once a group or an individual obtains power, it is impossible to manage it correctly. The leader will always take advantage of his power. Power causes the leader to make decisions, that will only better himself. "... Boxer was being sent to the knacker's." The pigs killed an animal just so that they could make some money. The power led them to this decision, they could kill Boxer, make some money, and no one would ever find out. Everyone has heard about the golden rule: "whoever has the gold makes the rules." This applies to "

On the Meaning of Life †John Cottingham Essay

What is our relationship with the universe – who are we and how did we come to be seems to be the ultimate question of the meaning of life. This question has always sparked powerful debates between the views of the religious and modern science. Many believe this topic is a one-sided issue where these views cannot co-exist with one another, either one’s a theist, believing in God as the soul creator and ruler of the universe or an atheist, disbelieving of a supreme being or beings. But in actuality, modern science does not count against the nature of a divine creator behind the universe. So as modern science offers an account of how things happened, religious beliefs account for a certain aspect of â€Å"why,† aiming towards finding significance and value. In On The Meaning of Life, John Cottingham argues in order to have meaning, you must not eliminate one theory from the other; modern science and religion must co-exist together. First, what’s the meaning of modern science, and why does it contribute to the meaning of life? Philosopher Rene Descartes believed in mechanism, a theory holding that organisms are machines in the sense that they are material systems, therefore explains biological processes, within the framework of science. In order to discover a fundamental set of principles that is â€Å"based ultimately on the universal laws of mathematical physics that governed the behavior of all natural phenomena, celestial and terrestrial alike,† (6) Descartes banish teleology (any system attempting to explain a series of events in terms of ends, goals, or purposes) from science. He believed in order to conceive this unified theory there was no room for purposiveness, and since this universal law was made of mathematical physics, â€Å"there was no attainable answer to the question why† (6). But Cottingham thinks if we were to achieve and complete a [super-theory linking gravity and quantum physics] together to answer the ultimate question, we still would [fall short of explaining why there should be a universe at all]. Cottingham’s belief is acceptable because if this super-theory was completed, that included all observable phenomena in the universe, this theory still would not answer the question to â€Å"why is it so. † This is where science has reached its limits. Religion takes off of where science can no longer be held accountable to the meaning of life. Why should there be a universe there to explain? Unlike the language of science, religious language â€Å"grapples with the task of addressing what cannot be fully captured by even the most complete scientific account of the phenomenal world† (8). Instead of finding significance in terms of physical quantities and mechanical interactions, religious language reflects on the universes power, beauty, rhythm, and harmony. Therefore, religious discourse pushes the limits of the observable, towards uncovering something beyond the phenomenal world, in hopes of giving meaning to the universe and to our human lives. Cottingham believes religion â€Å"adds a framework within which that nature is revealed as more than just a set of characteristics†¦ encourages us with the hope that the pursuit of virtue†¦ contributes to the establishment of moral order that the cosmos was created to realize† (72). In other words, the religious perspective offers a possibility for human purposeness by providing a powerful focus on moral goodness. Religious discourse is important because since science accounts for how the universe and humans were made. We feel that we are thrown into this world where nothing ultimately matters, but religion offers hope, value and significance towards life. After examining the different aspects modern science and religion brings to the ultimate question, Cottingham urges to combine the language of science and religion together in order to have meaning. Cottingham states â€Å"in strict logic there is nothing to prevent such a purely mechanical system (of efficient causality) coexisting with a purposive system (of final causality)† (48). Therefore we must not eliminate the possibility of the two systems (modern science and religion) existing together. Philosopher Leibniz’s envisioned a world of spiritual purposes functioning in harmony with the world of physical mechanisms. This is also known as blind mechanical systems, â€Å"whose outputs, at the same time, constitute the purpose planning and doings of conscious agents† (48). Believing mechanisms and purposes could together provide an instance in support of the ultimate question of the universe. In addition, Spinoza had a parallel vision to Leibniz. He believed the universe of physical mechanisms (under the attribute of extension) exactly corresponds to spiritual ideas linking meaning and purpose to a willed creator (under the attribute of thought). Thus, we are dealing with [one and the same thing but expressed in two ways]. This showed Cottingham that since there has been no evidence to favor modern science of being the explanation of a divine nature, it does not logically eliminate the possibility of a divine creator of its meaning. So where science accounts for our human nature and origin, saying we have no ultimate significance, spirituality offers human life a sense of value. Darwin’s theory of natural selection opposes the possibility of linking modern science and religion together in one system. In order to get a sense of what threatens the framework of religion, this is the standard account of our human nature and origin: About fourteen billion years ago, the cosmos†¦including matter, radiation, space and time somehow began, exploding from a tiny concentration of matter-space energy†¦gravitational effects caused matter to clump into hydrogen masses†¦fusing into helium. Explosions caused new heavier elements, which formed into plants. On at least one planet, a self-replicating molecule arose†¦evolved into living organisms, which diversified into all kinds of plants, animals, microbes etc. , all solely as a result of natural selection. After millions of years one such species became intelligent. Man is a product of these blind forces. The main conclusion from this theory is that the universe and everything in it is a result of natural selection, including humans therefore Nottingham presumes â€Å"there is no ultimate significance to the universe or to human life,† (42) throwing out the idea of any religious significance. Darwin believed that human origin came from a purely accidental chain of blind natural forces. His view gave no choice or purposiveness in the divine nature, because everything was an entirely impersonal process. But Cottingham argues although this discovery has been scientifically accounted for, it is based on interwoven interpretation, an â€Å"interpretation that goes far beyond the truths and hypotheses that pertain strictly to the natural science† (43). And that viewing religious thought as something able to be replaced by modern science is strictly a metathesis â€Å"-a claim that operates at one remove from the claims of science itself† (43). As a result, Darwin’s theory cannot be taken very seriously because the standard account of human nature and origin is dependent on interwoven interpretation that has exceeded far from the fundamental principles of science. In essence, in order to account for the meaning of life, one must not choose modern science over religion or religion over modern science. Having one theory over the other does not manifest to the ultimate question of the meaning of life. Instead, we must link the two frameworks, divine nature and creator into a unified system. In Cottinghams words, we â€Å"must leave the door open for the theist as indeed it does for the atheist. † For where modern science can be longer contribute its findings to the meaning of life, religious language ascends from it bringing significance and value to human life. Beckie Chung Dreaming of the Earth 4 November, 2007 Cottingham, John. On The Meaning of Life. New Fetter Lane: Routledge, 2003.

How Did the Bbc Represent the General Strike of 1926?

How did the BBC represent the general strike to its listeners? Introduction This project is primarily a study regarding one of the biggest events in the life time of the BBC and indeed the life of British trade unionism. The General Strike of 1926 has moulded the way that we see both of these today and is an important aspect of British history. This project principally focuses on the media at the time, and will seek to find out how the BBC portrayed the General Strike to its listeners during this period.We will find out the attitude that the BBC took on the events of the General Strike and will find out how it put these across to its listeners at that point. In order to find out the answer to this question we must first split it up in to several important chapters. Below is the list of chapters and the subjects that they will discuss and their importance in this study. Chapter one will outline who the BBC listeners were at that point and will find out whether the general strike had c hanged who their listeners were.It will go back to the very roots of the BBC and will look at the programming that it provided and how this affected the listeners that they had gained. This section will also explore the idea of ‘constructing the listener† an idea put forward by Reith to determine who his listeners were. It will then look at their listeners during the general strike and will seek to find out the change that occurred during this point in time. This also requires us to look at the staff that worked at the BBC and also at Sir John Reith, who had his own ideas about the standards that the BBC should work towards.Chapter two will discuss the ideology of the BBC prior to the general strike and how this ideology impacted on their reporting of the general strike. It will look at how Sir John Reith 1 put his ideas in to the BBC. We will explore the idea of a public service and what a public service meant to Reith, mainly looking at what Reith's ideas of the term à ¢â‚¬Ëœservice' were. It will explore the BBC's want to maintain its independence and why this was so important to Reith. We will also discuss the threat that was posed to their in independence during the trike. It will also look at the idea of â€Å"educate, inform and entertain†, an integral part of what we now know as the ‘Reithian ethos'. We will see whether the general strike changed these core beliefs of Reith's or whether they remained intact throughout the period of the strike. It will also discuss the idea of social unity, another one of the core beliefs of the BBC. We will seek to find out how much nationalism was a part of this and whether the BBC could have been seen as being nationalist during the strike.This chapter will attempt to show us how this ideology affected the broadcasts to their audience and how the audience saw the BBC. These first two chapters will play an integral part in the rest of the project , however to understand them both we need to loo k at them in their separate chapters. Once we have done this we can then look at how they affected each other . These will form the basis from which will then be able to view the BBC and the general strike in detail. Chapter three will allow us to assess the other forms of media that were available at that time.This chapter will look at the newspapers at the time of the general strike; we will mainly assess the two national papers at the time, the British Gazette and the Daily Worker. It will look at the effect that the general strike had on the papers and how the freedom of the press was so greatly affected by the printers going out on strike. This will link in with the way that the BBC listeners changed during this time as the lack of newspapers left a hole in the media, which the BBC hoped that it could fill. We will also 2 ake a look at how the BBC monopoly over the news at this time affected the way that they broadcast. This is important because they put the BBC in to a pivotal , yet difficult, position. The BBC had two sides to provide information to, but how could the BBC do this without taking sides? Chapter four will look at the political influences that had an effect on how the BBC was viewed at that point of time. It will look at the relationship that the BBC had with the government. It will look at the various personalities within the government and how they affected the way that the BBC put forward its broadcasts.It will also explore the influences that were coming from outside and will try to find out if these actually impacted upon the way that the BBC actually broadcast to its listeners. One of the most important influences that was upon the BBC was that of the church; their ideas were in keeping with that of the BBC, yet were never broadcast. This is a major part of the influences that have played a part in this industrial dispute. In this chapter we will look at the Marxist theory of the media and will assess the idea of this when applied upon the BBC.This will allow us to see whether the BBC was a tool of the ruling classes during the general strike. These sections will allow us to answer the question of how the BBC presented the general strike to its listeners. It will show us how the relationship between the BBC and the government had been formed; even in the early days of the BBC. It will also show us where the ideas of the BBC, that still exist to this day, originally came from and the changes that have taken place through out the BBC's past. It shows us, on a wider scale, the importance of the media today in any disputes.This is because they control what we see and hear today, this applies to the newspapers, television and radio. Their input can 3 change the way that the a dispute goes by getting the public to support or oppose it. As we will see the media, mainly the BBC, proved to be an effective form of propaganda for the people during the general strike. During the course of this project we will encounter a loo k in to Marxist theory of media. This will allow us to see whether Marxists historians believe that the BBC was a tool of the ruling classes during the course of the general strike.For this we need to look at the idea of class conflict at every level of this dispute, including the media. There is no doubt in historians minds that the British Gazette was definitely the tool of the ruling class. However, the role of the BBC has been disputed by many historians through out the course of the twentieth century. The Marxist theory of media will let us see whether the BBC was a tool of the ruling class of their own accord or whether they had influences upon them that dictated the way that they broadcast during the strike. 4 Chapter one: Who were the BBC listeners before the strike?Did the strike change this? This section will look, in depth, at the make up of the BBC listeners before the general strike and in to the strike itself. In order to do this we need to explore their method of list ener research from the beginning; this was a method called ‘constructing the listener'. From this we can find out why the BBC was of very limited appeal during their first years, even though they wanted to allow broadcasting a much larger audience, especially after the First World War. We will also view the effects that this had on public perception of the BBC during the general strike.The general strike did open up the BBC to a wider appeal and this is something that we need to consider. We need to know why this happened and assess the implications of this on the way that the BBC was seen. The BBC method of ‘constructing the listener' was the BBC's early attempt at listener research. This method was required in order to find out what people what to listen and learn about from the radio1. This attempt at research used the BBC staff, who were mainly middle class. This meant that the results of the research were going to be tailored to a middle class audience, rather than for the whole population.We can already see that the early years of the BBC were aimed at the middle class. The results of their listener research reflected upon the programming that took place. The earlier years of the BBC gave precedence to ‘serious' music. This was classical music and some dance music. However the BBC did not play much ‘serious' dance music 2 By serious 1 Crisell, Andrew, An Introductory History of British Broadcasting (Routledge, 1997) pp. 38-9 2 Cardiff, David & Paddy Scannell, A Social History of British Broadcasting; Volume one 1922-1939 (Basil Blackwell Ltd, 1991) pp. 82-183 5 music we can infer from the high moral tone of the BBC that the playing of serious music meant that it was not crude. This programming already shows us that the working classes were not included in the programming of the BBC. Their pastimes, such as Accordion playing and Community singing were neglected by the BBC 3. This was not a deliberate mistake, but was due to the fac t that the middle class workforce of the BBC did not have knowledge of working class lives. This allowed the listener that was ‘constructed' to be a middle class one.Not only did it mean that the programming that the BBC provided was aimed towards the middle class, it also meant that the core values and beliefs of the BBC were aimed towards the middle class as well. The belief in a â€Å"high moral tone† is something that was prevalent in the early years of the BBC 4. The BBC did not aim their broadcasts solely at the middle classes. They aimed to incorporate all sections of society in their broadcasts. As Scannell and Cardiff rightly make the point that the BBC was trying to provide information to those that had just recently got the vote after the First World War5. This included many of the working class.This shows us that the BBC did genuinely want to allow the whole population access to the broadcasts, unfortunately because of the middle class values and standards a nd the fact that wireless was a very expensive product for working class people, many were unable to gain anything from wireless until the general strike. The method of listener research did not cause the BBC problems until the strike. This was because the wireless technology was very new, and therefore was expensive. The ‘Revophone' crystal set and headphones in 1923, cost ? 2-10s 6. The average income of a 3 4 5 6 Crisell, Andrew (1997) p. 9 Cardiff, David & Paddy Scannell (1991) p. 7 Ibid. p. 11 The Museum of Technology, Wireless and TV . Accessed on 2 nd June 2012 6 family at the end of 1923 was at 65s-6d per week, not taking in to account their expenditure on food, rent and other necessities 7. We can therefore see that the cost of even the cheapest wireless sets was out of the price range of an average family. The wireless sets were affordable only to the middle class, this meant that the BBC's method of listener research had worked from 1922-1926, as they had aimed the programming at the social group that could afford to buy the technology.We can therefore see that the working class were unable to listen to the BBC because firstly the price was high and that the programming was not suited for their tastes. However, Andrew Crisell makes the point that the BBC listeners were actually at quite a high rate. In 1923 he said that the license payers for the BBC were around 80,000, but the estimate for this is quite conservative because there were loopholes in order to avoid paying the fee. He also states that in 1924 there were over double the amount of people listening to wireless than in 19238.This means that there may have been some working class listeners if they were able to afford the wireless sets. However, they were still not recognised as being listeners from the view of the BBC. They assumed that all people that were listening were middle class. In 1926, this all changed with the general strike. The working class had more access to the technolo gy. This was not because they were able to afford it, but it was because shops installed wireless loudspeakers in public places and those that had wireless invited working class people in to their homes to listen to the broadcasts 9.This allowed the 7 Florey, RA, The General Strike of 1926: Historical Perspectives (John Calder Ltd, 1980) p. 188 8 Crisell, Andrew (1997) p. 16 9 Briggs, Asa, The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom: Volume one The Birth of Broadcasting (Oxford University Press, 1961) pp. 338-339 7 working class access to a facility which they had not been able to use before, but already held views upon. The Daily Herald just before the strike warned people about the propaganda that would come from the BBC and told people that they should disrupt the transmissions10.This indicates to us that the working class were sceptical that the reporting of the strike would be impartial on the BBC. The working class already held negative views about the BBC, due to the wa ys that they had been neglected in the early years of the BBC. The working class were not for the BBC, however the BBC was the only readily available source of news that was around at the time of the strike. This was because many of the printers of the newspapers had gone on strike and many of the newspapers that were available did not have the capacity to dispatch them on a national level 11.This gave the perfect opportunity for the BBC to gain more listeners. With the introduction of loudspeakers, we can find evidence that the broadcasting of the BBC news reports was well received. The North Wales Weekly, The Brighton Herald and The Warwick Advertiser all had articles that stated how thankful the working class were that loudspeakers had been installed in the public places12. We must also take a look into the politics of the listeners of the BBC.Firstly, we know that the majority of people before the general strike were of a middle class background; this is not to say that all of t hese people held their political allegiances with the Conservatives, many middle class people would have much preferred to vote for the Liberal Party or the Labour Party. We cannot simply say that even the majority of the listeners held one 10 Perkins, Anne, A Very British Strike; 3 May-12 May 1926 (Macmillan, 2006) p. 126 11 Symons, Julian, The General Strike (House of Stratus, 2001) pp. 55-157 12 Broadcasting Press Cuttings May 1926, Book 1E, BBC Written Archives, Caversham 8 political allegiance because this is unknown and would simply be using the stereotypical model of someone who is middle class to assume their political preference. This is also the case with the working class during the general strike. It is unlikely that all of the working class were voting for Labour, purely because they had just seen the Russian revolution happen and most people, in general, were afraid of Communism or Socialism.The Labour Party in the 1920's stood for Socialism and stood for the working c lass, but so did the Liberal Party in a very different way. However, they were also in decline because of Lloyd George's selling of honours. The Conservative Party were the dominant party of the 1920's and this was because they appealed to both the working and the middle classes. We can see that the Conservatives were popular from the 1924 general election. They managed to get 47. 2% of the vote, whereas Labour only managed 33% and the Liberal Party only managed to obtain 17. 6% of the vote 13.It is clear to see that the Conservatives were dominant in the elections. The population of the country in 1924 stood at around forty-four million people, with nearly half of the population voting for the Conservatives it is sure to say that there were many working class men and women voting for the Conservatives. Now we should be able to see that the usual idea of a class listening to the BBC does not always meant that they would have been listening with the stereotypical political beliefs, a s the beginning of the 20 th century saw large changes in politics.We can see that the strike had a profound effect on the make up of BBC listeners. The working class were wanting to listen to the BBC in order to provide them with the news that they needed. However the middle class, who had been listening to the BBC since its 13 Tetteh, Edmund â€Å"Election Statistics: UK 1918-2007† House of Commons Library,. Accessed on 2nd June 2012 9 existence, were still listening to the BBC because they enjoyed the programmes that were broadcast. This shows us that there were the beginnings of a conflict emerging here.We have seen that the BBC were not well looked on by the working class. They believed that they held middle class values, therefore they were going to support the government and provide the country with propaganda. It shows us that John Reith, whom had wanted to promote social unity between all classes was now allowing the BBC to become a source of class antagonism. Howeve r, the beliefs of the BBC had a more profound effect than we have seen here, which we will assess in the next chapter. 10 Chapter two: The â€Å"Reithian ethos†; how did the strike impact this?This section will assess the core ideas of the ‘Reithian ethos' from 1922-1926. It will assess how these affected the BBC's reporting of the general strike, or how these values were altered by the strike. The core beliefs that shall be discussed are the idea of a public service and what this meant to John Reith, for this we will have to view the idea of what a service is and how this affected the way that the BBC put across this in their broadcasts. We shall then be seeing how their ideas of ‘inform, educate and entertain' failed until the general strike and then caused the BBC problems going in to the strike.We will also take a examine the way that Reith wanted to try and advocate social unity and the failure of this aim during the strike. This section will also entail a vi ew in to impartiality, which the BBC failed to commit to during the general strike but hoped that it would be able to commit to. Lastly we will be looking at the independence of the BBC and seeing how this took precedence as the main value that John Reith wanted the BBC to maintain, throughout the strike. These impacted upon the broadcasts of the BBC and ultimately had an effect on the way that the listeners of the BBC perceived the broadcasts.The idea of a public service as we know it now is a free service that is provided to all members of the population, irrespective of their status or their earnings. The British Broadcasting Company under John Reith had very specific ideas of what a public service should provide to the people and how it should operate. Firstly, we must look at the concept of a service. Scannell and Cardiff argue that Reith's idea of a service was a 11 Victorian one whereby the BBC would provide education and information to the working classes in order to make th eir lives better 14.We should not view Reith's idea of service this way; he wanted to provide the middle class and the working class with a service that would inform and educate, whilst attempting to unify all classes. To make the BBC only a service for those that were less well off in society would not be abiding by another part of the Reithian ethos; that of social unity. Reith especially wanted to inform the listeners on matters that were important to the nation, primarily those that were industrial and political 15. In 1922, he was unable to allow the BBC to attempt at this goal because he was restricted to do so by the government.They only allowed the BBC to have one news report per day, at seven o'clock in the evening16. This meant that in the lead up to the general strike the BBC had not had the relevant experience to be able to deal with such a large industrial matter. This meant that the BBC's reporting of this was not of the best nature, they did not know what would have b een expected of them. They were disorganised as can be seen in some of the broadcasts that were put out. Many of the stories had been literally cut and glued on to paper, often on top of other broadcasts, with a lot of text around the edge 17.We can see that this lack of experience in the face of such a large task resulted in a haphazard operation. However, the BBC did provide information, during the strike, on the services that were available to the people. It did provide information on all of the buses and trains that were running at this time in its news reports 18. This meant that the BBC was providing relevant 14 Cardiff, David & Paddy Scannell, A Social History of British Broadcasting: Volume One, 1922-1939 (Basil Blackwell Ltd, 1991) p. 9 15 Ibid. p. 32 16 Crisell, Andrew, An Introductory History to British Broadcasting (Routledge, 1997) p. 5 17 General Strike News Bulletin, May 8th 1926, BBC Written Archives, Caversham 18 General Strike News Bulletin, May 12th 1926, BBC Writ ten Archives, Caversham 12 information to all sections of the population. However, it could also be seen by the strikers as a way to show that there are services still working and that the lives of ordinary people were still happening as normal. So, even this idea of information that Reith wanted the BBC to achieve could be perceived as being an anti-strike tool. The idea of education was something that John Reith also took very seriously from the very beginning.His belief was that he should be giving people â€Å"what they need, not what they want† Reith thought that if he were to do this then he would be ‘prostituting' it 19. Due to this the early years of the BBC did attempt to educate the population on music and culture, however, it is important to remember that they were broadcasting to a middle class audience. They were already interested in these. Reith wanted to educate all backgrounds and classes on classical music, opera, theatre. He also wanted to educate on important matters, both politically and industrially again.However, as we have seen the BBC was unable to do this in its infancy. The BBC also was unable to achieve the goal of education, because this largely middle class tool had not reached the working class, meaning that the working class did not have access to these middle class pastimes. The middle class were relatively well educated on these subjects, as these were their past times. Even if the working class had have been able to listen to the BBC, the method that this ‘education' took was one that Percy Pitt described as â€Å"like taking a schoolboy to the National Gallery and expecting him to appreciate Velasquez and El Greco† 20.This tells us that there was no explanation to the music being broadcast, so even if the working class had have been able to listen they would not have understood the music that they were hearing. 19 Briggs, Asa, The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom; Volume One; The Birth of Broadcasting (Oxford University Press, 1995) p. 7 20 Ibid. p. 275 13 The idea of entertainment was the only slightly successful part of the image of a public service that the BBC actually managed, but only until the general strike. It even did this in small doses, and aimed at the middle class.During the general strike, when the BBC was more accessible to the working class, the Bristol Times and Mirror explained that the public wanted to listen to the news broadcast on the BBC, but the music was not something that they were appreciative of21. This is because the working class wanted to hear the news, they did not want to listen to classical music, they may have listened to the other programmes on the BBC if there was apathy from the company with the working class. The next value that the BBC held during its infancy was that of social unity.John Reith wanted to use the BBC in order to attempt to try and get all of the population, regardless of their class, to listen and appreciate the wireless together 22. This is something that he did not manage to do, even before the general strike. The last chapter demonstrated that the working class were unable to listen to the BBC and it was regarded by the working class as being a middle class tool. This meant that the idea of social unity going in to the general strike could not be achieved through wireless, because of the views already held by working class people.During the course of the strike, the BBC did attempt to advocate social unity. The section â€Å"Sentences for the disorderly† gave details of the people that had been caught committing crimes and had been sentenced23. This shows us that the BBC was trying to promote peace in some way. However, the working class would not have seen it as a â€Å"high moral tone†, another one of Reith's beliefs24. They would have seen it as an attack on the 21 22 23 24 Broadcasting Press Cuttings, Book 1E, BBC Written Archive, Caversham Cardiff, David & Paddy S cannell (1991) p. 3 General Strike News Bulletin, 8th May 1926, BBC Written Archive, Caversham Cardiff, David & Paddy Scannell (1991) p. 7 14 strikers. The way that it is put across is not explained and it is expected that the listeners will understand the reasoning behind it. We can also see that it tried to advocate social unity through the selections of news reports from the British Worker; they promoted peace between the two sides. The BBC wanted to try and gain social unity from all of the population and wanted to put them under one banner; namely the British flag. The BBC was fairly nationalist in its approach to social unity.We can see that the celebration at the end of the general strike consisted of the BBC playing the hymn ‘Jerusalem' on the piano. The lyrics to this song are very nationalist. The last four lines of the song consist of: â€Å"I will not cease from mental fight, Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand, Till we have built Jerusalem, in England’s gr een and pleasant land 25† This clearly defines the position that the BBC took on the general strike. They were thankful that the country was united, and that there was no problems within classes. The BBC wanted to keep the people united for the pride of their country.The BBC wanted to broadcast items that were in the national interest, but how did they define what was in the national interest. They took it that the majority of people would wanted to have heard about ceremonial occurrences within the country26, because they held pride in their country. The problem with the BBC trying to gain social unity through the radio is that the working class already held their views about the BBC. Their belief that it was a middle class tool 25 â€Å"Jerusalem Hymn† Accessed 2nd June 2012 26 Cardiff, David & Paddy Scannell (1991) p. 13 15 vershadowed the way that they tried to promote peace during the strike. Cardiff and Scannell made the point that during crises the BBC, through a dvocating social unity, would have to chose between their allegiances to the people and the government. This ultimately is true, however the BBC managed to keep a medium between the two; even though the BBC were representative of the government during the strike they still managed to provide an important service to the population and provided them with the news that they needed. The BBC also wanted to be an impartial form of news from its beginning.This was something that was not really tested up until the general strike, because this was the BBC's first largest event since its existence. However, as discussed previously, a relatively inexperienced BBC was reporting on a large event. Impartial news was always going to be difficult and it did prove to be difficult. This was mainly because their source of information, Reuters, had an anti-labour bias27, meaning that the BBC was also of an anti-labour bias. It did not matter if they did not want to be, the news automatically excluded a n entire viewpoint in the country.The problem with impartiality also comes in the news that they selected from the newspapers at the time. The articles that were selected from the British Worker were that of a conciliatory nature28, where as others that the BBC chose were actively for the government and taken from the British Gazette. We can infer here that the BBC did attempt impartiality by using papers from either sides of the argument, however it cannot be considered to be impartial because of the close relationship that it had with the government; this is a factor that we will discuss more later in the project.For now we need to know that the BBC was coaxed into presenting the strike in a certain way through subtle threats. 27 Cardiff, David & Paddy Scannell (1991) p. 26 28 Ibid. pp. 109-10 16 The largest factor that played a part in the way that the BBC operated from 1922-1926 was the idea of its independence. Reith wanted to staunchly defend the BBC's independence. He believe d that if the BBC was commandeered then it would be better for him, but worse for the BBC and the country29. He thought that people would have got commercial radio, giving people what they thought they needed, and this is something that he was strongly against the BBC ecoming. During the general strike, we see the BBC independence come under threat from the government. This is because there were several in the cabinet that wanted the BBC to become a tool for the government against the strike, Baldwin thought that it could broadcast the governments message all over the country and especially to the middle class30. However, Reith wanted to maintain the independence of the BBC. This meant that in order for the BBC to keep this, they would have to stay on the better side of the government. Due to this the BBC did slant more of their news articles towards the government.This is not due to the want to be broadcasting purely the governments view, it is because there was a threat from the g overnment aimed at the BBC. This is something that remained unresolved through out the period of the general strike. In Reith's diaries, he says that the situation with the government had remained unresolved and that Baldwin had said that the BBC would keep some of its independence, and ended with â€Å"Not quite fair† 31. It meant that the BBC was hanging in the balance through out the period of the strike. They wanted to be independent because they wanted to be able to fulfil the idea of a public service.Reith wanted the BBC to be able to ‘inform, educate and entertain'. 29 Reith, John. Into the Wind (Hodder and Stoughton, 1949) p. 109 30 Perkins, Anne. A very British Strike 3rd May- 12th May 1926 (Macmillan, 2006) pp. 32-3 31 Reith, John (1949) p. 112 17 Over all we can see that the BBC did hold some values before the general strike that were well meaning. They did want to provide an impartial service that all people could use and gain something from. They also wante d to promote peace and unity between the classes through the medium of radio, even if this unity meant that people united under the flag of their country.They also wished to remain independent in order to be able to provide such a service to their listeners. However, because of the inexperience of the BBC in previous years, not all of these were able to be achieved, and during the general strike other values were less important. This meant that the BBC during the general strike felt that the independence that it had was its most important asset and that they would attempt to provide a public service that allowed all of their values to shine through. However, their belief that the independence was the most important idea infers that the others had to become slightly more redundant.This indicates that the BBC was reporting the general strike from a disadvantaged position. It seems impossible that the BBC would have been able to provide an account that the entire population would be ab le to listen and agree with. However there are other factors that allowed the BBC to do this. 18 Chapter three: What other sources of news were available to the public? How did this affect the position of the BBC? This chapter will aim to assess the other news that was in production at the time of the general strike. In order to do this we mainly need to look at the two main papers that were available at the time.These were firstly, the government paper; The British Gazette and the paper of the Trade Unions Council, The British Worker. We will look at how the two papers put across their news and why they were relatively unsuccessful attempts at propaganda. This will then lead us to look at other national papers that were available at the time and the difficulties that they encountered. Once we have assessed these we can then look at the position of the BBC during the strike. Firstly, we will be looking at the TUC paper, The British Worker. This paper was primarily created because th e printers had gone out on strike.The lack of national press meant that there was no way for those out on strike to receive national news through out the period of the strike. This meant that the paper was purely a creation in order to provide information to the strikers. We can see that even on the first edition of the paper, the British Worker labelled itself as â€Å"the official strike news bulletin 32†. Therefore the news that was inside consisted purely of events that took place in regards to the strike. It was there in order to provide workers from around the country with their news. The paper was also a way for the TUC to keep morale high amongst the striker.They often embellished the efforts of the strikers around the country and often praised the efforts of 32 The British Worker, 5th May, 1926, British Library Newspaper Archive , Colindale 19 the striker. They provided a summary of the country that did not contain any negative content about people going back to work . The only negative content that they provided is that about the government and the way that they were going about trying to combat the strike and their aims, and failing, this is evident from the issue of May 11th, whereby the sub-heading states that the â€Å"Cabinets new tactics defeated by indisputable facts 33†.This would have kept the morale of the strikers high so that there would have been no need to become angry and violent; it shows them that they had taken the right steps in the strike. The appeal of the British Worker was greatly restricted, because of the fact that the paper was only reporting on news of the strike. It meant that those that were on strike or those that were sympathetic to the strike were the only audience that the paper had. The General Council of the TUC were not intending the paper to be of mass appeal, they wanted it to purely give guidance to the strikers on a national level.They wanted to consolidate pieces of news from around the country an d put them in to one publication. This is because they wanted to promote law and order. This was important to the TUC because they wanted to prove that their aim was not revolution as suggested by the government. Many of the articles show that they wanted to promote law and order, the May 5th edition of the bulletin provided an article called â€Å"Do's for bad days† which told strikers that were upset or angry to try and keep their minds off the strike and provided them with activities to do34.They did not want to have strikers being violent and breaking the law as it would weaken their cause and warrant a response from the government.. We can also see that the bulletin was a way for the strikers to respond to the government. The article entitled â€Å"Labour's reply to the Premier† on May 6 th is a response to the 33 ‘No Slackening' The British Worker, 11th May 1926, British Library Newspaper Archive, Colindale 34 ‘Do's for difficult days', The British Wo rker, 6th May 1926, British Library Newspaper Archive, Colindale 20 overnment as is the constant emphasis on the strike being industrially motivated and not constitutionally35. These are all responses to articles that had been placed in the British Gazette, said in Parliament or broadcast over the wireless, which the TUC collected information on. We can already see that the British Worker and The British Gazette were worried more about attacking each other publicly than actually providing the public with credible news. The British Gazette had other motives than those of The British Worker. Their primary aim appeared to be to stifle the press by commandeering as much paper as they could to print on.This meant that they not only commandeered The British Worker's supply of paper, but other national papers, such as The Times36. We can see that the paper was not produced contain news that would interest many people. The sports pages had usual cricket and other sports but then was filled with news about Ice Hockey in Canada 37, which not many British people would have been interested in during 1926. It was clearly an attempt to use as much paper as they could The British Gazette was a way for the government to stop the press from producing any form of sympathetic news towards the strikers. This was mainly aimed at the British Worker.However having said this the paper did provide the country with propaganda.. The British Gazette was also full of quite nationalist propaganda. This was because the government saw the strike as an attack on ordinary British people. The paper on May 6 th showed that they believed that British public were under attack. It read: 35 ‘Labours reply to the Premier' The British Worker, 6th May 1926, British Library Newspaper Archive, Colindale 36 Taaffe, Peter, 1926 General Strike; Workers Taste Power (Socialist Publications, 2006) p. 108 37 ‘Ice Hockey in Canada' The British Gazette, 5th May 1926, British Library Newspaper Archive, Colindale 1 â€Å"Constitutional government is being attacked. Let all good citizens whose livelihood and labour have thus been put in peril, bear with fortitude and patience the hardships with which they have been so suddenly confronted 38† The idea of the government being attacked then appears to be translated in to an attack on the ordinary British person. This propaganda supplemented that of poems and cartoons that all aimed to make the British people proud of themselves and look disdainfully down at the strike. The image displayed on the May 12 th front page with the caption â€Å"Under which flag? clearly shows this nationalist propaganda from the British Gazette. It pictures two men; one with a union jack flag, looking proud and stood up tall and the other pictures a man that is in the background with a flag saying TUC 39. This clearly shows us the stance that the paper took during the strike, but it was not a successful paper on the whole. The problems that existed with The British Gazette were that firstly the paper was very controversial. The news that it provided often frightened many of the moderate supporters of the government40. Therefore, any wider market for the paper was not possible because their views were so extreme.The paper also lied about the extent of the strike, they actually made the strike out to be less supported and less effective than it was in order to keep the morale of the country up. Their article in the May 6 th edition contained an article called â€Å"Why walk to work? † This gave details of all the buses and tube lines that were running. In this, it said that the LGOC had over two hundred buses on the streets of London, when the actual figure was at eighty-six41. This could have even been a genuine 38 ‘Message from the Prime Minister', The British Gazette, 6th May 1926, British Library Newspaper Archive, Colindale 39 ‘Under which flag? The British Gazette, 12th May 1926, British Library Newspape r Archive, Colindale 40 Symons, Julian, The General Strike (House of Stratus, 2001) p. 155 41 Ibid. pp. 153-4 22 mistake on the part of the British Gazette, but the way that the paper was so controversial meant that the figure appears to be a deliberate lie. Their lies did aim to keep the countries morale up, but unfortunately they happened to do the opposite and many that read the British Gazette became angry through out the period of the strike because they did not give a true representation of how the strike was occurring..The distribution figures of the British Gazette do appear to be impressive, however the problem with these figures is that they only show how many issues were provided to people; the figures for the distribution of the paper through out the strike stood at around two million, according to the British Gazette 42. It does not show us how many people actually ordered copies of the British Gazette. A writer for The Times said that they saw copies of the British Gaz ette being put in to houses that had not ordered a copy and that he saw more than one copy go to houses that did order one 43.This shows us quite clearly that the aim of the British Gazette was to stifle the press, especially that of the British Worker. Their main aim was to use as much paper as they possibly could in order to silence the views of any newspaper that was remotely sympathetic to the strikers. Marx had said that the government was an â€Å"executive committee† of the ruling classes 44. They always act in the interests of the ruling classes and as such would attempt to defend their interests in any way possible. This argument is true if we look at the British Gazette; this was set up to defend the mine owners against the strike.They were against the strike in every way possible and said that the strike was not constitutional. This is clearly the government defending the ruling classes against the working class. Marx also stated that 42 The British Gazette, May 19 26, British Library Newspaper Archive, Colindale 43 Symons, Julian (2001) p. 160 44 Taaffe, Peter, The General Strike: Workers Taste Power (Socialist Publications, 2006) p. 107 23 the government would use all resources necessary in order to defend the ruling classes, because they were for their interests45.This is why the British Gazette took the supplies of paper away from the remaining press at the time. We should be careful to think that because the printers were out on strike that there were no national newspapers. This is not the case; there was actually a great wealth of national newspapers that were all available in smaller formats during the course of the strike. Many of them were not available for all the way through the strike; with the exception of the Times, which managed to print a copy of their paper every day, albeit it was a single sheet46.The problem that many of the papers had is that they did not have enough paper to print what they wanted because the British Gaze tte was using many of the supplies of paper. This meant that they were only able to print certain articles that they deemed as important. This possibly would have restricted their appeal. However, there was also problems with the distribution of these national papers. The problems with the distribution occurred because there was no one available to during the strike to deliver the papers.This meant that unless the newspaper had their own fleet of private cars, such as The Times47, then there would be very few ways of getting the paper out. All of this has a relevance for the BBC and affected its position greatly. It meant that because there was very little press that was available nationally, the BBC was able to provide the news for a large amount of the population. The British Gazette and the British Worker both had very limited audiences and this is something that the BBC capitalised on.Local papers were useful for people, however, they were not able to give an account of the 45 T aaffe 46 Symons, Julian (2001) p. 158 47 Ibid. p. 157 24 state of the whole country. So although the BBC may not have been trusted completely during the course of the strike as many people felt that it was the only credible form of news that was available. The British Gazette was too extreme for those that did not sympathise with the strikers and those that did not sympathise with the strikers would not have wanted to read the British Worker.The lack of press also meant that the BBC was able to produce more news broadcasts, rather than just one per day. Baldwin told Reith that the country was relying on the BBC for their news48, this meant that for the first time the BBC was able to provide a service that would have great appeal to people. The BBC did not have much in the way of experience of news reporting and quite often during the strike, many of the reporters were said to have sounded nervous. However, the majority of the population wanted to listen to the news as a result of th ere not being any real news available.As we can see, the results of there being a lack of national press at the time meant that there was an opportunity for the BBC to become the countries primary source of news. This was something that John Reith had been hoping for since the beginning of the BBC in 1922, but unfortunately had been unable to do this as he was blocked from doing so by the national papers. This meant that the general strike was the only chance that the BBC had to dominate the press. It did this, but struggled to do so because of the constrictions that were upon it at the time.The next chapter will assess the other factors that played a part in the BBC becoming a national voice. 48 Reith, John, Into the Wind (Hodder & Stoughton, 1949) p. 107 25 Chapter four: What external influences had an effect on the ways that the BBC broadcast to their listeners during the general strike? There were several external influences that had an effect on the way that the British Broadca sting Comapny broadcast during the general strike. This part of the project will seek to explore these in further depth as we have touched on them in previous chapters.These are relevant because they gave the BBC an image during the strike and led to their listeners forming opinions on them. This section will be split in to several different external factors that have played a part; firstly we will assess the impact of the largest influence on the BBC, that of the government. The BBC held close links with the government during the strike and were able to broadcast fairly often. The last external influence that played a large part during the strike was that of the church.The Church of England broadcast a series of speeches and appeals through the period of the strike, as this was in keeping with Reith's beliefs. However, there was a conflict been the church and the government in regards to a proposed broadcast, from the Archbishop of Canterbury, that we will assess. This will allow u s to see the way in which the BBC dealt with this and look at where their allegiances lay.. The government was closely linked to the BBC during the general strike. Not only in terms of the organisation of the BBC, but also from the listeners point of view.Many of the listeners believed that the BBC had been commandeered by the Conservative government, a point that will be discussed in depth further in this chapter. It is true that the BBC did have a close relationship with the government, but they had not been 26 commandeered. During the strike Winston Churchill wanted to commandeer the BBC 49, but the way that the BBC broadcasts were put out allowed them to maintain their independence. Another factor that has not yet been discussed is that the BBC had similar beliefs to the government at the time.The telegraph that John Reith sent to Stanley Baldwin clearly showed the stance that was taken on the strike: â€Å"Assuming the BBC is for the people and that the government is for the p eople, it follows that the BBC is for the government50. † Whether this message was sent by John Reith as a way to keep the government from commandeering the BBC is unclear, but it does appear to tell us that the BBC and government held similar values. However, interpretations of this may have been that the belief that the BBC were against the general strike and were on the side of the government.We cannot even be sure to say now that our interpretation of the message is correct because it would be unfair to do so. We can also see that the government had an influence on the broadcasts that were put out on the wireless. Even though the BBC was meant to be an impartial organisation, that provided balanced news to the listeners, many of the broadcasts were asking for the public to become volunteers. On May 9th a bulletin was broadcast that came directly from the government and was asking for civil constabulary reserves 51.On the surface, this appears clearly not to be impartial an d in favour of the government. However, the broadcast was a Reith's way of attempting to maintain peace and order. This was something that the BBC 49 Perkins, Anne, A Very British Strike 3 May-12 May 1926 (Macmillan, 2006) p. 124 50 Cardiff, David & Paddy Scannell, A Social History of British Broadcasting; volume one 1922-1939 (Basil Blackwell Ltd, 1991) pp. 32-3 51 General Strike news bulletins, 9th May 1926, BBC Written Archives, Caversham 27 aimed to promote during the strike.To ordinary people, it would have looked liked bias in favour of the government. Unfortunately what the listeners of the BBC did not hear is the broadcasts that were turned down by the BBC such as the Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies was not allowed to broadcast on the BBC because it would not have been non-political52. This is something that the listeners of the BBC would not have known about, and as a result they would not have seen this impartiality. The listeners took a view of the BBC on onl y what they heard or what they were told.If they did not hear something, then there was no way of them knowing about it. Unless, like the Archbishop of Canterbury's broadcast, it becomes public knowledge. Reith's aim of maintaining peace meant that many of the broadcasts from the government had to be broadcast as they often regarded keeping the country running through the appeal from volunteers. This was seen by Reith as being integral to keeping the peace and maintaining the law and order of the country, on May 9 th an appeal for volunteers on the trains was broadcast53, the running of the trains was integral and would have kept the country going.Even though it did help the government, and ultimately helped the BBC stay independent. The interpretation to the new BBC listeners, such as the strikers themselves, may have been that the BBC was wanting to end the strike and was in no way representing the strikers in the broadcasts. However, if we also look at what the listeners did not hear as well, this is just as important in looking at the relationship with the government. It can give us some more ideas of the relationship between government and BBC. We can see that the government paper took precedent over any other paper during the strike.We can see this from the May 12 th 52 Perkins, Anne ( 2006) pp. 70-1 53 General Strike news bulletins, 9th May 1926, BBC Written Archives, Caversham 28 wireless bulletin, only The British Gazette was mentioned as being on sale. However, underneath this was a broadcast that had been taken out of the script that listed all of the other papers that were available54. Broadcasting about the British Gazette is something that Reith may have felt was an important matter in maintaining the independence of the BBC, as it was the government paper.They may also not have broadcast certain items because they would have caused anger and outrage towards the government. On May 9 th a broadcast had been crossed out that said that Baldwin had g one to visit the London Zoological Gardens55. This was removed because it would have firstly led to the BBC being commandeered and is also would have caused anger towards the government as this was a time of crisis and Baldwin was visiting tourist destinations, rather than focusing on the general strike. The close relationship that the BBC had with the government would have been ecognised by their listeners during the strike. The tone and language that was used through out the BBC also sounded official and very middle class. A bulletin on May 12 th described a situation in Birkenhead, which stated that â€Å"some hooliganism was promptly suppressed 56†. This so called â€Å"hooliganism† was not explained in the broadcast and would have been interpreted by the working class listeners as being fairly derogatory. The broadcasts intention appears to be in order to promote peace and make an example out of the ‘hooligans', but in its language it appears as an attack on those in support of the strike.In regards to the end of the strike, the BBC put out a broadcast that mentioned people that were outside Downing Street, chanting Baldwin's name in support of him 57 . This was probably a relay of the events that were occurring but coupled with the way that the end of 54 55 56 57 General Strike news bulletins, 12th May 1926, BBC Written Archives, Caversham General Strike news bulletins, 9th May 1926, BBC Written Archives, Caversham General Strike news bulletins, 12th May 1926, BBC Written Archives, Caversham General Strike news bulletins, 12th May 1926, BBC Written Archives, Caversham 9 strike was broadcast it meant that people would have believed that the BBC were glad that the strike had been defeated. This is the way that it may have appeared to the working class, and the returning strikers. We can see that the end of the strike was announced and a piano played Jerusalem58, so it was made very grand. This was a celebration that peace had returned t o the country it was not a celebration that the strike had been defeated. However, to a relatively new audience this is how it would have appeared to them. The lyrics to Jerusalem are very nationalist.We have seen the last lines of the hymn and they invoke a sense of national pride. This hymn not only allows us to see that religion did play a large part in the BBC, but it also appears to glorify England; which after the strike would have came across to the strikers as being a celebration that the government had succeeded. Indeed, this is if the working class had understood the meaning of the song. It is not something that would have interested the majority of the working class people as they would only have wanted to hear the news reports and not the BBC's views of the events.The hymn’s actual intention was a celebration that England had pulled through this industrial dispute, however it could have been perceived, by the strikers, that the BBC were thankful that the general s trike had been defeated. However, the ‘Reithian ethos' stood to promote social unity through all classes and unite as the British rather than as classes. The playing of Jerusalem is put into context when we know this; however many new listeners of the BBC would not have known this about the BBC. Opinions of the some listeners at the time of the strike show that many believed that the BBC had been commandeered.The Daily Herald, a day before the strike began, warned 58 Leishmann, Marista, Reith of the BBC: My Father (St Andrews Press, 2006) pp. 65-66 30 their readers against the propaganda on the BBC 59. This was a relatively large paper, that sympathised with the working class and would have had the belief that the BBC was essentially government propaganda, because it was a middle class past time. Beatrice Webb commenting on the BBC also said that she believed that the company had been commandeered by the government, although she did give credit to the BBC for giving the TUC ai rtime.However, Beatrice Webb's political allegiance lay with the Labour Party, who were a left wing political party. They would have had clear opposition to the Conservative government as firstly, the Labour Party was a party for the workers, and secondly because the Labour Party were wanting to be in government themselves. This shows us that Beatrice Webb was going to be for the general strike and against the Conservative government, this meant that anything that sounded against the strike was seen as a hindrance.The TUC and the Labour Party were therefore already at a disadvantage during the strike because the BBC and the government held similar values and were closely connected, this made it hard for them to get their point across on the BBC; especially the Labour Party. We can firstly see that the news that the BBC got from Reuters was already of an anti-Labour bias, so they already got very little coverage. This left the Labour Party in a bad position because the BBC would also not allow them to broadcast speeches on air.On Monday 10th May, Ramsay MacDonald asked John Reith if he was able to broadcast a speech; this was not allowed by the government60. Throughout the period of the strike the BBC did not give consideration to the Labour Party. This would not have held true to the 59 Perkins,Anne (2006) pp. 125-6 60 Briggs, Asa, The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom: Volume One, The Birth of Broadcasting (Oxford University Press, 1995) pp. 244-7 31 belief of an impartial BBC and would have affected the way that the BBC listeners heard their news.Those that were against the strike would not have had any problem with the Labour Party not being broadcast. The working class, that supported the Labour Party, would not have though this fair as there was not being any representation for them generally. The TUC were able to broadcast speeches and allow some announcements through the BBC. The TUC relationship also went the other way in that they used the BBC broadcasts to provide them with their news. This shows us that the TUC did trust some of what the BBC was saying, but did not trust everything. They knew that it was primarily a middle class tool and not for their interests.However, we can also see that the TUC did send items in to the BBC asking for certain broadcasts to be corrected on the strike. However, this did not happen. The way that the TUC and the Labour Party were restricted from broadcasting shows us that the BBC did not want to lose its independence. However the BBC was supposed to promoted social unity; something that it had been started in order to advocate. The problem was that the BBC was essentially owned, ran and listened to by the middle class. This meant that it was a middle class tool that essentially represented middle class interests and values under the guise of ‘social unity'.The working class on the other hand did not manage to have the BBC represent them, unless they were working class Conserva tives. Their wants and needs were not catered for; the TUC and the Labour Party bulletins were not broadcast. This meant that those for the strike were essentially were scribbled out of the bulletins and forgotten about. This may have caused these groups to feel resentment towards the BBC. However, we must bear in mind that the Conservatives were very popular during this period and as such would have had a large following going in 2 to the general strike; we saw earlier that the election statistics gave the Conservatives nearly half of the vote in 1924, so there was many people; middle and working class that were voting Conservative. Prior to the general strike, the BBC held the idea of having high moral standards as important. This is why John Reith believed that the BBC should allow broadcasts from the church. Through out the first years of the BBC and in to the general strike the BBC regularly had broadcasts from members of the clergy.However, during the general strike there was a controversial issue involving the BBC and the Archbishop of Canterbury. The church wanted to broadcast an appeal to both sides during the strike asking for a settlement61. The government said that this broadcast could not happen as it would lead to the BBC being commandeered. The broadcast did not go ahead. This shows us plainly that the ‘Reithian ethos' of high moral standards was a lesser need than that of the BBC's independence. It also shows us the grip that the government had over the BBC was supreme.There was no need to commandeer the BBC because the threat of it would have worried Reith in to broadcasting the viewpoint of the government to the listeners. In conclusion, we can see that the BBC was under a great deal of pressure from all of their external influences. This inevitably influenced the way that they broadcast to their listeners, however we can see that the most influential of these was by far the government. The reason for this was not only the fact that the BBC had the threat of losing their independence , but it was because the ideas that the government held on the strike were similar to that of the BBC.The message that Reith sent to Baldwin made this perfectly clear. The BBC did attempt to be as impartial as it could with out the government 61 Symons, Julian, The General Strike (House of Stratus, 2001) pp. 176-79 33 commandeering them. Reith did want to broadcast some of the items that, in the end, were not broadcast. As Reith has said himself, the decision lay with him. He could ultimately decide upon what went out to be broadcast, but he also had to decide how far he could take this before Winston Churchill and a few others in the cabinet decided that they wanted to commandeer the BBC.These pressures unfortunately affected the BBC and put them under great strain, which meant that the broadcasts often suffered, in turn meaning that the listeners opinion of the BBC also suffered. With a new set of listeners, it made the job of the B BC even more difficult because they had to cater for both the middle class and the working class alike. 34 Conclusion In conclusion, we can see that the British Broadcasting Company actually represented the general strike fairly to its listeners, despite being biased towards the government because of the pressure that was on it.This was because they managed to show that they could provide the relevant information to the nation. They also provided information to both sides of the conflict; both the government and the Trades Union Council