Tuesday, 10th February 2015

Kingsley Amis noted in 1966 that ‘The treatment of media as a singular noun […] is spreading into the upper cultural strata’, and thirty-odd years later that it ‘looks likely to prevail’. It has prevailed and that is no tragedy. However, a plural noun having been turned into an uncountable one, those now throwing around the phrase social medias may be going a bridge too far – by going ahead and counting it. But at present social medias has not spread beyond the middle cultural strata; the, ahem, social mediae.

Thursday, 4th December 2014

It occurs to me that new media is a bit of a misnomer, since the Internet is really the only medium in town. The OED definition is quite telling, as it starts listing new media and quickly runs out of ideas: ‘new means of mass communication considered collectively; spec. electronic means such as the Internet, CD-ROMs, etc.’ Oh yeah, what are cetera? And CD-ROMs savour of old media even more than newspapers!

Saturday, 15th November 2014

It’s becoming increasingly rare to see a newspaper whose masthead is not topped gaudily with an adhat.

Thursday, 25th September 2014

Vice, n.

Pronunciation: /vaɪs/
Etymology: < Latin vitium fault

Depravity or corruption of morals; evil, immoral, or wicked habits or conduct; indulgence in degrading pleasures or practices; spec. with capital initial, these principles applied to media.

Friday, 18th July 2014

Responding to baiting by Russell Brand and his Trews, Fox News have a new theme tune:

The Trews is a tool
That is abused to fool you
And to leave you scared and confused.

Fox News is like the Trews
If the Trews was true.
I want Fox News –
Let’s have Fox News!