"US embassy cables: The job of the media is not to protect the powerful from embarrassment" Simon Jenkins, The Guardian

Lady Gaga's digital sacrifice.

She just came up on my twitter feed. As you can see my last post is now totally irrelevant as she is not playing by the rules. I do not understand.

Tumblr? Twitter? Facebook? Whatever.

The rise of social networking has of course had a huge affect on the lives of millions of people. From my personal point of view, it makes news accessible 24/7 (which can sometimes be a problem, expect another blog at some point about the issues of rolling 24 hour news), it makes it very easy to make contacts, important people can be followed, and it allows us to publish our own opinions with the click of a button, the ultimate in free speech.

 This blog was about to take a different turn, but a feed from BBC News just came up on my Google Reader (oh yes, aren't I technologically advanced!). Alicia Key's has set up a charity called "Digital Life Sacrifice" for World Aids Day. This is where celebrities pledge not to use social media such as Facebook or Twitter until $1 million has been raised. Celebrities taking part include Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake and Usher.
What a fantastic idea! The BBC has said that Lady Gaga has nearly 24 million followers on Facebook and over 7 million on Twitter (Looks like Twitter needs to do some advertising to get it up to Facebook's level...). Thats a lot of fan's desperate to hear every output of this woman's mind, and until the charity raises enough money, they are going to be starved of their idol's inner thoughts. Several years ago, this would have been an insane idea, but in our society today, I am pretty sure this will be one of the most successful charity campaigns. That is at least until $1 Million has been raised, then life will go back to normal, and we can all start knowing what celebrities had for tea again.

A review of Sunday Girl and Ellie Goulding live at the Sheffield 02 Academy.

 Sunday Girl then takes to the stage looking particularly windswept and interesting, which almost gives a summary of her set overall. Her first track has a slow introduction but by the chorus it turns into a catchy, upbeat track that gives the crowd something to dance to. The vocal melody is complicated and difficult to follow, which is a great credit to her because it sounds wonderfully creative and difficult, and she pulls it off so well. This melody lingers on in your mind afterwards and reminds me of Blondie’s slower songs, which of course is a great comparison for any female vocalist. However, she seems to be slightly uncomfortable on stage (a problem I’m sure Debbie Harry didn’t have), but this awkwardness is almost enchanting, as it symbolises that this young girl is at the start of her journey on the stage, and she hasn’t let it go to her head. For one track the guitarist ditches his guitar in favour of playing the keys, which in my opinion is only detrimental to the track, and he should stick to what he knows best, as it would bring more to the track. In the third track there is the first big musical moment, which is great because it brings more power to the track which forces Sunday Girl to reach more powerful notes. Unfortunately she seems unwilling to get involved with the crowd, and this shows in the crowd’s reaction, as she receives cheers with no real conviction.

    Ellie Goulding opens with Under The Sheets, and takes to the stage with a huge band complete with backing singers something that is rarely seen these days! She adds extra vocal parts that aren’t on the track which truly shows her talent. Ellie also takes it upon herself to do some of the percussion, mounting the front of the stage and banging a huge drum that has been set up for her, which adds greater depth to the track and shows that she is not a girl to be messed with. She is every inch a star, even more so than I expected. This Love (Will be your downfall) is a track that I had not heard before which is performed fantastically. The lyrics are cleverly simple, and they are sung clearly and soulfully.  One of the highlights of the set is when she picks up an acoustic guitar and plays her biggest single Guns and Horses.  For the first part of the song only she plays and sings, which shows her talent as a musician and allows the crowd to interact solely with her, a moving moment. The track is played in a mellow way until the powerful chorus, where the underlying synth forces the song to new heights.

    Halfway through her set, she and the band leave the stage and a video is played on the screen behind them. The video is Ellie talking about how she is a normal person with normal ambitions. The crowd seem to greatly embrace this video and open their hearts to Ellie Goulding. When she returns back to the stage, she explains how the video is about her journey over the past 12 months, and thanks the audience for taking part, and says how she is “grateful” to have a headline tour. At this point it is pretty much impossible not to be falling in love with the amazingly talented yet down to earth girl that is gracing the stage. The End is an acoustic track that is not on her album, which just Ellie plays acoustically. It is a testament to her talent that she can play guitar and sing so well. The track has a beautiful guitar riff that continues into the second verse, leaving me slightly intimidated by this girl’s musical ability as well as her beautiful vocals. Her cover of Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap is charming because it is rare for artists who are stars in their own right to do covers. Ellie really unleashes her vocals on this track, making it very emotional and powerful.

   As expected, she ends the set with Starry Eyed, another huge single. This track is filled with energy and on stage dancing and I don’t think anyone in the crowd was left standing still. Her energy is infectious, yet this track doesn’t call for powerful vocals, leaving me feeling that it is nearly anti-climatic from a melodic point of view. However, Ellie Goulding has proven to everyone here tonight that she is a star, and I am sure she has a long way still to go. 

Review to be published in Sheffield Music Scene, like will be posted when issue is published.

A slow day.

Much of which has been spent sat in my living room getting caught up with journalism and philosophy notes.

I am not sure if other peoples university courses make them do things like this, but my journalism skills class has prompted me to purchase a Blackberry. Yes, I am not sure how that works either..
We had a great lecture on online journalism. Of course I am on many of the social networking sites (including my much neglected blog...) but it seems I have not been using them to my full potential. So, I have purchased a Blackberry so I can keep more up to date with world news, update my twitter (available at http://twitter.com/#!/lauren_peel) when something newsworthy happens, and if I figure out how on Earth to use Google Reader, I can instantly receive updates on my phone. I should hopefully be able to access my blog as well, so when I am reading my paper over lunch I can share with you the serious stories I have read in The Guardian, and the more, erm, British orientated, entertainment stories from The Sun.

As I am taking a module called "Tabloid Journalism", I have now become an avid reader of the tabloids, and I have no shame in this! Easy to read, and with (some of) the news I need to know! Me and my course mates (Amy and Kate, you may hear lots about them in the future) always have a good giggle over headlines, and see if we can come up with better puns. My favourite so far is when I was writing up a story about how a Landrover had been stolen and had ran over four sheep. I thought this was "baa-baric!". Tabloid gold!

Now, back to work!

Worst blogger ever.

Will try to blog on a daily basis!! I know I always say this, I need someone to remind me of my promises!
To be a proper journalist I must make my blog wonderful and intellectual, and also entertaining!

I shall do my best non-existent readers!
If you do exist, feel free to cajole me into writing!!

Stupid Newspapers!!

Now, I'm no Tory, but I am still FURIOUS about the accusations against William Hague and his aide about their "sexuality" and "relationship". RIDICULOUS.

So, two men shared a room together. Apparently, this sparks rumours that they are gay and having some kind of relationship. This makes no sense. Have the journalists who concocted these stories never ever shared a room with someone of the same sex? What Mr Hague said was right, we should be happy they shared a room to save taxpayers money! I know I'd share a room with anyone I worked with to save money, it's just what you do. But no, apparently this means you must be having some kind of affair.

Many people I have spoken to about this story believe Mr Hague is straight, and now due to rumours started on the Internet and then blown out of the proportion in the tabloids, he is now having to defend his marriage and justify his private life to the entire country. Enough is enough with this absurd situation. Perhaps Mr Hague was in the wrong to give a public statement about his personal life; it was this response to the Internet rumours that led the newspapers to create a media storm. If Mr Hague had ignored the rumours it all might have gone away. Nevertheless, he should not be punished for defending himself, his aide and his marriage.

A lot of newspapers and suggesting it must be true because the aide (Mr Christopher Myers) has quit due to the scandal. Although this could appear as suspicious, I think that if I was in the public eye holding a job of such responsibility, I might quit if the British media started accusing me of things that were or weren't true. If Mr Myers is actually gay and, like many gay men, is ashamed of his sexuality and does not want to be openly gay, he may be deeply hurt by this media storm about his sexuality which could force him to resign.

The issue with this story is not whether William Hague is gay or if Christopher Myers is gay. At the end of the day, homosexuality is widely accepted in our society now, and the majority of the British public would respect their choices and decisions. The issue is that once again, tabloids are blowing things out of proportion and invading people's private lives to sell newspapers.

To quote the chairman or Mr Hague's constituency party, Mr Christopher Bourne-Arton; "The tragedy is that [the personal statement] was made necessary by this media feeding frenzy, and I rather wish they'd all go back into the slime pool from which they arose."