BBC investigation into Jeremy Clarkson under way

Clarkson called himself a "dinosaur" in his newspaper column

Jeremy Clarkson, the presenter of the popular BBC programme, 'Top Gear' has been suspended from his position due to a 'row' with a producer. The BBC are undergoing an internal investigation into the row, however, there is not yet any date for the investigators to present their findings. It seems as though the row was not reported by the producer, Mr. Tymon, but by Clarkson himself. The alleged 'row' between Clarkson and Tymon occurred because of no hot meal was provided for Clarkson after a day's work. Tymon's lawyer has said that his client "intends to await the outcome of the BBC investigation and will make no comment until that investigation is complete." Some of 'Top Gear's estimated global audience of 350 million started an "online petition to reinstate Clarkson has reached more than 900,000 signatures." Media Watchdog Ofcom also received over 100 complaints when they replaced 'Top Gear' with a documentary called 'Red Arrows' on BBC Two on 15th March.

• The inquiry is being headed by Ken McQuarrie, the director of BBC Scotland.

• Mr Tymon did not file a formal complaint and it is understood Clarkson reported the incident himself.

• Writing in his column in the Sun newspaper, Clarkson appeared to hint that he was close to quitting, calling himself a "dinosaur" and adding: "These big imposing creatures have no place in a world which has moved on."

• An online petition to reinstate Clarkson has reached more than 900,000 signatures.

• Media watchdog Ofcom said it had received more than 100 complaints about Top Gear being replaced on BBC Two with a Red Arrows documentary on Sunday, 15 March.

• Red Arrows: Inside the Bubble, was a repeat of a show from July last year and got 1.3 million viewers. When Top Gear last aired on 8 March in the same slot it got 5.1 million viewers.

• Top Gear is one of the BBC's most popular and profitable TV shows, with an estimated global audience of 350 million.

• 1977 Top Gear began as a local show on BBC Midlands.

• 3 million YouTube subscribers.

• 1.7 million global circulation of Top Gear magazine.

The public putting together a petition to get Clarkson back on the programme is an example of audiences becoming more active and reacting to a piece of News. The petition was most likely spread over different social media sites to gather signatures; inferring how the audience members now have the ability to change what they see on the News. If the petition works and Clarkson returns to his post then the active audience will effectively have won against the power of the BBC, as the BBC are the ones that suspended Jeremy Clarkson. Also, although Ofcom said they will not take any action, the 100+ complaints because of 'Red Arrows' replacing 'Top Gear' are another example of the audience taking the reins and changing a piece of News to their own liking. I believe that the new and digital media has effected the News in a negative way with this article, as the issue is between Clarkson and Tymon, and does not require the audience's opinion. The availability of information has made the audiences more powerful in making decision about what they want to view and this article portrays that the audience may gather together with one opinion based on a person's popularity. Jeremy Clarkson has been the presenter for many years and has gathered a large amount of supporters, this can mean that the audience are biased just because of his popularity and not taking the whole case into consideration.

Parents of three runaway British 'jihadi' brides beg them to come home

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/11427093/Parents-of-three-runaway-British-jihadi-brides-beg-them-to-come-home.html

The girls, all pupils at Bethnal Green Academy in east London, on CCTV at Gatwick Airport Photo: Met Police

Three young British Muslim girls, who are described as 'grade A' pupils shock their unsuspecting families and police by disappearing from home and travelling on route to join the terrorists group Isis in Syria. The two 15 year olds and their 16 year old friend are all students at Bethnal Green Academy in east London, and their intention to join Isis is unknown. However, all three missing girls were close to a 15 year old girl from their school who went to Syria last December. This incident has raised the issue of counter-terrorist control because it is estimated that as many as 50 young Muslim women and girls have travelled from Britain to Syria. Although the Turkish intelligence source, local police and British police are trying desperately to find the three young girls in Istanbul, other members of Isis, or supporters of their ways are making it difficult for the police by hiding the teenagers. However, two days before the girls boarded their flight, Shamima (15 y.o), used the social media site, Twitter, to contact Aqsa Mahmood (20 y.o), a woman who joined IS from Glasgow and married one its fighters. Mahmood has been known to encourage other British Muslim girls to join her in Syria, for example, Mahmood's tweet in November stated, "Sisters, if I can help you in any way pls kik [another social media site called 'Kik'] me inshallah."

• The three students from Bethnal Green Academy in east London.

• Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16 and Amira Abase, 15.

• In a statement Shamima's family said: "We miss you terribly and are extremely worried about you. Please, if you hear this message, get in touch and let us know you are safe. We want you home with us. You belong at home with us."

• An Isil source in Istanbul had earlier boasted that the three girls would soon be in a position to join hundreds of its fighters in Syria, where they are waging a campaign of terror against both the local population and Western targets.

• The three - who are described as 'grade A' pupils - left their homes in Tower Hamlets at 8am last Tuesday, travelling to Gatwick airport together, where they boarded a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul, landing at 6:40pm local time.

• Shamima is thought have travelled with her 17-year-old sister Aklima’s passport.

• Neither Turkish Airlines, nor the UK Border Force reported that the girls were intending to travel unaccompanied to the region, despite it being a well-worn route to Syria.

• MPs have now called for an inquiry into the effectiveness of border controls in stopping British youngsters travelling to the region with the intention of joining IS.

• Counter-terror experts estimate that as many as 50 young Muslim women and girls have made the journey from Britain to Syria.

• It emerged on Friday that Shamima, Kadiza and their friend were close to a 15-year-old girl from their school who travelled to Syria last December.

• February 15 – two days before boarding their flight – Shamima used the social media site twitter to get in touch with 20-year-old Aqsa Mahmood, a privately educated woman from Glasgow who joined IS and married one of its fighters.

• Last night Yasmin Qureshi, a Labour member of the home affairs committee said more needed to be done urgently to dissuade young Muslims from “the illusion” that they are helping their religion by joining Isil.

This news story is highly dependent on footage like CCTV, allowing officials to track the three girls' movement before they entered Isis territory. Their motive for travelling to Syria and joining Isis is still unknown, however, due to the social networking site 'Twitter' a possible accomplice has emerged. Inferring a way that many British Muslims may have used to make their way to Syria without being detected. This news story has also caused a reaction in the political officials, causing people to realise the change that is needed to dissuade young British Muslim girls from joining Isis with false information on what they do. I believe that this news story would not be so detailed and effective without the help of the developed media; recent media has influenced the views on Muslims for this story. With the appearance of Isis, Western countries have adopted a wariness about Muslims, however, the recent stories like '#iwillridewithyou' have given us a view that allows us to sympathise with these girls and to not judge them because of their religion. If this story were to be published a few months ago, the views that this story portrays would have been much different.

Search to resume for cargo ship crew in Pentland Firth

Scotland cargo ship rescue effort

A vessel named, "Cemfjord" was carrying 2,000 tonnes of cement from Aalborg in Denmark to Runcorn in Chesire. The vessel was discovered upturned by a passing ferry, Hrossey, in the Pentland Firth on Saturday, the crew of the passing ferry recorded the upturned hull and circled the ferry looking for any signs of survivors. "After a while the captain made an announcement that he had called the three closest coastguards but they had asked that the ferry conduct a search while the lifeboats made their way to us." The passing ferry crew scanned the area for any debris for two-and-a-half hours before they carried on with their journey to Aberdeen.

The managers of the Cemfjord, Brise of Hamburg, revealed that there were eight crew members on board, they consisted of seven Polish men and one Filipino man. Answering the question most are asking, Brise of Hamburg added "No distress call was received from the vessel. Bad weather prevailed in the area at the time and conditions remain difficult at the scene, with storm force winds." The company say they are in the process of informing the families of the Cemfjord crew as it is said that finding any survivors is very slim. Despite the slim chance of survivors the MCA (The Maritime and Coastguard Agency) watch manager Susan Todd told the BBC, "However we are making best use of daylight and reasonable weather conditions today and we will maintain the search effort through the hours of daylight, looking for people in the water or any signs of wreckage or debris from the vessel - liferafts, lifeboats, etc"

The last confirmed sighting of the ship was at about 13:00 on Friday. The passing Hrossey ferry crew raised the alarm at 14:30 on Saturday. Hrossey passenger Caitlin Ditchfield explained: "About two hours into the journey, the Northlink ferry we were on strangely stopped in the middle of the sea. Then from the window we could see the hull of the cargo ship in the water."

No survivors have said to be found but for now the search goes on.

Key facts:

• Last seen 13:00 Friday.
• Alarm was raised at about 14:30 Saturday by passing Hrossey ferry.
• Eight people were on board the Cypriot-registered Cemfjord, 8 Poles, 1 Filipino.
• The search involved 3 helicopters, 4 lifeboats assisted by coastguard rescue teams from Kirkwall, St Margaret's Hope, Duncansby, Scrabster, Wick and HMS Somerset.
• The Cemfjord was built in 1984 and was converted to a specialist cement carrier in 1998.
• The Cemfjord was carrying 2,000 tonnes of cement.

I believe that some of the footage could not have been captured without the Hrossey ferry crew having their cameras and phones ready. Therefore, the portable devices aided the coverage of the sunken Cemfjord to give the report more depth and evidence. Also, I would like to willingly highlight that this report was published today, Sunday, a day after Hrossey found the Cemfjord ferry upturned. The use of the crew's cameras and phones most likely shortened the amount of time it has taken to report on this incident because journalists already had pre-existing footage from the Hrossey crew, before they even arrived at the scene.

#BBCtrending: South African police brutality caught on camera

BBC News Story


Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-26531941

A video was uploaded onto Youtube by a lady. The video conveys South African police performing brutal acts towards a Nigerian man. The video gained popularity as people were outraged and the issue of South Africa's attitude towards immigrants was raised. Two of the police officers were suspended and charged thanks to social networking. This story has been on the BBC News and has created a larger issue of the immigration in South Africa and the bad teaching of the South African police. This article emphasises the importance of social networking and encourages people not to be scared, to record and upload controversial things onto social media.

My reaction to this article was the reaction expected of the target audience. I found the video recorded by the African woman to be outrageous and disturbing, to an extent that i found it difficult to watch. Although appalled by the behaviour I did not comment on the News coverage but will continually have an interest in any further information about this topic. It also shocked me that such a thing is happening from the police, who should be the people who do the direct opposite, the people to protect the people in their country from any injustice happening towards them.