No One Got Cracked Over the Head for No Reason

No One Got Cracked Over the Head for No Reason PDF

Author: Martin Brunt

Publisher: Biteback Publishing

Published: 2023-04-25

Total Pages: 343

ISBN-13: 1785907794

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"A cracking tale" – Duncan Campbell, investigative journalist and author of Underworld "A revelation" – Professor Sue Black, author of All That Remains and Written in Bone "Required reading for professional and amateur criminologists" – Gerald Seymour, bestselling author of Harry's Game "Highly recommended" – Howard Sounes, author of Fred & Rose "A gripping read" – Patricia Wiltshire, author of Traces: The memoir of a forensic scientist and criminal investigator "This book is a must-read" – David Wilson, Professor Emeritus of Criminology *** What is it about crime that we find so fascinating, even if at the same time the details are repugnant? Why exactly do we immerse ourselves in true crime podcasts and TV shows? Has this appetite for gore shifted over the years? And what role does the crime reporter play in all of this? In this compelling book, Martin Brunt draws on the most shocking and harrowing stories he's covered over the past thirty years to document the life of a crime reporter and assess the public obsession with crime that his reporting caters for. He also considers the wider relationship between the press and the police, the impact of social media and the question of why some crimes are ignored while others grip the nation. Featuring many undisclosed details on some of the biggest cases Brunt has covered, from the 'Diamond Wheezers' to Fred and Rose West, this blend of storytelling and analysis is not only a riveting overview of the nature of crime reporting but a reflection on the purpose of the profession in the first place.

How to Fight Presidents

How to Fight Presidents PDF

Author: Daniel O'Brien

Publisher: Crown

Published: 2014-03-18

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 038534757X

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Make no mistake: Our founding fathers were more bandanas-and-muscles than powdered-wigs-and-tea. As a prisoner of war, Andrew Jackson walked several miles barefoot across state lines while suffering from smallpox and a serious head wound received when he refused to polish the boots of the soldiers who had taken him captive. He was thirteen years old. A few decades later, he became the first popularly elected president and served the nation, pausing briefly only to beat a would-be assassin with a cane to within an inch of his life. Theodore Roosevelt had asthma, was blind in one eye, survived multiple gunshot wounds, had only one regret (that there were no wars to fight under his presidency), and was the first U.S. president to win the Medal of Honor, which he did after he died. Faced with the choice, George Washington actually preferred the sound of bullets whizzing by his head in battle over the sound of silence. And now these men—these hallowed leaders of the free world—want to kick your ass. Plenty of historians can tell you which president had the most effective economic strategies, and which president helped shape our current political parties, but can any of them tell you what to do if you encounter Chester A. Arthur in a bare-knuckled boxing fight? This book will teach you how to be better, stronger, faster, and more deadly than the most powerful (and craziest) men in history. You’re welcome.

Post-Truth

Post-Truth PDF

Author: James Ball

Publisher: Biteback Publishing

Published: 2017-05-11

Total Pages: 293

ISBN-13: 1785902504

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2016 marked the birth of the post-truth era. Sophistry and spin have coloured politics since the dawn of time, but two shock events - the Brexit vote and Donald Trump's elevation to US President - heralded a departure into murkier territory. From Trump denying video evidence of his own words, to the infamous Leave claims of £350 million for the NHS, politics has rarely seen so many stretching the truth with such impunity. Bullshit gets you noticed. Bullshit makes you rich. Bullshit can even pave your way to the Oval Office. This is bigger than fake news and bigger than social media. It's about the slow rise of a political, media and online infrastructure that has devalued truth. This is the story of bullshit: what's being spread, who's spreading it, why it works - and what we can do to tackle it.

So You Want to be a Political Journalist

So You Want to be a Political Journalist PDF

Author: Sheila Gunn

Publisher: Biteback Publishing

Published: 2012-04-08

Total Pages: 342

ISBN-13: 184954154X

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In the wake of 2010's historic general election politics commands more column inches and air time than ever before. Yet most political journalists failed to foresee the consequences of a coalition government. And they are still struggling to understand and reflect the new political environment in their coverage. While there is plenty of debate about the current state of politics and journalism, aspiring political reporters receive little guidance. Are unscrupulous spin doctors simply spoon-feeding them stories? Do they push their own politically-biased agendas? This book aims to focus on helping to produce competent and confident journalists who report on politics without fear or favour. With chapters on starting out in the trade, where to find the story, how to report it, and how to deal with the political classes, this book is the essential guide for journalism students, trainee journalists and journalists looking to understand the mechanisms of Westminster and Whitehall. Edited by Sheila Gunn, who was a political reporter on The Times and spin doctor to John Major, So You Want To Be A Political Journalist features contributions from a wide range of current and former political journalists from print, broadcast and on-line media. An essential resource for journalism students and the perfect refresher for seasoned reporters. Author lectures on political journalism on City University's prestigious journalism course. The National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) recognizes 63 journalism courses at colleges around Britain. In addition, there are hundreds of further colleges and organisations running media studies courses.

When One Door Closes

When One Door Closes PDF

Author: Peter Sissons

Publisher: Biteback Publishing

Published: 2012-02-09

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 1849541116

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A Liverpool boy from the same cohort as John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison, Peter Sissons was destined for great things. Then he was caught on the wrong side of rebel lines during the Nigerian Civil War and shot through both legs his blossoming career as a war reporter came abruptly to an end. But another door was about to open, and Sissons went on to guide a generation through every momentous event of the last forty-five years. Surprisingly funny, dramatic and often poignant, When One Door Closes is the bestselling story of Britain's most distinguished newsreader and reveals what he really thinks about the state of the British media, global affairs, Climategate and the workings of the BBC.

London's Mayor at 20

London's Mayor at 20 PDF

Author: Jack Brown

Publisher: Biteback Publishing

Published: 2020-11-24

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 1785906364

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This year, London's elected mayor and assembly turn twenty. But has London's mayoralty lived up to the expectations that were set for it? Have its three mayors been able to get to grips with the city's challenges? How have they responded to crises in the past – and what does the future hold? This important new book marks the twentieth anniversary of London's mayor and assembly and investigates the relative successes and challenges of the mayoralty to date, before asking what comes next for London. It combines analysis by experts with reflections from those closely involved in setting up, running and working with the Greater London Authority, alongside those who have held the position of Mayor of London themselves.

Going for Broke

Going for Broke PDF

Author: Michael Ashcroft

Publisher: Biteback Publishing

Published: 2020-11-12

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 1785906380

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Three years ago, Rishi Sunak was an unknown junior minister in the Department of Local Government. By the age of thirty-nine, he was Chancellor of the Exchequer, grappling with the gravest economic crisis in modern history. Michael Ashcroft's new book charts Sunak's ascent from his parents' Southampton pharmacy to Oxford University, the City of London, Silicon Valley – and the top of British politics. It is the tale of a super-bright and hard-grafting son of immigrant parents who marries an Indian heiress and makes a fortune of his own; a polished urban southerner who wins over the voters of rural North Yorkshire – and a cautious, fiscally conservative financier who becomes the biggest-spending Chancellor in history. Sunak was unexpectedly promoted to the Treasury's top job in February 2020, with a brief to spread investment and opportunity as part of Boris Johnson's 'levelling up' agenda. Within weeks, the coronavirus had sent Britain into lockdown, with thousands of firms in peril and millions of jobs on the line. As health workers battled to save lives, it was down to Sunak to save livelihoods. This is the story of how he tore up the rulebook and went for broke.

The Ten Legal Cases That Made Modern Britain

The Ten Legal Cases That Made Modern Britain PDF

Author: Inigo Bing

Publisher: Biteback Publishing

Published: 2022-07-12

Total Pages: 233

ISBN-13: 178590745X

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LIFE. SEX. RACE. POWER. FREE SPEECH. PROTEST. PRIVACY. DEMOCRACY. SOVEREIGNTY. DEATH. Society shapes law... and law shapes society. We like to imagine that progress comes about when Parliament spots a looming groundswell in public opinion and responds by changing the laws that govern our daily lives. This is not always true. In this fascinating book, Inigo Bing unravels ten legal cases in which the decisions of judges or a jury either heralded a shift in outlook or forced Parliament to respond to simmering social change. Some of these cases demonstrate the role judges have in defending our civil liberties against overweening executive power, articulating inherent unwritten rights Parliament would prefer to keep quiet about. Others explore what happens when rapid technological or social change outpaces government, placing urgent ethical dilemmas in the lap of the court. All of them have had a lasting impact on the society we inhabit. Taken together, these stories provide a powerful insight into eighty years of British social, political and cultural history, illustrating why legal cases are just as important to making our world as laws written by Parliament or grassroots changes within society.

By Royal Appointment

By Royal Appointment PDF

Author: David Rogers

Publisher: Biteback Publishing

Published: 2015-07-21

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 1849549524

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The Privy Council is a centuries-old institution - yet, for an entity with such extensive influence over Britain's history, we know relatively little about it. What exactly does it do? To whom is it accountable? Just how much power does it hold over us? Some say it has no power at all, although you might not agree if you'd been sentenced to death in a former British overseas territory that still used the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as its court of appeal; or if you were a lecturer having a row with your college, where the University Chancellor was a member of the royal family. Or, indeed, if you were a Prime Minister trying to establish a Royal Charter to control the press. Traditionally an advisory body to the sovereign, the Privy Council's chequered past is full of scandals and secrecy, plots and counterplots - and while it may no longer have the authority to command a beheading, its reach continues to extend into both parliamentary and public life. In By Royal Appointment, David Rogers examines it all, taking us on a fascinating, anecdote-filled odyssey through the history of one of England's oldest and most secretive government bodies.