Politics and the media

The impeachment and now subsequent resignation of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe marks a new era in the country – but how will they cope in eradicating the remnants of his brutal regime? 93-year-old Mugabe has characterised Zimbabwe, his name so associated with the country to us these days, and he divided opinion in his long rule of power. Some within the country always have seen him as a hero, others and many around the globe view him as a savage ruler who exploited the country for his own gain. Mugabe always maintained that his government were fighting both capitalism and communism and chastised the West for what he suggested was a plot to worsen the Zimbabwean economy due to their distaste of him. It was always the military that helped him maintain his authority within the country, and their loyalty towards him was inevitably going to fizzle out sooner or later. The trigger for this was the sudden sacking of a man who had been his recent Vice-President and long-term friend, ...

I am going to stray off from the common theme of this blog for one week to just talk a little about an issue that the vast majority of people know of, but less than we think are fully aware of, mental health. Because although it isn’t necessarily ‘in the news’ at this given moment, it importance should always be paramount to all. The clear danger with all mental health problems is simply that it is so incredibly hard to identify them. According to the Mental Health Foundation, 10% of children from the ages 5-16 have a clinically diagnosable health problem, and 70% of these people are not receiving the right help at a sufficient age. Furthermore, 1 in 6 people have experienced some sort of mental health issue at any single point in the last week, something which perhaps may pass us by in our everyday lives. This is alarming to say the least, especially in a society where we have seen significant scientific developments in the last few centuries, in medication etc, and show ...

In my first post, now six weeks ago, I talked of the relationship between politicians and the media, and how they dictate each other so much on the surface, yet still work together to form a perhaps disillusioning picture of the state of our world – in our minds at least. And it is only now that I have come to realise, after an acute conversation with my dad, that this problem stretches so much deeper and it lies solely within the issue of media coverage. If you come to look at the history of print newspapers and our exposure to them, in terms of many political scandals, you will see that in the mid to late 20 th century in the West alone, there were few major political scandals that were revealed so drastically. The attempted faked suicide of John Stonehouse in 1974 was one of the most major of the decade at the time in this country. The Labour MP attempted to fake his own death by leaving a pile of his clothes on a beach in Miami, and tributes and obituaries were publis...

I thought it acceptable to break my weekly cycle by writing about something which infuriates me a lot, especially it being the time of year that it is. That issue is one of ‘poppy fascism’. We are all familiar with the idea of Remembrance, quite obviously, and it is embedded into our lives each year, in the wonderful commemorations that I agree wholeheartedly with. And the difficulty of writing about an issue such as this is that is very difficult not to offend people – for everyone has and is entitled to their own views on what is an extremely sensitive topic, given the millions of people whose family members have been affected in wars in the last century, the majority of the atrocities in the Two World Wars. I’ll put this out there early for clarity, I choose not to wear the poppy. That is entirely due to personal opinion, as everyone has the right to, but it is not the main point that I want to make. The thing that frustrates me more is what seems to have developed ...

Everyone knows about North Korea and its situation. Whether that may be a naïve teenager who sits at home playing video games in all their free time, or a political analyst who earns their living by talking about issues like these, we are all aware of Kim Jong-un and his autocratic control of the country. And it is also likely that we all have a basic knowledge of the increasingly escalating threat of nuclear war there. Just how has it got to this point? Kim Jong-un, the much criticised and frankly crazy leader of North Korea is at the centre of this. It is his claims and threat of bringing war onto the USA and many of its allies that have started ringing alarm bells in many minds. Such is the mystery around him and his personal nature though, that accounts of his age differ, with American records suggesting he is 33, yet North Korean statements indicating that he is 35. This is quite a poignant example of the enigma that is North Korea to our eyes. Kim Jong-un has benefi...

We might think we have a sufficient grasp of terrorism and its influence on the modern world. A definition of terrorism that I read earlier: ‘the unofficial or unauthorised use of violence and intimidation in pursuit of political aims’. For after all, terrorists are just the ones acting alone to destroy our Western civilisation, often pre-meditated and as part of a group, in the name of some form of God. Right? Not quite. Terrorism is a concept that has been deep-rooted in society for centuries, yet the label has only surfaced so vehemently in the last 70-80 years. The word ‘terrorist’ comes from the French Revolution of the 18 th century. The staunchly left-wing group in the country were ‘The Jacobins’ and at the time they were given the tag of ‘terroristes’ due to their attempted brutal suppression of opposition and their failing monarchical system, along with any supporters, in a period that has aptly been named ‘The Terror’. However, historians have traced the roo...

The ongoing struggle between Catalonia and Spain has divided an already politically instable country, and furthermore it raises questions about Western governments that perhaps we may not have previously considered – just how controlling are they? Spain claims the independence referendum that took place at the Start of October isn’t in the Spanish Constitution that has been in place for almost 30 years - thus making it illegal and invalid. That may be correct but does that mean the protestors have no right to stage a vote despite this? You might argue yes, it’s against the law, and mass congregations of people all over the state, including cities such as Barcelona, could be seen as a major threat to the security of people residing there. And you could say that the shock has somewhat been caused just by the result - though that was after the police had intervened, and many ballot boxes were seized, so we don't really know how accurate it was. However, on the other hand,...