There is a little counter on Blogger Dashboard that reports on the number of posts you have made to your blog. Over the last week or two I have been watching it creep up to the 1,000 mark and I thought I might mark the final countdown with a short series of retrospective posts. This is not the "Best of News From Nowhere" : you know me, I far prefer a series of random dips into the lucky bag. So I have dusted off my random number generator and asked it to provide four random numbers between 1 and 1,000. Counting from the first post (7th November 2006) I have converted these numbers to four random posts which I will re-publish leading up to the 1,000th post which (if my calculations are right) will appear on Friday. The first random number takes me back to 2007 and a post entitled "Self Abuse"
SELF ABUSE
The main BBC One O'Clock News has just finished. As it closes, the newsreader says "a reminder of our main news today, the BBC has learned of concern among senior doctors about the tide of teenage alcoholism". Yesterday, at the same time, the same newsreader said "a reminder of our main news today, the BBC has learned that treating children who have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) with drugs is not effective in the long-term". As I write this, the local news is on. The story starts : "it is BBC Children In Need on Friday and we look back on some of the schemes your money has helped in the past".
There is, of course, a common factor to all these stories. They are self-generated and manufactured to support the broadcasting schedules. The ADHD story was, in fact, a trailer for that evenings' Panorama report. The alcohol story is based on responses to a BBC survey, but as yet they are not saying why they undertook the survey. No doubt we will discover that it forms the basis of a BBC Special. And "Children In Need" will dominate the BBC schedules on Friday evening.My moan is not with self-publicity. The BBC should be able to produce publicity about its own shows just as any other organisation might do. (By the way, the latest episode of "Fat Dog To The Big Apple has just been posted, don't forget to read it soon). The complaint is disguising such "promo's" as news. Worse still, headline news.
During my early days (months, years) of blogging I did not have any regular followers - although I note that one anonymous wag (who obviously knows me) did comment on this particular post. But comments are such an enjoyable part of blogging and I now feel proud to have such a loyal and entertaining group of followers. And so often the comments add so much added value to the original post. Take for example this short note I received from my brother Roger in response to the picture I published on Saturday :
"Enjoying the photos of Aunty Annie and family. On the last one you'll notice a
plaster on my left knee. From a fall running down the hill to Grange Road
school. I still have the scar!"
Call back tomorrow to discover where else our tour through the News From Nowhere archives takes us.
I noticed the plaster!
ReplyDeleteWasn't grazed knees, and sometimes worse, the permenant condition of 40s and 50s kids?
ReplyDeleteNo telly then, or electronic games, or i-pods, chased out of the house for being underfoot, what else was there to do but run around like loons damaging ourselves and others.
Re your original post Alan: little has changed. I’m afraid I still find myself shouting at the news, both radio and TV.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm... It seems that news shows are pretty much the same all over the world. I'm watching Good morning Americas at the moment, and one of the "interviews" was actually a teaser for an in-depth look at the subject scheduled for tomorrow night. As they used to say in the old days: "Don't touch that dial!"
ReplyDeleteYou make some really good points here. I'm always on the look out for news (real news) about autism. There are so many surveys and opinions out there that are made into headlines. It's frustrating to sort it all out!
ReplyDeleteI have a scar on my knee from falling down at school in 2nd grade. :) With Roger, I think I'm in good company!
1000 post is a ton, interesting way to go about it and give a few older ones a run.
ReplyDeleteP.S. ~ and I do agree with what you said about followers and comments. They can many times be the most entertaining part of it all!
ReplyDeleteha news is one of the biggest oxymorons out there...we must have started about the same time as i am about a week out of 1000 myself...
ReplyDeletegood luck with the countdown - a couple weeks ago before hitting the 1,000 mark on the snap i thought i would do a shout out about hitting 1000; then totally flaked.
ReplyDeletethe next time i thought of checking i was past the 1000 post mark - today's post on the snap was #1008 - i think i might have marked the occasion on the mouse, but since i have the memory of an addled centenarian i can't really remember (currently @ 1129 so next milestone is 871 posts away - ha ha!!)
the reruns are fun! i'm very impressed that you have a random number generator!
congratulations in advance. I think kimy's comment is funny about forgetting.
ReplyDeletei'm waaaay down in the 400 post arena with both blogs. not even close. 1000...that's alotta posting.
Yes, sometimes polls make things become facts even though a survey in another area will probably produce totally different results. Our news over his has an agenda but they can't believe some of us notice. Our local stations love to use trail lines that seem really sensational then the story is more like a blown fuse.
ReplyDeleteThanks Alan, you always keep us entertained!
ReplyDeleteA reliable measure of a good blog, is the degree of emptiness regular readers experience when posts are too few and far between. I love visiting News From Nowhere. And even when you're somewhere I know you'll return with a collection of classy column inches for us to savour.
ReplyDeleteI am always pleased to come here and see what you have posted. I often think it would be nice to have a box with material so I could just reach in and pick something to post.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I go back to old posts and read them. I think I was more serious about it in the early days because getting photos online was a problem with slow connections and slower upload times. So, the posts were written to form mental images.
I COMMENTED on the plaster :)
ReplyDeleteYou're way ahead of me. I'm only up to 577 (though I did start a bit later than you).
I love reading your posts. They are always quality and you have such a unique perspective.
I keep promising myself I'll go right back to your beginnings and read them all!
ReplyDeleteHave we all got knee scars? Mine came from when someone stood up just as I was leap-frogging them. I think it was sabotage - we were to go head-to-head in the school sports the day after.
My God, did they have computers way back in 2007? Well, for as long as I've been visiting, you've never failed to amuse, inform or otherwise entertain. Often, all three at once.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the news, over here, they always start with something scary, something designed to plant fear in the viewers minds. Works like a charm, apparently. It's all about marketing whatever it is they want to market.
ON a lighter note, Yes, comments do add to the entire blogging experience. It's nice to have a dialogue of sorts and get to know one another better as we go along. Plus, it's fun.
Wow, a thousand posts! - and every one of them witty and insightful. I know I always stopping by here.
ReplyDeleteI suppose I should check on my posts... Do I count all or just those on one blog?
ReplyDelete