Monty Python Archive
For those seeking to look on the bright side the BBC archive has released Monty Python materials to celebrate the 50th anniversary. They include documents, original reviews, photographs and insights into its creation and reception.
Black Britain on Film Collection
Free via the BFI player this collection of films celebrates the Black presence in Britain. They include a significant number of pre-Windrush films and documentaries highlighting black lives . They include footage of this visit of heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson to Manchester Docks in 1911.
What is the current state of the Internet?
Find out in the latest annual report on the global rate of connection from the ITU. This year’s theme is Broadband as Foundation for Sustainable Development. It considers issues on how to bring Africa online and the global digital gap. A new report by the Collaboration for International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), considers […]
China 70th anniversary of Communist rule
The official website in China has an English language section which discusses the anniversary Official news coverage News coverage BBC Guardian newspaper CNN graphics Wall Street Journal Analysis World Bank data and reports on Chinese economic growth Brookings Institution RUSI China Council on Foreign Relations Carnegie Endowment Chatham House Human rights analysis Amnesty International Human Rights […]
Do hate speech detectors discriminate against African Americans?
Shocking article on arXiv.org from the at the Annual Meeting for the Association for Computational Linguistics 2019. It reports that the algorithms used by “sophisticated” hate bias checkers are not neutral – they are based on standard American English. Therefore tweets by black Americans are proportionally more likely to be flagged up as abusive than […]
Communication in Emergencies Research
A new site compiled by independent charity BBC Media Action. It gathers together BBC research and case studies (including clips and examples) which examine the role of the media in crisis communication. It gives examples of actual campaigns and guidelines on good practice. At present there are 6 specific case studies on the website: Syria, Gaza, Ebola, […]
Should sexist adverts be banned?
This week the first prosecutions were made against adverts considered sexist by the new ASA code on gender stereotyping. See which adverts were penalised in this press report from the Guardian The Advertising Standards Authority website has the full text of the code and guidelines. Responses to the guidelines include: the Fawcett society which feels that […]
49% of adults in the UK use social media for news
Fascinating fact from the Latest Ofcom news consumption in the UK annual report. Yet only 37% trust social media. Get the full facts by downloading the report from the website. It covers TV, radio, social media, Internet and includes information on levels of trust. Excel and raw data files can be downloaded from the website. […]
Videogames
Recently a British teenager won almost a million in championships of the computer game Fortnite. So what other good news can we find in evidence of the positive aspects of gaming? Economic impact The BFI report, “Screen Business: How tax incentives help power economic growth across the UK”, says that the gaming industry directly employs […]
Road Map for enhancing the Student digital experience
Released by JISC this week and based on extensive user research is the latest version of this road map which signposts the best route to creating a future digitally-inclusive university.

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