Blacks – showing racism the red card

February 2, 2010

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Swordplay’s readers come from far and wide but we suspect that not merely those based in the North West will be interested in another venture by Blacks’ Sports Law Department. With its involvement in a ‘Show Racism the Red Card’ event in Leeds today, Blacks is setting an example of what law firms can do if they create alliances with well-known sportsmen.

Show Racism the Red Card, an organisation set up to fight racism in football and society, has invited young people from Leeds primary schools to the event in partnership with Education Leeds and Leeds United FC. Educational workshops will take place before screening of Show Racism the Red Card’s DVD, featuring top footballers.

Where do Blacks come in? Not just through the front door as lawyers taking time out for a worthy cause, but with two of its consultants – John Hendrie and Brian Deane – helping to make up a Q&A panel alongside Bradford City footballer Zesh Rehman, football pundit Chris Kamara and ex Coventry City player Mick Ferguson. They’ll all be answering questions on racism from young people but Hendrie, who has supported the organisation for the last ten years, will also be awarded with his Show Racism the Red Card “Hall of Fame” award at the event, in recognition of his long-standing support of the campaign.

As Hendrie put it: “I am delighted to be involved in this event and to have the chance to communicate with young people from the region on the subject of racism. I have been supporting Show Racism the Red Card for the last ten years, alongside Brian and we have both participated in many events of this kind. I am happy to do anything to help raise awareness of this great campaign which is educating people on this very real issue. Football is a great way of bringing people together from all backgrounds, races and cultures.”

Other supporters in the Show Racism the Red Card “Hall of Fame” include Sol Campbell, Rio Ferdinand, Ryan Giggs and Thierry ‘I Don’t Think Mine’s a Guinness’ Henry.

Good work by Blacks. If you’re in or near Leeds, the event takes place at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet Hall, Leeds Civic Centre, LS1 1UR between 1 and 3pm.

 

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Good work by Rusbridger

February 10, 2012
scissors

The headline says it all: ‘Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger takes pay cut‘.

Dan Sabbagh’s piece says a bit more: said editor ‘emailed staff at the newspaper to say that his salary in the upcoming 2012-13 financial year will be £395,010, compared with £438,900 in the current financial year’.

Some voices say: ‘How worthy.’

Others opine: ‘Well, he would, wouldn’t he?’

But we say: good work by Mr Rusbridger. For the sake of the media’s survival, we hope that others in senior positions in the industry will follow suit.

Image of toolkit allegedly deployed by Alan Rusbridger courtesy of Flickr user LollyKnit.

From the inside of the maze, ethically outwards

February 9, 2012

Curious times in the media; strange days at The Times.

Would ‘Dacre Cards‘ – the system of licensing journalists proposed by Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre – have prevented the embarrassment now palpable at the Times over the NightJack story?

Times editor James Harding’s evidence to the Leveson Inquiry seemed heartfelt and contrite, albeit that the paper’s former long-serving and much-respected lawyer, Alastair Brett, seems to have been, er, rather dropped in it. Clearly, mistakes were made with regard to NightJack by young reporter Patrick Foster who, once he had hacked into NightJack’s account and thus discovered his identity, then embarked on a quest to expose it via legitimate methods. This, as Inquiry counsel Robert Jay QC put it, was “rather like working from the inside of the maze out”.

But had Foster been licensed via a Dacre Card, would this unsavoury episode in the Times’s history have been avoided?

We suspect not. A raft of laws were in existence at precisely the time when many News of the World journalists seemed to believe that they were entitled to hack any phone they liked. Those laws forbade them from doing so, and yet made no difference. Aside from the obvious objection to them – that they will squeeze out freelancers and citizen journalists – Dacre Cards would simply amount to something to circumvent.

What is really required is an ethical shake-up, from top to bottom. Society generally – not just journalists – needs a sense that some things are just plain wrong.

Supreme Court on Twitter

February 6, 2012

Something remarkable happened today. Yes, the Supreme Court launched its Twitter feed. It even has a Twitter policy, one of caveats, disclaimers and little by way of illumination but regardless: who would have thought that the successor body to the House of Lords would stoop to engage with the world of tweets, hashtags and retweets?

We look forward to the day when court business will be conducted via Twitter. Meantime, check out this link for an excellent blog on the Supreme Court.