Newswipe with Charlie Brooker - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Newswipe with Charlie Brooker is a British news review programme broadcast on BBC Four

BBC Four

BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....

written and presented by Charlie Brooker

Charlie Brooker

Charlton "Charlie" Brooker is a British journalist, comic writer and broadcaster. His style of humour is savage and profane, with surreal elements and a consistent satirical pessimism...

. It is similar to Brooker's Screenwipe
Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe
Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe is a British television review programme broadcast on BBC Four by Charlie Brooker. The programme contains reviews of current shows, as well as stories and commentary on how television is produced.-Format:...

series which is also shown on BBC Four. A first series of six episodes ran between 25 March 2009 and 29 April 2009. A second series began on 19 January 2010, on BBC4, concluding on 23 February 2010.

Format

The aim of Newswipe is to expose the inner workings of news media, just as Screenwipe does to television in general.

The series is a comic, thoughtful and acerbic analysis of recent news coverage. Newswipe also looks at the way the news is presented to the public. Experts are on hand to pick apart certain stories and analyse the news media's obsessions.

Charlie Brooker comments: "This is new territory for me: I'm no current affairs expert. Just like, I suspect, many people, when I tune into the news I often feel like I've wandered into episode 389 of the world's most complex soap opera. So it's also about me trying to make sense of a bewildering and often bloody stupid world."

Like Screenwipe, much of the programme is filmed in Brooker's living room, with shots of him sitting in front of his TV (and laptop) with remote

Remote control

A remote control is a component of an electronics device, most commonly a television set, used for operating the television device wirelessly from a short line-of-sight distance.The remote control is usually contracted to remote...

in hand talking to camera, occasionally bellowing insults or sarcastic comments at whatever happens to be shown at the time, interspersed with shots of shows.

Reaction

The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

, reviewing the first episode, called it "glorious, perceptive and rude" and exposing "the inanity of 24-hour news".

A clip entitled "How To Report The News" from episode two of the second series amassed over one and a half million views on YouTube

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

after it was syndicated by The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...

soon after its first airing. It is currently the ninth 'top rated' video of all-time on the site.

Newswipe won the Entertainment category award at the Royal Television Awards in 2010, beating both Britain's Got Talent

Britain's Got Talent

Britain's Got Talent is a British television talent show competition which started in June 2007 and originated from the Got Talent series. The show is produced by FremantleMedia's TalkbackThames and Simon Cowell's production company SYCOtv. The show is broadcast on ITV in Britain and TV3 in Ireland...

and The X Factor

The X Factor (UK)

The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. Created by Simon Cowell, it began in September 2004 and is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. It is the originator of the international X Factor franchise. The seven series of the show to date...

, and was also nominated for a BAFTA

British Academy Television Awards 2010

The 2010 British Academy Television Awards were held on 6 June 2010. The nominations were announced on 10 May.This year new awards were added including the award for Best Actor/Actress in a Supporting Role. Graham Norton hosted the ceremony...

in the same year for Best Entertainment Programme, however on this occasion losing to Britain's Got Talent.

Series 1

Episode	Air date	Description
1	25 March 2009	Brooker discusses television news's coverage of the global financial crisis of 2008–2009, particularly focussing on the gimmicks used to present "the crunch" to audiences, "The Week in Bullshit", which looked at Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See... 's comments on birth control, the overblown coverage of Muslim protestors in Luton, and later the damagingly sensationalist reporting of the Winnenden school shooting Winnenden school shooting The Winnenden school shooting occurred on the morning of 11 March 2009 at a secondary school in Winnenden, Baden-Württemberg, in southwestern Germany, followed by a shootout at a car dealership in nearby Wendlingen. The shooting spree resulted in 16 deaths, including the suicide of the perpetrator,... . There are also authored segments about the PR industry Public relations Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc.... 's present influence over journalism with a case study on the NatWest Three NatWest Three The NatWest Three, also known as the Enron Three, are three British businessmen - Giles Darby, David Bermingham and Gary Mulgrew. In 2002 they were indicted in Houston, Texas on seven counts of wire fraud against their former employer Greenwich NatWest, at the time a division of National... by Nick Davies Nick Davies Nick Davies is a British investigative journalist, writer and documentary maker.Davies has written extensively as a freelancer, as well as for The Guardian and The Observer, and been named Reporter of the Year Journalist of the Year and Feature Writer of the Year at the British Press Awards... , a poem on bankers by Tim Key Tim Key Tim Key is an English actor, comedy writer, and performance poet. In 2009, he was the winner of the Edinburgh Comedy Award and was also nominated for the Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality.-Edinburgh Fringe:... and Danielle Ward Danielle Ward Danielle Ward is a British stand-up comedian and writer.-Career:In 2006 Ward won the Time Outs Critic's Choice award for Best Newcomer and wrote Take A Break Tales - exaggerated adaptations of women's magazine stories - in which she appeared with Neil Edmond, Emma Fryer and Isy Suttie at the... attempts to rebrand the economic downturn as "moneygeddon".
2	1 April 2009	Brooker looks into the gradual change of the news's treatment and usage of public emotion and popular opinion, beginning with the period following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century... and leading to the death of Jade Goody Jade Goody Jade Cerisa Lorraine Goody was an English celebrity. She came into the public spotlight while appearing on the third series of the Channel 4 reality TV programme Big Brother in 2002, an appearance which led to her own television programmes and the launch of her own products after her eviction from... . This episode examines how during certain events (particularly the heavy snowfall experienced in the UK during early 2009 February 2009 Great Britain and Ireland snowfall The snowfall across the British Isles in February 2009 was a prolonged period of snowfall that began on 1 February 2009. Some areas experienced their largest snowfall levels in 18 years. Snow fell over much of Western Europe. The United Kingdom's Met Office and Ireland's Met Éireann issued severe... ) the news catered more to trivialities as opposed to genuine current events. Also examined is how a change occurred in British politics in the previous half a century, and how politicians are now largely concerned with using their influence to strengthen their careers and their earnings, rather than representing their constituents. This was covered in a segment by political journalist Peter Oborne Peter Oborne Peter Oborne is a British journalist and political commentator. He was educated at Sherborne School and The University of Cambridge. He is a Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph columnist, author of The Rise of Political Lying and The Triumph of the Political Class, and, with Frances Weaver, the... which frequently had to be censored for legal reasons.
3	8 April 2009	In this episode, Brooker examines the evolving role of anchors and newscasters News presenter A news presenter is a person who presents news during a news program in the format of a television show, on the radio or the Internet.News presenters can work in a radio studio, television studio and from remote broadcasts in the field especially weather... in the media, from their positions as simple "news-readers" in the early days of television to their current position of more serious and driven journalists. Also examined is the role of anchors as both ideologues (such as Bill O'Reilly Bill O'Reilly (political commentator) William James "Bill" O'Reilly, Jr. is an American television host, author, syndicated columnist and political commentator. He is the host of the political commentary program The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, which is the most watched cable news television program on American television... , Glenn Beck Glenn Beck Glenn Edward Lee Beck is an American conservative radio host, vlogger, author, entrepreneur, political commentator and former television host. He hosts the Glenn Beck Program, a nationally syndicated talk-radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks... and Sean Hannity Sean Hannity Sean Hannity is an American radio and television host, author, and conservative political commentator. He is the host of The Sean Hannity Show, a nationally syndicated talk radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks. Hannity also hosts a cable news show, Hannity,... on Fox News, and Keith Olbermann Keith Olbermann Keith Theodore Olbermann is an American political commentator and writer. He has been the chief news officer of the Current TV network and the host of Current TV's weeknight political commentary program, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, since June 20, 2011... on MSNBC MSNBC MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada... ) and approachable, familiar figures on early morning television. A tongue-in-cheek Tongue-in-cheek Tongue-in-cheek is a phrase used as a figure of speech to imply that a statement or other production is humorously intended and it should not be taken at face value. The facial expression typically indicates that one is joking or making a mental effort. In the past, it may also have indicated... piece was also produced by filmmaker Adam Curtis Adam Curtis Adam Curtis is a British BAFTA winning documentarian and a writer, television producer, director and narrator. He works for BBC Current Affairs.-Early life and education:Curtis was born in 1955... , which charted how the news became an excellent tool for the radical left Far left Far left, also known as the revolutionary left, radical left and extreme left are terms which refer to the highest degree of leftist positions among left-wing politics... of the 1960s to motivate politicians to action, before becoming what Curtis now describes as a simple tool of "oh-dearism" which drives audiences to apathy and helplessness.
4	15 April 2009	Brooker covers news presentations of the G20 conference and its focus on resolving the economic downturn, paying particular attention to coverage of Barack Obama Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in... . Later in the episode, Brooker examines the wave of protests that surrounded the G20 2009 G-20 London summit protests The 2009 G-20 London summit protests occurred in the days around the G-20 summit on 2 April 2009, which was the focus of protests from a number of groups over various long-standing and topical issues... , and how in the ensuing media coverage, the message of the protestors was lost (as pointed out by Labour politician Tony Benn Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood "Tony" Benn, PC is a British Labour Party politician and a former MP and Cabinet Minister.His successful campaign to renounce his hereditary peerage was instrumental in the creation of the Peerage Act 1963... ) and instead became secondary to the violence and public damage which took place. Brooker also seriously notes how despite the apparently exhaustive coverage, the death of Ian Tomlinson Death of Ian Tomlinson Ian Tomlinson was an English newspaper vendor who collapsed and died in the City of London after coming into contact with the police while on his way home from work during the 2009 G-20 summit protests. A first postmortem examination indicated he had suffered a heart attack and had died of natural... was missed entirely by the larger news broadcasters, and required the work of an investigative journalist to be brought to light. Also included is a piece by Ben Goldacre Ben Goldacre Ben Michael Goldacre born 1974 is a British science writer, doctor and psychiatrist. He is the author of The Guardian newspaper's weekly Bad Science column and a book of the same title, published by Fourth Estate in September 2008.... which discusses the media's portrayal of the supposed link MMR vaccine controversy The MMR vaccine controversy was a case of scientific misconduct which triggered a health scare. It followed the publication in 1998 of a paper in the medical journal The Lancet which presented apparent evidence that autism spectrum disorders could be caused by the MMR vaccine, an immunization... (later discredited) between autism and the MMR vaccine.
5	22 April 2009	Because Brooker had suffered an apparent injury and the production team had been over-stretched, this episode became a compilation episode (this was originally intended for the final programme).
6	29 April 2009	Brooker begins with a history of graphical aids in news broadcasts and their current status as garish, CGI animations rather than displays of useful information - particularly during events such as elections. In the "This Week in Bullshit" segment, Brooker covers the reaction to comments made by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during the Durban Review Conference Durban Review Conference The Durban Review Conference is the official name of the 2009 United Nations World Conference Against Racism , also known as Durban II. The conference ran from Monday 20 April to Friday 24 April 2009, and took place at the United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland... , as well as a lengthy section on the 2009 United Kingdom Budget 2009 United Kingdom Budget The 2009 United Kingdom Budget, officially known as Budget 2009: Building Britain's Future, was formally delivered by Alistair Darling in the House of Commons on 22 April 2009... . In other pieces which look into the dwindling influence of traditional newspapers, Peter Oborne discusses the relationship between the media and government in the UK, while Nick Davies (author of Flat Earth News) illustrates the increased use of the "dark arts" of computer hacking Hacker (computer security) In computer security and everyday language, a hacker is someone who breaks into computers and computer networks. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, including profit, protest, or because of the challenge... , phone tapping and bribery Bribery Bribery, a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or... by Fleet Street journalists to gain evidence of ill-behaviour in government.

Series 2

Episode	Air date	Description
1	19 January 2010	Brooker discusses how the news media always needs to develop a narrative of fear in any topic, from the Nuclear threat Nuclear warfare Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage... , Salmonella Salmonella Salmonella is a genus of rod-shaped, Gram-negative, non-spore-forming, predominantly motile enterobacteria with diameters around 0.7 to 1.5 µm, lengths from 2 to 5 µm, and flagella which grade in all directions . They are chemoorganotrophs, obtaining their energy from oxidation and reduction... in eggs, to Acid house Acid house Acid house is a sub-genre of house music that emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance-like style, often with samples or spoken lines rather than sung lyrics. Acid house's core electronic squelch sounds were developed around the mid-1980s, particularly by DJs from Chicago who experimented with... music and the Millennium Bug Year 2000 problem The Year 2000 problem was a problem for both digital and non-digital documentation and data storage situations which resulted from the practice of abbreviating a four-digit year to two digits.In computer programs, the practice of representing the year with two... , by emphasising worst-case scenarios frequently in the face of more reasonable, scientific evidence. Canadian journalist Dan Gardner and US stand-up comedian Doug Stanhope Doug Stanhope Douglas Gene "Doug" Stanhope is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and author known for his abrasive comedy routines.-Life and career:Stanhope quit high school after his freshman year... contributed pieces on a similar theme, from the perspective of their respective countries. The central segment focused on the Christmas pants bomb attempt Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab , popularly referred to as the "Underwear Bomber", is a suspected terrorist who attempted to detonate plastic explosives hidden in his underwear while on board Northwest Airlines Flight 253, en route from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan, on December 25,... , as did a poem from Tim Key Tim Key Tim Key is an English actor, comedy writer, and performance poet. In 2009, he was the winner of the Edinburgh Comedy Award and was also nominated for the Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality.-Edinburgh Fringe:... . The final segment examined the media's overblown reaction to Britain's unexpected "Big Freeze Winter of 2009–2010 in Europe The winter of 2009–2010 in Europe was unusually cold. Globally, atypical weather patterns brought cold, moist air from the north. Weather systems were undergoing cyclogenesis from North American storms moving across the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and saw many parts of Europe experiencing heavy... ".
2	26 January 2010	Brooker discusses how Islam4UK orchestrated their publicity stunt of a march through Wooton Bassett and how filler reports are structured and padded out. How news airtime is filled with hand bags, social disruption (the truth about ASBOs), health reports, animals and analysing the brains response to various scenes from Britain. With guest stars such as Tim Key and Heather Brooke who discussed how Britain's journalism is based on anonymous sources. Doug Stanhope Doug Stanhope Douglas Gene "Doug" Stanhope is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and author known for his abrasive comedy routines.-Life and career:Stanhope quit high school after his freshman year... examines how America's newscasts portray the news in a different light as the day progresses.
3	2 February 2010	Brooker reviews the media's coverage of the 2010 Haiti earthquake 2010 Haiti earthquake The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicentre near the town of Léogâne, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks... , concluding that while most coverage has been exemplary, the need to tell a story has occasionally distanced journalists from the reality of the situation. Marina Hyde Marina Hyde Marina Hyde is an English columnist who writes articles on topics such as current affairs, politics, celebrity and sport for The Guardian newspaper... discusses the increasing importance placed on celebrities in the news and how attaching celebrities to causes can sometimes overshadow, rather than highlight, important issues. Brooker continues this thread by discussing the conflict of interest of the news both reporting on and promoting celebrities, particularly focussing on the triviality of Five's Live from Studio Five Live from Studio Five Live From Studio Five was an early evening, British magazine programme which was produced by Sky News for Channel 5. The show was presented by Kate Walsh and a line-up of other co-presenters during its run. It consisted of interviews and discussing topical issues, with an emphasis on showbusiness... . The "Week in Bullshit" segments look at the media's attempts to fathom the Home Office's UK Threat Levels UK Threat Levels The UK Threat Levels refer to the alert state that has been in use since 1 August 2006 by the British government to warn of forms of terrorist activity. Before then a colour based alert scheme known as BIKINI state was used... indicator and the hype regarding the Apple iPad.
4	9 February 2010	Brooker examines Tony Blair Tony Blair Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007... 's role in the Iraq Inquiry and how the relationship between politicians and the media has gradually become less deferential over the decades. Adam Curtis Adam Curtis Adam Curtis is a British BAFTA winning documentarian and a writer, television producer, director and narrator. He works for BBC Current Affairs.-Early life and education:Curtis was born in 1955... explores how journalists' discovery of corruption amongst elites everywhere beginning with Watergate Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement... , as well as the rise of a class of experts, fosters a pervasive, almost Nixonion sense of paranoia amongst the public at large towards politicians, elites, and even their own bodies. Doug Stanhope Doug Stanhope Douglas Gene "Doug" Stanhope is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and author known for his abrasive comedy routines.-Life and career:Stanhope quit high school after his freshman year... argues that the media willfully ignores the role of overpopulation Overpopulation Overpopulation is a condition where an organism's numbers exceed the carrying capacity of its habitat. The term often refers to the relationship between the human population and its environment, the Earth... in the environmental crisis. Kay Burley Kay Burley Kay Burley is an English television newsreader, presenter and journalist. She currently anchors the Afternoon Live programme on the Sky News station.-Early life:... 's interview with Peter Andre Peter André Peter James Andrea , better known by the stage name as Peter Andre, is an English-born Australian musician, singer-songwriter, television personality and businessman. As a recording artist, he has achieving four top 10 UK albums and ten top 10 singles.-Early life:Andre was born at Northwick Park... on Sky News Sky News Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New... is presented as an example of both the media's insensitivity and its frivolity.
5	16 February 2010	Brooker explores the often tedious nature of live coverage. Doug Stanhope Doug Stanhope Douglas Gene "Doug" Stanhope is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and author known for his abrasive comedy routines.-Life and career:Stanhope quit high school after his freshman year... wonders why the media aggressively solicits the frequently idiotic opinions of the public. "The Week in Bullshit" looks at coverage of the newfound popularity of leeches, ITV ITV ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK... 's acceptance of responsibility in the I'm a Celebrity rat-eating incident, and an ITN report about the decline of the practice of eatings dogs Dog meat Dog meat refers to edible parts and the flesh derived from dogs. Human consumption of dog meat has been recorded in many parts of the world, including ancient China, ancient Mexico, and ancient Rome. According to contemporary reports, dog meat is consumed in a variety of countries such as... in China. Tim Key presents a poem about disgraced MPs. Other segments examine the media's hysterical coverage of the John Terry John Terry John George Terry is an English professional footballer. Terry plays in a centre back position and is the captain of Chelsea in the Premier League... affair scandal, the response to the news that four MPs will face criminal charges in the MPs' Expenses scandal United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal The United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal was a major political scandal triggered by the leak and subsequent publication by the Telegraph Group in 2009 of expense claims made by members of the United Kingdom Parliament over several years... , and a BBC News series following journalist Nick Robinson Nick Robinson Nicholas Anthony "Nick" Robinson is a British journalist and political editor for the BBC. Robinson was interested in politics from a young age, and went on to study a Philosophy, Politics, and Economics degree at Oxford University, where he was also President of the Oxford University Conservative... 's efforts to solicit voters' opinions.
6	23 February 2010	Compilation of segments from this and the previous series.

Format

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Series 1

Series 2

See also