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Liverpool in the media

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3M views 22K replies 464 participants last post by  Howie_P 
#1 ·
This thread is for representations of Liverpool in the media and any issues raised by how the city is represented.

As I write, there is a piece on Radio 4's Today programme about the UNESCO visit to Liverpool, and the danger of the city losing its WHS if it goes ahead with the museum.

The key narrative appears to be: Can the city remain faithful to its past whilst growing?

I have to say that it is an informed, balanced piece.

It ended with a statement to the effect that if UNESCO doesn't accept the arguments by LCC, EH, CABE, Liverpool might have to contemplate pulling out of the WHS club.

What do you think?
 
#123 ·
Well Manchester got 'Greater Manchester' purely because there was no geographically neutral name. Hence, they got what we would say is a better name for the area. However, it was more controversial for exactly that reason. Imagine what 'Distressed of Moreton' would've thought if 'Greater Liverpool' was picked instead of Merseyside.

As for the postcode thing, as Awayo has said, and I've said several times previously, postcodes have nothing to do with counties. Wirral's head office was moved from Liverpool to Chester, hence the change from L to CH. Still using the L code for Wirral addresses is risky as it may get lost as a result. Otherwise, I'd still do it myself.
 
#124 ·
Well Manchester got 'Greater Manchester' purely because there was no geographically neutral name. Hence, they got what we would say is a better name for the area. However, it was more controversial for exactly that reason. Imagine what 'Distressed of Moreton' would've thought if 'Greater Liverpool' was picked instead of Merseyside.

...
.
How about Tameside instead of Gtr Mcr? I think there's a river Tame? Much of Merseyside is nowhere near the Mersey after all. I think the 'Wirral' has a lot of growing up to do before it's ready to embrace Gtr Lpl in a meaningful way. It needs to see itself for what it is first. In 10 years time (if not sooner) maybe Gtr Lpl won't be seen as the kiss of death by non-Liverpudlians in the way that it was in the 80s? Largely because of the local media and the way it represents Lpl to the wider city region, this is taking longer than necessary. I wonder if anyone has ever done a count of the number of front page shock stories about violence in Lpl used by the Echo?
 
#125 ·
250 attacks on passengers at Merseyside stations

Like the headline? It's talking about a 5 year period and overall Liverpool is a lot better than other major cities. Wonder why the DP didn't choose that as its focus? For some reason, north Liverpool seems to have more than its share of problems - maybe because there is **** all to do there for anyone under the age of 21?

by Kate Mansey,
Liverpool Daily Post


MORE than 250 passengers have been assaulted at Merseyside train stations in the past five years. Figures released yesterday ranked Liverpool Lime Street station as the 20th worst in the country for assaults on passengers. The station has seen 116 assaults on passengers since 2001, while Liverpool Central station saw 99 attacks in the same five- year period.

Both city centre stations have seen an overall reduction in assaults – which include the threat of violence, as well as actual violence – most years, with 22 at Lime Street in 2001/2002, compared with 18 this year, and at Central the number of attacks dropped from 25 to 13.

Meanwhile, assaults have trebled at Waterloo station in Sefton with figures rising from just four a year in 2001/2002 to 12 in 2005/2006.

Sandhills station saw assaults double from five in 2004/2005 to 10 this year.
Waterloo, Seaforth and Litherland, and Blundellsands and Crosby railway stations in Sefton are currently subject to a Section 30 Dispersal Order. It grants police officers additional powers during certain times to help them deal with groups of youths whose presence may lead to anti-social behaviour.

The order, which lasts until June 1, 2007, means anyone who has been removed from the station can be arrested if they return within 24 hours. Operation Shield, which screens for offensive weapons, has also been used at Waterloo and neighbouring stations.

But Liverpool stations fared better than Leeds, which topped the table with assaults soaring by 112% since 2001.
Victoria station in London, which had just five recorded assaults in 2001/02, had as many as 71 in 2005/06, while London Bridge station assault figures leapt from none in 2001/02 to 51 in 2004/05 and 45 in 2005/06.

Assaults on passengers at Manchester Victoria station have also risen from 10in 2001/02 to 25 in 2005/06, while York station saw a five-fold increase to 20 over the same period.

A spokesman for British Transport Police said: “When you look at the figures for Liverpool, they are actually extremely low.”

A spokesman for Merseytravel said: “We do our utmost to protect passengers and have put in place a series of measures on the trains and at stations in order to do that.We work in partnership with the police to provide security patrols, and thankfully the number of cases is low compared to other parts of the country.”
 
#126 ·
Newcastle should have been chosen after all!

It's Matthew Taylor citing another spurious survey again. So, if Newcastle is the UK capital of arts what works of art (anything?) has it produced that has impacted on the wider world.

I know I'm being a right bitch but all I can conjure up as a ditty that goes something like:

The fog on the Tyne it's all mine, all mine...

Not sure where it's from.

Shipbuilding - Costello, but he is not from Newcastle.

Catherine Cookson! (Squire's illegitimate daughter, cast into the gutter, adopted by a washerwoman, beaten by her new drunken da and thrown into a coal cellar, learns to read becomes a school teacher and meets the squire's son when he officiates at a prize giving ceremony, They fall in love. She rejects him when she learns about her true parentage during her ma's dying breaths, 'Maggie, pet, there's something I never told yer!' She runs away to Liverpool and is about to board a ship for New York when the squire's son turns up as the ship is pulling away from the Landing Stage. With a miraculous leap he is on board and tells her the news that the squire is his step father not his biological father. She weeps with joy and they are wed within a week. They return to live in the big house and she and the squire learn to love each other... Shit like that)

Welcome to Newcastle, the UK's capital of the arts

Matthew Taylor
Saturday December 30, 2006
The Guardian


To the wholly uninformed, Newcastle upon Tyne remains a city best known for brown ale and fanatical football fans. But the stereotype is untrue, according to a poll for a TV channel which found that Newcastle was, in fact, the arts capital of the country.

The study of 14 UK cities found that, per capita, people in Newcastle are more likely to visit art galleries, museums and concerts; have better libraries and bookshops, and have more arts students and the second highest number of theatres. It was also commended for its spectacular architecture including the Millennium Bridge and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Arts in Gateshead. Last night the director of the centre, Peter Doroshenko, said the findings confirmed what residents had known for a long time.

It is not the first time that Newcastle has been lauded for its arts scene. In 2003 it was the favourite to win the European capital of culture award - a title seized by Liverpool, which came 10th in yesterday's study.

The research, for TV channel Artsworld, conducted by statistician Geoff Ellis, rated the 14 cities according to such criteria as attendance at cultural events and funding from the Arts Council. London, widely regarded as the country's arts capital, came ninth.

Top of the table

1: Newcastle upon Tyne
2: Nottingham
3: Edinburgh
4: Cardiff
5: Belfast
6: Bristol
7: Manchester
8: Plymouth
9: London
10: Liverpool
11: Glasgow
12: Leeds
13: Sheffield
14: Birmingham
 
#128 ·
The research, for TV channel Artsworld, conducted by statistician Geoff Ellis, rated the 14 cities according to such criteria as attendance at cultural events and funding from the Arts Council. London, widely regarded as the country's arts capital, came ninth.
Arf.

Newcastle's a great little city, I've done loads of work up there over the years and always enjoyed my trips. From my knowledge the place doesn't come close to Liverpool in the arts, popular or classical.

Some people were convinced that Newcastle was going to be the 'new' Barcelona or even Manchester and they threw everything in to it, especially the broadsheets and the BBC - they should have dropped their prejudices and backed the winner.
 
#129 ·
South Lanachshire? No worse than West Yorkshire, and better than the West Midlands, which is just silly.
South Lancashire, West Cheshire and Clwyd.

Even sillier.

The rebranding of Greater Manchester to Manchester is happening and is correct. The West Midlands should follow suit, Merseyside should. These are the 3 most clearly definable city regions.
 
#131 ·
Lilies

There's a three and a bit spread in next week's Radio Times about a period drama TV series set in Garston.

"People in Garston in those days were poor, but they weren't gutter-poor. They lived by the strictest codes of cleanliness and self-respect. It has always seemed to me that the 'respectable poor' are a rather undramatised section of society."

It's produced by BBC Northern Ireland.
 
#133 ·
A romantic weekend for two in Liverpool.

Something of a first (in terms of the British media)? A recognition than Liverpool can be a romantic city.

Diaries at the ready ...

From world cups - yes, two of them - to snowshoeing and walking on glass over the Grand Canyon, here are some bright ideas for every month of the year

Compiled by Tim Bryan,
The Guardian
January 6 2007

January brings the snow ... snowshoeing in Bulgaria.

January

Snowshoeing in Bulgaria
Work off the excess Christmas pounds and make like a yeti for a guided five-day snowshoe hike in Bulgaria. The trails crisscross the wild Rila mountains, home to the highest peak in the Balkans and the Unesco-listed, fresco-laden Rila monastery. You also get to sample a night in Sofia old town, capital of our latest EU cousin (snowshoes optional). Whydontyou.com has five-day breaks for £475pp including flights, hotel, meals, and, of course, snowshoes.

February

Romance on the Trans-Siberian
It's 50 years since Boris Pasternak penned the romantic epic Dr Zhivago, so why not follow in its literary footsteps with a rail trip through snowbound Russia? On its way from Moscow to Beijing, it stops at Perm (aka Yuryatin), 1,000 miles east in the Ural foothills - this was where Yuri met Lara in the library reading room. The Russia Experience (020-8566 8846) has a 13-day trip for £999pp excluding flights and visas. BMI flies daily Heathrow-Moscow from £199 return including taxes.

A romantic weekend in Liverpool
Other romantics are catered for at the dashing new Malmaison in Liverpool. Football lovers - well, Liverpool and Everton fans - can book their own suites, replete with club memorabilia and table-top footie. Sadly, there's none for Tranmere fans. Doubles start from £99 per night.


March

Deauville for less dough
The Normandy Riviera, beloved by Gustave Flaubert, Marcel Proust, Coco Chanel and Yves Saint-Laurent, has finally succumbed to the cheap-flight revolution. On March 1, Ryanair starts direct flights from Stansted from 99p return (OK, in real money that's £38, including tax and fees) so you can rub shoulders with the Parisian smart set landing at tiny Deauville airport for the casino, horseracing, polo, and the film festival. For rooms, try the three-star L'Augeval from €84. Further information: deauville.org.

http://travel.guardian.co.uk/article/2007/jan/06/saturday2
 
#134 ·
Kling Klang ( Rock Action Records )

Kling Klang are a five piece kraut-punk band from Liverpool, consisting of four synth players and a drummer. Formed in mid 1999, as a 3 piece using only cheap synths and old drum machines, they released Untitled@33rpm on the Liverpool e.p. ("..waste of plastic.." .. NME) and the Vander 7" .. both of which were enthusiastically received in the UK and abroad. Since then they have used every show and release as a way to explore new dynamic ways of presenting their unique sound.

In 2001 Kling Klang became a 5-piece outfit and released their 7" Nexus/Apex which embraced drone, repetition and melody. This record was championed by Radio 1 DJ John Peel, who made it one of his singles of the month. Following the excitement of this release and their increasingly exhilarating live performances they were invited by bands such as Mogwai, Stereolab, Clinic and Trans Am to support them regularly sending their partisan crowds away talking about them as much as the main act.

In June 2002 Kling Klang and respected German performance artist Mister B presented the ambitious Esthetik Of Destruction. A stunning sound performance situated in a Liverpool warehouse involving 14 televisions converted to transform sound into incredible optical effects.

Kling Klang's The Superposition EP was released on Rock Action Records in 2002. After an extended period of absence they have recently picked up their battered keyboards and are embarking on a series of eagerly-awaited live dates. This will be their only London appearance. Their new Album " The Esthetik of Destruction" is released by Mogwai's Rock Action Records on November 6th 2006.

"Only Kling Klang or more riots can save Liverpool now" .. THE TIMES

www.rock-action.co.uk
Seriously where the **** did this come from,how can reviewing an album lead to a comment like this?
 
#135 ·
Yes, bizarre. Out of the series of riots that occurred all over England all of twenty-six years ago, why are the ones in Liverpool etched into the conscious of fuckwit London journalists?

There has been plenty more elsewhere as well. Whenever an article appears about a restaurant or shop in Liverpool, they bring up riots. Wtf? Naturally the more recent and muderous Broadwater Farm riots aren't mentioned when they review a restaurant on the Brompton road.

An article in todays times about where one can get local foodstuffs in Liverpool and Birkenhead menions "unrest". Again, wft, a riot in a summer of riots everywhere in the country getting on for thirty years ago. One brief period of having a leftwing council again a generation ago? Fuckwits. :eek:hno:
 
#136 ·
This is partly linked to the media questions we have been raising. People obsessed with the negatives about 70s' NYC, but they had the clout to drown out the American fuckwits by propelling their own talents onto the world.... we are still at the mercy of folk, many of whom have views like the one highlighted below... Chronic, innit!
 
#137 ·
Also, since 1981 Liverpool hasn't suffered similar riots (unlike places like Brixton). Just look at the race riots of 2001, and the Lozells riots of 2005. Why don't Brixton, Oldham, Burnley, Bradford and Birmingham ever get associated with riots (which have occurred within the past six years) as opposed to Liverpool (which has effectively been riot-free since 1981)?
 
#138 ·
An account of yesterday's protest against MacKenzie

Paul Wilson at Anfield
Sunday January 7, 2007
The Observer

... To say Anfield was noisy at the start of this Cup tie would be the understatement of 2007. The Kop welcomed the television cameras as promised, with a superbly orchestrated protest over slurs on fans' behaviour at Hillsborough, recently re-aired by Kelvin MacKenzie. He was editor of the Sun at the time of the original accusations. The display lasted exactly six minutes into the game - though with grim irony, fans were warned that holding up placards during play would infringe safety regulations - then switched off with military precision, to coincide with the time when the 1989 FA Cup semi-final was abandoned. The protest was replaced by the type of sustained din usually reserved for big European nights.

--------------------
Pity the journalist couldn't have inserted the word false before accusations but hey, he is a journalist so attention to detail etc.
 
#139 ·
Also, since 1981 Liverpool hasn't suffered similar riots (unlike places like Brixton). Just look at the race riots of 2001, and the Lozells riots of 2005. Why don't Brixton, Oldham, Burnley, Bradford and Birmingham ever get associated with riots (which have occurred within the past six years) as opposed to Liverpool (which has effectively been riot-free since 1981)?
This is not to justify negative commentary on events over twenty five years ago ,but the riots in L8 were the worst seen in Britain before or since(at least post war) The "riots" in Burnley and Oldham, etc,were more like minor disturbances.The riots in Liverpool left a mark in the national psyche much more than the Brixton or St Paul's.
 
#140 ·
Observer Sports Monthly: 50 hearbreaking moments: number 27

Remember 1989? This is from today's Observer. A reconstruction by Andrew Hussey of events then. I understand that Hussey has written quite a bit about the events in Heysel.

The final match, the final minute - a city looks on in disbelief


Arsenal's moment of ecstasy was agony for Liverpool fans, including Andrew Hussey, as the league title was prised away from a club still mourning Hillsborough

26 May 1989, Anfield, Liverpool

There have been many dark moments in the history of Liverpool FC, most notoriously the deadly hooliganism led by the club's fans at the Heysel stadium in Brussels in 1985, which resulted in the death of 39 innocent people, mostly Juventus supporters, and the catastrophe at Hillsborough, in 1989, when 96 Liverpool fans died as a result of a crush. Both events have cast a dark shadow over the history of the team, which has never quite gone away. (Notice how blame is attributed in Heysel but not Hillsborough)

In pure football terms, the true moment of horror for any Liverpool fan came in the final minute of the final game of the 1988-89 season. Arsenal, needing to win by at least two goals to take the Championship, were 1-0 ahead - and so Liverpool were poised for another Double - when midfielder Michael Thomas scored the goal that stole the title.

The experience of defeat was too raw for many Liverpool fans and players; David O'Leary, then of Arsenal, remembers being told to '**** off' when he tried to help an exhausted but still snarling Liverpool player, John Aldridge, to his feet. Today, no Liverpool fan can think of that night at Anfield without recalling the complacency and poor defending at the vital hour - and an almost physical pain.

The 1989 season had been overshadowed by Hillsborough on 15 April. Life in the city had been hard enough throughout the unemployment-ridden 1980s. The cliches that music and football offered the only creative outlet for the city's youth were all too real. Then came Hillsborough, which made it seem, even to non-superstitious fans, that some obscure vengeance was being wreaked on the city. The collective guilt over Heysel - which had never properly been dealt with - revisited Liverpool fans as they began to mourn their own dead. Nobody who was in the city at the time could forget the eerie atmosphere as news of the deaths was reported first in Lime Street station and then in the surrounding streets, which were stilled into silence at the height of a busy Saturday afternoon.

So the local wisdom before the Arsenal game was that for Liverpool to take the Championship would not only be a sporting achievement but would also, in that deeply Catholic city, help to atone for Hillsborough. 'We're playing for the dead of Hillsborough,' was the mantra of the players in the run-up to the match. (Liverpool does have a large Catholic population and it is the spiritual centre for Catholics in the North of England but it is a majority non-Catholic city)

After the team had resumed with a goalless draw at Everton on 3 May, four league wins had taken the Reds three points clear of the long-term leaders, Arsenal. George Graham's side now had to beat Liverpool by two goals in their Anfield fortress - a feat which in those days of the Reds' supremacy seemed impossible - to take the Championship on goal difference.

Liverpool had beaten Everton in the FA Cup in a 3-2 thriller a week earlier and, as they marched out on to the pitch to 'You'll Never Walk Alone', they seemed invincible. This was the heroic, attacking team of John Aldridge, Peter Beardsley and John Barnes, all famous for their flair and passion, and led by the steely player-turned-coach Kenny Dalglish. By comparison, Arsenal were a dour collection of drinkers, dilettantes and hard men - the team of Paul Merson, Lee Dixon, Tony Adams and Steve Bould. Liverpool fans reserved a special dislike for Arsenal - and their supporters, Cockney wideboys to a man. These were the people who had chanted 'Murderers!' at Liverpool fans in the bleak and emotionally fraught months after Heysel. The Anfield cauldron was ready to exult in the much deserved humbling of an ancient foe.

The match never went Liverpool's way. In a tense, goalless first half, Arsenal calmly threatened to take control. Then, in the 52nd minute, Alan Smith headed past Bruce Grobbelaar to score the first goal. Liverpool players surrounded the referee, claiming that the pass had been an indirect free-kick from Nigel Winterburn and Smith had never touched the ball. The game was now on a knife-edge, the Kop silenced. Arsenal were a constant threat, but the clock seemed to be against them.

It was the 92nd minute when the impossible became a reality. Thomas dashed forward with a flick-on from Smith and chipped the ball over an amazed Grobbelaar. Our Scouse hearts were broken all over again.
 
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