A weekly roundup of media news and talking points, sans effort
 

Thought for the Week

“Turkey’s rulers need to understand that democracy is not solely about getting a majority of votes in the ballot box. Far beyond that, democracy is a culture of inclusiveness, openness, human rights and freedom of speech, for each and every one, regardless of whichever party they might have voted for. It is the realisation of the very core of democracy that has been sorely lacking in Turkey today,” Turkish author Elif Shafak, commenting on her country’s recent decision to block access to Twitter.

Weekly High

In the last few days we have been made aware of Crowdwish. A crowdfunded start up, put simply, members suggest a wish- for example ‘I wish we could do more for the homeless’- and the most popular as voted for by other members is actioned every 24 hours. In that instance by hitting the streets of London to hand out free sleeping bags. Which sounds like a good idea.

 

Weekly Low

Whilst the missing Malaysian Airlines flight is a situation so baffling there can be no agreed procedure on how to deal with relatives of the lost crew and passengers, or the public, we’re quite sure there was a better way of reiterating to grieving families they should give up hope for survivors than via text message.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqNk7Rcluug

Stories to keep an eye on

*Following last week’s news that Turkey had blocked Twitter the country’s government has now restricted access to YouTube.
*Britain’s GDP for 2013 has been revised down, with figures showing the deficit for Q4 was the biggest in almost 60 years.
*Following Twitter’s announcement that hashtags will soon be disbanded an The Drum briefed readers to come up with a campaign idea to save the once-common #. Today it ran the Top 10. 

Just in case you missed it…

We’ve just released our newsletter for March. This edition of John Watson’s Case Notes looks at marcomms and the need to measure properly, LinkedIn profile essentials, the best and worst things to come from the World Wide Web, and where to find the best micro news videos online. 
If there is a success story, blunder, or news event you’d like to see included email helloATsmokinggun.co.uk or tweet using #blaggersblog. Happy Friday!