A weekly roundup of talking points, sans effort

Worth the paper it’s printed on?

Last week’s light news success stories included…
… Kelly Rowland’s absence from last Saturday night’s edition of X Factor, which was the focal point of 19 articles, whereas the heavy flooding currently wreaking havoc in Italy only bagged 18…
…the videogame Battlefield 3 finally arriving in UK stores, an event that managed to steal 16 headlines, two more than a drone attack in Pakistan that killed high ranking Taliban militants, which was reported in 14 stories…
….and finally X Factor contestant Mischa getting accused of bullying off camera, with 37 articles telling that tale, the same amount of coverage afforded the Hindu festival of Diwali.
(Source: Journalisted)

Weekly high

When the grey box first arrived its commercials were outstanding, and as such it wasn’t long until the PlayStation became the world’s first ‘cool console’. A lot has happened in between, and while the days of grainy footage featuring a girl with an alien head delivering a monologue are over, if recent weeks are anything to go off it would seem the brand is back in great advertising form. Take a look at this Troll Hunter inspired piece for proof.

Weekly low

This week satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo saw its Paris offices burnt to the ground. The petrol bomb attack occurred before the latest edition hit newsstands. The issue- entitled Charia Hebdo- was a special on the Arab spring, and featured a cartoon image of Muhammad on the cover with the line ‘guest editor’. A sad day for free speech, and multiculturalism.

Battle of the tweets: Manchester vs London vs the United Kingdom

Top Manchester #tags (seven days to 03/11/2011)

#mufc #topboy

#mcfc #movember

#thingslongerthankimsmarriage #frozenplanet

#hollyoaks #6wordstories

#towie

Movember began on Tuesday. The charity campaign runs until the end of the month, and people are encouraged to grow moustaches, get sponsored, and donate money, with proceeds going towards men’s health, in particular prostate and other, predominantly male cancers. Elsewhere the BBC’s Frozen Planet has also been high on the agenda.
One to watch: madhousehq (Madhouse Associates– Integrated marketing communications in Manchester; 625 followers / 676 updates)
Top London #tags (seven days to 03/11/2011)

#xfactor #topboy

#10thingsifindattractive #thingslongerthankimsmarriage

#misfits #halloween

#6wordstories #occupylsx

#youngapprentice #frozenplanet

Halloween seems to have made a pretty big impact in London this week, in contrast football hasn’t, with not a single one of the top trends linked to the beautiful game. In other news- whether that’s the BBC or Sky- the protest-turned-occupation continues to divide opinion, meanwhile Channel 4 scores highly with both Top Boy and Misfits featuring.
One to watch: marcotti (Gabriele Marcotti– Times, BBC, Wall Street Journal, Sunday Herald, Sports Illustrated; 76,363 followers / 19,316 updates)
Top UK #tags (seven days to 03/11/2011)

# xfactor #ff

#topboy #halloween

#movember #thingslongerthankimsmarriage

#f1 #fb

#hardestthingtodo

Though it wasn’t necessarily going to be the case Manchester and London do give you a decent enough idea of what the UK as a whole has been tweeting about this week. So that’s TV shows like Top Boy and X Factor, moustachioed charitable types, and a near endless supply of ideas for things that have lasted longer than Kim Kardashian’s recently ended marriage.
One to watch: paul_steele (Paul Steele– Bald hiker, blogger for VisitBritain and HuffPost; 204,688 followers / 139,138 updates)
That was The Blagger’s Blog, a selection of statements, statistics and noteworthy newsies from across the media and social world, amalgamated, allowing the time-starved professional to start a conversation from thin air.
If there is a success story, blunder, or tweeting town you’d like to see included email [email protected] or tweet using #blaggersblog. Happy Friday!