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

 
Image source- The Guardian

Thought for the Week

“Significant decline took place in Turkey, which fell into the ‘not free’ category, as well as in Greece, Montenegro and the United Kingdom.” Freedom House, the US-based NGO established in 1941, responsible for collating data on press freedom across the world and ranking countries based on that information, commenting on 2014’s league table which saw the UK fall five places following the Edward Snowden scandal.
 

Weekly High

More proof that much of music’s biggest hope for a profitable future can be found in brands has emerged from New Zealand recently. Global beer giant Beck’s has been supporting local recording artists from the islands for some time already, and has now developed the world’s first ‘playable poster’ as an innovative way of getting their sounds out to the biggest audience possible. Take a look.

Weekly Low

The Beverly Hills Hotel has been an American icon since first opening its doors to the rich and famous in 1912. These days, though, it has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons- namely funds received from the Sultan of Brunei, whose strict laws ban things like homosexuality and abortion, with many offences punishable by stoning. The stars have come out in force to protest outside the opulent address, the local council has issued the Sultan with an ultimatum to sell the property or change his rules, and one of the highest profile Oscar parties was moved elsewhere. In contrast, the management have said they have ‘no opinion’ on the matter. Not good for public image, at all.

 

Stories to keep an eye on

*Radical reforms have been called for in Britain’s security and intelligence services following a damning report on the reach of GCHQ and MI5. 

*According to what The Telegraph describes as ‘a respected think tank’, Britain’s economy may already be bigger than it was before the global economic crash in 2008. 

*Twitter users can now add Amazon products to their shopping list with the touch of a button (well, almost) and the tweet #AmazonCart. 

Just in case you missed it…

The Drum’s annual awards have just been handed out, with Heineken winning Brand of the Year, and John Lewis-man Craig Inglis walking away as Best Marketer. Read all about it here.
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!