116 replies to this topic

[Honoured Guest]

popcultureboy, on 15 May 2013 - 08:33 AM, said:

And yet Mark Shenton claims he did "nothing wrong" in tweeting Baz's news about Top Hat closing and This House transferring, even though he didn't bother to check a damn thing first.

Mark Shenton tweeted that Baz had said this news, which is factually correct. The news was published in Baz's weekly Daily Mail column, in print and online.

On the other hand, Pharaoh's number 2 posted here, at the top of this thread, that this is certain news, which is factually incorrect.

[popcultureboy]

Shenton then tweeted that he'd contacted Top Hat's PR to be told it wasn't closing, and was later contacted by NT PR to say This House was not confirmed. Would it have killed him to check facts out before repeating Baz Boing-Boing? Especially given his recent history of not being on the money.

[Pharaoh's number 2]

Honoured Guest, on 15 May 2013 - 10:17 AM, said:

Mark Shenton tweeted that Baz had said this news, which is factually correct. The news was published in Baz's weekly Daily Mail column, in print and online.

On the other hand, Pharaoh's number 2 posted here, at the top of this thread, that this is certain news, which is factually incorrect.

Yes, apologies for that. I posted in haste.

[Snciole]

Oh, Baz! Maybe he is also a fan of Charles Edwards' lovely, lovely hair and it was wishful thinking on his part.

[Honoured Guest]

popcultureboy, on 15 May 2013 - 12:26 PM, said:

Shenton then tweeted that he'd contacted Top Hat's PR to be told it wasn't closing, and was later contacted by NT PR to say This House was not confirmed. Would it have killed him to check facts out before repeating Baz Boing-Boing? Especially given his recent history of not being on the money.

I sort of see where you're coming from, but the PRs are just confirming that there's been no official announcement of either closure or transfer, which is why Baz's gossip, citing no source, is tweetworthy by Mark Shenton. So, Baz's gossip will boost his reputation for having his ear to the ground if it later proves to be correct, and will further damage his reputation if it proves to be partially or totally wrong. Either way, it's tweetworthy that he has stuck his neck out yet again.

[popcultureboy]

It irks me massively with Shenton in particular, as he's the first one to decry how Twitter has jumped the gun with closing notices and caused upset in the past, and then he's all "oooh, Baz says this!" and blames everyone but himself when it ends up being incorrect. His article on The Stage actually said "don't shoot the messenger!" Um, really?

[Emsworthian]

I saw the NT screening at my local cinema yesterday and I loved it.  The three hours simply whizzed by.  It helps if you can remember the 70s and are a political anorak and I fall into both those categories.  I found it slightly confusing when politicians were referred to by their constituency name and I kept trying to recall who would have held that seat at that particular time; at one stage I got Norman St. John Stevas confused with Norman Tebbit and wondered why the actor portraying Tebbit was so camp.  Also, although I am a fan of Phil Daniels, I felt he was miscast as Bob Mellish.  It could be the way the part was written as Francis Beckett, a former Labour Party campaigner, has expressed surprise at the way Mellish was portrayed as a "loyal Cockney with a heart of gold". (Beckett's words)  I have met a couple of the MPs portrayed in the play and their personalities  were far more complex than the way they appear in this drama  but I realise that if you have to compress nearly a decade into three hours and present complex political issues in a way that a general audience can understand then you have to simplifying things (There was a disclaimer in the programme that it is a fictional account based on true events and characters and incidents have changed for dramatic purposes.).  These quibbles apart, it was a great evening.