Newswipe
Season 2
Newswipe with Charlie Brooker was a British news review programme broadcast on BBC Four written and presented by Charlie Brooker. It is similar to Brooker's Screenwipe series which is also shown on BBC Four. A first series of six episodes ran between 25 March 2009 and 29 April 2009. A second series began on 19 January 2010 and concluded on 23 February 2010.
Where to Watch Newswipe • Season 2
6 Episodes
- Episode One
E1Episode OneCharlie discusses how the news media always needs to develop a narrative of fear in any topic, from the Nuclear threat, Salmonella in eggs, to Acid house music and the Millennium Bug, by emphasising worst-case scenarios frequently in the face of more reasonable, scientific evidence. Canadian journalist Dan Gardner and US stand-up comedian Doug Stanhope contributed pieces on a similar theme, from the perspective of their respective countries. The central segment focused on the Christmas pants bomb attempt, as did a poem from Tim Key. The final segment examined the media's overblown reaction to Britain's unexpected "Big Freeze". - Episode Two
E2Episode TwoCharlie discusses how Islam4UK orchestrated their publicity stunt of a march through Wooton Bassett and how filler reports are structured and padded out. How news airtime is filled with hand bags, social disruption (the truth about ASBOs), health reports, animals and analysing the brains response to various scenes from Britain. With guest stars such as Tim Key and Heather Brooke who discussed how Britain's journalism is based on anonymous sources. Doug Stanhope examines how America's newscasts portray the news in a different light as the day progresses. - Episode Four
E4Episode FourBrooker examines Tony Blair's role in the Iraq Inquiry and how the relationship between politicians and the media has gradually become less deferential over the decades. Adam Curtis explores how journalists' discovery of corruption amongst elites everywhere beginning with Watergate, as well as the rise of a class of experts, fosters a pervasive, almost Nixonion sense of paranoia amongst the public at large towards politicians, elites, and even their own bodies. Doug Stanhope argues that the media willfully ignores the role of overpopulation in the environmental crisis. Kay Burley's interview with Peter Andre on Sky News is presented as an example of both the media's insensitivity and its frivolity. - Episode Five
E5Episode FiveBrooker explores the often tedious nature of live coverage. Doug Stanhope wonders why the media aggressively solicits the frequently idiotic opinions of the public. "The Week in Bullshit" looks at coverage of the newfound popularity of leeches, ITV's acceptance of responsibility in the I'm a Celebrity rat-eating incident, and an ITN report about the decline of the practice of eatings dogs in China. Tim Key presents a poem about disgraced MPs. Other segments examine the media's hysterical coverage of the John Terry affair scandal, the response to the news that four MPs will face criminal charges in the MPs' Expenses scandal, and a BBC News series following journalist Nick Robinson's efforts to solicit voters' opinions.
