#one is newsbeat which is by the bbc it's like a news radio show that's meant to target age 15-29

[wiki-howell]

guess who managed to mention dnp in his a level media exam 🔥🔥

[twelvegrimmyplace]

Tina Daheley: ‘Young, female, brown – I wish there were more of me at the BBC’

The presenter of new podcast Beyond Today reflects on the death of laddish media culture

Few shows have changed the working culture of the BBC quite like Radio 1’s Breakfast Show, but it took Prince William to point it out before one presenter took stock of the past decade.

“The first thing he said to me was that he was such a fan and that he’d been listening to me for years,” Tina Daheley, a former Newsbeat host, told the Observer. “The second was: ‘I’m really pleased that some presenters now aren’t as mean to you now as other presenters’.”

Daheley is having the last laugh now. As the BBC prepares to launch Beyond Today – a daily podcast spinning off from Radio 4’s flagship current affairs programme – its new host is clear about how much has changed since her time as a news presenter on the Chris Moyles breakfast show.

“When I think about my audition with Chris Moyles … it was just, what, eight years ago? You just wouldn’t get away with it now. At the time, that was the culture: laddy, brash from the top down. He wasn’t politically correct and he had diehard fans. But that’s just how it was, and you got on with it. It was only later on you think, ‘Ooh. Hmm. That was, erm, interesting’.”

On air, Daheley was picked on for how she looked and became a running joke as a potential date for visiting pop stars. “There was an assumption based on the music I liked, so Chris would try to set me up with Tinie Tempah or another black guest,” she said.

She credits Nick Grimshaw, who succeeded Moyles as the frontman of the Breakfast Show in 2012 – not “producers, editors or managers” – for “normalising” Radio 1, doing away with hierarchy and “a culture where the star is untouchable”.

Having spent “10 years talking to one in four young people in Britain [while on Radio 1]”, Daheley is keen to drive the editorial behind Today’s new offer, which comes as the Guardian launches its own daily podcast, Today in Focus.

“Anyone who has been paying attention knows podcasts are hugely popular with under-35s, and if you’re serious about reaching that audience, it’s the logical thing to do,” she said. Broadcasters are still struggling to reach contemporary audiences because they simply do not reflect them. “For me, a big thing is class and social background. We’re supposed to be holding a mirror to society and be representing them, but when was the last time someone who didn’t go to public school or Oxbridge presented the Ten O’Clock News?”

Daheley, a Sikh, Punjabi, working-class British woman from a London council estate, has moved into TV after a decade on breakfast radio, presenting both the Six and Ten O’Clock Newsafter a spell as a jobbing host on Points of View, Crimewatch and BBC Breakfast. She landed a royal interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and covered their wedding.

“The BBC gets a lot out of me,” she said. “I should be thinking: ‘this is brilliant, I’ve got this whole area locked off, I tick all of those boxes in terms of strategy – young women, brown people, so-called C2DE demographics – but I wish there were more of me. I had to work twice as hard and be damn good at my job to develop my career. I was doing 19 jobs and working for months without a day off [to get noticed] but there should be more people who look like me.”

She marvels at how different things were when she started out. “Put it this way, when we did our final [Moyles Breakfast Show] and could invite friends and family, I wouldn’t have dreamed of inviting my 6ft 5in dad in a turban there. Maybe that was down to me, trying to play down my otherness, but it was about how you would be perceived. I used to think it was a compliment that people assumed I went to public school and would tell me I spoke so well. Argh! Go on, finish that sentence; you mean you speak so well for a brown person,” she said.

“I’m happy now, I’m comfortable as myself,” she said. A couple of years ago, she was asked by a producer to cut her hair to present the news in order to be taken seriously – and she did. But when, earlier this year, Daheley’s “off-putting, cascading hair” became the subject of a viewer complaint to the BBC and went viral as a tabloid story, she laughed it off.

“You can care about how you look and be in the news and be smart – the length of your hair isn’t connected to your intellect. I used to dress down when I was younger to be taken seriously. I don’t worry now.”

[lululawrence]

Hoping you will share your thoughts about the Nick/Greg switch. I'm a huge fan of both of them and I think this is a great move.

some of the thoughts have to do with the timing of the announcement and not really being surprised by it. i mean, i was surprised (and kinda sad that i won’t be able to listen to greg anymore outside of his podcasts) because it wasn’t like i was expecting it, but like, once i heard i was like ohhhh yeah well, that makes sense. ya know? like, i’m currently writing a completely 100% self indulgent radio 1 fic where harry and louis aren’t one of the djs there, but louis’ an intern so it’s got all the djs doing their thing outside of that, ya know? and part of that was because i love greg, ant, grace, and chris and their dynamic and wanted it in a fic. i wanted to be able to have scott and chris show up and refer to them. i wanted grimmy doing his thing as he does. i didn’t want any of them replaced. but that meant that i had to research info about their time slots, how long they’d been in them, when they started with radio 1, etc so i could accurately describe how harry came to listen to them and be so attached etc and while doing this reading i learned a lot about the details behind the numbers for the breakfast show since grimmy took over.

this got entirely too long, because when did i ever answer something in a few words when i could use a shitload? so beneath the cut are the rest of my thoughts lol

i mean, i think a lot of people knew that the numbers for nick on the breakfast show have never been what the breakfast show used to and is accustomed to pulling, but the big wigs at the bbc were constantly supporting him and backing him up, spouting things like “well the numbers for the older demographics don’t matter for us anyway because we’re looking to up the number for the younger demographic”, which it has done but not to the extent they were hoping for i would imagine. (please note all this is just my opinion and understanding of what i read, as an american mother whose degree was in english education and nothing to do with media or broadcasting lol) that being said, the numbers weren’t POOR. they just weren’t good or as high as was i think anticipated.

also please keep in mind though, that grimmy has a very specific appeal. the same reasons that a lot of people don’t like him are exactly why those who do are so faithful to him. he also rubs elbows and runs in friend groups with people who are well known and hold a certain appeal because they’re seen as the trendsetters, right? there is a lot that can be gained for bbc by having someone who is in that group because it’s all about who you know and who is on your side. those connections aren’t going to want to be thrown away.

greg, meanwhile, pulls exactly the demographic that the bbc bosses have said they wanted to increase for the breakfast show. when listening to newsbeat during scott mills’ show today, one of the radio 1 bosses had an audio clip saying that it’s the perfect time to announce for greg because after his success with pedal for the peaks in conjunction with sport relief and then going out there and doing interviews at biggest weekend with the top names in the music industry (i laughed this was included because greg is still getting clapback on twitter for telling taylor to her face she needed to take a shower) that he’s just been gaining momentum and making a good name for himself which just goes to show that he’s the perfect person for the job. 

here’s the thing with greg. he’s quirky and funny and not afraid to make an arse of himself and that makes people kind of instantly love him. he’s witty and funny and intent on making his show a safe space for him to be himself as well as his listeners. that doesn’t mean he won’t make fun of you, but it’s all done without the intent of being cruel. the time slot he’s in currently also allowed him to build a rapport across demographic lines because he’s on during the drive home for the uk which also means kids are out of school, studying, etc. by building up popularity amongst the demographic where it is understood the bbc wants to have a higher listenership for in the mornings, and then switching him at what appears to be the height of his name recognition, to the morning show is a fantastic move for them. it will hopefully do everything they want it to while also giving greg a chance at a slot that many djs aspire to have. 

back to nick. a lot of times, when djs reach the morning shows for their station, they either stay there because they’ve finally reached their goal, until they find something bigger to move onto, or they’re retired when it’s determined they are old news and no longer viable or sent to a less desirable sister station. that…is not happening with nick. he’s staying with radio 1, he’s just going to be doing the drive home instead. now, was it actually fully his decision? fully, probably not. partially, maybe. recently the other bbc radio stations moved to manchester (i stopped by just to look in while i was there since i missed getting a peek at the bbc studios in london). if grimmy were moved to radio 2, as often happens with the djs who are no longer pulling the demographic desired for radio 1, then the bbc would lose out on his social circles that are centered in london. not only that, but nick does still draw a crowd and is popular with younger demographics, so the move to radio 2 just doesn’t make business sense for them. plus nick very likely would not find that move appealing for career reasons.

so, this whole long winded post is just to say it makes SO MUCH SENSE that these two are switching slots for a lot of reasons and when i heard it immediately settled and was like ah. yeah. alright then.

NOW ME AS A LISTENER AND LOVER OF THEM?!?! i’m ecstatic for greg. i’m happy to not lose nick. i’m SO EXCITED i get to hear nick’s lovely northern voice more often since he’ll actually be on when i’m awake now lol but that means i won’t get greg’s soothing voice while i’m taking my kids to various appointments anymore, and that makes me a bit sad. i hope that greg keeps doing his weekly podcasts. i wouldn’t even mind if he did like scott and did daily. (i would be so happy i could cry, actually lol). i don’t want nick to stop doing his podcasts. i would love if he started doing them more like he used to rather than his once weekly “here’s my star interview of the week” podcast, which i don’t mind but preferred his older ones. i’m worried that grace and ant and chris won’t be going with greg to the breakfast show because they are as important to me and the dynamic greg has as greg himself. i’m sure chris won’t go, since he’s the news, but grace? ant? sigh. oh gosh i just caught up on nick’s insta and saw the post about fiona leaving the show too. THE TIMING OF IT ALL MAKES SENSE BUT I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS ABOUT DETAILS HERE! sl;akdhg;alskfj 

so yeah. i’m sure you’re regretting it by now, but these are my thoughts and feelings regarding the announcement this morning lolll thank you for asking!

[toldnews-blog]

New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/business/coca-cola-reveals-how-much-plastic-it-uses/

Coca-Cola reveals how much plastic it uses

Image copyright Getty Images

For the first time, Coca-Cola has revealed it used three million tonnes of plastic packaging in one year.

It’s part of a report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation which is pushing for companies and governments to do more to tackle plastic pollution.

In total, 150 companies are pledging to reduce their plastic usage as part of the campaign.

But some companies including Pepsi, L’Oreal and H&M haven’t said how much plastic they use.

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption Coca-Cola used 3 million tonnes of plastic in 2017

It’s hard to visualise what three million tonnes looks like. But everyone can picture a blue whale.

Now picture 15,000 of them. That’s roughly three million tonnes.

In 2018, the company announced a pledge to recycle a used bottle or can for each one the company sells by 2030.

Coca-Cola markets 500 brands of fizzy drink, juices and water and says it will also work towards making all of its packaging recyclable worldwide.

Image copyright Getty Images

Many companies have been committing to being more green after concerns about plastic waste were highlighted in shows such as the BBC’s Blue Planet 2, narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

In this report, 31 companies – including Mars, Nestlé and Danone – reveal how much plastic packaging they create in a year.

Nestle: 1.7m tonnes.

Colgate: 287,008 tonnes in 2018.

Unilever: 610,000 tonnes.

Burberry: 200 tonnes of plastic in a year.

Companies are trying to be more open about how much plastic they use – and how much waste they create.

In February 2019, Nestle got rid of plastic straws from its products and is using paper ones instead.

Burberry was criticised in 2018, when it said it destroyed unsold clothes, accessories and perfume worth £28.6m to protect its brand.

It’s now stopped the practice.

150 companies have signed up to be part of The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s commitment to reduce plastic pollution.

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption Rubbish washed up on a beach in Bali

Follow Newsbeat on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 every weekday on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra – if you miss us you can listen back here.

[gyrlversion]

JAN MOIR: My heart sinks just a little at this BBC Girl Power

For the first time, a flagship BBC politics programme will be fronted by three women. Emily Maitlis, Kirsty Wark and Emma Barnett are the all-female presenting team on BBC2’s Newsnight.

‘Boom. Let’s do this,’ Emma said when the news was announced.

This gave the impression the plucky threesome were girding their loinettes for some kind of battle, when the truth is the war has already been won.

In Beeb Central, the Time of Men — the old order of broadcasting patriarchy — is going, going, gone; replaced with furious alacrity by an illustrious regiment of women.

Leading men across all spheres, from showbiz to politics, are falling like kneecapped dominoes.

Emily Maitlis (pictured), Kirsty Wark and Emma Barnett are the all-female presenting team on BBC2’s Newsnight

There is a female Doctor Who and a toothsome female duo presenting Strictly Come Dancing, the Beeb’s most popular light entertainment show. Female DJs have replaced Chris Evans and Simon Mayo on Radio 2, while the golden but entitled Age of the Dimblebys is crumbling into dust.

BBC1’s Question Time David has been replaced by Fiona Bruce, while the successor to Radio 4’s Any Questions Jonathan has yet to be announced, but the smart money is on A (for Any) Woman — quite possibly Woman’s Hour’s Jane Garvey, or Fi Glover of the station’s The Listening Project.

From now until for ever, it seems every high-profile onscreen appointment will be given to a her, not a him, in this brave new broadcasting She-domain.

My heart should sing at this display of raw female power yet, instead, it sinks. Just a little — a dip, not a plunge. But the trajectory is definitely downwards.

It’s not that I object to the promotion of this trio of talented Newsnight women, each at the top of her game in myriad brilliant ways. 

No, it’s more that the BBC’s response to accusations of gender imbalance and its protracted gender pay-gap dispute has been so clumsy, so silly and, ironically, so devoid of fairness and equality.

For there is nothing positive about positive discrimination. All these well-meaning attempts to end discrimination simply end up with more discrimination.

Andrew Neil, by far the best political interviewer across the BBC network, will step down from his BBC1 This Week programme in July

At the BBC, a sometimes flawed meritocracy has been replaced by something far, far worse; blunderbuss gender politics in a workplace where white, middle-class males are treated like lepers.

Take Andrew Neil, by far the best political interviewer across the BBC network, who will step down from his BBC1 This Week programme in July — probably in exasperation at being continually shuffled off into a late-night ‘graveyard slot’.

BBC Director of News Fran Unsworth then cheerily said she would axe the show because ‘we couldn’t imagine it’ without Neil.

If she’s such a fan, why has the old bloodsucker been kept in his late-night coffin all these years?

Neil is still appearing in his lunchtime Politics Live show. Yesterday, he ticked off the voluble Remainer MP for Broxtowe, saying: ‘This is not the Anna Soubry Hour. I think you have had more than a fair say.’ Authoritative yet still polite, a first-class act in a second-class slot.

Elsewhere, a traineeship scheme for Radio 1’s Newsbeat is only to take black, Asian, mixed ethnicity or lower socio-economic applicants. 

This means applications from ambitious middle-class white girls — and particularly boys — would go in the bin. Fair enough, you might think. 

Perhaps it’s time for men to suffer and understand what it feels like to be marginalised, sidelined and overlooked just because of their sex.

Imagine how Emily Maitlis must have felt on discovering that fellow Newsnight presenter Evan Davis, a broadcaster not fit to clean her over-the-knee boots, was paid a third more for doing the same job.

Clearly there has been a gender pay imbalance at the BBC, just like the one in society. Maybe it is true that, for too long, power and equality were denied to women at the BBC. Yet certain kinds of privilege and bias still have their place.

Imagine how Emily Maitlis must have felt on discovering that fellow Newsnight presenter Evan Davis, a broadcaster not fit to clean her over-the-knee boots, was paid a third more for doing the same job

For Emily, Kirsty and Emma are a certain kind of BBC woman. Shiny of hair and blue of stocking, they are all good middle-class gels who went to posh schools (two of them fee-paying), then good universities.

Most importantly, I’ll wager they are all Left-leaning liberals with Guardianista sensibilities running through them. And if any of the trio isn’t a dyed-in-the-cashmere-wool Remainer, I’ll join the Brexit Betrayal March myself.

Which suggests BBC bosses are keen on diversification in all its forms, but only in areas where it suits them.

It would be impossible to imagine a Right-leaning, Brexit-supporting female broadcaster — Julia Hartley-Brewer, for example — even being considered for a Newsnight job.

And when I interviewed Sky TV’s Kay Burley recently, she said that as a working-class girl from Wigan who left school after her O-levels, she ‘didn’t have the right accent or education to work at the BBC’.

Have things changed? In every way, but also in no way whatsoever.

The broadcasting regulator Ofcom is reviewing the BBC’s news and current affairs output to ensure it remains relevant and trusted in the capricious, polarised and challenging world of multi-sourced news.

The new Newsnight team will give them much to ponder over. But in the meantime, let me stop you right there, as Emily would say, and ask: is one woman’s equality another man’s injustice?

Ade, you lazy lump, congratulations! EuroMillions winner deserves all the happiness his huge windfall will bring   

Middle-aged, overweight, sad owl face, lumbering dolt, usually Scottish. If it’s true that all lottery winners look like the same person and fit this particular profile, how come I haven’t won yet?

Despite ticking all the above boxes, yet again it’s not me, it’s him — Ade Goodchild, a singleton 58-year-old factory worker from Hereford.

No, Ade doesn’t hail from Scotland like most Lottery winners seem to. But in every other aspect, he seems to fit the stereotype perfectly.

He is corpulent, dazed, bears a slight resemblance to a giant thumb and, unusually, insists that his mega-win will change him. 

According to one report, EuroMillions winner Ade Goodchild never lifted a finger to do any chores in the house or work in the garden

Twice-married Ade scooped £71 million on the EuroMillions this week, a fantastic sum. His two ex-wives have already said they don’t want a share of his money. Good for them.

His first wife said it ‘couldn’t have happened to a nicer man’, while the second insisted that she is ‘happier without him’. Still, it is prospective wife No 3, whoever she may be, who will reap the lottery windfall.

Ade seems like the kind of lazy, useless husband any woman would be well rid of. According to one report, he never lifted a finger to do any chores in the house or work in the garden. Even after they were divorced, his second wife said she still had to go round and walk the dogs.

Yet Ade is self-aware enough to joke that he’s no more attractive now he’s a winner than he was before, but that his wallet is getting more than a few admiring glances.

He says he will look after members of his family and is going to spend the money on wine and women, then waste the rest.

Can you find it in your heart to wish him well? I do, I do, I do. 

Paul pogos to the bank: Court case reveals Clash punk rocker’s millions 

Back in the 1970s, the Clash were sexy revolutionaries whose punk music was thick with Left-wing ideology. 

The song White Riot urged alienated white youths to riot like their black counterparts; London Calling sent an apocalyptic message to strengthen the kids’ resolve before the onslaught of Thatcherism, boo.

Well, that was then. Now, Clash bassist Paul Simonon has won a £5 million legal fight with his second wife, who managed some of the band’s financial accounts. 

She wanted to change the terms of their original divorce settlement and sell her share of Clash royalties to an investment firm, but the judge ruled against her.

In the initial settlement, they each kept a London home, while sharing the cost of their sons’ education fees. The couple’s legal bills for the new hearing were more than £60,000.

‘You think it’s funny, turning rebellion into money,’ they once sang, the old hypocrites.

Next, you’ll be telling me The Who’s Roger Daltrey is a Tory-supporting Brexiteer.

A rare black-and-white print of The Scream, by Edvard Munch, will soon go on display at the British Museum.

How very prescient, for the painting seems to sum up the national mood over Brexit precisely. Head in hands, hair torn out, mouth open in a soundless yell of despair from the very marrow of one’s being.

Of course, debate still swirls around the famous image. Is Munch’s figure emitting a scream or listening to a scream? And is that scream real or psychological?

Who knows, but altogether now . . . aaargggh.

TV presenter Lorraine Kelly has won a big case against the taxman by arguing that she appears on TV not as herself, but as an entertainer

Awww, that’s fantastic! TV presenter Lorraine Kelly has won a big case against the taxman by arguing that she appears on TV not as herself, but as an entertainer portraying a super-cheery, empathetic wee character who doesn’t actually exist.

‘I am a McFake,’ is what she appears to be saying, but didn’t we know that anyway? Ms Kelly (above) told the tax tribunal she was an entertainer because she played ‘a version’ of herself on her ITV show. So the Lorraine Kelly who appears as Lorraine Kelly on Lorraine is not the real Lorraine Kelly but a theatrical construct.

She won her appeal against a £900,000 tax bill and £300,000 National Insurance demand. That’s the real drama. Take a bow, Lorraine, whoever you are.

‘When is the real Prince Harry coming?’ a schoolboy asked the Duke of Sussex during a visit to a London primary school.

Indeed! Over the past few months, as Harry has chuntered on about living the dream, shining the light, all the blades of grass and the raindrops and your ‘own true north’, it is a question I have often asked myself. Hullo clouds, hullo sky? Really, Harry?

The post JAN MOIR: My heart sinks just a little at this BBC Girl Power appeared first on Gyrlversion.

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[netunleashed-blog]

Facebook and Instagram introduce time limit tool

http://www.internetunleashed.co.uk/?p=27479 Facebook and Instagram introduce time limit tool - http://www.internetunleashed.co.uk/?p=27479 Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Facebook and Instagram say the new tools were developed based on collaboration with mental health experts and organisations Facebook and Instagram are releasing a new tool to limit how much time people spend on their apps.The announcement follows concerns that excessive social media usage can have a negative impact on mental health.Users will now be able to check how much time they've spent scrolling, set a reminder for when they've reach their allotted time, and mute notifications for a period of time.But some people say it doesn't go far enough."I wouldn't say it's a radical change or that it's going to really change a lot about the way that most people use Facebook or Instagram," Grant Blank, from the Oxford Internet Institute, tells Newsbeat."It strikes me as a way to balance their corporate interest of keeping people spending as much time as possible on Facebook, while still being responsive to people who find the continual notifications to be disturbing or distracting." Image copyright Facebook Image caption You can access the tools on the settings page on either app by tapping "Your Activity" on Instagram or "Your Time on Facebook" on Facebook Facebook published a blog post in December 2017 that acknowledged the negative effects spending too much time on the platform has on its users.In one experiment, students at the University of Michigan who were randomly assigned to scroll through Facebook for 10 minutes were "in a worse mood" at the end of the day than those assigned to be more active on the site - posting or talking to friends.Another from UC San Diego and Yale showed people who clicked on four times as many links or liked twice as many posts "reported worse mental health than average". Lifestyle vlogger and Instagrammer Em Sheldon, 24, tells Newsbeat that checking up on her friends is an "all-day thing". "While I think it's part of the job, I do think it's a problem because we become dependent on our phones and on checking social media. "If I've got some free time, I'll fill that void by scrolling."Social media is 24/7 for me, but I think it's something that has crept up over time - the need for me to just constantly be on it." In terms of checking how much time she spends on Facebook and Instagram, Em says she "doesn't know if it would help" because "I'm aware that I use social media too much".But she does agree that having reminder notifications could be useful. "Maybe it would give me the kick I need to put my phone down. "If something popped up saying: 'You've been using this app for six hours', I'd be like, 'Wow, that is a lot. What a waste of my time'."Harry Hugo, co-founder of digital marketing company The Goat Agency, says the changes have been a "long time coming". "With the emergence of mental health issues - especially among young people, who are spending the most time on these platforms - it's really important that we put things in place that can help limit that. "If they understand that they're spending hours a day on these platforms, maybe it will make them think twice."Harry says he used to use Twitter for 15 or 16 hours a day when he was a teenager - "which sounds unbelievably unhealthy now I look back at it" - but he also argues that part of the problem is about self control."We're the ones that open the phone, we're the ones that tap on Instagram. We can't just put it in the hands of Apple or Facebook to fix these problems."Obviously these things are great preventative techniques, but they're not going to change it for good. "They are doing as much as they can before we as a society need to recognise what we're doing with our lives."Follow Newsbeat on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 every weekday on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra - if you miss us you can listen back here. Source link

[toldnews-blog]

New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/business/leasehold-first-time-buyers-were-trapped-in-our-own-house/

Leasehold first-time buyers: 'We're trapped in our own house'

Image caption Ashleigh Wilson lives in a house she bought in 2015 in Liverpool

“I just want to own my own home.”

Ashleigh Wilson, who’s 27, thought she’d achieved that dream when she bought a place in Knowsley, Liverpool, four years ago.

“I came to view the show home with my mum and I just fell in love with it.”

Four years on, she’s in a home no-one will buy because of the strict rules on her lease – which charge her fees and stop her changing her floor tiles.

A leasehold is when you own the right to live in a building but don’t own the bricks or the ground it sits on.

Now there’s a consultation by the Law Commission on whether to scrap leasehold flats and houses.

More than six million properties in England and Wales are leasehold, according to the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership.

And just under 40% of new-build homes sold in the last two years have been leasehold, the group says.

‘I’m essentially renting’

Ashleigh was told that after three years she would be able to buy the freehold from the developers.

A freehold is when you own the house outright, including the ground beneath it.

But the freehold was sold on by the developers to an overseas investor.

When she called the investor Ashleigh was told that buying the freehold was no longer an option.

“The issues with selling the house are the fees,” Ashleigh tells us, frustrated at being stuck in a home she bought for £200,000 that’s now worth much less.

“I pay an extra £800 a year for ground rent and service fees.”

And these fees have been rising.

Image caption First-time buyers like Ashleigh now make up the biggest chunk of people purchasing new homes

Although she can take the freeholder to a housing tribunal, freeholders know they have the cash to fight against leaseholders, who often don’t.

“If I could go back in time I definitely wouldn’t buy this house.

“I feel I am essentially renting a property with the responsibility of owning a property.”

The problem got so bad for many first-time buyers, the National Leasehold Campaign was set up.

Backed by a group of MPs, it now hopes to give people stuck in Ashleigh’s situation a way out.

“I want to have the freedom back to decide what I do.”

The Law Commission, which recommends changes in the law to government, is asking people if they’d like to move to the Scottish system of commonhold.

Commonhold is when you communally own a building and have more say on how money is spent.

Image caption Harry Scoffin thinks anyone who wants to own a house should push to scrap leasehold

The Home Builders Federation, which represents developers, disagrees with the proposals and thinks leasehold still has a place.

David O’Leary from the group told us: “By and large, leases are fair and reasonable and have ground rents that don’t affect a property’s value.”

He admits there are instances where leases have been created that are unfair, but believes they can be changed.

“Most responsible developers are going back and try to work with the freeholder and leaseholder to fix the problem.”

Harry Scoffin, 24, works for a charity that helps people stuck in leaseholds.

He thinks first-time buyers are being conned: “Developers say ‘flats to buy’, but actually you cannot buy it, you are only buying a lease.”

He wants people to push for the Scottish system of commonhold, saying it gives people more power over fees.

“Stay renting and push for commonhold, we cannot have leasehold anymore.”

Rob Godfrey, from the law firm Simpson Millar, says anyone thinking of buying a leasehold property should go through the contents on the lease with a solicitor to understand what is expected of them.

He also says it’s important buyers understand what the risk and downsides are if they don’t comply with the lease.

“If you have a dispute in so far as the freeholder is concerned, first all you need to take some legal advice. Secondly you need to consider some form of direct engagement with them,” he tells Newsbeat.

“There are alternatives to litigation – such as mediation. There are the land tribunals who can determine disputes which exist between the parties.

“In the event neither party is satisfied with the result you can go through the appeal process.”

Follow Newsbeat on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 every weekday on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra – if you miss us you can listen back here.

[toldnews-blog]

New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/business/gillette-faces-backlash-and-boycott-over-metoo-advert/

Gillette faces backlash and boycott over '#MeToo advert'

Image copyright Gillette

A Gillette advert which references bullying, the #MeToo movement and toxic masculinity has split opinion online.

The razor company’s short film, called Believe, plays on their famous slogan “The best a man can get”, replacing it with “The best men can be”.

The company says it wants men to hold each other “accountable”.

Some have praised the message of the advert, which aims to update the company’s 30-year-old tagline, but others say Gillette is “dead” to them.

The ad has been watched more than 2 million times on YouTube in 48 hours.

It currently has 23,000 likes and 214,000 dislikes, at time of writing – and that’s increasing all the time.

Image copyright Gillette

Image caption People such as Piers Morgan have said they will boycott Gillette because of the message of the new advert

In it, the company asks “Is this the best a man can get?” before showing images of bullying, sexual harassment, sexist behaviour and aggressive male behaviour.

It then shows examples of more positive behaviour – such as stepping into prevent these behaviours when they happen in public.

Image copyright Gillette

Image caption In the advert, one man stops his friend from harassing a woman in the street

Comments on the video are largely negative, with viewers saying they will never buy Gillette products again or that the advert was “feminist propaganda”.

“In less than two minutes you managed to alienate your biggest sales group for your products. Well done,” wrote one angry viewer.

Twitter users are also sharing their disappointment with Gillette’s new campaign.

There have also been calls for Gillette, which is owned by Procter & Gamble, to post an apology video.

But the brand believes the new advert aligns with its slogan and says it believes in “the best in men.”

“By holding each other accountable, eliminating excuses for bad behaviour, and supporting a new generation working toward their personal ‘best,’ we can help create positive change that will matter for years to come,” says its president, Gary Coombe.

The advert was directed by Kim Gehrig from the UK-based agency Somesuch, who also directed the 2015 campaign for Sport England, This Girl Can.

Image copyright Gillette

Image caption The advert encourages men to act with more respect and to set a positive example to young boys

Gillette has partnered with the Building A Better Man project, which seeks to reduce violent behaviour in men, and The Boys and Girls Club of America, which helps young men develop better social and communication skills. It’s also donating $1m a year for the next three years to US charities aimed at supporting men.

But, alongside the negative reaction to the brand’s new message, there has also been widespread praise for attempting to tackle the issue of modern masculinity.

“We knew that joining the dialogue on ‘Modern Manhood’ would mean changing how we think about and portray men at every turn,” adds Gary Coombe.

“Effective immediately, Gillette will review all public-facing content against a set of defined standards meant to ensure we fully reflect the ideals of Respect, Accountability and Role Modelling in the ads we run, the images we publish to social media, the words we choose, and more.

“For us, the decision to publicly assert our beliefs while celebrating men who are doing things right was an easy choice that makes a difference.”

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[netunleashed-blog]

NHS: New health secretary Matt Hancock says use more apps

http://www.internetunleashed.co.uk/?p=18940 NHS: New health secretary Matt Hancock says use more apps - http://www.internetunleashed.co.uk/?p=18940 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media captionUse more apps in the NHS, new health secretary says. There needs to be more use of apps in the National Health Service, the new health secretary says.Matt Hancock has told Newsbeat there is "loads to do on that area" when asked if they would help the NHS.He was speaking as he gave more details of the government's plans to transform children and young people's mental health services. The 39-year-old became the first MP to launch an app in his previous job as culture secretary."One of the things I've done in different parts of government is make sure that it's more tech savvy and digital," he told Newsbeat. Image copyright Matt Hancock Image caption Matt Hancock greets users on his app with a video message "The NHS needs to be more convenient for you, but also to help clinicians so that doctors' and nurses' lives are easier. Skip Twitter post by @doctor_oxford Dear Matt Appcock,What the NHS desperately needs is basic, humdrum, fit-for-purpose IT. Computers that don’t crash. Upgrades to Windows XP. As for apps? These shld be as rigorously evaluated for safety & efficacy as any other new drug or surgery 🤦‍♀️https://t.co/I3AoXefonK— Rachel Clarke (@doctor_oxford) July 25, 2018 End of Twitter post by @doctor_oxford The health secretary - who took over the job from Jeremy Hunt on 9 July - has used his own app to show picture galleries and videos of his activities both as a secretary of state and also as MP for West Suffolk.It was criticised by some users who were worried their privacy was compromised after responding to an on-screen prompt asking for access to their photo library. Who is Matt Hancock? West Suffolk MP since 2010 and former Bank of England economist Was a close ally and former chief of staff to then chancellor George Osborne Supported Remain in the EU referendum The 39-year-old father-of-three launched his own smartphone app after becoming culture secretary to better "connect" with his constituents Mental health announcementMatt Hancock also admitted that the government is "just getting going" on mental health treatment. He was speaking as he announced that hundreds of new mental health workers will work in and near schools and colleges from next year. Image copyright Reuters The move is part of the government's plan to try to transform children and young people's mental health.Seven higher education institutions in England will be offering courses from January to train people to help students with mental health issues.The aim is they will be ready to go by the end of 2019.But there's criticism of his comments about apps.Labour says: "The Conservative government has made big cuts to some NHS budgets like capital funding, which has meant the NHS just hasn't been able to take advantage of new technologies." "They need to fund the NHS properly so that NHS apps are safe and really accessible for everyone."But Mr Hancock insists embracing new digital technology is important. "I've actually just come out of a meeting on doing exactly that, it's a real passion of mine and I think there's a real opportunity."Follow Newsbeat on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 every weekday on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra - if you miss us you can listen back here. Source link