Relevance - Freedom of the Press & Broadcast News
Tony Blair made a speech today, reflecting on the state of the media. At one point, he described it as a "feral beast." Obviously this implies that, at times, it is out of control and needs taming. There is loads of stuff on this all over the web, especially on the BBC website. You could look at any number of places to find commmentary on it, including the BBC's political correspondent's (Nick Robinson) blog - http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson/2007/06/feral_media_my.html
If you'd rather listen to a debate about it, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/programmes/drive.shtml and select "Listen Again Tue" for today's programme (this will only be available until Friday or so). Then skip forward to 2:30:30 to get to start of a report on the speech. They interview a prominent Labour MP, Gerald Kaufman, and the editor of the Independent newspaper, Simon Kelner. It's a perfect opportunity to get a sense of two sides to a debate (it gets a bit feisty) and of how politicians feel the urge to control the press - especially when it is unkind to them.
You can also read the whole of Blair's speech at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6744581.stm - he says interesting things about Broadcast News as well.
The more you can refer to speeches like this in your answers the better chance you have of succeeding - it shows that you are truly engaged with the live debates and not just rehashing the notes given out in class.
