The time of 'The Jade Goody Effect'

I was watching the news and I was pleasantly surprised that Jade Goody hadn't yet graced my screen. I thought too fast. "Coming next...Jade says goodbye to her boys" was what i heard and saw Jade herself getting out of her wheelchair and into a car.

The media is in a frenzy about the reality TV star, who made her millions by doing Big Brother and many work-out DVDs as well as a few spin-off documentaries, the latest being a fly on the wall documentary about her coping with her illness.

Amongst my disagreement about the constant media attention that she is subjecting herself too, I had a slight change of heart after I saw an episode of Tonight with Trevor McDonald, which shone a whole new light on the situation.

I realised that apart from the most part of Jade's appeal (ie: making more money for her children), there is an angle which is very worthwhile indeed.
'The Jade Goody Effect' is the new term used to label the media frenzy, but it is also used as a tag to a more serious note. Figures have shown that since the beginning of the media marathon describing and analysing Jade's every move, more women have been going to get checked for cervical cancer. Upto 20% more in fact.

Smear tests may be a bit of a taboo subject, but they are nevertheless an important part of any woman's well-being. In the light of it all, maybe what Jade has done, or what the repercussions of her publicity has done, is raise awareness to all about the dangers of cancer and the hidden symptoms that it can have.

'The Jade Goody Effect' may be a debated topic, but for those of you who moan about her constantly being in every media outlet possible at present (myself included), just remember maybe this is a case where the positive aspects of publicity definitely out-weigh the negative.

Whether she's loathed or hated, Jade Goody sells the news and more recently promotes health awareness. There is certainly nothing wrong with that.

Me, A victim of the recession. Who'd have thought?

Whilst at secondary school I learned how the First World War, once it was over, led to a massive recession in Germany and how the Wall Street Crash of 1929 in America caused the world to spiral into a state of economic uncertainty for many years.
Little did I know or understand, that similar things could and would happen to the world in my lifetime.
Certainly, no one could have predicted back then that today we would be facing the world's worst state of recession since the times gone by, but at some point in the last decade, governments must have realised that the financial situation of the globe was gradually declining.

Today, in the year 2009, we are overwhelmed by a recession, which just seems to be getting worse. "Credit Crunch" is the buzz word of the moment and it is rare you go through a day without hearing those two small yet powerful words or seeing evidence of the recession on the news or in everyday life.

As a full-time student, my main priority is my studies. Recently however I, along with many others became a victim of the credit crunch when I was made redundant from my part-time job in a retail store: Principles.
Who would have thought, that before I had even reached the age of twenty I would have been made redundant. I am not the only one though, thousands of employees were thrown out of a job in the Principles company alone - not to mention the thousands of people who have suffered the effects of the sordid economic climate and those who are probably still to become victim.

Upon losing my job, I realised that you don't really realise how serious the "Credit Crunch" is until you actually experience it for yourself. I have seen numerous news reports over the past year on the downwards spiral of the world's economy, but watched it as an observer, not as somebody who knew how it felt or really understood the effects.
I suppose it is like most things, unless you have experienced something for yourself, you don't really know how it feels.
Well, losing your job and your source of income doesn't feel too grand. For me, it was bad, but not half as bad as it was and probably still is for the employees who rely on that source of income and those have built their careers within the high street brand of Principles that is no more.

Luckily and rather surprisingly, I have found another job more or less straight away. I haven't yet started it, but fingers crossed it isn't the next victim of the recession.

All we, as a society, can really hope for is a brighter future. Let's hope that the government has learned from past mistakes and that it can solve this problem for us, the public.

Good Evening Blogespere!

As a child of the late 20th century, the digital revolution, girl power and the Spice Girls and the Millennium, I have, at the tender age of 19 lived through monumental times in the modern history of the world. Let's see: the first decade of the 21st century is nearly over and what a decade it has been. I remember celebrating the millennium, I remember shaking my shimmy to the Spice Girls 'Wannabe' and I remember seeing the Twin Towers collapse on the news on September 11th 2001.

A broad range of memories, you may agree.

Amongst many more social, economical and political moments of significance, the most recent developments include; Barack Obama becoming the first black president of the USA, the looming of the worst recession since the fall of the Weimar Republic and the Wall Street Crash of 1929, continuing conflicts in Gaza and the Middle East and the threats of global warming forever gracing the news.

The digital revolution has brought us the Internet, which has changed the way the world communicates forever. Letters and telegrams are a thing of the past as email, texting and social networking sites take over.
My early teens were a thing for MSN Messenger and MySpace, having never entered into the Bebo network, I transitioned onto Facebook, which is still at the peak of the social network popularity. The new craze of the moment is Twitter, but I have never created my own account simply because I don't wish to be "followed" and I quite frankly waste enough time endlessly searching Facebook for God-know's-what and I don't need another Internet portal to keep on top of.

The next step for me is to start blogging. As a trainee Journalist at University, I thought it would be a good idea to practise my writing skills as well as have a place to vent about current affairs and areas of interest.

So as I enter into the next step of my own digital revolution, wish me luck!