Not Wireless Radio is broadcasted on Tone Radio, the University’s radio station, every Friday between 10am – 12pm.

Every show will be ‘top and tailed’ to remove music so that it may also be enjoyed as a podcast. In the 1^st show the recent appearance of Nick Griffin appearing on BBC Question Time is discussed along with a host of wacky news articles.

If you enjoy Not Wireless Radio then you can join the ‘Not Wireless Radio Fan Page’ on Facebook. To listen to Tone Radio you can tune in via their website.

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Ian Pinnell on Not Wireless Radio

Sad news.

I will not be writing a column for the University’s student newspaper this year. It turns out that Space newspaper, almost like every other resource at the University, is at the blunt end of cost cutting measures. Last year the newspaper published every couple of weeks but now will only come out once a month. The real reason for not having columnists this year is due to the length of the paper at 24 pages. Technically a 24 page newspaper isn’t really a newspaper at all in my view, but it is better than nothing. At the end of last year there were plans to stop producing Space completely.

So this has led me into a rather awkward situation. Last year I could broadcast my view to all the students, even had regular readers. Since being back at University for the second year I have had quite a few people enquiring about my newspaper column. Even people who didn’t come to the University commented on the lack of Space newspaper articles on this blog.

I have good news though. At the end of last year I expressed an interest to the University’s Radio Station Manager to get involved with Tone Radio. At the time they had full time tables which meant a no. However, this year a slot was available on the radio and I have snatched, politely, at the opportunity.

The station manager expressed that I could do whatever I want on the radio. Just observe the rules, such as no swearing. I have listened to Tone Radio for the past couple of years, know the style of shows and for that reason believe I can make something different. I would say all the shows on Tone Radio are intriguing and fascinating to listen to but I need to come in with my own originality. Something I have never been very good at is fitting in. When trying to develop new concepts this can work to a huge advantage.

So(…)

Yesterday evening I attended my first Cheltenham Literature Festival event. It featured Stephen Fry and Mark Carwardine discussing their BBC Programme ‘Last Chance to See’. A book is accompanied alongside the series. The evening took place at Cheltenham Racecourse. I promised you in my AudioBoo a blog article, here it is.

Stephen Fry commented yesterday evening that even though we know the knowledge, human nature still requires us to be shocked. We may know that the roads and pavements in Manhattan are perfectly straight but still, when we visit, we gaze around in shock. Nothing can prepare you for the assault our senses take. When our knowledge is matched up with our empirical experience of a situation.

Wildlife conservation and preservation seems to affect people the most through witnessing scale. It happened with the late Douglas Adams, the original ‘Last Chance to See’ traveller with Mark Carwardine. After their series over 20 years ago Douglas became a keen supporter in many wildlife projects. Including a project to protect the lovable Kakapoo.

Last night Mark Carwardine commented on the importance of keeping an ecosystem in perfect balance. The virus spreading Mosquito, the willy latching candirú fish or the evolutionary pathetic Panda. Many creatures could be regarded as unpleasant or just pathetic in the way natural selection has made them to be. However it is of critical importance that these animals are to still be supported.

You may know the game of ‘Pick Up Sticks’. The aim of the game is to carefully remove a stick one player at a time without disturbing the other sticks. Each animal represents a stick in the game of Pick Up Sticks. It might be possible to remove one stick without any of the others moving. It is likely though that the sticks will shift, the ecosystem will change a little bit and the danger comes down to when the wrong stick is removed. If the supporting stick is removed then the whole ecosystem will fail and change our way(…)

The ‘EXCLUSIVE’ tag the student hating Gloucestershire Echo article featured made me believe that the news of Pittville Campus had been contracted specially for them. However, sources close to me have revealed the possibility that the news of Pittville Campus’ closure was in fact leaked. It is then my guess that this news was intended for a much later date, not a date so close to the Open Days.

In principle though the University should have released the information about Pittville Campus closing far earlier, almost once they had the information. For this I can only find the communication team to blame. It is under my suspicions that a member of staff may have leaked the news (if it was leaked) and the communication team then had to surf off the crisis.

It is unusual to announce a story in a regional paper without uploading an explanation to the University’s website, not sending press releases to further local media and even the act of giving the Echo an exclusive story. These lack of actions suggest to me a leak as well. It was only later in the morning/early afternoon that the story was officially announced by the University.

As you would expect in this Web 2.0 age many have already added their opinions to the debate. Residents, students and even anonymous staff members have been adding their comments to the Gloucestershire Echo’s article. Facebook became ablaze in minutes with Pittville Campus protest and support groups. I had been updating Twitter with the news as staff members and journalists privately sent me messages. This digital age is truly active with conversation. Now this blog article fits into the media mix, a mix no doubt the University will be keeping note of.

So the main question is how do I react to this news of Pittville Campus closing? Pittville Campus is where my Public Relations course is based due to its connections with media and communication.

Firstly, without any solid evidence at all, I am(…)

Last week I was fortunate enough to have been invited by one of my friends to meet Mark Coote, Conservative Candidate for Cheltenham, at a pub in Cheltenham. As I suspected by reading much of his material he was a delightful person to be with. Quite personable and I can see how he would be a successful candidate.

With the seesaw of British politics in motion once again we can expect for David Cameron to be Prime Minister next general election. In which case having Mark Coote elected for Cheltenham would be of great advantage to Cheltenham. With David Cameron only being a phone call away how could Mark Coote be a bad thing?

The evening was spent discussing personal views, campaigning ideas and attempting to achieve a firm grip of Conservative politics. Lots of free beers were involved and by the end of the evening I was ready to sign up to the Conservatives. I know it sounds cheesy, almost manipulative with free beers being offered but I believed in Mark Coote.

I don’t mean to sound that I now no longer believe in Mark. He is a fantastic candidate but the question of helping with their campaign is really a personal one. Much of my experience within the PR sector has been related to social media for individuals and companies that want to ultimately sell.

Politics is different. Very different. Listening to why a political party is better compared to another uses a lot of language commonly associated with religious evangelism. What I witnessed at that table last Friday was political evangelism. In the same way I would resist the values preached by a Christian, Muslim, Jew or even Pagan… I felt the need to resist the Conservatives.

It does sound peculiar. Of course I have an interest in politics but my reasons for not joining the Conservatives could be regarded as theological in nature. For the same reason I have remained an Atheist almost.

As an Atheist it is possible to clearly observe(…)

Very recently, as those of you may have noticed on my Twitter feed, a lot of my time has been spent down at my local pub. Work obligations, work experience, lectures, seminars and essays are still being achieved. Just that any time I regard as spare is spent around the corner in a pub called St Paul’s Tavern.

The pub until a few months ago was notoriously regarded as one of the rougher pubs in Cheltenham. Better described as a brothel, drug den and sprinkled with all the vice heavy drinking can lead to. Even being near to the pub at night would bring great distress to passing residents. Eventually the pub was closed down after having received countless shiny warnings and ASBOs.

Since then the pub has taken over new ownership.  Any chavs (a word which is thought to have derived from Cheltenham’s Ladies College/Cheltenham College to mean ‘Cheltenham average’) have been bailed out and to this very day are still being arrested for being disorderly around the pub.

So where am I going with this article? Quite simply this is a local story about how one pub has built up new business, thus changed its image and beginning to thrive. It all began when one of my friends moved into his house opposite the pub. Clearly he had to try the pub and as I only live around the corner this was opportune for me as well.

We liked the pub. As a big fan of real ales the pub instantly took my fancy with their offerings of Fire Fly and Yellow Hammer. The bar staff are extremely friendly, personable and one girl is even doing the same Philosophy module as me. These pleasant impressions caused us to invite two more of our friends.

For the following two weeks a network of our friends visited the pub. One evening, by pure chance really, we all arrived at the pub at the same time. The pub on the Saturday evening is usually quiet. However(…)