To AV or not to AV?

To AV or not to AV?Tis the question. As Britons take to the polls today, to vote whether or not AV (the alternative vote system) should be adopted; I was wondering how UK politics will change if Britain does decide to adopt the Alternative vote system.

Would it mean “extremists” or fringe parties like

the BNP, will finally get one step closer to sending immigrants home? Or will it mean nice parties like the Green party -grinning with teeth showing-will finally have an opportunity to replace trident with windfarms?

If AV is introduced, critics argue that coalition government will be a likely feature to UK politics, and and it got me thinking; What if the BNP and t

he Green Party did form a coalition? Would it mean the Green's compromising to the BNP, like the Liberal democrats did with their “necessary compromises”? Or could it mean the BNP finally accepting global warming as something that exists? Here are some Green-BNP coalition policy ideas I cooked up whilst procrastinating at the office.

*Green-BNP Coalition Agreement*

Article 1: We the coalition will hereby demand the

departure of all British citizens of ethnic minority origin back to their homeland, in order to reduce the UK's carbon emissions , and planting a t

ree for every ethnic minority who has left the country .

Article 2: We will commence withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan and Iraq and re-locate them to fight the worlds largest carbon emissions produce i.e. America, China, Russia and any country that has 'stan' or someone called 'omar' living in that country.

My Ideal placement.

Prior to me attending the Catch 22 academy, I took the bold decision of subscribing to The Economist. It was a whimsical decision on my part-partly so I could get the free USB- but a decision I took to fill the hole left in my brain, from not being in education for 6 months.
3 issues into my 12 week subscription of the Economist, I stumble across the Catch 22 magazine. Whilst browsing through it at work, I came across the placements they have on offer from their media partners, if you are chosen to walk down the green hallowed walls of The Catch 22 academy. Luckily I was chosen to walk down those 'hallowed halls' and the one thing everyone at Catch love to discuss, is their ideal placement. Everyone having established their intention not to work at 'break-makers' annual, I thought it was time I shared my ideal placement choices.

(drum roll please)

In first place, my ideal placement has to be at The Economist. 8 weeks into my 12 subscription, I may break the bank and subscribe to it on a yearly basis, or I could do what everyone else does and read their articles online.

With a reported circulation of 1.6 million per issue and a growing readership in North America, The Economist-belong

ing to the Economist group, half of which is owned by the Financial times, a subsidiary of Pearson publishing- has adapted, and fast becomi

ng a global voice for free market thinkers and ardent liberals.Despite their editorial politics, I admire how The Economist unlike other publications, come from a global perspective, picking up stories that may seem insignificant, significant from across the globe.

In second place its the Evening Standard. My love affair with the newspaper began when a hobo left it on the 279 bus. I used to mock people declining the chance to read a free evening paper like the London lite , and forking out 20p for The Evening Standard. But after my first read, I couldn't stop picking up the paper.

Unlike its competitors-or whats left of them-The Evening Standard offers in-depth analysis of events, coverage of what took place during the day and a build up to the evenings sport.

Founded in 1827, the Evening Standard to the surprise of many, decided to break away from its nearly 200 year paid circulation on 12th October 2009. But it paid off, as The Evening Standards

circulation doubled whilst at the same time, beating off rivals like News Internationals, London Lite.

The paper also pub

lishes a glossy magazine called ES magazine, and is currently owned by the Lebedev family, which also owns Independent Print Limited, the parent company of The Independent and Independent on Sunday.

Besides other things, the Evening Standard recently won two of the most prestigious accolades in publishing, being named Media Brand of the year and also receiving the Grand Prix Gold at the media Week awards, beating the likes of the Financial Times, Youtube, Spotify and the Sun. In essence, a placement at The Evening Standard would be fantastic, as it is part of the fabric which makes London such a great city to live!

In third place its Wanderlust. Now you may all be thinking; why isn't Areeb writing about something to do with politics. Well sorry to break it to you folks,but Catch 22 has begun to work its magic on me, and help me broaden my horizons.

Partly why I wanted to become a journalist was to travel the world and meet new people. But I always thought the best way to do that was lying in a ditch somewhere, whilst dodging the bullets of an Ak-47. Alas! Wanderlust was g

iven to me- or rather thrown at me by Chloe- to take home and read.

I doubt they will ever give me a paid holiday to review if I was to intern there. But in a weird, rather geeky kind of way, I think it would be interesting to get a glimpse of what goes into putting together a publication like Wanderlust.

First launched in 1993, the idea for Wanderlust was said to be"conceived in the mid-atlantic, and the business plan was written during a tour of the Galapagos Islands." Since then, Wanderlust now prints 50,000 copies every year, 8 times a year, and said to be read in over 112 countries including 100,000 readers. Besides its magazine, the Wanderlust brand has since branched out into a website-www.wanderlust.co.uk- and runs three awards; Wanderlust Travel awards, Wanderlust Photo of the Year competition and the Wanderlust world guide award.

30 Seconds in the mind of.....

RICK THOMPSON

Rick Thompson, 22 was born in Chester. After dropping out from the countries most 'prestigious' audio tech degree, at the University of Lincoln. Rick decided education wasn't for him, and dived straight into the unpredictable world of journalism. Armed with a few A levels, and his ambition, Rick dreams of being either a sports journalist, or heading to the states and working in his mums home town of Chicago, at the Chicago Tribune.

Your greatest fear?

Snakes.

Greatest achievement?

Getting into Catch 22.

Your earliest memory?

When my dad took me out to see Santa Claus. Pointing at an aeroplane, he said that was Santa Claus's sleigh and told me not to look back, otherwise Santa will go away. But when I did look back, I saw my mum wheeling my Christmas present into the living room. It was then I realised Santa Claus wasn't real. Hard times.

Your 1st kiss?

It happened when I was staying with my grandparents in Milwaukee, America. Her name was Elizabeth, and she was the same as me at the time, which was 10.

What keeps you awake at night?

Snakes.

If you fancy knowing more about Rick, follow him on twitter.

What are Rick's fave things?

• Favourite website: Goal.com
• Favourite Youtube Video: Sons of Shankly, it always gets to me.
• Favourite song: Peace Train-Cat Stevens , not Yusuf Islam.

my catch with journalism.

When you think of journalism what comes to mind? Deadlines? Pressure? English? For me, what come to mind with journalism are 3 words; white, bourgeois and another word I forgot. Point being, journalism despite the meritocratic industry it already is, is not helped by the lack of ethnic minorities in the industry. Someone famous once said “journalism is the first rough draft of history”. That being said, how does one get to writing that ‘first rough draft of history’?

You could always go to a top university like Oxford or Cambridge, and take it from there. Or you could always sleep with the editor of a nice publication ; but that option wasn’t there for (no sex before marriage and all). So I took the next step. I joined the Catch 22 academy. The interview was a grilling enough, but I had no idea the next 5 weeks would lead me to really question, whether or not journalism is for me.

Before I even got the place, I naturally assumed that everyone on the course were either college dropouts, or people studying bogus media courses. What I didn’t realize was the serious competition, and caliber of journalism I was up against. From Cambridge graduates to people at the top of their game, Catch 22 was at first a daunting experience, but an experience that taught me the barebones of journalism.

If my time at Catch has taught me anything, its how to deal with rejection. With ideas being dismantled, one after another every week, its pushed many of us, including myself to have a serious re-think about what kind of features to come up with. Catch has blessed me in some ways, as it has made me aim to be a more versatile journalist. One thing that will never change however, is the jaws theme tune playing in my head every time Tokes is present at a features meeting. But with time I think that will change.

Till then, I thought I would end this blog post with a quote, which was quoted by one of our Catch 22 tutors Simmy Richman, associate editor for the "New Review" published every Sunday in The Independent on why he teaches at Catch 22;

“The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things you do for others remain as your legacy.”