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World in Action
Format Current affairs
Created by Tim Hewat
Country of origin United Kingdom
No. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located of series 35
Production
Producer(s) Granada Television
Running time 30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel ITV
Original run 1963 – 1998

World in Action was an investigative current affairs series produced by Granada Television in the United Kingdom from 1963 to 1998. Granada Television is the United Kingdom ITV contractor for North West England. Independent Television (generally known as ITV) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters set up under the Independent Current affairs is a Genre of Broadcast journalism where the emphasis is on detailed analysis and discussion of News stories that have recently occurred Granada Television is the United Kingdom ITV contractor for North West England. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The year 1963 in television involved some significant eventsBelow is a list of Television -related events in 1963. The year 1998 in television involved some significant eventsBelow is a list of Television -related events in 1998. It frequently took risks that other similar series would not have taken, and gained a reputation for unorthodox thought and campaigning journalism. Journalism is the profession of writing or communicating formally employed by publications and broadcasters for the benefit of a particular Community of people

The first of the ground-breaking Seven Up! programmes was shown as part of World in Action in 1964, and World in Action also broadcast the famous meeting between Mick Jagger and several senior British establishment figures in 1967, arranged by the future BBC Director-General John Birt. Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger, Kt (born 26 July 1943 is a Golden Globe -winning and two-time Grammy -winning English rock The Director-General is chief executive and (from 1944 Editor-in-chief of the BBC. John Birt Baron Birt (born 10 December 1944) served as the Director-General of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC from 1992 to 2000

The Political Studies Association, honouring the programme in its 50th Anniversary Awards, said: "World in Action thrived on unveiling corruption and highlighting underhand dealings. The Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom (PSA is an association of Political scientists that exists to develop and promote the study of Politics in Political corruption is the use of governmental powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain World in Action came to be seen as hard-hitting investigative journalism at its best. "[1]

World in Action's demise in favour of the more populist Tonight with Trevor McDonald was criticised by some as part of a "dumbing-down" of ITV, although the decision was praised by others as a necessary response to the increasing commercial pressures on British TV. Tonight is the name of a British television newsmagazine produced by Granada Television for the ITV network since 1999, when it replaced the Sir Trevor McDonald OBE (born George McDonald on 16 August 1939 is a Trinidadian -born British Journalist and Television presenter Independent Television (generally known as ITV) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters set up under the Independent

Contents

Origins

World in Action was the pre-eminent programme among a number of significant current affairs series produced by the ITV Network in its first 50 years. Independent Television (generally known as ITV) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters set up under the Independent Along with other notable shows, including This Week, First Tuesday, Weekend World, The Big Story and The Cook Report - and the news-gathering of ITN - World in Action gave ITV a reputation for quality broadcast journalism to rival that of the BBC. This Week was the name of a weekly current affairs series screened on the ITV network in the United Kingdom, produced for the network by Weekend World was a British television political series made by London Weekend Television (LWT and broadcast from 1972 to 1988. The Cook Report was a British Television programme shown on ITV, produced for the network by Central Television from ITN ( Independent Television News) is a major news and content provider with headquarters in the United Kingdom.

For the first 35 years of its existence, ITV had a near-monopoly of television advertising revenue. Advertising is a form of Communication that typically attempts to persuade potential Customers to Purchase or to consume more of a particular Brand Roy Thomson, who ran Scottish Television famously described ITV as a "licence to print money". Sir Roy Herbert Thomson 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet GBE, DLitt, D Scottish Television (now legally known as STV Central Ltd and referred to on-air as STV) is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the [2] In return for this income, the broadcasting regulator insisted that the ITV companies broadcast a proportion of their programmes as public service TV. Public broadcasting refers to radio television and other electronic media outlets that receive some or all of their funding from the public Out of this was born the network's reputation for serious current affairs.

Some of the dominant figures in 20th century British broadcasting helped to create World In Action, among them John Birt, Jeremy Isaacs, Gus Macdonald, David Plowright and Michael Parkinson; it also trained generations of journalists and film-makers. John Birt Baron Birt (born 10 December 1944) served as the Director-General of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC from 1992 to 2000 Sir Jeremy Isaacs (born 28 September 1932) is a British television producer and executive winner of many BAFTA awards and international Angus John "Gus" Macdonald Lord Macdonald of Tradeston, CBE, PC (born 20 August 1940 in Larkhall, Scotland) David Ernest Plowright, CBE ( 11 December 1930 &ndash 24 August 2006) was a British television executive and producer Sir Michael Parkinson, CBE (born March 28 1935) is an English broadcaster and Journalist. Michael Apted worked on the original 'Seven Up'. Michael David Apted, CMG (born 10 February 1941) is an English director, producer, writer and Actor The award-winning film director Paul Greengrass, who spent ten years on WIA, told the BBC: "My first dream was to work on World In Action to be honest. Paul Greengrass (b August 13, 1955 in Cheam, Surrey) is an Academy Award -nominated BAFTA Award -winning English It was that wonderful eclectic mixture of filmmaking and reportage. That was my training ground. It showed me the world and made me see many things. "[3]

Although its rivals produced many memorable films, it was World in Action which consistently gained a reputation for the kind of original journalism which made headlines and won major awards. In its time, the series was honoured by all of the major broadcasting awards, including Bafta, the Royal Television Society and the Emmy Awards. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA is a British charity that hosts annual awards shows for film television television craft video games and forms of animation The Royal Television Society (commonly known in the television industry as the RTS) is a British -based society for the discussion analysis and preservation of

World in Action's style was the opposite of the urbane BBC programmes which were its rivals. Gus Macdonald, an executive on the programme, said it had been "born brash". Angus John "Gus" Macdonald Lord Macdonald of Tradeston, CBE, PC (born 20 August 1940 in Larkhall, Scotland) [4] Steve Boulton, one of its last editors, wrote in The Independent that the programme's ethos was to "comfort the afflicted - and afflict the comfortable. The Independent is a British compact Newspaper published by Tony O'Reilly 's Independent News & Media. " Greengrass told The Guardian in June 2008 that the chairman of Granada TV once told him: "Don't forget, your job's to make trouble. The Guardian (until 1959 The Manchester Guardian) is a British Newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. International holidays and commemorations June 8 - Dragon Boat Festival ( Traditional Chinese) June 9 - Shavuot " Listed in 2007 as "the 28th smartest" person in Hollywood, [1] Greengrass added: "If there's a thread running through my career it's World in Action - the phrase as well as the programme. " [5]

World in Action out-lasted all of its contemporaries in ITV current affairs; they were killed off as the commercial pressures on the network grew with the arrival of multi-channel TV in the UK. Eventually WIA, too, was removed from the schedules by its own creator, Granada TV, following pressure from the ITV Network Centre, and replaced with Tonight. Granada Television is the United Kingdom ITV contractor for North West England. Tonight is the name of a British television newsmagazine produced by Granada Television for the ITV network since 1999, when it replaced the

Investigative legacy

From the beginning, and especially from the 1970s, the programme broke new ground in investigative techniques. Landmark investigations included the Poulson Affair, corruption in the West Midlands Serious Crime Squad, the exposure of the shadowy and violent far-right group Combat 18 and, most notably, a long campaign which resulted in the release from prison of the Birmingham Six, six Irishmen falsely accused of planting Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) bombs in Birmingham pubs. John Garlick Llewellyn Poulson ( April 14, 1910 - January 31, 1993) was a disgraced British architect who caused a major The West Midlands Serious Crime Squad was a Police unit in the English West Midlands which operated from 1974 to 1989. Combat 18 (or C18) is the "armed wing" of the British neo-Nazi organisation Blood & Honour. The Birmingham Six were six men — Hugh Callaghan Patrick Joseph Hill Gerard Hunter Richard McIlkenny William Power and John Walker — sentenced to Life imprisonment in The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Óglaigh na hÉireann ( IRA; also referred to as the PIRA, the Provos, or by some of its supporters as the Birmingham ( ˈbɜːmɪŋəm Ber -ming-um

World in Action's appetite for controversy created tension with the official regulators, especially in the early decades, when the regulator had the power to intervene before broadcast. The Office of Communications (Y Swyddfa Gyfathrebiadau or as it is more often known Ofcom is the independent regulator and competition authority for the Communication Sir Denis Forman, one of Granada's founders, wrote that there was "trench warfare" between the programme and the industry regulator, the Independent Television Authority (ITA), in the years between 1966 and 1969 as WIA sought to establish its journalistic freedoms. Sir Denis Forman (born October 13, 1917) was the British Director (1949–1954 and later Chair (1971–1973 of The British Film Institute. Trench warfare is a form of warfare where both combatants have fortified positions and fighting lines are static The Independent Television Authority ( ITA) was a body created by the Television Act 1954 to supervise the creation of "Independent Television" ( [2]

The most celebrated dispute was in 1973, over the banning of The Friends and Influence of John L Poulson, the definitive film about the Poulson Affair, itself one of the defining scandals of British political life in the 1960s. John Garlick Llewellyn Poulson ( April 14, 1910 - January 31, 1993) was a disgraced British architect who caused a major Poulson was an architect, who was jailed a year later for corrupting politicians and civil servants to advance his construction business. Political corruption is the use of governmental powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain The regulator, which was by then the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), banned the film without seeing it and without giving official reasons other than "broadcasting policy". The Independent Broadcasting Authority ( IBA) was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial Television ( ITV and In retaliation, Granada broadcast a blank screen in protest (which bizarrely recorded the third highest TV audience of that week). After a public furore which saw newspapers as different as the Sunday Times and the Socialist Worker unite in condemnation of "censorship", the IBA held a second vote, having by then seen the film. The Sunday Times is a Sunday Broadsheet Newspaper distributed in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. Socialist Worker is the name of several socialist / communist Newspapers It is a weekly newspaper published by the International Socialist Censorship is the suppression of speech or deletion of communicative material which may be considered objectionable harmful or sensitive as determined by a censor By a single vote, the ban was lifted and the programme, retitled The Rise and Fall of John Poulson, was transmitted on April 30, 1973, three months after it was first scheduled. [6]

WIA was prepared to take on even the highly-secretive British intelligence services. An intelligence agency is a governmental agency that is devoted to the Information gathering (known in the context as " intelligence " It broke the stories of whistleblowers from GCHQ[7] and the Joint Intelligence Committee[8]. This is an article about a term For the 2008 RTÉ drama see Whistleblower (TV series. The Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ is a British Intelligence agency responsible for providing Signals intelligence (SIGINT and Information Perhaps its most explosive coverage of the secret state was The Spy Who Never Was, about the former MI5 officer Peter Wright, an extended edition aired in July 1984; Wright's subsequent, controversial book Spycatcher, banned in the UK by the government of Margaret Thatcher, was co-authored by one of the programme's producers, Paul Greengrass. Peter Maurice Wright ( August 9, 1916 — April 27, 1995) was an English scientist and former MI5 counterintelligence SpyCatcher is an anti- Spyware program developed by Tenebril, for Microsoft Windows. Margaret Hilda Thatcher Baroness Thatcher LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925 Paul Greengrass (b August 13, 1955 in Cheam, Surrey) is an Academy Award -nominated BAFTA Award -winning English

The series was rarely away from the courts and the threat of legal action. In 1980, members of the programme's staff and senior executives at Granada TV announced that they would be prepared to go to prison rather than submit to a House of Lords ruling[9] that the programme reveal the identity of an informant who had supplied WIA with 250 pages of secret documents from the then state-owned steel company British Steel[10]. The House of Lords is the second house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords" British Steel was a major British Steel producer It originated as a nationalised industry the British Steel Corporation (BSC formed in 1967 British Steel was at the time locked in a controversial industrial dispute with its workforce.

In 1995, Susan O'Keeffe, a World in Action journalist, was threatened with prison in Ireland for refusing to reveal her sources. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world She had investigated scandals within the Irish meat industry in two films in 1991, setting in motion a three-year Tribunal of Inquiry in Dublin, which found that much of her criticism of the industry was substantiated. A public inquiry is an official Review of events or actions ordered by a country's state's or province's government Dublin (ˈdʌblɨn/ /ˈdʊblɨn or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/, bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh or cliə(ɸ is both the largest city and capital of Ireland. The Tribunal, though, demanded that she name her informants, and when she refused to do so, she was charged by the Irish Director of Public Prosecutions. The Director of Public Prosecutions is the officer charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several Criminal jurisdictions around the world [11] The case became a cause célèbre in the Republic of Ireland, and in January 1995 she faced trial for contempt of court but was cleared of the charge. A cause célèbre (plural causes célèbres, French famous case) is Ireland ( Irish: Éire, ˈeːrʲə is a country in north-western Europe. Contempt of court is a court ruling which in the context of a court trial or hearing deems an individual as having been disrespectful of the court its process and its invested [12] She was honoured in the 1994 Freedom of Information Awards for her stand. [13]

In its last few years, the programme was involved in two high-profile libel cases. It won the first (along with The Guardian) against the former Conservative Cabinet Minister Jonathan Aitken, and lost the second, against the high street chain Marks & Spencer. The Guardian (until 1959 The Manchester Guardian) is a British Newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party) is a Political party in the United Kingdom. A cabinet is a body of high-ranking members of Government, typically representing the executive branch. Jonathan William Patrick Aitken (born 30 August 1942 is a former Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom and British government minister High Street, or the High Street, is a Metonym for the generic name (and frequently the official name of the primary Business street Marks & Spencer Group plc (also M&S, Marks and Sparks, and Marks) is a British Retailer with 843 stores in more than 30 [14]

On April 10, 1995, Jonathan Aitken (himself a former journalist for Yorkshire Television) called a televised press conference three hours before the transmission of a World in Action film, Jonathan of Arabia, demanding that allegations about his dealings with leading Saudis be withdrawn. Yorkshire Television is the ITV contractor for the Yorkshire franchise The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, KSA ( المملكة العربية السعودية, al-Mamlaka al-ʻArabiyya as-Suʻūdiyya) or Suudi [15] In a phrase that would come to haunt him, Aitken promised to wield "the simple sword of truth and the trusty shield of British fair play. . . to cut out the cancer of bent and twisted journalism. "[16] Aitken was subsequently sentenced to 18 months in prison for perjuring himself in the libel case. Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under Oath or Affirmation in a [17]. World in Action followed the collapse of Aitken's libel case with a special edition whose title reflected the MP's claim to wield the "sword of truth". It was called The Dagger of Deceit.

Television techniques

Although the series' lasting reputation is for its investigative work, it also led the way in introducing other techniques to mainstream TV. In 1971, years before reality programming became the staple diet of the TV schedules, World In Action challenged the Staffordshire village of Longnor to quit smoking [18][19], a forerunner of many of the popular-challenge documentaries which enjoyed success in the 21st Century reality boom. Reality television is a genre of Television programming which presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations documents actual events and usually features ordinary Staffordshire (abbreviated Staffs) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. Longnor is a Village in the Staffordshire Peak District, England originating as the site of a market in the 1850s

In 1984, WIA caused a sensation by challenging a rising young Conservative Member of Parliament, Matthew Parris, to live for a week on a £26 unemployment benefit payment to test the reality of his own critical views on the unemployed. The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party) is a Political party in the United Kingdom. A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a Parliament. Matthew Parris (born 7 August 1949 in Johannesburg) is a Journalist and former Conservative politician in the United Unemployment occurs when a person is available to work and currently seeking work but the person is without work. [20] (Parris subsequently abandoned Parliament for a distinguished career as a broadcaster and writer. The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories ) The same year, WIA revealed the tricks behind political oratory by coaching a complete beginner, Ann Brennan, to deliver a speech which won a standing ovation at the annual conference of the Social Democratic Party, using techniques developed by Professor Max Atkinson. Oratory is the art of (public speaking In ancient Greece and Rome, oratory was studied as a component of Rhetoric (that is composition and delivery This is about the UK Social Democratic Party which existed between 1981 and 1988 Dr Max Atkinson, author and former advisor and speech writer for Paddy Ashdown. The eminent political commentator Sir Robin Day, covering the conference for BBC television, described Mrs Brennan's performance as "The most refreshing speech we’ve heard so far. Sir Robin Day, OBE (24 October 1923 &ndash 6 August 2000 was a British political broadcaster and commentator Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic "

WIA helped to pioneer the current fashion for using miniature covert cameras, not just in investigative work, such as Donal MacIntyre's award-winning programmes in October 1996 on the illegal drug trade, but also in social documentary, including the future Conservative MP Adam Holloway's disturbing reports on the reality of life among the homeless in 1991. Secret photography involves a person or persons being unaware that they are being intentionally photographed Donal MacIntyre (born 1966 in Dublin) is an Irish investigative Journalist, specialising in hard hitting investigations undercover operations The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global Black market consisting of the cultivation manufacture distribution and sale of illegal Drugs Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt in one fashion or another to " Document " reality The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party) is a Political party in the United Kingdom. Adam James Harold Holloway (born 29 July 1965 in Faversham, Kent) is a British Politician and is the Conservative MP for Homelessness is the condition and social category of people who lack housing because they cannot afford or are otherwise unable to maintain regular safe and adequate shelter

World In Action gave rise to a number of spin-off series, most famously the Seven Up! documentaries which have followed the lives of a group of British people who turned seven years old in 1963. The most recent, 49 UP, was shown in 2005. Michael Apted directed most episodes; parallel series have also started in the last decade in South Africa, the USA and Russia. Michael David Apted, CMG (born 10 February 1941) is an English director, producer, writer and Actor ITV's popular consumer series, House of Horrors, in which shoddy builders are invited to carry out minor repairs to a house festooned with covert recording devices, originated on World In Action.

World in Action's hard-hitting style and undercover techniques are sometimes cited as a template for 21st century British current affairs series, especially the MacIntyre series on the BBC and Five; and Channel 4's Dispatches strand, which is commissioned by Dorothy Byrne, a former WIA producer. Channel 4 is a public-service Television and Radio broadcaster in the United Kingdom centred around a television channel of the same name which began

WIA and popular culture

One of the programme's hallmarks was its willingness to embrace popular culture, at a time when its competitors preferred a more highbrow approach. Popular culture (or pop culture) is the Culture — patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance — Used colloquially as a Noun or Adjective, highbrow is synonymous with Intellectual; as an adjective it also means Elite One of the very earliest editions reported on overspending at the Ministry of Defence in the style of a contemporary gameshow, Beat The Clock. The Ministry of Defence ( MoD) is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters The programme was so controversial it was banned from being shown on ITV by the then regulatory body, the Independent Television Authority (ITA); instead, ten minutes of it were shown on the BBC as an act of journalistic solidarity. Independent Television (generally known as ITV) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters set up under the Independent The Independent Television Authority ( ITA) was a body created by the Television Act 1954 to supervise the creation of "Independent Television" ( [3] The gameshow device re-emerged in 1989, when an academic study of the uptake of tax-funded benefits by the middle-class was transformed into a mock quiz show named Spongers, fronted by a well-known star of game formats, Nicholas Parsons. "Social welfare" redirects here For other uses see Welfare A social welfare provision refers to any program which seeks to provide Nicholas Parsons OBE (born 10 October 1923 in Grantham, Lincolnshire) is an English Actor and Radio

Popular music played a significant role in WIA's history. An early edition, in 1966, carried a fly-on-the-wall account of daily life aboard one of the then pirate radio ships, Radio Caroline, at a time when the British Government was determined to preserve the radio monopoly of the BBC by driving the "pirates" off the air. Fly on the wall is a style of documentary -making used in Film and Television. The term pirate radio usually refers to illegal or unregulated radio transmissions Radio Caroline is a European Radio station that started transmissions on Easter Sunday 1964 from a ship anchored in International waters off the coast of

In 1967, a young researcher named John Birt established his early reputation by persuading the rock star Mick Jagger to appear on World in Action[21] to debate youth culture and his recent drug conviction, with Establishment figures, including William Rees-Mogg of The Times, who had written a famous editorial defending the singer. John Birt Baron Birt (born 10 December 1944) served as the Director-General of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC from 1992 to 2000 Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger, Kt (born 26 July 1943 is a Golden Globe -winning and two-time Grammy -winning English rock William Rees-Mogg Baron Rees-Mogg (b July 14 1928, Bristol England) is a journalist and writer in the United Kingdom. The Times is a daily national Newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register. Jagger so enjoyed the experience that he invited the Granada team to film The Rolling Stones at the band's famous 1969 free concert in Hyde Park, London. Hyde Park is one of the largest Parks in central London, England and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner The resulting film, The Stones In The Park,[22] was one of the iconic concert films of the Sixties. John Birt rapidly moved on to edit World in Action and eventually run the BBC as its Director-General.

The rise of Thatcherism and the misery of mass unemployment saw WIA examining the phenomenon through the eyes of another emerging band, UB40, in A Statistic, A Reminder (1981), a line taken from one of the band's songs. Thatcherism is the system of political thought attributed to the governments of Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990 UB40 are a British Reggae band formed in 1978 in Birmingham. Featuring the same line-up of 8 musicians from 1978-2008 the band placed more than 50 Six years later, a special edition of the programme was devoted to the Irish rock band U2 and their charismatic front man Bono. Like The Rolling Stones before them, U2 allowed World in Action to film one of their classic concerts in 1987 in Ireland. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world This footage, shot by the future Hollywood director Paul Greengrass, was shown only once on ITV because of copyright restrictions, although it circulated among fans of the band as a bootleg. United States cinema has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century Paul Greengrass (b August 13, 1955 in Cheam, Surrey) is an Academy Award -nominated BAFTA Award -winning English Copyright is a legal concept enacted by Governments, giving the creator of an original work of authorship Exclusive rights to control its distribution usually for A bootleg recording is an audio and/or Video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority A small section of the film was posted on YouTube in 2006[23]. YouTube is a video sharing website where users can upload view and share Video clips YouTube was created in February 2005 by three former PayPal employees The full documentary was made available on the itv.com website in 2008[24]. itvcom is the main website of ITV plc, the UK's biggest commercial Television broadcaster which operates 12 regions of the ITV network under the ITV1 Brand

In 1983, Stevie Wonder, at the height of his popularity, gave the programme a musical exclusive when he agreed to let a World in Action crew record him performing an unreleased song, written to help the Democratic politician Jesse Jackson's electioneering, for The Race Against Reagan. Stevie Wonder (born Stevland Hardaway Judkins on May 13 1950 name later changed to Stevland Hardaway Morris) is an The Democratic Party is one of two major Political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. Jesse Louis Jackson Sr (born October 8 1941 is an American Civil rights activist and Baptist minister. [25] Another popular singer, Sting, appeared in a more critical World in Action episode, which questioned the effectiveness of his Rainforest Foundation. Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, CBE (born October 2, 1951) better known by his Stage name Sting, is a three time Academy Award The Rainforest Foundation is a UK charity dedicated to campaigning for the preservation of the Rainforest and the rights of the Indigenous peoples living there [26]

Perhaps the most bruising encounter between WIA and popular entertainment was the 1995 film Black and Blue which featured a covert recording of a performance by the veteran comedian Bernard Manning as the star of a charity function organised by the Manchester branch of the Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers. Bernard John Manning (13 August 1930 &ndash 18 June 2007 was an English stand-up comedian. The Police Federation of England and Wales is the representative body to which all police officers in England and Wales up to and including the rank of Chief Manning's racist and homophobic performance, loudly applauded by those present, caused outrage when WIA broadcast excerpts, sparking an intense debate about the willingness of British police officers to embrace a diverse culture. In the political arena the term diversity (or diverse is used to describe political entities (neighborhoods cities nations student bodies etc [27]

Leading contributors

Journalists

World in Action employed many leading journalists, among them John Pilger; Michael Parkinson; Gordon Burns; Nick Davies, Ed Vulliamy and David Leigh of The Guardian; Alasdair Palmer of the Sunday Telegraph; John Ware, BBC Panorama's leading investigative reporter; Anthony Wilson, whose second career as a music impresario was immortalised in the feature film 24 Hour Party People; Michael Gillard, creator of the Slicker business pages in the satirical magazine Private Eye; Donal MacIntyre; the writer Mark Hollingsworth; Quentin McDermott, since 1999 a leading investigative reporter for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation; Tony Watson, editor of the Yorkshire Post for 13 years and editor-in-chief of the Press Association from December 2006; and Andrew Jennings, author of Lords of the Rings, who has campaigned vigorously for more than a decade against corruption in international sport. John Richard Pilger (born October 9, 1939) is a multi-award-winning Australian born journalist and documentary filmmaker from Sir Michael Parkinson, CBE (born March 28 1935) is an English broadcaster and Journalist. Gordon Burns (born 10 June 1942 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a British Journalist and Television presenter who hosted Granada TV Ed Vulliamy (born 1 August 1954) is a British journalist and writer The Sunday Telegraph is a British Broadsheet newspaper, founded in 1961 Panorama is the longest-running current affairs documentary series in the world Anthony Howard Wilson (20 February 1950 &ndash 10 August 2007 was an English Record label owner radio presenter TV show host Nightclub manager Impresario 24 Hour Party People is a 2002 Film about Manchester 's Popular music community from 1976 to 1997 and specifically about Factory Records Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical Magazine, edited by Ian Hislop. Donal MacIntyre (born 1966 in Dublin) is an Irish investigative Journalist, specialising in hard hitting investigations undercover operations The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly abbreviated to the 'ABC' is Australia's national public broadcaster. The Yorkshire Post is a daily Broadsheet Newspaper, published in Leeds, England by Yorkshire Post Newspapers, a company The Press Association is the national News agency of the United Kingdom and Ireland supplying news wire to almost all national and local newspapers TV & radio news as well Andrew Jennings is an Investigative reporter, writer and documentary filmmaker

Two former World in Action journalists uncovered one of the biggest broadcasting scandals of the 1990s. [28] Laurie Flynn, a central figure in the British Steel papers case, and Michael Sean Gillard revealed that large parts of a 1996 Carlton TV documentary, The Connection, about drug trafficking from Colombia, had been fabricated. Carlton Television is the British ITV franchisee for London and parts of the surrounding counties from 925am every Monday to 5 Colombia (kəˈlʌmbɪə officially the Republic of Colombia () is a country in northwestern South America. Flynn and Gillard's exposé in The Guardian in May 1998 led to an inquiry and a record £2 million fine for Carlton from the then regulator, the Independent Television Commission (ITC),[29] as well as provoking a passionate debate about truthfulness in broadcast journalism. The Guardian (until 1959 The Manchester Guardian) is a British Newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. The Independent Television Commission (ITC licensed and regulated commercial Television services in the United Kingdom (except S4C in Wales [30] [31]

Presenters

Unusually for a current affairs programme, WIA's standard format was as a voice-over documentary without a regular reporter although a handful of WIA journalists did appear in front of camera, including Chris Kelly, Gordon Burns, John Pilger, Gus Macdonald, Anthony Wilson, Nick Davies, Adam Holloway, Stuart Prebble (who later became the programme's editor), Mike Walsh, David Taylor and Donal MacIntyre. The term voice-over refers to a production technique where a non-diagetic voice is broadcast live or pre-recorded in Radio, Television, Film, Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt in one fashion or another to " Document " reality Gordon Burns (born 10 June 1942 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a British Journalist and Television presenter who hosted Granada TV Adam James Harold Holloway (born 29 July 1965 in Faversham, Kent) is a British Politician and is the Conservative MP for Stuart Prebble (born April 15 1951) is a former CEO of ITV, Granada Sky Broadcasting and of ITV Digital. Donal MacIntyre (born 1966 in Dublin) is an Irish investigative Journalist, specialising in hard hitting investigations undercover operations Guest presenters were used on rare occasions, among them Jonathan Dimbleby, Sandy Gall, Martyn Gregory, Sue Lawley and Lynn Faulds Wood. Jonathan Dimbleby, (born 31 July 1944, Aylesbury) is a British presenter of current affairs and Political Radio and Sandy Gall, CBE (born 1 October 1927, Penang) is a British journalist author and former ITN News presenter. Sue Lawley (born 14 July 1946) is an English broadcaster Born in Sedgley, Staffordshire, England and brought up in Lynn Faulds Wood (born 25 March 1948, Glasgow, Scotland) is a British television presenter Perhaps its most celebrated guest presenter was the distinguished American anchorman Walter Cronkite, who came out of retirement to cover the 1983 British General Election for the series. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Walter Leland Cronkite Jr (born November 4 1916) is a retired American broadcast journalist, best known as Anchorman for the Results The Conservatives won with a majority of 144 seats|} Total votes cast 30661309 [32]

A small group of narrators delivered the vast majority of WIA's voice-overs. The science presenter James Burke did a number of commentaries on early editions of the programme. James Burke (born 22 December 1936) is a Northern Irish Science Historian, Other main contributors included Chris Kelly, Jim Pope, Philip Tibenham and Andrew Brittain. Among the guest narrators who contributed occasional commentaries were the popular actors Robert Lindsay and Jean Boht. Robert Lindsay (born 13 December 1949 is an award-winning English actor who is best known for his television work especially his roles in Citizen Smith Jean Boht (born Jean Dance on March 6, 1936 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England) is an English Actress

Directors

The series was known for its gritty visual style, and a number of its directors went on to work on major projects. Those working on the series in its early years included Michael Apted, later to direct Coal Miner's Daughter, Gorillas in the Mist and the James Bond film The World is not Enough, as well as the Seven Up! documentaries, and Mike Hodges, who went on to direct Get Carter and Flash Gordon, among other films. Michael David Apted, CMG (born 10 February 1941) is an English director, producer, writer and Actor For the 1969 country music song see Coal Miner's Daughter (song Coal Miner's Daughter is a 1980 American biographical James Bond 007 is a Fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve Novels and two Short story Mike Hodges (born 29 July 1932 in Bristol England) is an English screenwriter and film director who began his career as a current affairs producer Get Carter is a 1971 crime Film directed by Mike Hodges and starring Michael Caine as Jack Carter a mobster who sets out to Flash Gordon is the hero of a Science fiction adventure Comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond, which was first published on January 7, Later, Paul Greengrass, director of the feature films United 93, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum and of the drama-documentaries Bloody Sunday and The Murder of Stephen Lawrence, cut his directing teeth on the series, as did John Smithson[33] and David Darlow, who set up the production company responsible for the feature films Touching the Void and Deep Water[34]. Paul Greengrass (b August 13, 1955 in Cheam, Surrey) is an Academy Award -nominated BAFTA Award -winning English United 93 (formerly named Flight 93) is a 2006 Film written and directed by Paul Greengrass that chronicles events The Bourne Supremacy is the second Jason Bourne Novel written by Robert Ludlum, first published in 1986 The Bourne Ultimatum is a 2007 Spy film directed by Paul Greengrass and loosely based on the Robert Ludlum novel of the same name. Bloody Sunday is a 2002 Television film about the 1972 " Bloody Sunday " shootings in Derry, Northern Stephen Lawrence ( 13 September 1974 – 22 April 1993) was a Black British teenager from South-East London who was Touching the Void is a 2003 Documentary film based on the book of the same name by Joe Simpson about Simpson's and Simon Yates' disastrous Leslie Woodhead, director of The Stones In The Park and the award winning A Cry From The Grave, and regarded by many as a founder of the drama-documentary movement, [35] worked on the series as a producer and executive. Leslie Woodhead is an award-winning British documentary Filmmaker. A Docudrama is a Dramatization of actual historical events Generalities Docudramas tend to demonstrate some or most of the following characteristics

Among the most recent generation of film-makers to emerge from World in Action were Alex Holmes[36], who became editor of the BBC2 documentary strand Modern Times and went on to write and direct the Bafta-winning dramatised documentary series Dunkirk for the BBC; and Katy Jones, a former WIA producer, who became a key collaborator with the celebrated screen writer Jimmy McGovern as a producer on his award-winning drama-documentaries Hillsborough and Sunday. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA is a British charity that hosts annual awards shows for film television television craft video games and forms of animation Jimmy McGovern (born 1949 is a BAFTA award-winning English Television scriptwriter from Liverpool

Broadcasters

WIA was a starting point for several key programme-makers who went on to major roles in British broadcasting. The most famous, John Birt, became Director-General of the BBC, having also been Programme Controller of the former London ITV franchise LWT, where he created another iconic current affairs series, Weekend World. John Birt Baron Birt (born 10 December 1944) served as the Director-General of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC from 1992 to 2000 London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. [37]

Several WIA staffers were promoted to significant roles in Granada Television, among them David Plowright[38], who became its chairman and later went on to become deputy chairman of Channel 4. Granada Television is the United Kingdom ITV contractor for North West England. David Ernest Plowright, CBE ( 11 December 1930 &ndash 24 August 2006) was a British television executive and producer Channel 4 is a public-service Television and Radio broadcaster in the United Kingdom centred around a television channel of the same name which began Steve Morrison became chief executive at Granada. Gus Macdonald held the same role at another ITV franchise, Scottish Television. Angus John "Gus" Macdonald Lord Macdonald of Tradeston, CBE, PC (born 20 August 1940 in Larkhall, Scotland) Scottish Television (now legally known as STV Central Ltd and referred to on-air as STV) is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the

Stuart Prebble, a former editor, became chief executive of ITV, and Steve Anderson became Head of News and Current Affairs for that channel. Both have since moved on to the independent production industry. Ian McBride, who led the team which made the Birmingham Six programmes, became Managing Editor of Granada TV and is now Director of Compliance for ITV. The Birmingham Six were six men — Hugh Callaghan Patrick Joseph Hill Gerard Hunter Richard McIlkenny William Power and John Walker — sentenced to Life imprisonment in

Dianne Nelmes, who worked as a researcher and executive producer of WIA, was the founding editor of Granada TV's hugely successful This Morning with Richard and Judy and went on to head daytime and factual programmes at ITV. This Morning is a British daytime television programme created by Granada Television and broadcast on ITV. Richard Madeley (born May 13, 1956) and Judith 'Judy' Finnigan (born May 16, 1948) are married Television presenters.

Dorothy Byrne, a former WIA producer, is Head of News and Current Affairs at Channel 4. Julian Bellamy[39], who worked as a young researcher on one of WIA's last big foreign investigations - about arms deals between Britain and Indonesia[40] - later headed up Channel 4's entertainment channel E4 and was programme controller of the BBC digital channel BBC Three before re-joining Channel 4 as its Head of Programming in the spring of 2007. A weapon is a Tool used either in Hunting, or attack or defence in Combat for the purpose of subduing enemy personnel or to destroy enemy weapons The Republic of Indonesia ( (Republik Indonesia is a Country in Southeast Asia. E4 is a digital television channel in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, launched as a pay-TV companion to Channel 4 on 18 January BBC Three is a television channel from the BBC broadcasting via Digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms

TV production companies

A number of WIA veterans went on to set up and run their own independent television production companies. Claudia Milne founded twentytwenty tv, which made a successful current affairs strand for ITV, The Big Story, as well as popular factual series such as Bad Boys' Army' on ITV and That'll Teach 'Em on Channel 4. That'll Teach 'Em is a British Reality television documentary series produced by Twenty Twenty Television David Darlow and John Smithson founded the Darlow Smithson company, responsible for Black Box, The Falling Man and Touching the Void, among many factual programmes. " The Falling Man " is a story about a photograph taken by Richard Drew at 94115 a Touching the Void is a 2003 Documentary film based on the book of the same name by Joe Simpson about Simpson's and Simon Yates' disastrous Brian Lapping set up the much-garlanded Brook Lapping company, which made The Death of Yugoslavia and many other landmark contemporary history programmes. Stuart Prebble, a former editor of World In Action, runs Liberty Bell, best known for the popular Grumpy Old Men series on the BBC. Grumpy Old Men is a conversational-style Television programme on BBC2 which debuted in 2003, The first run of four programmes was repeated several Another former editor, Steve Boulton, started an eponymous company, which made Young, Nazi & Proud, a Bafta-winning profile of the young British National Party activist Mark Collett. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA is a British charity that hosts annual awards shows for film television television craft video games and forms of animation The British National Party (BNP is a Far-right and whites only political party in the United Kingdom. Mark Adrian Collett (born October 3 1980) is a former chairman of the Young BNP, the youth division of the British National Party

One of the biggest new independent production companies is All 3 Media, which controls several other leading companies, including Lime Pictures, formerly Mersey Television, makers of Hollyoaks. Lime Pictures, formerly known as Mersey Television, is a British Television production company founded by renowned producer and writer Phil Redmond Lime Pictures, formerly known as Mersey Television, is a British Television production company founded by renowned producer and writer Phil Redmond Hollyoaks is a British television Soap opera which was first broadcast on 23 October 1995 on Channel 4. It is run by Steve Morrison, a former WIA producer.

Political connections

A number of British Parliamentarians have World In Action on their curriculum vitae. A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a Parliament. The most recent is the Conservative MP Adam Holloway, elected to the House of Commons in 2005. Adam James Harold Holloway (born 29 July 1965 in Faversham, Kent) is a British Politician and is the Conservative MP for The House of Commons' is the Lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords The British Cabinet Minister Jack Straw worked on World in Action as a researcher, as did Margaret Beckett who served as Tony Blair's last Foreign Secretary. A cabinet is a body of high-ranking members of Government, typically representing the executive branch. John Whitaker Straw (born 3 August 1946 most commonly known as Jack Straw, is a senior British Labour Party Politician. Margaret Mary Beckett (née Jackson; born 15 January 1943 is a British Labour Politician, Member of Parliament (MP for Derby Anthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair (born 6 May 1953 is a British Politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly referred to as the Foreign Secretary, is a member of the United Kingdom Government heading the Chris Mullin, Labour MP for Sunderland South, played a major role in the programme's campaign on behalf of the Birmingham Six. Christopher John Mullin, known as Chris Mullin, (born 12 December 1947 in Chelmsford, Essex) is an UK Labour Politician Sunderland (, or /ˈsʌn(dlən/ is a City in Tyne and Wear, England. The Birmingham Six were six men — Hugh Callaghan Patrick Joseph Hill Gerard Hunter Richard McIlkenny William Power and John Walker — sentenced to Life imprisonment in Gus Macdonald, now Baron Macdonald of Tradeston, and from 1998 to 2003 a Government Minister, was formerly an executive on the programme. Angus John "Gus" Macdonald Lord Macdonald of Tradeston, CBE, PC (born 20 August 1940 in Larkhall, Scotland) John Birt (by then ennobled as Baron Birt), was personal advisor to the British Prime Minister Tony Blair between 2001 and 2005. John Birt Baron Birt (born 10 December 1944) served as the Director-General of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC from 1992 to 2000 Anthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair (born 6 May 1953 is a British Politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to

Editors

Editors of the programme (sometimes with the title of Executive Producer) were, successively, Tim Hewat, Derek Granger, Alex Valentine, David Plowright, Jeremy Wallington, Leslie Woodhead, John Birt, Gus Macdonald, David Boulton, Brian Lapping, Ray Fitzwalter, Allan Segal, Stuart Prebble, Nick Hayes, Dianne Nelmes, Charles Tremayne, Steve Boulton and Jeff Anderson. David Ernest Plowright, CBE ( 11 December 1930 &ndash 24 August 2006) was a British television executive and producer John Birt Baron Birt (born 10 December 1944) served as the Director-General of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC from 1992 to 2000 Angus John "Gus" Macdonald Lord Macdonald of Tradeston, CBE, PC (born 20 August 1940 in Larkhall, Scotland) Allan Segal was an influential political current affairs and historical television documentary director and executive producer who though now retired from television spent the majority Anderson also became editor of World in Action's replacement Tonight, before becoming Head of Current Affairs at ITV in 2006. Tonight is the name of a British television newsmagazine produced by Granada Television for the ITV network since 1999, when it replaced the Mike Lewis, a former WIA producer, was appointed editor of Tonight in October 2006.

Academic connections

Professor Brian Winston, Pro-Vice Chancellor (External Relations) at the University of Lincoln, who has also held leading posts at the Universities of Westminster, Cardiff, Pennsylvania State and New York, was a researcher and producer in the early series of World in Action. Brian Winston is the first Lincoln Chair of Communications at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom. The University of Lincoln is an English University in Lincolnshire whose origins can be traced back to the 19th century The University of Westminster is a university in London, England, formed in 1992 as a result of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, which allowed Cardiff University (Prifysgol Caerdydd is a leading University located in the Cathays Park area of Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom The Pennsylvania State University (commonly known as Penn State) is a state-related, land-grant, space grant public research University New York University ( NYU) is a private, Nonsectarian, Coeducational Research University in New York City.

Ray Fitzwalter, WIA's longest-serving editor and the man behind the ground-breaking Poulson investigations, became a Visiting Fellow at the University of Salford School of Media, Music and Performance. John Garlick Llewellyn Poulson ( April 14, 1910 - January 31, 1993) was a disgraced British architect who caused a major The University of Salford is a Plate glass university based in Salford Greater Manchester, England, with approximately 20000 registered students

Gavin MacFadyen, who worked on early series of World in Action as a producer-director and was best known for his under-cover human rights films, was made a Visiting Professor at City University in 2005. He is also Director of the Centre for Investigative Journalism. David Leigh, who made Jonathan of Arabia, the film which provoked Jonathan Aitken's self-destructive libel action, [41] was made Britain's first Professor of Reporting at City University, London, in September 2006. City University London ( CUL) is a British University based in Northampton Square, Islington, London.

Camera work

Although a great many producers, journalists and editors passed through the programme, one cameraman played an overwhelming role in shaping the appeal of the series. A camera operator is a person that operates a film or Video camera for the purpose of recording motion to Film, Video, or a Computer storage George Jesse Turner, born on the Lancashire coast, close to Granada's roots, served on the programme from 1966 until its end. Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea By his own count, he shot the principal footage for some 600 of its 1,400 editions, as well as filming all of Michael Apted's documentaries in the Seven Up! series. [4] Turner was shot himself - in the backside - by an Israeli bullet whilst he and Allan Segal were filming a clash between Fatah guerrillas and the Israeli Army in 1969. Allan Segal was an influential political current affairs and historical television documentary director and executive producer who though now retired from television spent the majority Fatah (فتح literally opening, is a reverse Acronym from the Arabic name Harakat al-Tahrir al-Watani al-Filastini (حركة التحرير The Israel Defense Forces ( IDF) (צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, lit [5] Shortly before he retired from Granada, Turner was honoured by Bafta in 1999 for his work as a documentary cameraman. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA is a British charity that hosts annual awards shows for film television television craft video games and forms of animation

Among the many cameramen who also contributed to WIA was Chris Menges[42], who went on to become a distinguished cinematographer - Kes, The Killing Fields and The Mission are among his credits - and a film director in his own right, on features such as A World Apart. Chris Menges (born September 15, 1940 in Kingston Herefordshire) is an English Cinematographer and Film director. Kes is a British film from 1969 by director Ken Loach and producer Tony Garnett. The Killing Fields is a 1984 British film drama about the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia. The Mission is a 1986 British film about the experiences of a Jesuit missionary in Eighteenth century South America A World Apart is a 1988 anti- Apartheid drama written by Shawn Slovo and directed by Chris Menges.

Title sequence

The programme's distinctive identity owed much to its striking title sequence. Title sequence generally refers to the method by which cinematic films or television shows present their title key cast and/or production members utilizing conceptual visuals The music, based on a descending series of organ chords, was called Jam for World in Action and was written by Jonathon Weston. The organ (from Greek όργανον – organon "organ instrument tool" is a Keyboard instrument of one or more divisions each This article describes musical chords in traditional Western styles The programme's logo, and the centrepiece of its titles, was the famous Leonardo da Vinci drawing, the Vitruvian Man. Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci ( April 15 1452 – May 2 1519 was an Italian Polymath, having been a scientist Mathematician, Engineer The Vitruvian Man is a world-renowned Drawing with accompanying notes created by Leonardo da Vinci around the year 1487 as recorded in one of his journals

External links

Books and articles

Notes

  1. ^ http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2007/11/smart-list-intr.html
  2. ^ Denis Forman, Persona Granada, p. 222
  3. ^ Denis Forman, Persona Granada pp. 216-7
  4. ^ George Jesse Turner & Jeff Anderson, Trouble Shooter, p. viii
  5. ^ George Jesse Turner & Jeff Anderson, Trouble Shooter, pp. 7-13
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