This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Timrollpickering (talk | contribs) at 21:04, 24 December 2008 (remove red links; remove "People" list - mainly redlinks, those with articles usually linked to in text). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 21:04, 24 December 2008 by Timrollpickering (talk | contribs) (remove red links; remove "People" list - mainly redlinks, those with articles usually linked to in text)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)18 Doughty Street was a British political internet-based broadcaster that hosted a webcast as its chief product. It began broadcasting at 18:55 on 10 October 2006, from its studio at 18 Doughty Street in the Bloomsbury area of London, and ceased broadcasting at 23:00 on Thursday 8 November 2007 from the same location.
Birth and Early Beginnings
Doughty Media Limited was founded by Stephan Shakespeare and its core presenters at launch included Iain Dale, Tim Montgomerie, Rena Valeh, Zoe Phillips and Donal Blaney. Alex Story, a director of the company at the time of the launch, wrote the concept on which the station was based, built the studio, and initially organised the production of the channel.
Tim Montgomerie suddenly left 18 Doughty Street around March 2007 to work on other products and was replaced by Shane Greer, who became a full-time presenter at the station whilst also acting as Executive Director for Young Britons' Foundation. The station also hosted programmes produced and presented by Alan Mendoza, Peter Tatchell, Christian Wolmar, Christine Constable and Claire Fox.
The station used live video streaming technology in Windows Media Format to webcast from 19:00 until midnight from Monday to Friday, with all programmes being made available to stream again shortly after the programme had aired. Viewers could not download archived videos to their computer or portable device directly from the site, although a video podcast service of all archive videos was offered shortly before the station ceased broadcasting.
Although it called itself a "TV station", legally it was not, so did not operate under the Ofcom Broadcasting Code, which requires "due impartiality" and prevents politicians being newsreaders, interviewers or reporters in any news programme.
At the point of launch, there were four directors of the company, Alex Story, Iain Dale, Tim Montgomerie and Stephan Shakespeare, and all were Conservative Party members and self-described conservatives, but did not represent the Conservative Party in an official capacity on the station.. In late 2006 Alex Story left as a Director of the company, followed by the resignations of Tim Montgomerie around March 2007 and of Donal Blaney in October 2007. The latter two were said to be leaving to focus on other projects.
On 22 January 2007 a redesign of the website was launched to promote additional services that 18 Doughty Street wanted to produce: written news and opinion, news links, and what was billed as a series of controversial "attack" adverts that were to be released on a weekly basis. However, only four were ever produced. The total makeover was also supposed to realise the citizen journalism element of 18 Doughty Street and allowed contributors to submit videos for inclusion in the website publications and live productions. However, this project had no success. Tim Montgomorie bought 100 Sanyo C5 digital camcorders, but only a handful of videos were received amongst reports of technical difficulties with uploading and a lack of editing skills.
Collapse & Shutdown
18 Doughty Street stopped broadcasting on 19 November 2007 claiming that it was being taken off-air to make a range of improvements. However, around the same time Donal Blaney left the station. Shortly afterwards, in December 2007 the main presenter and Director Iain Dale also decided to move on from the station. With the core team collapsed and rumours of a lack of interest from potential investors the project collapsed when the main investor, Stephan Shakespeare, decided to instead start PoliticsHome in the same building, but led by staff that had previously resigned from 18 Doughty Street when it was a TV station following a senior-level split over the direction of the TV station earlier in 2007.
Other websites
18 Doughty Street displayed its brand on a website called The Fisk that featured a variety of contributors critiquing left-leaning commentary and opinion pieces. Following the resignation of Tim Montgomerie from 18 Doughty Street, the website has been re-branded under Conservative Home as part of Stephan Shakespeare's efforts to move the TV station away from the right-wing area of politics.
18 Doughty Street also launched right-wing websites CentreRight.com and BritainAndAmerica.com in early 2007, prior to Montgomerie's departure. CentreRight.com still carries 18 Doughty Street branding, whereas BritainAndAmerica has been rebranded under Conservative Home. Although it was already operational, CentreRight.com launched again in January 2008.
Contributors and Appearances
Former leader of the Conservative Party and founder of the Centre for Social Justice Rt Hon Iain Duncan-Smith MP has appeared on Issue of the Hour and One to One since the station started broadcasting.
Other guests have included:
- Shadow Home Secretary the Rt Hon David Davis MP (2006-11-09)
- Lord Pearson of Rannoch (2006-11-20)
- Lord Ashcroft (2006-11-21)
- Conservative Peer Gillian Shephard (2006-11-21)
- Matthew Elliot, founder of the Taxpayers Alliance (2006-11-01)
- Dr Don Brash, leader of the Conservative opposition in New Zealand (2006-11-16)
- Rt Hon Ann Widdecombe MP (2006-10-12)
- Chris Mullin MP (2006-12-13)
- Chairman of the Conservative Party Rt Hon Francis Maude MP (2006-12-20)
- Australian Prime Minister John Howard
- Stephen Twigg (2006-10-18)
- UKIP leader Nigel Farage MEP (2006-11-13)
- Rt Hon John Redwood MP
- Andrew MacInlay MP (2006-12-14)
- Dr Graham Barnfield
- Dr Sean Gabb, Director of the Libertarian Alliance
Attack Ads
The channel created a series of adverts intended to raise public awareness on selected issues. Topics included the UK tax burden, state funding of political parties, and Labour Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone. Users of the channel's website were invited to vote between a number of alternative outlines, the winner being made into a campaign advert.
References
- Press release for 18DoughtyStreet Talk TV
- David Hill (2006-10-30). "The word from the street".
- "Sucksters, chumps and blog TV – it's political life, but not as we know it". The Times. 2006-10-18.
- "Doughty contender". BBC News. 2006-10-06.
- Shaun Rolph (2006-12-28). "Tories spin Web 2.0 to out-Fox Ofcom". The Register. Retrieved 2006-12-28.
- "18 Doughty Street: Politics for Adults".
{{cite news}}: Text "FAQ" ignored (help) - Iain Dale (2007-11-13). "18 Doughty Street Set For 2008 Westminster Expansion". Iain Dale's Diary. Retrieved 2007-11-25.
- Iain Dale (2007-12-03). "Moving On". Iain Dale's Diary. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
- Iain Dale (2007-01-14). "New CentreRight.com Blog Launches Today". Iain Dale's Diary. Retrieved 2008-01-18.
- 18 Doughty Street - Taxation
- 18 Doughty Street - State Funding of Political Parties
- 18 Doughty Street - Campaigns HQ