My Week In Media: Jonathan Phang

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Roy Hodgson for England: A club of one

To argue against Harry Redknapp for England is akin to arguing in favour of bankers bonuses. While s...

Time for a reality check on the Sri Lankan civil war

Sri Lanka, much like Britain, has side-lined accountability long enough.

Children Of Alcoholics week: One million children may just be the tip of the iceberg

Children Of Alcoholics week starts today. So, what are the aims for Nacoa during this important week...

Review of Being Human: ‘Being Human 1955’

Following on from an episode tinged with tragedy, this week lifted the mood with something lighter.


Last week I watched...



I've been loving the BBC4 series, Jews (featuring the Faith shoes entrepreneur Jonathan Faith) I think the programmes have been absolutely compelling and I found some of it incredibly moving as well. What I found really interesting was the displacement of the second generation. The second-generation children seemed to lack a sense of belonging and where a parent would usually provide that, they seemed to be in a state of paranoia with their history. Because it was painful for the parents I guess they didn't want to burden their offspring with their history, but what the documentaries have shown is that it has given a generation a lack of knowledge of who they are and where they're from.

Last week I read...

I don't really travel to fashion shows anymore, but it is part of my job to keep up with what's going on. If an interesting story pops up then I will follow it. A story that caught my eye was the all black Vogue edition in Italy. I could be wrong, but I think that the black edition in Italian Vogue smacks of tokenism. I think it would have more impact to put black models in every edition of Vogue for the next five years. I'm sure it will be a collector's item nonetheless. There's a cynical side to me that says July is a bad month for any magazine – it's between season and everyone's on holiday. It's not a relevant fashion month. Find a black model and give her a career by exposing her month after month, not by making this splash.

Last week I listened to...

I like to catch Nick Ferrari on LBC because he has an opinion on everything and a voice that you can't mistake. I don't always agree with what he says but he always conveys his arguments convincingly and with passion. There was a lovely row about the cricket in Zimbabwe which was quite interesting. What I like about that programme is that the people that ring in are often no match for him at all, which adds some comedy value to it. I would love to have a row with Nick even though I don't think we would agree on anything.

Last week I surfed...

I think the internet is great for general information but I don't tend to waste hours on it. I went through a stage of flicking through YouTube last week and I do make daily checks on Vogue.com.

The modelling guru Jonathan Phang presents Britain's Missing Top Model, Tuesdays on BBC3 at 9pm.

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