MacTaggart explosion as Shane Smith sets fire to the furniture

Evil wunderkind Shane Smith uses ruthless logic to put boomer heads on poles at MacTaggart lecture.
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Modern media contemplated as a decaying tower of Babel.  Image: detail from Pieter Brueghel the Elder’s painting of the Tower of Babel, held at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

That lede para was written in Vice-speak. I enjoyed it. The real thing would be tighter and punchier. 

Truly, Shane Smith, the 46 year old hyper-competitive Canadian street newsgathering videographer pioneer who controls the Vice empire, promoted as the pre-eminent youth news site in the world, has used his McTaggert Lecture speech at the Edinburgh Television Festival to say some truly provocative stuff. What is more, it resonates horribly with the authentic cracked sound of home truths. 

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David Tiley was the Editor of Screenhub from 2005 until he became Content Lead for Film in 2021 with a special interest in policy. He is a writer in screen media with a long career in educational programs, documentary, and government funding, with a side order in script editing. He values curiosity, humour and objectivity in support of Australian visions and the art of storytelling.