In the tabs
27/04/06 09:58 Coffee machine moments
Permalink
Occasionally you come across someone in a media
training session who unwittingly gives away the fact
that they are frankly a bit of a snob. They don't
mean to be - they just hear that I write mostly for
the Guardian and a bit for the Observer and very
occasionally for the Indie and Times, and they go
into 'aha, no gutter press for you, then' mode.
Actually that tends not to be how journalists see it from the inside. As far as we're concerned a market is a market, and the fact that they have different requirements is something we celebrate rather than denigrate. The red-tops certainly have more focus on entertainment and light news than the FT, but that doesn't mean one is greater than the other somehow.
The writing demands are very different, though - which is why I'm delighted to be a tabloid journalist at least for today in the Daily Mirror. It was a fun piece to write and a challenge to address a new market in a style that was pretty much alien to me, and I'll certainly welcome any opportunity to do it again.
Actually that tends not to be how journalists see it from the inside. As far as we're concerned a market is a market, and the fact that they have different requirements is something we celebrate rather than denigrate. The red-tops certainly have more focus on entertainment and light news than the FT, but that doesn't mean one is greater than the other somehow.
The writing demands are very different, though - which is why I'm delighted to be a tabloid journalist at least for today in the Daily Mirror. It was a fun piece to write and a challenge to address a new market in a style that was pretty much alien to me, and I'll certainly welcome any opportunity to do it again.
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Contractually published
26/04/06 19:06 Coffee machine moments
Permalink
Interesting debate happening over at the Freelance
mailing list, run by
Mousetrap
Media.
Specifically someone is asking whether contract
publishing is actually journalism.
Contract publishing, for people not in the know, is when a company gets an independent publisher to put out a magazine on its behalf - so Sky's listing magazine would be an example, as would Microsoft Magazine of years gone by, of which I was pleased to be sacked as editor after a single issue.
My answer, after some deliberation, is that it's not journalism at all. Far from it. Journalism is supposed to cut through vested interests and present an unbiased view of whatever it's writing about. By definition, if someone with vested interests is calling the shots - and never mind that they'll tell you they want 'independent', they damned well don't - it's marketing. Where I part company with some journalists is that I see nothing wrong in marketing as long as it's clear what the reader is getting. Others seem to see journalism as some sort of religion or lifestyle choice, and condemn the other stuff out of hand.
I've never understood that attitude personally. But I'm not struck on the idea that contract publishing's not a form of marketing. Or else, why would a client pay for it?
Contract publishing, for people not in the know, is when a company gets an independent publisher to put out a magazine on its behalf - so Sky's listing magazine would be an example, as would Microsoft Magazine of years gone by, of which I was pleased to be sacked as editor after a single issue.
My answer, after some deliberation, is that it's not journalism at all. Far from it. Journalism is supposed to cut through vested interests and present an unbiased view of whatever it's writing about. By definition, if someone with vested interests is calling the shots - and never mind that they'll tell you they want 'independent', they damned well don't - it's marketing. Where I part company with some journalists is that I see nothing wrong in marketing as long as it's clear what the reader is getting. Others seem to see journalism as some sort of religion or lifestyle choice, and condemn the other stuff out of hand.
I've never understood that attitude personally. But I'm not struck on the idea that contract publishing's not a form of marketing. Or else, why would a client pay for it?
Desert Island Presenters
24/04/06 10:04 Coffee machine moments
Permalink
Back from holiday and while I was away (Shropshire
for a few days, very nice thanks) I heard that Sue
Lawley is to leave Desert Island Discs. The Daily
Mail seems to have the ear of someone at the BBC
who's prepared to comment on her
likely
successor.
I don't know what they're planning but my money would go on Michael Parkinson, should he be willing and available. His chat show credentials are excellent, he's still working for the Beeb on radio and it would get him away from interviewing people purely because they're selling something, or so you'd hope.
My other choice would be Vanessa Feltz, who is excellent on radio when she has a decent format and would benefit from demonstrating what she can do to a wider audience. My guess would be that too many people would be put off by preconceptions about her, but many BBC London listeners will confirm that it's worth listening and being proven pleasantly wrong.
I don't know what they're planning but my money would go on Michael Parkinson, should he be willing and available. His chat show credentials are excellent, he's still working for the Beeb on radio and it would get him away from interviewing people purely because they're selling something, or so you'd hope.
My other choice would be Vanessa Feltz, who is excellent on radio when she has a decent format and would benefit from demonstrating what she can do to a wider audience. My guess would be that too many people would be put off by preconceptions about her, but many BBC London listeners will confirm that it's worth listening and being proven pleasantly wrong.
My salary remains private
19/04/06 09:41 Media
issues Permalink
In spite of the recent revelations about how much
various radio presenters are earning (see the story
in the Guardian
here)
I have decided my salary must remain a secret.
There are a couple of reasons for this. First, looking at the levels of compensation on display at the BBC, everyone will start calling me 'church mouse' if they find out what I earn.
Second, like a lot of jobbing freelances, I have no idea what I'll be doing for a living a couple of months from now. So my salary is a secret from me, too...
There are a couple of reasons for this. First, looking at the levels of compensation on display at the BBC, everyone will start calling me 'church mouse' if they find out what I earn.
Second, like a lot of jobbing freelances, I have no idea what I'll be doing for a living a couple of months from now. So my salary is a secret from me, too...
No news is the ITV News
09/04/06 10:25 Media
issues Permalink
When is a story not a story? I'll tell you - it's
when ITV News leads in on a Saturday evening with
something about how 100,000 children might die if
there's a bird flu pandemic but the Government might
just be able to reduce that figure to 50,000.
These are horrifying figures until you dig a little deeper. As the news bulletin itself admitted, there has only been one case of bird flu diagnosed in the UK as yet and many of the signs are that it was an isolated incident. They didn't mention, although I'd suggest they should have, that even in the countries in which bird flu has become established there has been no pandemic.
The actual story was that the Government has been working through every possible scenario and the very, very worst is that could be a major problem with loss of infant life. It has therefore worked out how to reduce that loss, albeit leaving an appalling figure still doomed.
But this is what the Government should be doing at a time like this. It's highly unlikely that the worst-case stuff is going to happen. Massively so. Rather than panic, I find it reassuring that someone somewhere is working through just about every permutation of what might eventually take place and how best to increase my daughter's chances under any awful circumstances whatsoever.
Which, funnily enough, wasn't the rather tabloid tack taken by the ITV News.
These are horrifying figures until you dig a little deeper. As the news bulletin itself admitted, there has only been one case of bird flu diagnosed in the UK as yet and many of the signs are that it was an isolated incident. They didn't mention, although I'd suggest they should have, that even in the countries in which bird flu has become established there has been no pandemic.
The actual story was that the Government has been working through every possible scenario and the very, very worst is that could be a major problem with loss of infant life. It has therefore worked out how to reduce that loss, albeit leaving an appalling figure still doomed.
But this is what the Government should be doing at a time like this. It's highly unlikely that the worst-case stuff is going to happen. Massively so. Rather than panic, I find it reassuring that someone somewhere is working through just about every permutation of what might eventually take place and how best to increase my daughter's chances under any awful circumstances whatsoever.
Which, funnily enough, wasn't the rather tabloid tack taken by the ITV News.
Even as a fan...
07/04/06 17:53 Coffee machine moments
Permalink
...I have to admit the BBC is risking overkill with
the new Doctor Who. There is:
* A theme night on BBC3 on Sunday
* Weekly documentaries after the show
* Approx. 2 hours extra content after each episode on the Web
* Previews to your mobile phone
* Spin-off series later this year
* New recording facility especially for the programme in BBC Wales
I wish them well, I really do - but I do worry that if it doesn't take off like it did last year there'll be a lot of red faces at the BBC. Last year, Christopher Eccleston's debut in the role had to support, well, a TV series. Look at what's riding on David Tennant next week.
Saturday 15 April, BBC1, 7.15pm if you just want to watch the programme. Everywhere else on all the other channels in the meantime, I imagine.
* A theme night on BBC3 on Sunday
* Weekly documentaries after the show
* Approx. 2 hours extra content after each episode on the Web
* Previews to your mobile phone
* Spin-off series later this year
* New recording facility especially for the programme in BBC Wales
I wish them well, I really do - but I do worry that if it doesn't take off like it did last year there'll be a lot of red faces at the BBC. Last year, Christopher Eccleston's debut in the role had to support, well, a TV series. Look at what's riding on David Tennant next week.
Saturday 15 April, BBC1, 7.15pm if you just want to watch the programme. Everywhere else on all the other channels in the meantime, I imagine.
Vanessa hints at TV return
06/04/06 11:44 Coffee machine moments
Permalink
Vanessa Feltz has had an interesting career. Starting
on Greater London Radio, moving into the first of the
'confessional' shows on television - I hate 'em - and
just about cracking up on Celebrity Big Brother, she
had become a bit of a turn-off for me.
So it was with some surprise that I noticed, a bit more than a year ago, that one of my favourite broadcasters on BBC London in the afternoon, whose name I never quite caught, was none other than Vanessa Feltz. Intelligent but still populist interviews, authors of whom I'd never heard, a lot of interesting stuff would come up and she'd sound fully engaged. Prejudices duly swept away I've been following her career ever since, and although I preferred the harder-edged news debate Jon Gaunt brought to the slot she now occupies on BBC London, she's done a good job of it so far.
And now she hints that there may be a TV comeback in the offing. A short while ago I would have dreaded such a thing. Now I'm really hoping they'll give her a Davina-like slot and remind her of those afternoon shows in which she proved a damned good and intelligent listener as well as speaker. Such a revamped show could be the unexpected hit of the year.
So it was with some surprise that I noticed, a bit more than a year ago, that one of my favourite broadcasters on BBC London in the afternoon, whose name I never quite caught, was none other than Vanessa Feltz. Intelligent but still populist interviews, authors of whom I'd never heard, a lot of interesting stuff would come up and she'd sound fully engaged. Prejudices duly swept away I've been following her career ever since, and although I preferred the harder-edged news debate Jon Gaunt brought to the slot she now occupies on BBC London, she's done a good job of it so far.
And now she hints that there may be a TV comeback in the offing. A short while ago I would have dreaded such a thing. Now I'm really hoping they'll give her a Davina-like slot and remind her of those afternoon shows in which she proved a damned good and intelligent listener as well as speaker. Such a revamped show could be the unexpected hit of the year.