The Radio 4 Torchwood dramas are available for downloading.
Reasons Not To Top-Slice #4
July 2, 2009Roy Greenslade’s column in the Evening Standard and my comment:
Top slicing puts British media on an inevitable path towards PSB on an American model i.e. underfunded niche services for elites and mass commercial services with no real ambition or moral purpose.
It’s also a recipe for even more political interference, regulation and red tape. It will reduce diversity and plurality. “Grants for outcomes” will not produce “I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue”.
Reasons Not To Top-Slice #1 & #2
June 20, 2009#1 Occupation on BBC ONE this week made me proud to work for the BBC.
Would any other Television outfit in the world have commissioned this? Perhaps. But would any other Television outfit have broadcast it at peak time on their premier channel so that as many people as possible might watch it? I doubt it.
#2 You can still watch all three parts online on the BBC iPlayer.
Both funded by the licence fee…
Mobile Day Braindump
June 12, 2009It was mobile day yesterday on the BBC Internet blog.
Pros:
Sterling effort from all to make it happen on the day of a Tube strike.
High quality, meaty content from all parts of the BBC.
The video worked! Hooray!
Good news to tell on the N95.
Live twitter surgery a real highlight – we’ll do more of this.
Two potential regular contributors in the making: David Madden and Jason Da Ponte.
Cons:
Like iPlayer day possibly too much content and not enough links/comments/engagement. Perhaps the community interested in mobile isn’t as big as I thought. Or maybe there’s just a lot else going on right now.
Bob Log III Live Sheffield – The Shakespear, Monday 6th April 2009 – TOP QUALITY
May 14, 2009I was sent this extraordinary video by an old friend.
I don’t know what it is, or who it is.
But I think it’s the future…
Now Hiring – Editor, BBC Internet blog
May 1, 2009If you read this blog you’ll probably know that I am the editor of the BBC Internet blog.
But I’ve been given more managerial responsibilities (you might say). I’m not going anywhere, but I’ve just got too much to do.
And so I need someone to be Editor, BBC Internet blog.
We’re offering this post as either a 6 month contract (if you don’t work for the BBC) or a 6 month attachment (if you do work for the BBC).
Full details are here on the BBC Jobs website.
I think it’s a great job. So if you’re interested apply.
Don’t Mess With Guido!
April 21, 2009The news agenda has moved on. We’ve entered a period of quiet reflection.
What can be learned from the McBride/Guido Faukes affair (or “smeargate”)?
1.
Don’t make it personal.
Hazel Blears attack on bloggers included a swipe at the “vicious nihilism” of Guido Fawkes and Staines has claimed McBride tried to smear him. This gave Staines real personal motivation to get back at McBride. So attack your opponents arguments, but not them personally. Play the ball, not the man.
2.
Don’t put anything in an email you wouldn’t want made public.
This is blindingly obvious, but people still forget it. If McBride had made a telephone call to Derek Draper instead, he’d still be in a job.
3.
Don’t mix up different types of information.
In McBride’s email he said he has one possible real story and a lot of (unpleasant) gossip. Ditch the gossip and if you think you have a good story just find a sympathetic journalist.
4.
Don’t take on someone who has better skills than you.
We still don’t know how Staines got hold of the email. So he either has very good contacts or very good computer skills. We already know he has good social media skills. Regardless of the morality or legality of how he got the information Staines was a digital native, while his enemies were not. He won.
5.
Think about the best vehicle for the information.
Staines didn’t just stick the email on his blog. He gave it to newspapers, maximising the public impact, and minimising his own risk. He used his blog as a teaser to build up anticipation knowing that people would find it when the story broke.
This is not about bloggers versus mainstream media. Staines has simply shown himself to be a master at using media (digital and print) to achieve an end. He’s proved himself more effective at this than most people with jobs in Comms and Government and journalism.
My guess is that he probably dislikes the BBC as much as he dislikes politicians.
If it wasn’t for that, I’d hire him.
BBC Bashing And Constructive Criticism
April 11, 2009N.B. My personal views.
It’s been a perplexing few weeks with many peculiar attacks on the BBC.
Richard Sambrook has provided a rebuttal of Nic Cohen’s piece in the Observer.
Then there was Catherine Bennett’s intemperate attack on the BBC’s children’s output. I’m baffled by this one. To leap from GoForIt closing to a condemnation of CBBC seems absurd. CBBC is one of the best things the BBC does and as a parent I’m glad for it (and my kids do watch “Who wants to be a suprehero”). This seems to be more about some strange middle class hang-up that I don’t understand than anything to do with the BBC.
Michael LeJune’s attack on the BBC for being “too big” is a familar theme and not well informed about what the BBC actually does or what the Licence Fee actually means. The best response to it is in this comment.
I love it whenpeople say
“i *hate* the beeb, but i love R4/ Newsnight/ etc”
i don’t read the grauniad travel section on Saturday – should i complain and ask for 20p back off my newsagent?
same with the BBC – some things i like, some i dislike – but i pay for the whole.
why?
because i know that by allowing people to only pay for what they want, we’d end up with a channel full of lowest common denominator sh*te like sky.
i completely disagree with this guy’s assertions -
if the BBC is funded by a licence fee, that means they have an obligation to provide to the *many* – to make content for all.
this means that if someone pays the fee and they only like cr*ppy soaps and stuff with wendy craig in and antiques roadshow and last of the f’n summer wine, the BBC should supply it.
this content, in turn, should be there to challenge it’s competitors to produce higher quality content.
if the BBC makes Dr Who which does well on Saturday Evenings, that should be a good thing.
if they make eastenders, and it is popular, that is a good thing.
it is then up to the commercial channels to compete and raise their game – not send their drones onto the Graun’s website pretending to have the BBC’s best interests at heart.
finally – i like the idea that my (3 yr old) son can watch a channel that doesn’t have ads for toys and sweets and other rubbish between the programmes.
During a recession people are going to ask tough questions about the BBC. I feel priviledged to work there, as I should do, because I am.
But the best way to change the BBC is by rational, well informed argument. For example by a well considered and researched report which offers some evidence for its’ conclusions. Such as the Select Committee’s report on BBC Worldwide. I was particularly interested in this as some of the points raised by it were discussed on this blog in May of last year. It’s worth reading, and thinking about.
