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Archive for the ‘The BBC’ category

Regionals given a lifeline. It’s up to them to use it

November 22nd, 2008

Today the BBC Trust pulled an absolutely stinking howler. With its decision to prevent the BBC from improving local journalism, the only people who are suffering are viewers and listeners.

The money, the Trust said, should instead by used to “improve existing services”. Existing services like, I dunno, local news?

The Trust also concluded that an improved local video service — which would have seen ten clips of hyperlocal news posted online every day in every region — would have a “significant negative impact on commercial providers”.

Ok. There may be a point there. If the BBC are going to be doing great local video, then why would people go to the local newspaper for video as well? After all, the BBC’s national news videos mean that people have stopped visiting Sky News, or the Guardian, or the Telegraph, or the Times, or ITV, or… you get the picture.

Competition ups everyone’s game. If local newspapers offer something unique then people will still come.

The simple truth is this: local newspapers are scared stiff. The likes of Sly Bailey, so critical of the BBC’s plans, clearly has no idea what to do in the next year. In fact, I’ll shorten that to the next six months. She’s got a newspaper group that is flapping its wings about in panic, feathers flying out in all directions.

Pay freezes and job cuts don’t solve the problem. In fact, they put you in a worse position. How will you make any local video content without any bloody staff?

Here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to take a screenshot of 4 key local news websites. Over the next few months, I’ll monitor any changes. I’ll see if the local press are rising to the challenge. I’ll stick my neck out a bit here and predict nothing will happen. The designs will stay the same. The production values of multimedia will not improve, and more job cuts will be announced.

You know, in some ways I’m glad the BBC Trust has rejected the plans. Perhaps it’s too early. This way, when local newspapers do absolutely nothing to improve local news, they won’t be able to blame the big bad BBC. It will be their own incompentence. A reluctance to get face the times and sort out their shoddy product.

Screenshots after the jump. I’ll take a look at these after Christmas. Lets see what happens.

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Posted in Blogs, Newspapers, TV, The BBC, The Future, The Web

Tags: bbc bbc trust birmingham mail echo lincolnshire echo local news north devon sly bailey

Guardian praises the licence fee

November 21st, 2008

It’s becoming a bit cool to slag off the licence fee since Brand/Ross. Thankfully, the Guardian has come out in support with an editorial. Don’t expect the Daily Mail to.

“Mr Moore would no doubt be ready to unleash a columnist’s fury on any peacenik who dared withhold their income tax payments until Britain scrapped Trident, or pulled troops out of Iraq. He probably objected, too, to all those rebels who refused to pay the poll tax introduced by his beloved Margaret Thatcher. This fogeyish wheeze is both selfish, since he will now benefit from services that others must pay for, and unnecessary, since if he really wanted to stop funding the BBC he could do so by getting rid of his television.”

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Posted in Newspapers, TV, The BBC

Tags: charles moore guardian licence fee

Hypocritical BBC viewers must be stopped

November 19th, 2008

Quite often I find myself getting very irate with BBC viewers. Charlie Brooker summed it up beautifully last night when he said that there needs to be a counter complaint procedure allowing normal people to cancel out the actions of easily-offended, over-excitable humourphobes. 40,000 complaints about Ross/Brand, but no way to support them. Is that fair? I don’t think it is.

Complaints processes are necessary to give viewers a voice. But, as Charlie explained so eloquently, it seems that viewers seem to view their television schedules as a reality TV vote, complaining-off any shows they’re not too keen on, whether they watch them or not.

I agree with Charlie when he suggests that if viewers have the right to complain, they should also have the right to uncomplain. After all, there is no official method of praising a program. In reality TV terms, it would be the same as voting for someone to stay in — rather that just being able to boot them out.

Charlie’s thoughts were obviously comical, but I think the point is serious. We can’t let the vocal BBC complaint-brigade, giddy with power, to dictate who keeps their job and who doesn’t. They’re too hypocritical.

Take the Have Your Say forum, for instance. Right now, it’s alight with comments about John Sergeant quitting Strictly. Here are the top comments, as voted for by Have Your Say readers:

Of course not. The public should decide, and we have decided to keep him in.

Does anyone really believe that this has not happened as a result of the overpayed judges making threats to the producers and John being forced to quit, despite what he is saying publicly.

Yet another disgraceful editorial error from the BBC with the public face and the viewer suffering the consequences.

Daniel Porter Jones, London, United Kingdom

Sergreant succumbed to bullying and age discrimination sanctioned by the BBC. What a shame!

Ellie, London

What a shame John feels he has to leave Strictly. I feel totally cheated after all the votes I’ve cast. The programme shouldn’t invite people on if it doesn’t accept the public could vote an ‘entertainer’ to win over a dancer. That’s it – no more votes from me on Strictly.

K Rogers, Wootton Bassett

In contrast, here’s the top comments from the debate after Daniel’s exit from X-Factor last week:

Who Cares?

EU equals, Extremely Useless

Get a life !!!!

These programmes are total rubbish.

Matt Lamb, Portsmouth, United Kingdom

I ‘ve got talent show fatigue. Fed up, I am.

BB

Am I the only one that thinks discussing this rediculous facade of a program in parliment is in itself rediculous.

The program is a bad example of the entertainment industry’s attempt to make filler instead of getting out there and finding people.

Get this reality rubbish tv off my tv. Now.

Dan, London

Wake up Britain. It’s a talent show. It doesn’t matter.

Harry, Manchester

Just so we’re clear of the rules: Talent shows that old people like are important. Talent shows that young people like are not important.

Likewise, comedians that young people like should be off the air, but comedians that old people like — even offensive ones — are OK.

Say what you will about the merits of X-Factor, but there is no denying it’s as worthy of schedule time as Strictly. Ratings-wise, X-Factor consistently comes out on top — and that’s all that we need to know.

I’m sick of the grumpy minority that, without a proper complaints/praise procedure, are speaking on behalf of all the sane people who just like laugh and watch talent shows. On behalf of the youth of Britain, please shut up.

(Views expressed are solely my own and do not represent those of the BBC. Or John Sergeant.)

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Posted in TV, The BBC, The Web

Tags: bbc charlie brooker have your say john sergeant russell brand screenwipe strictly x-factor

Publisher wanted: The New Blogger’s Handbook

November 10th, 2008

Here’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot recently. The sort of thoughts that plonk themselves in your mind just before you’re about to go to sleep, making your brain come alive, not letting you chill out and drift off.

Today I mentioned on Twitter that I was looking to publish a book. Since my first blog post back in December 2006, I have come a long, long way. I owe a huge amount to this humble web page.

Through this blog I have experienced some wonderful things. I have met some fantastic people. I have had some exciting experiences. And, I’m not ashamed to admit it, I have made some good money.

I don’t think this is a fluke. In fact, I’m sure it isn’t. I don’t think I’m an exceptional writer. A good one, I hope, but no better than thousands upon thousands of student journalists who go out there hoping to make their name in the industry. One fellow journalist wrote about this — about me — last week, and I’ve been meaning to post his thoughts ever since. Sadly, he seems to have deleted his blog posts.

He had it spot on. He said it wasn’t what I was writing, or how my skills as a journalist measured up against others. No, it was that I had managed to create an outlet for debate and discussion, drawing on a slightly-techy background. Once I created my blog, I set about getting to know people. The rest, as they say, is history. Or, in this case, it’s Google cache.

I’ve gone from blogging for one man and his dog to blogging for arguably the greatest media outlet in the world. But as the now anonymous blogger said, it’s no fluke.

The New Blogger’s Handbook will pass on every pinch of knowledge I’ve gained since starting jBlog. It will share tips that are both practical and enjoyable to carry out. Here’s my proposal:

The New Blogger’s Handbook

Whenever I tell people about blogging, whether it’s a presentation, a lecture or even just a chat, they’ll always ask the same thing: “How do I get started?”

I’ll pass on a few quick tips, but it’s never enough. Now, I can recommend my book:

Synopsis: Finally, a guide to blogging for normal people. The New Blogger’s Handbook guides any rookie through the wilderness that is the blogosphere. It will divulge everything you could possibly need to know about blogging.

From setting up (what sites to visit, what tools to download, what name to pick) to using your blog to enter your dream career, this book will offer practical and fun tips.

Chapters will include:

– Starting out: Do you want to spend money or do it for free? What software will suit you best? Do you want to do audio or video posts? All these questions answered and more in this chapter explaining the most common new blogger’s problem: “Where do I start?!”

– But I don’t know what to write about: Sometimes even the most brillaint of bloggers can find it hard to write regular posts. This chapter will help you find inspiration, and guide you, step-by-step, into setting up RSS feeds, email alerts and many more tools to help bring content to you.

– The Blogger’s Code: Now you’ve got your own blog, don’t spoil it by committing any blogging faux pas. This chapter will focus on unwritten code of bloggers, covering aspects like linking in/out, as well as what pictures you can use and how to credit for them.

– Keep secure: If you plan to blog a lot about yourself, you need to keep safe and secure. This chapter will go over every safety aspect of blogging, from keeping your software up to date, to what you should and shouldn’t say online.

– Getting read: How to attract people to your blog. We’re not just talking bumping up your Google ranking with sneaky tricks here, but actual proven techniques for getting your blog read by people who really matter. It’s not how many visits you have, it’s who they are that counts. You want people who can raise your profile, and people who will want to work with you.

– There’s more to blogging than just blogs y’know: You may think a good blog is all you need to succeed. For some, this may be true, but for others, using some of the many other social networking tools can help develop your online persona even greater. Starting with likes of Twitter — getting followers, integrating Twitter with your blog, gaining contacts — and ending with the potential goldmine that is Digg and StumbleUpon, this chapter will make you at ease with everything Web 2.0.

– Resources, jargon-buster and links: Just like a good blog, no book would be complete without passing the reader on to other places of interest. This section will offer an organised list of online resources, a handy jargon-buster, and links to many blogging related websites to help you on even further.

This is just a sneaky peak at the potential content of this book. I’m convinced that anyone can become a successful blogger if they tips I’ve picked up along the way.

If you are interested in publishing this book, please get in touch.

For more information on the history of jBlog and why I should write this book, please click ‘Read more’:

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Posted in Blogs, My Work, Social Networking, Student Journalism, The BBC, The Future, The Web

Tags: book publishing the new blogger's handbook

Simon Amstell takes on Davis Cup Tennis

November 8th, 2008

Thank you to Media Monkey for this stunner from the archives. May I present to you, appearing on the brilliant GamesMaster, the one and only Simon Amstell:

Fantastic. Thankfully Simon dropped his geeky exterior and became possibly the funniest presenter on TV, no?

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Posted in Blogs, TV, The BBC, The Web

Tags: gamesmaster guardian media monkey never mind the buzzcocks simon amstell youtube

Nick Robinson: Can you, will you… answer the question?

November 6th, 2008

Great interrogation of Alistair Darling by the BBC’s political editor Nick Robinson today about the interest rate cut. You can see it here. I’d embed it for you, but the BBC don’t let me (or anyone, for that matter).

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Posted in TV, The BBC

Tags: alistair darling interest rates interview nick robinson

Birmingham Mail reporter: “I’m a bit of an idiot really”

November 6th, 2008

One night a little while ago I sang an awful karaoke attempt of Heal the World and, in a less than sober state, duly lapped up the moment while being recorded on a friend’s mobile. I woke up dreading what could appear on Facebook the next day.

Today I feel decidedly less stupid. Imagine waking up and remembering doing this?

Oh dear. Here we are, then, this reporter, the Birmingham Mail’s Adam Smith, who is clearly (and the brummies might say) “off his tits”.

Journalists being drunk isn’t a new craze by any means (hurrah!), but what Adam’s done is a tad more serious. He’s noted the fact that he’s gone — ~~on the Mail’s payroll, let’s not forget~~ EDIT: It was a voluntary trip — to Miami to report the election. By his own admission, Miami wasn’t really an exciting place to be. Everyone knew it would end up going Democrat, as always.

He was there because it was “where the party is”. And, he admits, he can’t get enough of the women. He’s clearly doing a great job of attracting said women while he sits on a bench in the dead of night writing away on his laptop. Hardly the Diet Coke man.

But sadly for Adam, that’s not it. He openly delves into his journalistic technique of copying and pasting from the BBC website. He acknowledges the flaw of what he’s doing, saying that while history is being made, the B’ham Mail readers are merely getting his take on history and, well, he’s bladdered. He may have even started the first paragraph with something like “You know what readers, you’re my best mate. I bloody love you.”

He finishes on a high. He resigns. “Fuck you,” he says, flicking a v-sign at the camera. And in an instant, a journalism career is ruined.

Fool. His copy was, I’m guessing, originally here, but it has since been wisely removed.

[via Hold the Front Page]

EDIT: The journalist has made some comments via YouTube:

Right, the thing is, right I’ve just woke up. And seen this video, which I don’t really remember. I’ve been told to phone the Birmingham Mail because I am in trouble. I was off duty, I am on official holiday working at the South Beach Miami Barack Obama campaign where I had just done a 18-hour shift trying to make the world a better place. Please check every BBC News outlet and see if I have cut and pasted anything. I have not, it was a joke and should be taken in the spirit it was said.”

And then later:

Thanks for the kind comments, it has meant a lot to get the backing of so many people I respect. I’m currently in hiding at the Gansevoort South hotel in Miami tryin to come to terms what’s happened whilst sipping rum and coke at the pool. I guess I’m going to have to face the music when I get back.
Adam Smith, aka Steve Zacharanda
Technically, still a Birmingham Mail reporter.
But definitely editor and founder of Goggle-eye magazine and Cheeky Media.