The Training Zone
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Gagging For It
The relationship between journalists and politicians has always been a two way street. Each needs the other in order to put across their message or to hold decision makers to account. And on the whole it works very well – as long as each has an understanding of the others’ limitations. Yet the relationship becomes…
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Pushing The Boundaries
There was a time when, if you wanted to be on the wireless, you were fairly limited in your options. If you weren’t lucky enough to get a gig on your local BBC or ILR station, it was pretty much a narrow choice between hospital/student radio or – if you wer really lucky – a Restricted Service…
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Talk Is Cheap – Use It Wisely
The term “freedom of speech” is often trotted out by various people with various agendas. The right to have your say has never been easier thanks to the explosion of social media. And as we have seen in recent times, Twitter and Facebook have given a voice to many who previously may have found it hard to have…
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News, Views and Audio Boos
Whenever I’m introduced to someone and they find out what I do, one of their first questions is “Where do you get your stories from?” And it’s all too easy to trot out the answer “Everywhere!”. The idea that journalism is just about a telling a story is part of our DNA. Yet I still find…
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Let’s Be Careful Out There
Yesterday I was sent several emails and links to pages giving advice about personal safety when covering riots and other public order situations. It’s all sensible stuff, and the kind of thing that tends to circulate when there’s been some significant disorder. As a Union rep, I’m probably the first to talk about health and…
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Capital Punishment?
Over the past week a small but significant transformation has happened in one of the biggest commercial radio stations in the UK. The music hasn’t changed and there’ve been no big name presenter arrivals or departures. In fact, the chances are that unless you work in radio you probably won’t have noticed the change at all. Capital…
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Radio Whine : Made From Sour Grapes
NB : This article was written on the week of the Murdoch’s appearance before the Commons Select Committee and may therefore contain date references that don’t quite match today (August 7th) Not so long ago, the commercial radio sector launched one of its frequent attacks on the BBC. It was a tried and tested criticism,…
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Insert Headline Here : Hope It’s Nothing Offensive
A couple of years ago the BBC planned a network of local news websites, enhancing the existing product on the BBC News platform. These would be ultra-local : specific to your county, and contain a collection of news articles, video content and extended material – for example, a longer form interview from the regional TV…
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View From The Picket Line
THE VIEWS IN THIS BLOG ARE MINE AND NOT THOSE OF MY EMPLOYER For only the third time in fifteen years of broadcasting, today I’m going on strike. As a “bit of a lefty” (as many of my colleagues might describe me) perhaps that’s not much of a surprise. But actually, as I get older…
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Exclusive : Journalist Talks To People To Get Story
Sometimes as a journalist you’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t. And whilst this isn’t strictly about radio, it’s a cautionary tale that perhaps you shouldn’t be too good at your job – for fear of reprisals in the form of jealousy. Step forward the BBC’s Business Editor Robert Peston. Known…
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