Media Training Update w/c 2nd October

“A weak, feeble, gutless, pathetic, spineless, leaderless, lazy, stupid, pointless institution who, by their inactivity, are doing huge damage to British broadcasting, and to any remaining unity and harmony in this country.”

Michael Crick (ex Newsnight/Channel 4) gives both barrels to Ofcom as pressure grows on the regulator to sharpen its teeth & bring GB News into line.

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Good morning, it’s Monday 2nd October.

The week ahead…

Conservative Party Conference:

Chancellor (Mon), Home Secretary (Tues), PM (Wed) 

Nobel Prizes: Physics (Tues), Literature (Thurs) Peace (Fri) 

Monday: NHS junior doctors and consultants begin three-day joint strike

Wednesday: Wednesday: Google launches new Pixel phone

Thursday: Rutherglen and Hamilton-West by-election 

Cricket World Cup begins

Saturday: 15 years ago: RBS collapsed

The Today programme launches a weekly podcast. (What took them so long?) 

BBC blurb says hosts Amol Rajan and Nick Robinson will “give their take on the biggest stories and a behind-the-scenes insight into how the programme is made.”

Can a saturated market stomach yet another podcast hosted by two media-establishment-men of a certain age?

As Times Radio’s Aasmah Mir points out:

“If you’re starting a news/politics podcast and hiring all male hosts in 2023, have a wee word with yourself.” 

The Today podcast launches on Thursday.

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In a similar vein, following last week’s Murdoch coverage in the Briefing, a reader emailed to ask…

“Were you aware that all your Rupert Murdoch quotes were white men of a certain age and genre (media/politicos)? Was that the point?”

I wish I could say it was the point. (And I suppose in a way it is). But ultimately it was a poorly chosen set of quotes. Thanks for pulling us up on it.

Another reader writes:

“I listened with interest to the PMs interview on HS2 and it sounded like he had taken his media training a bit too far. Did a press officer really say “if she asks about trains, and levelling up, just keeping bringing it back to potholes”.

It certainly sounds it.

LISTEN HERE 

We’ll return to Sunak’s interviewing style next month.

On the Inside Edge website – Tony’s A-Z of media training: 

S is for Slick:

Don’t be – even if your presenter is a bit of a smoothie. Under pressure, we can sometimes adopt the characteristics of the person with whom we’re trying to engage. It’s that chameleon quality that can lead us into trouble. Let’s face it, smoothness is often part of a veneer that can easily segue into phoney. Instead allow the natural bumps of your character to show. A deliberateness if you tend to ponder – an excitement if you’re prone to enthusiasm. Audiences warm to the real. That’s especially important with your language. Remember report speak can sound mellifluous but it’s often a bit of a switch off – and can mean very little.

And Wolf Blitzer and CNN win big at the News and Documentary Emmys…

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Footnotes:

Neil Kinnock became the new leader of the Labour party, with Roy Hattersley joining him as deputy on this day in 1983.

Highs of degrees in 17 today in Brighton and 21 in the Hague.

And lovely timing from Mail Online, not that they’ll care that much I suspect…

Finally the obligatory dog-pic photo….

Be part of the MMB. Thoughts on this week’s content, or interviews you’ve seen, heard, or (best of all) done. We’re @insideedgemedia or just reply to this email. 

Have a brilliant week.

All at Inside Edge