Newsroom2025-02-18T09:24:00+00:00

THE NEWSROOM

Media Training update w/c 24th March

Cultural Vandalism



Morning all, it’s Monday 24th March. Let’s kick off with the week ahead…

Today: MPs debate Planning and Infrastructure Bill for the first time. 

US, Russian and Ukrainian officials hold separate talks in Riyadh.

Tuesday: US intelligence chiefs at Senate hearing on worldwide threats.

Verdict announced in Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini corruption appeal.

Wednesday: Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivers Spring Statement and OBR presents economic and fiscal forecast.


Thursday: France hosts ‘Coalition of the Willing’ meeting on Ukraine.

RFU holds vote of confidence in Bill Sweeney.

Friday: Reform UK local elections campaign launch.

Former Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson in court on bribery charges.

Saturday: FA Cup quarterfinals.

Partial solar eclipse. 

Sunday: Mothering Sunday.

Last week I quoted one of my old editors at 5Live who felt the current pace of the news agenda exposed a weakness in the podcast model.

Reader Ben emailed to say:

“I’ve definitely noticed them being “out of date” but I think we’re forgiving of it because of the investment/para-social relationship we have with the hosts. I think we relate to them being out of date in the way we might relate to a friend not having every single detail of the news agenda in a casual coffee conversation. In other words I think they occupy a different space to “news”.” 

Spot on. (Though would you meet your out-of-touch friend just a bit less often after a while? Time will tell.)

“Things Learnt (Then Forgotten)” – Week 11.

What links Freddie Mercury and Dr Seuss?

“If an entire newsroom can be sidelined overnight, what does that say about the state of press freedom?” 

The National Press Club reacts to the news the Trump administration is shutting down the Voice Of America after eight decades.

“An entire institution is being dismantled piece by piece. This isn’t just a staffing decision – it’s a fundamental shift that endangers the future of independent journalism.”

A White House statement said the order would “ensure taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical propaganda”

READ MORE

Jack Blanchard, Politico

News In Brief:

The latest UK newspaper print circulation figures show the Daily Mirror under 200,000 for the first time since Edward VII was on the throne. A 100% increase in cover price over the last five years to £1.70 has helped defend circulation revenue (while at the same time probably hastening decline).

___

The Independent is to launch a news service which it said will use AI tools to summarise its journalism for “time-poor audiences”.

READ MORE

Bucket List Moment :

I spent a brilliant three days working with the senior team at Buckinghamshire Fire And Rescue Service last week, and managed to tick this one off the bucket list…

Footnotes:

On this day: An oil tanker, the Exxon Valdez, ran aground off the Alaskan coast, releasing crude oil into the sea on this day in 1989.

Monday weather: Derby – 8 and cloudy, Aberdeen – 10 and cloudy.

Mutts: Leo, up close…

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

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By |24 March 2025|

Media Training Update w/c 17th March

Derailed by a decent anecdote



Morning all, it’s Monday 17th March.

“Things Learnt (Then Forgotten)” – Week 10.

Derailed by a decent anecdote…

One of my old editors at 5Live Richard Jackson asked this on social media:

“Question for podcast listeners. Has a rapid moving story (Trump) exposed a weakness? I listened to two this morning which had to admit the time they were being recorded as they might be out of date when you listened (they were) and a third that was doing a live edition. Isn’t that radio? Does it matter?”

Have you noticed this? Is the news agenda too speedy for podcasts at the moment?

The week ahead…

Monday: New Ofcom rules on online safety come into force.

OECD publishes Economic Outlook

Tuesday: German lawmakers vote on debt easing plan.

CPI and RPI Basket of Goods and Services.

Wednesday:  Matt Hancock questioned at Covid-19 inquiry hearing on procurement.

Amanda Pritchard speaks at King’s Fund leadership conference;

Thursday: UK monetary policy committee announces interest rate decision. EU leaders begin two-day summit.

Friday: Final public sector finance statistics before Spring Statement.

England face Albania in World Cup 2026 qualifier.

Saturday: Liberal Democrats kick off spring conference.

Women’s Six Nations begins. 

Sunday: Chinese Grand Prix.

Fifth anniversary of the UK’s first Covid-19 lockdown.

“What particularly angers rank and file staff members is that they believe they work hard every day to achieve impartiality, and that battle is made far more difficult when colleagues – and worse, senior staff – seem not to do their job properly.” 

He’s a bit of an armchair-general these days, but (former boss) Roger Mosey’s article on problems within BBC News is worth a read.

READ MORE

And final word (probably) on the Gaza doc furore from Hannah Barnes in the New Statesman:

“When I think back to how much scrutiny there was of the stories I covered, I simply cannot understand how this happened. Others I’ve spoken to confirm that it feels “different” this time. The mood inside the corporation is dire.”

“Why are Gen Zers like Mille Bobby Brown ageing so badly?” screamed a Mail Online headline, which I’ll assume passed you by, but it’s one of a string of similar stories which include “What HAS Millie Bobby Brown done to her face?” 

Not to sound too po-faced, but this stuff isn’t journalism. It’s a story generated from a couple of comments from random people on social media, but it does good business.

The reason I mention it is that on this occasion Millie Bobby Brown (who’s an actress by the way) has snapped and taken to instagram to call out publicly the four people who wrote the bulk of the stories. 

“This is bullying. The fact that adult writers are spending their time dissecting my face, my body, my choices is disturbing. That some of these articles are written by women makes it worse.”

One of those women is a Mail freelancer, Lydia Hawken and the only one to respond publicly. On Tik Tok she said: 

“I work on a rota system and sometimes I get to pitch stories that are my own…but more often than not I get assigned stories decided upon by an editorial team. The story about Millie Bobby Brown fell into the latter category.”

She went on to say;

“I want to say I’m sorry for writing the story and for not being brave enough to say no…This morning I officially resigned from The Mail and I won’t work with them again.” 

A grim insight into one of the grubbier corners of the journalism landscape.

Source: Mic Wright 

READ MORE

See or hear a brilliant (or terrible) interview over the last 7 days? 

We’re always looking to build our library of news clips and examples.

Drop us a line 

Large Group Sessions:

We’ve a set of courses up and running specifically for larger groups – up to 40 at a time. We’re running these in-person and online.

Click on the links above (or READ MORE) – or drop us a line if you’d like more info.

Footnotes:

On this day: More than 200 people were arrested after thousands clashed in an anti-Vietnam war protest outside the United States embassy in London on the day in 1968.

Monday weather: Newcastle – 8 and cloudy, Liverpool – 10 and cloudy.

Mutts: After a week of watching Crufts, some much-deserved R&R for our Stan…

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

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By |17 March 2025|

Media Training update w/c 10th March

Inner Emigration



John Thornhill writes in the FT about “inner emigration” the idea that as the planet feels increasingly volatile, people lose interest in the news, retreat from public life and prioritise their inner world. 

He quotes the technologist and philosopher James Williams who described President Trump as like a “distributed denial of service attack against the human will”. Nice line. 

As a news junkie I’ve always harboured a sneaky jealousy for those who can pay passing interest in what to me feels seismic (until the next news cycle when it’s relegated or even forgotten), however as Thornhill concludes, “democracies depend on the active participation of engaged citizens, not just passive acceptance. Inner emigration can morph into dangerous escapism, leaving the field open for extremists to exploit.” 

READ MORE (whopping paywall)

Morning all, it’s Monday 10th March. Everyone OK?

The week ahead…

Monday: King Charles and Princess of Wales among senior royals attending Westminster Abbey’s Commonwealth Day service. 

Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets with MBS in Saudi Arabia ahead of US-Ukraine talks.

Tuesday: New Employment Rights Bill amendments debated.

Kyle Clifford sentencing.

Wednesday: US tariffs on steel and aluminium imports enter into force.

European defence ministers meet in Paris/G7 foreign ministers meet in Quebec.

Thursday: Court of Session hears challenge to Winter Fuel Payment reductions.

Friday: Monthly GDP figures.

Thomas Tuchel’s first England squad announcement.

Saturday: Chelsea face Manchester City in the Women’s League Cup Final. 

Sunday: The mighty Geordies take on minnows Liverpool in what’s expected to be the most one-sided Carabao Cup final in years.

“Things Learnt (Then Forgotten)” – Week 9.

Pace and posture…

“We must deploy AI to support, enable and accelerate our innovation and growth.”

Deborah Turness, BBC News Chief Executive

BBC News is to create a new department that will use AI to give the public – amongst other things – more personalised content.

(What could possibly go wrong?)

READ MORE

See or hear a brilliant (or terrible) interview over the last 7 days? 

We’re always looking to build our library of news clips and examples.

Drop us a line 

“Senior television producers with decades of experience are working as high street shelf-stackers, car park attendants and in pubs, as a prolonged crisis continues to sweep through the TV world.”

The extent of the crisis in TV production is laid bare in this Guardian piece by Michael Savage.

READ MORE

News In Brief:

BBC News at One presenter Anna Foster will be announced as the new presenter of Radio 4’s Today programme.

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“The media recruits graduates from the arts, humanities, and they tend to be metropolitan and to have a point of view you could describe as liberal centre, centre left. We kind of reflect that.” 

Chair Samir Shah calls for more diversity at the BBC in a Sunday Times interview 

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And FT CEO John Ridding is stepping down in June after leading the newspaper group for almost 20 years.

Footnotes:

On this day: A court in Baghdad imposed the death sentence on The Observer journalist Farzad Bazoft on this day in 1990.

Monday weather: Southampton: 14 and sunny. Edinburgh: 7 with light rain.

Mutts: Crufts on TV. Gripped. Can’t even coax him out for a walk…

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

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By |10 March 2025|

Media Training Update w/c 3rd March

Muddle Managers



Morning all, it’s Monday 3rd March.

The week ahead…

Monday: Covid inquiry begins hearings into procurement.

Mobile World Congress opens.

Tuesday: Tim Davie at committee session on work of the BBC.

US tariffs on Canadian, Mexican and Chinese imports due to begin.

Wednesday: PMQs.

Thursday: Volodymyr Zelenskyy invited to EU special leaders’ summit on security and Ukraine.

Friday: Japan-UK foreign and economic ministers’ meeting expected.

Saturday: International Women’s Day.

Guinness Six Nations round four. 


Sunday: ICC Champions Trophy final.

“Things Learnt (Then Forgotten)” – Week 8.

Spinach & decimal points…

BBC News has had a terrible week.

“While the board appreciates that mistakes can be made, the mistakes here are significant and damaging to the BBC.”

The fallout from Gaza: How To Survive a Warzone is one of those classic (and apparently uniquely) BBC situations where it manages to annoy everybody.

By all accounts the process of verifying exactly who the documentary narrator is fell way below what you’d expect of a story of such obvious sensitivity.


The Sundays lay the blame squarely at the door of Joanna Carr, the Head of BBC Current Affairs. She gets a mauling, and the coverage screams of scores being settled. There are no shortage of anonymous “insiders” happy to put the boot in. Here’s one particularly waspish quote in the Sunday Times…

The final edition of The Observer under Scott Trust ownership will come out on Easter Sunday.

Carole Cadwalladr (who won multiple awards for her investigations into the Cambridge Analytica scandal) has effectively been fired by Tortoise Media before she can begin, after being told her contract will not be renewed. 

According to Press Gazette, this appears to contravene assurances all existing Observer contractors would be given year-long Tortoise Media contracts.

The NUJ has expressed “serious concern” that her departure follows her making public criticism of the Observer deal.

READ MORE

“What is clear is that Bezos no longer wants to own an independent news organization. He wants a megaphone and a political tool that will benefit his own commercial interests.”

Like slowing to look at a motorway pile-up, I’m aware the Briefing has had too much of a focus on the US recently, but it really is hard to look away when the boss of Amazon decides only opinions that support “personal liberties” and “free markets” will be welcome in the opinion pages of the (once mighty) Washington Post.

READ MORE

See or hear a brilliant (or terrible) interview over the last 7 days? 

We’re always looking to build our library of news clips and examples.

Drop us a line 

The last of Tim Radford’s 25 Commandments. Number 12:

12. There is always an ideal first sentence – an intro, a way in – for any article. It really helps to think of this one before you start writing, because you will discover that the subsequent sentences write themselves, very quickly. This is not evidence that you are glib, facile, shallow or slick. Or even gifted. It merely means you hit the right first sentence.

READ MORE

Large Group Sessions:

We’ve a set of courses up and running specifically for larger groups – up to 40 at a time. We’re running these in-person and online.

Click on the links above (or READ MORE) – or drop us a line if you’d like more info.

News In Brief:

Charlotte Moore – most people’s tip to be the first female BBC Director General – has surprised colleagues by announcing she’s leaving the corporation and moving to an indie.

READ MOORE

GB News more than doubled its revenues in the past year to £15.8m but its total losses now top £100m.

READ MORE

Footnotes:

On this day: The Queen opened the new £153m Barbican Arts Centre in the City of London on this day in 1982.

Monday weather: Nottingham – 12 and sunny. Bristol – 10 and sunny.

Mutts: Another day of toil…

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

LinkedIn  Twitter

By |10 March 2025|

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