Edition 518

Good morning, it’s Monday 1st December.

Word Of The Year:

For the last few years we’ve had a tradition of jumping on the OED’s Word Of The Year bandwagon with one of our own. 

The word is effectively the concept we’ve been thinking about and developing as trainers perhaps more than any other over the last 12 months.

Surprisingly (maybe?), we’ve opted for the word enjoyment this year.

And here’s why:

“Pointlessly Formulaic”:

Insights into Budget Day from Jessica Elgot, deputy political editor at The Guardian: 

“I will often get 300+ emails offering quotes. 95% of these I won’t even open. Too many rapid reaction quotes are pointlessly formulaic. Mostly we get quotes that say ‘this is a budget of two halves, one half good, the other half bad, time will tell etc….’”

“My real advice is not to prioritise speed but to take time to read the thing and try to highlight stuff that is not obvious and that might make a good day two story – something others might not have clocked.”

The Week Ahead:

Monday: Keir Starmer delivers foreign policy address at Lady Mayor’s Banquet.


Tuesday: OBR at committee session on the Autumn Budget following early publication.

IOPC report on Hillsborough.

Thursday: England men begin second Ashes test against Australia.

Vladimir Putin begins two-day visit to India. 

Friday:  2026 World Cup draw and inaugural (ridiculous) FIFA Peace Prize winner announcement.

House of Lords continues debate on assisted dying bill. 


Saturday: Small Business Saturday.

“Call them the four horsemen of the infocalypse. Unchecked, they will surely destroy our trust in almost anything we read online.”


Excellent, if depressing article from John Thornhill in the FT on the perfect storm of imposter accounts, lax moderation, extremism and synthetic content.


READ HERE

New Year, New Job.

Fancy it?

You have until the 31st December to get your application in.

Good luck!

Footnotes: 


On this day: Rosa Parks was arrested by police in Montgomery, Alabama, after refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white person on this day in 1955.

Mutt Photo:

Be part of the MMB. Thoughts on this week’s content, or interviews you’ve seen, heard, or (best of all) done, please let us know.

Back next Monday for one more edition before we take a break. 

Have a brilliant week.

All at Inside Edge

Edition 517

Good morning, it’s Monday 24th November. Budget week.

Introverts and Extroverts On Air: 
And why introverts might actually make better interviewees:

The Week Ahead:

Monday: MPs grill Samir Shah and Michael Prescott on the work of the BBC

Peter Kyle and Kemi Badenoch at CBI annual conference


Tuesday: High Court holds full judicial review in challenge to Palestine Action proscription


Wednesday: Rachel Reeves delivers the Autumn Budget


Thursday: Quarterly and long-term migration statistics

Pope Leo begins visit to Turkey

Friday: Black Friday


Saturday: Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s Your Party holds inaugural conference

International Day for Palestine march in London

Right-wing Publishing Powerhouse:

The owner of the Daily Mail is set to buy the Telegraph, according to reports over the weekend.

The deal is likely to trigger an investigation by the media regulator Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority.

“Quiet Piggy”

The response from the leader of the free world to a female reporter asking a perfectly reasonable question on Air Force One. Welcome back to Trump’s America, part 4,657.

We should be used to his misogyny, his bullying, his downright idiocy, right?

Here’s Margaret Sullivan in The Guardian:

“But, for me, “quiet, piggy” somehow breaks through. It should be a bridge too far, not business as usual.Wouldn’t it have been something to see the entire press corps shout back at Trump, in defense of their colleague? Wouldn’t it have been something to see them walk away from the gaggle?”


Why didn’t they?

READ MORE

“Saying The Unsayable” 


This email from reader Dennis in response to the Mark Borkowski article on political rhetoric quoted in last week’s newsletter is bang on the money:

“Regarding the “beige dialect”, I can’t make the definition of deliberately sterile and inoffensive communication tally with the Home Secretary’s inflammatory announcements about immigration law. On both sides of the Atlantic, politicians seem to be using controversy to mobilise angry voters, rather than trying to avoid offence. 


After what had preceded it, I’d hoped that the new government would bring less offensive, more sensible, and perhaps even more “beige” politics. Saying what used to be unsayable isn’t always a good thing.” 

Footnotes: 


On this day: Lee Harvey Oswald, the man accused of murdering President Kennedy, was himself shot dead in a Dallas police station on this day in 1963.

Mutt Photo:

Be part of the MMB. Thoughts on this week’s content, or interviews you’ve seen, heard, or (best of all) done, please let us know.

Back next Monday. Have a brilliant week.

All at Inside Edge

Edition 516

Good morning, it’s Monday 17th November.

The Week Ahead:

Monday: Shabana Mahmood expected to publish Asylum Policy Statement amid speculation over Danish-style asylum reforms.


Tuesday:  Donald Trump hosts Mohammed Bin Salman at the White House.


Wednesday: UK inflation data released.
Latest round of resident doctors’ strikes ends.


Thursday:  Covid Inquiry Module 2 report published.

Negotiations day at COP30.

Friday: Final public sector finance data released ahead of the Budget.

England play Australia in The Men’s Ashes first test.


Saturday: South Africa hosts G20 leaders’ summit.

One Word Answers in interviews: 
A wasted opportunity to link, or a genuine moment of impact?

Words Without Risk

Mark Borkowski writes superbly on the danger of the “beige dialect” of Westminster politics and compares it to the recent New York mayoral campaign of Zohran Mamdani.

I get that we campaign in poetry and govern in prose, but it’s hard to disagree with a single word of his Westminster takedown.


READ MORE

BBC Post-script:

”The BBC is very widely used across the political spectrum. It is the most popular source of news among both Conservative and Labour voters, and among both Leave and Remain voters.”


I’ve had enough of the BBC story to last me a lifetime, however the Reuters Institute updated their numbers on levels of trust in the UK towards the Beeb, which is worth remembering as the levels of hysteria reach hyperdrive…

READ MORE

News In Brief


Figures show none of the US ‘big four’ – CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox – appear to have sent teams to cover the COP summit in Belém

READ MORE

New analysis of more than 220,000 UK broadcast mentions shows the Green Party is the only political force to have increased its airtime since early September.

READ MORE

P45 Time:


A fascinating pay-off line from an article about car sales in one of Pakistan’s leading newspapers last week:

Footnotes: 


On this day: The head of the Renault car company, Georges Besse, was assassinated outside his home in Paris on this day in 1986.

Mutt Photo: “Pop on an old Crufts re-run Leo, and snuggle up under my blanket”…

Be part of the MMB. Thoughts on this week’s content, or interviews you’ve seen, heard, or (best of all) done, please let us know.

Back next Monday. Have a brilliant week.

All at Inside Edge

Edition 514

BBC DG Tim Davie and CEO of News Deborah Turness resign.

Choose your narrative folks: the Trump Panorama edit was bad journalism and heads had to roll. Or the plan of those who wish the BBC existential harm is bang on track.

Both of these narratives can be true of course. But for anyone who cares for public service broadcasting, this is a grim moment.

“While mistakes have been made, I want to be absolutely clear recent allegations that BBC News is institutionally biased are wrong.”
Deborah Turness

“Yet pity the BBC that, while tiptoeing not always gracefully through these editorial minefields with thousands of hours of content, it has also to deal with enemies from within.”

There may well be fresh newslines by the time you read this, but as of 21:30 on Sunday night, Jane Martinson’s is one of the best takes I’ve seen.

READ MORE

Good morning, it’s Monday 10th November.

Where do we get our news from?

Results of last week’s GB News dilemma: 

Should research organisations engage with, or ignore GB News?


Engage: 39.7%
Ignore: 33.3%

This is way too complicated for a poll: 27%

Thanks to all who voted.

Cable news-ification


Two Harvard economists used second-by-second TV viewing data to show cable TV’s pivotal role in polarising America.

Here’s part of John Burn-Murdoch’s write-up in the FT: 

”Content relating to crime, immigration, race, gender and criticism of elites reliably increases viewing figures (while economics and healthcare cause people to switch away). This means there is a resulting shift in coverage towards more culture war issues and fewer socio-economic

stories, which leads voters to rate these issues as more important. Politicians then respond by campaigning more on cultural hot button topics. All told, they estimate that the emergence and growth of cable news can account for fully one-third of the increase in US cultural conflict since 2000.”

READ THE PAPER (“The Business of the Culture War”)
READ THE ARTICLE (Paywall)

The Week Ahead:

Monday: Ofsted report card introduced.

Donald Trump hosts Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa.

COP30 begins. 


Tuesday:  David Lammy leads Justice questions in the Commons following prisoner release row.


Wednesday:  High Court hears legal challenge to EHRC gender guidance.


Thursday: Third quarter GDP.

England v Serbia Men’s World Cup qualifier.

10th anniversary of the Paris Bataclan attacks. 

Friday: Four-day BMA resident doctors’ strike begins.


Sunday: England v Albania Men’s World Cup qualifier.

Westminster-Bubble News

Notes on two set-piece political events last week:

1) Nigel Farage’s speech on the economy was a brilliant reminder that you can book the grandest location on the planet for your presser, but if you don’t think through the camera angles you’re wasting your money…

2) At Rachel Reeves’s pre-budget speech, the front row wasn’t only reserved for political reporters from national newspapers/broadcasters but for social media content creators too.

The Chancellor also called on influencers Abi Foster and Cameron Smith for questions.

Ready To Yawn


I rate Emma Barnett, but is this seriously the best treatment the BBC could come up with for her podcast?

The BBC seems to be handing out podcasts to presenters like sweets from a jar at the moment.

Footnotes: 


On this day: Michael Foot defeated Denis Healey in a shock result to the Labour leadership contest.on this day in 1980.

Mutt Photo: Stan loving the autumn walks. Not bad for a 13 year old…

Be part of the MMB. Thoughts on this week’s content, or interviews you’ve seen, heard, or (best of all) done, please let us know.

Back next Monday. Have a brilliant week.

All at Inside Edge