Edition 509

Good morning, it’s Monday 29th September.

Kicking off this week with a bizarre account by an academic interviewed for an article in the Washington Post…

 “The arrangement would gift Trump’s billionaire allies a degree of control over US media that would be vast and unprecedented.”


Trump’s plan to let TikTok continue operating in the US includes a new seven-member board of directors. The names are depressingly familiar. 


Read The Article

The Week Ahead:

Monday: Rachel Reeves speech to Labour Party conference.

Tyler Robinson in court over Charlie Kirk shooting.


Tuesday: Keir Starmer speech to Labour Party conference.

ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup begins.


Wednesday: Energy price cap changes take effect.

Deputy leadership hustings at final day of Labour conference.


Thursday: Denmark hosts European Political Community Summit.


Friday: Zack Polanski speech to Green Party conference.

Taylor Swift releases new album The Life of a Showgirl.

Sunday: Conservative Party conference opens.

First elections due in Syria since the fall of Assad.

“You just have to listen to…”


How do you find out about good podcasts?

Source: RAJAR’s MIDAS survey. Stuffed full of data on how, when and where audio content is consumed.


Read The Report

Substack Delivers


Last week I noted that Substack is having a moment. I’ve been exploring what’s out there and will share a few highlights over the coming weeks. First up: Peter Kellner on how public perceptions of issues from immigration to knife crime diverge sharply from reality.

The reasons why are fascinating, and (as usual) the media seems a cause as well as a possible solution.

Read More

“100% agree with you on mock interviews. It makes me nervous and forgetful (trying to remember what I rehearsed).”


Thanks Mo for your feedback following last week’s vid.

Last week’s poll results: 38% said it was helpful to have a mock interview. 62% said it was unhelpful.

The Liftable Quote Club

“Footage of the most powerful man on the planet wandering into a press conference, recycling anti-vax folklore and riffing like some deranged game-show host. This is the theatre we’re left with: brands helplessly messaging in a sea of noise, while memes eat them alive.”

Mark Borkowski on the Trump Tylenol diatribe

The Aftercare App

All the familiar media training aftercare features are now in one place, alongside masses of new resources.

You can use the App on your phone, or simply log in via desktop.

Footnotes:

Starmer’s Head of Comms Steph Driver has announced she is leaving Downing Street.

On this day: The United States successfully launched its first crewed space mission since the Challenger disaster on this day in 1988.

Present Day: Was at Twickenham on Saturday to see the Red Roses win the Rugby World Cup. A superb day of sport and an incredible atmosphere:

Mutts: Beach Boy…

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 508

Good morning, it’s Monday 22nd September.

(Stop suing newspapers you great pudding. You’re the President of the United States.)

Kicking off this week with the next 7 days of news:

The Week Ahead:

Monday: Several countries expected to recognise Palestinian statehood at UNGA summit on a two-state solution.

Ballon d’Or ceremony.

Tuesday: Ed Davey speech to Liberal Democrat conference.

Wednesday: Antonio Guterres hosts high-level Climate Summit.

Jaguar Land Rover production facilities may reopen after cyber attack.

Thursday: High Court hearing in Home Office challenge to Palestine Action appeal.

Friday: Keir Starmer and Benjamin Netanyahu speak at UNGA.

Ryder Cup begins.

Saturday: Women’s Rugby World Cup Final.

Sunday: Labour Party conference opens with protests planned by Farmers To Action and Defend Our Juries.

Peaking Too Soon?

The pros and cons of undertaking a mock interview before going on air…

The Jimmy Kimmel situation in the States is terrifying. ABC pulled his show following these comments made by broadcast regulator boss Brendan Carr:

“Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel or, you know, there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

It’s the sheer hypocrisy that is bugging most people. Not just from Trump, but Brendan Carr himself, who is also on record as saying the following:

“Should the government censor speech it doesn’t like? Of course not. The FCC does not have a roving mandate to police speech in the name of the ‘public interest.’” 2019. 

“A newsroom’s decision about what stories to cover and how to frame them should be beyond the reach of any government official …” 2021

And my particular favourite:

“Political satire is one of the oldest and most important forms of free speech. It challenges those in power while using humor to draw more people in to the discussion” 2022


Source: The Poynter Report

This NYT timeline is interesting and not (atow) behind the paywall:
READ MORE

A Royal Cleaner Spills… 


Former royal cleaner Anne Simmons is everywhere at the moment. You might have read her tips and revelations in The Times. Or The Sun. Or the Daily Mail. Or the Daily Mirror. Or the New York Post…

Good on Anne. Everyone needs to make a living. There’s just one problem. Buck Palace has zero record of Simmons ever working there. And Press Gazette – a dog with a bone on this stuff – can find no trace of her actually existing.

To quote Press Gazette directly:

“These appear to be yet more examples of dubious PR content being published by journalists and editors who don’t have the time or the inclination to check whether it is fact or fiction.”

And if you’re thinking, who cares whether the “10 minute trick on polishing the royal taps” is fact or fiction, you’d be right. Except…if our Anne is being quoted unchecked and unverified, who and what else is?

Newslines that caught my eye last week:

Substack is having a moment. Monthly visits grew 49% to 123.8 million visits in August compared to a year before. And people are spending longer on the site too. More on this in future weeks.

BBC’s Reform Balancing Act

Results of last week’s poll asking whether the BBC has got its coverage of Reform right, given the party had 4 MPs (now 5) but a consistent 30% slice of the opinion polls.

262 of you voted. Thanks.

Too prominent: 59%

Not prominent enough: 19%
About right: 13%
I embraced news avoidance some time ago so have no useful opinion: 9%

The Liftable Quote Club

The Aftercare App

All the familiar media training aftercare features are now in one place, alongside masses of new resources.

You can use the App on your phone, or simply log in via desktop.

Footnotes:

On this day: Britain’s first independent television station went on air, bringing advertisements to the airwaves for the first time, on this day in 1955.

Mutts: The hairies on a walk last week. 
(Stanmer Park, for anyone who knows Brighton…)

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 507

Good morning, it’s Monday 15th September.

Kicking off this week with the curious incident of the Zoom call on Sky News…

BBC’s Reform Balancing Act

DG Tim Davie gave evidence to a Parliamentary select committee last week:

What’s your view?

Put aside any political leanings you might have. Reform currently has:

– 4 MPs
and
- 30% support with the public (source)

Results next week.

24 Years On – Coverage of September 11 

I wasn’t quite at 5 Live then, but the network’s breaking news coverage of the Twin Towers attacks was extraordinary radio. What’s often forgotten was that Simon Mayo was completely untrusted as a news broadcaster at that point, having joined from Radio 1 just three months earlier. He was brilliant that day, and his account (rich with archive) of presenting the programme is fascinating… 

LISTEN HERE

The Aftercare App

Thank you for your kind words about the new Inside Edge Aftercare App. 


If you missed last week’s newsletter: all the familiar media training aftercare features are now in one place, alongside masses of new resources.

You can use the App on your phone, or simply log in via desktop.

The Week Ahead:

Monday: Trial begins for Soldier F charged over Bloody Sunday killings.

Tuesday: Donald Trump arrives for UK State Visit.

UK labour market statistics.

Wednesday: Donald Trump and King Charles address State Banquet.
UK inflation data.

Thursday: Keir Starmer hosts Donald Trump at Chequers.
UK interest rate decision.
General strike in France.

Friday: House of Lords continues debate on assisted dying bill.

Saturday: Liberal Democrats autumn conference opens.

Sunday: Traffic-free day on Oxford Street.
World Athletics Championships concludes.

Newslines that caught my eye last week:

Press freedom around the world suffered its sharpest fall in 50 years with global democracy weakening dramatically, a landmark report found. READ MORE
__


“At 94, Murdoch has defied the odds, pulling off one last remarkable deal to secure his legacy and the conservative rule of his media kingdom — including juggernaut Fox News — long after he is gone.” READ MORE
__

Mori founder Bob Worcester died last week at the age of 91. His obit is fascinating. READ MORE

Footnotes:

On this day: The Sun newspaper was published for the very first time on this day in 1964.

Mutts: Leo on that same August walk..

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 week. Have a brilliant week.

All at Inside Edge

Edition 506

Good morning, it’s Monday 8th September.

We’ve been busy in August. This is the result…

1) Farewell Melvyn

If I kept a tally of the programme academics tell me they’d love to appear on, In Our Time would be top by a country mile.

It’s partly I suspect so they can spend a morning in the company of Melvyn Bragg. After more than 1000 episodes and 27 years the great man has announced he’s had enough:

“For a programme with a wholly misleading title which started from scratch with a 6 month contract, it’s been quite a ride.”

Melvyn Bragg

He’s a superb broadcaster – and I know that for one reader of the Briefing he’s a regular bedfellow to help him sleep in the early hours.

If you’ve appeared on the programme over the last three decades please get in touch and we’ll share some reflections over the next couple of weeks.

In Our Time will continue with an as-yet unannounced new host. 

2) Farewell Angela

Words, first of all from Mic Wright in his newsletter Conquest Of The Useless:

“As the front pages began to roll in on Thursday night, even Labour’s media allies signalled trouble.”

And The Guardian’s Michael Savage on “an old-fashioned scalp for the rightwing press.”

READ MORE

Five newslines that caught my eye over August:

1: The war in Gaza became the most deadly conflict for journalists in history.

Read More

2: Bluesky’s status was confirmed as the social media platform of choice for the world’s scientists.

Read More

3: Sky News cancelled its Business Live programme, leaving the channel without a stand-alone business programme for the first time since 2007.

Read More

4: The Post uncovered extraordinary new details and previously unreported efforts to find Austin Tice – the reporter kidnapped 13 years ago in Syria.

Read More (p/w)

5: “A cornucopia”: 1,500 matches will be broadcast in the UK this football season, an unprecedented number.

Read More

The Week Ahead:

Monday: Paul Nowak addresses the Trades Union Congress.

Erin Patterson is sentenced after being found guilty over Australian deadly mushroom lunch

Tuesday: Apple launch event for iPhone 17

Wednesday: Ursula von der Leyen delivers State of the European Union address.

National Television Awards.

Thursday: ECB interest rate decision.

Court hearing for Jeffrey Donaldson over alleged sexual offences.

Friday: House of Lords debates assisted dying bill for the first time.

Monthly UK GDP estimate.

Saturday: ‘Tommy Robinson’ supporters and Stand Up To Racism stage competing protests in London.

World Athletics Championships begin in Tokyo.

Footnotes:

On this day: General Dwight D Eisenhower told the world of the secret capitulation five days ago by the Italian Government on this day in 1943.

Mutts: Stan on an August walk..

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 week. Have a brilliant week.

All at Inside Edge