Good morning. It’s Monday 21st October.

“Getting in the media is the best way to get something through to a politician, absolutely.”

Professor Tim Leunig 

Year Of The Expert takes a detour this week on account of an interview given by Professor Tim Leunig on BBC 5Live. It takes us right back to Part 1 – why bother engaging with the media. We think it’s worth 3 minutes of your time, particularly if you’re an expert yet to be convinced of the benefits of media engagement. 

LISTEN HERE

“When it comes to media freedom, all the warning lights are flashing.”

Tim Davie

BBC DG Tim Davie’s speech to the Future Resilience Forum included this line:

“The BBC World Service is a priceless global asset. The former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, once described it as possibly “Britain’s greatest gift to the world”. But the truth is, the World Service is now operating under intolerable pressures.”

READ MORE

“Yes, but…” Part 1…

“HARDtalk was never just another news show. A brilliant team of producers and researchers is being disbanded just as BBC DG Tim Davie is trying to persuade the British Govt that the journalism of the BBC World Service is such a vital expression of democratic soft power that the taxpayer must fund it.”

Presenter Stephen Sackur reacts to the news that HARDtalk is being axed, amid cuts across BBC News

READ MORE

“Yes, but…” Part 2…

Davie went on the Today Programme ahead of his speech and was inevitably asked about the fallout from Huw Edwards’ conviction. Nick Robinson asked him about the power of on air ‘talent’:

“I don’t think anyone is indispensable…we often refer to people like yourself as ‘talent’ – I’d like to ban that word…Everyone should be treated equally, regardless of rank…We’re sorting this culture.” 

The final word on Talent goes to Libby Purves in The Times (herself a former Today programme producer then presenter):

“If the culture changes, good. Let the affronted talent ease its vanity with Clive Myrie-type £10k dinner speeches. If the T-word itself gets banned, still better. It is widely hated by gifted, anxious programme makers who see their production money eroding and their intern runners living on Greggs pasties and student debt. “Got no budget,” they mourn. “Effing talent’s had it all.””

The week ahead:

Monday: Employment Rights Bill debated for the first time in the Commons

UN Biodiversity Conference (COP-16) opens

Tuesday: World Economic Outlook published 

Wednesday: Inquest into the death of Brianna Ghey

Thursday: Prime Minister Keir Starmer and King Charles in Samoa for CHOGM

Friday: Lionesses play Germany 

Sunday: Israel holds National Remembrance Day for October 7 attacks

Snap election in Japan 

The boss of the Institute for Fiscal Studies Paul Johnson is stepping down next year.

He’s a superb communicator. Never shies away from economic complexity, yet roots his numbers in the audience’s world. 

Reliable. Friendly. Generous with his time and expertise. Understands the impact media engagement can have.

Newsrooms and audiences will miss him.

A rare foray into sport for this week’s Monday Media Briefing…

“Gareth Southgate was not a naturally confident public speaker, but gradually honed his act until he perfected the art of saying nothing very wisely.”

Jonathan Liew’s excellent article about communication in elite sport.

READ MORE

“The analysis on why he died, written by the people who caused him such pain, who themselves have so little understanding, is at best ironic and at worse an insult.”

Former Sun Editor David Yelland on the Mail’s coverage of Liam Payne’s death:

Footnotes:

On this day: Tragedy hit the Welsh village of Aberfan as a coal slag tip engulfed a school burying at least 130 people and injuring many more on this day in 1966.

Quiz: Not sitting this week

Weather: 13 degrees in Edinburgh, 16 degrees in Exeter, 2 degrees in Edmonton, Canada.

Coffee? Inside Edge is in London, Birmingham and Pontypridd this week

Mutts: In warmer times…

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

Good morning. It’s Monday 14th October. The week ahead:

Monday: GB Investment Summit

Inquiry opens into the Novichok poisoning death of Dawn Sturgess

Nobel economics prize winner announced

Tuesday: Horizon IT director at Post Office inquiry

UK labour market statistics

Wednesday: Assisted dying bill introduced in the Commons

RIBA Stirling Prize Awards

Thursday: Premier League holds official clubs meeting

EU Summit Brussels (and Friday) 

Friday: King Charles in Australia (then Samoa) 

Saturday: Joni Mitchell performs in California 

Sunday: United States Grand Prix 

“We’ve received pushback to last week’s audio diary – which is rare. Usually we don’t get much reaction at all, which I take to mean everyone is delighted…”

Robust challenge from listeners following my advice to ignore the latest AI innovation. (It allows you to read notes from your laptop screen when undertaking a TV interview, yet give the impression to the viewer that you are looking at the camera).

“I would 100% use this feature. My constant dread in interviews is forgetting stats. To have just these in front of me means I can relax and actually try to perform well rather than just try to recall the numbers.” 

“It’s not about a script. It’s about my Top Line, a couple of specifics. Some areas to steer away from.” 

Both interventions get short shrift…

LISTEN HERE

“The owner of the New York Sun is the leading contender to buy the Daily Telegraph, but his fighting talk about the situation in the Middle East has sparked alarm among staff about the editorial influence and impartiality of their potential new owner.”

I’ve been meaning to link to this for a while, but The Guardian (and others) are right to ask…

Who is Dovid Efune, leading contender to buy Daily Telegraph?

READ MORE

Changes at BBC 5 Live.

Olympian Jeanette Kwakye is to present the weekend breakfast programme alongside Eleanor Oldroyd on Saturdays and Gordon Smart on Sundays.

After a decade presenting Drive, Tony Livesey is moving to the late evening show. Chris Warburton will now present with Clare McDonnell.

READ MORE

“What!? No quiz question?” Harsh but fair from reader Dylan.

(He’s not wrong. We did miss last week. But the quiz is back…)

According to Press Gazette, an email sent by Birmingham Live editor Graeme Brown suggested journalists should file at least how many stories per day unless they were newsgathering outside of the office?

Answer in the footnotes.

James Cox, who presented the Radio 4’s The World This Weekend for more than a decade has died.

READ MORE

Footnotes:

On this day: Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres were named the winners of the Nobel peace prize on this day in 1994.

Quiz: The answer is a whopping eight stories a day. READ MORE

Weather: 15 degrees in Deal, 11 degrees in Derby, 27 degrees in Denver.

Coffee? Inside Edge is in Brighton, Birmingham and London this week

Mutts: Another day at the coal face…

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

“Audiences just know. People can tell when you are being spontaneous and when you are simply reading or reciting.”

Jeremy Clarkson

Part 4, Episode 5 of Year Of The Expert poses the following question… 

If A.I. allowed you to read notes from your laptop screen, yet give the impression you were maintaining eye contact with the camera at all times, would you utilise it to undertake a TV interview?

The short answer should be “no, absolutely not”, however for a bit more nuance…

LISTEN HERE

Good morning. It’s Monday 7th October. The week ahead:

Monday: MPs return to Westminster

ESA launches Hera mission

Tuesday: Nobel Physics Prize winner announced

Wednesday: Votes today (and Thursday) will whittle the Tory leadership candidates down to the final two

Post Office CEO appears at Horizon IT system inquiry

Thursday: Release of Boris Johnson memoirs

Nobel Literature Prize winner announced

President Biden in Germany

Friday: Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize announced

Monthly GDP estimate

Jay Blades in court on controlling behaviour charges

Sunday: 100 days ago: new UK government formed

Quite the mea culpa from Laura K this week…

Sky News has also pulled its 1-1 Johnson interview, for different reasons:

READ MORE

As the Israeli offensive against targets in Lebanon continues, The Media Show assembles a stellar cast to discuss the challenges for journalists reporting the story from Beirut and Jerusalem.

Well worth a listen.

LISTEN HERE 

Whilst writing about Phillip Schofield’s “redemption arc” (I know…), PR consultant Mark Borkowski said this: 

“The public’s attention span is about as long as a TikTok clip, and the news cycle is just as fleeting. 80% of online news stories hit their peak within 20 hours, meaning that we collectively forget them faster than we scroll past useless ads.”

BORKOWSKI ARTICLE

The 20 hour stat intrigued me. It’s taken from research by consultancy MX3. Here’s some context I found interesting, with a link to the research below: 

“Articles focused on breaking news have shorter lifespans than deeper reads in science and technology. Reports on weather and disaster, for example, receive 80% of their page views in less than a day while articles related to science have a median completion time of 34 and 36 hours.”

MX3 RESEARCH

The Guardian was the biggest commercial news website in the UK in August, overtaking The Sun and Mail Online in Press Gazette’s monthly ranking.

READ MORE

Footnotes:

On this day: Ninety sets of Swedish identical twins travelled to Felixstowe for a brief shopping trip on this day in 1977. (For context: READ MORE)

Weather: A balmy 18 degrees in Canterbury. 16 degrees in Cardiff. 31 degrees in Cairo.

Coffee? Inside Edge is in Brighton and London this week

Mutts: Designated driver…

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

Good morning. It’s Monday 30th September. The week ahead:

Conference season continues. Tories in Birmingham.

Monday: Britain becomes the first G7 nation to phase out coal power when the country’s last coal-fired power plant ceases operations

Tuesday: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is set to appear before a Council of Europe panel in Strasbourg

Claudia Sheinbaum becomes Mexico’s first-ever female president

Vice presidential debate in the US presidential election

Wednesday:  Jet-setting Sir Keir Starmer is off to Brussels for talks with Ursula von der Leyen

Thursday: ICC Women’s T20 World Cup begins

Friday: Coldplay releases new album

Saturday: Donald Trump returns to Butler for rally after assassination attempt

Thanks for your feedback on Part 4 of Year Of The Expert – I’m pleased it has struck a chord with some of you.

Here’s Part 4, Episode 4: Empty Space Vibe. How TV studios are changing, and the impact this has on you.

LISTEN HERE

Michael Gove is the new editor of The Spectator. 

“He’s a first-class journalist who took a detour into politics and not (as so often happens) the other way around.”

Fraser Nelson 

“I always defended Michael Gove. Then I met him.” 

A 2014 headline from…The Spectator (H/t Popbitch) 

READ MORE

__

“If anyone is expecting someone like Gove to fend off the forces of populism on his own, it might be time for them to think again…”

And a different view from Archie Bland in The Guardian: READ MORE

“…a compass that points true north isn’t much use, after all, if your fellow travellers think it leads off the edge of the world.”

Building on last week’s news about the closure of the print edition of the Standard, two prominent journalists forge their own path.

(They aren’t the first, and they won’t be the last…)

It’s week 3 of the Monday Media Briefing weekly quiz. (And they said it would never last…)

This is from a recent episode of the consistently excellent The Rest Is Entertainment podcast. A theatre producer asked Richard Osman: 

What is the work of creative art – in any genre – that has made more money than any other in the history of art? 

You’ll never get it. Answer in the footnotes.

“With the internet ever more captive to the caprices of timeline algorithms, the risk of echo chambers is even greater in this election cycle. However it is now Trump and the broader political right that is – to use the internet lingo – “too online”.”

Paulo Gerbaudo in The Guardian 

READ MORE 

Footnotes:

Society of Editors nominations: READ MORE

On this day: Hollywood actor James Dean was killed when his sports car was involved in a head-on collision with another vehicle on this day in 1955.

Weather: 15 degrees in Norwich. 13 degrees in Nantwich. 27 degrees in Nairobi.

Coffee? Inside Edge is hot-footing it around Edinburgh, Warrington and Exeter this week.

Quiz answer: The Lion King The Musical

Story of the week: Ellen emails. “So who would come out on top between angry commuter squirrels (see last week’s footnotes) and marauding runaway emus?” 

(My money is on the commuter squirrels.)

Mutts: Stan’s happy place…

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