Tales of Tiger Woods: Little more than 'tabloid gossip'?
There seem to be some news events that can be guaranteed to make listeners agitated, not because of the story itself, but because, for some people, what is being covered just doesn't seem like news.
Tiger Woods addresses a press conference last week. Picture: Getty
The recent statement made by golfer Tiger Woods about his private life was just such an event. It was an unusual sort of press conference, since very few members of the press were in the room with him - his mother was there in the front row, and a group of friends, colleagues and sponsors also attended.
And no one was allowed to ask questions, which are usually a feature of press conferences.
All of this prompted listeners' to contact Over To You as you can hear on this week's programme: "tabloid gossip" was one fairly typical comment.
So Rajan and I went to the World Service newsroom to talk to the man in charge of all the news and current affairs programmes, Andrew Whitehead, and see how he felt about the amount of coverage given to Tiger Woods.
You can hear his response in this week's programme - he'd given plenty of thought to the subject, so please contact us with your comments on this subject.
Vancouver
Another topic this week is coverage of the Winter Olympics - or, in the view of listener Petr Baudis, lack of coverage.
He wondered whether it was perhaps scarce resources that have limited the reporting - or whether the concept of winter sports is something that just doesn't appeal if you live in a part of the world where snow and ice are things you read about but never experience.
Pam Poole is the editor of World Service Sport, and she explained to Rajan what needs to be taken into account when deciding which sporting events to cover.
But regardless of where you live in the world, I wonder how you feel about Winter Olympics coverage?
Cathy Packe is the Producer, Over To You
Over To You is your chance to have your say about the 91Èȱ¬ World Service and
its programmes. It airs at 10:40 and 23:40 every Saturday, and atÌý02:40 on Sunday (GMT).Ìý
- Listen to previous episodes ofÌýOver To You
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- Send the team your feedback by email (overtoyou@bbc.co.uk), telephone (44
144 960 9000), SMS (447786 202006) or by leaving comments on this blog.
Comment number 1.
At 2nd Mar 2010, rangdaa wrote:Sport, money, celebrity and Sex.
Am I witnessing the self-destruction of the 91Èȱ¬ World Service?
We live in an age of instant gratification when the populist media panders to the most demeaning elements of modern society.
Perhaps it is time for 2 91Èȱ¬ World Service stations. The traditional 91Èȱ¬ broadcasting to an intelligent, educated audience and ensuring that there is an intelligent, well educated audience amongst future generations. And 91Èȱ¬ WS Lite, a semi commercial station, like 91Èȱ¬ World Television, providing populist fodder for the masses and generating some income for the 91Èȱ¬.
Alternatively the World Service could have a weekly half hour programme called Trivia in which all the tedious news about celebrities could be aired. The programme could be produced by the gentleman who champions Sport, money, celebrity and Sex, and finds it so interesting.
The current head of Features and Current Affairs should be dispatched immediately to Radio 5, where his values and 'powers of discernment' (or lack thereof) would find a much more suitable audience. Perhaps his appointment as Head of Features and Current Affairs is part of a plot to undermine the 91Èȱ¬ World Service.
The following is a quote from the letters section of Ariel (published in 2008), the in-house magazine of the 91Èȱ¬, posted by a studio manager about the attitude of the powers that be to the World Service. "It is a fantastic asset for the 91Èȱ¬ so why is management so keen to destroy it".
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Comment number 2.
At 2nd Mar 2010, rangdaa wrote:Sport, money, celebrity and Sex.
Am I witnessing the self-destruction of the 91Èȱ¬ World Service?
We live in an age of instant gratification when the populist media panders to the most demeaning elements of modern society.
Perhaps it is time for 2 91Èȱ¬ World Service stations. The traditional 91Èȱ¬ broadcasting to an intelligent, educated audience and ensuring that there is an intelligent, well educated audience amongst future generations. And 91Èȱ¬ WS Lite, a semi commercial station, like 91Èȱ¬ World Television, providing populist fodder for the masses and generating some income for the 91Èȱ¬.
Alternatively the World Service could have a weekly half hour programme called Trivia in which all the tedious news about celebrities could be aired. The programme could be produced by the gentleman who champions Sport, money, celebrity and Sex, and finds it so interesting.
The current head of Features and Current Affairs should be dispatched immediately to Radio 5, where his values and 'powers of discernment' (or lack thereof) would find a much more suitable audience. Perhaps his appointment as Head of Features and Current Affairs is part of a plot to undermine the 91Èȱ¬ World Service.
The following is a quote from the letters section of Ariel (published in 2008), the in-house magazine of the 91Èȱ¬, posted by a studio manager about the attitude of the powers that be to the World Service. "It is a fantastic asset for the 91Èȱ¬ so why is management so keen to destroy it".
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Comment number 3.
At 9th Mar 2010, Kapibara wrote:Sport, money, celebrity and sex - is this what the 91Èȱ¬ World Service has come to? Is this how far our once estimable broadcaster has degenerated?
The cult of celebrity and money is destroying the Western World. Science and engineering students are now the major source of graduates entering Banking today; lured by the fantastic, and massively distorted, financial rewards. But what we need in Britain, and the rest of the world today, are scientists and engineers, not overpaid, unscrupulous bankers.
Look at the disastrous effect on world security of an ignorant, ill-informed president (George W. Bush) elected by an ill-informed, ignorant population. American broadcasting is obsessed with celebrity, sport, money and parochial human interest stories, just like the 91Èȱ¬ World Service is becoming. The end result is a population that cannot take intelligent, well informed decisions, with disastrous consequences.
Broadcasting has a powerful role to play in fostering global security; the 91Èȱ¬ World Service should be at the forefront of this.
I have recently been travelling extensively, and I have been very surprised at the number of people who have said to me "What has happened to the World Service; it seems to be all about celebrity and sport these days".
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Comment number 4.
At 19th Apr 2010, dennisjunior1 wrote:Cathy:
I am in complete support with Tiger Woods regarding the story is a complete and utter tabloid gossip story.
(d)
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