- Gary Smith
- 1 Jun 07, 04:47 PM
Next month, two 38 year old men are taking over communications for the two main political leaders - but their age is about all they have in common.
Gordon Brown has chosen , a career civil servant, to be his main spokesman; David Cameron has gone for , a former News of the World editor. Ellam has spent years behind the scenes at the Treasury; Coulson spent years winning newspaper awards through sex scandal scoops 鈥 in one busy year, his paper exposed David Beckham, Sven Goran Eriksson and David Blunkett 鈥 until he resigned over the royal phone-tapping affair.
Political journalists at Westminster will have plenty of contact with Ellam who鈥檒l conduct the daily Downing Street briefings, making him the official voice of Gordon Brown. They鈥檒l probably have less to do with Coulson though, who might well prefer to use his links to Fleet Street editors to get the Tory message across at a higher level.
The fact that Coulson worked for Rupert Murdoch will not have been a hindrance in his getting the job: it鈥檚 seen as important for the Tories to win over the likes of The Sun and the Times. The appointment of an ex-Murdoch man may however go down less well in the newsrooms and boardrooms of the Telegraph and the Mail.
Political leaders taking on top journalists is not a new idea. Most famously, on the Labour side, Alastair Campbell became Tony Blair鈥檚 press chief after being political editor of the Daily Mirror. Before him, another newspaperman, Joe Haines, did the same job for Harold Wilson, and went on to be political editor of the Mirror after he left Downing Street.
Over the years, the Tories have scoured Fleet Street to recruit their spin doctors too. Margaret Thatcher鈥檚 chief press secretary, Bernard Ingham - who was at her side throughout her premiership - had a past as a Labour Relations correspondent on the Guardian. And William Hague was looked after by Amanda Platell, who鈥檇 been sacked as editor of the Sunday Express for running a story on Peter Mandelson鈥檚 relationship with a Brazilian man.
This time the word around Westminster was that David Cameron was looking for a top TV journalist, because he was particularly keen to try to get his message right on the TV bulletins. So the announcement that Coulson had got the job came as a bit of a surprise. Insiders say he鈥檚 very pleasant, charming and dynamic, but to date few have detected in him a profound interest in party politics.
So when the two men take over next month 鈥 Coulson the tabloid editor versus Ellam the Treasury boffin鈥 we鈥檒l be entering a new spin-cycle in British politics. Whose style will get the message across best? We should of course remember that both party leaders have hinted that the age of spin is past, so maybe the biggest change will actually be a new era of straight talking.
Gary Smith is editor, political news
- Rod McKenzie
- 1 Jun 07, 04:38 PM
Boy Racers get a bad press. We know because they told us; they're fed up with being sneered at by the middle and chattering classes just because they're passionate about their motors - in the same way others are passionate about, say, horses, gardening or rugby.
And yes, it's the media's fault, too. Many of our listeners love their customised cars and the impressive sales figures of the car mags proves this is no "underground" phenomenon.
So we spent a day with a group of lads who love their pimped up wheels at Shipley Gate in Derbyshire. Our reporter Debbie Randle sidled up to the burger van where they were hanging out... the Radio 1 microphone logo proved an attraction to most and a suspicion to some. Had we come to take the mick out of them? To blame them for irresponsible street racing or pedestrian deaths?
Actually, we'd come to reflect their hobby and their passion.
Debbie was struck by the loving care and attention - one guy explained to her he'd taken his pride and joy - an old Corsa - to show his mates and a few strangers: he'd gone for a striking glittery paint job that turned heads while she was there.
The girls were on hand too - a few racers but also some glamour girls getting their photos taken draped over the motors: they love their wheels and know a good performance ride from a cheap bodge job - they're big in the chatrooms and very much part of the scene.
Debbie browsed the boom boxes in the back (pictures here) - the HDTV's and the gas cylinder exhausts that make a visible flames when the car speeds off burning rubber. But it's not, they insisted, about speed or winning illegal street races - it's about looking cool, great gadgets, impressing mates and maybe pulling birds.
As one said while munching his food at the burger van: "it's the only place where I can look at nice cars, look at women with hardly any clothes on and eat a nice burger".
Rod McKenzie is editor of Newsbeat and 1Xtra News
- David Kermode
- 1 Jun 07, 09:49 AM
For anyone whose programme offers 'interactivity' - and that is almost everyone blogging on this site, I suspect - a clip of a Mitchell and Webb sketch that is doing the rounds has caused much interest and amusement.
The sketch is very funny. It is also a bit painful. Here are a couple of examples.
"Are you personally affected by this issue? Then e-mail us. Or if you鈥檙e not affected by this issue can you imagine what it would be like if you were? Or if you are affected by it but don鈥檛 want to talk about it can you imagine what it would be like not being affected by it? Why not e-mail us?"
鈥淵ou may not know anything about the issue, but I bet you reckon something. So why not tell us what you reckon. Let us enjoy the full majesty of your uninformed ad hoc reckon, by going to bbc.co.uk鈥 clicking on 鈥榳hat I reckon鈥 and then simply beating on the keyboard with your fists or head.鈥
Interactivity offers viewers, or in this case listeners, the chance to participate and it offers us the opportunity to engage with those consuming our product. If that sounds like claptrap, then you are probably someone who does not wish to 'participate' or have us 'engage' with you.
Come to think of it, if that is you, then you are very unlikely to be reading an editor's blog.
At its best interactivity connects us with viewers, or listeners, sometimes directly influencing our editorial agenda. There are numerous stories that have been told (across TV and radio or online) that would simply not have made it to the surface were it not for interactivity.
That said, I am not pretending it is always so.
E-mails or texts being read out can be very tedious indeed. Sid in Stevenage probably doesn't give a stuff what Maureen in Manchester thinks about something.
That's why, at Breakfast, we've tried to steer our interactivity away from mere 'opinion' and more towards 'experience' or 'anecdote'. It's just more interesting that way.
Opinion does still get read out when it's especially interesting or insightful, but experience generally wins the day. The other thing that works well is questions from viewers. On a number of occasions, it has led us towards a line of questioning we might not otherwise have pursued.
What does not work is using interactive responses to fill holes in a programme in a "鈥ow then, err, let's turn to your e-mails and texts while we try to re-establish that link" sort of way. We have been guilty of this. Viewers and listeners are not stupid - they generally know if we are filling.
The other thing that doesn't work is looking, or sounding, desperate. This is what Mitchell and Webb so deliciously capture - a sense of "please tell us, please e-mail, please call.. About anything".
I'd recommend a listen to the clip. I shall certainly be sharing it with my team...
David Kermode is editor of
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