- David Kermode
- 7 Dec 06, 04:51 PM
It's interesting, following my blog yesterday, that various people I know have now contacted me to ask what on earth I am doing listening to viewers and sticking up the tinsel (no, seriously, it'll look better than that) early.
"Have you gone stark staring mad?" was one such response. "Christmas starts far too early as it is."
One viewer asked us this morning whether we were being ? This concern was touching, but I'm happy to say that if we're being bullied by anyone, it's by our viewers (we'd already announced the change of plan, on this blog, before the papers wrote about it).
For those who hate Christmas decorations, then at least give ours a try - they will be extremely tasteful.
And for those who still hate them, then a red button development could perhaps one day present the answer...
David Kermode is editor of
- Richard Porter
- 7 Dec 06, 11:58 AM
We learnt some very interesting things about life in Iran yesterday - not just because of what's been happening on air, but also behind the scenes.
We've been hearing from a group of eloquent, passionate and idealistic students in Tehran as part of , the centrepiece of our season of programmes called .
The idea was been to link up students in Iran with students in the UK and the USA, and get them to ask each other questions and share their views about each other's cultures.
We've had some fascinating discussions about the nuclear issue, the conflict in Iraq, freedom of the media, even the wearing of headscarves. One young Iranian said, "I have an experience I want to share with everyone in the world". And because of the 麻豆社 she can, since she is being broadcast across the UK and to more than 200 countries and territories around the globe.
All of this supports one of our key objectives on 麻豆社 World, which is to connect and engage audiences by facilitating an informed and intelligent dialogue - we call it a global conversation. And that's happening with School Day 24, where dozens of schools all around the world are connecting with each other - students in Jerusalem talking to students in the West Bank, Russians talking to Georgians, Indians to Pakistanis - all of these, and many more, broadcast by our radio colleagues at 麻豆社 World Service in addition to our TV broadcasts.
But as I said, our experiences off air have also taught us something about life in Iran. The university we've been filming at, the Islamic Azad University, could not have been more helpful. Our correspondent Frances Harrison and her dedicated team have spent many weeks negotiating the arrangements and the university has pulled out all the stops to help us. And when it came to the filming, no one was monitoring the students or telling them what to say - they were left on their own to say what they think.
Contrast that with the attitude of Iranian TV, which agreed to let us rent one of their satellite dishes so we could broadcast all of our links live from the university. Then, as it came closer to the big day, it became clear that someone, somewhere had cold feet. Suddenly the dish we'd been promised was needed elsewhere and, eventually, we finally realised we weren't going to get it. Instead, Frances would have to record all her interviews and feed them over to us from her office.
It meant we couldn't get live interaction between the students - and maybe that's what somebody wanted to stop from happening. But the university was clearly pretty cross about the whole thing and was determined to let us go ahead with the interviews.
So perhaps that tells you something about the nature of Iranian society. That some people are more relaxed about engaging with the West than others. That perhaps they are suspicious of the 麻豆社 and the Western media - or worried about what their own students will say. Perhaps there's just too much red-tape. But the students know where they stand - they want to keep the conversation going and have been busy signing themselves up for various chat sites to enable them to do so.
Even without the live link-up, it still feels like we've started something...
Richard Porter is head of
- Tim Bailey
- 7 Dec 06, 11:13 AM
Reader P Harvey sent in this e-mail to The Editors:
Why was the report on civil partnerships (Radio 4 Monday, 6.00 news) covered by the religious affairs correspondent? This is a secular matter.
An interesting point. And the answer is, I fear, very mundane. We used the religious affairs correspondent on this story for the simple reason that he alerted the programme to its importance and interest, and he offered to file on it. There was nothing more to it.
I, of course, accept that this is a secular matter. It may be of interest to note that 麻豆社 correspondents do cover a wide number of issues within their portfolios; none more so than the religious affairs correspondent. However I do think that, on reflection, it would have been better to have introduced the report with the words "This report from Robert Piggot", rather than what we did - "This report from our religious affairs correspondent Robert Piggot".
Tim Bailey is editor of the Radio 4 Six O'Clock News
Mirror: Fake tickets for Strictly Come Dancing have been sold.
Sun: John Simpson criticises Michael Grade for leaving the 麻豆社. (No link)
Daily Mail: 麻豆社 Breakfast responds to viewers calls for Christmas decorations, quoting David Kermode. (No link)
Daily Telegraph and others: General Sir Mike Jackson gives the Dimbleby lecture.
Guardian: Review of the Generation Next season.
Guardian: Timothy Garton Ash says a low licence fee settlement has dangers for the 麻豆社.
