- David Kermode
- 4 Aug 06, 03:42 PM
When I tell people what I do, there are a few questions I always face.
"What are the presenters like in real life?" is one. "What do they talk about in those bits at the end of the show when the title music is playing?" is another. "And does anyone really bother to e-mail, text or call you?" is also a regular question.
The answer to that one is yes, thousands. And do we pay any attention? Yes, we'd be mad not to.
There are some mornings where it's obvious, from the relatively low traffic that no particular story has really got people going. They tend to be the days where the viewing figures are a bit lower than usual.
There are others, like today, when we are overwhelmed. They tend to be the days for bumper audiences.
And what got everybody talking this morning? Plastic bags.
Declan Curry was live at Tesco, where they're going to give customers Clubcard points for recying their carrier bags. The chief executive, Sir Terry Leahy, joined us live and found himself answering not just Declan's questions, but also those of our viewers.
We have a producer dedicated to sifting through the e-mails, texts and calls. The best ones are picked out, then sent on to Declan's Blackberry.
Interactivity isn't to everyone's tastes of course. Some people tell me they turn off when we read out viewer's e-mails.
But I think it's really important for a number of reasons. Firstly, a show like Breakfast has to be in tune with its audience to be a success. What better way could there be of knowing whether or not you're connecting with the people watching?
Secondly, we've developed our Interactive offering over the last year or so. We realised that opinions aren't necessarily that interesting, where as experiences generally are. We've also found that some of the most pertinent questions can come from our viewers and they're often that much more challenging for our interviewees to answer because they're real questions from real people.
Thirdly, we鈥檝e actually covered quite a few news stories that came through a viewer e-mail or text. We even shut down an internet bank for a day, when a viewer alerted us to a security flaw.
Interactivity isn't new of course. Watchdog has just celebrated its 25th birthday and people have been writing to us here at Breakfast for years. It's just much easier now, with modern communication.
So, is there any point in e-mailing, texting or calling us? You bet. And, yes, every little helps.
David Kermode is editor of
David Kermode is editor of
- Peter Barron
- 4 Aug 06, 02:20 PM
Though it pains me to say it, Jeremy Paxman's has been proved comprehensively right.
Viewers prefer their TV with pictures. Following the launch just last week of , our digital digest of the best bits of the week has shot straight to number one in news podcast chart. Ms Kitcast has been duly dispatched and , who has dominated the overall podcast chart for months, sleeps a little less easily as Paxman and co. storm to number 14 in that chart. For those without the technology or a quaint preference for TV without pictures, is still available at number 30 .
On this week's chart-topping edition there's another chance to see the week's most controversial moment - oddly enough from the comfortable world of designer knitwear. On Monday we asked the fashion designer Bella Freud to take part in a discussion among members of Britain's Jewish diaspora about their reaction to the events in Lebanon. Ms Freud's empassioned denunciation of the Israeli offensive provoked plenty of comment.
"Why on Earth have you got a fashion designer yarbling on about the Lebanon crisis?" wrote Neil Briscoe from Bristol, reflecting the view of many. Good word that, yarbling.
But Penelope Allen of Cornwall disagreed. "What a lovely lady Bella Freud is, if only all people behaved the way she does the world would be a better place." Better dressed too.
Even family members of the production team joined in. Download the podcast to check out the choice language of one - she'd better stay anonymous - who phoned in to berate her relative's booking.
Controversial too, and timely, was John Harris's report (watch here) this week on Cuba's healthcare system to launch our series on .
Of course, as many of you pointed out, Cuba's communist system has all manner of problems, but the statistics show that Cuba's health record compares very favourably with countries of the first world. Two points leapt out of John's report - Cuba's poverty has taught the country's health professionals that prevention is cheaper than cure, and because of the US embargo most Cubans live on the equivalent of war-time rations. During the Second World War, we Britons weren't obese either.
The aim of the exercise is not to suggest we import Cuban healthcare practices wholesale into Britain, but given the challenging state of our own public services, surely we'd be mad or very arrogant to think there's nothing we can learn from them.
And this is where we'd like your help. Many - probably most - subscribers to this blog and to our podcast are living abroad. Leave a comment and let us know what works where you are in terms of healthcare, education, transport, criminal justice. Or state broadcasting.
Peter Barron is editor of Newsnight
Peter Barron is editor of Newsnight
A guide to words and names in the news, from Lena Olausson of the 成人快手 Pronunciation Unit.
"Today's name is the Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz, pronounced am-EER PERR-ets. Hebrew stress often falls on the last syllable, and sometimes there is a tendency to treat all Israeli names like that. Peretz (and other well-known names such as Peres and Ha'aretz), however, have stress on the second to last syllable."
(.)
Daily Mail: Richard Littlejohn on Middle East coverage - "I use a rough rule of thumb whenever I watch TV coverage of the Middle East. Anyone who pronounces Hezbollah as 'Hiz-bull-arrrgh' and Israeli as 'Izza-ra-ay-lee' is almost certainly telling lies." ()
The Sun: Columnist Fergus Shanahan attacks the 成人快手's Middle East coverage for "turning war into showbiz". (no link available)
