The Glass Box for Monday
The Glass Box is the place where you can comment on what you heard on PM, interact with other listeners and get responses from the people who make the programme. This is proving to be a useful tool for us, and we hope, for you.
Just click on the "comment" link.
Don't worry either if you didn't catch the whole programme, or were busy doing other things and not giving us your full attention. If there was something that "caught your ear" we want to hear about it.
The Glass Box is named after the booth outside the PM studio where we all discuss the programme at 18.00 every weeknight. We try to be honest and constructive. Sometimes there is criticism, and the criticised get a chance to explain themselves.
The people who make PM will read the comments posted, and will sometimes respond. Unless it's Roger Sawyer editing. He's completely hopeless.
Please feel free to post your thoughts. There is a link to previous Glass Boxes on the right.
Also on the right, you'll find lots of other links you might like. The Furrowed Brow for example is the venue where you can start talking about anything serious: The Beach is a fun place, and there are links to Blog entries with photos, audio and links. And if you want to see us drone on about awards, you can do that too.
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..so far ....so good...
Yes it is tragic that the Cutty Sark has been damaged by fire. But amid all the weeping and gnashing of teeth today by the great and good one wonders why these same people have stood by and allowed this wonderful ship to rot in dry dock for the past 50 years plus.
I heard on Radio 4 a comment made by someone that there was no "Queue jumping" in the allocation of social housing....this is just a clever use of language.
If I tell 10 people to line up according to height, and then if anyone suggests that the queue is unfair to short people claim that no one is jumping the queue, I am cheating am I not? Of course it is unfair to shorter people since anyone who is taller then them will be in the queue before them, but that doesn't mean the tall people have jumped the queue.
This is the problem with social housing, no one is jumping the queue, but the way the queue is ordered means that immigrants generally gain a better position on the queue due to their needs.
I do hope that you do not allow this meaningless comment to pass uncontested as it just muddies the waters when people start making comments like this that are purposely designed to muddle the issue.
'Sooty Spark' Public Appeal:
I listened with interest to Tessa Jowell avoiding the question about Government money for the Cutty Sark.
If there is a public appeal she can have the involuntary donation I had to give the Olympics Build Programme. I would rather give some money to something I will visit again ratehr than something I will not even watch.
Eddie,
Adonis seems to have got off fairly lightly by blaming his 'professional advisers', who've been paid to tell him what he wants to hear. I'll await his 'participation' on the frog, or will he delegate that to his advisers as well?
A man with an empty desk, and a mind to match it.
Yours Aye,
ed
It was worth more time and deeper probing and more excerpts from the frog.
Johann Hari and other commentaors have remarked on PMs (and Today, and Wato) anti-New Labour output. When Mr Mair reads out emails they are only those which agree which this policy. It's a bit late now but you are supposed to be neutral.
Johann Hari and other commentators have remarked on PM, Today and Watos anti-Labour output. I now its a bit late know but aren't you supposed to be neutral. You can't going on harbouring that grudge about the Gilligan/Kelly cock-up for ever?
What is it with Robert Peston's weird new voice??
Dear bloggers,
Please see my comment on 'Your thoughts on Lord Adonis tonight'.
Thank you Eddie.
Mike (6 & 7),
Read the threads and nominate your favourite comment you deem to be in favour of the present situation.
Just read them and tell me the quoted ones don't represent a balanced sample.
As a parent of two, i am irritated by the focus in the debate just now on whether parents are getting too much information and therefore, poor things, feeling vulnerable about their parenting skills.
No mention was made by anyone that the real focus here is the wellbeing of the truly vulnerable at the heart of the issue - children. Any advice that helps parents become more intuitive towards, and understanding of, their children - whether it be advice on education or good nutrition - should be viewed as constructive and not knocking parental egos.
Parents and academics who moan in this way need to get over themselves and realise it is their children who really matter - and welcome all help and advice for what it is, an opportunity to enhance their health and happiness.
Who is supplying the M16 guns to Iraq and what profit will they make? What will happen to the old guns?
Last years Newsleter .. ...
Hello,
Nice weekend? I was enormously entertained by the Eurovision, and (deep breath) Big Brother. I vowed having watched the launch programme that I would refuse to get interested, not least because, like policemen, the contestants are getting younger every year. But hey ho, here were go again, getting sucked in. Are you appalled?
But that's not why you called. I have some good news for the subscribers who were disappointed that we didn't run our item last week on film critics. I don't want to speak too soon and disappoint again, but it looks like we will get a crack at it tonight.
We're looking at the openness of open prisons, Nigel has been at the Chelsea Flower show. He's come back with a lot of talk of gorillas. Mark Mardell is as I speak on the phone to the editor re Montenegro. And there's an item in the running order labelled "tombs" - and from the meeting I seem to remember it's a piece from Florida.
Anyway, I'll let you get on.
Eric Daz.
Naughty newsletter.
A team... are?
tsk.
But this is probably where the language is going.
Just check, my dear friends (and I need Val on my side here), and see how many singular nouns are given plural verbs these days.
Sad to think PM are going this way.
(frowny smiley thingy)
[Oooh, this is malicious, for some reason. And I haven't posted for ages.]
Steve N: me, too.
Ludicrous misuse of public funds for the Olympics.
Naughty newsletter.
A team... are?
tsk.
But this is probably where the language is going.
Just check, my dear friends (and I need Val on my side here), and see how many singular nouns are given plural verbs these days.
Sad to think PM are going this way.
(frowny smiley thingy)
[Oooh, this is malicious, for some reason. And I haven't posted for ages.]
Steve N: me, too.
Ludicrous misuse of public funds for the Olympics.
Oh, now this is an error 502.
Bah.
I loved the interview with the Cutty Sark guide. He was so interesting & such a good speaker, to find out we was 80 years old gives me inspiration for my old age! The Cutty Sark story was right to be top of the agenda. It is priceless heritage (and what do we bet it wasn't insured - things like that never are, because they are so literally "priceless" ).
Oddly, a rather similar situation happened about 10 years ago right here in Stockport. A medieval cruck-framed house that had been added & extended over the centuries was in the Market Square in an advanced state of dereliction, having last been used as a cafe. It was empty, & no-one could come up with funding or plans to do anything with it. Its biggest claim to fame was the oak caged-newell staircase which was Jacobean, & one of only 3 surviving in the country.
Surprise. The building "went on fire" & was all but destroyed one night. Much of the staircase burnt, the rest charred.
In a stroke of genius, the local authorities rebuilt the place, including the staircase, clearly delineating the old from new. Thanks to the fire many aspects of the earlier house were now revealed, & techniques of construction could be seen. Most of the place can now be explored in a hands on fashion, as the furniture etc has all been recently built. The old staircase is part charred timber, part new oak in the same style. It's fascinating & well worth a visit if you are ever in Stockport!
I was very disappointed with Radio 4 today at one of it's interview at 5:30 pm today 21/05. One person interviewed on the Radio said the following expression: "sick like Arab". This racist unacceptable and very offending expression was used on a station that many people admire and respect. I cannot imagine if the word Arab was replaced by the word Jew. I am sure that the presenter, the editor and the whole ´óÏó´«Ã½ would have been prosecuted and the prime minister would have apologised sincerely for such a racist remark. We are a group of British citizens with Arab background and we are very offended by such an expression and cannot believe it has passed with no comment what so ever from the presenter.
M Ibrahim #19,
I've just "listened again" to PM, from 17:15 onwards, and I've not heard this comment (again); can you remember exactly what the reference was involved with?
I say this because I agree with you, comments insulting one ethnic group should not go unchallenged, but I did not notice this.
Typical ´óÏó´«Ã½ South East bias in its running order this evening 21/5. I'm sorry the old boat has gone up in flames but I hardly think it warrants the lead. The government published a White Paper on the Planning system that is really important for this countries long term future and it gets no mention other than a sentence in the headlines. Where are your priorities? Obviously not on "hard" news. PM gets more like Heat and OK magazines by the week.
Naughty newsletter.
A team... are?
tsk.
But this is probably where the language is going.
Just check, my dear friends (and I need Val on my side here), and see how many singular nouns are given plural verbs these days.
Sad to think PM are going this way.
(frowny smiley thingy)
[Oooh, this is malicious, for some reason. And I haven't posted for ages.]
And now it's a 502.
Frances O - 14 & 16 :o) - I'm here and I'm stamping my feet alongside yours! No need and no excuse for sloppiness.
I know this isn't part of the programme, but what was up with the newsletter today? Has someone sent Eric on a course entitled "How to interact with your audience & engage with your listeners"? And is this the result? Because of all his efforts, this one was probably the worst, & it reads just as though someone has told him what to do. (tried to, at least). Or is this what happens if he goes cold turkey from caffeine? I think we should be told. If this standard of newsletter keeps on, I shall have to seriously consider cancelling my subscription.
And also, while I'm having a rant, why don't we have the blog link anymore at the bottom of the newsletter? I KNOW I'm not the only one who lazily uses that as the way of getting to the blog each day. At the moment I'm having to scroll down the inbox till I find an old newsletter of Carolyn's which at least did have the link on it. Please think of the technologically -challenged & terminally lazy section of your audience, & reinstate the blog link!
To M Ibrahim at (19),
Please could you confirm that it was Radio 4, the PM programme that you were listening to last night? I listened to the broadcast live, and didn't notice any such insult being made (and it is indeed an insult that should not be tolerated). I also "listened again", and again, I could hear no such reference...
M Ibrahim (19) are you sure you didn't mishear the Cutty Sark interviewee saying "sick as a parrot"? That was the only "sick as...." I heard.
Jonnie (13) I hope you saw "Have I got news for you?" at the weekend, as you are such a Eurovision SC fan.
Annasee (24) Why not add PM Blogs to your favourites/bookmarks? Also IE has a drop-down to the right of the address. I always use that to go to PM's blog page.
The Cutty Sark
Whether or not she was insured, I can remember seeing a 'No Smoking' sign at the entrance - like they have in churches these days, so I am confident that Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell accept liability for and on behalf of Government to fund the restoration.
Vyle - "IE" is a dirty word in this house. We're the cute warm & fluffy Firefox people, remember?
As far as the bookmark thingie - everytime SO tries to show me how frightfully quick & convenient it is, he is quickly mired in the millions of other things he's bookmarked, trying to remember what he bookmarked it as . Meanwhile, I have scrolled down the inbox, opened the old newsletter, clicked the link, & voila ! At least, that's what I used to do, until they started messing with the newsletters!
Re Vyle - Damn I missed :-(
Re Frances : Although I understand the grammatical error - perhaps you could explain in more detail as to how you would have composed the sentence.
Here is Monday much discussed Newsletter :-
Hello,
And welcome to the PM newsletter for today, Monday the 21st of May.
First of all, may I introduce myself? My name is Eddie Mair and I am the presenter of the programme.
A team of highly trained people are working very hard, as I speak, to bring you a digest of the day's news, alongside interviews and reports from around the world. Of course, with just under five hours to go before transmission it is impossible to say with utter certainty what will be in our broadcast, but this communication is intended as a useful indication of what you can expect.
We will probably cover the fire at the Cutty Sark, talk to Lord Adonis about children with special educational needs, and carry a report from Nils Blythe about carbon capture. Caroline Wyatt will talk to Geoff Hoon, and we'll look more closely at Scotland's Olympic ambitions. Parenting - specifically whether parents are being swamped with unnecessary advice - will probably be the subject of a discussion.
Thank you for reading this newsletter, and have a great day.
See you on the ice at 5,
the north's finest sausages.
Eric Rain.
Yes Mr Ibrahim (19) I am also at a loss regarding the comment you say you heard. As Izzy says there was a comment made "sick as a parrot" and this was the only "sick as" comment I heard.
And to Markham Weavill (21). I am sorry to hear that you feel PM is becoming like heat or OK - I personally completely disagree and I think you would also if you took a closer look at both magazines. In my humble opinion I don't really think it is of that great importance whether a story is lead or not - the fact that it is included is what matters, and is it worthy of inclusion. I pay attention more to items which are of real interest and relevance to me regardless of the time they are broadcast. The Cutty Sark story lead because it is of great historical and national interest and I think it is extremely sad (by the way I thought the gentleman who was interveiwed was fascinating). You cannot regain history - when it is lost it is lost forever. I do not think it is a story with only regional interest at all. As far as the rest of the programme is concerned I thought it was fairly well balanced with relevant news stories - hardly the sort of fluffy celebrity obsessed content you see in OK! Now if they had featured who was wearing what at the Baftas then you may have had a point.
Ed I - ref your quote regarding our dear friend Lord Adonis
"A man with an empty desk, and a mind to match it"
I could not agree more :)
Frances O and ValP:
Personally, I don't think it's helpful to berate Eddie, or other froggers, for grammatical, syntactical, or spelling errors. We're all prone to them to a greater or lesser degree, and if Eddie (or others) feel they're going to have their knuckles rapped for a minor slip, they'll get fed up with playing with the froggers.
It has to be a compromise between spontaneity and accuracy, surely?
Markham (21), we won't agree on the choice of lead story - though I fail to see why it's an example of south east bias. We didn't do more on the planning story because it had been covered very comprehensively and at length by our colleagues on Today. That may or may not have been the right call, but that was our thinking.
As for the lack of "hard" news, the running order after Cutty Sark went through Lord Adonis talking about an issue of great concern to many listeners, a report from Iraq about weaponry, a report on carbon capture, then housing and immigration, Britain's view of a possibly revived EU constitution in an interview from Paris, a discussion on parenting involving a Government minister, discussion of whether Scotland should have its own Olympic team, and an important business story about EMI. Those are our priorities. If you think that's like Heat and OK, then perhaps you should have a word with your newsagent. He's giving you the New Statesman and the Spectator and you haven't noticed.
M Ibrahim (19) I too am unable to find the quote you refer too. Are you sure it was on our programme? I would be happy to look into it if you can be more specific.
On a lighter note, there is a running joke in the office here whenever we do stories about Jordan some wag suggests we should interview Princess Anne. Puzzled new producers can't work out why until it is explained that 'Princess Anne' is in fact 'Prince Hassan' the brother of the King. :)
Peter Rippon (34) - as long as no-one suggests when, next you run a story on Jordan, that you interview Peter Andre - then you really would be stumbling dangerously into Ok territory :)
Eddie (32):
I agree. You clearly need more items about celebrities and how they have put on several ounces in weight, a visit to Lord Adonis' house to criticise his decor, a photo-spread on the blog featuring gorgeous models showing off what a Scottish Olympic team might possibly look like, and Paris Hilton being interviewed about the EU constutution.
Go on, think of the awards!
More seriously, the only South-East bias on show last night was that which spends millions of pounds restoring the Cutty Sark - and then not protecting it properly - while another clipper, the City of Adelaide, later known as The Carrick, rots on an Irvine dockside for lack of funds.
City of Adelaide is the oldest surviving Clipper, being five years older than Cutty Sark and was a familiar sight for several generations of Glaswegians, as she used to be berthed on the river right in the city centre.
Her fate is even worse than the Cutty Sark. The latter has been severely damaged - it seems - by vandalism. City of Adelaide has been wrecked by wanton neglect and deserves better.
To: Peter Rippon and Eddie Mair.
Is it correct that Hilary Benn, Labour MP for Leeds Central and International Development Secretary, and also Labour's deputy Prime Minister candidate is in hot water after it emerged he holds shares worth a cool £233,000 in United Business Media.
I also understand that Hilary Benn is accused of failing to record consistently the shares in the register of members’ interests and also faces allegations of a conflict of interest because UBM benefits from government contracts. Could PM check this out please and report?
MotP - You're a bit behind the news MotP, aren't you.
Try scanning the internet for this "scandal". Raised, debated and cast-off as an non-story I'm afraid, even by Tory commentators.
I would urge everyone to write to their MP or MSP to get funding for the Cutty Sark's sister ship the City of Adelaide which is rotting away in the Clyde and will be broken up soon through lack of funding.
I've often heard "From our northern correspondent" but never one from "our Southern correspondent". Is this a case of Southern bias? or don't you have a southern corrspondent. Also where does the north start?
The blog link is back in the newsletter ! I am happy, happy, happy! Thank you.
Sorry Peter R - I visualised the wrong Jordan from your posting. Thinking "I didn't know she had a brother called Prince" . I think this is the result of spending an hour at the doctor's waiting room today reading, er - well, Cheshire Life & Good Housekeeping, actually. But they're all the same.
Member of the Public (37):
More shockingly, I have heard that Mr Benn has been seen frequently visiting a certain fancy dress shop *but never leaves with an outfit*! There's something suspicious going on there.
Whisky-joe (39): I agree. Wouldn't that be a better first act for Alex Salmond than faffing about with an Olympic team? To save a symbol of Scotland's shipbuilding heritage (even though she was built in Sunderland, it's Cutty Sark that's Clyde-built...) would surely be a coup.