And we're back. Now. Has anything happy happened to you?
A call to the listener log after last night's programme spoke not of being mesmerised, but, if anything, a little bit depressed.
""The first three items on the programme were about people who were killed. I know these stories merit reporting but there is no need to go into such detail. I am sure there is some happy news the ´óÏó´«Ã½ could give us."
Well of course we'd be delighted to pass on some happy news. So if something super has happened to you or someone you know, please let us know here.
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Well, Eddie, I was waiting all day yesterday for something wonderful to happen to me and it didn't. And you know what it was. And you know why.
I suppose it's not too late to hope?
Eddie - for heaven sake - send BIgSis some flowers and a huge hug!
I exchanged contracts on my house yesterday! It's not exciting for anyone else, but it's another step forward for me.
No wonder the blog was blue this morning.
1. The little black feral cat that used to visit us every day for food got terribly ill and died. It's important to tell you this because he was a large part of our lives for years, and his going was very upsetting.
2. The blue tits nesting in the box we'd put up in the garden have now lost 2 broods of chicks. This is important to the ecology of my garden, and I can look forward to rampant greenfly on my roses now. My SO didn't enjoy clearing out the birdbox either.
3. All the rabbits around here have myxie and die horrible deaths. This is a man-made disease and demonstrates the law of unintended consequences.
Bad news, 1-2-3. See how YOU like it!
Fifi
I agree with the caller to the listener log.
Some years ago, the TV (sorry) Newsreader Martin Lewis adopted a scenario of ending the evening news ALWAYS with a good/happy story.
I believe his idea was a general sucess.
Could PM perhaps try something similar..? There are after all, many, many good people in this world going out of their way doing, well, actually doing marvellous things...
Now, has anything happy happened to me?
Well, I woke-up this morning so, yet again, it seems the good Lord decided against calling me to his side.
Mmmmm, need to think this through...
I feel sorry for the listener who phoned in because such stories can be depressing. Especially when you take the time to extract the "issues" that probably require your attention (or at least a view) - e.g. protection for police officers, should they be armed, etc.
Does anybody who has much greater multi-cultural awareness have anything to say on "news programme expectations" in different countries? Are we all the same? Is "news" only (generally) "bad news"? Or is it a cultural mindset? And if there are differences, and these shift over time, do they always tend to shift towards greater disaster on disaster, murder and crisis? Or is there somewhere where people expect news and current affairs programmes to present positive stories in preference to negative ones?
PM does a great job in looking at stories which aren't just doom and gloom - and in doing so in a way which isn't just "And finally....". Perhaps your listener should just remember that and turn on before the news comes on at 6.
Oh eck, Fifi. Not much fun. Worth saying that myxie isn't exactly "man-made" even if the problem is essentially a man-made one.
On a more positive note, we have song thrushes nesting in the garden for the first time since we moved here (about 7 years).
I admit that this perhaps says too much about me, but the high point of yesterday/today is the identification of a workshop with an open call where we might just be able to submit a paper. It's to be held at the hotel in Dubrovnik from where I just about managed to "frog" last autumn - via their iffy-wifi. Such happy times.
Re Fifi - really sorry to hear about 'blackie; - that's not nice.
So special 'hugs' to Fifi.
(((((((((((((((((((((o)))))))))))))))))))))))
Also very pleased to hear about perky - that was great news.
I spent most of the day feeling lousy - glands up - just 'yuk' - could have been due to the red ant bites?
Anyway feeling a bit more healthy today and busy replacing loo seats. When needs must etc ... :-(
The man came to read the electric meter this morning. Does that count? ;o)
I got a top marking in my end of year appraisal, how's that?
I have mixed feelings about this subject of good news/bad news. I think it's important that PM doesn't shy away from often difficult subjects. Sadly, "the news" often involves unpleasant things happenning to good people, that's the World we live in. The nature of news and current affairs is that some days a lot of bad things happen, other days they don't. That's life, and it would be wrong not to report important stories simply because they were "bad news". One of the best facets of PM is that they do go into the background behind the story, giving the listener the context.
I think PM generally gets the mix right between what's going on in the World and a bit of levity.
I am about to leave my place of ‘work’ for home - does that count?
Am still chuffed about seeing a kingfisher on saturday and the nesting sparrows are also raising a smile each day, especially as they are so adept at teasing m cat. And I got to see my pseudo-nephew today (10 months and a bonny bouncing chap). So, am feeling fairly up!
Fifi - such a shame about Blackie! ((( )))
It's interesting, isn't it, that this caller was so affected by the stories of the tragic deaths of three individuals. Most days the deaths of soldiers and civilians in Iraq, refugees in Darfur and many other similar tragedies pass through our radioes without touching us in the same way. I'm not saying that your caller was wrong to be affected by one and not by the other - I'm probably the same. But perhaps our news wouldn't be so relentlessly awful if we could collectively attach the same emotional weight to large-scale disasters as we do to the smaller ones closer to home.
Rachel (whistling in the wind, as ever)
Forgive me for doing what Mothers do best....my daughter has just found out that she has been given a First for her dissertation, which was all about the theory of International Relations.
And we have robins nesting in the garden.
Um... I spent an hour this morning with four women I'm very fond of. That was good.
Wasn't Martyn Lewis ridiculaed (perhaps just in the media?) for his 'good news' campaign?
btw, heard the item on WatO about Blair castigating the meeja for their reporting; one point that sttod out was that they focused on comment rather than news. Now without comment, where would PM be? Nowhere; there'd just be the 6 o'clock news.
Heaven flippin forfend!
Almost forgot...I have mentioned this before but for a dose of up beat news try wwwDOTpositivenewsDOTorg
PS there should have been a DOTuk on teh end of that!
Hey, I don't want everyone thinking Fifi's gone all doom-and-gloom ... it was hard work thinking up 3 miserable things, as you could perhaps tell from the rabbit one!
But my point was well made: what impression does it give when ALL you get from a news source is doom-gloom-misery?
Martyn Lewis was ridiculed for his '..and finally..' items but they did counterbalance the fact that the majority of what's deemed to be NEWS is perforce grim and depressing.
I have an idea for an entire 'and finally' news programme, where reporters tell us what happened next:
- Did that family whose house burned down find somewhere else to live?
- Did that starving African community get through it and the children grow up?
- Did those riot-torn towns work through their difficulties or are tensions still high?
Think of the impact of that one (admittedly over-hyped) success story at Live 8, the dying child who grew up to get an agricultural degree -- AND look absolutely fantastic.
There should always be room for good news in the News. And not just in Silly Season, either.
Fifi
I've just been reading part of the text of the PM's lecture about the media - available on the Guardian site and no doubt elsewhere. First comment is that the Guardian coverage said something like "the Independent was singled out for particular criticism", when actually in the text, I thought it was more used as an example - hey ho.
My major thought, though, was in relation to something he said about the new forms of communication - and how he had thought that they might change things for the better, yet seemed to have made things worse. I thought this was quite interesting. We're told that the PM blog is one of the most successful at the Beeb, and most of the regular froggers seem like a fairly balanced lot to me. When an item is such that it prompts lots of less frequent froggers to comment, it can get a bit more heated and that made me think that you never get "balanced" views in places like this where people self-select to contribute. You certainly get a range of views - but I'm fairly sure that when there are dozens of people posting angry comments which I might mildly disagree with, more often than not, I probably just pass along and wait for something else to crop up.
I don't spend much time on frogs, blogs, discussion lists or forums, but when I think about it, I see this time and time again. Rarely do you get a little pop-up light signalling that somebody has changed their mind. Instead, you get plagues of contributors who all say similar things on similar matters. Does that suggest that giving people a "voice" and a "venue" actually helps to promote "prejudice" because it allows all of us to find other people who share our views - whatever they are?
Fifi - yes, brilliant idea. And what about Lord Adonis? Has he done anything after all that feedback about SEN?
Commiserations to all who have reported bad or sad news on this blog which was asking if we have had anything happy occur. Our blue tits were killed-off several weeks ago during a cold snap, and I didn't enjoy removing 10 scraps either.
I have today received a collection of Tommy Cooper type jokes, one of which might tie in nicely with the report from Ascension Island:
"So this lorry full of tortoises collided with a van full of terrapins. It was a turtle disaster."
There, now, doesn't that cheer you up?
(Similar jokes are available.)
Keep your pecker up.
And, Eddie, this morning I saw a lorry bearing the word "Bong" on the back. Don't drive too close, will you?
John H -
I lurked around the frog for a few days (literally) before realising it was very different to a lot of other boards around where it can get very personal and hostile over minor details. I have found that the discussions here can be illuminating and whilst people may not say 'I was wrong' there seems to be more scope for 'I see your point and it may inform my viewpoint in the future'; I'm not sure if thats a balanced discussion per se but I think it may help to shake prejuidice rather than reinforce it.
I won a dinner for two which will be for My Wife, My Daughter, Myself. I will pay the difference for myself.
And, Eddie, don't inhale the exhaust fumes (22)
Perky ... just unearthed your big news!
* does a little dance around the desk *
Congratulations on exchanging ... that's a major leap forward. New home, here you come! (touch wood)
I'm finding the exchange of views on this thread very interesting. Perhaps not what Le Mair intended .. but then that's the frog for you.
Innit?
Fifi
'coming to a pub near you soon'
Gillian - so glad for your daughter ((x)) to her, and her clever Mum for being there for her!
Wonko - good news from you too, gr8.
Now, shall I tell you that I've felt lower than a low thing all morning, then my pc monitore died - quite spectacularly actually? The picture turned into a sort of tornado come accordion, then it went phut.
We've dug out an old one but the settings are all to pot and it looks like a wee picture in a big black sea and it kind of disappears round the corners at the edges :o(
Ah the great Tommy Cooper. A couple of my favourites:
"I went to the Dentist the other day. He said: 'Say "Ah."' I said 'Why?' He said: 'My budgie's died.'"
"I met a friend at a party the other day. He asked if I could give him a lift. I said: 'Sure, you're looking great and your whole life's ahead of you.'"
Spoon - jar, jar spoon...
;o) []
Good News: None of those three stories were about me.
Wonko (28). That second one isn't cooper. It's Vine.
Well, ian, I heard Tommy say the gag on television. Of course he may have *ahem* "borrowed" it...
Thanks for the kind thoughts Val, cheers!
;o) []
(((Val))) there, there.
I didn't know that ESP extended to our relationship with computer screens ... all I can say is, you must have been on
(wait for it)
THE SAME WAVELENGTH!!!
I'll get me coat...
Fifi
Lol! Best laugh I've had all day Fifi, come to think of it, the only laugh!!
well Cardiff Singer of the World is back so that's going to keep me happy all week!
Gilllian-(15ish)
I understand exactly how you feel.
well done to your daughter. I'm waiting for ''my'' degree at the moment while ''she'' parties!!!
Mollyxx
Oh, yes, Gillian, well done to two generations of you.
hey there John H (20)
interesting.... I too noticed and think that often people post single-issue thoughts (single thoughts??!?) on blogs and then don't reply (I've said so before at PM but god knows where. Perhaps a search thing we could use to link stuff together on wouldn't be bad huh? a lot of these concerns come up again and again....)
anyhoos, I'm glad people here stick around, comment back, argue, change thir mind or change others' minds with good debate.
I've just been (just at the end of now) a relaunch of the main NHS site. and on it there's the ability to comment upon specific hospitals (any hospital).
Now this wasn't an area I was involved with and I'm sure that those that did have an expectation of what kind of response it will evoke, but I for one will be interested in how things are looking a couple of months from now. Its exactly what you're mentioning - a single issue forum/ discussion list that I'm unsure if people will go back to. Will it just be populated with people complaining? Will there be balance? How will the moderation work (or not?!).
Mind you, one of the purposes of this functionality is for other people to use (a la Amazon) for recommendations (or not!).
anyway... can't think of anything specifically 'good' that happened to me except that I was able to leave on time around 6pm last night!
excellent!!
hey there John H (20)
interesting.... I too noticed and think that often people post single-issue thoughts (single thoughts??!?) on blogs and then don't reply (I've said so before at PM but god knows where. Perhaps a search thing we could use to link stuff together on wouldn't be bad huh? a lot of these concerns come up again and again....)
anyhoos, I'm glad people here stick around, comment back, argue, change thir mind or change others' minds with good debate.
I've just been (just at the end of now) a relaunch of the main NHS site. and on it there's the ability to comment upon specific hospitals (any hospital).
Now this wasn't an area I was involved with and I'm sure that those that did have an expectation of what kind of response it will evoke, but I for one will be interested in how things are looking a couple of months from now. Its exactly what you're mentioning - a single issue forum/ discussion list that I'm unsure if people will go back to. Will it just be populated with people complaining? Will there be balance? How will the moderation work (or not?!).
Mind you, one of the purposes of this functionality is for other people to use (a la Amazon) for recommendations (or not!). "Choices" if you will...
anyway... can't think of anything specifically 'good' that happened to me except that I was able to leave on time around 6pm last night!
excellent!!
btw congrats to Roberto and Gillian!
Hm, now that doesn't sound the way it was meant to...
Well done Wonko and Gillian's daughter!
Well I was happy today because it wasn't so hot so work was more bearable :-) but had some difficult cases :-/ however a really nice man (with a - let's face it, very sexy spanish voice) from the Lab made lots of phone calls and helped me out :-) so even though I got bitten by a cat :-Ow!
I still felt like I'd had a good day :-)))
Hey Val! Just look at those gorgeous baby turtles they'll cheer you up !!x
oops - don't post for weeks then it hangs..... and i get it done twice. Sorry!
I would just like to point out that it wasn't me who bit Gossipmistress, it was some other cat. I would never bite a Frogger without being asked to...
Congratulations to Gillian's daughter, very well done!
Good news from me? The terrible pain in my back that kept me awake from 3:30 this morning has eased to a dull ache, and I only have two hours of meetings to get through today.
(Talk about putting a positive spin on things...)
Whisht - good to see you, even if it is twice!
SSCat (40) Are you sure? Those teeth were *Jolly sharp* and I'm sure I saw them glinting in a rather metallic manner in the sun......
Perky! Sorry forgot before, congrats re your house! Champers on the beach?
Reasons to be cheerful?
Gillian's daughter's success
Whisht finding time to post.
Hi Whisht! Lovely to see you!
Reasons to be cheerful - Part 2
I have just received a letter from Scottish Power, informing me - finally! - that my energy prices are coming down. My next job of the day was going to be checking the price-comparison sites....
Nice to see you, whisht. Congrats to Perky, Wonko and Roberto. Mmmmmm...dinner in Miami! ;o)
I hope the listener who called the log was suitably cheered up by the report on the turtles on last night's programme, as I was.
hi there Val and Big Sis and folks!
sorry, I've been away on a rather heavy project with little internet connection (building a website - go figure!!)
Whisht - ah the irony!
Actually I'm not trying to work the word iron into every post I make today, it just seems that way.