The Glass Box for Wednesday
In the PM office we meet every night after the programme in this Glass Box:
We talk about the content of the programme and try to give an honest assessment of what worked and what didn't...the things we missed and the places where our ambitions were not met. THIS virtual glass box you are looking at is where you are invited - indeed encouraged - to be honest about our hour. Members of the production team will read it, and the editor should comment too. Click on The Glass Box link on the right of the page to read previous entries.
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Little changes. Confusion and obfuscation (good word that, must use it in a letter...)
Gentlemen
I have been riding trains daily for the last two years and the service on your line seems to be getting worse every day. I am tired of standing in the aisle all the time on a 14-mile trip. I think the transportation system is worse than that enjoyed by people 2,000 years ago.
Yours truly
Commuter
Dear Sir
We received your letter with reference to the shortcomings of our service and believe you are somewhat confused in your history. The only mode of
transportation 2,000 years ago was by foot.
Sincerely
Railroad
Gentlemen
I am in receipt of your reply to my letter and I think you are the ones who are confused in your history. If you will refer to the bible, Book of David, Chapter 9, you will find that Balaam rode to town on his ass.
That, gentlemen is something I have not been able to do on your trains in the last 2 years.
Yours truly
Commuter
Re: uncompleted railway engineering works... here's an interesting snippet I happened to have read whilst working through a stack of old Civil Engineering trade press over Christmas (don't ask...):
(You probably have to register to read the full story - I've quoted a single paragraph below):
"Contractors and consultants are rejecting Network Rail projects as decreasing margins and 'difficult' client relationships are forcing staff out of the sector, senior industry figures have told NCE. "'We want to be in the rail business and want to have contracts, but there's a lot of aggro and a lot of younger guys are put off,' said the director of one major consultant's rail division, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of commercial reprisals from a monopoly client. 'This is a market in which engineers can pick and choose where they work, and people are having a hard time in the rail sector and saying 'bugger this, I want to do work which looks a bit more fun', like the Olympics or building work.' Atkins director for the Midlands region Stephen Ashton said that Network Rail's penny pinching was creating recruitment and retention problems across the consultancy sector."
(end of quote)
Hmmmm.
Back in the good old days of British Rail a diversionary route would have been put in place. Because much of the network in the southern half of the country is at or approaching full capacity there is very little spare capacity to allow this to happen.
2 years ago we flew to Munich at this time of year to drive on to Kitxbuhel in Austria. As we got into the Alps late afternoon a blizzard blew up. Guess what - the traffic ground to a halt as lorries got stuck blocking the way for snow ploughs.
One of the most surprising features of old OS maps (blog passim) is how extensive the rail network used to be.
Were we really that rich a nation? Or has the price of infrastructure suddenly become prohibitive?
Did Eddie Mair read Andrew Macandrew and other stories on Listening Corner in the 1980s? If so, may we hear and extract - for a little light relief in these dreary days
Did Eddie Mair read Andrew Macandrew and other stories on Listening Corner in the 1980s? If so, may we hear an extract - for a little light relief in these dreary days
I noticed that this evening the usual suspects were wheeled out for comment or questions on the annual transport farce that is the west coast mainline Christmas renewals.
Tom Winsor was well placed to comment on this mornings programme but even he missed the true culprits. Since Railtrack awarded the programme management contract for the WCML upgrade to Bechtel it has been one huge bottomless pit where the consultants get paid performance bonus' regardless of how badly they manage the work. The Nuneaton resignalling office was open for 2 years at a cost of £500,000 per month and delivered very little. When bechtel failed to negotiate a contract for the work they folded the opearation, got rid of as many Network Rail staff as possible and replaced them with their own staff who have still failed to deliver.
How long can public money continue to be paid to an American Consultancy which consistently fails to deliver. The Stockport/Wilmslow resignalling relied on unproven foreign technology. That failed and instead of installing proven British Solid State equipment they panicked and paid another consultancy to manage a mess that was already being managed as well as it could. SITEC were paid an 18 million pound retainer yet the system still doesnt work. How could John Armitt collect a £300, 000 pound bonus when his staff are disillusioned and hanging on for their pensions as that is all they have left.
The industry is manipulated to fix performance figures so as to allow them to collect bigger bonus each year.
This is a gravy train of European parliament proportions and sadly the only thing that runs on time!
oops, a small inaccuracy crept into this evenings program when we were told that all the markers were on the PM listeners map. In the spirit of pantomime - very seasonal - oh no, they're not. I know this because I checked yesterday and mine isn't on there, even though I sent it in on 10th December. Someone in your production department doesn't like me - I've suspected this for a long time...
other than that, enjoyed the interview with the man responsible for gritting, although where I live we're not going to get snow and all this stuff about the railways is totally meaningless.
Hello All,
I was editing on Wednesday. Some interesting stories around. Transport chaos is always a useful reminder for me on cold winter mornings about why I cycle to work.
I thought the contributions of our correspondents (Hugh Sykes, Ian Pannell, Karen Allen among others) on the programme were excellent. You can really tell when someone instinctively understands the power of radio.
What do people think about the use of correspondents against interviews of testimony and accountability. We agonise quite a lot about how often we use correspondents, because our main aim is to tell stories first hand - and to ask questions directly to the right people. Sometimes they won't play ball obviously... but does it bother you folks if we have a lot of correspondents on the programme? Do you tend to listen to the 1800 news after PM and wonder why the same voices are on?
Do let us know.
Cheery bye
Rog
Hello All,
I was editing on Wednesday. Some interesting stories around. Transport chaos is always a useful reminder for me on cold winter mornings about why I cycle to work.
I thought the contributions of our correspondents (Hugh Sykes, Ian Pannell, Karen Allen among others) on the programme were excellent. You can really tell when someone instinctively understands the power of radio.
What do people think about the use of correspondents against interviews of testimony and accountability. We agonise quite a lot about how often we use correspondents, because our main aim is to tell stories first hand - and to ask questions directly to the right people. Sometimes they won't play ball obviously... but does it bother you folks if we have a lot of correspondents on the programme? Do you tend to listen to the 1800 news after PM and wonder why the same voices are on?
Do let us know.
Cheery bye
Rog
Roger Sawyer @ 10
As you say Roger, radio IS a very powerful medium and a correspondent's interest/passion and approach to their subject matter invariably comes through strongly
A topic presented to the listener as a first-hand account/interview often contains a depth and breadth of understanding missing in a straight forward "regurgitation" of third-party data. "Regurgitation" also tends to lack nuance. An important lack
I think Radio is a hard task master for all news and current affairs programming staff. Their audience can't be distracted by pictures and constantly fed a diet rich in banal chatter... Also, these production teams have limited time in which to present a coherent and complete as possible "word-picture"
Anyway, as many correspondents as you like so far as I'm concerned and hearing the same voices on 1800 news after PM doesn't worry me in the slightest, in fact, I rather look-forward to it...
Have no objection to the ´óÏó´«Ã½ using the correspondents they have in place when a major story happens. I've always found that their knowledge far outweighs that of the correspondents like Sykes who are "parachuted" in to "hotspots" to do a couple of days fronting before moving onto the next disaster or whatever. He's almost like the radio equivalent of Kate Adie. You want to reach for the off switch when his tones come out of the radio.
I was 502'd earlier and not having saved the comment I wasn't going to bother trying again. But having read Markham (9) I just have to give it another go.
As long as you keep using journalists of the quality of Hugh Sykes, I will keep tuning into PM and won't care whether he is doing a straight correspondent report or lacing it with interviews with 'real' people affected by the story he is covering. I don't know whether Hugh Sykes or Kate Adie would be more embarrassed by Markham's comparison of them - but I think they should both regard it as a compliment.
Roger,
If "correspondent" includes the likes of Hugh Sykes, the more the better. I don't see any conflict between Hugh being 'parachuted in' and reports from any established local ´óÏó´«Ã½ bod. In fact, they seem naturally complementary.
Salaam/Shalom/Shanthi/Dorood/Peace
Namaste -ed
It's good having Correspondents' reports and even better when they add to the blog. And how will Eddie have time to blog during the programme without them??
yup I have to agree with TIH and Ed I, You would need to go a long way before finding a journalist/correspondent/whatever to be better than Hugh Sykes. He is not always 'parachuted in' to hot spots, and his presence is an argument for switching on rather than switching off. I don't know what he'd be like on the Westminster desk, or covering Business or Crime (at the very least competent I'm sure), but if you want someone who can find and give a voice to the ordinary person caught up in changes beyond their control, Sykes is your man.
Roger (10): I'm enjoying the mix exactly as it is. The balance of correspondents and 1st-hand reports is working well ... I would struggle to estimate what the ratio is but it's not grating on my ears at all.
Any repeated voices after 6pm are often useful if I've experienced interrupted listening during the programme, which does happen with radio listeners sometimes you know.
Fifi
I'd like to say how much I appreciate Hugh Sykes reports.
And as a reply to Roger Sawyer - it is often a joy and a pleasure to hear correspondents in PM and again in the news (which is invariably a minute or two 'piece' rather than descriptive narrative...)
n-n
Thanks folks - interesting views and very helpful.
Rog
I used to be able to read the 1800 news bulletin script on the website, but since 21st December this seems to have frozen, as I had the page marked as a favourite. I cannot find a new link on the website. Why can't the hard of hearing read a sensible news bulletin that everyone else hears?
If you cannot deal with this can you please forward my comment to an appropriate person.
Thanks K Phillips
K Phillips (12) : Just in case none of the team revisits this thread, I've taken the liberty of emailing your words to PM as well.
They won't be able to email you a reply direct, but I'm sure they will pass on your comment to the relevant tecky persons!
Fifi xx