Log on
In today's interactive world we are constantly bombarded with random scraps of information about what our viewers and listeners think of us. I now get daily accounts of what listeners liked and disliked on a whole range of ´óÏó´«Ã½ programmes I never get time to see or hear.
But what do we do with all this new information? How can we identify what is valuable and can help us make better, more relevant programmes from the chaff? For me there remains one Oracle, one place where the owl of Minerva really spreads her wings... The Audience Log.
Yesterday on PM we were treated to a gem. A clear, weighty and beautifully honed view:
"The report on Sir Paul McCartney's marriage was not newsworthy."
For a vast number of Radio Four listeners the above truth is self-evident. That is why we constantly shy away from so called "Entertainment News'. This particular example was actually on the easier end of the spectrum to judge.
Macca is a big deal for our audience, he is one the few figures in popular culture who is. For me the strength and appeal of Radio Four has always been the eclecticism of its journalism. We should be comfortable telling stories about anything, so long as we do it with intelligent and engaging narrative techniques. We should do entertainment news in that spirit.
So I am sorry to the anonymous listener who felt so moved to leave such a carefully crafted comment in the log. I think you're wrong... this time.
Roll on the World Cup.
Comments
I noticed on radio 4 today that the media discussion about Muslim women and veils is continuing ad nauseam. I feel as though I can't escape it. Though I believe that religion is a retrogressive force, I don't care if people wear brown paper bags on their heads, as long as they don't bother me or actively bore me.
This debate is boring me and, as a result, it's making me feel tired of and bored by Muslims, their head gear and everything else that goes with it.
I think the media's carping on about it ignores the feelings of the majority of citizens, who aren't religious, who might even think religion is bad, and whom the ´óÏó´«Ã½ are at risk of alienating with this huge story about a very small number of women whom many people here would regard as backward, oppressed, or even stupid. Whereas I didn't give a hoot about what they wore before, I'm now beginning to feel "Oh go away and stop boring me with your silly clothes".