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The Editors

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Jamie Donald

Saying sorry


We've had nearly 200 complaints to our audience logs about our decision to switch away from live coverage of yesterday's speech by William Hague (watch it here) to the Conservative Party conference to instead interview Michael Howard. Here's a flavour of what's being said:

• "Did Labour pay for this to happen?"
• "Even Michael Howard in the studio said he would rather watch William Hague's speech."
• "Have you lost your minds? He is such a brilliant speaker."

I'd like to tell you there was a good reason. But I haven't one. So here goes: it was a poor editorial decision, I accept the criticism and I apologise. We'll try to learn from this mistake which I believe was uncharacteristic of the coverage as a whole; and I hope that those of you who were upset can understand that - when under the pressure of doing extended live coverage in fixed time slots - we can all make the odd unintentional error.

But now that's off my chest, I don't want the error to overshadow what was some great conference coverage over the past three weeks, and I don't want the apology to suggest I'm not very pleased with the programmes overall. Why?.

Little Andrew and Little JennyTake : Three weeks ago I wrote about our recruiting them and my hopes for their impact on the attitudes of the young toward politics. Some rather rubbished the idea. Since then, they've interviewed the three men seeking to be prime minister, reported for The Daily Politics, led Newsround, been interviewed on a dozen regional news programmes, appeared on News at Ten, and featured on . Their contribution has been refreshing and insightful. And I know they've reached millions of viewers and listeners young and old.

Or take - an innovative way of allowing audiences to engage with key speeches by recording their reaction directly into their phones and downloading the information onto air. You can find out more about it on the programme website. It's the world's largest interactive focus group, and the technology deserves to be used more widely by programme makers in every genre.

And of course, we've covered and analysed quickly and well over a hundred stories and speeches from the conferences themselves. In this light, my opening 'sorry' hasn't been the hardest word.

Jamie Donald is editor of live political programmes

Andrew Steele

Photographing the Amish


The in rural Pennsylvania has brought the peaceful community of Nickel Mines into the world's eye for all the worst reasons. The small Amish community has been besieged by the media after a milk-truck driver shot 12 pupils in a small schoolhouse before turning the gun on himself.

amish.jpgThe Amish are a reclusive people who advocate pacifism and shun modern life. They do not use electricity and have no television, radio, or computer at home. They prefer to live outside the mainstream, involved in their own world. So the hubbub and trappings of a big story - satellite trucks, film crews, hovering helicopters and 24-hour live shots - have been a further unwelcome jolt to a community already devastated by the horror of random death.

Filming and interviewing the victims of war and violent acts is always a daunting challenge. In this story we raised our threshold, to ensure we respected the views of a grieving community where cameras are barely welcome. Those who were interviewed were willing to do so. Despite the horror, the locals almost unbelievably spoke of forgiveness and redemption. One interviewee wanted to express his views but had qualms about the camera. In the end he agreed to be filmed from a distance that would make him hard to be identified.

But those who didn't want to speak were left alone. In the end we got the story, while respecting the wishes of the local community. I hope we gained their respect too.

The 大象传媒's editorial guidelines state we must always balance public interest against the need to be compassionate and to avoid any unjustified infringement of privacy. As we move on from Nickel Mines and leave the Amish community to grieve in peace, I'm satisfied that this time, despite the difficulties, we achieved the right balance.

Andrew Steele is the 大象传媒's bureau chief in Washington

Host

Phones, letters, e-mails

  • Host
  • 4 Oct 06, 11:41 AM

Among the audience response received by the 大象传媒 in the past 24 hours were many complaints that the Daily Politics had cut short Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague's speech on Tuesday to go to a live interview with former leader Michael Howard. Some Newsnight viewers expressed scepticism at the programme's coverage of climate change. We also received this e-mail:


    I would like to complain about your coverage of the school shooting at the Amish school. While I found your coverage very informative, I strongly object to your photographing adult Amish. Perhaps you are not familiar with Amish religious beliefs but they do not want to be photographed as a religious belief. To take their picture is to steal their soul.

Host

大象传媒 in the news, Wednesday

  • Host
  • 4 Oct 06, 09:13 AM

The Express: Claims that presenter Fiona Bruce is at the centre of a "barmy 大象传媒 row" over a crucifix worn on air. (no link available)

The Guardian: A columnist criticises the amount of coverage given by the 大象传媒 to Richard Hammond's accident. ()

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