- Ceri Thomas
- 1 May 07, 03:24 PM
At first glance the similarities between John Humphrys and, say, Jade Goody aren't all that obvious (the swearing, the aggression - Jade would never do that) and I certainly didn't expect John to be the first to point them out.
But after John's acceptance speech at last night's we now know that John and Jade are brother and sister in the undeserving family of Celebrity.
John's was this: that reporters in the field - correspondents like Alan Johnston who take real risks - are far more deserving of awards than 'personality' presenters who fly in to nasty places for a day or two and then disappear off home again. He's right, of course - up to a point.
The correspondents John listed, and plenty of others besides, are the eyes and the ears and the brain of the 大象传媒. It's almost ridiculous to have to point out how vital they are and how much recognition they deserve. But in the world as it is, and not as we might like it to be, celebrity has its uses too.
The journalistic puritan in us might want to think that words are just words whoever speaks them but the truth is that a certain sort of celebrity - one that's built on experience, achievements, reputation - can transform the power of any script.
That's not a symptom of some modern disease, it's a reflection of human relationships down the centuries. We don't dish out our attention in a dispassionate way, we give it out lopsidedly to the voice that's familiar, to the name that we trust. Celebrity can amplify. It would be daft not to use it.
Ceri Thomas is editor of the Today programme
- David Kermode
- 1 May 07, 03:09 PM
As Kate Moss's collection hit Topshop this morning, we found ourselves on the rack for covering it.
Shoppers queued through the night to catch a glimpse of her new range, but the overwhelming majority of our viewers (those who got in touch) seemed to suggest it was a non-story:
"Congratulations on your marketing efforts on behalf of Kate Moss. Each time you mention her name a wave of apathy runs around our household", said one viewer. "Philip Green must be laughing all the way to the bank" said another. While "Look at those lemmings piling into that shop" was how someone else summed it up.
So why did we feature it? And why did we feel we needed to mention it on two consecutive days?
The first question is easier than the second.
Love her or loathe her, Kate Moss is a modern icon. Just look at the level of press coverage she generates.
Topshop - a privately-owned company and a big employer - have taken a commercial decision to involve her in their design process, just as other retailers have done with the likes of Madonna and Lilly Allen. That, in itself, is an interesting shift in fashion retailing.
There's also the issue of modern consumer behaviour. Witness the scenes at Primark's Oxford Street launch.
Is it 'a story'? Well, it's all about popular culture and - as I have said before on this blog - news content needs to include popular culture if it's to retain its relevance.
But why did we do it twice? This is a trickier one for me. We focussed on the launch, in a preview piece yesterday, because we thought it would be odd not to look ahead to one of the biggest retail launches of the year. Our package included an element of critical review, from a fashion writer, in order to make it feel like a proper piece of objective reportage.
This morning, it would have seemed odd not to be there for the opening of the doors, so our reporter Susannah Streeter was live in the queue. Keeping a sense of critical review, amid the excitement outside the store, was tougher. However, we included voxpops from a couple of shoppers who were somewhat underwhelmed by the offer.
Among the criticisms this morning, a few of our viewers pointed out that there are many young British designers struggling for recognition. Why don't we feature them? The answer, of course, is that they are 'not Kate Moss'. But I must admit that those comments did set us thinking about how we might tell that 'story' too.
David Kermode is editor of
Daily Telegraph: "Viewers will be able to watch 大象传媒 programmes on the internet under the terms of a new service agreed yesterday." ()
The Independent: Reports on the 大象传媒鈥檚 success at the Sony Radio Academy Awards. Winners included John Humphrys for news journalist of the year and Five Live Breakfast for news and current affairs programme. ()
Financial Times: Reports that the 大象传媒 has topped a poll of employers as voted by graduates. ()
