大象传媒

Can being banned from drinking alcohol hinder not help your chances of recovery from the effects of alcoholism? It's just one of the questions we're tackling on Newsbeat this week.

Radio 1 will be looking at the issues surrounding drinking - our week investigating this kicked off on Sunday night on The Surgery. Newsbeat reporter Jim Reed talked about the stories he'll be covering.

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All week, our listeners will have the chance to click on our Booze Calculator. You put in the number and type of drinks you had last night and it works out the number of units against your weekly recommended amount, number of calories, time the alcohol stays in your system, amount you spent in a typical bar, how much you spend a year on booze if you have one night like that every week. It's all set in a bar with the results displayed on the blackboard.

You can automatically post your results to Facebook and Twitter. Radio 1 DJs will have a go at this and talk about it on their shows. Why not try it yourself?

The first person to be stopped from buying alcohol in every pub and bar in England and Wales has told Newsbeat the ban has made her drinking problem worse. Laura Hall, 21-year-old, has had to go back into rehab after a period off booze. She was arrested after drinking again last week. You can see a documentary about her struggle with alcohol on 大象传媒 Three.

Clearly, it's an important subject which connects with our core 18-24 audience. We will also explore liver disease - something we usually associate with older people - but new statistics show a record number of under 30s were admitted to hospitals in England with liver problems linked to booze last year.

The figure has gone up 53% in the last 10 years from 230 to 351. The numbers are small but rising significantly: some experts we have spoken to believe it is the tip of a very large iceberg waiting to hole NHS budgets.

Separate figures show there are now 71 under 30s on the waiting list for a liver transplant in the UK, up from 28 in 2000. We have spoken to a 19-year-old admitted to hospital with a liver problem and a 25-year-old with serious health problems linked to booze that she kept hidden from the NHS.

In Dundee we're out with police as they pilot a new scheme to prevent underage drinking in the city. Supermarkets and off licenses are selling bottles and cans with a special code. If they get confiscated from someone under 18, then police know where and when it has been bought. They can go back to the shop, study CCTV and find out if shop broke the law or if someone over 18 bought the alcohol on their behalf - which is obviously also illegal.

The coalition government has announced it was bringing in minimum pricing on alcohol in England and Wales. In Oldham that's already happening after the town was labelled the "binge capital" of the UK two years ago. Then the council cracked down - more policing, strict conditions on bars and so on. They say it's been a success and crime and anti-social behaviour is down. We'll be back there to test those claims.

Of course, there are the tricks of the bar trade, too: for example: evidence shows the louder the music in the bar, the more people drink, if they take away chairs leaving customers standing, you are likely to buy more booze. We'll be talking to some insiders from the world of bar work about the tricks and the techniques they use to get us to get another round in.

Our audience will be giving us their feedback and I would love your ideas and thoughts too.

Rod McKenzie is editor of and 1Xtra News.

What to cut? What to keep?

The government's dilemma is one we're chewing over across 大象传媒 News and this week we're working hard to help audiences understand the story and its implications on radio, TV and online - nowhere more than Newsbeat where our young audience is not only engaged with the story but also highly opinionated.

So we asked Comres to survey more than 1,000 18-to-24-year-olds to get their views.

Young voters, the survey says, think the government should take a hard line on benefits, slashing them to help plug Britain's 拢90bn deficit. It finds that 76% of young voters think unemployment benefits should be cut and 68% say that housing benefit needs to be reduced.

When it comes to public services that should be protected, 87% say the NHS, followed by 82% who pick schools; 81% select police and fire services.

The survey suggests they're prepared to see the government make the "tough choices" being discussed. Young voters favour spending cuts over tax rises by a large margin.

62% say there is a need to reduce spending - though most want the cuts to be made slowly to give the economy as much time to recover as possible.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, moves to increase university fees or introduce a graduate tax are only supported by 33% of 18-to-24-year-olds, with 64% against.

Policies to scrap quangos and freeze public-sector workers' pay if they earn more than 拢21,000 are also not widely supported. Apart from front-line services such as the NHS and schools, old-age pensions and defence spending emerge as the most popular to survive unscathed.

Other welfare payments plus new house building, overseas aid and transport are ear-marked for the deepest cuts.

We'll keep returning to our young voters to gauge their reactions: first to the government's plans and then further down the line when they bite. Will their views change or harden? It'll be interesting to see.

Rod McKenzie is editor of and 1Xtra News. Fieldwork for the survey took place from 28 September to 3 October 2010.

Going through the latest audience research in the wake of the election there are some very eye-catching and perhaps surprising results.

A staggering eight out of 10 16-to-34-year-olds watched, listened or read 大象传媒 election news during the campaign.

Previously, I've blogged about apathy and the young, but there's no doubt for some reason, something has changed.

So what's the evidence?

2.7 million 18-to-34-year-olds watched the third debate on the 大象传媒 and, anecdotally, we heard the format was appealing to younger audiences - with many praising Nick Clegg's performance in particular.

Millions of young Radio 1 listeners listened to our leaders' debates on Newsbeat, followed it online or heard coverage on the Chris Moyles Breakfast Show and across the day led by our politics reporter Robin Brant. One in five young people heard our coverage in the last week of the campaign.

on 5 May reached 186,000 people in the same age bracket and the 大象传媒's drive for clear, engaging, coverage seems to have hit a positive note with younger audiences with six in 10 agreeing that our explanations and reporting improved their understanding.

On Radio 1, we invited Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg to meet some of our listeners - all first-time voters, all unsure how, or even whether, to vote. The Radio 1 boardroom - more used to the legendary weekly meeting to decide the station's playlist - was transformed into a studio to record three special editions of Newsbeat. The leaders faced the listeners - chaired by our presenter Tulip Mazumdar.

If ever we thought this would be a tame exercise in polite political repartee we were wrong. What followed was politics with the gloss removed - real, young, working people getting stuck in on the issues that engage them day in, day out: jobs, immigration, petrol prices, a feeling of disconnect from the political machine in Westminster. Deference didn't make an appearance on our agenda.

So what did we get right for young voters?

The clarity? The immediacy? The gritty up-close-and-personal nature of the story, the leader debates and the sense that politicians were facing real voters outside their perceived Westminster comfort zone. I bet you'll have your own views, let us know.

Rod McKenzie is editor of and 1Xtra News.

We've just had the results [1.04Mb] of our opinion poll of - and I promised I would blog about them.

They make interesting reading and illustrate some generational and demographical differences among young adults.

I blogged about apathy before - so let's start there.

Just one in three first-time voters told our pollsters that they will definitely vote on 6 May - far lower than the figure for the general population which hovers around 65%.

That's about the same level as in the previous election, but a drop from our 2001 figure of around 40%. So why's that?

Disinterest in politics tops the list of reasons: simply "not wanting to" and feeling that their decision won't make a difference. Women are less likely to vote than men.

Money and jobs are the key election issues for young voters - perhaps no surprise there.
There are some interesting demographic findings, too.

David Cameron appears to be winning over young working-class voters - while first-time voters in wealthier social groups are more likely to favour Gordon Brown.

That suggests the reverse of demographic trends in other polls among the general voting population. Nick Clegg comes third among both groups; again, his support tilts towards the middle classes.

Almost a quarter of first-time voters are more interested in the smaller parties than they were 12 months ago. Of those, 48% say they are taking more notice of Green Party ideas; another quarter say the same for the BNP and one in five say they are interested in UKIP.

Here again, there is an apparent trend by social group. First-time voters in a middle-class bracket (57%) are significantly more likely to be interested in the Greens. Working-class first-time voters are more interested in the BNP's policies (52%).

In case you were wondering, this is not a "voting intention poll" as they're called in the trade: the 大象传媒 doesn't do that sort of polling.

The findings are pretty much in line with our audience tracking data over time. Disillusionment with politicians in the wake of the expenses scandal is nothing new among all our audiences - but for younger voters, many of whom start with a natural disconnect from Westminster, it can't have helped engagement.

Comres interviewed 1,000 first-time voters (aged 18-23) on fixed line and mobile phones in England, Wales and Scotland from 6-10 April. Data was weighted to be demographically representative of all 18-23 year-olds.

Rod McKenzie is editor of and 1Xtra News.

The range and depth of the 大象传媒's election coverage is impressive. It's something we 大象传媒 journalists are naturally proud of - but for some of our viewers, listeners and readers this is a clear case of overkill.

Some of Radio 1's young listeners have been expressing their opinions in a powerful and robust way - Steve texted to say "I won't be voting".

Apathy among young voters is nothing new to us - but the reasons have changed from five years ago. He continues "...politicians are only interested in lining their own pockets...I can't see the point in electing self-serving, lying, cheats".

Apathy turning to Anger. Still a month to go. Blimey.

We're doing our bit to engage audiences who want something less intense than rolling minute-by-minute coverage of press conferences and appearances, live TV debates and deep analysis.

Our research shows many of our young listeners are intimidated by some of the basics - how to register to vote? What to do when confronted with a ballot paper and booth - a black box and a pencil.

Luckily, : Jamelia, Tinchy Stryder and Ricky Whittle have been telling us - and we've been checking the courtesy of Radio 1 DJ Greg James.

It is possible to have a sense of humour at election time. It's also right to be serious.

Our panel of first-time voters are ready to ask party leaders tough questions and keep our journalism relevant to their needs.

Our mission at Radio 1 is to engage those who want to debate the issues but wouldn't normally have the means, access or know-how to be able to do so.

One of our challenges during the coming weeks will be to balance election news with very many other interesting and important but not election-related stories.

And that's one cause of annoyance with audiences. "Too much on the election - we're bored already!"

Looking through our social networking friends comments, Steve's theme is developed and repeated. "Money grabbing... lies... you can't trust a politician" - words and phrases that come up again and again.

Of course, citizens' cynicism for politicians is nothing new. There was plenty around in Gladstone and Disraeli's day and it stretches further back to Walpole and beyond but some might argue that cynicism increases with age and political disillusionment.

A selection of young voters beaming hopefully out of the page of one of the broadsheets this morning is a stark contrast to our own experience.

Andy "Woody" Woods Facebooked us:

"Why does it matter who you vote for, it just seems like they go back on their word and lie anyway, in the long run all parties attempt to solve all issues only in a different order and different ways."

With first-time voter turnout at the last election at 37% and maybe more than half of "virgin voters" not registered this time round, we could well see a drop in that figure.

We'll soon have the results of our latest poll which will give us some fresh insights into the changing - and still disconnected - world of many young Britons. I'll blog again when we've seen the results.

Rod McKenzie is editor of and 1Xtra News.

"The BNP doesn't deserve a second of airtime on a respected 大象传媒 station."

"Nick Griffin says what most of us are thinking - he stands up for Britain."

Just two of the contrasting texts among thousands we received after Newsbeat's interview with the leader of the BNP - and two young activists from the party. I'm happy to respond to those who argued, or complained, that we shouldn't have conducted the interview.

You can hear the interview here - and also read some of the background editorial thinking on all this in my colleague Ric Bailey's recent post and I'll try not to repeat his arguments.

So first, why was the BNP given airtime?
Well, we're impartial - that means we should examine all political parties and put their representatives on the spot with fair and firm questioning. Impartial journalism and censorship do not sit happily together. We believe in getting the facts and the arguments out there for people to decide - not in judging what is "right" or "wrong" in a political context - that's for you to do.

The BNP are not an illegal party. They enjoy electoral support and have elected representatives. It is the 大象传媒's job to properly examine all legitimate political parties that operate within the law and for which people clearly vote.

Why are you forcing this stuff down your unwilling listeners' throats?
We're not. People have a choice whether to listen or not.

This may surprise you, but a great many texts we received yesterday were broadly supportive of the BNP. Over time, it's evident from following our listeners that the party touches a nerve of support or interest. The large pile of texts on my desk raise issues around immigration, political correctness and an apparent frustration with mainstream politics that means the BNP, or at least some of their policies, appeals to some people.

It's also clear that not much is known about the party's policies beyond immigration and race which is something we were keen to explore - and did. By the way, we also received messages of support from those who believed we had exposed the weakness of the BNP on a range of issues.

Why is the listener's view not heard?
It was. We put to Nick Griffin some of the texts we received including sentiments as tough as "you're a disgrace" and "how do you sleep at night?".

Debbie Randle's handling of the interview was extremely rigorous and the bulk of the tough questions she asked were inspired by, or directly quoted, listeners themselves.

But it's offensive to many others and ethnic minorities?
I accept for many others this is true. But others will understand that one of purposes of journalism in a democratic society is to explore and question - raising at times subjects some may find distasteful or shocking.

Rod McKenzie is editor of and 1Xtra News.

It all happened in the Radio 1 and 1Xtra boardroom. A space more used to heated debates about which pre-release tracks will make the all-important station playlists. But yesterday , not music, getting people passionate.

There was some early banter from the prime minister while he had his mic fitted, sensible to woo the trainees. He and his entourage would have been all too aware of the dangers of sending a low-poll rating PM into a potentially angry crowd in a very public setting.

It was hosted by our 1Xtra News presenter, Tina Daheley. One of the early questions was from Remy, 21, a Man United-supporting MC from Manchester. The prime minister doesn't usually get greeted like this:

"You alright, Gordon?"

Remy wanted to know whether there'd be more help for freed prisoners to find work.

"You have got to have a society where there is punishment if people commit crimes," the prime minister said.

"But equally if someone has served their sentence, we should help them get into work."

Next up, plucky 19-year-old "Cheekz" complained about what she was taught at school.

"Henry VIII's wives and how many heads he chopped off have no relevance in my life now because I don't know how to fill in a housing form and I don't know what I pay taxes for," she said.

The prime minister admitted he thought history teaching was "more up to date" than that, before reeling off examples of how "citizenship studies" will help people like Cheekz.

There were more questions and the prime minister heard some powerful personal stories. Ash from Manchester has lost two friends to gun crime. Darren has been "floating about" in Brixton and can't find a decent place to stay. And Fliss from Bristol told the premier that she's homeless and has to live in a car.

This is all part of the U Takeover joint project from 1Xtra and 大象传媒 Blast. It's a three-month training scheme for 22 young people from Manchester, Bristol and London. The 18-24 year-olds are all out of work and not in full-time education. Their training culminates in producing a day of radio on 1Xtra on Saturday 26 September.

Vince, 20, from Bristol told Gordon Brown he considered some MPs "criminal" for abusing their allowances. The PM didn't agree but said the system was being sorted. Then a question from "Solja" - a 21-year-old football fanatic from Manchester, whose parents both lost their jobs recently.

"Would you jeopardise less on your yearly salary to help the recession?" he asked.

"We've frozen our pay," said the PM, before presenter Tina sought some clarity, "Would you take a pay cut though?" she asked.

"I'd be prepared to take a pay cut," Gordon Brown replied. Cue Tina's next question - how much?

The prime minister refused to tell us. But the news story was already there. The PM is prepared to cut his pay to help out in the recession.

Later - texters to Newsbeat on 1Xtra's sister station, Radio 1, were inclined not to believe he'd actually do it - or that after the next election he'd actually be in a position to make the decision. But that's another story.

We've just launched a new news programme on 1Xtra - the digital sister station to Radio 1 which features contemporary black music. We've always had news content on the station and an award-winning documentary strand - but it's been mixed with a music programme in the afternoons. So our new format is two 15-minute news programmes broadcast at noon and 5pm Monday to Friday.

The 1Xtra News Show is hosted by Tina Daheley and supported by a brilliant new entertainment presenter Nesta McGregor and our versatile sportsman David Garrido.

Our first edition kicked off with a subject of critical relevance to our young, urban target audience. Figures seen by 1Xtra show that four out of every 10 young people say they have unprotected sex. Many young men we spoke to don't like the feel of a condom - young women worried about their reputation if they carry some in their bags. Yet we know how much teenage pregnancy and STIs affect this audience. We've been talking to teenagers and early 20-somethings about "barebacking" and the consequences.

We'll also have an investigation into online sex abuse and sexual bullying. Police have told us that they're increasingly worried about teenagers swapping intimate or naked photos on their mobiles. We've spoken to victims - who sometimes blame vindictive exes for forwarding explicit videos and pictures taken in happier times.

Nesta is in Ayia Napa - a favoured summer destination for our audience - it's an urban music Ibiza. 1Xtra programmes are also coming from there as some of the biggest names in urban music perform there in the busiest week of the holiday season there - amid reports the credit crunch may be hitting the venue this year.

Sport and entertainment/music news is high on our audience's priority list for any news programme that's relevant to their lives. We're also pledged - as with Newsbeat on Radio 1 - to make the important, interesting, relevant and accessible. It may not be for everyone who consumes 大象传媒 News - but it is for our listeners on 1Xtra - and we'd love to hear from you.

Rod McKenzie is editor of and 1Xtra News.

We're told his work experience document is the talk of Wall Street, Tokyo and the City.

Matthew Robson's spell at Morgan Stanley led to him penning a report "How Teenagers Consume Media" which makes some and want that desire to burn brightly for future generations.

In short - he's talked to 300 youngsters and come to the following conclusions: teenagers don't listen to radio, don't go to the cinema after 15, Twitter is for old folks, newspapers are toast and they don't pay for music.

Well, up to a point Matthew.

It's clearly interesting to hear from people actually in this age bracket but is this really borne out by the facts?

Before we think this undoubtedly thought provoking and intelligent work is on the scale of a Charlie Eppes breakthrough moment (OK, without the Maths) ... it's time for a reality check.

We at Newsbeat on Radio 1 and Revealed on 大象传媒 Switch - have done a great deal of hard headed research on all this. Some of it is well founded - some of it good opinionated stuff - but all of it is worth a second glance before it passes off as "The Truth About Teenagers".

Let's take Radio. It's true than the non-visual aspects of radio is less appealing for younger teenagers than 20-somethings. That's why Radio 1 is increasingly visualised - at the moment we are running Zane Lowe and Chris Moyles "in vision" live streamed.

Radio listening among youngest teenagers is declining - but still holding up - and not every teenager is like every other teenager. For example if you want to check out new music and don't want to rely entirely on your mate's dodgy taste - Zane's show is a must.

But after you've established that you like Speech Debelle or stumbled across Wax Fang what next?

In the old days it was off down to the generic music store and parting with 拢11.99 for the CD. No more. Pirated tracks, Limewire and Pirate Bay have all moved into the history of file sharing - now it's good old YouTube that's the big player in the new music second listen and research stage. .

I'd agree with Matthew about Twitter: our evidence suggests teenagers Tweet less than any other group though as with the Facebook v Bebo battle of two or three years ago that may change. We're watching keenly.

He usually chats to male friends while battling terrorists on "Call of Duty" - social networking sites and mobile chats are for girls - and of course, cost is key for the cash strapped teenager.

On mobiles - some certainly have cutting edge technology but there are still plenty of basic hand-me-downs - cause of much embarrassment with friends. We are in a recession after all and not every parent has the deep pocket to fork out on the MP3 and top end web browsing experience.

So - last word to the teenagers themselves who checked out Matthew's work experience for me. One said he thought that teenagers not going to the cinema was a load of rubbish ...and added: "he doesn't sound like an ordinary teenager".

Rod McKenzie is editor of and 1Xtra News.

The thing that annoys troops in Afghanistan, said the British army NCO between mouthfuls of lamb and roast potatoes, was the way the media reported deaths. "Just a line on breaking news," he said.

He was answering a question which has been on my mind a lot lately. How can we better tell the story of what's happening, day in and day out, in Afghanistan?

We've recently spent 10 days embedded with the UK military, first at Camp Bastion and then at Lashkar Gah. We were on patrol with UK forces and with the newly-arrived American troops in the shape of the formidable US Marines.

Our team was made up of reporter Sima Kotecha and producer/cameraman Pete Emmerson. Their dispatches and video-journalism are on the website in our . We've also, of course, been going through feedback.

Moira from Arbroath was one of those who got in touch:

"I just want to say thank you to people like Ross Kemp and Radio 1, if it wasn't for their coverage on Afghanistan, then I like a lot of other people would still be quite ignorant to what all our armed forces have to endure on a daily basis."

Our team was left in no doubt of the relationship that many young servicemen and women have with the station. "When is Chris Moyles coming out?" was a question many asked us, and many also wanted Simon Cowell. They were keen to demonstrate that what they were doing there was more than fighting the Taliban.

We have a special duty to tell the story in Afghanistan comprehensively and impartially for our audience. Some are involved in the conflict, or have been, or will be. Many others are connected to the services through friends and relatives. Real people, real stories. Here's one.

For 33-year-old Maj Sean Birchall, "doing more than fighting the Taliban" meant building a wall around a local school near the Lashkar Gah base. With a minefield nearby and the Taliban around, he wanted to protect the boys - and the girls who wouldn't have been educated under Taliban rule - from danger.

It was a project that he believed in. He spoke with great enthusiasm to our team, and worried over the price - $10,000. Maj Birchall led his men from 1st Battalion Welsh Guards from the front. He was usually first to dismount from armoured convoys and was keen to talk to the Afghan National Police and to check their welfare.

He looked after our team too and, when off-duty, he was interested in the techniques of radio; the sounds here, the footsteps there, the crickets which you hear in our reports.

On Friday, he was in the second vehicle in a patrol convoy. It was hit by a roadside bomb. Despite prompt attention from the convoy's medic, ; he was four days short of his birthday. Another soldier was badly injured.

His loss is deeply felt by his colleagues in the Welsh Guards, by his wife Joanne and by the rest of his family. He leaves an 18-month-old son, Charlie.

In this case, we could do more on Radio 1 than a line on breaking news. Our bulletins this weekend featured his words and a brief obituary. But because of broadcasting restrictions imposed by the MoD, often with good reason, and because of our own concerns about our staff's health and safety, these are never easy stories to report. As so often, they can be best told first hand.

We've got to keep trying - and sometimes that's just about getting out there.

Rod McKenzie is editor of and 1Xtra News.

We've just had five days of journalism on Newsbeat looking at all aspects of the drugs issue.

From steroid use to drug driving, from hepatitis C risks for cocaine users, mental health issues and cannabis - to the growth of so-called party drugs and the corresponding decline of harder drugs such as crack and heroin. We've even employed a sniffer dog to help us online.

There are some who argue that Radio 1 shouldn't give such coverage to what is, after all, an illegal activity. It's an argument that deserves a reply.

Firstly - Radio 1's target audience is young people: most are aged between 15 and 30. In this age group, recreational drug use is often a norm. Rightly or wrongly - it's not our job to judge. I believe it is our job to gather, interpret and broadcast available facts and stories so our audience can decide for themselves.

Let me give you a flavour of our journalism, in case you missed it. Firstly, we did some substantial research on drugs use: it highlighted a decline in harder drug use like crack and heroin - and an increase in so-called party drugs like speed, ecstasy and cannabis.

This was supported with a documentary Out of It on our sister station 1Xtra from Izzy Fairburn. From steroid use to drug driving, from hepatitis C risks for cocaine users, mental health issues and cannabis to the growth of legal - but .

Looking at the thousands of texts and online posts you've sent it, it's clear there'll never be consensus among Radio 1 listeners on the subject. Many are grateful for the help, advice and non-judgmental information offered.

There are others who think those who use drugs - however lightly or recreationally - are losers and the story is not worthy of coverage. I disagree: it's clear that with so many Radio 1 listeners having a view on the subject, either because they are regular or occasional users, or know someone who is, and others seeing friends and family damaged by drug use, it is a story of vital and engaging interest to our audience which numbers in millions of young people.

We'd be failing in our job is we didn't cover this story properly - and seriously. If you were one of those who texted, e-mailed or went for the messageboard option - whatever your views - thank you!

Rod McKenzie is editor of and 1Xtra News.

Demi Moore loves her. She's the bookies' favourite to win ITV's Britain's Got Talent and she has hordes of fans.

It's from Blackburn, West Lothian, of course. She's 47 and, she says, never been kissed.

So why - a few people have asked me - do we refer to her as "a virgin" on Radio 1? Do we now insist on checking the chastity or otherwise of all those who we report on? No, let me assure you, we don't.

This is not some salacious reporting of sex lives or lack of them. It's a crucial part of her back story and one she herself has highlighted on many media interviews. She's never had a boyfriend and these details are unusual and interesting. Worth reporting, I would argue.

We wouldn't be mentioning this if she hadn't brought it up - but she did. She herself hasn't complained. I don't think there's an invasion of privacy issue here because she is the source, not the subject, of an allegation. Anyway, virginity's nothing to be ashamed of, is it?

"I have been making myself sick since I was 13, I am now 17...it controls my life and I can't stop. I don't want help. It's my life."

You have to be a very hard hearted editor not to be deeply moved by the Radio 1 audience's struggle with eating disorders and body image. No-one who has any contact with teenagers or early 20-somethings can fail to understand how large this looms as an issue: it destroys lives - and frankly, it doesn't get much news coverage.

The number of young people being admitted to hospitals for problems related to Anorexia has gone up 80% in 10 years, according to NHS figures for England. Three times as many 12-year-olds are now .

Newsbeat spoke to Heather Youell who lives in Northampton. She's now 22 and her problems started when she was 15: she cut out breakfast, then lunch, then dinner. She collapsed while out jogging and doctors told her she had just days to live. She's better now but no thanks, she says, to her GP surgery. Their advice was simple: "you should eat more". In hospital, nurses discussed their diets while trying to get her to eat.

"We thought it was time the prime minister was asked about this, so our politics reporter Dave Howard put him on the spot at his monthly press conference. Doesn't late diagnosis put lives at risk? Gordon Brown agreed: "I think the more the Health Service can do to help particularly teenage girls the better. I assure you that's one of the issues Alan Johnson is looking at very seriously in his health service plan."

We contacted Susan Ringwood, from the eating disorders charity, Beat, who said: "What Gordon Brown said to Newsbeat today was the first time a prime minister has ever made a statement about eating disorders."

So far, so good, but then - suspicion from the charity: it has been pleading with the government to find out more about eating disorders, particularly simple facts like, how many people in the UK suffer? They think the Department of Health is rather less keen on doing the hard work on this than the prime minister might suggest, and claim that anorexia - and similar eating disorders - cause more deaths in young people than any other medical condition.

Our text response after the story might be persuasive. Emily - who's 17 - went from being a nine stone (57kg), 5ft 9in to just five stone (31kg). And again, as with so many of our stories on Radio 1, it's not just the girls who suffer. We heard about one young man who wanted to be a male model: his quest for the body beautiful nearly killed him - at one point, he was given three days to live.

And to be fair - there are people who blame the media too. Helen in Cumbria spoke for many others when she tapped out this text to us: "The problem is down to the media. Girls being airbrushed and promoting size zero is becoming more and more acceptable. We need to stop promoting this image of a perfect body which is unachievable."

It's a depressingly familiar scene. Police at a family's doorstep; a woman inside, tearful, bloodied and bruised; the officers were called because she was being attacked by her partner - now she won't, or can't, take the matter further and press charges.

Shocking - but perhaps not surprising. We know it happens often. But what if the victim in such a case was a man - a young man?

New statistics suggest that men in their early 20s are MORE likely to be abused by their partner than women the same age. It's not a subject that's much talked about. On , we're changing that.

The official definition of partner abuse includes non-physical forms like emotional bullying as well as physical force. But men in this age range have been on the receiving end of all forms, including sometimes severe violence.

Across most age ranges more women are abused than men. But analysis of the latest figures from the Home Office shows the problem is more evenly spread between the sexes in the early stages of a young relationship

So why are men in this age at such risk? Are 20-something women becoming more aggressive? Are men less able to defend themselves? And is this a taboo that's now being talked about for the first time?

Our journalism started with a on Radio 1 from our special reporter Jim Reed. 5Live's phone-in with Nicky Campbell picked up the story also.

Mark Brooks from the men's health charity Mankind reckons the issue of male domestic abuse is often ignored by the government, social services and the police. There simply isn't enough help available for men, he says.

Reporting the crime carries risks too. Some men clearly feel that telling police can lead to the finger of blame being pointed at them. One, who wants to stay anonymous, texted us to say "ex girlfriend pushed me down the stairs ,i called the police and they locked me up for three hours and made me walk home with dislocated toes cos they did not believe me". Others say they were threatened with assault charges - even though they were the victim.

The response from the Radio 1 audience appears to fit the stats, too: "She knocked me to the ground and then started punching, kicking and biting me." Another one told us: "My ex broke my arm with a metal pole ... when the police came round, I ended up being arrested."

And perhaps most movingly: "My dad was stabbed to death by his girlfriend in a drunken unprovoked attack. She had been attacking him randomly for months. He would never talk to us about it but we knew she had a violent temper. He was a wonderful dad and we miss him every day. More should be done to encourage men to report domestic abuse."

Covering this subject has provoked a flood of stories and experiences - and from many a desire for something to be done to help young male victims. We're now following this up with a full length documentary - coming soon on 1Xtra.

Rod McKenzie is editor of Newsbeat and 1Xtra News.

How old were you when you had your first drink?

I'd be interested to know if starting early made you less or more likely to drink more later in life.

The reason I ask is, of course, that advises that children shouldn't be allowed to have any alcohol until they're at least 15. After that, it recommends all booze should be drunk under supervision until the age of 18.

Our audience on Radio 1's - our young audience - was not impressed. Most seem to think it's another example of nannying, don't-do-this-do-this government.

Kimberley texted us to say:" i lived in a pub when i grew up and i had my 1st drink at the age of around 6ish. I am now 25 and i no my limit and with seeing people drunk when i was younger made me not want 2 look like that".

Dave in Filey, North Yorkshire agrees: "it's about time the govt started to actually run the country and stopped interfering in the public's personnal lives-we are not as incapable of rational decision making as many people in govt think we are".

But Georgina from Leeds says: "Alcohol is a drug and potentially poisonous. It can damage developing organs and seriously affect judgement. The argument that the more adults say no the more children will do it is a cop out by parents who do not take their responsibilities seriously. It is our job to keep children and young people safe".

Other listeners cited the European family drinking culture, which seems to work well for the Italians, Spanish and French, they say: not much binge drinking there, thanks to a sip or two with mum and dad at the dinner table. A view endorsed by David Cameron when he was last year - .

And by the way, I had my first drink aged 11: do I drink sensibly? Well... mostly.

Rod McKenzie is editor of Newsbeat and 1Xtra News.

The issue of cannabis always provokes strong reaction for audiences to Radio 1 and its urban music sister station 1Xtra.

It's certainly true that younger audiences have a more tolerant attitude to the drug than a succession of governments: they are, after all, much more likely to be users - but beyond that generalisation, the detail of the argument is fascinating and illuminating. That's why we're spending this week focusing on the arguments for and against the re-classification, as well as the .

Rich from Wakefield texted 1Xtra to say he started on ganga when he was eight. But added: "Gave up for 2 years and started again, still smoking it and I'm fine." Over on Radio 1 another texter said: "I've been smoking green for 4 years now and I also know lots of people who have been smoking cannabis for 10 years...none of us has experienced any problems with our body and brain." Others contacted us to say that alcohol is far more harmful.

So our audience thinks it's harmless and are all for legalisation? Er, no.

On 1Xtra: "I think weed is pretty bad cos I was getting panic attacks and I cudnt even get on bus. My boyfriend has panic attacks 2." Others said they'd developed schizophrenia and depression, lost friends and split from partners because of their use.

Students claimed their studies and grades had been affected and that social lives had been damaged. Many blamed strong weed, skunk, for the problems. Memory loss, mood swings and loss of confidence were also blamed on green.

"I work in a homeless hostel and would say a quarter of our cannabis users have drug-induced psychosis. The other three-quarters suffer from depression which results in lack of motivation" (to work). Another user added: "I also had a friend who committed suicide due to paranoid schizophrenia which we believe was caused by cannabis."

But on the other hand back on 1Xtra: "I'm 25 I pay my rent, my bills, my child maintenance, if after a day at work I want 2 have a smoke I don't feel any1 is in a position to tell me otherwise."

So cannabis and schizophrenia. Is there a link? The government's top drug advisor, Professor David Nutt, told Newsbeat evidence is building to prove there is. But he reckons the risk is small - and alcohol can be just as damaging.

Marc Middlebrook, 27, was sentenced to life imprisonment last year for stabbing his girlfriend Stevie Barton to death because he believed she was part of a plot to kill him. The court heard that he had made his mental problems worse by "stubbornly" continuing to smoke cannabis after doctors told him to stop.

Newsbeat spoke to Stevie's mother Jackie, a former psychiatric nurse. She said she doesn't blame the drug for her daughter's death.

"I always say cannabis didn't kill my daughter, Marc did," she said. "I know lots of people - doctors, professionals, nurses - who have smoked cannabis for years and do not commit crimes." It's no good standing there wagging your finger and saying this is wrong. People need to be able to know the facts and there is a lot of information and counter-information around cannabis use at this time."

And if you want to join in, you could even do our online questionnaire.

Rod McKenzie is editor of Newsbeat and 1Xtra News.

Newsbeat and 1Xtra listeners have been . We broadcast an interview with Jacqui Smith on the day the new crime figures came out - and not surprisingly for our young audience knife crime and cannabis were the big issues.

We asked five of our listeners to do the inquisition. We find this gets a very different and often more stimulating response than the journalist v politician style favoured elsewhere on 大象传媒 News.

Did she do well - or not? You can judge for yourselves by watching the video - and I'd love to hear your views:

The five Newsbeat and 1Xtra listeners spent more than 40 minutes grilling her. Afterwards, most of them said they were disappointed by the way she dealt with their concerns.

"I expected a text-book answer," said James Kennedy, a 28-year-old highways worker from Leicestershire, "and that's exactly what I got. She treated us as if our opinions didn't count."

Mechanic Adam Richardson, 27, from Bury St Edmunds, said, "She didn't give a straight answer. She isn't someone I'd go for a drink down the pub with."

Young mum Jodie from Crawley was also frustrated, saying, "She just sat there gabbing on. By the time she'd finished, you'd forgot what she said because it wasn't directed at the questions that were asked."

Jodie explained to the home secretary that she's frightened, because her younger brother goes out on the streets at night with a knife in his pocket. She said he carries a blade to protect himself.

And it's this point that was picked up by listeners to 1Xtra. Some echoed comments made by a contributor to Panorama's investigation into knife crime that there's a perception that jail terms for carrying blades are seldom enforced - and even if they are, time behind bars is preferable to being unarmed on dangerous streets.

Of those who contacted 1Xtra News afterwards, 80% were in favour of legalising cannabis. The argument that strong weed, such as skunk, is contributing to mental health problems was raised by the home secretary, who admitted she "didn't know" whether cannabis was more or less dangerous than alcohol. Radio 1's listeners couldn't agree on that either:

Adam said: "I've been in trouble for getting in a fight when I was drunk. If I'd had a smoke, I would have avoided it. I've seen so many people become aggressive on alcohol." An anonymous texter replied: "I go out drinking in London every weekend and have never had a fight. I've seen much more damage done with people smoking weed. The mental health effects are massive also the fact that cannabis sales go towards much worse things."

Adrian Luke, a 25-year-old from Bedford, told the home secretary that he needs to get a job or he risks going back to his old life of selling crack on the streets. He says he's spent 18 months in prison, and now he wants to stay straight. But he told Jacqui Smith, "I need to support myself and my kids and my family. I'm very tempted to go back to doing what I was doing before".

"I'm sympathetic to you, Adrian," she told him, "because it sounds like you're really trying hard."

Rod McKenzie is editor of Newsbeat and 1Xtra News.

Losing your job is a bitter blow for most of us: for young people that blow can be much more bitter and brutal.

Below the headlines of the latest jobless stats lurks a worrying figure for teenagers and early 20-somethings: one in seven under 25s is now out of a job.

When firms cut jobs young workers are often hardest hit. More than 700 a day are signing up for the dole, the fastest rate since Labour came to power in 1997.

So getting a firm foothold on the bottom rung of the career ladder is a challenge: losing that foothold easy. Temporary and casual contracts are the norm - with big firms and service and retail sectors cutting back, many jobhunters are finding their prospects are bleak.

Our reporter Jim Reed for pieces broadcast on Radio 1's Newsbeat, 1Xtra News and Breakfast News on 大象传媒1. We set up some advice on the .

And many listeners contacted us. 1Xtra's - the youngest of any 大象传媒 adult service with a median age of 21 - had their say.

K.H.Z said: "I graduated from uni in summer, have all the skills needed 4 a job an i cant get anything cuz of experience. I have a fultime job on minimum wage an i should b earning at least double! Vexes me propa."

Another added: "Im 18 and was made redundant 4 months ago iv applied for at least 50 jobs and around 5 hav got bak to me sayin i need experience i dont want to b on job seekers allowance i feel sick knowin im able to work yet nobody will give me work."

But not everyone from the age group was sympathetic - an 18 year old soldier texted us to say: "Its easy to find a job regardless of the economy, its pure laziness. Why not join the armed forces? Most young people cant be bothered."

So what do you think?

Ten thousand complaints and rising. Questions in the House from outraged MPs. Gordon Brown calls it "inappropriate and unacceptable". 大象传媒 radio boss Tim Davie apologises unreservedly and uses the "unacceptable" word too. Ofcom and the 大象传媒 Trust circle menacingly. And the woman at the centre of it all, Georgina Baillie, reportedly tells the Sun she wants them sacked.

You'll have your own views about what Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross did during that prank call to actor Andrew Sachs.

But if you thought the British public believe it's an open and shut case against the Radio 2 pair, maybe it's time for a rethink.

Audiences across the 大象传媒 are responding in very different ways. My colleagues on Radio 4, 5Live, in television and the World Service are reporting, broadly speaking, condemnation. Younger audiences are saying something different in our experience.

The first clue came when we started reporting the story on Monday and we noted an unusually silent response from Radio 1's 10.5 million listeners. As the story grew, splashed on the tabloids and featuring prominently in many of the broadsheets -a response began. But a different one.

"Get over it: a fuss about nothing," was typical. Some listeners texted in to point out that Ross and Brand were there to appeal to younger audiences with edgy humour. Not every gag by alternative comics hits the mark, does it? Errors of judgement are surely not a sacking offence? And anyway it was funny, wasn't it?

So the media storm grows. There's anger: some genuine, some of it synthetic. Some of it comes from the 大象传媒's usual critics. For media folk profile and salary-envy and schaedenfreude may play a part in all this. But how many heard the original transmission and how many are responding to the newspapers' quotes or others' arguments? I'm not here to defend or attack anyone - but there is an alternative view we are seeing strongly expressed by our young audience which is certainly worth wider consideration.

The prime minister's intervention amazed some listeners: "The financial markets are wrecked and all he can do is talk about a petty joke." Also: "Everybody needs to calm down"; "Anybody who thinks it's disgusting should get a grip"; "Why should they be punished? This is the normal chit-chat of a man"; "It was funny, a joke. People are so boring"; "Leave Russell alone"; "Russell is hilarious"; "Jonathan Ross is a great presenter"; "Hey, they are comedians - it's their job". And the favourite phrase: "It's been blown out of all proportion."

When we started covering the story on Newsbeat - the audience response was running two-to-one in Ross's and Brand's favour - now it's swelled to six-to-one. David Sillito's excellent piece on the News at Ten on Tuesday illustrated this with a "vox pop" of older and younger audiences to 大象传媒 shows.

Very different views, as reflected by Radio 1's audience.

Still an open and shut case?

I kicked in the window, or tried to, 'cos he wouldn't give me a pizza". One drunk man's view of why he came to be in Casualty after a night on the lash which ended in violence and a head injury for him.

Newsbeat's health reporter Tulip Mazumdar has been investigating the scale of a problem that's been a headache for A&E departments: the link between drinking and Casualty. You can watch the video at the Revealed website at 大象传媒 Switch.

New figures compiled by the for the show more than 53,000 under 25s were admitted to hospital in England for problems or injuries triggered by drink in 2006-07. That's well above the 32,000 alcohol related admissions reported for the same year under the old method - which didn't include injuries for drink fuelled accidents and violence.The cost is a staggering 拢2.7 billion in England alone each year.

One hospital doctor in Leeds told Tulip the effect on a busy night can be "carnage" - drunken fights, falls down stairs or from nightclub balconies - violence and swearing directed at the staff. Tulip was joined by Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills who again found it an eye opener. One teenage girl was there who'd drunk a bottle of wine before she went out, topped up by more wine and vodka shots. Another teenager passed out in a corridor, others with tubes down their throats or vomiting into buckets. Frustratingly for the staff - all self-inflicted.

Newsbeat worked closely with Radio 1's DJs and programme teams as part of the station's Alcohol Experiment.

So what's the solution? For some of our listeners it highlights a mismatch between the way society and the law views drugs and drink. Many argue the drugs are less harmful thank drink - perhaps we shouldn't ban one without the other, they suggest. Supermarkets' booze promotions caught some of the blame. Others argue that drunken revellers should be made to pay for their own hospital treatment.

One cannabis supporters added "you want people to stop drinking so much, then legalise cannabis...how many people a year go to hospital with cannabis related accidents"? Sherms from Bristol claimed people "don't binge smoke...or get into fights not to mention the tax they could put on it!" It would be good to hear your views, too on this perhaps uniquely "young" issue.

I've been to a fair few British political party conferences in my time. But I've never seen a delegate wearing a blue and yellow hen on his head - at least not when sober before 9pm.

If you want glitz - glamour - pzazz and you're into politics, you can't beat the American version. The scale and colour alone is "awesome" if you'll pardon the pun.

There was Michelle Obama embracing the children on stage as adoring delegates cheered the roof off at the Democratic National Convention. I know, I know; you may well hate all of this. But of course, like all good political journalism you have to look longer and dig deeper than the brightly buffed PR machine.

That's why we're working very hard to bring the US election to Radio 1's 11 million listeners in an accessible, engaging and relevant way.

Coverage of US Elections runs the risk of veering between two extremes: mind numbingly detailed, "in" and frankly dull - or so superficial it's useless.

I would argue this is a fascinating story which if done well can engage even the politically disaffected Britons. I don't need to explain to editors' blog readers why it's a good story: you're reading this because you are more interested in the mechanics of editorial priorities and arguments than most people.

Of course this is a big story: arguably the most important story in the world. But arguments like that don't engage all listeners by any means: if we get our tone and dosage wrong we will end up boring people.

Our correspondent Iain Mackenzie is in Denver to cover the Democrats' convention. You can read his latest work - including a picture of the aforementioned hen. On air, you can hear him daily this week bringing us the latest news from the convention while we use our online space for a more reflective, diary feel.

You can hear interviews not broadcast on the radio - again demonstrating that in a multimedia world radio and its online sister sites can add depth and range to coverage, not replicate it.

Next week, it's the turn of the Grand Old Party, the Republicans - meeting in MInneapolis-St Paul. Our reporter Sima Kotecha will be there to continue and expand our coverage as the US election run-in gathers pace towards November's mighty climax.

Already we've covered the story far more, and in far greater depth, than any previous US Election in Newsbeat's 35 year history and we're promising our audience even more along with some very special election programmes.

Grey clouds - strong winds - lashing rain - brilliant sunshine. The weather in Newquay on Tuesday was the usual varied English seaside mix that leaves us wondering whether to go for the shorts or the brolly.

But as David Cameron strolled into the beachside bar on Fistral Beach to meet a panel of Radio 1 and 1Xtra listeners - the sunshine burst through, apparently matching his mood as Labour's leadership woes dominate the headlines.

But this encounter was about real people - with real problems and questions: not the tea room plotting and chatter of Westminster. That can dampen anyone's mood.

We've always found in the years that we've been doing political interviews, getting real people to ask the questions puts the politicians on the spot in a way professional interviewers and journalists often can't.

Was he "borderline smug" as 29-year-old single mum Lauren Evans wondered? What's he going to do about underage drinking? - wondered 14-year-old Laura Barritt. Polish immigration in the building trade was what was on the mind of 26-year-old labourer Ross McKay while Shevell Bachelor was worried about urban knife crime.

You can read his and read our political reporter Rajini Vaidyanathan's account .

There's also a film to . You may also have seen Rajini's film on Wednesday night's Newsnight on 大象传媒2.

When it was all over - our panel - and some of our millions of listeners had their say via interview, text or online comment.

After reading them I was left with two clear observations. Those who were present thought Cameron was likeable and impressive, but had work to do to convince people to vote positively for the Conservatives.

My second impression from listeners who weren't there was that our listener panel nailed the key issues facing young Britain but not yet all the answers they expect to hear.

Winning over the politically sceptical or disengaged is a mountain for the Conservatives -and, to be fair, all parties - to climb.

大象传媒 News programmes are often at their most brilliant and vivid when we hear real stories from our audiences.

No debate on knife crime and the government's response to it could be complete without the voices of young Britons. They include millions of Radio 1 listeners - some with dramatic first hand experience.

A half-hour edition of Newsbeat put the subject under the microscope. Scott Breslin was 16 when he was stabbed in the neck in Glasgow. Paralysed - he can move his head. That's about it. He needs 24/7 care and his two attackers are already out of jail, after a small handful of years inside while Scott lives with his own life sentence. He told Newsbeat's Briar Burley his story: moving, shocking - and one that made some of our audience very angry.

From the streets - a different story: "I'll die for my friends - I'll kill for my friends" - one young blade carrier told us.

Reporter Tulip Mazumdar was in Polmont Young Offenders' Institution near Falkirk - where many of Scotland's knife criminals end up. Of course, knife crime in the Glasgow area is a serious, long running problem and one which is often under-reported by London-based media.

We also heard from New Yorker Mike Tanelli in the Bronx - he told our US reporter Sima Kotecha that he'd been "...shot, stabbed, and hit with baseball bats for nothing but just for fun". But that in tough areas like this the NYPD's policy of flooding tough areas with cops had cut crime...high visibility policing is appealing to many of those who got in touch with us.

One policeman texted to say they barely have the manpower or equipment to defend themselves let lone the public - he thinks Tasers could be the answer.

But is it all the media's fault?

The stats suggest that knife crime in London is down and overall knife crime is more or less the same as it's always been. In many parts of Britain - especially rural areas - young people simply don't carry knives. But we also know the official stats are probably flawed: they under-report under 16s and hospital information may be incomplete. With the audience the stats clearly lack credibility.

Jonathan Blake in Liverpool found huge scepticism among people there about the government's latest measures. A huge volume of texts gripped in our political reporter Rajini Vaidyanathan's hands, she fired a question at the prime minister's press conference. "Our listeners think you are out of touch". He said he wanted our audience to know: "If you carry a knife our intention is that you are punished."

Our texts kept coming in: "My boyfriend was stabbed and killed two-and-a-half years ago. I just don't believe sentences are harsh enough and neither is prison." Many, many others from victims, and others from those explaining why they carry blades "to protect myself - if I get attacked I want to defend myself: it's kill or be killed".

Our audience responded in huge volume to our special programme with a range of ideas, anger and frustration.

There was a similar story on our sister station 1Xtra which mounted a special programme too, fronted by Mike Anthony of the Rampage crew, himself a recent stab victim.

A 15-year-old girl holds her boyfriend after he's stabbed to death by a gang of teenagers. He dies in her arms. His best friend dreamt that one of them would be killed - he wasn't sure who it would be. Making it to 17 is a surprise to him anyway as he feels the good die young - so he's prepared.

You may think that this is a plotline from a movie or play - it's not. It's a real life story. In our documentary Street Diary, produced by Nicola Asamoa, we heard from young people directly affected by crime. They included the best mate and girlfriend of 16-year-old Kodjo Yenga who was stabbed to death by a gang of teenagers in London last year.

We also heard from a former gang member who joined a gang because he didn't have any brothers or sisters to look out for him. Artists Bashy and Dizzee Rascal also gave us their take on life on the streets.

Our range of voices and experiences demonstrated to us that whatever the official stats, whatever the politicians or journalists may say, out on the real streets of some parts of Britain, knife crime is a terrifying and real part of peoples lives.

In my last blog Is Amy Porn? - I posed a question which I will now answer.

There's no way we would cancel an interview with the prime minister at Downing Street for a vague hint by a music artist that she had something to tell us. Even Amy Winehouse. But thank goodness I have more than one reporter anyway. So I hope that puts your mind at rest. The assembled mass at the didn't entirely agree with those who responded to the blog with such vehemence on this issue. Some thought that for a music network with a reputation for strong entertainment news coverage, we'd be looking a gift horse in the mouth. One senior radio news executive from outside the 大象传媒 thought I was wrong.

I also don't agree with those who posted comments suggesting we don't cover politics or anything other than "trivia": I suspect many editors' blog readers may not be Radio 1 listeners, which is fine, so let me respectfully enlighten you. We have a dedicated political reporter in Rajini Vaidyanathan who's established a strong reputation for robustness in the corridors of power: it's our job to make political coverage relevant and accessible to our young audience from a wide demographic. She and her colleagues do this brilliantly. Newsbeat is, and will continue to be, committed to a serious and broad news agenda: from to the , from the to , Iraq, and so much more.

But by the same token we won't ignore . It is important, too. Audiences, especially younger ones, are ever more demanding and have re-defined the parameters of what is news. We will continue to serve them with accessible and relevant journalism.

This was the question posed by a senior colleague of mine at the in Glasgow this week. Jeff Zycinski, head of radio at 大象传媒 Scotland said he had been reduced to tears by newspaper coverage of the troubled singer - who has just made a much-talked about appearance at Glastonbury.

Jeff explains: "the pictures of Amy Winehouse are a form of pornography...if we put these stories on air, if we read these stories, aren't we in some way complicit in this woman's destruction? I have wept over pictures of Amy Winehouse."

Jeff went on to argue, in front of a gathering of radio executives and staff from commercial and 大象传媒 sectors, that we should do more stories about 24-year-old women a mile east of the city centre, who are daily destroying themselves on drink and drugs and put that at the top of the .

Strong stuff. So are we in those areas of the 大象传媒 that have covered this story guilty of causing Amy's destruction and using her as a type of porn?

Well, no, I don't believe we are.

For younger audiences across Britain - like it or not - the lives of celebrities are a daily talking point: across offices and shops in Britain: these are water-cooler moments from which a modern 大象传媒 can no longer stay stuffily aloof.

Of course, different networks will take different views - not for a moment am I suggesting that this is the Today programme or the Ten O'Clock News fare. But for young facing networks like Radio 1 to ignore the off-stage antics of some of our biggest acts from Amy to Britney and beyond would be extremely odd, to say the least.

In January, we relaunched our website, with improved entertainment news coverage and watched our monthly page impressions jump from around 300,000 to more than 4 million in the space of 4 months - the bulk of these hits were for entertainment news coverage.

The trick is we mustn't do every story - we need to tackle those we select with the same editorial rigour as we would for any other news - and be mindful of the impact on individuals our coverage might have.

For example, I gave to the festival an example of the sort of stuff we would never pick up from the red-tops. Wednesday's Sun had a no-holds-barred account of Amy's alleged recent activities which we wouldn't touch with a barge pole - even if we could stand it up.

Nor have we followed widespread newspaper speculation about the state of Madonna and Guy Ritchie's marriage - not a second of coverage, until today - when they issued a denial statement and we dutifully reported it.

As I told the festival, we are not remotely interested in doing bedroom or intrusive private life stuff: it's got to be in the public domain first, we've got to have done a proper journalistic job on investigating whatever the story is - and we must be responsible in our coverage.

It's also worth remembering that both broadcast and written media are frequently tipped off about celebrity activities and appearances by the stars' publicity people themselves: I'm keen not to get drawn into this "game". Nor do we collude with press officers to agree safe "questions" in advance of interviews that won't embarrass the celebs themselves as part of a deal.

We should be fair dealers - most of all to our audience. If our audiences hear it, they have a right to believe it's more than second hand gossip or tittle tattle copped off the tabloids.

It's also true that some of the issues raised by the Britney and Amy stories have proved useful ways in to discuss in a wider way issues such as drug-taking, binge drinking and eating disorders. Online and on-air we've been able to supply fact boxes, credible advice and helpline information for people who feel they may in a similar dilemma - especially to those without the deep pockets to opt for the Priory option.

On a lighter note - we staged a fictional scenario at the Radio Festival: you can try our editorial dilemma. I won't tell you which way I voted, but please tell me what you could do if you were in my shoes. I'll post a blog later to let you know what I said.

We have an interview with Gordon Brown at Downing Street - it's one to one - pre-arranged and ready to be done. Suddenly, the newsdesk gets a call from Amy Winehouse saying she has a "very important" announcement to make but that we must send a reporter immediately to her home. Our only available reporter is at Downing Street...so do we cancel Brown for Winehouse?

The gripping climax to the long running struggle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to win the Democratic ticket in the race for the White House has highlighted, for me, the differences between the two countries about how their respective young audiences view the political process. I was lucky to observe the story from Washington as Obama triumphed - exactly 20 years after I first covered a US election from America as a reporter.

As we know, here in the UK, younger audiences are broadly bored and/or cynical about Westminster politics. I detect something genuinely different about what's happening in America at the moment.

Rich or poor, old and young - but especially young - well educated or not - the election is the talking point. It may be because the American networks have saturation coverage. There's excellent coverage available on the 大象传媒 too - from Justin Webb's comprehensive online analysis to take on it all.

But for whatever reason - it's the talking point. There are theories on why Hillary should or could never be Obama's running mate. On why McCain is too old - Obama too young or inexperienced. Race, gender and age are in there: along with Iraq, healthcare and the issue that seems to be bothering Americans most - the economy, credit crunch and gas prices.

Many told me, on my trip there, that there was a mood of change taking place. Sceptical as ever I wondered if that might be wishful Democrat thinking. The polls, after all, are pretty tight.

Students at a journalism college in New York that I spoke to believed that young Americans felt they might make a difference in November at last. So does that mean a vote for Obama and change? If you listen to the politically engaged in the big cities, you could be forgiven for thinking so - though there are still those that feel Hillary was cheated - and that McCain will soon prove his worth.

But America is a big country as it's easy to get drawn into a sort of lazy journalism where a rather romantic notion of a "new JFK" might hold sway.

We probably have done rather too much on the Democratic race - and too little on McCain on and 1Xtra, so far. That's not down to a left-liberal bias - it's simply been the most compelling news story up to now. Now, the campaign proper starts - that's something we're going to have to correct by getting our reporters, Iain Mackenzie and Sima Kotecha, out and about into small towns and settlements. Testing this troubled nation's mood and the impact of McCain and Obama's policies and personalities.

We make no apologies for covering the US election on Newsbeat and 1Xtra News. As my colleague, World Tonight editor Alistair Burnett explained in his blog, we're all affected by what happens in November: our troop deployments in Iraq and potentially Afghanistan, the growing economic crisis that people sense up and down the country - and some very interesting US political stories and finally, perhaps crucially, the personalities of the two men.

Politics may not be the juiciest story from our young audience's viewpoint - but this story could turn out to be the most important in the world. We have a duty to report it. Perhaps it might even be an accessible and meaningful way into politics for younger Britons.

There is a debate among senior 大象传媒 journalists about our coverage and prominence of crime. My colleague Kevin Marsh has blogged on the subject - and his views are worth a read. Rather than replicate those arguments, I present a practical hands on journalists' dilemma over the argument...which you will have views on...

Like it or not - viewers and listeners are interested in crime stories. They may make them worry - they may appeal to the heart - or they may make them wonder if the authorities could do more to halt the perceived march of knife crime. There's nothing new about crime interest and viewers, listeners and readers - it's an even older phenomenon than Jack the Ripper, after all.

So why do news organisations - especially those who are audience driven or influenced - give such prominence to crime, when as authorities point out, violent crime is falling - and you are very unlikely to be a victim?

Faced with a list of stories which might include will-Hillary-pull-out-of-the-US-election race, a think-tank report on social policy and last night's Vauxhall conference scores...you might imagine why our on duty journalists might be drawn to lead their bulletins on a murder - especially one with a strong narrative attached.

Should we react automatically in this way? Of course not. Should we add context to our reporting when we lead on, say, knife crime as explained in Kevin's blog? We certainly should.

But is the audience interested in the story in the first place? Our evidence is that they are - and that whatever we say - they are very worried about violent crime. So on that basis should we cover the story? Yes probably.

In Birmingham City centre, 1Xtra reporter Briar Burley didn't take long to find a young man who carries a knife. He told us "it's....seven inches....anyone who attacks me...I go for the neck and throat". Our reporter challenged him about the likely fatal consequences of such a move as well as the illegality of possession. He was unmoved: that's why I'm doing it.

We know younger people are more likely to be crime victims than homeowners in leafy suburbs - but among both groups fear is high - and arguably reflect a sense of powerlessness of the Police to stem "the tide".

Those who got in touch with Max's show on 1Xtra afterwards held a variety of views. Some said the Police "didn't care" - others claimed the government's new viral advertising on the web was a waste of money and likely to further glamorise knife crime. Others wanted more education at an earlier age of the hazards and dangers.

So whether you think there's too much crime on the news and it fuels an unjustified fear - or whether it's a real worry, perhaps triggered by personal experience - which leads some of our listeners to illegally carry knives for self defence - crime as an issue isn't going to go away and the media doesn't have the solution. Or does it?

To Blackburn for a conference. A couple of petrol stops during the journey leave me in service station queues with grumpy drivers of trucks and cars. Let's just say you wouldn't have wanted to be Gordon Brown.

Not a hugely revelatory observation, though what struck me was that this was much stronger and more hostile than British people's traditional humorous cynicism and dismissal of elected representatives. More like hatred and contempt. Radio 1's listeners, in far greater numbers, have reflected those views.

Our first coverage of the road tax and fuel protests stories on the Chris Moyles show brought a rapid, furious and voluminous response. Later in the day, our computer which gathers listeners' texts crashed: it apparently couldn't cope with the weight of response. During the day the texts were running 90% plus hostile to the government.

My other editor colleagues have noted similar responses - though one said to me he was a bit surprised ours weren't a bit more, well, green. Younger audience after all: big gas-guzzling cars bad, bicycles good?

Jenni, who's 17, told us she'd already paid 拢600 to learn to drive and once she's passed, paying for petrol, insurance and road tax will take up more than half her wages: she can't afford a car - but she needs one.

Another texter pointed out that driving his inefficient car was still cheaper than the train - and with public transport in the South East as expensive as it is - it's a trap people can't escape.

Younger people are often the ones driving older cars - and facing big hikes in car taxes as a result. Not fair, they say, from a party supposed to represent poorly-paid working people - that was a view of many people.

Back to my garage queue in Lancashire: as one lorry man raged about ministers' inability to "get" the 10p tax issue and the cumulative effect of rises in motoring costs, it struck me we 大象传媒 journalists have busy political times ahead...even if next time, I might just get the train for a quieter life.

Clare is a teenager and she's angry; the park in Belfast where she and her friends used to play in as children, then chill in as teenagers has been shut. There's a padlock on the gate. The reason? Complaints from adult residents that gangs of teenagers congregated there, they felt threatened and thought there could be trouble. Clare denies that she and her friends were troublemakers or drunk.

The story illustrates the frustration many teenagers in the UK face today. Excluded from adult meeting places like restaurants and pubs - no space at home - they head for open spaces, friends - and a bad reputation. Hoodies, litter, drunkenness, sex, fighting, drugs - the lot. Some of it is clearly true but much of it is not.

This Saturday 大象传媒 News launches a new programme - aimed at issues in the news which affect teenagers. We've called it "Revealed" and it's part of the 大象传媒 Switch zone on 大象传媒2 on Saturday afternoon. Presented by two new-to-TV presenters Charlotte Ashton and Anthony Baxter, produced by Amy Burton who's come to us from , our first programme explores the negative public image of teenagers - in the press and the rest of the adult media.

Teenagers are much talked about in the adult media but the mainstream press rarely talks to them. We want to give young people the opportunity to tell their stories and look at the headlines from a different point of view. That's not to say we won't challenge teenagers - the usual rules of 大象传媒 News apply: we will be rigorous and impartial.

Our next programme explores the issues around getting rich young. It's an aspiration for teenagers - but how realistic is it to make a fast buck - and keep it? We'll be talking to people who want to - and who have made a million - and lost it.

The 大象传媒 offers current affairs and news programming for children in the form of Newsround - and for young adults and 20-somethings from on Radio 1 and 1Xtra but there is a gap in the market for 13-17 year olds and it's this gap in the audience Revealed is aiming to fill.

Teenagers have many demands on their times, busy lives and plenty of TV options - so serving this audience with a relevant, engaging and accessible programme is a big challenge but the team we've assembled is right up for the challenge. We'd love to hear what you think...and your story suggestions...especially if you're a teenager!

Just back from Italy after being a guest of the . I'd been asked to take part in a session about the difficulties of breaking into journalism as a young reporter. The logic here being that , 1Xtra News and our new strand Revealed on 大象传媒2 as part of the teenage offering Switch, means that we employ many young journalists.

I feel the pain. It's never been easy getting into broadcast journalism - now it's even harder with a plethora of postgraduate courses and applicants with ever higher academic qualifications.

But how can journalism reflect society if our journalists have similar backgrounds and a similar view of life? It's a problem across our industry and certainly over the years 大象传媒 News has been guilty, in my view, of recruiting almost exclusively from a similar well educated, middle class background. Let me be clear: there's nothing wrong with being middle class or well educated - it's just that not everyone should be like that. It's not instead of - it's as well as.

In Italy, the picture looks similar. The wannabes I spoke to were from professional and managerial families - because, I guess, like in Britain, you have to be able to afford that pricy postgrad. I also observed a very academic approach to this business from the professors charged with passing on their wisdom. I've always believed this isn't an academic business: it's intensely practical and focused on what your audience - readers, viewers, listeners -want to know about or might be interested in - that is, if we took the trouble to explain it properly.

My current and previous trainees are working class in background - our current trainee told me she'd never have considered the 大象传媒 a couple of years ago because it seemed so lofty and remote as a potential employer and "they wouldn't look at me as I'm working class and Indian".

Thanks to people like Claire Prosser and Paul Deal, who set up the Journalism Trainee Scheme here, things are changing in 大象传媒 News training. Paul left school at 17 to work in local newspapers after being brought up in London's docklands, worked for many years in the 大象传媒 Newsroom and he freely admits he wouldn't have got into the trade today.

The scheme's director Claire Prosser believes the "who you know" principle still holds far too much sway in the 大象传媒 even now, and her aim is to recruit people from "different backgrounds and communities who we don't serve well at the moment". Her point is that 大象传媒 News has made some good strides on racial diversity - but much smaller steps in social diversity. People from different backgrounds bring different ideas, life experiences and perspectives to the media.

The Journalism Trainee Scheme has hired 21 young journalists on a 6 month apprenticeship. We train them and then help them with their job hunt at the end of it all. We don't set ANY minimum educational qualifications, and several have remarked that they simply couldn't have got this far through the established journalism postgrad system...in other words they'd have been lost to the trade. Their talents are obvious: intelligence, good storytelling ability, a knack of finding out news, persistence and a real connection with and understanding of wider audiences. We're not alone in developing this type of recruitment and is doing good work with .

As I watched a well known American journalism school attempting to recruit students in Italy this weekend - I was struck by a very different language and approach from them. Words like "semester", "thesis", MA, PhD and "dual degree" left me thinking their emphasis is flawed. A recent discussion with "an alumna" (her words) from this very university interested me: she appeared to be more concerned with proving to potential employers that she was in possession of a planetary sized brain than any real understanding of journalism - far less an editorial empathy with the people who are most important: those who pay our wages...our readers, viewers and listeners.

A few weeks ago we relaunched Newsbeat's website. We've made a few tweaks along the way - and now it's only fair I report back on how we've done.

The good news is that we've doubled traffic to our site - notching up five million page impressions since relaunch. Most of the comments we've had have been supportive. A few people have asked why we've dropped our reporter picture profiles and our live webcam of the Newsbeat office? The answer is that most people found them both dull - it's the news that's the star - not the journalists making it. So we dropped them.

So what were our star stories online? Entertainment news and music journalism were far and away the best box office hits for us - and thanks to our friends and colleagues at the main , plenty of generous linking to our content spread it further, even to those who are not regular Radio 1 listeners. on Oprah was huge.

Our entertainment reporter Natalie Jamieson made a great video at the Led Zeppelin reunion gig, political reporter Rajini Vaidyanathan crafted a behind-the-scenes film at Downing Street, (which you can watch here) Andy Brownstone produced a great series of journalism on the snow season in Switzerland: from how drunken Brits are to snowboarding safety.

Technology reporter Jim Reed reported how hackers had found a way to get round the , US reporter Sima Kotecha and Maddy Savage brought us original reportage of how there's growing evidence festival fans - yes, she is one - - the lure of good music, strong line-ups and better weather proving more irresistible than Glastonbury - and we reported on slow ticket sales and Jay-Z's controversial headline status there, too.

It's a range of journalism we are proud of. Our reporters have radically changed the way they do their jobs: their brief now is to do video, text and radio pieces. They're loving it and we're living it - in a multi-skilled multi-media New World. Best of all, you're using it - so thanks and keep the feedback coming!

Newsbeat has taken a bold new step into the interactive world with the launch of our . I'd love to hear what you think of it.

We're not trying to replicate other 大象传媒 news websites: There is more emphasis on music news with our lead story on at the Brits, a piece about a possible for Scottish under-18s and some great video content shot by our maestro Andy Brownstone who's shot and produced 30 films for the site.

It's all about visualising our journalism. Video and pictures are the biggest themes to emerge so far. With more and more people listening to the radio over the internet, people will be able to see and interact with our stories in a way they've never done before.

I think we're on the verge of radically changing the way Newsbeat does business. It's not about radio anymore, it's about relevant content being available in lots of different ways (web, mobiles etc) and at last we have the tools for the job. And yes, there is a surprising picture of Lindsay Lohan...

Radio 1's from the classic Fairytale of New York by the Pogues has triggered the most one-sided audience reaction of any story since I've been editor of Newsbeat. Many hundreds of texts, e-mails and online comments have come in - berating the network for "political correctness". Radio 1 originally defended its decision by pointing out that it is a word "members of our audience find offensive鈥濃�� and then by late afternoon on Tuesday, controller Andy Parfitt overturned the ban - admitting the edit had been wrong, while praising his music team for being "vigilant" about possible offence from lyrics.

You'll have your own views on all this and Newsbeat is not here to attack or support its parent network - but simply to report the news for its millions of listeners.

It raises some interesting dilemmas for us though: without Radio 1's 10 million plus audience Newsbeat wouldn't exist. But what happens when the station itself IS the news? Does this cramp our journalistic vigour or make us feel we shouldn't take on "the mother ship鈥�? I don't think it does - nor should it ever do so. If we argue that our job is to report the news without fair or favour for other organisations, why should Radio 1 be exempt from that rule? I think pulling our punches would be failing our listeners - Radio 1's listeners. That's just my view.

But - some texters pointed out - if Radio 1 has banned the word "faggot" why are you, Newsbeat, using it? In fact, the word has been used more times in our news coverage of the story than it would have been in the handful of plays the track would have got between now and Christmas. They've got a good point: but we can't tell the story or inform the debate on it all - unless we do use the word.

There's another issue: did Newsbeat's prominent coverage of the story effectively pressurize the network into making the U-turn - and is that right or wrong? We would argue we covered the story in an impartial way, not as a campaign - the audience responded angrily and in volume and we reflected that on our coverage鈥� but if we hadn't covered it in the first place, would it all have blown over? If Radio 1 had defended their original position earlier in public (they didn't - allowing opponents a free hit), would some of the critics have been won over and would the row have fizzled out? It is the job of 大象传媒 journalists to harry the networks that give them airtime?

There's a larger story too: the pressure that regulators are, rightly or wrongly, putting on broadcasters to avoid offensive words and phrases in music and the greater public scrutiny that broadcasters are under. There's a big debate going on about violence, lyrical content and sexism in hip-hop lyrics and homophobia in reggae dancehall. Again, it's for you to decide whether this scrutiny is right or wrong - an infringement of artistic creativity or a justified defence of minority interests - or perhaps just meddling by journalists? That's a debate for another day but this debate is helping to shape the landscape of modern music broadcasting.

And is the boss of Radio 1, Andy Parfitt, still talking to me? Amazingly鈥� yes, he is! I think鈥�

Dinner jackets, gold Rolex Oyster Perpetual day/dates, a Walther PPK and a few exploding cigarette cases. Actually, not one of these was on show the night Newsbeat went to have dinner with the staff of MI6 at their ultra-secret headquarters by the Thames in London. Well, not that ultra-secret, actually - you'll have seen it on Bond films and the odd piece-to-camera behind a reporter on News 24.

A reporter from Newsbeat has become the first journalist ever to record an "on the record" broadcast interview inside MI6 headquarters in London. Andy West's movements inside Vauxhall Cross were strictly controlled so he was prevented from seeing anything that could be sensitive to any active operations, or compromise the identity of staff or agents. However, he interviewed two MI6 officers and the head of MI6 recruitment, in their work place. It's part of a week-long series of special reports on the starting today on Radio 1.

"Mark" (of course, not his real name) the head of MI6 recruitment, speaking to a broadcast microphone for the first time, revealed the need to recruit a wider spectrum of officers from different ethnic backgrounds. He said that SIS's decision just over a year ago to try "open" recruitment - as opposed to a surreptitious tap on the shoulder of potential recruits while they're still at Oxbridge - has yielded great benefits. He also said the service has sometimes suffered because of the James Bond association.

鈥淭o be honest I think sometimes we're hindered by it - because I think it gives people a false impression of what working for the organisation is actually like, so it does tend to turn up quite a lot of thrill seekers and fantasists and we're really not interested in them".

He also said the notion of a "Licence to Kill" is not real. He stressed how important it is to recruit from a wider spectrum including British Muslims - but not just them: 鈥淲e need people to deploy into a range of situations around the world and people who have a different ethnicity can often go places and do things and meet people that those from a white background can鈥檛鈥� There are some places that white males can't go".

Newsbeat also interviewed a serving MI6 operational officer, the role people outside the service would think of as "special agent" or "spy". "Yasmin", who's in her late 20s and from the Midlands, is a Muslim.

"My job is to identify, target and recruit people from abroad who will provide us with secret intelligence - for a particular part of the world - I can鈥檛 tell you which one"

She revealed the areas of interest which MI 6 officers look at. "They include things like counter terrorism, the international drugs trade, the wider nuclear threat; it can also include promoting British economic interests abroad, so just making sure Britain isn鈥檛 being ripped off."

She described working with informants abroad or what MI6 refer to as "agents".

"It's something that runs through every day of my job - their lives and their safety is my responsibility... We will do everything in our power to make sure our agents are safe."

When asked if she got the job because she's a Muslim, "No I don't think I was. The area of the world I work in, it would make no difference whether I was a Muslim or not."

Responding to the accusation that there may be some elements of the British Muslim community who feel the Establishment or government is out to get them, and they may even view "Yasmin" as a traitor to their cause she said, "I would challenge that view very strongly... The way I feel is my duty to God is totally compatible with my duty to my country... I feel very, very strongly that if you are able to do something to make a difference you should make that difference."

And what about dinner? Not very Ian Fleming at all - in a windowless room protected by an alarmed steel door - sandwiches and soft drinks. It's so not like the movies and not even a bottle of Bollinger '37 in sight.

I've just had a really enjoyable few days celebrating Radio 1's 40th birthday. As you can imagine I met up with some old, friendly faces from the past, exchanged stories and had a fond chuckle about the way things were. They even allowed me back on the radio to read a few news bulletins with Chris Moyles, Tony Blackburn and Simon Mayo (which you can listen to here).

But thinking about the past also got me worrying about the future. Will there be a Radio 1 - or a Newsbeat - in 40 years time?

Well, in the chaotic and rapidly changing media landscape, it's impossible to give a clear cut answer to this question鈥� but what I would say is that even in the next few years, things will be very different. Here's a story that might illustrate why.

A teenager was helping his mum clean up their house. He came across what he described as a "big furniture box thing, really heavy with knobs" and asked his mum what it was. "It's a radio" she said. It wasn't even one of those classic 1940s models either - this was a mid -80s design. You see, to many of today's teenagers radio is just history - and they are the future audience after all. It's not that they don't listen, it's just that they prefer mobiles, blue Screen Sky or Freeview or the web to listen on. This audience is wired all the time: and we have to keep up.

Newsbeat - and Radio 1 - must have our content "atomised" - literally blasted out everywhere often in micro chunks - available on every platform available now and those still to be invented in future. Not just audio either - we have got to be visual - moving pictures, stills, webcams, the lot. It means being on platforms from iPods to mobiles, and from social networking and messaging sites to e-mail and text. It means listening to audio on MSN Messenger and the growing use of tags, allowing searching and cross referencing of data.

We also have to be more than ready for the challenges of what they're calling Web 2.0: no longer are broadcasters in the business of "telling" their audiences stuff - we are involved in an endless dialogue, constantly evolving and sharing film and audio content, facts, tips and so forth.

It's changing with dizzying speed - it鈥檚 going to be fun - challenging - great for the consumer and will pose bigger questions than ever about the future role of public service broadcasting - Radio 1 and Newsbeat. I don't know what the result will be but I can tell you we're right up for the big game!

If you were able to travel back in time to the seventies for a random inspection of 大象传媒 editors' fridges, a glance inside might have given you some interesting clues to the owner's programme. At the Today programme and the World at One, they'd be well stocked with malt whisky, gin and suitably chilled mixers... while Newsbeat would make do with cans of the late and unlamented Kestrel lager.

Don't worry, we editors don't have fridges, drinks cabinets or guest hospitality anymore - we're much more careful with money now. And journalists - and their political guests - are much more sober. Well, mostly.

The anecdote helps to illustrate how different Newsbeat was from its peers at the time of its inception in the early seventies. Radio 1 had already been on air since 1967 - we're celebrating our fortieth birthday on 30 September. But the arrival of commercial radio stations in 1973 was a rude wake up call for the 大象传媒.

Our rivals brought Australian and American influences in writing and presentation styles as well as their use of interviews and "clips" rather than lengthy dispatches voiced by 大象传媒 correspondents. Many in Ted Heath's Conservative government at the time were critical of Radios 1 and 2 - there was pressure on them to be sold off or closed down.

大象传媒 bosses at the time believed a current affairs show on Radio 1 with a populist approach might help prove the network's public service credentials.

Newsbeat was designed to fight fire with fire. Its first editor was Mike Chaney, who had a background in Fleet Street as well as broadcasting - on the day of his appointment the Sun's front page carried the story with the headline "Sun staffer gets top Beeb job". Mike's no-nonsense approach - "I want an audible nipple every day" - and production instructions to be "faster and slicker than Radio 4" nurtured a service than brought the major news of the day to young Britons in more accessible style than the norm, as well as quirky stories and "pop" interviews with the stars of the day. All on a "pitifully small" budget of five producers, two secretaries and 拢100 a day for on-air reporting and presenting talent. Mike told me that when he saw the budget, he thought to himself, "this is going to be hard work"!

His team of young reporters and producers, recruited mainly from local radio, quickly established a unique style and vigour. Richard Skinner, Peter Mayne, Bill Rogers and Laurie Mayer were among those early pioneers. In the days before Five Live and continuous TV news, laptops and wifi, Newsbeat at 1230 was the rest of the media's first chance to hear the 大象传媒's take on the day's news after the end of the Today programme.

By the early 80s, Newsbeat's bulletins were pioneering a style of breaking news later developed by Five Live. During the miners' strike labour correspondent Nick Jones would frequently reveal dramatic new developments in this bitter long running story on Newsbeat bulletins.

Through the nineties and into the present day the programme continued to innovate with sound, production and now visual and online content produced by some of the 大象传媒's best young journalists - who then, as now, often go on to have distinguished careers across the organisation.

Newsbeat's experimental use of jingles and music background proved popular with listeners and later, the PM programme also adopted signature music. But just occasionally that can lead to some unfortunate juxtapositions: after a heated debate on Scottish and Welsh independence and devolution in general in the 80s, we rounded off the item with a jingle with the lyric - "Uniting the Nation, Won-der-ful Radio 1".

Why are 600 people naked on a Swiss glacier? How do you fancy seeing the stiletto race in Berlin where women in high heels prove their mettle 鈥� and their ankle strength - in a dash against their peers? Perhaps the chicken busters of Miami catches your fancy or even the Butt-Cam 鈥� the handy device that helps settle that eternal female dilemma about clothes, bums and body image?

Well all these goodies and more are on Newsbeat鈥檚 first ever Oddbox. It鈥檚 available now to watch, on the Radio One website or on the 大象传媒 News website by clicking here.

Fronted by Dominic Byrne 鈥� Newsbeat鈥檚 man on the Chris Moyles show 鈥� it鈥檚 well worth a view if, as Dom says, you鈥檙e tucking into your sandwich or bag of crisps 鈥� or even if you鈥檙e not. If you don鈥檛 know Dominic (and eight and a half million people who tune in weekly to the breakfast show do) 鈥� he鈥檚 a very rare thing: a genuinely funny newsman on the radio. By the way there鈥檚 even a on Facebook if you want to show him some more love.

So what鈥檚 Oddbox and why are we doing it? Firstly, they鈥檙e video clips we鈥檝e seen during the week that made us laugh and didn鈥檛 find their way onto other news bulletins you might have seen - it doesn鈥檛 take long to watch and it鈥檚 a bit of fun. Why? Why not? If you like it, it鈥檚 worth our doing it.

And don鈥檛 worry 鈥� no important current affairs journalism, investigation or analysis has been harmed in any way in the making of this slot - so it鈥檚 not a case of dumbing down or barbarians at the gates.

So you thought Newsbeat was just on the radio? We radio folk increasingly refuse to be bound by such old fashioned thinking. We make films almost every day nowadays 鈥� we take pictures on assignment and I can promise there鈥檒l be plenty more visual stuff soon from the Newsbeat stable on our website. Judging from the early high number of hits we鈥檙e getting for Oddbox 鈥� you like it 鈥� so a big thanks from us all!

A depressing and ill-informed torrent of newsprint has appeared since the news about 大象传媒 One's new bulletin at 8pm which my colleague Craig Oliver explained in his recent entry.

In case you hadn't seen it - our critics say we are, surprise surprise, dumbing down. How original.

I don't normally blog in TV news areas - leaving my colleagues to do this - but I thought I'd point out a few basic points to the open-minded.

Firstly, this is not happening at the expense of existing output, much of which is highly detailed, analytical and "highbrow". It's an extra which, shock horror, the audience told us they would like us to do and to which we, being public service broadcasters, should be obliged to listen.

If we ask everyone to pay the licence fee to support 大象传媒 News, then 大象传媒 News should serve all audiences from the very young to the very old. But we don't always do that, as Craig explained in his original piece. So this is about an offering aimed at those who don't connect with our existing output - but news matters to them and they want to know - but they don't want us to spend all day telling them with lots of graphs and professors.

It's not instead of anything: we wouldn't expect lovers of the Ten, Today or Newsnight to set their hard disc recorders to 8pm to catch Natasha's news minute - but a difference audience will. Job done.

By the way, far from being a dumb exercise, as any good sub-editor will tell you, writing the news of the day in a 60 second pr茅cis is a far greater journalistic skill than writing it in 60 minutes.

My background has been providing exactly this type of service for radio - both 大象传媒 and commercial - for more than 20 years. You have to really know your stories, understand why they are important and how they can be connected and relevant to an audience that might otherwise want to channel hop or just make a cuppa. It's a tough ask and I wish my TV colleagues the very best of luck.

The truth is that different audiences like the news presented to them in different ways. There is no "one size fits all" - nor in the modern world is there a definition of "news" - to some people it might include entertainment news and sport and to others it never, ever will. That's fine - it's all about choice nowadays: your choice.

The 大象传媒 has an amazing range of news services. To be fair, the majority are canted towards a broadsheet and upmarket audience - we don't want to mess about with them - but why shouldn't the rest of the audience have a chance to be served as they want to be served by 大象传媒 News? If we failed to listen we would be guilty of extreme arrogance and the greatest sin for a public service broadcaster: not caring about or listening to all your audience.

We know that younger audiences are turning away from TV news - that's not new. But makes some bold suggestions about how we might halt this trend, as well as analysing the reasons behind it.

One of those is doing away with impartiality rules "for all but key public service broadcasters". The idea here, is that will make for more opinion-led, partial bulletins everywhere on the scale from to the to the and leftwards.

So impartiality puts young audiences off?

I think that's tosh.

Oops, there goes my impartiality.

Younger audiences are much more media savvy than that, and they "get" this stuff. They know where there are no rules, where it's a free for all on the web, where anything goes. They like that. But they also sometimes want a fix of impartial and balanced - and we should help them to know where to go for that fix. But it needs to be interesting not dull.

Our problem at the 大象传媒 in news is while that many audiences respect what we do, some younger and ethnic minority audiences are put off - not by impartiality - but by our inability to make it matter to them. We don't do enough to explain why these apparently dull stories are interesting and relevant: we don't do enough to make them accessible. Our agenda is sometimes too narrow to feel anything other than a conversation between some middle-aged people from which others are excluded by lack of background knowledge or the tone of the discussion.

And that, of course, is the classic dilemma for the 大象传媒. Paris Hilton's name only has to cross a newsreader's lips for an outcry of "dumbing down" - editorials in the papers and raised eyebrows from politicians and the chattering classes. As a result, we have been known to get a bit cautious editorially in the face of this onslaught.

I think what young audiences want is robust, interesting, passionate debate about stories and issues that affect them and their lives. The voices we hear should be more outspoken, less impartial and from wider, and yes, more extreme, viewpoints. But the glue that holds this together should be the context and impartiality of our journalism - true to it's founding ideals. We should give everyone a say - at the moment we don't always do this. When we do, we'll be stronger, and younger audiences will respect us for it.

"It's tough fighting an enemy that doesn't mind dying". They could have been the words of a soldier in the German army in World War II facing the onslaught of the Red Army after Stalingrad - but these were the very modern words of a very modern young soldier fighting a very modern war.

His frustration was expressed to our reporter Tulip Mazumdar on her trip to Afghanistan for a series of reports on Radio 1 on what life is like for the British army there.

The point that he was making was that the Taleban are willing to sacrifice large numbers of their men on hopeless assaults on the British forces - yet a single bullet, or IED (Improvised Explosive Device) can claim a British soldier鈥檚 life and damage the minds and spirits of his fellow soldiers for days, weeks, lifetimes. That's not to say British soldiers aren't tough; they are. But they feel loss of comrades deeply - they've built the steely bonds of friendship in combat in a way that only soldiers can.

They also spoke to her about the difficulties over girlfriends: how relationships end because "we never see each other" or the temptations of a Saturday night out while the BF is on active service. The attitude is "it's just part of the job". No-one really at home understands what it's like fighting, and sometimes dying, out in the 50C heat of the desert - unless you've done it. Old soldiers of any era will connect with this sentiment.

Radio 1 has a strong affection and connection with UK forces - many listen to us - either in the UK or through our reports which are re-broadcast on armed forces radio. Many army friends and families posted messages on our online site after Tulip's reports - some felt they helped to bring them closer to their loved ones.

Tulip found plenty of Chris Moyles fans there - and even a few of her own through her role as Newsbeat presenter. Tulip - who her Afghan driver insisted on calling Tuna - features in some of the photos on our website.

By the way, our diminutive reporter has always claimed to be to be 5ft 1in - I'm not so sure unless the British Army really are ALL giants nowadays - you can be the judge of that!

I've known Megan (who produces the Sara Cox show on Radio 1) for a long time. She popped her head round my door on Thursday night... "Can I just ask the thinking behind your decision to use the N-word on air?"

Given its ability to shock it's a fair question and I should let you in on the answer I gave Megan.

Firstly when the Big Brother row broke we gave it careful thought. We ruled out mentioning "nigger" itself on our two-minute news summaries, online and in entertainment news... choosing instead to refer to "the N-word". But in our longer programmes - the 15 minute Newsbeat editions on Radio 1, and TXU on 1Xtra - we wanted to open up a debate, and we felt that the full context of what Emily said and the reaction to it was worth running on air.

We preceded the word's use with what we call "a health warning" - telling listeners that we were about to use it and giving them an opportunity to switch off. Overall, we believe that putting in facts of audiences in full - then allowing them to judge the rights and wrongs - is what our job is all about.

The N-word is frequently heard on both Radio 1 programmes such as Tim Westwood's and across the specialist music strands of 1Xtra - because the word is commonly - though not universally - used in hip hop and street slang. For example Jay-Z and 50 Cent use it, though Eminem and the UK rapper Ty don't.

I'm glad we did, because it triggered a fascinating debate among our audience with no clear consensus, beyond a feeling that Emily's use of the word was ill-judged. Some felt Channel 4 over-reacted because of the previous furore over Shilpa Shetty and Jade; others said it was all good publicity for the show. Some thought that Emily was being scapegoated, while others said that she was a racist.

But there was much debate over the word itself: has it now been re-invented in a non-racist setting because of its common lyrical usage? Is it OK for black people to use - but always a no-no for white people? Some of our listeners felt there is a strong double standard operating: if it's fine for the stars of black music to use and for young black people on the streets then why shouldn't it be acceptable for others, given its "new" context and meaning? 1Xtra produced a documentary on this subject - it's worth a listen (click here). Incidentally, 1Xtra news presenter G-Money shed light on the row and appeared on PM on Radio 4, the Six O'Clock News and News 24.

Kaiko from Weymouth texted us to say that if black people don't want it used then they shouldn't say it to each other. After seeing the show on TV, we rang him back to see if he'd changed his view - he felt that it had been used in a joking way and that Charley made "a big deal" of it, perhaps more than she should have done.

The arguments continue... and in case you were wondering, on day two of the story we have dropped using the word itself. We feel it's now in the public domain and audiences are well aware which word is at the centre of the controversy. To use it again, to me, now feels gratuitous.

PS: My colleague Simon Waldman from News 24 also blogged about this - you can read his piece here.

PPS: UPDATE 11 June My original version of this entry used the spelling "nigga", though a colleague changed it to "nigger" for consistency reasons before publication. Actually I meant what I wrote. No-one (even those who use the term) would dispute that the word when spelt with "er" at the end is a racist term, offensive to most black (and other) people. The people who use it in hip hop lyrics spell it a different way, with an "a" and with a "z" as the plural, because they argue this gives it a different meaning. It's in this context that Big Brother's Emily used the word.

Boy Racers get a bad press. We know because they told us; they're fed up with being sneered at by the middle and chattering classes just because they're passionate about their motors - in the same way others are passionate about, say, horses, gardening or rugby.

And yes, it's the media's fault, too. Many of our listeners love their customised cars and the impressive sales figures of the car mags proves this is no "underground" phenomenon.

So we spent a day with a group of lads who love their pimped up wheels at Shipley Gate in Derbyshire. Our reporter Debbie Randle sidled up to the burger van where they were hanging out... the Radio 1 microphone logo proved an attraction to most and a suspicion to some. Had we come to take the mick out of them? To blame them for irresponsible street racing or pedestrian deaths?

Actually, we'd come to reflect their hobby and their passion.

Debbie was struck by the loving care and attention - one guy explained to her he'd taken his pride and joy - an old Corsa - to show his mates and a few strangers: he'd gone for a striking glittery paint job that turned heads while she was there.

The girls were on hand too - a few racers but also some glamour girls getting their photos taken draped over the motors: they love their wheels and know a good performance ride from a cheap bodge job - they're big in the chatrooms and very much part of the scene.

Debbie browsed the boom boxes in the back (pictures here) - the HDTV's and the gas cylinder exhausts that make a visible flames when the car speeds off burning rubber. But it's not, they insisted, about speed or winning illegal street races - it's about looking cool, great gadgets, impressing mates and maybe pulling birds.

As one said while munching his food at the burger van: "it's the only place where I can look at nice cars, look at women with hardly any clothes on and eat a nice burger".

So Gordon Brown wants to "Listen and Learn" and earn the country's trust before he gets the keys to Number 10. If he were to listen and learn from Radio 1 listeners and earn their trust he's got do one simple thing: call a general election.

The texts, emails and online comments from Newsbeat listeners over the past few days reflect a clear thread of opinion. Many don't like him because' he's "Scottish", "grumpy", "dull", "grey", "supports Raith Rovers", "mucked up pensions", "tried to be something he's not by talking about the Arctic Monkeys" - and yes, he comes from North of the Border ("why can't we have an Englishman in charge?" is a common refrain on our texts from listeners).

But the real problem is they don't think he's got a mandate to lead us. We've done plenty of explanation about our democratic system and why he doesn't have to call an election - they know - it's just that it's not washing.

Armed with this our political reporter Rajini Vaidyanathan - for my money now one of the sharpest (and smallest) operators on the Westminster scene - went along to ask Brown the key question. His answer: "It is not a presidential system," he explained. "People elect a government through electing their members of Parliament and out of that parliamentary party, whether it is Conservative, Labour or Liberal in the past" etc, etc. You may have heard this one before so I won't spoil the punch line.

Rajini jumped back in as eyelids sagged under the weight of the citizenship lecture... "Yes, sorry to interrupt. I think the thing is, they know that's the case, but they say if you want to be a credible prime minister, why not just go to the polls?". Cue for Prime Minister Elect to launch into what some there (link to Times article) felt to be a deeply patronising lecture about Asquith, Lloyd George and MacMillan - names not guaranteed to fire the imagination of many people outside the Westminster bubble. Answering the question with a good, accessible argument for Radio 1 listeners it wasn't. Perhaps he doesn't need their votes.

Anyway, the audience, judging by our interaction after our piece was broadcast, is not impressed by his arguments. Not so much "listen and learn" from Gordon Brown at the moment, though to be fair we'll keep asking and he can keep answering - he may win the argument, but at least we've got Rajini on our side.

Radio 1's attitude to religion has attracted a this week. The Trust is being asked to look at how much religious programming Radio 1 offers to its 10 million plus young listeners - Bishops lined up to say we should do more. One soon-to-be ordained priest fired a shot at our news bulletins saying that on Easter Sunday there had been no mention of, well... God.

Two issues here: so I'll leave the bigger "How Much God for Radio 1" to one side for the network bosses and the Trust to debate, and tackle the news agenda issue. In short Arun Arora, a Newsbeat listener, said he'd heard no mention of Easter on Radio 1 bulletins while listening on Easter Sunday...

"While every other 大象传媒 news bulletin made reference to the Pope, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York, there was no mention on Radio 1. You would not have known, listening to Radio 1, what Easter was about, or the fact that Easter was a Christian festival just by listening to Radio 1."

So has he got a point?

Do we mention Diwali, Ede or Passover - or Christmas Day - just for the sake of it? In my view, no. To be a news story there has got to be something happening. That something needs to be interesting, relevant and significant for the target audience. Clearly a statement from the Pope or the Archbishop of Canterbury may be highly relevant and interesting for some audiences - but not for others.

Like it or not, our audience research demonstrates what most of us instinctively feel - that organised Christian religion isn't exactly, well, massive for younger audiences. It currently rates near the very bottom of a list of subject areas under 30s want to hear more about, according to work commissioned by 大象传媒 News.

On the day in question there were some very interesting news stories around competing for attention: The 15 sailors and Marines held captive by Iran had been told they could sell their stories to the media, and a storm was breaking over that decision. The Mujahedeen Army had posted a message on the internet claiming responsibility for a roadside bomb that killed four British soldiers in Iraq. Nato forces were claiming success against the Taleban in Afghanistan, we carried a police appeal over the stabbing of a teenager in south London, there was a Grand Prix and Premiership action - and just a couple of minutes an hour or less to cram it all into. For my money, the Easter messages just didn't cut the mustard.

Does this make us anti-religion? No. Recently we've made documentaries about sexual abstinence linked to religious belief and are making another about forgiveness. We've tracked the growth of Islam among young Britons and its impact on aspects of modern life and will continue to cover and uncover stories with a religious or moral theme.

But God-slots by date doesn't feel right. I guess it's eternal damnation for me if He doesn't agree though.

When David Cameron sacked Patrick Mercer from the Tory front bench we didn't need any persuading it was a good story. Politicians and others from the chattering classes lost no time in putting the boot into Mercer.

But some our listeners have experience of the armed forces; they were quick to raise a very different line of argument. 90% of the many texts we received that day supported him - most claiming army links.

One told us that he was glad Mercer was prepared to tell it like it is; another that army people are scared to talk about race because the rest of the country is so PC. Others claimed they'd seen exactly the sort of behaviour Mercer had alleged: laziness and incompetence - and when complaints were raised they were dismissed as racism.

Of course there were other views; that his comments were racist and unacceptable and he should have known better.

But the argument that civilians - especially liberal ones - simply don't understand or empathise with military life came through as loud as a sergeant major's drill commands on the parade ground. Not for the first time. Anyone who is a bit different, redheads for example, the skinny or overweight - can expect to get a ribbing in the military. It's a tough job for tough people and the best can handle it.

We've also heard from senior NCOs (non-commissioned officers) who served with Mercer who leapt to his defence - saying that he'd never been guilty of racist name calling and at one point all his company sergeant majors were black.

So is the Army institutionally racist - or are we far too hyper-sensitive? It's not for the 大象传媒 to say - but it's a debate we'll continue to reflect on Radio 1.

As a snapshot of a nation's insecurity over the way we look, our Radio 1 'body image' survey has got people talking. Half of all the young women who took part in our online questionnaire for Newsbeat and our sister station 1Xtra would consider plastic surgery. A third of size 12s think they are overweight - and nearly half the respondents had skipped meals to slim.

This wasn't just a small scale snapshot either: with 25,000 responses this is the largest, albeit self-selecting, survey of body image among the UK's young adults. As you would expect from Radio 1, the vast majority of respondents were aged under 35. Body image, and problems that stem from it - including eating disorders and depression - are very much a running theme to our journalism on Radio 1.

There are some who are very surprised by all this. One woman outside our target audience age range confided in me her despair: so much for living in a post feminist world - today's women seem so much more self critical than our generation. Who's to blame? Is it the media? An obsession with the size zero super skinny models? Shops that seldom seem to stock larger sizes and push large volumes of size eights and 10s at the front of their displays? Or is a sign of youthful insecurity?

You'll have your own views and the men have theirs too: one listener got in touch to ask "am I the only guy in this twisted country that thinks size 14 is sexy?". Plenty of others told us how much they loved their girlfriends for their "sexy curves", but some of them admitted that despite that the women thought of themselves as fat and ugly. So male praise isn't working then. (I'm still not popular for attempting to reassure my friend that her size 12 was two sizes below the nation's average size. Big mistake for raising it. Ouch.)

And although far fewer men are unhappy about their appearance - the quest for the perfect body isn't confined to the female sex: one in five men in their early twenties had tried bulking up in the gym with protein supplements, and 80% of blokes thought the ideal body image was one of a very muscular physique. Incidentally, reassuringly for the skinny blokes, more than a quarter of women who took part in the survey thought that was the male body beautiful.

Our coverage of the Jade versus Shilpa triggered an all-time record for listener interaction on Radio 1 and 1Xtra. The audience joining the debate online and on the texts, reflecting the row that raged across the nation. What interested us most were the shifts in opinion as the story went on. Overall on Radio 1, our listeners seemed to feel that Jade's outburst against the Bollywood actress was a clear case of bullying - not racism. Feelings ran high: "What a load of crap, if she was white and getting the same treatment it would just be girls being bitchy and I'm Indian" was one widely supported view.

On Thursday we ran two votes on Radio 1: one on our online site and one on the texts - the results in this self-selecting poll were startlingly clear. More than six thousand texters thought Jade's actions were NOT racist - there was a slightly lower figure online: 65% out of two thousand agreed that it wasn't about racism. By contrast a similar poll on our sister station 1Xtra - which champions new black music - saw 65% of listeners rating the outburst as racist.

As the story changed, so did our listeners鈥� widespread condemnation of Jade Goody's actions.

First came Shilpa's statement in the diary room that she didn't think her treatment was triggered by racism. Then as the row blew up around Channel 4 executives, Jade tearfully confessed to the News of the World that she'd been wrong and had made racist remarks - although she denied she was a racist.

With Max Clifford and others wondering if she'd damaged her career as her perfume was withdrawn from sale in at least one chain, something else was happening among our listeners on Radio 1 - a massive outbreak of sympathy.
By Monday we were tracking a huge response that seemed to suggest that however hard it is to say sorry - the public appreciate people who have the courage to do so: 鈥�I'm so sick of everyone blaming Jade and Jade shouldn't have to take this rubbish - leave her alone.鈥�

"It's time to bring back the cane!"

No, not the view of a crusty colonel from the home counties in response to that British teenagers are just about the most badly behaved in Europe. That's Chloe's view - a teenager herself - who argued on our website that borstals and tough prisons work as well as corporal punishment. Teenagers need to show more respect, she argues, and if she is out of order with her parents she knows she can expect a slap.

Plenty of people had their say on this: Bear in mind our audience are both teenagers and twentysomethings - so we're not talking about a big generation gap here. Our reporters, our text response and our online talking point at Newsbeat were deluged with views. Many teenagers complained there was little for them to do, so it's hardly surprising they get into scrapes. Our twentysomethings tended to be more critical - blaming bad parenting, relaxed licensing laws and social factors such as being born into poverty or the breakdown of traditional family units.

Our teenagers were much more split in their views. There were many who argued that adults, "should leave them alone/get off their backs". Dave told us that he's a binge drinker and loves it. All had stories of Saturday night fights after the binging went bad. Others were critical of us media types, researchers and others who lump teenagers into one group of evil, snarling, aggressive, hard drinking and drug taking hoodies. Plenty of people to point out that there's a lot of good behaviour around - voluntary work - caring for sick and elderly relatives and much more teenage 'respect' than the government gives them credit for.

Lots of intelligent solutions too, from better diet to parenting classes to investment in youth and sports clubs.

Did we feel uncomfortable covering this story given our audience was coming in for a pasting? Someone asked me if this was the sort of story the rest of 大象传媒 News could happily cover but that we might want to shy away from, for fear of upsetting our audience or patronising them. The level of debate and engagement from our teenage listeners proves that wrong, I think - and say what you like about today's teenagers, but they're willing to join the debate about all aspects of modern life in Britain.

Last word to Chloe: "We're not all bad but those of us who understand manners and courtesy get blacked out by those who don't."

Beware of the wisdom of crowds - or the man in the pub. Some of the cautionary phrases used by 大象传媒 folk at an internal audience seminar chaired by the 大象传媒's head of news Helen Boaden. I was on the panel along with the editor of the Guardian, our political editor Nick Robinson and world news editor Jon Williams (you can read Jon's thoughts on the matter below this post, or by clicking here).

So where do we stand on the issue of how much to listen to our audiences - how much say we give them about story selection and running orders?. How much do we impose and how much do we interact?

Enter Sarah - a 21 year old listener to Radio 1 who gave me some good advice when we met up recently: "No matter how high up in the news you are, at the 大象传媒 or whatever, you've got to listen to us, we pay the licence fee... without us you'd be nothing". She's dead right and we ignore audiences today at our extreme peril.

It's not just a lip service thing though, it genuinely makes us editorially richer I believe - serving a young Radio 1 audience who love texting - the moment we stop reading their incoming texts on the stories of the day is the moment I lose touch with the people who make us tick - our 9.3 million listeners.

It's made our news agenda stronger and faster: We were alerted to stories like the dangers of "Snatch" landrovers in Iraq and Afghanistan by our listeners with military connections long before our other 大象传媒 network colleagues. And we were better able to gauge listener anger over Norwich Union's decision not to "quote happy" younger drivers on their insurance as well as current street issues on drugs, drink and sex.

It may not be right for all 大象传媒 outlets - and journalists still have an important role in checking out the facts and binning the hoaxes as well as sifting and editing the vast range of ideas, info and tips that come flooding in. But why should we be in charge in a lofty ivory tower? If you've got a better idea for a story - a lead - an investigation - just shout.

I am clear where we stand. Without our audience and our daily dialogue with them - we'd be finished.

Recently, we interviewed the leaders of the three main parties on environmental policy - we called our two weeks of journalism 'The Global Challenge'. All of them talk a good game but our listeners are far from impressed with the actions that match the words.

They may have a point.

Ming Campbell, questioned by our terrier-like political reporter Rajini Vaidyanathan, told us that we should fit energy-saving light bulbs. How many in your household then, Rajini shot back. "Er, I don't have any," was the Lib Dem leader's reply. Rajini knows a jugular when she sees one, pointing out that how can he expect us to save the planet if he doesn't follow his own advice?

David Cameron's view on the subject was that if more of us cycled to work and employers fitted more showers, we'd all be better off. Not much point in doing that if you have an official car following behind with all your paperwork in though is it Mr C? That's not true, said the Tory leader, before admitting, well yes it had happened a couple of times but wouldn't again.

Tony Blair told us he'd turned down the temperature in Downing Street by one degree and enthused about the energy saving lightbulbs that Ming doesn't have鈥� whilst clocking up more non-environmentally friendly air miles on his Caribbean holidays. But our listeners wondered why he is building more airport runways if he's so committed to the environment - and what about doing more to encourage green cars?

But to be fair - how green are the rest of us? Isn't it up to us to save the planet in little ways with a bit of recycling or switching off lights rather than expect the Government to do it for us?

Over on Radio 1's sister station 1Xtra, presenter G-Money had his home carbon energy audited - he scored a pathetic 3 out of 10. He's a big fan of power-hungry gadgets on standby - which, let's face it, doesn't help. And what's he doing about it? "Switching everything off," he told me - hmmmm, call me a sceptic but habits/lifetime/changing spring to mind.

Our reporters have travelled the world - Rajini again, to notorious high polluter India, and our US reporter Heather Alexander to check out green cars in New York - and get a 4x4 petrol head to drive one in Manhattan. We were inside the arctic circle to check on the big melt and Tulip Mazumdar went to Ireland to see how well a tax on plastic bags was working.

We did it all for journalistic reasons but we did a fair bit of polluting ourselves with all those fumes - travelling and flights. You can't win can you - so maybe politicians feel the same. But before you ask - yes, I am paying to make our reporters flights carbon neutral!

It's like picking your nose with a rubber glove on.

That was one Radio 1 listener's description of having sex wearing a condom. We've been involved in carrying out the largest ever survey into the sex lives of young Britons - more than 30,000 people took part and the findings were widely reported , on TV as well as on Newsbeat and other 大象传媒 radio programmes.

People have expressed their shock to me at the findings on underage sex, one night stands, the relationship between drink and sex and of course the dramatic rates of STI infections and unwanted teenage pregnancies - on which Britain pretty much leads the western world.

The experts tell us that the sex safe message isn't getting through like it did at the start of the HIV/AIDS era in the 80s. The figures certainly bear that out - more than a third of those who took part in the survey said they didn't wear a condom with a new partner.

But it's the anecdotes from our audience that are the most eye catching as a snapshot of sexual attitudes today.

Many young men say they hate wearing them - "it spoils the feeling" was a common sentiment - that they prefer to risk making their partner pregnant or catching an STI rather than wearing a condom. Nathan told us "condoms are for scaredy cats".

Many young women told us they hate them, too - we heard how when men produce condoms, their lovers snatch them and throw them away - and this came from the girls by the way.

So those infection and pregnancy rates shouldn't surprise us - however much they might depress you or worry doctors.

We found politicians largely unwilling to get involved in this issue - the dangers of prying into people's sex lives and preaching show the political risks are as real for them as the sexual risks are for young lovers.

So what are the tips for those wanting to protect their health at the moment of truth in the bedroom?

Our audience came up with some sharp 'condom comebacks' to help those struggling with the dilemma of a partner reluctant to "strap up". Kate says, "if there's no rubber I ain't your lover" while Jess prefers, "it looks like I'm dealing with one baby, I don't want to have to deal with two". LouLou says simply, "no balloons, no party" but the favourite one is this simple, yet direct approach - "sorry, no glove, no love!"

Andy is a bathroom fitter. He's young - a keen Radio 1 listener with a wife and two small children. I spent some time with him recently - not because he's doing my bathroom - but because I went to talk to him while he was doing a job near Basingstoke and I wanted to get his thoughts on what we do journalistically.

You see, we editors do occasionally come down from our ivory towers.

Broadly, he's a fan, but one thing does make him very angry.

Your editorial line - he said, accusingly - is promoting sex. "You are always going on about STI's, condoms and safe sex... and giving the impression everyone's doing it with multiple partners. But you don't talk about monogamy or abstinence!"

This got me thinking: sex is one of the Radio 1's audience key concerns; with the western world's highest rates of teen pregnancies, huge rises in STI's and spiralling depression - often caused by relationship or self image issues - it's hardly surprising we get more listener interaction on these issues than any other. The appetite for these stories is huge.

So am I some sort of latter-day Paul Raymond - presiding over a sleazy world of promiscuity and porn, surrounded by page 3 wannabes whilst signing up kiss-and-tell stories to shame the News of the World? No, clearly not. That never has been or will be, part of the brief (no pun intended).

But what we are providing is public service information in any area where many young people feel they are seriously uninformed. The reality is that for many of our audience, sex - often risky, sometimes disastrous - is a regular part of their lives.

It's not our job, I believe, to preach, to stand in judgement or to make moral judgements. It's not a role I seek or am qualified to do - nor would my staff want to. It is our job to make the best information available to our young listeners aged in their late teens and early twenties so they can make informed choices if they wish to. We even have a specialist youth health reporter, Helen Neill, to help us to address this editorial area with real focus.

I said this to Andy - he thought for a bit and said, smiling, "but you could tell them about abstinence and being faithful to one person couldn't you? There are some young people like that, you know".

Maybe he's got a point.

(PS: Click here to find out more about Radio 1's 'Bare All' campaign.)

Rod McKenzie is editor of Newsbeat and 1Xtra TX

We've had a string of visitors to our morning meetings lately, from across 大象传媒 News.

Most of our visitors say the same things - but I was struck by one recurring theme. You don't say much, do you Rod? That's true and neither do other senior editors. It's not that we've struck dumb by some terrible creative vacuum that's hoovered all original thought out of our heads - it's a deliberate policy to take the dread out of those early morning brainstorms.

OK - why do we do it? Aren't editors supposed to have all the good ideas and be generally, sort of, in charge? Editorial grip, like?

Yes they are - and they do. But not, I would argue, at the expense of giving everyone a say and acknowledging that the best ideas often come from the most junior - least experienced and least jaundiced - staff.

We're also responding to a bit of feedback. Previous staff thought our process was a bit "scary" - not that there was shouting down and bullying - just that the pace was fast and furious and some people were left feeling pretty bruised. Some developed thick skins - others stayed schtumm.

We also did a bit of work with individuals on idea selling, positive posture, voice authority, confidence, eye contact and preparation - what's your killer opening pitch? What's your follow up to the knock-down question? How will you bounce back and not limp off into the corner to lick those raw ego wounds?

At the last count we've done this with no fewer than 24 individuals in the current Newsbeat and 1Xtra TX team and publicly encouraged the rest of the team to overcome their fear of "seniors".

There is one more key element in all this: The Audience is the real - though absent - Editor. The best ideas come from our belief that the audience is central to everything we do. Audience research, listener panels, real interaction with real people in their daily lives makes such a difference to our journalists' creativity. Their editorial judgement is centred in the audience's interests. Don't spend too much time talking to other journalists.

Does it work? Well, we're certainly not missing any stories this way - if the rest of the team haven't spotted something important, we can chip in at the end. And there's plenty of time to re-shape the unworkable or idea afterwards, but quite honestly this system doesn't produce those. In fact, it's far more about nurturing the genuine spark of brilliance from a young journalist - and not just the hacks, either. Some of our best ideas come from our broadcast assistants and admin team.

I was shocked by a recent conversation with a 大象传媒 lawyer who told me that when they had spoken in an editorial meeting they had been frostily told "we don't expect lawyers to get involved in this sort of thing". Whatever next? The audience chipping in with a request for story coverage!

Well, I'm asking for it - from our journalists and other staff, most of all listeners (we do this too) - and even the odd lawyer if they're passing. Always good to get a different take on Celebrity X-Factor, anyway.

about hip-hop lyrics and Radio 1 - which triggered strong rebuttals from the station's executives - also prompted our biggest audience interaction for a while, both on Radio 1 itself and sister station 1Xtra (which specialises in black music genres).

We were expecting a bit of stick from the papers. and . "In a sad bid to be trendy, the 大象传媒 coarsens countless lives". So after extensive editorial coverage of the row on both Newsbeat and TXU, what did the listeners think? Don't know about you, but I think that's far more interesting than chattering classes response:

On Radio 1 the audience was split more or less 50/50, far less supportive of the station's position than you might think, while on 1Xtra the response was much more supportive of Radio 1 and hostile to the Tory leader.

Many Radio 1 listeners pointed out that loving rap hasn't driven them to carrying blades or packing a . One wrote that he'd analysed this argument for his academic coursework and found the argument that hip hop promotes gun crime to be "absolute bollox". Others argued that not everyone who likes indie music is clinically depressed - so why should love of rap go hand in hand with criminal tendencies?

But others argued that Cameron is right - that the Westwood show sound effects of gunshots and bombs glorifies violence and makes role models for an abusive generation. Some think Radio 1 plays too much black music anyway - some of the songs and lyrical content is "appalling" and the "Big Dog Baby" stuff is just wrong.

On 1Xtra - the listeners were less supportive of Cameron's view: but some reckon if its got people talking about politics that normally wouldn't then that's good. Is it, as some think, about the way the music is presented? Aggressive on Westwood, more chilled on 1Xtra, with more emphasis on UK hip hop whose lyrical content is different?

And what about David Cameron's own choice of music? The Smiths and Radiohead? The Smiths "I Know it's Over" features the lyrics, "the knife wants to slit me / do you think you can help me". Radiohead's Knives Out, "look into my eyes / I'm not coming back / so knives out". And again, from another track by the same band, "I got bombs, I got guns, I got brains".

Last word to one of Radio 1's youngest listeners who texted Newsbeat with a blunt message: "Cameron is stupid. Luv Beth xxxxxx (aged 12)"

Is the knife amnesty doomed to fail?

The answer, if the listeners of Radio 1's Newsbeat and 1Xtra's TXU are to be believed, is yes.

We've covered the story heavily on both networks after the recent spate of stabbings in the headlines, and many of our listeners reckon ministers simply don't get it. They don't get modern culture, the need for self defence and the sheer impracticality of expecting the bad boys (or even the good girls) to dump their blades.

1Xtra's documentary 'Young, Armed and Terrified' aired on Wednesday (you can hear it by clicking here). Presented by Aml Ameen (who played Trife in ), we asked are people looking for trouble when they carry a knife - or just trying to stay safe?

Vivid case histories of the devastating effects of knife crime followed - along with the fear of attack so many feel on Britain's streets. Urban teenagers are more at risk from crime than any other group - and this group rapidly responded to our doc. Gary texted in, and we phoned him back and put him on air straightaway - he was stabbed four times in the back trying to protect his girlfriend, and his view was that you can't stop people from fighting or carrying knives - it's the language and the rules of the streets.

Other views from Radio 1 listeners (following some brilliantly compulsive reporting from Newsbeat's Toby Sealey in Bristol) included the women who carry knives in their handbags for protection - and always will, even with the threat of 5 years in jail. And also the teenager who lives in rural Britain who said, "I live in a really quiet, peaceful village - there's no trouble here - but me and my mates carry knives 'cos it's so cool."

When, if ever, is it right to tell the prime minister to FCUK off?

This is the dilemma that faced us after a tidal wave of texts hit us when we told listeners that we were interviewing the PM. Judging from the texts and other interaction we received, they're fired up about the state of the government: "Useless", "pathetic", "crap", and "incompetent" were four of the more common and most printable words associated with the recent stories over the Home Office, Education, the deputy PM's trousers and more.

So when we rolled in to do the PM off the back of the pensions story we wanted to reflect some of this dis-satisfaction. Our audience uses vernacular and slang language and it's something we feel pretty comfortable reflecting on air and in the way we talk, too.

One texter put it succinctly: "Tony Blair when are you going to FCUK off?"

Our interviewer put the very quote to him, along with context - sourced to the listener. Blair was stunned, muttered "that's unhelpful" and moved on - he sounded genuinely, we thought, wounded for the rest of the interview.

Many listeners thought we'd gone too far and clearly felt sorry for him - he's the prime minister after all, we should be more respectful. Lots were angry, while on 1Xtra (where the interview was also broadcast), there was a more supportive reaction. You can hear the interview for yourself by clicking here.

Dun-D-Man wrote to us: "I was impressed 1Xtra would have the guts to put such a graphic question forward to the PM that reflects the views shared by some listeners". Another wrote: "Fair play to her for asking dem questions."

It was clearly a section of our large audience that we'd offended, which we can analyse by age and background. It's interesting stuff and gives me food for thought in future - on how we do context, set-up and impact of the 'real listeners' questions' - but I'm convinced we need to keep robustly reflecting the audience back to those in power.

That's our job after all.

Halle Berry. Soooo gorgeous. Sigh. But is my, as yet, unrequited appreciation for her sublime beauty a reason for tolerating her "people" - and how far should we entertainment journalists go in meeting the stars' demands and foibles for the greater good of bringing top interviews to millions of listeners and viewers - even if they are drop dead dazzling?

Take the day Halle met Chris Moyles. She was badly briefed - they didn't hit it off and when she left Chris gave, on-air, his less than complimentary verdict on her attitude.

Trouble was, those pesky PRs were listening and when our reporter Nick Wallis (a perfect gent and a top reporter) turned up at her five-star suite to interview Halle about her new movie X-Men 3, her "people" had taken against Radio 1 and we were barred.

Putting extremely rich, young and, ahem, creative people into an environment not unlike house arrest at hotels like the Dorchester or Sanderson is, I think, a recipe for disaster. As a result, the people who tread around these world-famous multi-millionaires, do so extremely carefully.

The PR running this particular junket circus (no, no-one knows why they're called junkets) was spitting blood/all ties severed with R1 etc. Luckily Nick is very charming and rather than walking away, his powers of persuasion worked. Then disaster struck. His recording machine ran out of batteries and he had to raid his digital camera for AAs, spilling them on the carpet as he hastily fumbled to get organised. Halle gracefully slipped to her knees (sigh, again) and joined our Nick on the carpet to retrieve the rogue batteries (OK... you can invent your own headline here).

Anyway despite their star's hand of friendship, Radio 1's relationship remained officially terrible until around midday when they threatened to pull a special screening being held for Radio 1 listeners. We told them to go ahead by all means if that was what they really wanted. Of course, they didn't.

And the moral of the story: sometimes it's worth putting up with PR tantrums if you get to look for batteries on the floor with one of the world's most beautiful women. Or something...

Temper tantrums, nagging and multi-million pound settlements. The story of the Heather and Macca split was juicy for the tabloids but clearly makes some 大象传媒 journalists nervous about following the tab's agenda.

After all, our private lives are our own business, aren't they?

Not when you're Paul McCartney they're not - and not when you have this couple's talent for self-publicity. Remember him having a go at Wyclef Jean for his ultimate bling (alleged) Polar Bear coat, or Heather's against J-Lo's collection at New York Fashion week, pictures in the snow by seals, landmine campaigns, not to mention about Heather from the great man himself.

But the Beatles were a long time ago - and does the audience care? It may not be the best Radio 1 story ever but the fur trade, fashion, music, money and love splits go a long way to whetting the audience's appetite - and while we're on about the money, at least Heather will be making some more of her own when her new book comes out next week. It's all about the key to a balanced and stress free life. I think I'll get a copy.