The tsunami of bad news from and about the BBC calls into question another UK institution. The BBC is 9 years short of its centenary and some would like to see the BBC in its grave. Just to recap: Jimmy Savile and Stuart Hall molesting people on BBC premises: expect claims for damages by victims Read More
Category: BBC
Savile not the story: Haiti, the UN and cholera is
What’s the biggest news story of the week? Obviously Savile’s systematic sexual attacks on the youth of Britain. Unseen by those great British institutions: the BBC and the NHS, as well as the Prison Service. Not. News editors in many media are vying for what they can say new about Savile. Now it’s the BBC’s Read More
The BBC: Dinosaurs can dance
BBC Worldwide is close to the sale of its magazines to private equity group Exponent. This will satisfy those critics in the magazine industry who have always wondered why the BBC is in magazines, not just spin offs from its own programmes. No supporter or enemy of the BBC should see this as a retreat. Read More
TV listing mags defy gravity
The TV listing magazines continue to defy gravity: 4 TV listings magazines win the top readerships among weeklies in the latest NRS survey. The information they deliver is all available elsewhere. It is in daily newspapers and in separate magazines of the Saturday and Sunday editions; it is available online. Yet 3.4 million read What’s Read More
Why proofing REALLY counts
Getting rid of simple mistakes in your writing is important. We’ve talked about it before. Spelling slip-ups and grammatical errors distract the reader from what you are saying. And they can be downright embarrassing. Take the example of the latest television ad from Premier Inn. It’s supposed to be funny; it’s one of a series Read More
South Korean venture raises questions over BBC Magazines
BBC Magazines’ latest business venture will add to the calls for the BBC to sell off the business. It has licensed its Lonely Planet magazine to a South Korean publisher. This is the 8th international edition of the magazine. Its critics will ask: Why should the BBC be licensing such a magazine internationally? Why should Read More
Why is my [media] diet failing?
Now I don’t know about you, but I’ve spent the last decade or so steadily cutting back on my media consumption. After all, I’ve had to find time for surfing the web, playing video games, loading – and listening to – my iPod, and of course, to spend hours seeing “what else is on” while scanning the EPG on Read More
BBC hobbles websites with 25% budget cut
The BBC is to cut its web presence to save money and create room for the private sector websites. Director General Mark Thompson announced yesterday that the BBC will: Cut the number of sites it runs; Cover less news; Commit to link to outside sites on its stories; Focus on international, national and regional news, Read More
Just one little prediction for 2011
My one surefire forecast for this year is very, very simple: “Predictions and forecasts for the future will become so short-term and safe that they will cease to have any impact or relevance.” With some notable exceptions, such as Richard’s very specific tips for the magazine industry (see his post below) the vast majority of predictions for 2011 that I have seen are along the Read More
Ink or think?
Not a new debate. Just a new argument. With Rupert Murdoch’s paywall strategy showing early signs of being a sustainable model, the debate over free v. paid-for content rages on. Check out the story that appeared last week and showed some positive food for thought… Meantime there was also an impassioned, although slightly overlong, but interesting and stimulating speech from Read More