When the Ö÷²¥´óÐã covers the Ö÷²¥´óÐã
There was once a head of Ö÷²¥´óÐã News, called , who implemented a regime of extreme caution. In his, much resented, view it was the job of his staff only to report what others had found out rather than what they had uncovered for themselves. Each story would only be broadcast if there were already at least two other outside sources. The Ö÷²¥´óÐã did not break news.
Even 25 years ago, when I was editor of Panorama and then Nationwide, I found there was a tendency to believe news was what was written in the papers, rather than what my own journalists had discovered. Mind you, if we did have a good story, we were pretty ruthless in keeping it to ourselves and not letting our colleagues in News know about it until after transmission.
All that has now changed. For example, when File on 4 has a good story the reporter will often be interviewed about it on the Today programme and play clips from the programme, before the original report has actually been transmitted. In the last few days the Today programme, and other Ö÷²¥´óÐã news outlets, have given considerable space to a Panorama investigation into corruption among Fifa officials who would be deciding, as it turns out, that England would not be hosting the 2018 World Cup. Some of our listeners were worried that the report could damage England's chances, others note how many stories about the Ö÷²¥´óÐã are on the Ö÷²¥´óÐã.
The Corporation is often in the headlines, whether it be over a controversial play, like the recent one about the army in Afghanistan by Jimmy McGovern, or because of executive salaries, or because of a radio presenter's lapse of taste. So how should the Ö÷²¥´óÐã report stories its journalists have originated and controversies in which it is embroiled?
I discussed those questions with the Deputy Director of Ö÷²¥´óÐã News, Steve Mitchell, who is, among other things, responsible for both Panorama and the Today programme.
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This week's Feedback is the last of this series. We are back on air on the 28th January, but please keep in contact. We read everything you send us and our agenda is decided by you the listener.
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Roger Bolton is presenter of Feedback
- Listen again to this week's Feedback, produced by Karen Pirie, get in touch with Feedback, find out how to join the listener panel or subscribe to the podcast on the Feedback web page.
- Watch Panorama: Fifa's Dirty Secrets, on iPlayer.
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- In the press: ESPN (a US sports network) blogger Mark Young says England's humiliation . Alan Cochrane in The Telegraph says: "." Ian Wright in The Sun disagrees: it was "". HR Magazine says that the loss of the World Cup is .
- The picture is a still from the Panorama programme.
Comment number 1.
At 7th Dec 2010, newlach wrote:Interesting to read how things worked in the Ö÷²¥´óÐã newsroom in the old days.
England's chances of hosting the World Cup seem to have been torpedoed a long time ago. The Ö÷²¥´óÐã is not to blame for the decision taken by Fifa.
When John Humphrys is interviewing the editor or reporter of a Ö÷²¥´óÐã programme he does a fine job. Nothing wrong at all with a File on 4 reporter telling Today listeners about his programme.
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