John Thornhill writes in the FT about “inner emigration” – the idea that as the planet feels increasingly volatile, people lose interest in the news, retreat from public life and prioritise their inner world. 

He quotes the technologist and philosopher James Williams who described President Trump as like a “distributed denial of service attack against the human will”. Nice line. 

As a news junkie I’ve always harboured a sneaky jealousy for those who can pay passing interest in what to me feels seismic (until the next news cycle when it’s relegated or even forgotten), however as Thornhill concludes, “democracies depend on the active participation of engaged citizens, not just passive acceptance. Inner emigration can morph into dangerous escapism, leaving the field open for extremists to exploit.” 

READ MORE (whopping paywall)

Morning all, it’s Monday 10th March. Everyone OK?

The week ahead…

Monday: King Charles and Princess of Wales among senior royals attending Westminster Abbey’s Commonwealth Day service. 

Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets with MBS in Saudi Arabia ahead of US-Ukraine talks.

Tuesday: New Employment Rights Bill amendments debated.

Kyle Clifford sentencing.

Wednesday: US tariffs on steel and aluminium imports enter into force.

European defence ministers meet in Paris/G7 foreign ministers meet in Quebec.

Thursday: Court of Session hears challenge to Winter Fuel Payment reductions.

Friday: Monthly GDP figures.

Thomas Tuchel’s first England squad announcement.

Saturday: Chelsea face Manchester City in the Women’s League Cup Final. 

Sunday: The mighty Geordies take on minnows Liverpool in what’s expected to be the most one-sided Carabao Cup final in years.

“Things Learnt (Then Forgotten)” – Week 9.

Pace and posture…

“We must deploy AI to support, enable and accelerate our innovation and growth.”

Deborah Turness, BBC News Chief Executive

BBC News is to create a new department that will use AI to give the public – amongst other things – more personalised content.

(What could possibly go wrong?)

READ MORE

“Senior television producers with decades of experience are working as high street shelf-stackers, car park attendants and in pubs, as a prolonged crisis continues to sweep through the TV world.”

The extent of the crisis in TV production is laid bare in this Guardian piece by Michael Savage.

READ MORE

News In Brief:

BBC News at One presenter Anna Foster will be announced as the new presenter of Radio 4’s Today programme.

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“The media recruits graduates from the arts, humanities, and they tend to be metropolitan and to have a point of view you could describe as liberal centre, centre left. We kind of reflect that.” 

Chair Samir Shah calls for more diversity at the BBC in a Sunday Times interview 

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And FT CEO John Ridding is stepping down in June after leading the newspaper group for almost 20 years.

Footnotes:

On this day: A court in Baghdad imposed the death sentence on The Observer journalist Farzad Bazoft on this day in 1990.

Monday weather: Southampton: 14 and sunny. Edinburgh: 7 with light rain.

Mutts: Crufts on TV. Gripped. Can’t even coax him out for a walk…

Be part of the MMB. Thoughts on this week’s content, or interviews you’ve seen, heard, or (best of all) done. We’re @insideedgemedia or just reply to this email. 

Have a brilliant week.

All at Inside Edge

Morning all, it’s Monday 3rd March.

The week ahead…

Monday: Covid inquiry begins hearings into procurement.

Mobile World Congress opens.

Tuesday: Tim Davie at committee session on work of the BBC.

US tariffs on Canadian, Mexican and Chinese imports due to begin.

Wednesday: PMQs.

Thursday: Volodymyr Zelenskyy invited to EU special leaders’ summit on security and Ukraine.

Friday: Japan-UK foreign and economic ministers’ meeting expected.

Saturday: International Women’s Day.

Guinness Six Nations round four. 

Sunday: ICC Champions Trophy final.

“Things Learnt (Then Forgotten)” – Week 8.

Spinach & decimal points…

BBC News has had a terrible week.

“While the board appreciates that mistakes can be made, the mistakes here are significant and damaging to the BBC.”

The fallout from Gaza: How To Survive a Warzone is one of those classic (and apparently uniquely) BBC situations where it manages to annoy everybody.

By all accounts the process of verifying exactly who the documentary narrator is fell way below what you’d expect of a story of such obvious sensitivity.

The Sundays lay the blame squarely at the door of Joanna Carr, the Head of BBC Current Affairs. She gets a mauling, and the coverage screams of scores being settled. There are no shortage of anonymous “insiders” happy to put the boot in. Here’s one particularly waspish quote in the Sunday Times…

The final edition of The Observer under Scott Trust ownership will come out on Easter Sunday.

Carole Cadwalladr (who won multiple awards for her investigations into the Cambridge Analytica scandal) has effectively been fired by Tortoise Media before she can begin, after being told her contract will not be renewed. 

According to Press Gazette, this appears to contravene assurances all existing Observer contractors would be given year-long Tortoise Media contracts.

The NUJ has expressed “serious concern” that her departure follows her making public criticism of the Observer deal.

READ MORE

“What is clear is that Bezos no longer wants to own an independent news organization. He wants a megaphone and a political tool that will benefit his own commercial interests.”

Like slowing to look at a motorway pile-up, I’m aware the Briefing has had too much of a focus on the US recently, but it really is hard to look away when the boss of Amazon decides only opinions that support “personal liberties” and “free markets” will be welcome in the opinion pages of the (once mighty) Washington Post.

READ MORE

The last of Tim Radford’s 25 Commandments. Number 12:

12. There is always an ideal first sentence – an intro, a way in – for any article. It really helps to think of this one before you start writing, because you will discover that the subsequent sentences write themselves, very quickly. This is not evidence that you are glib, facile, shallow or slick. Or even gifted. It merely means you hit the right first sentence.

READ MORE

Large Group Sessions:

We’ve a set of courses up and running specifically for larger groups – up to 40 at a time. We’re running these in-person and online.

Click on the links above (or READ MORE) – or drop us a line if you’d like more info.

News In Brief:

Charlotte Moore – most people’s tip to be the first female BBC Director General – has surprised colleagues by announcing she’s leaving the corporation and moving to an indie.

READ MOORE

GB News more than doubled its revenues in the past year to £15.8m but its total losses now top £100m.

READ MORE

Footnotes:

On this day: The Queen opened the new £153m Barbican Arts Centre in the City of London on this day in 1982.

Monday weather: Nottingham – 12 and sunny. Bristol – 10 and sunny.

Mutts: Another day of toil…

Be part of the MMB. Thoughts on this week’s content, or interviews you’ve seen, heard, or (best of all) done. We’re @insideedgemedia or just reply to this email. 

Have a brilliant week.

All at Inside Edge

Morning all, it’s Monday 17th February.

Tim Radford, the Guardian’s former science editor has died aged 84.

“He wrote for non-specialists, believing that science was part of our culture and that key ideas could be rendered accessible to us all.”

Sir Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal.

Back in 2011 Tim Radford wrote “25 commandments for journalists“, though it should be a manifesto for us all. It is brilliant. I’m going to quote from the piece over the next couple of weeks in the Briefing, but for now I’ll pick out commandment number 5…

5. Here is a thing to carve in pokerwork and hang over your typewriter. “No one will ever complain because you have made something too easy to understand.”

And commandment number 9, which is what I’ve been saying to spokespeople for years, yet nowhere near as eloquently…

9. If an issue is tangled like a plate of spaghetti, then regard your story as just one strand of spaghetti, carefully drawn from the whole. Ideally with the oil, garlic and tomato sauce adhering to it. The reader will be grateful for being given the simple part, not the complicated whole.

So for those of you who have been on our media training:

Top Line + specifics = one strand of spaghetti + oil, garlic and sauce.

READ MORE

“Things Learnt (Then Forgotten)” – Week 6.

Introverts and Extroverts…

As for the week ahead…

Monday: 500th day in captivity for remaining Israeli hostages.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio continues Middle East travel. 

Tuesday: UK employment and wage statistics.

Wednesday: Donald Trump expected to attend a conference in Miami alongside the TikTok CEO.

Manchester City play Real Madrid in UEFA Champions League playoff second leg.

Thursday: G20 foreign ministers meet in South Africa.

London Fashion Week begins.

Friday: UK public sector finances and retail sales figures.

Saturday: Hostages due to be released under Israel-Hamas agreement.

Sunday:  Parliamentary elections in Germany.

Screen Actors Guild Awards. 

Executive-level trolling of Nick Robinson’s X account…

Or as Amol Rajan put it the following morning:

“Our very own tech bro, the mighty Nick Robinson, has finally succumbed to the temptations online, and I see overnight, is launching a cryptocurrency. This is the big news in Britain, and what listeners want to know, Nick, is how do they invest?”

The explanation for what happened? READ MORE

News In Brief:

With The Observer set to transfer across to new owners Tortoise Media, Press Gazette understands around one third of staff have taken voluntary redundancy.

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Leading AI assistants create distortions, factual inaccuracies and misleading content in response to questions about news and current affairs, research has found.

READ MORE

Footnotes:

On this day: China sent hundreds of troops into Vietnam after weeks of tension and a military build-up along the border on this day in 1979.

Monday weather: 8 degrees and sunny in Bristol, 6 degrees and rainy in Birmingham.

Mutts: Leo returns, and nothing has changed…

Be part of the MMB. Thoughts on this week’s content, or interviews you’ve seen, heard, or (best of all) done. We’re @insideedgemedia or just reply to this email. 

Have a brilliant week.

All at Inside Edge

Morning all, it’s Monday 10th February. Let’s kick off with the week ahead:

Monday: MPs debate Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill.

France hosts Global Summit on Artificial Intelligence.

Tuesday: Andrew Bailey speech on financial markets.

Manchester City face Real Madrid in UEFA Champions League play-off.

Wednesday: UK convenes Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting.

US Senate votes on Tulsi Gabbard nomination for Director of National Intelligence.

Thursday: GDP figures for final quarter of 2024. 

High Court trial begins in Niger Delta communities’ case against Shell.

Friday: Munich Security Conference begins.

Saturday: Palestine Solidarity Campaign protest in London against Trump proposals for Gaza. 

Sunday:  BAFTAs.

“Things Learnt (Then Forgotten)” – Week 5.

How many hours will you work across your lifetime?

Ex of X

A flavour of the reaction from last week’s post on our decision to leave X…

“We discussed leaving X last year but decided to watch and wait as our engagement on there was still high and Bluesky wasn’t there yet for us. 

We are reviewing again this week…”

“Interesting to hear you’re coming off X/Twitter. I’m going to suggest that we do the same soon. To your point, the algorithms mean that our stuff is being viewed less and less, but also I find it impossible to find anything useful/relevant on the feed now.”

“X doesn’t really make much sense any more. I’m astonished that government departments and quangos still publish there.”

“I don’t think you’re alone in making this move. I’ve seen a number of businesses move their content from X & meta platforms to other places – LinkedIn being one of them.”

And the view from a Norwegian reader:

“Musk has far too much influence, even on my own country. I find that hard to swallow, especially considering we were occupied by people quite fond of such arm movements not too long ago. Thank you for being historically and politically aware. We cannot afford not to be.”

The article itself is behind a paywall, but this headline from Nature is telling…

“Alexander Armstrong is on a mission to get kids reading” announced Susanna Reid excitedly on last Monday’s Good Morning Britain, before cutting to a shot of the Pointless host holding a copy of his book. But he’s not on a mission is he? He’s just the 400 millionth celebrity this minute to think they can write (or in some cases ghost-write) this stuff.

Let’s at least call it out for what it is. 

“After over a million minutes of live tv news, more than anyone else in the world…”

Kay Burley signs off from her final show on Sky News with typical understatement… 

“After covering 12 separate General Elections I’m retiring from Sky News. Let politicians at every party just rejoice at that news.”

She’s not without her critics, but anyone who has been the face of a channel for 36 years (from its inception) deserves immense credit.

Or…

You can read this spectacularly mean-spirited piece by the Telegraph’s Camilla Tominey, who describes her as “TV’s Liz Truss.”

READ HERE (paywall)

News In Brief:

BBC Radio 4 essay series A Point Of View will come to an end in April as “part of the BBC’s need to make savings.”

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RTS News Awards nominations:

Political Journalist of the Year: 

Paul Brand (ITV) – Sam Coates (Sky) – Beth Rigby (Sky)

Network Presenter of the Year:

Susanna Reid (GMB). – Anna Foster (BBC) – Sophy Ridge (Sky)

FULL LIST

___

RAJAR

Times Radio is up, GB News Radio is down, 5 Live is down. But overall, audio is doing OK according to the latest listener survey.

Footnotes:

On this day: Charles and Camilla announced their engagement on this day in 2005.

Monday weather: 5 degrees and cloudy in Edinburgh, 6 degrees and cloudy in Exeter.

Mutts: Special guest stars this week, thanks to Klare. Monty will be a mighty 17 in April, happily cuddled up with his 7 month old brother Basil.

Be part of the MMB. Thoughts on this week’s content, or interviews you’ve seen, heard, or (best of all) done. We’re @insideedgemedia or just reply to this email. 

Have a brilliant week.

All at Inside Edge