Edition 538

Trust in news is at a record low since 2015. Social media and video platforms have surpassed traditional news sources. AI chatbots continue to rise. 

Three newslines from the 2026 Reuters Institute Digital News Report.

Good morning. It’s Monday 22nd June.

Here’s the opening paragraph of this year’s report, released last week:

There is an enormous amount of info to absorb, and I’ll dip into the report over the next couple of weeks. For now I’d recommend specific sections on the changing landscape of news video, why TV radio and print are losing their news audiences, and the emergence of AI Chatbots.

Some top lines from the executive summary:

Globally social media and video networks are for the first time the single most widely used way of accessing online news, ahead of news organisations’ own websites and apps.

The use of AI chatbots for news is growing quickly but not as quickly as AI use for other purposes.

77% of people globally consume online news video each week.

Trust in news has fallen in 29 of our 48 markets this year, resulting in a drop to the lowest level recorded since we started to measure trust in 2015.

Read the report.

Bleak Times

The reality of the scale of cuts at BBC News is becoming clear: 

BBC Radio 4’s The World Tonight is to be axed after more than 50 years.

Also going: Money Box Live, AntiSocial, The Law Show and Crossing Continents.

Amol Rajan will not be replaced on Today, meaning the main presenting roster will be reduced to four.

The Sunday morning edition of BBC Breakfast will be scrapped from September. 

The production teams for Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg and Newsnight will be merged.


The News channel will be made more international in focus, building on its growing and potentially lucrative global audience.

And this is just the start I’m afraid. The closure of other programmes across the BBC will be announced in the coming weeks.

“Year Of The Expert” Revisisted

We’ve posted a new set of episodes from our Year Of The Expert series. 
Well worth a listen…

Newsgathering Diary
Stories to look out for over the next seven days…

Monday: Andy Burnham, Lara Bird and Douglas Lumsden expected to be sworn in as MPs following by-election victories.


Tuesday: 10th anniversary of the Brexit referendum.

Former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell sentenced on embezzlement charges.


Wednesday: Nottingham NHS maternity review published.


Thursday: Chancellor’s summer VAT reduction scheme begins.


Friday: BMA ballot of resident doctors over pay offer closes.


Saturday: England play final World Cup group stage match against Panama.

Footnotes:

On This Day in 1981… Mark Chapman changed his plea to guilty and admitted murdering John Lennon in December the previous year.

Our Week: We’re working in Brighton, London and Norwich

The Mutt Photo:

Be part of the MMB. Thoughts on this week’s content, or interviews you’ve seen, heard, or (best of all) done, please let us know.

Back on Monday. Have a brilliant week.



All at Inside Edge

Edition 537

Good morning. It’s Monday 15th June.

Shoddy work from the BBC’s One O’Clock News team last week…

It’s over to you for the next two editions…
We’ve been asking for the single tip readers would pass on to anyone preparing for media engagement. Here’s your first set:

“Think about your rhythm and when to add emphasis. Be clear on your top line and what you’re asking for. Try and relax. You are the expert.”

“If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, don’t try to baffle them with B/S. They’ll know…imagine you’re talking to friends about your work and enjoy it”

“Practice! Practice speaking out loud and getting points across in a concise way. Try talking to the mirror or record yourself into your phone.”

“Consider what you are most passionate about in your research – why it is worthwhile in the difference it may make. Don’t try and cram too much in. Have a single consistent theme.” 

“Remember no one knows your findings better than you.”

“Speak with enthusiasm – show that you are genuinely interested in your research.”

“Be passionate about your story and relate it to people and real life and the rest is easy.”

You might remember I bumped into a reporter friend who had spent the previous week covering the record-breaking May temperatures. She described the dilemma facing journalists. How do you tell a story that contains three very different truths at the same time?


1) the impact of climate change

2) the immediate threat to, or loss of life 

3) for great swathes of the population it was just a joyous day at the beach

We asked you if reporters were getting it right…

Newsgathering Diary
Stories to look out for over the next seven days…

Monday: Court of Appeal rules in Home Office challenge to Palestine Action ban repeal.

G7 Summit begins in France.

BMA resident doctors’ strikes begin.

Tuesday: 10th anniversary of the murder of Jo Cox.


Wednesday: England play their first World Cup fixture against Croatia.

UK inflation data.


Thursday: By-elections in Makerfield, Aberdeen South, and Arbroath and Broughty Ferry.


Friday: Scotland take on Morocco at the World Cup.


Saturday: UK Athletics Championships.

For decades 60 Minutes was regarded as the gold standard of television journalism…


Fiercely independent, editorially confident and largely immune to the turbulence affecting the wider media industry. Not anymore. A fab read from Variety lifts the lid on a newsroom in open revolt, with former staff accusing new CBS leadership of dismantling one of America’s most respected news brands…

You can read Marlow Stern’s Variety article here.

Footnotes:

On This Day: A massive bomb devastated the Arndale Centre in Manchester on this day in 1996.

Our Week: We’re working in London, Brighton, and then onto Poland this week.

The Mutt Photo: on a walk last week. Still cute as a button.

Be part of the MMB. Thoughts on this week’s content, or interviews you’ve seen, heard, or (best of all) done, please let us know.

Back on Monday. Have a brilliant week.



All at Inside Edge

Edition 536

Good morning. It’s Monday 1st June.

I bumped into a reporter friend over the weekend who had spent the previous week covering the record-breaking May temperatures. She described the dilemma facing journalists. How do you tell a story that contains three very different truths at the same time?


1) the impact of climate change

2) the immediate threat to, or loss of life 

3) for great swathes of the population it was just a joyous day at the beach, paddling pool, or barbecue.

Results in a fortnight.

The Top Line from a Cardiff University report into coverage of the May Elections: 


Broadcasters prioritised balance over genuine scrutiny. 

More than 70% of politicians’ claims on TV news received either limited scrutiny or none at all.

The report also criticises the over-use of vox pops (regular readers will know this is a pet hate of mine) arguing they replaced deeper analysis of policy and competing claims.

Read the executive summary or the full report.

Newsgathering Diary
Stories to look out for over the next seven days…

Monday: Met Office publishes climate stats for May after record-breaking temperatures


Tuesday: Strikes by London Underground staff in the RMT union


Wednesday: Bank of England launches public vote on wildlife images for next banknotes


Thursday: England v New Zealand test series begins


Friday: Victims’ Commissioner Claire Waxman gives evidence at Nottingham attacks inquiry


Saturday: Women’s singles final at Roland Garros

Pope Leo begins visit to Spain.


Sunday: Peru presidential runoff election

“Don’t treat media work as an add-on. If you see engaging with the media as a troublesome extra, something that takes you away from your proper job, then that is exactly what it will become. Instead, see it as an integral part of what you do: you research something, and you tell the world about it.”

I regularly return to Professor Phil Cowley’s article on why academics should engage with the media…

“Doing media work of whatever sort is wonderful training in communicating clearly and with brevity. For academics for whom 1000 words is merely the throat clearing at the beginning of the introduction, being asked to cover a whole topic in 300 can seem a challenge.”

I’ll quote more over the next couple of weeks but you can read the full article here.

Every so often an exec uses language so staggeringly inappropriate it makes you wonder how they could possibly have risen to such lofty heights in the first place.

(Then you remember this is a surprisingly crowded field.)


Anyway. Take a bow Bill Winters…

Much more on language in the next edition. Mr Winters will feature.

Footnotes:

On This Day: Rhodesia formally ended nearly 90 years of white minority rule and declared it will now be known as Zimbabwe-Rhodesia on this day in 1979. 

Our Week: Derby, London and Brighton for us this week.

The Mutt Photo:

Be part of the MMB. Thoughts on this week’s content, or interviews you’ve seen, heard, or (best of all) done, please let us know.

We’re going to skip a week if that’s ok, and will return in a fortnight.



All at Inside Edge

Edition 535

Q1 radio listening figures were released last week. Top Lines:

Radio reach is up again: 87% of the population. Extraordinary figure. (Though we listen for slightly less time than we used to.)

LBC is now firmly ahead of the newer speech challengers with 2.87m listeners. GB News Radio has 676k listeners, Times Radio has 604k, and Talk has 561k.


BBC Local Radio in England is up quarter on quarter, from 4.62m listeners to 4.76m. (Particularly strong performers: London, Leicester and Three Counties)

Source: Matt Deegan

Good morning. It’s Monday 18th May. Let’s go back to basics this week…

5 questions you must ask ahead of any interview:

1) Is the interview live or pre-recorded? 

An important question to ask, but treat both the same. Your energy levels shouldn’t be any different for a pre-record. Additionally assume the producer will forget to edit your interview before broadcast. (I can speak from personal experience that this happens all the time…)


2) Am I the only guest being interviewed? 

Your worst case scenario is to be ushered into a studio full of people ready to debate with you – and for you have no earthly clue who any of them are. Check at every stage of the production process about the nature of the interview. If other guests are expected, it is entirely legitimate to find out who they are. Then make a judgment call as to whether this is the sort of environment you want to be in.


3) How long is the interview expected to last? 

This gives you a sense of the on air experience you are about to have and a chance to plan accordingly. Don’t expect the producers to stick to what they tell you however, particularly if you are part of a live sequence.


4) What is the subject matter for the interview? 

This is crucial, and fairly obvious. However don’t confuse this with, “what will the questions be?” You’re unlikely to be told anyway, and even if you are, what you are promised is often very different to what you get. Good interview preparation is thorough but flexible, not a rigid script.


5) Who is the presenter? 

Always worth asking. Every presenter has a style, and it’s worth finding out as much as you can about the person who will be asking you the questions. Pop their name into youtube and do a bit of intelligence gathering on the person sitting across from you in the studio.


Monday: First meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party since election losses and Wes Streeting’s resignation.

Andy Burnham addresses Great North Investment Summit.


Tuesday: 24-hour strike by London Underground staff.


Wednesday: UK inflation data.


Europa League final: Aston Villa v Freiburg.


Thursday: UK immigration data.


Friday: Thomas Tuchel names final England men’s World Cup squad.


CBS News Radio service ends. 


Saturday: Women’s Champions League final: Lyon v Barcelona.

Barbara Streisand honoured with Palme d’Or at Cannes.


Sunday: French Open begins.

“The interview was so ludicrous that I wanted to preserve it here and subject it to some analysis.” 

Regular readers will know I quote from Mic Wright’s Substack regularly in the Briefing. His post-mortem of Darren Jones’ interview with Nick Robinson as the pressure mounted on the PM is great (and entertaining) analysis.

Footnotes:

“I think Ofcom has failed in its duty as the regulator … It seems to me that there have been clear violations of the due impartiality rules consistently from GB News.”

Sky News veteran Adam Boulton on the failings of the regulator.

“I have covered some brutal wars during my three decades at the Guardian, but journalists are now actively targeted in a way I have never seen.”

Guardian veteran Julian Borger on the growing threat to journalists.

On This Day: Britain’s first astronaut, 27-year-old Helen Sharman blasted into orbit on this day in 1991.

Our Week: Norwich and Brighton for us this week.

The Mutt Photo:

Be part of the MMB. Thoughts on this week’s content, or interviews you’ve seen, heard, or (best of all) done, please let us know.

I gather it’s another Bank Holiday next week so we’ll return in a fortnight. Go well.



All at Inside Edge