Edition 512

Good morning, it’s Monday 20th October.

We’ve had loads of questions come in via the Aftercare App which I’ll try to answer over the next couple of weeks. Kicking off with…

💬 “Should I call a presenter by their first name in an interview?”


💬 “You often talk about the power of the pause – but doesn’t that just let the presenter interrupt?”


💬 “Should I ask for a fee?”

The Week Ahead:

Monday: Chris Whitty gives evidence to the Covid-19 inquiry.


Tuesday: Boris Johnson gives evidence to the Covid-19 inquiry.


Sanae Takaichi expected to be elected Japan’s first female prime minister at extraordinary Diet session.


Wednesday: Kim Leadbeater at Lords committee session on assisted dying bill.

New UK Living Wage rates announced


Thursday: Welsh Senedd by-election in Caerphilly constituency.

UN Security Council holds open debate on Gaza.

Friday: Parole decision due for Stephen Lawrence murderer David Norris.

Presidential election in Ireland.


Saturday: New Labour deputy leader announced.


Sunday: British Summer Time ends.

The Pentagon press room is currently a quiet and lonely place after Pete Hesgeth’s drive to force all accredited journalists to sign up to ridiculously restrictive reporting requirements fell flat. 

Every single accredited news outlet – bar Trump mouthpiece One America News Network – has refused to sign, including the Defense Secretary’s own former employer Fox News.

“The policy is without precedent and threatens core journalistic protections,” that statement said. “We will continue to cover the US military as each of our organizations has done for many decades upholding the principles of a free and independent press.”

Joint statement 

“We are particularly grateful to the thousands of academics who, three at a time, sparkle so brilliantly in our studio and continue to play such an essential part in our joint success”
Simon Tillotson, producer

The British Academy awarded its President’s Medal to Radio 4’s In Our Time.


“It taps into an insatiable curiosity at the heart of human life and a thirst for knowledge among prime-time listeners.”
Professor Susan J Smith, President of the British Academy

Melvyn B, who is stepping down after 27 years, was at the ceremony, alongside many of the academics who regularly appear. 


Footnotes: 


On this day: The British Government announced plans to change the law so that remaining silent could incriminate rather than protect a suspect, on this day in 1988.

Quote Of The Week:

“They ‘disappeared’ my hair”
President Trump

(I mean, they sort of did…)

Mutt photo:

 “I’m guessing other dogs are not allowed to enter the photo category… but here goes anyway” writes Sujata. On the contrary, we love a guest mutt, and haven’t had one for ages. Let’s have a few more between now and the end of the year.

This is Zuma…

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 next Monday. Have a brilliant week.

All at Inside Edge

Edition 511

Good morning, it’s Monday 13th October. 

Let’s kick off with Sky News announcing that the new Archbishop of Canterbury has been named, without actually naming her. 

(They do however find the space to name her husband…)

Things were corrected a few hours later…

I had some thoughts this week about tiredness, and how we can use it as a route to authenticity on air…

We’ve focused on Substack a bit over the last couple of weeks – another to look out for is Beehiiv which follows a similar model.

The Nerve is on there – written by a number of ex-Observer staff including Carole Cadwalladr. Press Gazette reports it has attracted more than 900 paying subscribers in its first week.

“We thought about the kind of journalism that we desperately need now: independent, transparent, inclusive and fearless. So we decided to launch a title that the journalists themselves will own, that will promote diverse voices, and that we hope will have a deep and genuine connection with its members.”

The Week Ahead:

All eyes on the Middle East:

Monday: Israeli hostages due to be released under Gaza ceasefire plan.
Donald Trump expected to address the Knesset during visit to Israel.


Tuesday: IMF launches World Economic Outlook.
Ed Miliband addresses Energy UK conference


Wednesday: Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch at first PMQs since conference recess. 
Full High Court hearing begins on Epping Council asylum hotel injunction request.


Thursday: UK GDP monthly estimate.


Saturday: ‘No Kings’ day of anti-Trump protests in the US.

Sunday: Presidential runoff in Bolivia.

Get Out Of My F**king Shot

Katie Porter is the Democratic frontrunner for California Governor, though not for much longer if her recent media performances are anything to go by.

First up this train wreck with a local CBS news reporter which (unsurprisingly) has gone viral…


WATCH (via X)

Then hot on the heels, the expletive-laden berating of a staffer who wanders into the background of a video Porter is recording…

WATCH 

(We’ll watch those poll numbers with interest.)

AI’s role in journalism and society

“The proportion who say they have used a standalone generative AI system such as ChatGPT jumped from 40% to 61%, and weekly usage nearly doubled from 18% to 34%”.

The Reuters Institute churns out consistently useful and timely reports. This one – the Generative AI and news report 2025 – is worth a read.

READ MORE

Footnotes: 


On this day: Alison Hargreaves became the first woman to conquer Everest without oxygen or the help of sherpas on this day in 1995.

Mutt photo:

“These findings haven’t been peer reviewed…” writes reader Neal in the sort of correspondence I think we can all get behind, “…but by my reckoning Leo appears twice as regularly as Stan at the end of these newsletters. Are you admitting to having a favourite son?”

Not a bit of it. Sorry old-timer…

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 next Monday. Have a brilliant week.

All at Inside Edge

Edition 510

Good morning, it’s Monday 6th October. 

Guess what percentage of Americans say they have either “a great deal” or a “fair amount” of trust in the mass media? 


The answer – from the latest Gallup poll – is below.

But before that. When should you bring humour to an interview? Here’s a story about vegetables…

To the Gallup poll. What percentage of Americans say they have “a great deal” or a “fair amount” of trust in the mass media?

28%.

Compare that to 1972 when that number was at 68%. And in 1976, in the aftermath of Watergate, trust in the media was at a whopping 72%.

(Source: The Poynter Report)

Wednesday:

”Look at the Telegraph today… I think that’s a sign… no more… a sign that there is a way forward for this beleaguered PM.”
Former tabloid editor David Yelland.

Friday:

“UK front pages still set the agenda – they have digital superpowers.”

David Yelland

The Week Ahead:

Monday: Nobel Medicine Prize announced


Tuesday: PM expected to begin visit to India.


Memorial ceremony marks second anniversary of Hamas attack on Israel.

Nobel Physics Prize announced.


Wednesday: Kemi Badenoch delivers leader’s speech on final day of Conservative conference.

Members’ ballot opens in Labour Party deputy leadership election.


Thursday: James Comey arraigned over 2020 Russian interference testimony.

Nobel Literature Prize announced.


Friday: Nobel Peace Prize winner announced.

Funeral and procession in Manchester for Ricky Hatton;

Saturday: SNP conference begins.

Sunday: Greater Anglia train services nationalised.

Substack Delivers (Part 2)

This week’s Substack recommendation is a waspish piece of score-settling by veteran BBC reporter Nick Garnett: 

”Correspondents are just reporters who get paid more and are allowed to stay dry. Reporters hate correspondents. Correspondents don’t even know reporters exist.”

Entitled Who’s Who in Radio and TV – a Glossary, this is Nick’s rundown of what everyone does in front of and behind the microphone.

”Editors sit in meetings all day. They all wish they were still reporters but they quite like sending their children to private school and going on holiday to Tuscany.”

READ MORE

Footnotes: 


On this day: Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic resigned following allegations of vote-rigging on this day in 2000.

Media Changes: Sky News relaunches its Breakfast Programme (again) next month. Sophy Ridge and Wilfred Frost co-host. There will also be a new daily podcast – Cheat Sheet with Ridge and Frost – a 10-minute news rundown of the day’s top stories and headlines.

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 next Monday. Have a brilliant week.

All at Inside Edge

Edition 509

Good morning, it’s Monday 29th September.

Kicking off this week with a bizarre account by an academic interviewed for an article in the Washington Post…

 “The arrangement would gift Trump’s billionaire allies a degree of control over US media that would be vast and unprecedented.”


Trump’s plan to let TikTok continue operating in the US includes a new seven-member board of directors. The names are depressingly familiar. 


Read The Article

The Week Ahead:

Monday: Rachel Reeves speech to Labour Party conference.

Tyler Robinson in court over Charlie Kirk shooting.


Tuesday: Keir Starmer speech to Labour Party conference.

ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup begins.


Wednesday: Energy price cap changes take effect.

Deputy leadership hustings at final day of Labour conference.


Thursday: Denmark hosts European Political Community Summit.


Friday: Zack Polanski speech to Green Party conference.

Taylor Swift releases new album The Life of a Showgirl.

Sunday: Conservative Party conference opens.

First elections due in Syria since the fall of Assad.

“You just have to listen to…”


How do you find out about good podcasts?

Source: RAJAR’s MIDAS survey. Stuffed full of data on how, when and where audio content is consumed.


Read The Report

Substack Delivers


Last week I noted that Substack is having a moment. I’ve been exploring what’s out there and will share a few highlights over the coming weeks. First up: Peter Kellner on how public perceptions of issues from immigration to knife crime diverge sharply from reality.

The reasons why are fascinating, and (as usual) the media seems a cause as well as a possible solution.

Read More

“100% agree with you on mock interviews. It makes me nervous and forgetful (trying to remember what I rehearsed).”


Thanks Mo for your feedback following last week’s vid.

Last week’s poll results: 38% said it was helpful to have a mock interview. 62% said it was unhelpful.

The Liftable Quote Club

“Footage of the most powerful man on the planet wandering into a press conference, recycling anti-vax folklore and riffing like some deranged game-show host. This is the theatre we’re left with: brands helplessly messaging in a sea of noise, while memes eat them alive.”

Mark Borkowski on the Trump Tylenol diatribe

The Aftercare App

All the familiar media training aftercare features are now in one place, alongside masses of new resources.

You can use the App on your phone, or simply log in via desktop.

Footnotes:

Starmer’s Head of Comms Steph Driver has announced she is leaving Downing Street.

On this day: The United States successfully launched its first crewed space mission since the Challenger disaster on this day in 1988.

Present Day: Was at Twickenham on Saturday to see the Red Roses win the Rugby World Cup. A superb day of sport and an incredible atmosphere:

Mutts: Beach Boy…

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 next Monday. Have a brilliant week.

All at Inside Edge