2023. Polarised voices have enjoyed pushing debates to extremes. Misinformation is rife.

Enough is enough. We’ve decided 2024 will be the Year Of The Expert. 

In the year that countries with more than half the world’s population send their citizens to the polls, we’ll be championing media contributors that bring evidence, complexity, nuance, doubt and balance. 

We’ve been coaching experts for over a decade. It’s time to celebrate how good they are.

So buckle up. From January we muster an army of confident media-savvy experts to reclaim the airwaves from those that don’t deserve it. 

We have a slogan:

“Control. Connect. Never dumb down.”

We have artwork by young Ukrainian artist Vladimir Gasai…

We’re all set. Watch this space…

Good morning, it’s Monday 20th November.

The week ahead…

Monday: Covid-19 Inquiry: Sir Patrick Vallance (Tuesday: Sir Chris Whitty, Wednesday: Jonathan Van Tam/Dame Angela McLean)

Shakira due to appear in a Spanish court on tax fraud charges

Tuesday: President of South Korea Yoon Suk Yeol address to Parliament

Wednesday: The Chancellor delivers his Autumn Statement

Elections in the Netherlands

Thursday: Quarterly migration and immigration figures are released

Friday: Release of Leonard Bernstein film Maestro starring Bradley Cooper

Saturday: National March for Palestine in London

Sunday: Booker prize winner announced

“It spends too much of its time dealing with questions of race and gender and trans rights.”

Former Channel 4 News and Newsnight correspondent Michael Crick has a pop at Radio 4…

(…plus Jon Snow, Newsnight, Victoria Derbyshire and BBC News…)

READ MORE

“It’s always the cover-up. The cliché, born of Watergate, applies equally to the clumsy attempt by people around Boris Johnson, who should have known better, to “fix” who got to be the head of Ofcom, the UK’s supposedly independent media regulator.”

Regular readers will know we’ve been following the Ofcom saga with interest. This, from Alan Rusbridger (via Nadine Dorries) in Prospect is worth a read.

READ MORE

Thoroughly enjoyed the Sky News Breakfast team’s reaction to David Cameron’s surprise appearance at the end of Downing Street on reshuffle day.

WATCH HERE (via Twitter/X)

On the Inside Edge website – Tony’s A-Z of media training: 

B is for Briskness:

We’re talking a trot here; a canter in a conversation is just too fast …and a gallop? Nothing will sink in. But a sense of purpose, the drive to shortcut to the important stuff and an urgency in tone can all make the audience sit up and take notice. Remember variety is engaging, so walk through unfamiliar concepts and be careful not to speed over what’s familiar to you but is likely to be new to the viewer or listener.

Footnotes:

A fierce blaze raged through Windsor Castle on this day in 1992.

Highs today of 12 degrees in Newcastle (UK) and 23 degrees in Newcastle (Australia).

That’s it. Just time for the obligatory dog photo. Spooning Part 1:

(Part 2 next week)

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

Good morning, it’s Monday 13th November.

The week ahead…

Inter Faith Week 2023 takes place from Sunday 12th – Sunday 19th

Monday: Rishi Sunak speech to the Lord Mayor’s Banquet

Sir Bobby Charlton’s funeral

Tuesday: Labour market statistics

Parole hearing for Jon Venables

Wednesday: Supreme Court issues judgment in the Home Office’s challenge to the ruling which blocked the government’s Rwanda immigration policy

US President Joe Biden holds summit with Chinese President Xi

Rupert Murdoch steps down from News Corp

Thursday: The Crown final series airs (part one)

Friday: Kurt Cobain’s ‘Skystang I’ guitar auctioned

Saturday: US Government federal shutdown may begin

Sunday: Argentinian presidential election run-off

“Over the past decade, Silicon Valley has learned that news is a messy, expensive, low-margin business—the kind that, if you’re not careful, can turn a milquetoast CEO into an international villain and get you dragged in front of Congress.”

A killer opening paragraph from Charlie Warzel in The Atlantic who brings us a fascinating deep-dive into the complex relationship between Big Tech and journalism. It’s behind a paywall unfortunately, but worth taking up the free trial offer to have a read.

READ MORE

Main winners at the Society of Editors Media Freedom Awards:

Bob Satchwell Award: Gary Younge 

Commentator of the year: Marina Hyde

Broadcast Journalist of the year: Piers Morgan

Foreign Correspondent of the year: Stuart Ramsey

Political Journalist of the year: Pippa Crerar

And speaking of awards…

“Ritula Shah, former BBC Radio 4 presenter of the World Tonight on overpaid news presenters, BBC cuts and news centralisation.”

Roger Bolton’s Beebwatch podcast is worth a listen.

LISTEN HERE 

On the Inside Edge website – Tony’s A-Z of media training: 

A is for Ambition:

It can be easier to talk about your work when you’ve got outcomes, fully formed analysis and results. It’s true that starting points – though vital to you – can leave the audience underwhelmed. Similarily aspirations may be a bit woolly. But an ambition -matched with the follow through of what your work could achieve – can really hit home. Exploration can be exciting. And it’s not about over-promising, instead it’s opening up a sense of the potential.

Footnotes:

The Times newspaper was published for the first time in nearly a year on this day in 1979 (READ MORE).

Highs today of 14 degrees in Norwich and 15 in Tokyo.

That’s it. Just time for the obligatory dog photo. Stan stifling a yawn during the King’s Speech…

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

Have a guess how many stories the Mail Online publishes every day. I couldn’t believe it.

(Answer in the footnotes)

Good morning, it’s Monday 6th November.

The week ahead…

Covid-19 Inquiry: Wednesday: Mark Sedwill. Thursday: Priti Patel

Monday: Trump expected to take the stand as his fraud trial continues

Tuesday: The State Opening of Parliament

G7 foreign ministers gather in Japan

Wednesday: New Ofgem rules on prepayment meters in force

Thursday: Nadine Dorries’ The Plot and Coleen Rooney’s ‘Wagatha Christie’ memoir both published. (Decisions, decisions…)

Friday: GRAMMY nominations announced

Saturday: Possible mass march in London for peace in the Middle East

Arab League leaders gather for an emergency summit in Riyadh

Sunday: King Charles III at Cenotaph service marking Remembrance Sunday

Simon Mayo was interviewed in The Times and said something that caught my eye:

“Like a lot of people on radio, I am an introvert – it’s a way of being yourself, or a version of yourself, in a room on your own. There are plenty of loud, extrovert broadcasters out there but I think in radio the presenter would aways come across as a friend behind the microphone. Hopefully that’s where introverts like me come into their own.”

The World At War turned 50 years old last week. This extraordinary 26-episode documentary, then the most expensive factual series ever produced, is narrated by Laurence Olivier.

I fell down a Youtube rabbit hole last week and was gripped – it is just brilliant film-making. Before you read the rest of your emails watch the first 2 minutes of Episode 1…

The Today podcast fields questions from listeners:

How is it decided who will take a lead in a news item or interview? And does it create tensions in the team? 

When you’re covering a story like Gaza, how do you work out what is real and what is disinformation in a busy newsroom? 

What do you see as the future of print journalism? 

It’s just 15 minutes long and an interesting (albeit slightly smug) look behind the scenes of the programme. 

The answers of Nick Robinson and Amol Rajan:

LISTEN HERE 

On the Inside Edge website – Tony’s A-Z of media training: 

Y is for Yes:

I’ll add No to this section too. Either an affirmation or a denial is refreshing because we rarely witness spokespeople – especially politicians – using them. We can avoid them out of caution but if you’re clear it’s a yes – say it. Such directness goes down well, it shows a candour – you’re being straight talking. That doesn’t means you can’t be nuanced at other points in the interview, in fact the audience is more likely to buy in to some complexity because you’ve already won them over.

Footnotes:

Australians rejected a proposal to break ties with the British monarchy and become a republic on this day in 1999.

Highs today of 11 degrees in Keswick and 29 in Miami.

And as for how many stories the Mail Online publishes every day?

Press Gazette calculated that between 13th and 19th September the average each day was…1,490 stories. Utterly terrifying.

That’s it. Just time for the obligatory dog photo. And sometimes only a warm bottom will do… 

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

“Someone obviously had their hand on the Google dial prior to that meeting.”

Nadine Dorries’ Mail column on big tech is a curious read.

Amongst the many claims: 

“I’d long been aware that when you search for news related to politics on Google, it is predominantly left-wing publications that top the list of results.”

An assertion roundly rebuffed by the Economist’s Alex Selby-Boothroyd who posted this chart:

Good morning, it’s Monday 30th October.

The week ahead…

Covid-19 Inquiry witnesses:

Monday: Martin Reynolds/Lee Cain 

Tuesday: Dominic Cummings 

Wednesday: Helen MacNamara 

Thursday: Simon Stevens 

Monday: Ballon D’Or winner announced

(And just for our Vancouver reader…)

Canadian foreign minister Mélanie Joly addresses the Economic Club of Canada 

Tuesday: State visit of the King and Queen to Kenya begins

Wednesday and Thursday: UK hosts the Global Summit on Artificial Intelligence at Bletchley Park

Thursday: Interest Rate decision 

David Hockney exhibition opens at National Portrait Gallery

Friday: Court hearing for man accused of Holly Willoughby ‘kidnap’ plot 

Sunday: US Election exactly one year away 

The latest listening figures are out. Radio 4 continues its recent decline, with the loss of a further 428,000 sets of ears, compared with the previous quarter. Over the course of a year, the station has dropped from 10.2 million listeners to 8.9 million.

The station’s flagship Today programme lost over a quarter of a million listeners on the previous quarter. 

“I began to wonder, was it possible none of these journalists had actually seen or heard the original statement? Maybe one outlet reported it, and then everyone copied them, so the journalists didn’t know the original source.”

Fascinating deep dive into how a possible mistranslation ricocheted around the world in a breaking news situation.

READ MORE

As Boris Johnson announces he is joining the broadcaster GB News…

“GB News is both totally ridiculous, and the place a certain stripe of politician or turbo-crank feels at home.” 

The always on point Marina Hyde: READ MORE

As X stutters to its 1st birthday under Musk:

“The result, one year later, is a platform in the throes of enshittification. X now resembles a creature from The Walking Dead – rotting, dangerous and a shadow of its former self.”

READ MORE

Worth noting too that as the crisis in Israel and Gaza deepens:

“Verified Accounts on X Spread 74% of Wartime Misinformation”

READ MORE

On the Inside Edge website – Tony’s A-Z of media training: 

X is for X Factor:

Get your priorities right. Yes, you do need to up your game for a media encounter but that doesn’t mean transforming yourself into some sort of performer. The audience will quickly cotton on if you are over-egging the subject, or adopting some one-off media traits. Believe in yourself. Allow the colour of your natural voice to come through, and use the language you’d normally adopt if explaining something to a friend. Most importantly focus on reaching the audience by connecting one to one with your interviewer. In your head imagine chatting round the kitchen table rather than delivering from a stage.

Footnotes:

US President George Bush encouraged Arabs and Israelis to “lay down the past” in his opening speech to the Middle East peace conference in Spain on this day in 1991.

Highs today of 15 degrees in Brighton and 11 in Glasgow.

That’s it. Just time for the obligatory dog photo, plus a reminder please not to buy fireworks ahead of bonfire night on Sunday. 

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