The Glass Box.
Above is the Glass Box the PM team meets in at 18.00 every weeknight to discuss the content of the programme.
We try to be honest with each other, but not hurtful, as we talk about what worked and what didn't...what met our expectations and what fell short.
This virtual glass box is where you're encouraged to take part in the same spirit. The editor of the day reads your comments and may well add her/his own.
Listen to PM
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~11~RS~)
Comments
Sign in or register to comment.
Great to have a new glass box. I was getting a tad tired of the other one.
This one looks like the lower half of 'The Last Supper' - bit early for Easter...
Complain about this comment
The Sec'y Gen of the UN has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Well, that solves that.
Complain about this comment
Eddie, Get real, civilians get killed in war. How many were killed by US/GB in Iraq?
Complain about this comment
My good God. I'm sorely sick of this 'ground-hog day' Israel, Hamas, Israel, Hamas, tit-for-tat political, atrocious war of attrition. It has entirely weakened any generosity for either side and logically Israel (though no good guy at all) should finish off the job they were given by the UN in 1947 (de facto). For years everyone has been talking fairy-tales about cease-fires and the upset about the non-responsibility of the other side. Anyone who has a modicum of understanding knows that there will only ever be room for a one-state solution.
Sad regards,
Complain about this comment
c_m 4, Just think of the Gaza Strip as some kind of dirty dance and you will be OK.
Complain about this comment
Sue, I suspect that this is a shot taken from the POV of a PM staffer after the team Xmas lunch.
Or by a 'Today' programme spy camera in the skirting board.
btw, if you're still interested in Nicholas Delaney and his 1798 and Aussie pioneer stories, maybe if I asked the PM team to pass on my email addie to you we could get in touch that way?
Is that legit, PM editor of the day?
Complain about this comment
F_O 6, That's why some pubs don't allow under-the-table photos taken with camera-phones.
Complain about this comment
The score seems to be around 300+ to Israel and 2 to Hamas. One of the problems in this unwinnable and unequal struggle seems to be that there is an imbalance of ordnance. Perhaps the UN could confiscate every aircraft, tank, naval ship and weapon Israel possesses more than the Palestinians, until they are evenly matched.
Maybe then the Israeli government will do the one thing they haven't tried in their efforts to obtain a lasting ceasefire, and withdraw behind their official border, and stop occupying land that isn't theirs where they've been since 1967.
It's plain that such a move, which is what the Palestinians, and much of the rest of the world, want, is anathema to Israel, but virtually everything else has been tried and failed. It seems to me time the unthinkable was thought.
One hopes the incoming Obama administration in America will be less supportive and more critical of Israel than past ones have been, and everyone should stop selling armaments to them until they stop behaving like petulant bullies.
Complain about this comment
There we have the deputy ambassador from Israel being treated with kid gloves - no mention of the year long cease fire NOT leading to a lifting of the Gaza blockade, despite agreements and it being illegal. A gentle 'excuse me' was not exercised in a previous interview with someone from an anti-vivisection organisation, it was an aggressive Eddie. But today it is only Palestinians so let us be gentle with those who kill them, not as cuddly as monkeys etc.
Fact is Israel is illegally blockading Gaza - they fight back. Israel is illegally grabbing land in the West Bank. Israel is occupying land breaking many UN resolutions. The Palestinians should be white Zimbabwe farmers or Georgians to get any objectivity from the BBC. Shame on you for your meekness.
Complain about this comment
4 David_McNickle -
Indeed, 'The Gaza Strip' and sadly a rather fatal attraction at that.
Thanks for the musical idea anyway and I hope you keep a spring in your step through 2009.
Complain about this comment
c_m 10, Thanks for understanding my sense of humor.
Complain about this comment
Eddie Mair is the only credible BBC journalist interviewing Israeli spokemen.. I continue to be aghast that BBC journalists allow Israel get away with presenting their agression towards the Palestinian population and crimes against humanity resulting from Palestinian agression as justified when by any measure of international law it is they who are the aggressors.- The Palestinians are imprisoned, deprived of adequate means to survive, to educate their people, denied freedom of movement - democratic elections are ignored, they are portrayed as terrorists and subjected to every humiliation - in retaliation they send mortars over the border (neither wise nor effective) killing on average 2 people a year - and the Israelis are enabled to use this as a pretext to carry on what increasingly appears as a genocidal policy with our co-operation. VCM
Complain about this comment
Ken Clarke left BAT last year. I heard he'd had a better offer.
Complain about this comment
Your report from Bratislavia is open to misunderstanding.
Part of the conditions for acceptance into the EU for the former Communist countries was acceptance of the Euro as the currency.
As for losing an old established currency - Nonsense - Slovenia is one of the newest States in the entire world.
Do I detect BBC europhilia again ?
Complain about this comment
In PM today , Eddie just didn't know when to shut up . Again .
I'm no believer in Israel but Eddie was in his classic 'interrupt - mode' by not allowing the Israeli ambassador a chance to finish any sentence he started .
It's the equivalent of constant heckling ( ..hectoring - now I think of it - is the term ) and , is verbal bullying . Unattractive .
It palls after a while when any Eddie interview is peppered with his constant interruptions prefaced by his ,clearly, meaningless and unfelt apologies about this mania of his - it would seem - to prove who is the 'cleverdick' on his programme .
Would that Nick Clarke were still alive to give him some pointers on how to do the job properly .
Otherwise , most of the time fortunately , he's a good fellow and I'll continue to listen to PM .
Complain about this comment
Would have been interesting to hear the ICRC's stance on this and see whether they had anything meaningful to add.
I thought the interview was fair and challenged the spokesman appropriately - pity that only one side of the dispute were prepared to appear on PM. Didn't agree with what the Israeli chap said - if we disagree with actions being taken by our democratically elected Government it's not always that easy to change their strategy. I cannot imagine it would be any easier for the civilians involved on either side of this dispute.
Complain about this comment
mc 15, I think Eddie thinks he can get away with it because, in general, he is a funny, easy going person.
Complain about this comment
av 12, The last time I checked, Gaza has a coastline. Can't any of them swim?
Complain about this comment
(6) Frances_O: thankyou - would be interested in the tales. Hope they pass your details on and will get in touch if they do.
I didn't think Eddie was either hectoring or too lenient with the Ambassador. It was a most interesting interview.
Tragedy about four year old girl. Terrible to hear.
Complain about this comment
L_S 19, He interrupted too much. Getting to be too much of a prima donna. Needs to be taken down a notch or two.
Complain about this comment
Frances_O: If you have emails for any of the 'regulars', drop them a line and ask about the FB links. Lady Sue will know about that ;o)
Complain about this comment
Now we'll hear some balanced reporting, Jeremy Bowen is on. (Har de har har har!) Actually. he has become a bit less anti-west since he got rid of his Arab moustache.
Complain about this comment
I worship the ground Eddie Mair hovers over. Every wave-length, every frequency, every plate full of podcasts taken with a nice drop of Assam tea. Have a very pleasant after-work tipple!
Complain about this comment
c-m 23, I hear that Eddie is moving to Today.
Complain about this comment
I think eddie dealt with the immediate situation well and i feel that on balance the Israeli spokesman was not let off the hook but i do wish those who report or discuss these issues would ask Israel again and again if their country was occupied illegally would not some aspects of their society not use violence against the invader and does this not lead to this continued violence.
i am a pacifist by nature and obhor all violence but this situation will not resolved until the UN is prepared to enforce its own edits over the occupation.
Sadly a futher aspect of this is that Israel has not learnt from its own immediate history. it has created a ghetto mentality in gaza and the anger this creates is no different to the anger jews felt at their treatment in ghettoes throughout their history. there maybe no gas chambers but the effect of continued blockading of humanitarian help creates the same mind set.
it also has a disastrous effect on the young of Isreal who are being taught how to treat other human beinga as less than human.
Isreal will live to so regret their present behaviour.
ian
Complain about this comment
DMcN, I sincerely hope not. Who will the froggers have to play with? On the other hand, our Eric does get up rather early. Maybe he's been practising?
Complain about this comment
Big Sis, thank you for that.
What's an FB link when it's at home?
Complain about this comment
I work from home and I am an avid listener of radio four with one exception, which is PM (Sorry Eddie). I find the programmes moaning editorial tone leads me to literally switch off. An example of the negative tone that of the programme comes in the form of the listeners emails. They seem to do nothing but vilifying this and vilify that, which is so easy to do, but provides very little else in terms of informed comment.
Nathan
Complain about this comment
Eddie
I felt your interview with the Israeli Ambassador was un-balanced and biased towards the Palestinians, albeit, you were apparently supporting "innocent" civilians.
The Palestinian/Jewish situation is far, far, more complex than tonight's discussion would have us believe or could ever have indicated, given the time allocated.
Both sides in this conflict and their political supporters have consistently, over 60 years, lied to, decieved and effectively blackmailed and demeaned their own peoples, supporters and antagonists. The only "innocents" in that region I can imagine are children and then, up to what age..?
Tonight's "discussion" did little for me I'm afraid...
Complain about this comment
I would like to add a comment in reply to something said by the Israeli spokesman. He responded to something that Eddie said by saying that, if we were attacked as Israel is by Hamas, we'd do the same as Israel. Well, to judge by recent history, his comment was quite inaccurate. This country was under sustained attack by the IRA during The Troubles, with loss of civilian life in bomb blasts, but I do not once recall the British Army responding by lobbing bombs into Republican strongholds. I know mistakes were made and civilian life was lost during that period, but my point is that it is not modern British practice to retaliate in the way that Israel is now doing, least of all in a way that is entirely disproportionate to the losses they are suffering.
I know Israel has its grievances, and do not condone the actions of Hamas, but Israel must reconsider the way it is approaching its dispute with Palestine and examine what is at the root of Palestinian anger.
Complain about this comment
For David McN and Frances O - Crikey what a 2009 to look forward to... but before that have just brewed a nice Ty-phoo but am goggling a even better new box of Punjana. Hope your evening is equally pleasant:)
Complain about this comment
Thank you, crikey, I'm just about to put the kettle on myself.
Then hurriedly take it off, since it's rather ht.
Complain about this comment
and even more hot
Complain about this comment
(30) Big Sis: er, actually the British did "lob bombs" and not even into Republican strongholds. Just one example was in a tiny neighbouring village, Belturbet, which suffered from a supposed SAS wired car bomb exploding outside a fish and chip shop killing two innocent people and maiming more.
There was also the matter of Bloody Sunday but I think if we start to veer off into comparative tit-for-tat retaliations we will lose focus. I know the Ambassador was trying to justify the Israeli actions by doing similar and Eddie was not allowing it.
However, I entirely agree with your final paragraph.
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
I was disappointed that Eddie rudely interrupted the Israeli Ambassador. There was a comparison with the number of UK troops killed versus civilian deaths in Afghanistan (?) I think. Spurious maybe; whether it was relevant or not the listener could have judged for himself. We were not given the choice with Eddie’s voice over.
Complain about this comment
There is a very very old recording of an interview of some just arrived political person answering each and every question from Our Man with the microphone with words like "I am NOT answering that(question)". Interviewer persevered and got - precisely nowhere.
Some interviewees do EXACTLY the same (not answering THAT in effect) by answering the questions they actually want to be asked. NOT the ones that interviewers asks them.
Therefore it is not an interview for interviewee but can become a soap box in whuich to give their views. IF interviewer doesn't challenge the responses he or she is given to their questions.
I heard part of just such an interview today on PM. And this morning on FiveLive breakfast - two such interviews.
I will take an interruption or two to avoid too many of those occasions on my Radio.
Complain about this comment
Oops - sorry - put a website address and have just read House Rules! Frances_O: you'll have to ask the PM mods to forward details on.
Complain about this comment
The moderators have all been eaten by those Martians in the Glass Box.
Complain about this comment
Ho, hum, Lady Sue. I'll email The Powers that Be now.
Complain about this comment
I've asked them to pass on my email addie if you ask them for it; hope that'll do.
Complain about this comment
Lady Sue, I stand corrected - however, what I suppose I was crudely (and not very accurately) trying to say was that - and I am only referring to 'recent' history (not going back pre 1980s) - there wasn't a policy of retaliation, which is what the Israeli spokesman was implying.
Now, you mention Bloody Sunday, and I for one regard that as an appalling event, and would not wish to be thought of as condoning that in any way at all. Nor, may I add, any of the individual acts of barbarism that have been carried out by British squaddies against Iraqis and others elsewhere. There will always be bad apples in barrels, but it is important that the barrel itself be as sound as possible.
Complain about this comment
Ed and Gang: Pass on my (our) compliments to your website manager(s).
The amount of traffic you get on here is at times frenetic, and it never seems to crash. Or maybe I'm out when it does.
Happy New Year to him/her/them.
Complain about this comment
I don't see that it is in any way pertinent to an argument to say 'yes well someone else would be nasty too'. If a murderer tried to defend his action by saying 'well, Harold Shipman killed people too' it would be quite properly ignored as a defence. So why does what Great Britain or England might do in a hypothetical situation that doesn't exist because we don't have a Gaza equivalent have anything to do with what Israel does? Ans: it has nothing to do with it, but by dragging it in and getting people to argue about that instead of what is actually being done by real people to real other people, the person who said it has distracted us yet again.
Ideally everyone ought to stop working on the 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth' doctrine altogether, but since that clearly isn't available as an option, let's at least not drag in the eyes and teeth of people who have nothing whatever to do with the original question. It's good red herring, but red herring it is.
Complain about this comment
Hi Big Sis (30) - You know me well enough to appreciate that whatever I say is well-intentioned and not confrontational. But comparing the Israeli/Gaza situation to the British/IRA question doesn't really stand up.
With Israel you have a situation where there is a country, established by mandate against the wishes of the existing populace and surrounding countries, exercising their externally supported military superiority against the indigenous people outside the nationally accepted borders of Israel.
In the British/IRA conflict you have a totally different situation where the British had to deal with (that awful word) 'insurgency', within their own defined territory. "the British Army responding by lobbing bombs into Republican strongholds" wasn't really an option but it did get really close on occasion.
Like Lady Sue, I fully concur with your last paragraph.
Complain about this comment
I made the mistake of watching ITV's 'News at 10'.
It led with Israel's bombing of Lebanon.
The second story was - a football player being arrested.
I had a quick peep at the Beeb's news site. Guess what the second story was? I'm slightly taken aback.
Complain about this comment
Loon: I didn't think there was a comparison to make either - but I think the Israeli spokesperson was trying (as Chris would put it) to hang out a red herring. I think he was actually probably hinting at Iraq and Afghanistan, but the conflicts there (and our involvement) are even less worthy of any kind of comparison. I fully agree that the situations are not comparable and do, of course, understand the situation in the Middle East.
My objection is to his point that we 'would react as the Israelis have' in a similar situation. Whatever slip ups may have been made in the past, I'll stick by my assertion that nowadays I do not think the UK would, as the spokesman said, retaliate in the same way in similar circumstances. And I am sure that, if our Government did, there would be massive protests by UK citizens.
Anyway, I think we are agreed upon the main points of this. It's always interesting, though, to debate the detail.
Complain about this comment
Gerrard of 'ere.
Complain about this comment
FrancesO - FB = facebook
Complain about this comment
Oops, Frances, sorry I missed your response there but, as ValP has helpfully replied, FB = Facebook.
If you contact one of us, we can link you up.
Complain about this comment
Hats off to the Irish for moving on after their Holocaust of 1845 and not living off victim status or becoming as evil as their occuppying enemy. Look at the mess that GB has caused all over the world ...........our destructive fingerprints are everywhere. I cannot help feeling a hypocrite as I catch myself watching this daily killing spree and thinking we as a nation are seperate from it. Far from it.
Complain about this comment
Val, Big Sis, of course it is! Brain being a bit slow. Thank you both.
Now... never having used FB, how do I go about it?
Complain about this comment
Frances, just get yourself signed up to the site (you don't have to reveal things about yourself that you don't want to) then look for a frogger whose real name you know (e.g. Fifi, or Jonnie). If you need further help, just say. Once you've tracked one of us down, it will become very easy. ;o)
Complain about this comment
[Gulp] OK, big brave grownup thing to do for today, then.
Complain about this comment
Fingers crossed for you, Frances :)
Complain about this comment
F_O 26, Sorry, I meant Eddie was very moving today.
Complain about this comment
DMcN, grrrrrrr
Complain about this comment
Hello All...
Thank you for your many posts. I was in the chair on Monday.
We did a lot on the Israel/Gaza story, which I think was the right thing to do. It's a a difficult, complex and compelling story and, as ever, prompted a big response, both here and on the blog.
It's interesting reading the emails and posts... a real mix of people who thought Eddie's questioning of the Israeli ambassador was too strong, was too weak, or was spot on and made for a compelling interview. We've had comments accusing us of being Hamas apologists and we've had comments accusing us of being pro-Israel propagandists. We've had comments saying we got it right.
We're never going to please everyone, because this is an emotive subject and because many people have very strong views about it... and often don't take into consideration their own perspective when accusing us of bias. I would say this: we think very carefully about impartiality. Very carefully indeed. We plan our interviews on such subjects very carefully and try to cover all points. I am not saying we get it right all the time, but when we get an interview about accountability, it is only right that Eddie that asks searching and probing questions... and that, if he feels his questions are being evaded, he tries to keep the interviewee on the subject he/she was asked a question about.
As Eddie said, there are many questions we would have liked to put to Hamas. We we trying from 9am to track down an interview with Hamas. We tried to get hold of Hamas representatives in Syria and Lebanon and we have a producer who can speak Arabic, but even his efforts were to no avail. We will keep trying today.
Peter Bolt (@14) re the Euro, I don't really understand what you are saying. Our interviewee said the opposite about Slovakia's currency... he said it had changed three or four times in some people's lifetime, so they did NOT have the same qualms about converting to the Euro and losing their currency as, say, people might have about losing Sterling.
All the best,
Rog
Complain about this comment
R_S 58, GB should have changed to the euro yeaaaaars ago. The ?five targets will never be met as any gov't will keep changing the goalposts. It is the fear of handling money without the Queen's head on it that is the problem. Dirty furrin euros with furrin heads on them. As you may or may not know, I'm an American who has been living in England for 25 years and was here in 1970-71 when the money went decimal. People nearly committed suicide thinking about using money based on the number ten, but got used to it.
Complain about this comment
BS 50, Don't you people have a real life to lead? I wouldn't touch Facebook with a barge pole.
Complain about this comment
David, it does have its uses. For myself, I don't think I spend more than two minutes a day on the site.
Anyway, like you, I'm too busy blogging here ;o)
Complain about this comment
I think we should have adopted the US dollar instead of messing about with another new currency (Euro).
As for Israel, I can't see that country (whatever its size) having any peace while Islam survives, as it is against allowing Israel to exist.
Complain about this comment
D McN: "People nearly committed suicide thinking about using money based on the number ten ..."
No they didn't.
Complain about this comment
Sid@63
D_M@59
Semantics aside, I'd say the point's yours D_M (Para 16 gives the quote below, to save reading it all)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/aug/15/digitaltvradio.television
"Yet the bad outcomes are there: one Norfolk woman blamed decimalisation in her suicide note."
Complain about this comment
Odd. I posted the following on the "Diversions" section of the Blog on 28 Dec. It was more or less immediatly removed for modertion only to now re-appear with no explanation...
"22. At 11:58am on 28 Dec 2008, Charlie wrote:
Strange. I thought "we'd" stopped beating Dogs...
English Proverb: "A woman, a dog, and a walnut tree, the more you beat them the better they be"
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1102099/Prince-Dog-Beater-Outrage-Edward-repeatedly-lashes-gundogs-4ft-stick.html"
Complain about this comment
I've just checked, Charlie, and my 'removed' message has also reappeared.
They do take a time about it though, don't they?
Complain about this comment
Hi Big Sis@66
I saw "you'd" also been returned.
Reading what had been removed makes me wonder at what "level" moderation is being applied. Maybe it's out-sourced to a call-centre somewhere..? Now, there's a thought!
I'm truly tempted to make a Blog comment but that'd probably get me consigned to the sin-bin and as for the time delay, well, Christmas or no Christmas...
Complain about this comment
Sid 63, Hard to prove or disprove.
Complain about this comment
C 64, Thank you. I knew I read it somewhere.
Complain about this comment
BS 61, I prefer youtube.
Complain about this comment
Roger,
Eddie asked the Israeli Ambassador questions that he was unlikely to get straight answers to (eg about their military plans) and then made it look like he was trying to evade reasonable questions.
That's not good journalism.
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
Ooooooo, I picked on Eddie!!
Complain about this comment
Why?
Complain about this comment
Sid 74, Why who?
Complain about this comment
Why did you pick on Eddie?
(Sorry my question wasn't clear enough for you.)
Complain about this comment
Why dos'nt Isreal just "nuke" the strip and get it over with?
Complain about this comment
Eddie. I just noticed that Wallace and Gromit are on at 5.05. Can you put the show back half an hour?
Complain about this comment
el-nicko1 @ 77, don't be silly. They want to have it fit for their use, not glowing in the dark for the foreseeable future.
Complain about this comment
View these comments in RSS