Mulling it over
Sorry about the lack of blogging.
I've been to a funeral today - a funeral where every thought was perfectly spelled out, every word put in its place. Nothing else would have done in a celebration of Patrick Hannan's life.
It's just struck me to share a few of his own words.
To his friends he'd apparently rued the day that his job of 'covering politics in Wales' had somehow turned into 'covering Welsh politics'. No doubting which meant more to him and no doubting either in a room jam packed full of eminent politicians and journalists that they understood exactly what he'd meant and that they'll mull it over for quite some time to come.
I'm Betsan Powys, BBC Wales' political editor. I'll be blogging the inside track on 
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~06~RS~)
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Rest in peace
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I'm not an eminent politician or journalist, so can you tell me what he meant by that comment?
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Betsan:
My heartfelt condolences and prayers to Patrick Hannan's family and friends...
~Dennis Junior~
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A good man laid to rest, who made a real difference.
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Iggy 23 neither am I but I get the impression that it means journalists miss the day when they reported politics and just politics. Now journalists have to glam it up a bit, make it interesting, sort of glam it up. Although I could be wrong and maybe in the journalism industry it's expanded and now everyone has to specialize in something such as 'Welsh Politics'
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iggy23 - My interpretation of that comment is echoed by something Mark Mardell wrote on his blog recently. Politics in America covers all 50 states, and people complained that he was not getting 'out and about' enough.
His response was that in such a country it was very difficult to get outside the 'Beltway Bubble' which is the land within the 'ring road' in Washington DC, which is where the media focus is - on things like Capitol Hill, the White House - rather than say the 'bigger picture' of Tea Party protests, healthcare town halls and the like.
Just as the London-centric media focus on life within the M25 and politics is all about what happens in Westminster, I suspect that the media is finding it harder to get dragged away from the Cardiff Bay bubble, which is where all the 'action' is perceived to be - so that they don't miss a 'scoop'.
I guess much of journalism, whether it be sport, science or education is driven by this 'herd instinct' now, rather than being willing to 'go out on a limb', or do some 'investigative journalism'.
Of course, others may interpret things differently ?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markmardell/2009/10/so_much_applause_back_slapping.html
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