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 Homepage of The Media Show, Radio4's weekly look at the media. Wednesday 1.30pm. |
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Have your say |
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Australian Bush Fires: Trauma and Reporting |
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Can sub-editors be eliminated? |
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Teletext |
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Comments on Today's Programme |
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Teletext:
Loved David Quantick's piece on Teletext and am very glad to hear Ed Stourton's assurance that Ceefax will be available until the end of switchover.The new Direct Gov Text pages have only just made it onto Teletext: will these be safeguarded to the end of switchover?Oh and are there sub-editors on Ceefax other than the Local Ceefax/Red Button/Omline Teams?
Sue Hibberd
Sub-editing:
As a past trainer of NCTJ journalists- all postgraduates - I am truly alarmed at the level of basic skills they possess, i.e. spelling and punctuation. One recent trainee asking: " What's the difference between 'too' and 'to'?" Hence I am in favour of another pair of specialist eyes to oversee grammar and punctuation, let alone copy polishing, fact checking etc. Long live the sub editor.Call me a cynic (that's what years on a subs desk does!) but the disappearance of subs is, as ever, driven by cost cuts, not a desire to improve editorial standards.The real challenge is creating 'media neutral' journalists who can produce content that can be used in both print and digital publications. I feel journalists do need to learn how the digital medium works and how it differs from print.But firstly they need to learn how to spell and punctuate.
Cheryl Chapman.
The current discussion regarding sub editors suggests that papers may not need sub editors, I am astonished at this as the spelling and grammar in The Times is appalling!
Reporters and Trauma:
I've just been listening (streaming to Australia - I live in Canberra) the discussion concerning the reactions of reporters to the traumatic events they report on. While I agree with much your commentators were saying about maintaining a professional detachment during reporting and the belief of some reporters that they are 'the story' they're reporting, may I make a specific comment concerning reporting of such events as fires and floods in Australia. Firstly, the nature of general media in Australia means that reporters are, generally, locals - living in the communities they are reporting on, particularly when they are reporting on events such as fires or floods. Secondly, when reporting on bushfires or floods, these are, generally, naturally occuring events within Australia which every individual will experience either personally or through family during their lives. These two facts mean that any reporter may find themselves in the situation where they are not only reporting on the event but are also victims of the event. During the fires that swept Canberra in 2003 the ABC reporter on 2CN (local ABC) remained on air for a considerable time reporting on the events without knowing whether her own house was still standing and her family and pets were safe. This puts a very different pressure on the reporter, creating a very personal slant to the story and making the professionalism with which the stories are delivered all the more remarkable. To the lady who suggested that such reporting might be seen as self-indulgent I would suggest that she would have understood better the reporting from Australia if she had been a Rwandan reporting on the events in Rwanda?
Lindsey Hilsum's comments on reporters facing traumatic events were the very best, particularly her feeling that 'philosophical help' was what she could need after reporting on some of the most terrible. This is precisely the point. A philosophical template existed in previous eras. But it needs an update in the light of knowledge, to be properly integrated with history and a proper perspective.
James Baring |
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The Media Show |
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Listen again |
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Previous Programmes |
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1 October 2008
Andy Burnham on public service broadcasting
8 October 2008
Michael Grade on ITV
15 October 2008
Future of DAB Radio
22 October 2008
Andy Duncan and Channel 4
29 October 2008
Reporting Poverty
5 November 2008
Stephen Carter
12 November 2008
Lionel Barber and the FT
19 November 2008
Dr Tanya Byron on Kids TV
26 November 2008
Manchester and the Media
3 December 2008
Twitter's role in Mumbai Attacks
10 December 2008
Shannon Matthews and media coverage
17 December 2008
BBC Partnerships and media access to family courts
24 December 2008
Bush and the press and 1968 Apollo broadcast
31 December 2008
The Moralising Media
7 January 2009
Jeremy Hunt, Gaza Reporting and New Talent
14 January 2009
Prince Harry, Gaza, Persian TV and iPlayer
21 January 2009
Ofcom's PSB Review, Ross' return and British News
28 January 2009
Sir Michael Lyons, Hutton Report and New Nation
4 February 2009
Sky, Children and Reality TV and Financial Reporting
11 February 2009
BBC Children's Services, Jade Goody and Journalists' Conscience Clause
18 February 2009
Reporting Trauma, Subeditors and Teletext
25 February 2009
Dawn Airey, Disability on TV and Facebook
4 March 2009
Media and The Miners' Strike and ITV
11 March 2009
The Editors' Codebook, "Crown Jewels" of British Sport and Viviane Reding
18 March 2009
Christopher Meyer, Metro at Ten, Phorn and Impartial Drama
25 March 2009
Future of Journalism, Obama, Radio Caroline | |
Steve Hewlett |
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Steve Hewlett is a Guardian Columnist and broadcasting consultant. He is visiting Professor of Journalism and Broadcast policy at Salford University and a fellow of the Royal Television Society.
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Don't miss We want to hear your experiences |
Richelle Hunt has been reporting on the Australian Bush fires for 
