A Question and Two Answers

You may have noticed that BBC radio is now called BBC Sounds. But why? Well...

Jenny Eclair: What is BBC Sounds please and how does it differ from BBC radio?

Hugh Bonneville: It’s a good question, Jenny, and we’re glad you’ve asked it. Part of our More of Less initiative, BBC Sounds is a condensation of BBC Radio and BBC Noise, which in 2020 will be repurposed as BBC Echo - a great big empty hall, probably in Kidderminster.

Liz Kershaw: So this is the thing Jenny. The thing is it's a rebrand to clarify the offer to the end user focusing on the product rather than the platform. 

I think Liz in particular must have been eavesdropping on James Purnell.

Variety is the spice of life

I've said it before so you probably won't be surprised if I say it again...

...(especially given that I may sometimes repeat myself, and that sometimes I do repeat myself as well)...

....but...:

The newspaper reviews on Sky News are vastly superior in terms of balance and impartiality than those on the BBC - and usually a good deal more enjoyable too.

And there are certainly more Brexit supporters on Sky's paper reviews than there are on the BBC's.

(I intend to quantify that in an old-fashioned ITBB study - to be presented shortly).

I was reminded of this yet again after watching this morning's BBC News Channel paper review, which was an absolute joke in terms of impartiality.

[By 'absolute joke', incidentally, I don't mean something like this: 

I went into the cake shop earlier, bloke said, "All cakes £1." I said, "Can I get that one?" "£2" , he replied. "£2?", I asked. He said, "Aye, that's Madeira cake."]

Yes, on the BBC this morning viewers were given two almost-identical-minded Brexit-unfriendly journalists (one from The Independent, one from The Sunday Times) who agreed on the need for a second referendum, and on much else besides.

(Apparently The Independent co-sponsored it with The People's Vote campaign I learned from the Indy guy).

It was such a 'safe', 'BBC' discussion, with presenter Carole Walker dutifully adding the odd mild 'balancing' question for impartiality's sake.

Frankly, it was dull.

Meanwhile Sky this morning gave its viewers something far more intellectually bracing - and fun: namely Liz Kershaw and Julie Bindel, with their polar opposite views on Brexit.

Neither were po-faced, and their discussion ranged far and wide and was, at times, anything but 'safe' and 'BBC' (e.g. over transgender matters).

They were both marvellous, even when I didn't agree with them.

Incidentally, Liz - the second longest-serving female DJ in the UK (after Annie Nightingale) - is often deliciously trenchant in her views of BBC reporting. Here, for example, is her take on Mark Easton's reporting of the Huddersfield Pakistani paedophile grooming gang story this week: