99 Red Balloons... and One Blue One

The increasingly media-savvy conservatives playing the song ‘99 Red Balloons’ and marching around Westminster today wearing Gordon Brown masks in honour of Labour's 99 ‘stealth taxes’ (god I hate this oppositional expression) are probably quite aware that they're making a double protest.

So there's these apparently sneaky taxes, but there's also the ‘stealth’ message of at least the principle of opposition to the Iraq war, to which the Cons are publically opposed, and which is the subject of Nena's song about an accidental and unnecessary war:

99 Decision Street
99 ministers meet
To worry, worry, super-scurry
Call the troops out in a hurry
This is what we've waited for
This is it boys, this is war
The president is on the line
As 99 red balloons go by

BBC's Iraq Week begins

‘A new poll out today shows that Iraqis are increasingly insecure and pessimistic about their future’, says the lead News 24 story today. Well, who would have thought?

But still, the Beeb are to be commended for their decision to increase their coverage, when studies have shown that many viewers report ‘tuning out’ when war coverage appears on the main news broadcasts.

It was refreshing this morning to see Huw Edwards back out on the front line, and to see behind the scenes of the coverage, where video editing equipment sits in tents protected only by five second mortar warning alerts. This is one of many ways in which the Beeb is finding a new angle, and doing it in a useful way.

I realised just a few minutes ago, at 13:09 local time, Baghdad, that the interview I was watching with Baghdad citizen Usama Ridha was the only interview with ‘the man on the street’ I had seen in a long time (Months? A Year?) which wasn't in the immediate aftermath of a bombing, or some other kind of attack on one side or another.

These interviews are what the BBC calls the ‘My Iraq’ segments. Just talking to people on the ground to give a picture of what life is like rather than just what a certain bombing has resulted in (which we can guess without help) is a much-needed fresh approach from a return to more traditional journalism.

1997 Week: ‘Panorama Revisited’

BBC 4's mini-series on the Blair years, the ‘1997 Week’ programmes, continued with tonight's superbly effective political piece, ‘Panorama Revisited’.

By the simple conceit of looking back at clips from the Panorama programmes broadcast that year and then having the ever-charming Jeremy Vine give ‘what happened next’ updates, we could see simply how well Labour had lived up to their promises. The short answer is ‘Not very well.’

Labour succeeded in making considerable reforms to the the role of the monarchy and its public representation, and in the advancement of gay rights, ultimately leading to the introduction of civil partnerships in 2005. But in terms of tests provided by more conventional political problems, weaknesses have abounded. Some choice moments:

Mandelson, 1997: ‘It's wonderful to have a discussion with a group of people and see so many great ideas being put forward [for what should be in the dome]. I really think this is going to be a success.’

Street interviewer, 1997: ‘What do you want to say to the people up there trying to work out what to put inside the dome?’
Man on the street: ‘They should burn it down.’

Jeremy Vine, 2007: ‘The dome's biggest problem was that it was trivial. Half the expected number of people turned up.’

John Prescott, 1997, interviewed about the dismal efficiency and safety record of the tube: ‘I've been in office for about six weeks now ... Talk to me again in five years.’

Jeremy Vine, 2007: ‘Five years later, the tube was facing its worst figures in history. Mr Prescott had been relieved of his duties on the matter.’