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.’

Boy, 14, sails into the record books

Those watching today's News 24 Coverage around two o'clock today were likely to be disappointed by the coverage of schoolboy sailor Michael Perham's arrival at Antigua after setting out from Gibraltar six weeks ago.

After a slew of technical problems resulting from the blurry, jumpy video stream from the reporter waiting with a crowd at the Antiguan docks to receive his guest, and further problems when Michael actually arrived (‘You're standing on the audio cable!’) it became apparent that other than uttering the word ‘fantastic’ neither Michael nor the person in the studio had any idea about what to say.

In Michael's case, his tiredness no doubt contributed to his brief replies, but the interviewers should have done better to get some single grain of detail from their subject. Perhaps if they had bothered to read his blog or asked any questions beyond the humdrum ‘how do you feel’ rephrased about ten to twenty times something would have come of it.

Michael's arrival was part of a three-way link up connecting him with a presenter in the N24 news studio and with his family home where a second interviewer and his relatives watched those fuzzy images from the BBC broadcast. Although the studio presenter did try to get the other two parties talking, nothing was really said through the technological barrier.

The only people who could string some sentences together were Michael's mother and particularly his grandmother, whose replies seemed to suggest that there had been some tests on the way. But their reponses were not followed up by the interviewer with the simple question ‘What kinds of tests has Michael had to face?’ The Beeb were perhaps unlucky that the most powerful statement, which gave the story some depth of feeling and a sense of a struggle rather than just a relaxed sailing holiday, was his mother's unrepeatable line ‘He's been through some shit.’

I would hope that in future more efforts will be made to get some element of detail other than joyous reaction, which is a necessary part of the story, but shouldn't be the story. It would also be nice if they should do something about the dreadful quality of the sub-webcam technology that is used to meet the demand for pictures in many parts of the globe, but does so very poorly, and with audio often so full of pauses the barely half a report can be heard, as was true in this case.