On the death of Baroness Thatcher: How the Radio World reacted…

 

Over the past few weeks you can’t have failed to notice the press coverage of the death of Baroness Thatcher, none more so than on the morning of Wednesday 17^th April when the former Prime Minister’s state funeral took place.

The event was televised live from St Paul’s Cathedral on BBC One (with viewing figures reaching as high as 4.4 million), was front-page news of every newspaper in Britain, predictably set the social media world buzzing, and of course was also broadcasted on a range of radio networks including BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio 4.

But the coverage of the funeral wasn’t all. Scanning the search results for ‘Thatcher’ on the BBC Radio iPlayer webpage shows 34 results of various broadcasts. The BBC Asian network presented a show debating whether Margaret Thatcher deserved a £10 million funeral. The BBC World Service featured the memoirs of Denis Oliver, who had been Mrs Thatcher’s driver for 14 years. The Money Box on BBC Radio 4 examined her finances. In fact Radio 4 produced a whole series of different interviews with people who had known or worked with Lady Thatcher titled Reflections on Thatcher. Then of course there are the countless numbers of news reports, programmes, and talking points featuring the news of her passing from all across the BBC from Local Radio to BBC Radio 2.

Of course for most stations the day was simply ‘business as usual’ with news bulletins focusing on the politics instead. On Monday 8^th April when Mrs Thatcher died I was listening to Radcliffe & Maconie’s show on 6 Music. It was standard BBC protocol: when the news broke their usual reporter interrupted the broadcast to simply announce the news, then further details were given in the next scheduled news report. During the actual show itself nothing was mentioned. All very calm and collected and doing its best to avoid a big public brawl.

As in life Margaret Thatcher has caused an unparalleled divide in the British public opinion this week. The day of her death turned Twitter into a war-zone. Many openly celebrated and shared their happiness at her passing causing others to cry out in shock, disgust, and anger.

But this is where the death of Britain’s first female PM had its biggest impact on the radio world. There was a sudden surge in sales of the song ‘Ding Dong the Witch is Dead’ from the film the Wizard of Oz. Indeed, I saw a number of posts on Facebook celebrating the news with a link to this song on YouTube. Of course yet more outcry followed but what couldn’t be ignored was that this song was creeping its way into the official UK Chart Top 40 and this left Ben Cooper, Controller of BBC Radio 1 which hosts the official Top 40 every Sunday night, with a very big decision to make.

In his blog on the BBC website Cooper explained his decision to ‘treat the rise of the song, based as it is on a political campaign to denigrate Lady Thatcher’s memory, as a news story’. The show played a short excerpt of the song when in charted in ‘a short news report during the show which explains to our audience why a 70-year-old song is at the top of the charts’. Cooper highlighted the difficulties of the situation explaining that on the one hand there was a great deal of anger towards this campaign to promote the song, while on the other is the fact that the chart show cannot ignore a song that has been purchased by such a huge majority of the record buying public. Ultimately the chart show has a purpose to document and play, no matter how long for and within what context, the biggest selling singles of that week.

Cooper stated that he did not want to ‘inflame an already delicate situation’. Somewhat wishful thinking I feel as the decision was a compromise and that C-word is always a tricky one, isn’t it? Whatever decision you choose someone is bound to feel unfairly treated or annoyed with the outcome. It was a hard decision to make and I’m sure one that most of us would not have wanted to deal with ourselves. As with any other situation involving such a controversial figure, whatever decision Cooper or the BBC arrived at it would cause some backlash.

And indeed there were mixed reactions to the decision. On the comments left on Cooper’s blog alone one reader wrote:

‘The BBC is like the wet kid in class that you really wish would once, just once, stand up to the bullies… The BBC should have maintained the high ground. The song is legitimately in the charts, it contains no profanity, racial slurs, misogyny or any of the other things that many of the chart songs do contain. It doesn’t contain political lyrics, and is not a protest song. It should have just been played, like all the other chart songs, without any comment that would link it to any political view. The BBC has been weakened even further by today’s decision, and will now be asked to censor all sorts of things in future, with this held up as precedent.’

Another wrote:

‘When did the Ben Cooper’s political views become the deciding factor over whether something gets plays or not? ‘I find it as distasteful as anyone’ – you make a judgement based on your own political opinion and your own tastes. What about the hundreds of thousands, if not millions of license fee payers who not only don’t find it distasteful, but in fact wholly appropriate to play the song?’

But there was also some praise of the decision with many commentators calling it a ‘fair decision’ and a ‘good call’ on Cooper’s part. This contributor stated:

‘I think it’s a fair compromise…  [I’m] getting increasingly depressed by the utter intolerance on both sides of this argument. What good exactly is the escalating hysteria on both sides of this achieving? I’m one of those who remember her faults more than her qualities – but what’s done is, alas, done.’

Personally, as soon as the news broke I decided to stay well out of putting forward any comments on the matter. The words of Mary-Anne Hobbs from the Sound Women on tour event I attended a few weeks ago were ringing in my ears: ‘Social media is not your priest, it’s not your mother and it’s not your best friend’. I watched my friends and colleagues tearing each other apart on Twitter and Facebook and so I simply decided to report, rather than comment, on what has been happening.

The only personal angle I will throw in is this. In Cooper’s explanation he states that ‘most of them [the Radio 1 listeners] are too young to remember Lady Thatcher and many will be baffled by the sound of the Munchkins from the Wizard of Oz’ (that is, of course, presuming that they even know what the Wizard of Oz is then, surely?) I think what I found most antagonising in this whole flurry of debate was this dismissal of the Radio 1 listener. It undermines any integrity the audience might have and yes, I know that over the past few weeks Twitter has been filled with worrying tweets of ‘who is Margaret Thatcher anyway?’ from many of the Radio 1 listener age group. But that surely doesn’t mean the whole of the Radio 1 listenership can be discredited? And furthermore isn’t it part of Radio 1’s duty to make sure that young people do know about events and people, both past and present, that have shaped modern Britain? In reality I think this is the attitude that needs to be addressed, possibly more so than how or why to play a few short seconds of a song.

New kid on the block

Image from http://www.independent.co.uk

Tony Hall, the new Director-General of the BBC, started his new role this week with an email to all BBC staff stating that the BBC’s best days lie ahead of them.

The email acknowledged the difficult time the BBC has faced over the past few months, but that now was a time for dedication to their audience and a commitment to the quality of their output. The email looked ahead to the BBC’s centenary in 2022 and pushing the advances they have already made in reaching their audience even further.

Lord Hall drew on the love and respect people have for the BBC as one of the things that make it so special and significant. He acknowledged the importance of his new role and the seriousness of the tasks that lie ahead of him.

With this in mind he pledged that over the coming months he would be visiting as much of the BBC as possible to get feedback from those working towards the BBC’s output on a daily basis. He intends to set out his plans for the corporation in the autumn, after a review with the BBC Trust.

Below is a copy of the email sent from Hall to all BBC staff:

 
Subject: The BBC’s best days lie ahead of us

Dear All,

It is a great honour to start today as Director-General of the BBC. This is a very special organisation. It enriches millions of lives every day, here and the world over. It provokes strong opinions because people care passionately about it. The BBC has a unique history, a special place in the country’s heart and a vital part to play in its future. So I have a very real sense of the responsibility that comes with the role.

Recent times have been difficult for the BBC, but obviously far more so for those directly affected by these events. We are learning the lessons and thanks to the hard work of staff across the organisation under Tim’s excellent leadership, the BBC has moved forward. We are now winning back trust, something which will always be the most precious commodity for our organisation. We must never take it for granted.

I am confident about the future for the BBC for two key reasons: the calibre and quality of its people and the values we all share.

It is my job to enable you to do the best work of your lives, producing outstanding programmes and services, and to remove the distractions that get in the way of that ambition. The BBC sets incredibly high standards. At our best we provide a service like no other. Our challenge is to perform at our best all of the time.

In the coming weeks, I will set out how we can all shape the next chapter for the BBC as we move towards our centenary in 2022. Later this year I will share my thinking with the Trust before outlining our new ambitions for the BBC. We will need to make the most compelling case possible by listening to our audiences and partners, and building on our many strengths.

We have a unique opportunity to work together to shape the future of public service broadcasting. The kind of questions we need to ask ourselves include:

• How can we further improve the quality and distinctiveness of our programmes?
• How can we get closer to our audiences so they can get the content they want, when and how they want it?
• How can we build an ever more creative and dynamic organisation where the best creative talents want to work?
• What are the next big trends in technology and consumption that we need to grasp as we did with BBC Online and iPlayer?
• How can we act as a catalyst for creative and digital economies, a global champion for the UK and a source of future jobs?
• How can we make more of the BBC brand and content in the global marketplace?
• How can we improve what it is like to work at the BBC?
• How can we meet all of these ambitions within the means of the Licence Fee?

There are obviously other big questions and we must address them all whilst adapting to the ways in which Britain, its society, nations and regions are changing.

Critically this means me listening to you. Over the coming months I want to hear your thoughts about this next stage of our journey. I will be getting out around the BBC as much as possible.

I am proud to be leading the BBC as we start this next chapter together. We have always been pioneers. As we move towards our centenary it is a time for the BBC to be self-confident and optimistic about the future. You produce brilliant programmes and content, day in, day out. There can be no complacency but I firmly believe with imagination and hard work the BBC’s best days lie ahead of us.

Best wishes,

Tony Hall. Director-General

Radio: Give it some personality!

Image from: http://www.rogergeorgeclark.com

Is the art of radio broadcasting on its way out?

According to radio legend Tony Blackburn, it is. And more importantly its commercial radio that’s to blame.

Blackburn, who celebrates his 70^th birthday this week, has been looking back over an amazing career spanning from Radio Caroline, to Radio 1 and Radio 2, at an event hosted by the Radio Academy last night.

As well as the BBC Blackburn has also worked for a handful of commercial radio stations, but this didn’t stop him having a dig at the bosses for their tendency to limit playlists and cut presenter talk-time short in favour of more commercials and music.

He stated that as a DJ you are often inclined to take a job, even if you don’t agree with the station’s policy to play ‘the same 300 songs over and over again’. He said that the choice of many commercial radio stations to limit their playlists, and thereby limit their presenters, made no sense to him.

He questioned why commercial stations don’t broaden their playlists and encourage young presenters to have more of their own personality on air, such as the BBC does. Money and funding is the obvious answer to this question, which Blackburn did acknowledge.

I think Blackburn is right in pointing out this downfall of commercial radio. It has to be admitted that some of these commercial stations are all about the music (and at times, the sponsors) rather than the presenters and personalities.

I was speaking to a friend of mine only recently about the topic. She doesn’t work in radio but she does listen when driving to work. When I asked her what sort of stations she liked to listen to she said ‘I like Heart, because I like the music they play’. I asked her what her favourite show was, but she couldn’t tell me: ‘it’s just song after song – I don’t really notice the presenters’. Unfortunately this is not the first time I’ve had this conversation. Only a few years ago my Mum dropped a bomb-shell by stating ever-so casually ‘I don’t really like radio – it’s all annoying commercials and then some songs, you don’t hear anyone speak any more’.

Don’t get me wrong – this type of radio certainly has its place, and the on-going growth of commercial radio is testament to this. Not everyone tunes into their radio hoping to hear world-class broadcast journalism, sometimes all you want to hear are your favourite songs. And with stations like Absolute and their ‘No Repeat Guarantee’ at least there is hope that some networks are trying to tackle the problem of the ‘same 300 songs’ being played continually that Blackburn complains about.

But I do agree with Blackburn that the art of presenting shouldn’t be forgotten, and that the chance to create amazing radio personalities shouldn’t be exclusive to just the BBC. Realistically we do have to realise that commercial stations need as much air time as possible for advertising. They also need to give the listeners what they want, and if that is constant music then so be it. But what air time DJs do have should be dedicated to them and creating great radio and I applaud those stations that are trying to give the focus back to their presenters. And if they don’t, then where will we find the broadcasting legends and Tony Blackburns of the future?

You can listen to the interview with Tony Blackburn, titled ‘Radio Talk: Tony Blackburn at 70’, on the Radio Academy website here.

For art’s sake?!

As part of a new season of programming focusing on culture, BBC Radio 4 has made the decision to broadcast the infamous poem ‘V.’ by Tony Harrison.

The poem, written in 1985 by Leeds-born poet Harrison, is set during the 1984-85 Miner’s Strike and details the poet’s reaction to visiting his parent’s grave only to find it has been vandalised with obscene graffiti by football hooligans. The poem notoriously features a flurry of swearing, including the f-word and the c-word, as well as racist slurs quoted from the graffiti.

The poem sparked particular public shock when first broadcast on Channel 4 in 1987, with backlash even coming from the government against the poem.

So, why have Radio 4 decided to broadcast such a controversial piece of work?

Radio 4 controller Gwyneth Williams has stated that the station is aware its audience does not like swearing but to remove the offensive language would tamper with the ‘integrity’ of the poem. She states simply that ‘we would never do it gratuitously’.

It’s true that the swearing forms an integral part of the poem and as an English Graduate I can’t help but want to analyze the use of the language and make some canny argument defending the inclusion of offensive words. But I will admit I was never really one for poetry so perhaps I’ll steer clear of that line.

What is evident though is that an angle of ‘this is acceptable because it’s art’ has been adopted. But I want to know just how far can we take this argument? Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great that Radio 4 is trying to push the boundaries of what is acceptable and what isn’t, and I certainly respect Williams for taking this plunge when there will be an almost-certain influx of complaints despite the broadcaster promising plenty of warning prior to the broadcast and the late-night airing time between 11pm and midnight.

OK so Radio 4 will be doing this late at night and with plenty of prior warning. And yes it is demonstrating to us a piece of art and it is good that the BBC is taking some chances and pushing its boundaries. I can easily accept that, but I still wonder: why this poem, exactly? Granted it is a poignant piece that intensely details the racial, social, and economical tensions of the times – and from some recent googling I can see it’s a very popular and loved poem – but then there are a whole host of poems from the mid-80s that perform a similar job.

Arts commissioning editor at Radio 4 Tony Phillips has drawn links to the poem’s setting of Beeston and the fact that this is where one of the 7/7 bombers grew up. A valid link, and the examination of the racial tensions as an influence on the young child are certainly noteworthy, but I wonder if this is really the strongest angle to take? If anything I would have thought a discussion on how public opinion has changed over the past 25 years would have been far more pertinent as well as adding a bit more justification for Radio 4 to use to defend the inclusion of the offending language.

I spent 2 years on my University’s student radio station running around after over 100 presenters making sure that not even the most inoffensive ‘bugger’ was uttered out of the fear that Ofcom would hear it and come crashing down on us with the full-force of a hefty fine. I can think of plenty of former presenters who might make the case that there are plenty of songs that feature swearing that are not allowed to be played or had to be edited that could count as important pieces of art and that, yes, the swearing did likewise form an important part of the work. And to be fair, if we can give broadcasting one potentially offensive piece the go-ahead on the grounds that it has artistic merit then there is a whole host of other pieces that should be given similar consideration.

Think of it this way – if Radio 4 is allowed to broadcast a poem with swearing in it late at night then I wonder if Radio 1 would be allowed to get away with broadcasting a song that featured offensive language in the name of art? Or even Radio 2? Or is that a question of listener preferences and judgments?

While I can see the artistic merit behind the decision I’m still left wondering whether we shouldn’t all be expected to play by the same rules. Or perhaps this is a landmark decision that will pave the way for a more open-minded approach to what counts as being offensive? If this does open the doors for other pieces of ‘offensive’ work to be considered for radio play it will certainly be a tricky line to negotiate and one that I’m sure can and would be crossed on a number of occasions. I guess we’ll have to wait until it’s broadcasted to see what the reaction from the great British listener is! Gulp.

‘V.’ will be read by Harrison himself on the Radio 4 programme at 11pm on Monday 18th February.

For further information on this story check out The Guardian Online or Radio Today. To see the Channel 4 programme on the poem click to Youtube.