It was interesting to hear Chris Evans talking about your programme at about 08:10 this morning, and in particular about the "GPs sacking patients" discussion yesterday. I did not hear the discussion, of course, but he said that it was one of the most balanced debates between two people of widely opposing views that he had ever heard on your programme, and he sent his congratulations to you and your team. Frankly, I believe Chris's congratulations are misplaced and they should have gone to your guests instead if they conducted themselves with the decorum that he described. Perhaps Chris, like me, will listen to reasoned debate but does not enjoy the daily spectacle of the verbal fisticuffs that is the unfortunate mainstay of your programme.
Stopping a good slanging match is not one your strong points, and some would say that you even promote such things to occur. In fact, you were so proud of the 4th October ruckus, as you described it, between Gorgeous George Galloway (on behalf of Comrade Crow) and some Daily Mail Blogger that you promoted it on your Twitter feed (Ruckus on my show earlier and you can hear it. Bob Crow, Mail blogger @AlexSingletonUK & @georgegalloway ... http://bit.ly/q30dJA) but you chose not to mention the two GPs' discussion. I find it odd that you chose to promote Radio 2 at its very worst but were silent on what was, according to Chris Evans, a fine piece of radio. Only a few minutes ago you Tweeted "BBC News: 'Smacking does does not work' says Assembly member http://bbc.in/oRowqI Clip from Monday's lively debate on@theJeremyVine show". Having had a quick listen I can confirm that it was indeed "lively" as you describe, but a debate it certainly was not. It was the usual slanging match between two people who continually talked over the top of each other making any argument they were trying to make virtually unintelligible. Meanwhile, the host let them get on with it, presumably while thinking "How can I force my opinion through?". I can only conclude that my view of what you think makes "good radio" is correct.
Steve Wright has also made several mentions of your programme in his show recently. Has some kind of Radio 2 diktat gone out to your fellow broadcasters to give your show a bit more prominence than the usual blink-and-you'd-miss-it "... Jeremy is at 12 ..." which they have used in programme promotions for so long?
Today's issue that affects me: Why, when buying timber, is the cross-section dimension nominally given in inches (for example, 2 by 4) but the length is given in metres?
I see the BBC are in the news again today for the
usual stuff: corruption and bias. I've not time to look at the corruption story
(http://order-order.com/2011/10/19/bbc-tries-cover-up-for-yentob/) but the bias one is of interest to me. Rangers Football Club
have issued a statement on their web site (http://www.rangers.co.uk/articles/20111018/club-statement-on-bbc_2254024_2485938) in which they say: "Rangers Football Club is
withdrawing all co-operation with the BBC as of today. The decision has been
taken due to the repeated difficulties the Club has encountered with the BBC
this season." and they cite:
- "serious misrepresentation of the Club manager's position on violence and sectarianism"
- "a documentary ... which appears to be little more than a prejudiced muckraking exercise"
- "BBC has ... demonstrated a pre-determined negative attitude towards Rangers and its fans and its journalism has fallen well short of acceptable standards"
But as they involve poor journalism AND the BBC you won't be covering those stories today, or ever, will you?
Time to look at Wednesday's woes then....
1) DALE FARM - Riot police have moved in to Dale Farm to evict the travellers who its claimed are illegally camped : At the risk of repeating myself, I have just checked again and Basildon is still over 300 miles from where I live, so this is definitely not one of those mythical "issues that affect you" that you erroneously claim to broadcast. Whose side are you going to take this time? Will it be the hard-worked police force trying to uphold the law in difficult circumstances, or will it be like last time and you will take the side of the site residents who may be the victims of alleged ethnic cleansing? Your mention on Ken's show that Jonnie "flan flinger" Marbles will be contributing to this item only goes to confirm that I am still not interested! What has he got to do with ANYTHING? Next...
2) WOLFSON PRIZE - Lord Wolfson, the Chief Executive of Next, is offering a prize of £250,000 for anyone who can come up with a credible way of dismantling the Euro. Find out more from the Financial Times : Fascinating! Real target audience stuff again! Perhaps one of your listeners will win the prize. Or perhaps not. Anyway, the link you give to the FT is hidden behind their "pay wall" so I cannot read it without registering, and frankly I cannot be bothered to do that. Oh well, you know what they say: No FT? No comment! Next...
3) OLD PEOPLE'S HOMES - A campaign group wants to encourage older people with large empty houses and too many rooms to sell their homes to younger people who need the space : Apostrophes, don't you just love them? So well done for getting this tricky one correct! We don't have a large empty house with too many rooms, so this has no relevance to me at all. Next...
4) EGG DONORS - Women who donate eggs are going to be able to claim £750 in expenses. Critics say this will encourage women to do it for the wrong reasons : I've just done another check and guess what ... I'm still not a woman.
The Jeremy Vine Show - not a clue of what makes good radio
- "serious misrepresentation of the Club manager's position on violence and sectarianism"
- "a documentary ... which appears to be little more than a prejudiced muckraking exercise"
- "BBC has ... demonstrated a pre-determined negative attitude towards Rangers and its fans and its journalism has fallen well short of acceptable standards"
But as they involve poor journalism AND the BBC you won't be covering those stories today, or ever, will you?
Time to look at Wednesday's woes then....
1) DALE FARM - Riot police have moved in to Dale Farm to evict the travellers who its claimed are illegally camped : At the risk of repeating myself, I have just checked again and Basildon is still over 300 miles from where I live, so this is definitely not one of those mythical "issues that affect you" that you erroneously claim to broadcast. Whose side are you going to take this time? Will it be the hard-worked police force trying to uphold the law in difficult circumstances, or will it be like last time and you will take the side of the site residents who may be the victims of alleged ethnic cleansing? Your mention on Ken's show that Jonnie "flan flinger" Marbles will be contributing to this item only goes to confirm that I am still not interested! What has he got to do with ANYTHING? Next...
2) WOLFSON PRIZE - Lord Wolfson, the Chief Executive of Next, is offering a prize of £250,000 for anyone who can come up with a credible way of dismantling the Euro. Find out more from the Financial Times : Fascinating! Real target audience stuff again! Perhaps one of your listeners will win the prize. Or perhaps not. Anyway, the link you give to the FT is hidden behind their "pay wall" so I cannot read it without registering, and frankly I cannot be bothered to do that. Oh well, you know what they say: No FT? No comment! Next...
3) OLD PEOPLE'S HOMES - A campaign group wants to encourage older people with large empty houses and too many rooms to sell their homes to younger people who need the space : Apostrophes, don't you just love them? So well done for getting this tricky one correct! We don't have a large empty house with too many rooms, so this has no relevance to me at all. Next...
4) EGG DONORS - Women who donate eggs are going to be able to claim £750 in expenses. Critics say this will encourage women to do it for the wrong reasons : I've just done another check and guess what ... I'm still not a woman.
The Jeremy Vine Show - not a clue of what makes good radio
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