Tag: Radio and Film

Swearing on the radio: how to, when to, and why…

In this piece I’ll be thinking about how fiction portrays journalists like us: radio presenters, investigative reporters, and the feckless politicians we have to interview… As if that’s not enough to drive you to turn the air blue… But before all that, here’s Moss (Richard Ayoade) in the C4 series The IT Crowd (2006–2013), really … Continue reading Swearing on the radio: how to, when to, and why… →

Radio speak (Part 1) Why we’re all turning into brainless bots. Sort of.

So, here’s the moment when your radio alarm goes off and the DJ, all-bright-and-breezy, says: "Hey! Good Morning! It’s now five-after-the-hour of six AM in the big Monster City." The slick breakfast jock is actually Mike. He’s really good at doing impersonations and spouting cliches like this. Either way, what's this I can see? Is … Continue reading Radio speak (Part 1) Why we’re all turning into brainless bots. Sort of. →

Radio becomes visual – why “bi-media” is an eternal dream in the industry

A bit later on I’ve got a treat from the 1930s - a non-CGI, analogue recreation of a wireless set. That’s strangely important in this context. But first, I’ve written about how the word “visualisation” is being used in recent times in connection with the radio. Read more here… https://prefadelisten.com/2025/06/14/is-radio-just-all-about-the-sound/ Indeed, putting the visual into … Continue reading Radio becomes visual – why “bi-media” is an eternal dream in the industry →

Radio: It’s all about “The Sound” …isn’t it?

Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers sang about the blood-pumping thrill of "the pine trees in the dark / with 50,000 watts of power / [as] we go by faster miles-an-hour". Listen carefully and you can hear the visceral hum that comes from a high power AM transmitter. Or at least, you could when radio … Continue reading Radio: It’s all about “The Sound” …isn’t it? →

The power of international radio. You won’t miss it ’til it’s gone.

Or to use the accurate quote by Joni Mitchell from 1970, “Don't it always seem to go / That you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone”. Well, now something’s gone. And it hurts. The late winter and early spring of 2025 have seen some seismic changes to international radio from the USA. My … Continue reading The power of international radio. You won’t miss it ’til it’s gone. →

Radio time | The art of subtracting-base-60 to keep the live show on the road…

Time is a key element to radio. Live radio that is. You will have noticed how podcasts – because they’re “listen on demand” – just seem to go on and on. On the other hand, live radio has to conform to the hour. I’ve worked for the BBC World Service and know first hand the … Continue reading Radio time | The art of subtracting-base-60 to keep the live show on the road… →

Lies, radio news, and a pub lunch | part 5 of 5

This is the last in a series of pieces about four decades of metro-media life in Britain: in which I come to some conclusions about Ian McEwan and Richard Eyre’s film The Ploughman’s Lunch – set in 1982 but cringingly relevant to the 2020s. Do take a look at pages around this site, and consider … Continue reading Lies, radio news, and a pub lunch | part 5 of 5 →

Lies, radio news, and a pub lunch | part 4 of 5

So far in this series of articles we've met a TV researcher who's arrogant and self-obsessed, there's the tabloid hack who fancies himself as a champagne-swilling lothario, and the network radio news journalist who is a compulsive liar - at work, at home and to his friends. It's all rather ugly. You can read previous … Continue reading Lies, radio news, and a pub lunch | part 4 of 5 →