Tag: Radio Journalism

Where ivory towers meet the world of radio…

I’m writing this in the autumn of 2022. It’s the first time in two years that academics have gathered together for their late summer rituals – known as conferences. There’s a whole etiquette to these things. In theory an academic conference is spread over one or two days. It starts with a general talk from … Continue reading Where ivory towers meet the world of radio… →

Why Technology Is to Blame for 100 Years of Radio… Probably.

This is the second in a series of articles about the technology behind radio. In this episode, amongst other things, I'll be taking issue with the word "podcast". Read on to find me turning into a grumpy old codger as I winge about how this word has become an umbrella term to denigrate aspects of … Continue reading Why Technology Is to Blame for 100 Years of Radio… Probably. →

The Broadcast Century | How radio determines technology… Perhaps…

Warning: the following Beeb-orientated material contains mentions of butchery, brothels, and breaches of health and safety. As well as sheep… This article, and its sister, as well as the third part,is an imperfect and only partial list of ideas. However, this is not a “listicle”; I detest such things because they are the squalid evidence … Continue reading The Broadcast Century | How radio determines technology… Perhaps… →

The BBC century: the World Service and the Cold War – part 2 of 2

In the previous episode I talked about W. H. Auden and his worries about world events in the 1930s, heard through radio reports on the BBC both at home, and abroad. I also recalled my time on attachment as a producer – plucked from the frontier outpost of Local Radio in Derby to work on … Continue reading The BBC century: the World Service and the Cold War – part 2 of 2 →

The BBC at 100: how the Corporation, Auntie Beeb, is talked about

Click this image to see a sample chapter The BBC has, throughout its one hundred years, had a delicate relationship with politicians and governments. From the standpoint of early 2022 that sentence may seem to be something of an understatement. Let me fill in some historical context, and explain how I've been researching other ways … Continue reading The BBC at 100: how the Corporation, Auntie Beeb, is talked about →

Writing for radio: it’s what we do…

Martin Cooper. So, after forty years in the broadcast media business, including two decades teaching young journalists about the arts of the trade, I’m still finding that I have to explain what “writing” has to do with “radio”. Over the course of listening to hundreds of hours of BBC and commercial radio output for my … Continue reading Writing for radio: it’s what we do… →

Radio goes to the movies, and how art imitates life…

In this article I consider a number of writers and journalists past and present, including Pete May, Philip Knightley, Harold Evans, and Michael Green. All good and true men devoted to the art of the printed word. But first, imagine a broadcast journalist, working for a national radio station, who is so comfortable with telling … Continue reading Radio goes to the movies, and how art imitates life… →

Foreign languages, radio journalism, and football: what you speak, what you hear, and what you know…

The importance of a foreign language. In my opinion it’s key. I am old enough to remember my schooldays and my struggles with Latin, “Gaul as a whole is divided into three parts”. I opted for German when I turned into a teenager: “Good day Hans, why are you here? I’m here for the trade … Continue reading Foreign languages, radio journalism, and football: what you speak, what you hear, and what you know… →