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Why I will never be a Conservative
I suppose there are two periods of my father’s life. Before unemployment. And afterwards. My father was a timber salesman. He was a confident and popular community activist. He set up a scout troop – brought people together and organised things. And then the boatyards abandoned their marine plywood for fibreglass and the reproduction furniture…
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ITV News: now edited by everyone
I understand that today is the day ITV News moves to a system where reporters edit their own TV packages. How can you tell someone new to video editing? Well, it’s always the sound that gives it away. That, and the going to black and flash frames. Having pioneered multi-skilling in TV newsrooms what would…
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When can you use off the record quotes?
My two penn’orth on Samantha Power from the Guardian: For me as a broadcast journalist, the camera and the microphone are the record. You can’t unsay things to a recording device or speaking live, only apologise or cringe. But in conversation, different standards apply. I was at ITN in the early 1990s when John Major…
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Breaks off News At Ten
News At Ten returned. With no commercial break. Deliberate? Permanent? Odd feeling in what was otherwise a very familiar programme package (well, I did work on it years ago). But down to business. You want an old-fashioned critique of an old-fashioned show? Start with the Bongs (the headlines). Hasnat Khan exclusive/Diana Georgina Edmonds murder Antarctic…