Not quite having our poppadum and eating it!
A false start to the second week on the Midday News at Five Live.
We arrived to be informed that the station would be taking live commentary from Melbourne of Andy Murray’s Australian Open clash with Rafael Nadal, which was due to commence at 10am.
This placed us in the unusual position of having to produce a show that in all likelihood would not make it to air.
This likelihood became a near cast-iron fact when Murray’s match was delayed until 11am (or midnight in Australia).
Despite this we did go through the motions of stitching together a good hour of news. I was in charge of booking a guest from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to update us on the marooned ship off the Devon coastline.
I also had the slightly lighter story of the UN’s proposals to introduce an international standard for poppadum production; a story that was simply unavoidable given Jade Goody’s Big Brother outburst last week.
Have poppadums ever been so firmly fixed in the nation’s consciousness!?
We managed to record and interview with 2006 Masterchef finalist, Daksha Mistry, but on returning to the newsroom it became so patently clear that we would not have a show today that I did not even bother to edit it down.
So all that was left was to remain looking busy, just in case either Murray or Nadal got a freak injury and we were thrust unexpectedly on air.
As you will all know, this did not happen and we were instead treated to a thrilling showdown from two shooting stars of the tennis circuit. It was amazing how many people in the newsroom were transfixed on the game despite being paid to be primarily concentrated on news.
I suppose this was just testament to how captivating the game was.
Friday’s proceedings had left me in a buoyant mood. I was entrusted with covering three stories - exploding Innocent smoothies, research into Unexplained Underperformance Syndrome in athletes and high pressure car washers doing damage to car tyres.
I managed to book three competent speakers on each issue including the co-founder of Innocent smoothies, Richard Reed (no no the shoe bomber!), whose office is just down the road from Television Centre.
Not only was it great to actually have a guest there in the flesh in the studio but he also came equipped with bags brim-full of smoothies for our team. You cannot fault their PR offensive when faced with having to explain why some of their bottled drinks were exploding (it was due to fermentation in heat).
Just before transmission it did get a bit hairy having to meet and greet Mr Reed, settle him in the studio, then go back to my desk to hurriedly edit a complex interview with Portsmouth University professor, Dr Paula Robson-Ansley, on why athletes’ genes may provide the answer to why they suddenly (and hitherto unexplainably) become fatigued when performing at their peak.
Somehow it all came together as it always seems to do on the show. The key is not to get too flustered by it all.
The day before was the final installment of the News and Sport Festival and a veritable smorgasbord of BBC journalistic talent was on display once again.
Director General, Mark Thompson, was there defending the license fee settlement in front of Jeremy Vine, who fielded some barbed questions.
This was juxtaposed with a more cuddly interview of England manager Steve McClaren conducted by Adrian Chiles. In fact it could not have been more soft in comparison, with McClaren’s dulcet tones barely audible at some points.
Earlier in the day the owners of distinctly more punchy voices - football commentators Jonathan Pearce and Alan Green - were in attendance.
The former gave a commentary masterclass where it was surprising to learn how Pearce still feels he is learning the trade of television commentary, despite having been involved with it (at Five and the BBC) for over a decade.
Perhaps he was being overly self-critical. At least you cannot fault the man on his research and preparation for each match. Just a brief look at his notes he had made for the Manchester United - Aston Villa FA Cup tie made me wince with astonishment.
Every player on his A4 sheet of paper had a box next to their name crammed full with statistics including their entire career history, scoring record, height, weight, date of birth and numerous other trivia nuggets.
Those of you who feel that commentary is just turning up to a match once or twice a week and spurting out waffle are sadly mistaken. Protagonists like Pearce take it as a passion, if not obsession, and leave no stone unturned. It truly is a trade to be admired.
Another issue raised by Pearce, which cropped up in a later forum, was how much personal opinion should be included in a commentary.
I think it is fair to say that the standpoints of Jonathan Pearce and Alan Green differ somewhat as the Northern Irishman was all to ready to allude to when talking about football punditry.
He said he would be averse to altering his strident form of commentary in favour of a more “impartial” view of events and would continue to enrich the BBC with his superlative, if sometimes criticised, style.
He may be the pariah of Manchester United fans but I believe Green’s integrity and bravura forms a template many other journalists just toeing the line could learn from.
Rugby Union player turned pundit, Matt Dawson, put this debate into context by reminding us of how difficult it can be to tell the truth and slate a player if he has performed poorly, especially when it could be a friend and former team-mate.
In another forum blogging was discussed. One top tip given by the head of BBC Interactive, Pete Clifton, was to keep your blog continually updated.
Oh well, it is evident that I still need to take this message on board.
Hopefully I will spare you from these gargantuan posts in the not to distant future!
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