Articles revealed in The Eye are written by a group of contributors and edited by the multi-award profitable former BBC information and present affairs reporter, Phil Parry.
Right here our Editor Phil Parry stresses the significance of reporting the every day information spherical up no matter its recognition, as a BBC Wales (WT) presenter publicly proclaims she needs to supply audiences “the information you need”.
Earlier he has described how he was helped to interrupt into the South Wales Echo workplace automobile when he was a cub reporter, recalled his early profession as a journalist, the significance of expertise within the job, and making clear that the ‘calls’ to emergency companies in addition to court docket circumstances are central to any media operation.
He has additionally explored how poorly paid most journalism is when trainee reporters needed to dwell in squalid flats, the important position of bills, and about considered one of his most essential tales on the now-scrapped 53 year-old BBC Cymru Wales TV Present Affairs sequence he offered for 10 years, Week In Week Out (WIWO), which received an award even after it was axed, lengthy after his profession actually took off.
Phil has defined too how essential it’s truly to talk to individuals, the advantage of velocity in addition to accuracy, why data of ‘historical past’ is important, how sure materials was faraway from TV Present Affairs programmes when secret cameras had for use, and a few of these he has interviewed.
He has additionally disclosed why investigative journalism is required now greater than ever though others have completely different opinions, and how info from trusted sources is essential at the moment of disaster.
It’s critical to provide audiences a document of the day’s occasions on the nightly information.
After a profession of 23 years at BBC CW (BBC CW) I do know this salient truth higher than most.
It’s disconcerting, due to this fact, that the BBC Wales At present (WT) presenter Lucy Owen, tweeted in regards to the newest spherical of viewers analysis (there have been many once I was there), and the way it will allow them to provide the tales that audiences want.
Mrs Owen wrote on Twitter: “Getting nice perception into what (Hashtag)BBCNews audiences need from our companies with @anna_r_jones. Taking a look at the place and the way you get your information and the sorts of tales which are essential to you. It’s all about @BBCWales doing our greatest to ship the information you need. (Hashtag)information (Hashtag)publicservice”
The phrase “…the information you need” is especially worrying, when I’ve spent a journalistic profession of a few years, on events delivering information some individuals DIDN’T need!
It’s also certainly incumbent on a nightly tv information programme to supply the day’s NEWS, whether or not it’s wished or not.
Or am I simply being thick?!
Presumably, a number of tales will not be truly highly regarded or enticing to audiences, akin to grotesque court docket circumstances, rail strikes (that are extraordinarily topical now), or horrible accidents, and the one ones left can be constructive information gadgets – akin to these about deserted pets being discovered properties.
However reporting so-called ‘tales’ about cute animals, is NOT the rationale I got here into journalism in 1983!
It’s a little much like ‘reporting’ tales with no evaluation in any way, akin to when the person in cost then of Welsh independence organisation YesCymru (YC), Sion Jobbins, was ‘interviewed’ by ITV Cymru Wales ‘reporter’ Ellie Pitt.
Her ‘report’ started: “‘Westminster isn’t working for Wales’. These are the 5 phrases I’ve been listening to all week. Over the previous couple of days I’ve had quite a few conversations with current joiners to the Welsh Independence group YesCymru.”
The merchandise continued: “Anybody who follows the motion’s Twitter account will know simply how fast-paced and exponential the membership progress has been, significantly over the past week.
“It took YesCymru virtually 4 years to realize 2000 members, however this week that they had 2000 new signal ups in simply over 24 hours.”
However the actuality is that YC has been in full turmoil over abusive feedback which had been brewing for a while, because it was ripped aside by a unprecedented inner civil battle between these in favour of trans rights, and those that had been in opposition to them, and the ENTIRE committee resigned. But NOWHERE within the ‘story’ by Ms Pitt was this talked about!
Mrs Owen has additionally been embroiled in controversy.
The pinnacle of BBC Radio Wales (RW) on the time, Colin Paterson had a contentious affair together with her, even though his officers had commissioned a programme she fronted.
For a lot of workers at BBC CW, Mr Paterson’s romance with Mrs Owen represented a significant potential battle of curiosity, as a result of officers had authorised a RW programme she hosted, referred to as ‘Sunday morning with Lucy Owen’, and media executives each inside in addition to exterior the company have advised me, that they had been nervous about their partnership’s attainable affect on the method.
Additionally of concern has been what she has offered.
When she was newsreading on WT programme-makers used an image of Brighton Pavilion throughout protection of the beginning of the massively essential Muslim month of Ramadan as an alternative of a mosque, and the error was then featured within the Brighton Argus.
One Twitter person complained: “BBC Wales exhibiting an image of the Brighton Pavilion and getting it confused for a mosque when speaking about Ramadan is type of f****d?”. One other wrote furiously: “Not blissful they’ve used a shot of Brighton Pavilion as if it’s a mosque (presumably)”.
Mrs Owen had as nicely, tweeted over Christmas 2020 about how she had taken a visit to the seashore at Southerndown within the Vale of Glamorgan, when others had been ruled by lockdown rules. She handled us, too, to a video of how she had suffered a “turkey drama” (presumably at her South Wales dwelling) by leaving plastic on the roast, nevertheless it can not examine to the drama endured by the households to whom she broadcasted each night time with the most recent lockdown guidelines. She introduced on-line, as she confirmed us what had occurred: “I left a little bit of the plastic on it…”
Previously, Mrs Owen has additionally described as a ‘disaster’ sporting odd sneakers into the workplace to broadcast the lunchtime bulletin, and requested whether or not anybody would discover. She even included for us a shocked face emoji after that remark, and following it Mrs Owen revealed on Twitter: “Disaster over!”.
But she may, maybe, have centered on the BBC CW web site saying the identical day that coronavirus/Covid-19 was the largest explanation for demise in Wales that month, which many would possibly see as an actual disaster. This was what she would have learn as an alternative of complaining about sporting odd sneakers: “The mortality price rose “considerably” for a second month, to 260 deaths per 100,000 individuals in Wales. It was additionally greater than twice the speed in essentially the most disadvantaged areas in contrast with the least disadvantaged space”.
Mrs Owen’s former lover, Mr Paterson, has been within the information, as nicely, for the improper causes. He posted a video on Fb (FB) about how he went to the seashore, too, over Christmas 2020 – this time at close by Ogmore, which he stated was “Balmy”. However the Welsh Authorities (WG) guidelines on the time appeared clear sufficient: “In case you are travelling away from dwelling, you need to journey to satisfy your Christmas bubble and return dwelling in the midst of 25 December...It’s best to maintain taking steps to scale back the unfold of the virus, and it will assist make sure that you take pleasure in Christmas Day as safely as attainable.” Journey recommendation from South Wales Police (SWP) warned individuals then about going to seashores “you shouldn’t be driving to those locations”.
However maybe this isn’t information individuals ‘need’!
The recollections of Phil’s astonishing 38-year award-winning profession in journalism, when information wasn’t dumbed-down, as he was gripped by the uncommon neurological situation Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP), have been launched in a significant ebook ‘A GOOD STORY’. Order the ebook now!
Regrettably publication of one other ebook, nonetheless, was refused, as a result of it was to have included names.
Tomorrow – extra disturbing details divulged in regards to the constructing the place Mrs Owen works, as a digital on-line ‘tour’ is condemned by workers, with one saying it’s “Stalinist”, and one other who labored for a few years on the company declaring that it was an emblem of elitism
