What the Papers Say
When I was appointed Head of Radio, my predecessor, Maggie Cunningham, gave me a lot of good advice. Among it was a tongue-in-cheek warning that I should not read the Sunday newspapers. What she meant, I think, was that I ought to avoid worrying about the half-truths and anonymous tittle-tattle that you tend to see in the diary pages. I've taken her advice, although my wife still gets a shock if she opens a newspaper and sees my name (or worse, photograph!) as part of an article.
But Sunday is my day for catching-up. It's amazing how much of our weekday output I miss because I'm locked in meetings, so the Listen Again facility on our website is so useful. Mind you, its getting more and more difficult to book a time-slot on our home computer, now that our two children use it so much to research dangerous insects and other topics for their primary school projects.
And I do read the Sunday newspapers. Today for example, MSP Margo MacDonald writes in the and makes some interesting points about the pre-publicity surrounding one of our religious programmes. Sally Magnusson's interview with Cardinal Keith O'Brien for What I Believe prompted a front-page article in The Scotsman during the week. It also prompted a phone-in discussion on Morning Extra. Margo argues that our efforts to publicise programmes ahead of transmission can lead to quotes being taken out of context and prompt other parties to react negatively before they have all the facts. Margo's article certainly gave me pause for thought and something I'll raise with programme-makers this coming week.
Meanwhile, a happier piece in the Ecosse section of the in which London-based comedian Jo Caulfield tells how she's become a fan of Off The Ball. She describes listening to the programme as her "guilty pleasure" because she revels "in the richness of the words and the ever-changing dialects."
Another advantage of the Listen Again facility!
Meanwhile, time to give up my place in front of the computer. My son tells me that the biggest wasp in the world can actually kill and eat tarantula spiders. Now there's something I didn't read in the papers.
