Monday, August 01, 2005

BBC World

This morning I switched on the radio and was disoriented to find myself listening to the BBC World Service, instead of Sean Plunket. I was really not very excited about this at first, as inertia is a vital force in my life, and the familiarity of NZ issues and the geeky interchanges between Sean and the other presenters seem like an essential element of my morning start up. But as I showered, dressed, made and ate porridge and got started on my day's book-making work, I found myself becoming very impressed with the Beeb. They start a story in much the same way as NatRad, but instead of just settling for one or two superficial angles, they keep going! I kept being surprised at how many diverse people spoke on each topic. Even stories that didn't initially interest me that much eventually got my attention as the reporting dug deeper and some detail or perspective struck a chord.

Eventually Linda Clark took over in almost hysterically high spirits (licking her elbow!?) and I found out that Morning Report had been on strike for more pay. I would be thrilled for them to get more money if they started doing BBC style reporting. Now that I've heard the alternative, I'm not sure I want to settle for the usual hohum news show any more.

1 comment:

rachlovestheweb said...

i had the same experience. was really impressed by the show on religion at about 7.45 a.m. they interviewed a muslim woman and a Irish catholic(?) woman, who talked about women's roles and responsibilities in pushing for non-violence and reform in their respective religions. much mo' betta than dorky sean p.