JOURNALISM student, Patrick McPartlin, from Edinburgh Napier University, casts his eye over the media stories making the papers today…
There’s a varied range of medai-related stories in today’s papers, with, for instance, the Scottish Daily Mail (page 5) reporting that BBC presenter, Anne Robinson, is to have her pay cut – plus have her workload increased.
Says the paper, Robinson – presenter of quiz show The Weakest Link – is to be given an additional show entitled ‘My Life in Books,’ which will see her interviewing celebrities about their favourite books. But she is to have her salary cut by 50 per cent, from £2 million over 24 months to £1 million.
Former ITV newsreader, Trevor McDonald, is rumoured to be among the first guests on the show. Additionally (page 86), the paper reports that YouView, the pay-per-view television service jointly planned by BT, ITV and Channel 4 won’t now be available until next year, not later this year as previously thought.
A small paragraph in The Scotsman informs us that BBC Radio 5 live, and five 5 Sports Extra have won the radio rights for the 2012 Paralympics in London. Radio 5 live will have news, key moments and stories with 5 Live Sports Extra providing live commentary and analysis of the events.
Still with sport, the Daily Record’s Shari Low in her column (page 13) reminds us of yesterday’s widely-reported news that shamed Sky Sports presenters, Richard Keys and Andy Gray, have been offered a daily show on talkSport radio following their involvement in the ‘Punditgate’ scandal, as Low terms it. She writes: “Record for the lowest number of listeners? Hope they smash it.”
Also, picking up on a story from yesterday, Virginia Blackburn, writing in the Scottish Daily Express (page 14), reflects on BBC Radio 4 bosses being urged by the BBC Trust to ensure the station appeals to a younger generation. Writes Blackburn: “Unlike most other broadcasters, it is intelligent, informative, entertaining and directed straight at the heart of Middle Britain.”
She suggests that the station has no need to change its demographic, but Anne Simpson, writing in The Herald, offers an opposing view: “But mostly it remains overcrowded with metro-centric producers who, through snobbery, laziness or blunt antennae, rarely pick up on the cultural vigour of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and Liverpool.”
And finally, it might be time to hide behind the sofa, with The Guardian reporting that Richard Desmond – owner of Express Newspapers and Channel 5 – is said to be on the verge of resurrecting reality TV show, Big Brother, on Channel 5. Desmond and Endemol UK, producers of the show, are understood to be close to agreeing a deal to be sealed within the next few days.
