Greg Dyke
The former director general of the BBC said: “It wasn’t a great MacTaggart for journalists.
There wasn’t really a top line, but lectures aren’t for making
headlines. I really enjoyed it, even the personal history of a life in
television.
It looked at the problems we face but where were the
answers? John didn’t give us any. Perhaps that’s because the answers
aren’t here yet.”
John McCarthy
“A time delay in live news is very important. It is fundamental to
know what you are broadcasting and to be able to stop. It is not the
same as a package and you have to be able to respect those being
traumatised.”
Peter Fincham
The controller of BBC One examined the 1977 schedules. “In that week
there were 130 minutes of national news in peak time. The comparable
figure for this week is 335 minutes. As well as news, current affairs
occupies a secure place in our peak time schedule.
Only a few weeks ago a Panorama special, Undercover Nurse, played to
an audience of nearly 5m, giving lie to the idea that either current
affairs is marginalised or that it can’t, when covering the right
subjects in an innovative way, appeal to a mass audience.”
John Ryley
The executive editor of Sky News, talking about live coverage of
disasters, said: “We didn’t use a delay during the storm of the school
in the Beslan siege and we were too tight on people’s faces. We thought
we were right, you make these decisions under pressure. We’re human
beings.”
David Mannion
The editor-in-chief of ITV News, on gratuitously violent footage,
said: “You shouldn’t show this material for a second more than you need
to. There is no rule book for these situations, each one is different.
It is an imperfect science.”
Adam Curtis
The man who made The Power of Nightmares remarked: “Getting a film
crew to film my documentaries would be like asking a sub editor to
write stories for you.”
Germaine Greer
“Some people have had to become obsessed with their vagina in order
to get on television. They’re using their fanny to get on TV because
they know their face won’t do it.”
Jade Goody
The former Big Brother contestant asked Jane Lush, BBC One’s
controller of commissioning entertainment: “Do you make Challenge
Anneka? I’d like to present that.”
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