This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/mediamonkeyblog/2013/jun/09/queen-bbc-kate-winslet-telegraph

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Media Monkey's Diary: The Queen at the BBC and Kate Winslet Media Monkey's Diary: The Queen at the BBC and Kate Winslet
(4 months later)
✒Some of those who relished the Pirandellian spectacle of the BBC's coverage of the Queen's visit to New Broadcasting House on Friday (climaxing in especially postmodern fashion with her contribution to a Radio 4 special about, well, her visit to New Broadcasting House) consulted the maps for BBC staff of the "goldfish bowl" newsroom, as previously reproduced in MediaGuardian. And, yes, the spot where HM stood as she appeared panto-style behind the news presenters is the No 1 no-go area, marked "please don't stand here".✒Some of those who relished the Pirandellian spectacle of the BBC's coverage of the Queen's visit to New Broadcasting House on Friday (climaxing in especially postmodern fashion with her contribution to a Radio 4 special about, well, her visit to New Broadcasting House) consulted the maps for BBC staff of the "goldfish bowl" newsroom, as previously reproduced in MediaGuardian. And, yes, the spot where HM stood as she appeared panto-style behind the news presenters is the No 1 no-go area, marked "please don't stand here".
✒This wasn't the only instance of royal scorn for the rules, as she wore a hat in the newsroom and was accompanied by an equerry equipped with a sword, both contrary to BBC guidelines though more alarmingly so in the latter case. At one point it seemed possible the sword might come in to use, when a second chap in military garb could be glimpsed making a throat-cutting gesture during the grisly live performance at Radio 1 – though whether he meant Danny O'Donoghue or Tony 'Jazz Hands' Hall, responsible as her host for subjecting her to the Live Lounge ordeal, wasn't clear.✒This wasn't the only instance of royal scorn for the rules, as she wore a hat in the newsroom and was accompanied by an equerry equipped with a sword, both contrary to BBC guidelines though more alarmingly so in the latter case. At one point it seemed possible the sword might come in to use, when a second chap in military garb could be glimpsed making a throat-cutting gesture during the grisly live performance at Radio 1 – though whether he meant Danny O'Donoghue or Tony 'Jazz Hands' Hall, responsible as her host for subjecting her to the Live Lounge ordeal, wasn't clear.
✒It's all kicking off at the Daily Telegraph, following a blog by birdsnest-haired feature writer Judith Woods that was just as spiky about Kate Winslet's latest pregnancy as a classic two-page "Boshing" by the Daily Mail's implacable Alison Boshoff ("Three babies by three husbands. Why is Kate Winslet's love life such a mess?") was on the same day. A Twitter storm ensued, as did emergency action at the Telegraph's upbeat online section WonderWomen, under Emma Barnett: it icily distanced itself from the Woods piece on Twitter by saying it had wrongly auto-retweeted it due to mis-tagging, and by running a pro-Winslet article that called the earlier one "hateful". Game on!✒It's all kicking off at the Daily Telegraph, following a blog by birdsnest-haired feature writer Judith Woods that was just as spiky about Kate Winslet's latest pregnancy as a classic two-page "Boshing" by the Daily Mail's implacable Alison Boshoff ("Three babies by three husbands. Why is Kate Winslet's love life such a mess?") was on the same day. A Twitter storm ensued, as did emergency action at the Telegraph's upbeat online section WonderWomen, under Emma Barnett: it icily distanced itself from the Woods piece on Twitter by saying it had wrongly auto-retweeted it due to mis-tagging, and by running a pro-Winslet article that called the earlier one "hateful". Game on!
✒Good to see confirmation, in the latest Broadcast, of the story here that 'Little' Richard Klein could well be the last BBC4 controller, as running it is set to become a second job for BBC2 boss Janice Hadlow. Not yet answered, though, is the resulting issue Monkey also raised: cultured, brainy BBC4 was named by Lord Patten as his favourite channel, so how will Tony Hall or Danny Cohen break it to the BBC Trust chairman (whose cornflakes must already have been curdled by learning that his beloved network's piggybank contains only enough for one more drama, a Burton/Taylor biopic) that it is to be a mere hobby for Hadlow?✒Good to see confirmation, in the latest Broadcast, of the story here that 'Little' Richard Klein could well be the last BBC4 controller, as running it is set to become a second job for BBC2 boss Janice Hadlow. Not yet answered, though, is the resulting issue Monkey also raised: cultured, brainy BBC4 was named by Lord Patten as his favourite channel, so how will Tony Hall or Danny Cohen break it to the BBC Trust chairman (whose cornflakes must already have been curdled by learning that his beloved network's piggybank contains only enough for one more drama, a Burton/Taylor biopic) that it is to be a mere hobby for Hadlow?
✒ Amazon's Jeff Bezos was there, so inevitably was Google's Eric Schmidt, but where was old media when the Bildenberg Group came to Watford? Step forward the FT's chief pontificator Martin Wolf and Economist editor John Micklethwait, the only figures from heritage sectors, the Washington Post group chairman apart, deemed worthy to join last week's gathering of the cabal of fatcats who secretly run the world.✒ Amazon's Jeff Bezos was there, so inevitably was Google's Eric Schmidt, but where was old media when the Bildenberg Group came to Watford? Step forward the FT's chief pontificator Martin Wolf and Economist editor John Micklethwait, the only figures from heritage sectors, the Washington Post group chairman apart, deemed worthy to join last week's gathering of the cabal of fatcats who secretly run the world.
✒ All About Eve, with its depiction of a senior stage star who fears losing out to a young rival, might be suitable viewing for ITN staffers when Julie Etchingham and Mark Austin go on holiday. Normally reporters with anchor potential are groomed with lower-profile stand-in spots on the lunchtime and early-evening bulletins, Monkey is told; but in this case Tom Bradby (paired with Mary Nightingale in August's third week) and Laura Kuenssberg (with Alastair Stewart the following week) are eyebrow-raisingly being given a chance to occupy Etchingham and Austin's seats on News At Ten.✒ All About Eve, with its depiction of a senior stage star who fears losing out to a young rival, might be suitable viewing for ITN staffers when Julie Etchingham and Mark Austin go on holiday. Normally reporters with anchor potential are groomed with lower-profile stand-in spots on the lunchtime and early-evening bulletins, Monkey is told; but in this case Tom Bradby (paired with Mary Nightingale in August's third week) and Laura Kuenssberg (with Alastair Stewart the following week) are eyebrow-raisingly being given a chance to occupy Etchingham and Austin's seats on News At Ten.
✒ James Purnell managed to get BBC2's daytime schedule axed (by sneering at it in MediaGuardian) before he'd even rejoined the Beeb, and now he's busy concluding his first task as head of strategy, part of Tony Hall's policy of giving culture more prominence. Purnell is forming partnerships with arts bodies, including the Arts Council's online platform The Space, but The Space's ability to make things cheaply (free of TV tariffs and complicated rights deals) is emerging as a bone of contention. One figure is overshadowing talks, the £250,000 it cost The Space to record, edit and subtitle 37 Shakespeare productions at London's Globe theatre last year. For the snooty BBC, with its higher costs and production standards, that would be the price of one big TV production.✒ James Purnell managed to get BBC2's daytime schedule axed (by sneering at it in MediaGuardian) before he'd even rejoined the Beeb, and now he's busy concluding his first task as head of strategy, part of Tony Hall's policy of giving culture more prominence. Purnell is forming partnerships with arts bodies, including the Arts Council's online platform The Space, but The Space's ability to make things cheaply (free of TV tariffs and complicated rights deals) is emerging as a bone of contention. One figure is overshadowing talks, the £250,000 it cost The Space to record, edit and subtitle 37 Shakespeare productions at London's Globe theatre last year. For the snooty BBC, with its higher costs and production standards, that would be the price of one big TV production.
✒ Naughty naughty: in a telling blunder, a recent press release from News International calls John Witherow "the editor of the Times" and Martin Ivens "the editor of the Sunday Times", although the pair should properly be called acting editors (because the Times's independent directors refused to endorse their appointments). Another test of how the continuing tussle with the pesky directors is going could come soon, as Ivens – who previously was No 2 to Witherow, and so has toiled on since January without a deputy – is understood to have chosen a stand-in. But, given the tricky issue of whether a mere acting editor can make big appointments, will he or she (more likely she, rumour suggests) be an "acting deputy"? Or given a weaker title to disguise their real role?✒ Naughty naughty: in a telling blunder, a recent press release from News International calls John Witherow "the editor of the Times" and Martin Ivens "the editor of the Sunday Times", although the pair should properly be called acting editors (because the Times's independent directors refused to endorse their appointments). Another test of how the continuing tussle with the pesky directors is going could come soon, as Ivens – who previously was No 2 to Witherow, and so has toiled on since January without a deputy – is understood to have chosen a stand-in. But, given the tricky issue of whether a mere acting editor can make big appointments, will he or she (more likely she, rumour suggests) be an "acting deputy"? Or given a weaker title to disguise their real role?
✒Last week saw the debuts of the Times's new columnists – following a hapless fanfare from John Witherow that woundingly named Oliver Kamm as one of them, although he's been banging away in the paper for years – and of new picture bylines for the existing ones. Those in downpage slots fared worse, as they were forced to pose full-length perched unflatteringly on chairs, revealing that (a) Kamm is happy to be made to look like a gnome (b) Janice Turner is unembarrassable enough to agree to adopt the 'Christine Keeler' pose (c) David Aaronovitch's feet may be as large as size 18, and (d) Gaby Hinsliff seems to wear high heels at home. Benefiting from an up-page slot, conversely, was City editor Ian King, his new image a smiling contrast to the picture of a bemused man in distress that has mysteriously sat atop his pages since his promotion in 2011. But, oh dear, turn from the op-ed page to business, and there's poor King (clearly no one remembered to change the pic) still looking glum and gormless.✒Last week saw the debuts of the Times's new columnists – following a hapless fanfare from John Witherow that woundingly named Oliver Kamm as one of them, although he's been banging away in the paper for years – and of new picture bylines for the existing ones. Those in downpage slots fared worse, as they were forced to pose full-length perched unflatteringly on chairs, revealing that (a) Kamm is happy to be made to look like a gnome (b) Janice Turner is unembarrassable enough to agree to adopt the 'Christine Keeler' pose (c) David Aaronovitch's feet may be as large as size 18, and (d) Gaby Hinsliff seems to wear high heels at home. Benefiting from an up-page slot, conversely, was City editor Ian King, his new image a smiling contrast to the picture of a bemused man in distress that has mysteriously sat atop his pages since his promotion in 2011. But, oh dear, turn from the op-ed page to business, and there's poor King (clearly no one remembered to change the pic) still looking glum and gormless.
Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.