SETTING THE AGENDA....

The ever reliable BBC Magazine always gives us the low down on what they really think: "The thing about news is that it has to be unusual, otherwise it's not news, it's just life. That's one theory at least. But it presents all sorts of problems, says Michael Blastland in his regular column. But is this fiction, or real? Enter the strange media world of Harrabin's Law, and decide for yourself. The media does sometimes seem to be a place where what you hear most is often what happens least.I've named the phenomenon after the BBC's Roger Harrabin, who puts it like this: "When considering societal problems over the long term, news-worthiness is often in inverse proportion to frequency. If problems become commonplace, they are not new - so do not qualify as 'news'. This means the media often guides politicians to focus on less serious acute problems at the expense of more serious systemic problems."  There is often a perverse pressure on politicians through the media to act on issues which appear more immediate but are ultimately of lesser public significance” Can he be talking about climate change?

RATIO KILLED THE BBC STAR...

Been very busy so less blogging than desirable BUT I did listen to this hilarious exchange on Today this morning. It all concerns a report by Will Hutton (Be still, BBC beating hearts!) that public sector pay ratios should be capped at around 20;1. There is a wonderfully surreal socialist conversation (At the end of which Humphrys suggested sacking top private sector bosses, who are, as we all know, evil) and I couldn't help but wonder why no one brought up the ratio between what some BBC assistanbt researcher might earm per annum compared to, oh I dunno, say a Radio 4 and BBC Mastermind presenter? To the nearest %.