Little presenters
One of the perils of being an editor is the brainstorm - that time when you know the ideas need refreshing, and you ask the team to come together to think up new ways of covering the same situations and stories.
You tell them - and you think you mean it - 鈥榯he crazier the better鈥, 鈥榥othing is ruled out鈥, 鈥榯hink laterally鈥, and - most foolishly of all - 鈥榶ou can decide on the best ones and I promise we鈥檒l carry them through鈥.
In the fashionable backwater that is political programmes we don鈥檛 have 鈥榳atering holes鈥 or 鈥榞reen hat, red hat鈥 games when we brainstorm: we toss them out over drinks, laugh about them and vote.
And so it is that political programmes will be taking a Little Andrew Neil and a Little Jenny Scott to the conferences this year, and I have to defend it as a brilliant idea.
Over 600 kids entered our competition - run with Newsround - to find a 鈥楲ittle Andrew and Little Jenny鈥. Thirty have been shortlisted and interviewed by phone. And the winners are 12-year-old Christopher Duffy from Inverclyde, and 12-year-old Becky Philips from Devon. We鈥檒l take them to each conference for a day to report and interview leading politicians. And they鈥檒l start with Sir Menzies Campbell at the Liberal Democrats conference a week on Monday.
You may say it鈥檚 a straight rip off of Little Ant and Little Dec on ITV, and so neither original nor appropriate to serious political coverage. Fair enough. But for me there are at least two good reasons for doing this, apart from the fact that it鈥檚 different and fun.
Politics is no longer the draw it used to be. Viewing figures are falling. Fewer people are voting. And most alarmingly, the average age of those who say they鈥檙e interested in politics is rising sharply. Very few people under the age of 45 take our political processes and institutions seriously. So 600 young hopefuls is a fantastic return before we鈥檝e even started. And if it draws just a few more younger viewers to the conference coverage this autumn, and introduces the million and a half who watch Newsround every day to this annual political event, we鈥檒l have done a public service.
The other reason: Little Ant and Little Dec got to interview the prime minister, and put to him some very challenging questions. For four years, Mr Blair and Mr Brown have consistently refused to be interviewed for the 成人论坛鈥檚 conference coverage, believing it doesn鈥檛 reach the people they want to speak to. Maybe now they鈥檒l change their minds.
Comments
If Tony Blair is going to be asked impertinent questions by the likes of Nick Robinson and told to "FCUK off" by Radio 1 I'm not surprised he normally avoids interviews from the 成人论坛.
I felt like shooting myself after a read your observations.
The Daily Politics is one of the very view programmes on television that has intelligent content. Leave it alone. We don't want gimmicks. Go and work with Ant and Dec or whatever their names are.
鈥淢r Blair and Mr Brown have consistently refused to be interviewed for the 成人论坛's conference coverage believing it doesn't reach the people they want to speak to鈥
Are you being a little coy? I have watched Andrew Neil many times: there are reasons far more apparent than the one stated.
You have used children to partly solve your problem. Congratulations!
Your readers may not be very flattered by your explanations. In due course the children may think that their introduction to politics was more interesting than they had realised.
Someone at the top of the 成人论坛 should take a look at what has happened to 成人论坛 journalism. It used to be very good.
Well in all fairness I think it's worth a shot. The DP audience is a far too cynical lot - myself included - so a change every now and then can't be a bad idea.
That being said, I expect trite responses as a matterr of course from any of the interviewees. It's surely no coincidence that "Itchy and scratchy / Abbott and Portillo" on "This Week" are able to speak to frankly because they hold no ambitions? I don't know that this will bring 'the yoof' any closer to politics but it is worht a shot.
I was interested that you started the piece talking about "Brain storm" I recently went on a company course and was told the use of the term "Brain storm " was not politically correct as people with epilepsy may find it offensive. We were told to use "Thought Shower" Other than that It sounds a great idea.
Hint: Children don't like being referred to as "kids".
Will your young interviewers' questions, and the answers not have to be filtered by "oldies", and so inevitably come over as false to their contemporaries? You may be blighting their future prospcts. I hope you follow-up and provide support if they get bullied as a result of this.
The idea that 'brainstorming' is offensive to those with epilepsy is an urban myth made up by newspapers.
The interesting thing here is if you hadn't dressed it up as a "Little Andrew" and had simply invited two young people to have the chance to interview politicans, would anyone have actually complained?
On the issue of the word Brainstorm, both Epilepsy Action and the National Society for Epilepsy say that the use of the word brainstorm to mean a group session to generate ideas is not offensive. Check out
Mr Donald,
I will tell you the same thing I told Mark Halperin of ABC when I met him last year. If you stopped treating audiences like a raccoon with ADD, then quite possibly they will stay interested in politics. This idea that people are disinterested in politics, and therefore it has to be jazzed up and dumbed down, is a self-serving myth created by editorial departments that want to cut experienced staff, and make new, cheap hires that couldn't tell one end of an AP style guide from a dead dog. People, and yes that includes children, are interested IF the news is intelligently handled. Instead, ideas like this turn headlines into "and finally" pieces. If we in the media are to be honest, we're just talking down to our viewers and readership. Shows like Newsround were succesful because they were youth-friendly versions of the main evening news, not attempts to turn the Six O'Clock News into The Generation Game.
As the cousin of Becky Phillips i would just like to say that i think this new venture is a fantastic opportunity to obtain a new take on the daily politics. Mainly beacause, as demonstrated by the Ming Campbell interveiw, children can get away with far more than adults. This allows us valuable insight into the lives of politicians who may be more guarded with an adult interveiwer.
Sam MacCuaig
Why 成人论坛 behaves commercial advance ment ? Some Infomation you provide are wrong. you can make some stories UP Side down.. I think 成人论坛 should work more responsible manner not only the commerical purpose.
Well, I think its a great idea - allow young people to see that they can become involved in politics. I do think its a bit demeaning to call them "Little Something" though, they're individuals with their own names and personalities, they're not clones of other presenters. I think if you avoid that in the future, theres a lot of potential.