SacredFacts

What we say is not what we do...

For those of us used to the vagaries of the BBC's audience this comes as no surprise. Often the most viewed stories and pages on the news website are, disappointingly not those on macro-economic theory, but the offbeat ones. However if you highlight those in any way (even just easing navigation) the BBC is, of course, accused of dumbing down. Perhaps uniquely online, many users want the BBC to reflect something other than their actual preferences and behaviours.
It's what we call "One Man And His Dog" syndrome. Some years ago the BBC cancelled a long running programme dedicated to sheepdog trials because the audience had fallen away. But the response to cancelling it outweighed any audience it had received for a long time. People didn't want to watch it - they just wanted to know it was there...

Then there was the exciting moment when we were able to watch live the search box on the news website to see what our users were looking for. Would it be Foreign news? Domestic policy? Business? Politics? No, the most common search was, of course, for Britney Spears. Quite why they came to the BBC news site to look for her is anyone's guess. Perhaps they believed all those stories about dumbing down...

Six Days in Cornwall

...without any web access. Which was good. Back now - but here's a flavour:

links for 2007-05-25

• Open Net Initiative's Global Internet Filtering Conference 2007 | internetartizans
  ANother report from the ONI meeting
  (tags: ONI IGF internet censorship filtering)
• BBC NEWS | Technology | Which freedoms do we want online?
  Bill T argues its not just government censorship we need to worry about
  (tags: ONI IGF internet censorship filtering)

The Big Prize

So yes, as a Liverpool fan, I did get a ticket to the match. And for both readers who might vaguely be interested...the best team on the night won. But Liverpool could have taken it. Gerrard was tied down and off form missing at least 3 opportunities that on other occasions he would have put away. It wasn't working in attack - balls being crossed into empty space with no-one there. And Rafa should have brought Crouch on 20 minutes earlier. Still, two European finals in three years isn't so bad...and money to spend on new players for next season...

"Is it Rolling, Bob?"*

The 40th anniversary edition of Rolling Stone magazine has a series of interviews with iconic figures from music politics and culture of the last 40 years. Jagger, Jimmy Carter, Dylan, Scorsese, Neil Young, Jack Nicholson, Jane Fonda, McCartney and more. Some great quotes about the sixties:

Patti Smith: "Rock n Roll is more than music. It is a consciousness."

Michael Moore: "Rock n Roll didn't mean just music. It was a coat of armour against everything coming at you."

Keith Richards: "England was bloody boring and something had to happen. Rock n Roll happened basically."

(* Name that song)

Bad Karma?

I'm in Athens for a meeting of the EBU. The politics of european broadcasting closely mirrors all other aspects of european politics and reform - on today's agenda - is difficult to deliver. The trip did not start well when my plane arrived at 3am, the hotel had no trace of my booking, the city was full of football fans for the European final - and there was not a room to be had. But I found a hospitable floor in a cafe for three hours. Liverpool's failure to capitalise on their opportunities against AC Milan also bodes ill for the trip. Sometimes, there's just bad karma.

links for 2007-05-23

• Polis - Future of News
  Report from one of the Polis seminars
  (tags: digital future news POLIS)
• The Stasi on Our Minds - The New York Review of Books
  Tim Garton Ash on his "file"
  (tags: Timgartonash stasi germany)
• Andrew McAfee: The Impact of Information Technology (IT) on Businesses and their Leaders
  is Facebook the shape of things to come for E2.0
  (tags: facebook mcAfee socialmedia business)
• Howard Rheingold: The "arms race" between participation and control | AssignmentZero
  (tags: rheingold web2.0 socialmedia)

links for 2007-05-22

• Great speeches of the 20th century | Guardian Unlimited
  (tags: speech guardian)
• O'Reilly Radar > San Francisco Chronicle layoffs
  Tim O'Reilly fears for the future of newspapers based on troubles of the SF Chronicle. Comments suggest editorial cuts may be false economy
  (tags: digital newspapers journalism future)
• CJR: Superiority Complex
  Columbia JOurnalism Review on British news in the US - including quotes from yours truly
  (tags: CJR USA BBC news broadcasting)

links for 2007-05-21

• Complete Tosh, by Neil McIntosh: The business we're in
  Neil talks refers to other blog discussion on the future of news and talk some sense..
  (tags: newspapers digital future journalism)

London Calling

(Pic:Pete Price)

Excuse the PR, but....More people around the world get their news from the BBC than any other single source. Latest figures show 233 million people each week across  radio, TV and  the web.  Twenty million of that increase is  radio -  we have a 60% share of all listening in Afghanistan, more than 7 million listening in DRC and increases in Pakistan, India and the Middle East. BBC World TV is also up 10 million viewers a week (some overlap with radio) and web use is up about 6 million unique users for the month, year on year.

I wouldn't normally post about it here, but it's gratifying after a couple of tough years.