Recent events in Egypt have exposed not just the chasms in our understanding of what’s been going on in the countries of the Middle East, but also the effects of changes in how the BBC is spending the licence fee on reporting ‘fast-breaking’ stories.
Recent events in Egypt have exposed not just the chasms in our understanding of what’s been going on in the countries of the Middle East, but also the effects of changes in how the BBC is spending the licence fee on reporting ‘fast-breaking’ stories. Instead of ‘stringers’ in the field, kept ticking over in foreign parts on a modest retaining fee to become deeply versed in the language, the politics, the macro-economics and the ordinary lives of the people among whom they live, the big names are now flown in for a few days of commentary. It’s more noticeable on TV, but also evident on radio where last week Jim Naughtie was given leave-of-absence from the Today studio and sent off to Cairo to report from Tahrir Square.
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