The World Tonight (Radio 4) | iPlayer
Wireless Nights (Radio 4) | iPlayer
A full-on day’s work, plus an event in the evening, meant that I missed Wednesday’s lengthy Commons debate on military action against Isis in Syria. (I’m not sure I could have coped with 10½ hours of MPs to-ing and fro-ing, anyway.) So I was grateful for the clear, well-organised summary given by The World Tonight. Moving between Ritula Shah’s outside broadcast and Carolyn Quinn in the central lobby of the palace of Westminster, the programme used prepared pieces and live debate to illuminate the arguments and explain to the listener. There was a report from Syria as to how potential British military action was viewed there (it wasn’t reported on Syrian news). There was a discussion as to how other countries already involved in bombing campaigns, such as the US, would receive news that the UK was going to join in (a general sense of “what took you so long?”). The programme had a strong, live feel: we heard the ringing of the bells as the MPs went in to vote, then the repeating of the results (“The ayes have it. Unlock!”).
I find myself listening to The World Tonight more and more often. It’s nice to have a summary of the day’s events, rather than a blow-by-blow account. Rolling news makes everything banal and sensational, the reporting of details trumping overall analysis, tension ramped up while real devastation is skipped over. And I can barely go on social media at the moment: everyone knows everything and they keep on shouting about it. The calm analysis and truth of The World Tonight is a real relief. Plus it’s short: even this, a special edition, was only 45 minutes, so there’s plenty of time left over to work, or have a laugh with your kids, or look at pictures of tiny hedgehogs just to take your mind off the rest of the world.
Another late-night Radio 4 offering, Jarvis Cocker’s Wireless Nights, returned last week with a programme based around the Wireless Prom that took place this summer. I am ambivalent about these mash-up proms, I must say. Some of them seem to work – Wireless Nights is one that does – but others, such as the Grime Prom, are just ludicrous. I dislike the BBC habit of taking a successful genre of art or culture, something that really exists in the real world, then forcing it into existing BBC structures. I once had a meeting at BBC radio where someone suggested putting a computer coding storyline into The Archers.
Anyway, Jarvis’s programme. I do like it – it sounds properly late night, with a beautiful script and Jarvis’s lovely speaking voice recorded intimately close to the microphone. But I find myself increasingly resentful of presenters who don’t do any of the interviewing legwork. This week’s show was themed around long-distance night driving, but Jarvis didn’t appear in any of the stories that made up the show. One was about hitchhiking. A driver picked up Rupert, a hitchhiker trying to get from London to Liverpool, as well as the producer who was recording him. “Where are you from?” asked the driver. Rupert replied, “Scotland” – but the producer didn’t say anything, because he’s meant to be an invisible presence. Instead, Jarvis was superimposed over the top. “We’re from Sheffield,” he said. It was funny, but also a bit annoying. I know Jarvis is busy, but if he’s not going to present the outside features, the show should at least acknowledge the producers that leave the cosy studio to go and get the stories.
