The Newsroom

Mihir Bose leaves the BBC

resigns for personal reasons with immediate effect. (August 2009)

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DA
Davidjb Founding member
pm5544 posted:
Hymagumba posted:
I read he was one of the ones to go on that course run by the controller of BBC1's husband. My first thought was "how poor was he before that?"


Robert Peston was supposedly coached by that chap. I actually switched channels when Peston was on the news at one today. Why they don't appoint people who have already been trained I'll never know.


Ah yes Robert Peston, the one that talks at us, not to us!

As for Mihir Bose I'm sure he is a nice bloke but never came across very well on screen. Knowing the BBC he was more than likely appointed because of his Ethicity than what he can actually do. Call me racist if you want but it's just how I see the BBC these days.
TI
tightrope78
Newsroom posted:
An example of poor recruitment on behalf of the BBC, much like the abysmal mistake ITN made when they hired Ruth Lee as their Economics Editor some years ago. Absolutely appalling on air, made him painful to watch. Another classic example of a right royal mess up was appointing Tim Ewart to the then Newsroom South East.


Similar to Robin Oakley's tenure as Political Editor, at times he was painful to watch. Obviously a good print journo but not on TV.
BR
Brekkie
So maybe "auto-cuties" are better suited to television news than proven journalists after all.
MA
Markymark
tightrope78 posted:


Similar to Robin Oakley's tenure as Political Editor, at times he was painful to watch. Obviously a good print journo but not on TV.


Well, Jeff Randell and Andrew Marr are (arguably) the exceptions to that rule.
WW
WW Update
tightrope78 posted:
Similar to Robin Oakley's tenure as Political Editor, at times he was painful to watch. Obviously a good print journo but not on TV.


If that's the case, he must have improved quite a bit since he joined CNN. His reports on European politics are always very well done and interesting to watch, as is his live analysis.
NE
Newsroom
WW Update posted:
tightrope78 posted:
Similar to Robin Oakley's tenure as Political Editor, at times he was painful to watch. Obviously a good print journo but not on TV.


If that's the case, he must have improved quite a bit since he joined CNN. His reports on European politics are always very well done and interesting to watch, as is his live analysis.


Can't say I agree with the Oakley comments, BUT Peston too has a really irritating delivery! Actually it's down right awful. A cut above the rest springs to mind.
LU
Luke
Davidjb posted:


As for Mihir Bose I'm sure he is a nice bloke but never came across very well on screen. Knowing the BBC he was more than likely appointed because of his Ethicity than what he can actually do. Call me racist if you want but it's just how I see the BBC these days.


er, why? more likely he was hired because he had a reputation for breaking exclusives and having contacts with important people in sport (none of which seemed to materalise at the BBC). Sad state of affairs when people think non-white people are hired because of their race Confused
DA
Davidjb Founding member
Luke posted:
Davidjb posted:


As for Mihir Bose I'm sure he is a nice bloke but never came across very well on screen. Knowing the BBC he was more than likely appointed because of his Ethicity than what he can actually do. Call me racist if you want but it's just how I see the BBC these days.


er, why? more likely he was hired because he had a reputation for breaking exclusives and having contacts with important people in sport (none of which seemed to materalise at the BBC). Sad state of affairs when people think non-white people are hired because of their race Confused


True though
BA
bilky asko
Hymagumba posted:
oh good, I wasn't the only one to find him intolerable. Even his reports on simple things like the bejing pollution were poor.

I read he was one of the ones to go on that course run by the controller of BBC1's husband. My first thought was "how poor was he before that?"


Personally, I think he was pretty good - I don't see what all of you have against him. Nobody has put their finger on the reason(s) why they think he's so bad.
BP
Bob Paisley
bilky asko posted:
Hymagumba posted:
oh good, I wasn't the only one to find him intolerable. Even his reports on simple things like the bejing pollution were poor.

I read he was one of the ones to go on that course run by the controller of BBC1's husband. My first thought was "how poor was he before that?"


Personally, I think he was pretty good - I don't see what all of you have against him. Nobody has put their finger on the reason(s) why they think he's so bad.


Firstly...and all this is merely subjective opinion of course...

His writing was poor. His packages were pedestrian, overlong, lacking in imagination. Writing for print is a different discipline than writing for television. I never read his columns for the Telegraph, so I can't comment on them, but his writing for the Beeb was dull. He couldn't write to picture and he always overwrote (a cardinal sin in all journalism).

He was a poor performer live - his answers tended to wander and usually conformed to cliché. He rambled on, lacking editoritial discipline. He wasn't terribly charismatic and he never seemed to bring anything definitive or interesting to any subject. He was the BBC's Sport Editor - surely he was supposed to have the last word on everything? But I can't remember him saying anything new or interesting. He merely offered platitudes rather than analysis. He never said anything you, I or anyone else couldn't have said instead.

Most crucially - from the BBC's point of view I suspect - he came up with precious few original stories. This was the guy who was supposed to revolutionise sports journalism as the BBC. Can you think of one major scoop or exclusive he came up with?

Robert Peston - the Beeb's Business Editor - has many similar failings. He too is NOT a natural broadcaster - but he clearly knows his subject inside out, has fantastic contacts and gets great scoops that not only top the agenda, but sets it. It's hard for any sports journo to come up with a story that would have a similar impact as the Northern Rock debacle - but Mihir Bose couldn't manage even minor stuff.

So that's my take on why he didn't work out...
JI
jimbo5
His telegraph writing was pretty good- his speciality is Cricket, his lengthy A History Of Indian Cricket book is a fantastic read. Always found him somewhat over the top on BBC though, seemed like he was trying to be Lawrence Olivier, rather than a sports reporter
NE
Newsroom
Evening Standard were reporting last night that he has left because he didn't relish the idea of being transferred to Manchester.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23728366-details/'Betrayed'+sports+editor+Mihir+Bose+resigns+over+Manchester+move/article.do

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