The Newsroom

Same old interviewees

Simon Calder, Shami Chakrabarti, Christian Wolmar... (August 2008)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
RO
rob Founding member
dragonhhjh posted:
As too is some other equally annoying woman called Jasmin I think.


Yasmin Alibhai-Brown.
MA
Markymark
Col posted:
Are Shami Chakrabati and Reeta Chakrabati related? I can't find any evidence to suggest they are.


I saw somewhere on the BBC website a declaration that they are not, which surprises me.
DE
deejay
You may well see the same old faces over and over on television, but if you think about it from a production perspective it's no surprise really. You're the producer of a segment on Sky News, BBC News Channel or ITV Regional news, you need someone to come on the programme to talk about a human rights story, who do you ask ... Sharmi Chakrabarti. You have a complex legal story ... Joshua Rosenburg. They're experts in their field, can tell a complex story simply and, most importantly, are good on the telly. You can ask these people for a 2 minute interview and that's more-or-less what you'll get. They're reliable, authoritative and generally easy to work with.

This whole question was raised on Newswatch a few months ago ...
NE
newswatcher
Stock Exchange/Finance: HENK POTTS. And he's pretty dreadful TBH.

(Everyone's second choice if Justin E-S is busy)
NG
noggin Founding member
News24 posted:
Aviation: Chris Yates


Don't forget David Learmount when it comest to aviation...
ST
Ste Founding member
Professor Tom Cannon on anything to do with financial matters in Football.
IS
Inspector Sands
deejay posted:
You may well see the same old faces over and over on television, but if you think about it from a production perspective it's no surprise really. You're the producer of a segment on Sky News, BBC News Channel or ITV Regional news, you need someone to come on the programme to talk about a human rights story, who do you ask ... Sharmi Chakrabarti. You have a complex legal story ... Joshua Rosenburg. They're experts in their field, can tell a complex story simply and, most importantly, are good on the telly. You can ask these people for a 2 minute interview and that's more-or-less what you'll get. They're reliable, authoritative and generally easy to work with..


Each newsroom has a contacts list and any contributors who have appeared will be added to it. When they're doing a story on a subject they need someone they can rely on, who's done it before and won't freeze like a rabbit in headlights on the TV. So they are going to go with someone they've had before.

People like Calder, Wolmar, Yates make themselves available, willing to come in and contribute at short notice and are very experienced at what they do
CY
cymru148
If its politics then its....Anthony Howard
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41424000/jpg/_41424856_howard203.jpg
NG
noggin Founding member
Yep - if you need someone quickly, to talk about breaking news, you are naturally going to chose people you know are likely to be happy to appear (and understand the nature of breaking news coverage), and are able to talk about their area of expertise in a manner that the lay-person understands. As a result the same people are usually top of the list because they are known to be good and reliable.

You don't usually want to try out new people during big stories - though on more pre-planned stuff it is a good idea to widen the net a bit - as you might discover some new experts.

(BBC Three News did this - and the people they used are now often appearing elsewhere...)
SP
Spencer
Martin Lewis of moneysavingexpert.com is an interesting one. Does anyone know what he gets out of it? AIUI the website is non profit making and doesn't carry advertising. Does he just get off on getting his face on the telly?

Inspector Sands posted:
Quote:

I also think it can send out the wrong message, particularly in the case of Shami Chakrabarti. The lack of other interviewees championing civil liberties could easily give the impression that she's a one-woman campaign, and a lone voice - a position which arguably could undermine the civil liberty movement as a whole.


true, but isn't Shami the spokeswoman for Liberty? If so it's her job


She's the Director of Liberty. But there are other civil liberty pressure groups out there. Not that you'd know it.
LO
Londoner
Spencer For Hire posted:
Martin Lewis of moneysavingexpert.com is an interesting one. Does anyone know what he gets out of it? AIUI the website is non profit making and doesn't carry advertising. Does he just get off on getting his face on the telly

His website makes money from affiliate links to products and services he writes about.

(These links are researched and added separately by his staff, so they don't influence the choice of what he writes about.)
LO
Londoner
The former Tory MP Michael Brown is another one.

He boasts that from his Pimlico flat he can be in the Millbank studio of any broadcaster within three minutes (or some such)

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