Viewing diary 18/01/11

Today, I watched Ready Steady Drink (BBC3). The programme follows young actress Emily Atack as she examines the effect that binge drinking on the youth of Manchester and Newcastle. Being on BBC3, and featuring a prominant young celebrity, the programme is obviously aimed at a young audience and while the information could be incredibly useful to them, I felt that it suffered from a lack of substance. Throughout the course of the programme, I found myself wishing that the producers had decided to use an expert with some scientific knowledge as the presenter. This would have given the show much more credibility and delivered information in a more direct fashion. Instead, the bulk of the programme showed Ms. Atack simply being "shocked" at the sight of every drunk person she encountered and I felt that her lack of knowledge was counterproductive to the point the show was trying to make.

Listening Journal 17/01/11

This week, I listened to Desert Island Discs (Radio 4). In this episode, presenter Kirsty Young was joined by the leader of the Scottish National Party, Alex Salmond. The premise of the programme is to have the guest list the eight pieces of music that they would take with them to a desert island. This device is used to get the guest talking about different aspects of their life, and the actual songs take a back seat to the stories that they tell. I think that the programme works so well because it the format makes it much more sonically interesting than a straight interview and the relaxed nature makes the guest open up more than they normally would. As a researcher, I would contact the guest first to discuss their musical choices and get them to talk to me how they relate to their lives. I would then pass these notes on to the presenter.

Viewing journal 10th Jan 2011

This week, I watched James May's Toy Stories (BBC2). In this series, May looks back at some of the toys from his youth and attempts to bring them back in to the public consciousness. In this episode, he attempts to break the record for the longest model railway by running a track from Barnstable to Biddeford. When creating this programme, the researchers would have had to first find a route with some cultural significance. In this case, the route follows a disused railway track closed by Dr. Beeching as part of the "Beeching Axe" which closed many of Britain's railways around the same time as the decline in model railways. The other main concern of the researchers would be the pure logistics of creating the programme. This would mainly involve contacting fixers in the local area as well as organising the permissions for building the track in public places and getting members of the public to get involved in building the track. At the end of the programme, the train does not actually break the record and the researchers would have had to work with James May to craft a satisfying conclusion based on this failure.

Listening Diary 05/01/11

This week, I listened to The Infinite Monkey Cage (Radio 4 06/12/10). The programme is presented by scientist Professor Brian Cox and comedian Robin Ince. In this particular episode, the presenters, along with guests Alexi Sayle, Julian Baggini and Professor Raymond, discuss the topic "Is Philosophy Dead?" The format of the programme is fairly loose, as the presenters and guests discuss the topic freely, with Ince acting as the chair interjecting only when necessary to move the topic along. The guests for the programme are chosen because of their political, scientific or philosophical background but all of them are excellent speakers and the overall theme of the programme is entertainment. I would suggest that this programme, as with many of the programmes in a similar slot on Radio 4, are aimed at a younger audience than most of the rest of the schedule and act as a way of attracting that younger audience to the station. I would also suggest that because it stands out in such a manner, it may well have a large podcast audience who do not normally listen to Radio 4.