I have been listening to a couple of BBC podcasts in my recent trend of listening to talk instead of music. It is very interesting to see the differences in how the reporting is done. I have often heard straight reports from the BBC - with someone sitting at a news desk with the day's stories in front of them. I always enjoy the different perspective on the news coming from a different part of the world.

Today I chuckled while listening to a story about the snow that had fallen in the U.K. They interviewed some children who said, "Oh, I am quite pleased that I'm able to play in the woods, instead of attending school," and another boy who said, "This is quite an opportunity, we don't get snow often, so this is fantastic." So very polite, and with a very different vocabulary than I think we'd hear from young children in America. "Yea! I get to go sledding now! Woo hoo!" And our kids wouldn't have that damned adorable accent.

Oh, those Brits. Ever courteous, ever polite.

Ha! Then my podcast went on to a few interviews, and WOW!! I have rarely if ever heard such fire between a reporter and a government official as I've heard while listening to these BBC interviews. There was one where a British official had sent a memo to judges, suggesting that they "keep in mind" sentencing alternatives, due to an overcrowding in the prison system. The point of the story was that this memo was resulting in judges giving too light of sentences to sex offenders. The reporter was absolutely lambasting this official for putting his job on the judges, and how it's not the judiciary's job to worry about prison overcrowding, that's a policy issue for this official to deal with. He was trying to say that by sending the memo he was not shifting responsibility, and she just interrupted him, practically yelling, but certainly with acerbic tones, "how can you SAY that you haven't shifted the responsibility? you ABSOLUTELY have shifted the responsibility!" She was almost bullying, and the official was almost whining back at her, scrambling to prove himself right in the face of her questions. (You can find a related article here, about the issue that was being discussed.)

Today there was a segment that was addressing the British magazine Cosmo, and its increase in articles about sex despite its claims that it discusses all issues pertaining to women, including career, politics and health. I am not sure who the women debating were, but it sounded like a Cosmo editor, and then a British Feminist Matron of some sort. Once again, one participant was mercilessly attacked by the other, and was left to try and squeeze some words in defending their position through the insults and admonishments being thrown.

It is really quite entertaining. Not to mention edifying and edumacational.

posted by Zuska @ 8:30 AM

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