With mobeen azhar. Hello. The News Cycle, the News Agenda, why is the news told in the way it is . Im thinking about the way the media covered the recent election. New mayors, new councillors, new mps, but all i could think about was the Giant Inflatable Boris Johnson. You must� ve seen it. Im talking about this 30 Foot Blow up version of the Prime Minister that appeared outside Hartlepool Count at 4am and then magically reappeared at the marina when he came to meet the winning candidate in front of a bunch of westminsterjournalists. That became the narrative. A gigantic triumph for borisjohnson and then the next day the westminister journalists were gone and it moved on to the next thing. Today i am asking why does the Media Fall for these gimmicks . Why is the News Cycle so fast and so fickle . Ive got a brilliant bunch of guest to bunch of guests to help me answer these questions. Thomas cock is digital editor of bristol live, the online offshoot of the bristol post. Catriona stewart is chief reporter at the glasgow times. Stephen bush is political editor at the new statesman. Katy balls is deputy political editor at the Spectator And Michael friedenberg is also here, Hes President of reuters, the global news agency. Now michael, we are going to talk to you A Little Bit later on in the show. But first of all i just want to hear A Little Bit about this story of reuters, A Little Bit of history. Once upon a time if im not mistaken there was a mr reuters, wasnt there . Thats right. Absolutely, the baron. Reuters is a I70 Year old media company. Weve gone from Producing News via Carrier Pigeon to Todays Future of Producing News in artificial intelligence. Weve gone the entire gamut from carrier pitches to ai. 170 year history, very proud of 2500 journalists in over 200 locations. Of course. Michael, people think of reuters and they think of it in a kind of traditional Telegram Messages kinda way. They think about breaking news. But you do a lot more than that as well dont you . We do. I think we take great pride in producing objective unbiased news that brings together global and local coverage. And its really at the intersection of general news, public Service Journalism as well as market moving news. You look at stories just recently, the passing of prince philip. Whats taking place right now at the gaza strip, the european super soccer league debacle, these are all stories that have global and local Interest And Cut across all general News And Market moving news capabilities. Michael, we will chat to you A Little Bit more in a second. I want to start by talking about the idea of the News Cycle. Its something that gets spoken about a lot. We usually think about it in terms of how long a story holds our attention before we want to move onto something else. Stephen, you are from the new statesman. How would you define the News Cycle in terms of the british Media Today . Really good question. I guess for me i think of the News Cycle primarily in terms of our daily morning e mail, which is a daily guide on what the biggest story in british politics is with small items from around the world which are kind of look, heres the stuff you need to know about the civil war in ethiopia, heres the stuff you need to know about the potential Break Out of war on the gaza strip. Right . That type of thing. I tend to think of the News Cycle as a kind of monday through friday thing. Monday it emerges the Prime Minister has an unpaid debt against him. Tuesday the government responds to it, wednesday the Labour Party does something to try and extend the news story, thursday The Eye of the story is moving to a point of crisis for the Prime Minister or has nowhere new to go. Friday something will happen and Sunday Acts as a Fire Break for the political news. That tends to be how i think about it. That is a very parochial definition based around my specific thing. Thats probably a good way of thinking about the News Cycle as really the Workflow Cycle for story. Its beginning, its middle, its end and the Publication Cycle of whatever your News Product is. Of course. Katy, you also work for a weekly publication. You work for the spectator. Do you think of the News Cycle in a similar way then . Yes and i think in terms of the political cycle, because im covering politics and the spectator we have the website and that will dominate. We have a weeklyj Issue And Work on whats still relevant on a saturday in terms of the bigger political picture. But i think on a daily level, we are now in a habit of seeing the stories at the beginning of the day and how it transforms. I think there are loads of people who are political geeks or have i theirjob as it and theyll be i following it minute by minute, hour by hour. But i think the bulk of our readers are people who want to perhaps know what is happening in the morning and know whats happening in the evening. Its yourjob to cut through the bluster and the noise in that space of time l to work out what we actually learned that day and i what actually changed. Of course theres a lot about an appetite. Stephen, i want to know from you, how easy do you think it is to sway the News Agenda . There is an argument that journalists are just very fickle and have very short attention spans. How easy or difficult do you think it is to change the News Agenda . I think one of the things that is interesting about politics is the advantage of the government party. Whether are you the english conservative party, the welsh Labour Party or the scotish national party, the Governing Party can change the News Agenda. It gets to get to do stuff, it passes legislation, changes peoples lives. I think part of the art of being a good journalist is being distracted. Its being interested in things. Its being a bit like the dog going, squirrel. But the advantage of the Governing Party is it can produce squirrels on demand. The problem that the Opposition Parties have, and this is the interesting thing in political combat is how they deal with it. The Governing Party often wants the spotlight to go away and cant make it do so. The opposition often desperately wants the spotlight and it struggles to drag attention to it. And so that i think is the essence of it. We are often easily distracted. I think that is something that has benefits as well as drawbacks. I mention this because i referenced earlier the blow up borisjohnson doll, which was huge and made a huge impact. It has all the hallmarks of a pr move. Katy, i want to know from you is there anything to suggest that Boris Johnsons team knew about this in advance . Everything we are hearing is that they didnt. It is not a conservative piece of branding. I think the Prime Minister quickly turned it to his advantage. The result meant it became almost a metaphor for something quite helpful to the tory party. Because of the tory gains in seats like hartlepool and the By Election and we heard the Prime Minister offered to buy it for his personal collection. It does feel as though it was fairly coincidental. I think its an interesting one because we are saying oh, we were all focused on that and was it an important thing . I think what it did was it almost summed up in a moment what lots of ministers, tory mps, looking at the results and saying another ten years of tory rule. I think thats very much getting ahead of themselves. But that image of a big, huge inflatable Boris Johnson i think it shows you whether its hot air orjust the domination of the tory party in certain parts of england now, it did lend to hammering the image home. Stephen, if i can ask you, i know you actually used the image in your early election write up. There was obviously a taste for that image. Do you think itjust spread like wildfire because it was a great image or do you think theres actually an issue here withjournalists and the press having a kind of groupthink . No i think to be honest it was a good image. One of the things we always struggle with injournalism is broadly most of them look alike. That is actually one of borisjohnsons big political assets. He doesnt look as much like the Default Politician as much of the rest of them do. Most of them look alike. Its hard to illustrate political stories. In the case i wrote, i wanted to write about the fact that it was maybe over sentimental eyes and the voters losing and had a slightly naive approach. It was slightly out of the usual narrative, that huge inflatable. The thing is lets imagine the conservatives had lost, i suspect that huge inflatable would also become the image of the By Election. I think the interesting question is was the focus of these elections far too much on england in an off Year Election and the height of the biggest public Policy Success any government has ever known basically since the war . And not on the future of the united kingdom. I think that is a more difficult question for the media to answer. Do you think there has been in terms of the reporting too much of a narrow focus in this election . Well, i do think that for us in bristol our focus has been away from. The big national story, which was labour failing to make progress and being plunged into a biti of a crisis over the weekend. And the spectacular conservative win in hartlepool. We had a four Day Period from the election going through with the results of four separate local. Elections spread out over three days. We had a real marathon telling the story of the i results. And the first result was the conservatives winning the police and crime i commissioner election. And of course nationally we were looking at what was happening in hartlepool. So we were beginning to wonder what that l really meant for labour in bristol. But actually drilling into the figures, the story in bristol was different to the story that was being talked about nationally and bristol. Was very much about what will happen to labour . And i think when Dan Norris actually won a | regional Mayor Election and it went from conservative to labour we knew that labour was sound in bristol. Albeit under quite a big challenge from the green party. And Bristol City council. A very different. Local picture to the national story. I think all the talk. About keir Starmers Reshuffle and that kind of thing probably quite lost on our audience which was very concerned about the local. Issues. I just want to stick with the issue of gimmicks and photo opportunities. You mentioned there norris who won the metropolitan mayor seat. He had a kind of Winners Picture where he posed with his pet dog. I think the dog was called angel. It is a very photogenic dog, it has to be said for some is that the kind of stuff that readers and people visiting the website get behind . Does it get eyeballs on it . Yeah. No question. We are able to collect some data on that on| sort of what people want to see. But yes, clearly that l is very eye catching. And for the regional| mayor in bristol who is in many ways a more i significant figure in more powerful figures, certainly access to a lot more money, he had suffered from a bitj of an identity problem. So the previous regional mayor Boris Johnson famously wasnt able to name him. Even though he was a conservative. That was tim bowles. There was a bit of a borisi moment when he came to visit gloucester in the election campaign. But labour there norris seems to be taking a different tact and is a lot more prominent and in fact we are hearing a lot more from him straight from the outset. L so yeah, clearly that photo again, we dont know howl contrived that was. We know that his dog does feature quite i heavily. His dog has been on many calls. | sure. It seems to have worked anyway. Whether its pictures of dogs are inflatable or putting out statements, we are of course talking about tools that politicians had to set the News Agenda. Of course one of the big stores broken at the weekend was about Keir Starmer wielding an axe and this kind of proposed reshuffle, im talking about Angela Rayner in particular here. Stephen, do you think that was an attempt to try to control the News Cycle . Yeah. In a slightly self defeating way, it worked. He literally wielded the axe exactly as Dan Norris was standing up and going id like to thank Keir Starmer and Keir Starmer, his response was i would like to thank Dan Norris by making sure that No One outside of bristol or indeed outside of the Bristol Metro Area ever writes about his quite impressive result. But that was an attempt to control the News Agenda. Look, were using this terrible result to catalyst for change and wielding the axe, im a strong leader, hear me roar. Of course the problem was he succeeded in moving the story on from the result. And demonstrating he is not a strong leader any more but a leader who is struggling to manage the Interest Groups of his party. Catriona, tell us about strategies for the snp. What was their broad strategy during the election to control the News Cycle and do you think they were successful . I think Nicola Sturgeon is such a savvy media operator. I think she actually benefited to stand against Anas Sarwar in her Glasgow Constituency because this was the first time that we had two party leaders standing in one place. And she was very personable throughout the election. Obviously there were lots of Coronavirus Constraints but she did a really good job of being out and about in the community. Than say, up against Anas Sarwar. Initially when Alex Salmond launched his party, there were concerns that the election was just going to become an ongoing row between Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond but that didnt actually emerge. So she benefited also from the fact that Alex Salmond didnt really manage to gain a lot of coverage for his campaign. Specifically if you can talk about the idea that there was a lot of talk about the snp getting a majority. The snp themselves downplayed that really. Was that strategic and what was the benefit of that . Well, its not strategic. I think this is one of the main frustrations of the coverage. Particularly in scotland watching coverage. This framing that the snp failed to win a majority and its just become repetitive, this mantra, someone will say that, someone else sticks up to correct it. The parliamentary system stays up to having a Majority Government so when the majority previously under Alex Salmond, that was a freak event. It was not supposed to happen. And so when Nicola Sturgeon was saying she wasnt expecting to win the majority, she wasnt because parliament was not designed that way. So thats the political News Cycle. I want to zoom out for a second and talk about the forces that shape what we call news today. Michael friedenberg, president of reuters, let me bring you in here. This is your specialist area. Your company is in the business of feeding the News Cycle, essentially. Youre supplying News Outlets on a daily, minute by minute, hour by hour basis. Give us a sense of the scale of that operation. Sure. We have 2500 journalists across the globe in 200 locations. And we are partnering with close to 3000 Media Companies and broadcasters to what you say providing them news that they then distribute out to the rest of their outlets. And on our side we reach 81 Million people a day on a platform, our platform be or through various channels. So we are reaching billions of people each and every day. Somehow some way they are touching Reuters News in some manner. How do you make money . What is the Business Model of reuters . Is it as simple as people just paying for the content that they use . We have three customer bases first and is we serve in exclusive market moving news. 0n the B2b Side we supply close to 3000 Media Companies and broadcasters with news from across the globe. And then on the B2c Side we have our reuters. Com events as well as content marketing arm. They are primarily the three areas of business that we do. Of course, we talked a lot and have been talking a lot about the recent election. One of the defining images or Video Clips from the election was when im sure you remember this, when Keir Starmer i think went into a pub and was effectively got into a bit of a ding dong. This story broke primarily not a lot on News Website but broke on twitter. Michael, youll be aware, increasingly we are seeing everyone has a smartphone, everyone has a camera. So the model of people generating their own content and therefore breaking their own news, is that a threat to the Reuters Model . No, i dont see it as a threat. I think its an amplification. I think its something that is of great use for reuters. As well as i think its really important that you think about the Supply Chain of content be it either Creation Verification and distribution. So unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation on social media platforms. And reuters does a lot of work and making sure that we are verifying the news that is going across those platforms to make sure that everybody feels comfortable that they are able to make the smartest decisions possible with accurate information. To me i think this is the ecosystem that we are living in right now. We have to become used to it and work around it. And also make sure that it is safe and understanding for everybody to just be able to make the best decisions possible. Either personally or professionally. Is immediacy still one of the pieces of reuters . Traditionally people saw it as a Newswire Service and it was where many outlets would go to for breaking news. Is that still part of the sell . Without a doubt. Accuracy and speed are absolutely essential. So we want to make sure that we are accurate but if No One is getting that in the time that they need in order to make the decisions possible then that is not doing the public the service that we feel we need to be providing. Accuracy and speed are paramount. You mentioned those two things in parallel, accuracy and speed. Is there sometimes a pressure to get things out so quickly that accuracy is under pressure and is threatened in some ways and how do you strike the balance . Unfortunately, there is. You see News Outlets battling that each and every day. There was an episode just last week in which there was in an inaccurate report within the states that proliferated because unfortunately due to that race of getting the news out to the market as quickly as possible. At reuters we want to make sure that we are accurate first but then absolutely speed is essential. We will pride ourselves on making sure that we are accurate and fast. But we want to make sure that we are accurate. I just want to know as well, do you think theres going to be a shift in the Reuters Audience . Do you think you could end up in a place in a few years where you are selling news directly to members of the public rather than through broadcasters and News Agencies . Do you want to tap in . Do you want that to happen . Yes, we are. In fact we made the announcement that were going to be Launching Subscriptions on reuters. Com in the very near future. So i think the ways that you get Reuters News via either other Media Companies are broadcasters or directly to reuters. Com. Or we have 0tt stations in partnership with other companies like samsung. Various ways in which you can engage with reuters content. And i think that the most important thing is making sure that were getting unbiased content out into the marketplace so people can make the best decisions possible. There is one more story that i want to squeeze in. Its really about the downing Street Briefing Room which we are sure you are all aware. Remember it was the plan of a Government Spokesperson meant to be addressed the media directly giving politicians another way to control the News Agenda, really. There was the shiny studio, all kitted out ready to go at the cost of 2. 6 million quid. It got cancelled at the last minute during the election. Katy, what happened, what went wrong here . I think there was a combination of factors but ultimately the televised Press Briefings with the brainchild of lee, the former director of communications that he left because over a row, you had a situation where the person who had come up with the ideas no longer in the building. And i think from then on there was lots of speculation whether it would happen. I think there was an increased view that for all the controlling of the narrative and setting the front bit of the News Agenda it carried a high level of risk. I think stories on tory cds, stories on the number ten Flat Refurbishment Acts as a reminder of how a televised Press Briefing may help the government set the tone but it could also go in many damaging directions. Thomas, do you think people in Bristol Wouldve cared . Would they have like to see the news come by a Briefing Room . They are interested in the briefings. And they are very interested. To know when we tell them that theres going to be a briefing. Im not sure how important it is to them, where that comes from. I think there are bigger issues for our local audience. Room, is a shame that stephen, what is your take on the Briefing Room, is a shame that is not happening . Yeah, its definitely a shame for us in the media. Its an opportunity to pin the government down on record. When theres video footage, right . That sadly of course is the reason why i think it was a pretty silly idea from a Government Perspective and i think why it ended up dead in the water. It wouldve been brilliant for accountability. Unfortunately part of the game of this is they dont like accountability and we have to continually drag it out and that is true regardless of the colour of the rosette in which ever bit of government it is. Do you think the Briefing Room wouldve made any impact on scottish politics . I think the cost of it is another Faux Pas for borisjohnson. He cant seem to do anything right to win the scottish public. Thats less than 30 seconds but i appreciate your brevity. Thank you to all my guests today. I am back with you next week. Thank you all for listening and watching. Take care. Good afternoon. If you have got outdoor plants through because of the weekend, you probably do not need me to tell you that things are remaining unsettled. Plenty more showers in the forecast. This was the picture Saturday Afternoon in devon, so quite a lot of cloud around. May be a bit more Blue Sky developing late this afternoon into this evening across the South West, but really through the course of the weekend, more downpours in the forecast and and staying rather cool through the middle of may. Through the remainder of today, parts of South West england, midlands, will see the heaviest of the showers, thunderstorms, hail, but equally blue Sky Between the showers. Into the evening, most state very cloudy and stamp. The heaviest of the downpours ease away overnight as couege downpours ease away overnight as college remains largely dry. It is here at temperatures will fall lowest. Scotland remains largely dry. Already further heavy downpours pushing to the South West of england down to this area of low pressure which is going to be driving our weather through the day, shifting eastwards. Heavy showers and thunderstorms from The Word go the South West of england and parts of wales. They will be drifting northwards and eastward through the day, so into the Afternoon Showers are more widely in the south. Here and there, hit and miss showers parts of northern england, northern ireland, wales, scotland i think seeing fewer showers, so some Blue Skies and sunshine,. Ii to 16 degrees or so and with Light Winds for much of the uk, if you do catch a Shower Or Thunderstorm it can be really slow moving. Breezier in the south, southern england, through the english channel, show is moving quicker. They tend to ease away A Little Bit overnight for a time, but low pressure not far away as we head on into monday. Especially a way was the east. I think monday will bring us another day of sunshine and showers. Many places are starting the day on a dry note with some blue Sky Bet showers popping up through the afternoon. Most frequent and heaviest in the east. Hail, thunderstorms, lightning mixed in. A little dry out further west during the day on the date for the likes of belfast, 30 degrees here. Perhaps 15 ori6 belfast, 30 degrees here. Perhaps 15 or 16 in the warmest spots. I3 or 16 in the warmest spots. 13 degrees here. The outlook is further sunshine and showers to continue and perhaps more persistent rain by the time we get to thursday. Goodbye for now. This is bbc news. The headlines at five israeli warplanes destroy a Gaza City Tower block, which had been the headquarters for internationaljournalists. It was evacuated before the attack after an israeli warning. Meanwhile in london, thousands of pro palestinian protesters have marched to the gates of the israeli embassy. People in areas where the indian variant of coronavirus is spreading are urged to get a covid vaccination. Wreath laying services have been held across the uk and around the world to mark the centenary of the royal british legion. And kicking off in a few minutes time its the Fa Cup final Chelsea Play Leicester in front of 20 Thousand fans at wembley. Leicester are looking to win it for the first time, chelsea are hoping to win it for a ninth time