Who has the toughest job in the BBC during the election campaign?
A good case can be made for those who work on Radio 1’s Newsbeat. For a start young people are less likely to vote than the rest of the population, more likely to shrug their shoulders, less convinced that their votes matter.
Then there are the constraints of time. Radio 1 is still a music channel. Newsbeat usually has only 15 minutes in which to cram the day’s events. Explaining the deficit, in seconds not minutes, is some task.
On the other hand, young people are in some ways more accessible than older people like myself. They are much more sophisticated in their use of social media; easier to access via text and Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
They also have different priorities.
A survey conducted for the network showed that 23% of them think affordable housing should be at the centre of political debate. They are less concerned with immigration and more concerned with education.
Interestingly 63% suggested that they would be more likely to vote if they could do so by app or online. Politicians should take note.
This is supposed to be the first ‘digital election’. It is certainly a far cry from the first election campaign I can . That was in 1964.
I recall a massive Labour rally at St George’s Hall in Liverpool, a massive Greek-style classical building just opposite Lime Street Station. It was the eve of polling day and a whippet-sharp Harold Wilson was loudly proclaiming the end of “13 years of Tory misrule” and deploying his deadly wit to deal with hecklers.
Labour would ensure that “the white heat of technology” would drive the United Kingdom confidently into the sunny uplands of continuous growth. A new young country was being born and The Beatles provided the musical accompaniment.
It did not quite work out like that. Growth fell below expectation, unemployment increased, devaluation followed, and soon George Harrison was penning Taxman with the Treasury saying “it’s one for you, 19 for me”.
Those rallies belong to a different age. William Ewart Gladstone, the Victorian Liberal Prime Minister could have changed places with Harold Wilson and the form and structure of the meeting would hardly have changed.
However Wilson kept a sharp eye on the time, knowing that the BBC television news would cut to him ‘live’. At which point he set aside his speech and delivered the sound bite he wanted to be in the next day’s newspaper headlines.
Perhaps things haven’t changed that much.
This week went along to the Newsbeat offices in New Broadcasting House. ‘Hot-desking’ is everywhere. If you have seen the BBC comedy W1A, you will know what I mean. It is as much documentary as fiction.
Do let us know what you think of the Corporation’s coverage of the campaign. And do try and switch off over the Easter holiday. You won’t miss much as there are still five weeks to go!
Happy Easter,
Roger Bolton
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