Joe Kinnear brought football into further disrepute. And his interviewers didn't help
*Joe Kinnear interview* (talkSPORT)
*Call Nick Clegg* (LBC Radio 97.3)
*The Truth About Mental Health* (BBC World Service) | iPlayer
Many people I know only listen to one radio station. Whether it's Radio 2 or Rinse FM, you can't get them to budge. A friend never flips from Radio 4. He's a fan of documentaries; when I suggest a few other places and podcasts he might try, he looks anxious and mutters something about not having the time. Someone else knows a woman who only listens to Radio 1; according to her, finding any other station is too tricky. She works in the media. Maybe she's heard of the internet. I might send her these links: www.radioplayer.co.uk and tunein.com.
Listening to stations other than my personal preferences is part of the job and I dutifully tuned into TalkSport to hear Newcastle United's new director of football, Joe Kinnear, give – according to various media outlets – (including www.101greatgoals.com and the Guardian) one of the worst interviews of modern times. Reader, I do it so you don't have to bother. And I can report that Kinnear was boorish, boring, egotistical and defensive. None of these attributes is unknown in management, but maybe those who work in professional football are more susceptible than the rest of us.
Kinnear was also inaccurate, claiming he'd won more awards than he had and getting players' names wrong, the classic being Yohan Cabaye, who Kinnear referred to as Yohan Kebab. Kinnear isn't a good appointment and he isn't a good interviewee.
But here's the thing. At no point did either of the presenters, Andy Goldstein or Bobby Gould, point out to Kinnear that he was getting things wrong. Kinnear mentioned "Derek Lambezi" in the first minute, though his name is Derek Llambias. He said the word "resigned" as though it meant "re-signed". Goldstein and Gould said nothing. Nicky Campbell wouldn't have let Kinnear get away with it. If the TalkSport presenters had done their job, we would have had a proper interview, rather than an idiot rant.
Then on Thursday, on LBC's regular funfest *Call Nick Clegg*, Clegg was asked by a caller if he would have intervened if he'd been present when Charles Saatchi put his hands around Nigella Lawson's throat. Clegg demurred, because he felt that the pictures might not have given an accurate picture of what had been happening. "It might have been a fleeting thing," he said, and I swear I could hear Clegg's PR's palm hit his forehead. That's right, Nick, if it's just a quick strangle, there's no need to put down your pudding spoon and swing into action.
Still, once Clegg had talked to the caller and established that some sustained choking would definitely have inspired him to intervene, the show moved on. Clegg wasn't malicious, he wasn't in favour of violence against women, he was merely pointing out that it's hard to make a judgment on a situation if you weren't actually there. But such subtleties are lost when words are reported, tweeted, instantly commented upon. Listening always gives a fuller sense of what is being said, and what isn't.
Let us move on from nitpicking to the admirable Claudia Hammond, who has a six-part series on mental health on the World Service. I highly recommend it and all the programmes are still online. The first, "Mad or Sad", worried away at the problem of treating the mentally ill in developing countries; the second concerned the impact of war on children's mental health; the third, how to stay sane in solitary confinement. And the fourth, on Friday, considered the terrible murders by Anders Breivik in Norway and how the survivors and relatives of those killed have been treated and supported.
This was harder to co-ordinate than you might imagine, as those on the island came from all over the country. "Controlled re-exposure" was deemed successful – organised visits to the sites of the car bomb and the island – and regular meetings for those affected really helped. Still, 50% of those affected by Breivik's attack have had mental health problems.
This programme presented a difficult contemporary issue with sensitivity and care. So why not move away from your favourite station and give it a listen? Reported by guardian.co.uk 1 day ago.
*Joe Kinnear interview* (talkSPORT)
*Call Nick Clegg* (LBC Radio 97.3)
*The Truth About Mental Health* (BBC World Service) | iPlayer
Many people I know only listen to one radio station. Whether it's Radio 2 or Rinse FM, you can't get them to budge. A friend never flips from Radio 4. He's a fan of documentaries; when I suggest a few other places and podcasts he might try, he looks anxious and mutters something about not having the time. Someone else knows a woman who only listens to Radio 1; according to her, finding any other station is too tricky. She works in the media. Maybe she's heard of the internet. I might send her these links: www.radioplayer.co.uk and tunein.com.
Listening to stations other than my personal preferences is part of the job and I dutifully tuned into TalkSport to hear Newcastle United's new director of football, Joe Kinnear, give – according to various media outlets – (including www.101greatgoals.com and the Guardian) one of the worst interviews of modern times. Reader, I do it so you don't have to bother. And I can report that Kinnear was boorish, boring, egotistical and defensive. None of these attributes is unknown in management, but maybe those who work in professional football are more susceptible than the rest of us.
Kinnear was also inaccurate, claiming he'd won more awards than he had and getting players' names wrong, the classic being Yohan Cabaye, who Kinnear referred to as Yohan Kebab. Kinnear isn't a good appointment and he isn't a good interviewee.
But here's the thing. At no point did either of the presenters, Andy Goldstein or Bobby Gould, point out to Kinnear that he was getting things wrong. Kinnear mentioned "Derek Lambezi" in the first minute, though his name is Derek Llambias. He said the word "resigned" as though it meant "re-signed". Goldstein and Gould said nothing. Nicky Campbell wouldn't have let Kinnear get away with it. If the TalkSport presenters had done their job, we would have had a proper interview, rather than an idiot rant.
Then on Thursday, on LBC's regular funfest *Call Nick Clegg*, Clegg was asked by a caller if he would have intervened if he'd been present when Charles Saatchi put his hands around Nigella Lawson's throat. Clegg demurred, because he felt that the pictures might not have given an accurate picture of what had been happening. "It might have been a fleeting thing," he said, and I swear I could hear Clegg's PR's palm hit his forehead. That's right, Nick, if it's just a quick strangle, there's no need to put down your pudding spoon and swing into action.
Still, once Clegg had talked to the caller and established that some sustained choking would definitely have inspired him to intervene, the show moved on. Clegg wasn't malicious, he wasn't in favour of violence against women, he was merely pointing out that it's hard to make a judgment on a situation if you weren't actually there. But such subtleties are lost when words are reported, tweeted, instantly commented upon. Listening always gives a fuller sense of what is being said, and what isn't.
Let us move on from nitpicking to the admirable Claudia Hammond, who has a six-part series on mental health on the World Service. I highly recommend it and all the programmes are still online. The first, "Mad or Sad", worried away at the problem of treating the mentally ill in developing countries; the second concerned the impact of war on children's mental health; the third, how to stay sane in solitary confinement. And the fourth, on Friday, considered the terrible murders by Anders Breivik in Norway and how the survivors and relatives of those killed have been treated and supported.
This was harder to co-ordinate than you might imagine, as those on the island came from all over the country. "Controlled re-exposure" was deemed successful – organised visits to the sites of the car bomb and the island – and regular meetings for those affected really helped. Still, 50% of those affected by Breivik's attack have had mental health problems.
This programme presented a difficult contemporary issue with sensitivity and care. So why not move away from your favourite station and give it a listen? Reported by guardian.co.uk 1 day ago.