Memoranda by Andy Bell, Political Editor,
Five News
Fundamentally our coverage of the House of Lords
is news-driven. That means that we will chase members of the House
of Lords for interview, or pictures of proceedings in the House
when they are part of a news story. For instance, when the Lords
threatens to overturn a bill, as in the case of pre-charge detention,
we will use parts of the debate and try to obtain our own interviews.
One other area where the Lords might add to our coverage
is in the interviewing of experts. The Lords is full of individuals
with expertise that could contribute to coverage of stories which
are not necessarily political; everything from foreign policy
to stem-cell research. In such cases cross-benchers are particularly
useful as they do not come with party political baggage. Perhaps
the Lords could provide a form of directory of the expertise of
individual members, which could then be made available to the
media.
Also, expanding filming opportunities would
be usefulcould members do interviews in the Lords' lobby?
Could pieces-to-camera be done there too? Those two measures would
make the biggest difference to the amount of Lords coverage on
Five.
May 2009
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