Radio Dignitas?

[Old Grumpy]

From Saturday's Guardian

"Radio 3 gets the least attention, except during the Proms, but as classical music’s popularity wanes among the young, that’s hardly a surprise. One wag described it as Radio Dignitas".

OG

[Serial_Apologist]

From Saturday's Guardian

"Radio 3 gets the least attention, except during the Proms, but as classical music’s popularity wanes among the young, that’s hardly a surprise. One wag described it as Radio Dignitas".

OG

I think I'll pass...on that.

[french frank]

It's a pity that their radio critic is someone who can write of Radio 3, in all earnestness: "It’s better when more experimental – as on Late Junction and Hear and Now". Hear and Now, I'll give them, but once I hear people saying things like 'Late Junction is the best thing on Radio 3' (or even 'the only good thing'), I know where to place their musical tastes but don't think much of their critical acumen.

PS Must get round to making that drool emoticon smaller.

[Old Grumpy]

PS Must get round to making that drool emoticon smaller.

I could not resist using it in the context of the sentiment expressed in my quote, although I suspect the emoticon was created for a different emotion...

OG

[Old Grumpy]

I think I'll pass...on that.

Vale, comrade!

OG

[jean]

It's a pity that their radio critic is someone who can write of Radio 3, in all earnestness: "It’s better when more experimental – as on Late Junction and Hear and Now"...

My memory is of her sneering at a tenor - I can't remember who - singing in RP instsead iof some unspecified local accent.

I'm all for local accents, but that was ridiculous.

[zola]

Methinks Miss Sawyer ( 50 years old and self styled "professional gobshite" ) is in her mind still dancing around her handbag to Bananarama. It is somewhat ironic to have a contributor to a print newspaper ( albeit with an online presence ) castigating radio stations for being outmoded in a digital era.

[Nick Armstrong]

Methinks Miss Sawyer ( 50 years old and self styled "professional gobshite" ) is in her mind still dancing around her handbag to Bananarama. It is somewhat ironic to have a contributor to a print newspaper ( albeit with an online presence ) castigating radio stations for being outmoded in a digital era.

[Barbirollians]

Breakfast and Essential Classics probably justify the description of Radio Dignitas !

[Cockney Sparrow]

There are many groups in society strictly off limits for criticism from the outpourings of the Guardian. Are we, a group taken to be outmoded, presumably elitist and by inference I imagine biased to the elderly - are we one of those groups safe to offend? ( I heard a gentlemanly but lifelong committed Christian friend express the same sentiment recently - expected to tolerate criticism or abuse and readily accede to demands others would not, in an equivalent way, countenance).

I've only read the grossly offensive re-iterated (but not attributed*) "quote" - not the article (so far). Any chance of raising some dust and fury on that use of language? Sorry to be coarse, but for some time the words "plummy mouthed Rent-A-Gob" had formed in my mind for the likes of Sarah Vine and Katie Hopkins - but they recognisably inhabit the media space known to pander to the worst level of debate/ synthetic controversy - necessary for them to fill those column spaces when, long ago they had run out of inspiration for any ideas of worth (got to be able to command that salary for their west London lifestyle).

Its a sad day for a paper with the history of the Guardian but anyone who reads the media pages of "Private Eye"** would know that extremely poor management has stripped that paper (similarly the once great - in its political sector "Daily Telegraph" ) of journalists and resources and left them prey to either the owners/advertisers influence or in the case of the Guardian - well, it appears (a la ***Daily Mail) anyone who can raise some attention by causing offense and mobilising the partisan scorn of the "majority". Accompanied by begging messages to anyone who visits their web pages.

Its with a heavy heart that I suggest the only UK newspaper left with Standards and a semblance of journalistic resources is The Times - when I had resolved not to patronise a Murdoch Hard print/Online or TV outlet (Honourable exception: Family Guy (Fox Media)). That said, I haven't subscribed to The Times so I'm talking about following up particular articles in libraries or buying a copy, occasionally. The Times doesn't seem to feature in Private Eye as to degradation in quality or marked lack of independence from the owner - by all means correct me if I'm wrong there.

I wonder whether its time - or perhaps I'm hoping - for the spotlight to be turned on these journalists / editors / owners who have, for so long, manipulated politics and news agendas. In the days of cameras in almost every pocket, instantly posted on the web to "social" media- at last the demands for accountability and focussed outrage can be directed at those media figures? Anyone for a FoR3 demo on Miss Sawyer's doorstep - large flight tickets to Geneva with her name name on it, complete concertos played over a megaphone, cremation of 1970's R3 schedules and playlists and their burial in her front lawn (or windowbox)........

* - so can just as well, or perhaps - likely - to be the words of Miss Sawyer but thinking it will sidestep full responsibilty for the choice of words.
** For some years now I've proceeded on the basis that the most important news information is that in Private Eye - i.e. information which "they" would rather we didn't know about.
*** How can I put in accent, umlauts etc?

[vinteuil]

.

... altho' at one level I share cockney sparrer's despair (... but lay off cheap references to the "west London lifestyle", if you please) - I have to say this despair is not new. As an undergraduate in the 1970s in the flat-share in the second year we decided, after much debate, that none of the current papers offered would do - the only balance available was subscribing to le Journal de Genève and l'Osservatore Romano.

For various reasons I still have access to The Times. It's pretty rubbish most of the time, but with a handful of interesting commentators. But le Monde and le Figaro are pretty dire too - at least The Times has gossip about z-list celebs....

[Serial_Apologist]

.

... altho' at one level I share cockney sparrer's despair (... but lay off cheap references to the "west London lifestyle", if you please) - I have to say this despair is not new. As an undergraduate in the 1970s in the flat-share in the second year we decided, after much debate, that none of the current papers offered would do - the only balance available was subscribing to le Journal de Genève and l'Osservatore Romano.

For various reasons I still have access to The Times. It's pretty rubbish most of the time, but with a handful of interesting commentators. But le Monde and le Figaro are pretty dire too - at least The Times has gossip about z-list celebs....

Back in the day, while Le Monde used to be considered by us lot to be one of the more informative of the bourgeois newspapers, we always reckoned the clearest and most honest expression of our rulers' opinionations was to be found in the FT.

[vinteuil]

Back in the day, while Le Monde used to be considered by us lot to be one of the more informative of the bourgeois newspapers, we always reckoned the clearest and most honest expression of our rulers' world views was to be found in the FT.

... indeed so : and actually the FT's arts coverage was always pretty good too. I assume you took in The Economist as well as the FT...

In the far-off days when I felt I was a bit of a lefty I still acknowledged that The Daily Telegraph had much the best coverage of international news.


.

[french frank]

I've only read the grossly offensive re-iterated (but not attributed*) "quote"

There was another one a couple of years back when 6 Music overtook Radio 3's listening figures. Tom Watson MP, deputy leader of the Labour party and a 6 Music enthusiast (natch) suggested that 6 Music and Radio 3 should swap places so that Radio 3 was 'digital only'.

He added that the Radio 3 listeners could be issued with free DAB sets and 'trained how to press the buttons'. I wrote a letter to him which did not receive an acknowledgement. (I think I commented that it was lovely to hear that he was now enjoying the popular songs of my youth, like Waterloo Sunset …)

[Richard Tarleton]

.

For various reasons I still have access to The Times. It's pretty rubbish most of the time, but with a handful of interesting commentators. But le Monde and le Figaro are pretty dire too - at least The Times has gossip about z-list celebs....

Probably the best European paper right now is El País - a really grown-up paper.

Otherwise, in this country, it's The Times.