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The BBC asked if I could obtain quotes from our regular contributors to include in an internal publication about sustainable production. Our busiest contributor Matthew Parris wrote the following…
“At home in Derbyshire it has always pained me when the Corporation offer to taxi me to the nearest studio (Derby or Sheffield, both about an hour’s ride away), for three reasons…
First because nine times out of ten I must then turn the engagement down: two or three hours out of the day for a five minute interview makes no sense.
Second because when I do accept, I’m aware that for a £37-odd fee to me, the BBC are paying at least £100, the cost increased by the Corporation’s habit of wanting to book the taxi from my destination (so the driver makes four journeys) rather than find a taxi local to me, and do a wait-and-return; the weird economics of all this irks me, the cost of sending a radio car being even greater and involving half an hour extra while the driver seeks a situation where he has reception.
Third because a significant element of unreliability is introduced: my home is not easy to find, so extra time must be built in; on the last occasion I nearly missed my 3-minute live slot on The World Tonight, choosing to drive myself when the taxi failed to find me.
A reliable quality link (and so far In:Quality has never failed) makes it easy and time-cheap for me, and easy and inexpensive for the BBC.”
We didn’t pay him to write those things, honest. Meanwhile, Rev Stephen Lowe writes…
“The provision of studio quality facilities in my home saves me a 160 mile round trip from my home in North Wales. It also means I save 3 hours of travelling time and 1am is a better time to go to bed than 2-45am!”
And we’re saving even more journeys with new installs this month for Sir Andrew Green of Migration Watch, Defence Analyst Eric Gorve and Piara Powar at Football against Racism in Europe.
KEVIN
