Talking Radio: Ashley Byrne

Ashley Byrne

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Ashley Byrne is creative director of Made in Manchester Productions which makes programmes for BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 4, the World Service, 1Xtra and ITV1.

For those of us who either work within BBC Radio 2 or make programmes for it externally, last Friday was a very sad day. Lesley Douglas was a much loved and highly respected figure who has helped to turn the network into a gem of a radio station.

She brought on new listeners without alienating the loyalists and, with Chris Evans at one end of the spectrum and David Jacobs still broadcasting at the other, Radio 2 has really proved that different does work.

The popular myth is that Lesley simply came in and jettisoned the old guard and modernised Radio 2 when actually that is far from the truth. What she did was help to evolve Radio 2. While much of radio has become homogenised, Lesley proved that you don't need focus groups to programme a radio station. What you need, and what she had in abundance, was a clear instinct for what Radio 2 was about. The network is, in many ways, all things to all people at different times of the day and week, but, hey, it works - 16 million listeners can't be wrong.

She was also good at taking a punt on people and on ideas.  She gave Made in Manchester our first big break into network radio production and we'll be forever indebted to her for giving us the chance to prove our worth.

In resigning, she made the honourable decision, but the furore surrounding her departure was ugly and throws up searching questions about the nature of our media today - particularly broadcast journalism.

There's no doubt that Ross and Brand were in the wrong. What they did wasn't funny. Both apologised - apologies which Andrew Sachs accepted. Rightly, the BBC launched an investigation.

But was there a need for coverage bordering on near hysteria? Before my colleagues in newsrooms around the country say "well you have to expect that from the tabloid press", I ask them to look again. Yes, the Daily Mail jumped on the story but it was the broadcast journalists who kept it alive. Aren't there much more important things happening in the world?

The hype meant that two complaints exploded to more than 42,000 but, whatever your views of Ross and Brand's antics, the vast majority of the public remain totally bemused by the amount of attention it received.

And this to me is the real question that comes out of this sorry saga. Yes, the BBC needs to tighten up its checks and balances but do we really want to live in a country where bandwagon journalism prevails?

I've been a journalist for almost 20 years and, as a breed, we don't like being criticised. Dare I say, we often think we are beyond criticism. But we must take a step back and realise this isn't doing our trade any good. The public are put off by the hype and hysteria and quite frankly bored by "one story" news.

We have to accept that what we do every day comes laden with a huge sense of responsibility. Can you imagine the personal hell that everyone involved in this story has had to go through over the past few weeks? And for what? And this isn't the first time this has happened.

There's a place for reviewing the papers but, with such huge teams, the broadcast newsrooms should all be setting their own agendas, not blindly following the Daily Mail.

Lesley Douglas showed that Radio 2 was where difference works. If only my colleagues in broadcast journalism had the courage to prove that diversity can work in the newsroom too.