10 AUG 2015 · This is part of the audio from a recent local TV programme 'The Big Debate' I was involved in on a new Freeview service for Greater Manchester. I was there the week the debate on the BBC's future kicked off, to give my views on the future of broadcasting, the BBC, the licence fee, and so on. Hosted by Alistair Clarke, the show begins with a 'get to know you' interview with the guests; their background and career. Here, I talk about what drew me to journalism, including some of the changes I've noted in the industry, broadcasting (especially radio), training, staffing and so on - and the great bits about being an academic!

7 MAY 2015 · My plea to vote! Laying on a guilt trip for anyone who 'cba' today. Recorded using a new two-mic set up on my iPad, with one lavalier mic clipped to shirt and the other hung out the window. Feedback (not of the howl-round type!) appreciated, as I'm kinda test-driving for work.

5 MAY 2015 · It was 10 years ago - that is, if you're listening on May 6, 2015! What a difference a decade makes - then, a Labour overall majority of *just* 65 in a general election was regarded as a disappointment! This is me (me! me!) presenting the news at 0800 the morning after the election on a Restricted Service Licence (RSL) - which broadcast for a month, as a trial for a hoped-for permanent FM licence in Liverpool and surrounding areas. Well, that didn't happen, but we had a lot of fun with this innovative speech/music mix .

26 APR 2015 · It was 40 years ago today! This is the interview (?!) section of the 'Pop Forum' programme on the Birmingham Hospital Broadcasting Network (BHBN) with Les Ross on April 26, 1975. It was recorded a couple of days before at the BBC's Pebble Mill studios (hence my slip about it being "evening") but broadcast on the hospital (landline only) service 11-noon on the Saturday morning. I was 17 then (pictured about that time in the main BHBN studio) and, erm, just developing my radio interviewing technique! Aside from the audio narcissism (!) and thinking how amazed we'd have been to be told back in '75 that 40 years later this output would be available on a click on a portable phone to a potential worldwide audience, I find it fascinating to hear Les's thoughts on the future of radio - which was, in the main, local, he thought, apart from Radio 4 which "ought go on forever". Many of these debates about the importance of liveness and localism carry on today!

26 APR 2015 · It was 40 years ago today! "Snakes don't like jellybabies...they like real babies". Yes, a snake - which had obviously enjoyed being part of the previous Saturday morning kids' show - was making an unscheduled appearance in the Les Ross studio on BBC Radio Birmingham. Just one of the gems from the show that was on before - and during! - my own hospital radio prog' with Les (which he mis-names 'Pop Jury'!) which we'd recorded at the same BBC Pebble Mill studios a couple of days before (I was just 17 and this was a great thrill!). Starting out as 'The Ross and Henry Show', this was a firm Saturday morning favourite for some years on the station - certainly of mine! I just loved the 'loose' feel to it, with a 'live' and very much uninvited (!) audience - including me on a number of occasions - that used to just turn up and cram into the studio, the FANTASTIC music (most of it soul, which, sadly I've had to mostly edit out for copyright reasons) and the whole 'vibe'. I've rarely heard anything as good as this on British radio before or since. I have a badge from the Ross and Henry Show days which says 'They're Outrageous!'. "...somebody in Edgbaston is missing a pussy...what are they laughing at?". Well, this IS the mid-'70s! The news from the end of April '75 is quite interesting, too!

21 APR 2015 · Listen to me! Listen to me! One year ago today - and you might be able to tell I was having fun - on the Bridge of the LV23 former Lightship, now moored in Canning Dock, Liverpool. In April 2014 it was the home of a tribute service to the original offshore 'pirate' station Radio Caroline North. You can hear the alarms, the seagulls and plenty of other stuff, plus some great music - which I've had to edit for copyright reasons. But you get the, erm 'drift'.

21 APR 2015 · One year ago today! If this isn't the best 20 minutes of music radio you have ever heard , I wanna hear it! Broadcast on 'tribute' station Radio Caroline North from the Planet Bar Lightship, via LA, Easter Monday 2014. I've edited the music for copyright reasons but what is left is just brilliant. The link over the intro to 'China Grove' (from 01.50) maybe the finest I've ever heard. Ref' to 'and now the news in English' was response from BBC staff announcer in Rosko's first-ever Radio One show in '67! Check out for more treats from the man, including his amazing 'DJ book'. HAVE MERCY!

18 APR 2015 · Training journalists on how to use social media is rapidly becoming an essential element at 'J-Schools' in the USA, UK and many other countries. But there are many perils, as well as pluses, in the public use of what many still think of as an essentially peer-group method of communication. This is me talking to Mary Rogus of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, on how to utilise social media into journalism, without tears! We caught up during a short break at the Broadcast Education Association's annual Convention and Media Festival in Las Vegas, mid-April 2015. (Music: 'Clouds or Smoke' by Derek K. Miller.)

5 APR 2015 · In tribute to Kenny Everett, who died 20 years ago - on April 4th, 1995 - this is an off-air recording of him reviewing the just about to be released 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band', on the BBC Light Programme's 'Where It's At', in May 1967. Within weeks, government legislation will have forced off the air most of the offshore 'pirate' stations. The BBC's own pop/youth service, Radio 1, did not begin broadcasting until the end of September that year, but a number of 'pirate' DJs, including Kenny Everett, had already jumped ship and began working on the 'groovier' programmes on 'the Light' . Kenny had known The Beatles for several years; they were all from Liverpool, which surely helped, but the Fab Four also recognised Kenny's unique talent and had commissioned him to produce their Fan Club Christmas singles - a huge honour, as they had let only George Martin produce their work up to that point. Kenny had accompanied them on their US tour in '66, reporting from various venues for the 'pirate' station Radio London, of which The Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein, was a big fan. The audio quality is not great - but it IS nearly half a century old, an amateur off-air recording and fascinating, I think, to hear initial reaction to what is one of the all-time classic rock/pop albums. Plus, to hear The Beatles' thoughts, and them goofing around with Kenny, makes this a bit of a classic from the attic! Copyright BBC.

3 APR 2015