Read this: The death of the Queen

BBC sounds music Radio podcasts hello, this is the media show from BBC Radio 4 Today thousands of people gathered London to watch Queen Elizabeth's final journey from Buckingham Palace the queen's coffin travelled in a ceremonial procession to Westminster Hall Where's Your Lying state for 4 full days until a funeral on Monday and millions in the UK and around the world it's the media that allows them to follow this period of national mourning we're going to talk to get from news casters commercial radio and local newspapers about their experience of covering the Queen's death will talk about Ukraine to because it's been an extraordinary few days with Russian forces be back in Broad terms.

We know what has happened, but there are significant challenges establishing exactly what's happening in this war because access is being.

Will hear how news organisations are insuring their reporting is accurate that first turn to the media coverage here in the UK and recent days Christine and Nicholas choir director of content of Sky News Frank O'Donnell is editor-in-chief of the Press and Journal the biggest local paper in Scotland and Phil Riley is the founder of boom radio and you commercial music station impressive growth as it seeks an over 50s audience and fill in a form of chief executive of chrysalis radio what Christina if we could start with you the announcement of the Queen that would have been something that Sky News as planned for for a long time tell us about your Thursday afternoon the strangest thing is that we're actually having a meeting to review our plans believe it or not that lunchtime with a lot of discussions over the years but how much morning one would get and what the scenario might be.

I think we probably all all the organisations in a real new things were something was up in that state must put out at lunch time on Thursday and we spent the afternoon giving people in place ready to make an announcement like either broadcasters in other news organizations and I made a couple of full starts about rumours of what time and I might be made and then I think at literally 1 to 6:30 we were told by the Palace Theatre statement would be imminent and it will be on the royal family website and I went into the gallery.

I said it's on Twitter go with it which is not words.

I ever thought I would say it all are planning because that's all the family did the royal family put on Twitter their Twitter feed before they put on the royal family website so we can have an imposition at Buckingham Palace and he announced that you could hear the Ghosts of surprise from people behind him which is wonderful.

Worry you know Sky News goes to wear stories happening and reasons why the announcement from Buckingham Palace as opposed to studio.

Was you wanted to capture the moment and then yeah and then the national playing out and I looked and I thought the other broadcasters haven't announced yet and did a bit of a moment.

Why dear what have I done? But no it was it was the moment and I have to pinch myself because My Little Pony the same age.

I have worked on an imagined and planned for this is that third day quite a while and tell me about those few moments before you leave the instruction to announce the news you saw the tweet from Buckingham Palace did Sky News have a process that had to be gone through beyond you looking phone and seeing that week before you decided.

Yes, we can share that.

Decision to announce are all this is held if you like by three of us at Sky News we will happen to be in the room together.

We all saw it then we'll over 20K it straight away, but no doesn't go through any other it was a genuine account it.

Was you when you is coming and we were happy to use the official source report it so that your experience at Sky News Phil let's bring you in and talk about boom radio.

What was the process for you and your colleagues? Are we get our news from Sky Sky artificial news providers, so we would have just had Sky on the monitor and we were just waiting for Skype to make the announcement and soon as they did we press the button ZR and we've already got our own announcement ready to go that went out and then we went straight into the national anthem.

We were very lucky.

We are very lucky in the one of our presenters is Bill Bingham

Add a story career in news at the BBC and commercial radio and is also a great music presenter so bills on standby ready to go as soon as we knew at the bill gay men and was queuing up telling Alistair's what the news was but obviously throwing forward to that we're going to go to Sky at 7 for a motor stronger extended bulletin and preparing radio as well as TV blessings and we were able to communicate that sense of shopping for Sky bill for a very experienced broadcasters to intuitively know the right tone to take to make sure that people feel the enormity of the of the moment and that is transmitted to to our audience so no problem.

Sorry.

I was just give us the other thing that we have to do because

What's the really news channel is we have to go literally throughout the music playlist that we've been running and bringing the you know how much softer playlist that reflects the mood for that and of course adds again out of the window and that's unfair commercial broadcaster completely reading everything including the music and the commercial it's quite a small organisation so that was really all hands on Deck so let me understand your plans in a little more depth you would take the from Sky you were taking extended bulletin from Skype but presumably at some point that evening you had to go back to music you are after all eh eh music station.

Did you have all of those playlist ready ready to go yes? Yeah, there's it there that would have been a set of I don't know 150-200 songs that would have been tagged first 5 hours song.

We would know that we could play them that they're safe that sell nothing in there.

That's going to offend anybody or upset people and so they would immediately have been moved into the schedule in place schedule for that particular.

I'm sure all radio stations would have had a they wouldn't be the same song Kiss FM different set of 100 x 2 boom radio you would all have had a list of songs ready to go that would have reflected that the moon that we think I left this would have been at that time hearing that news and you mentioned that you had one of your experience presenters someone with a background in use available to present in those first few minutes and hours, but of course he at some point would have needed to store presenters come talking about something of this nature when of course their normal job is to be much more upbeat into to keep your audience entertained absolutely and I think this is.

16 things about radio the Boom radio presentation team include include people like David Hamilton and Nicky Horne and Graham Dean and Roger De who each dog forty fifty sixty years were Experience running radio programmes and during that time although you you're right.

They normally supposed to be upbeat and happy.

They were all on there when princess Di but Diana have been on eggs for 9/11.

So they've all got a wealth of experience of understanding that you do need to change the tone change tempo respond to people in a different way and they were all absolutely capable of doing that and the great thing is at their their rage makes them the exactly the sort of people that we know are most likely to want that comfort because that they've live their lives the whole of their lives with Her Majesty the Queen just like I'll listers happened.

Obviously that's different to station sound of the younger audience where I think they've got different.

Real problems and decision to make for us.

It's a full-on, we know what they're thinking because we we are them and therefore from radiation respective.

We can we can really give it a 100% to feel that you experienced a boom radio which is a commercial music station Christine has been describing the experience of Sky News Frank your editor-in-chief of the Press and Journal the biggest local paper in Scotland it covers the north east of Scotland which includes Balmoral where the Queen spend her final days.

Tell me about how you went about covering the news on Thursday evening and into the news news first emerged in the afternoon.

The Queen's health wasn't members of the royal family heading up to Aberdeenshire nutricia simulate the Queen have attended the Braemar Gathering shortly before that which is something.

She loves him so we all realise that this could be coming.

Quite know when the Death would be announced and so we had to have two scenarios are ahead because we had a print edition to get often wear with conditions the first edition Charizard Highlands and Islands going out to the west Wales at rugby that was off just after 10 so as time is going on and we had to have the two scenarios plans and I'm actually after the sky and social media and very quickly has happened 50 years ago Rose I think the Editors smokers The Newsroom soukous would have been on the print product filling.

To be measured in West Indies paper sales today.

I think you have to consider prints and digital equally so I could see in some ways two-thirds of my effort was go away digital contactless correct to following and the queen had a particular relationship with the part of Scotland that you cover.

I wonder is an editor what you were trying to offer your readers that was differing to the snow coverage coming from the BBC and Channel 4 and ITV and sky what's up? What's an older mean news channels and the newspapers and we still have to have that covered but in terms of what we pushed the top of the site or will be pushed in.

the front pages of our products is always try to the local and I will try to be unique and we want to be different because otherwise what's the point of subscribe to our site is just going to be a facsimile of what's elsewhere to always try to cover the history of the understanding and give people the information that the maybe not quite finding Elsewhere and that included if I'm right the route that the Queen's coffin was driven along from Balmoral to Edinburgh going to decide and it could have gone two ways that could have gone straight to me or I could go along and to Ballater to Aberdeen obviously we spoke to the

Government to the council and it was nothing coming out about this at all and it was old fashioned reporting where we saw some cones going out alone alone and he follows it and followed it and then we try to the council and eventually we go to cancel it was and that we had the route to roots and up online with graphic and everything Friday and it was actually public until 5 Saturday and that's the kind of a driver and what subscriptions and then people would have that route being used on Sunday afternoon both on Christina's output and on the BBC and others now.

You will be describing the first few minutes and hours after the announcement where.

Inevitably this was the only subject that all UK media was focused on but as we've come into the weekend and into the next week.

We have seen her diversificare in the subjects being discussed and also in the case of music radio have caused the the type of music being played has has evolved as well Christina Help Me Understand your calculations at Sky News when you thought we obviously need to continue to cover the Queen's death, but we can now talk about other subjects to say it makes Seasons that you've got what you store cover lovely the death of the queen on Thursday evening was a huge story and the only story I think you posted on that evening but by the time I got into Friday it was another very very big story with much perhaps ultimately as much importance to world and the developing situation in Ukraine which I know you're talking about a bit more about later on and so we will we come.

When you train everyday we had someone there all the time and by Saturday certainly we were reporting from the field there.

We've had a team that all the way through with actually both somehow with managed to send a presenter and see more correspondence to G is there and we actually presenting from Ukraine later on this evening when I was born in February has been referred from liberated City so we just felt that we're there is space for both stories and actually was going Ukraine has will have the consequences on the world, so you offend anybody by carrying out the news stories and it's just a question and making a decision weekly ride use of the facts and and and mindfully audience but when you're making those editorial decision.

Are you concerned that one of those decisions may appear to show Sky News not sufficiently respecting the moment or being in sync with the National

Which is covering we've been live on every single ceremonial events and 4 hours on end questioning the extent of coverage.

I was just wondering whether that's something that's in your mind when you and your senior colleagues make decisions.

Yes, only way that up, but I said we're not ever taking you away from the coverage of the of the key moments and the coverage of the story we are just in some parts the date ring me back.

Slightly when there's not so much live important ceremonial to tell me about other important stories and those editorial decisions fill from a commercial radio point of view if I wouldn't turn on boom radio this evening how close to normal Wednesday evening mate it sound in terms of the music probably 90% there still a bit of filtering of some some music that we think we probably.

Most of it would be normal and then what wouldn't be appropriate.

What is in that 10% that you might play in a month's time, but you wouldn't play now.

Well.

Maybe the odd novelty song of I mean dare.

I say the queen material is probably challenging presented to play more novelty and jocular stuff.

I think is the stuff that we probably wouldn't play the more important thing is what are present is talking about and I think that will depend on the time of day and when Sky Broadcasting live live coverage of something happening our team May reflect that but obviously in the day when there is nothing tangibly live happening and are presented will they'll be talking about the coverage in this whole period but they'll be talking about other things too sometimes.

They might be talking about Ukraine sometimes.

Me about the football that happened the night before and I think there's a degree to which you have to get back to some normality.

I don't think you can run for 10 or 11 days doing doing just just this one thing I think people would would find that tedious and does the form of normality with your describing include adverts.

We went back to Commercial on Sunday in the afternoon.

So about 3 days on a commercial radio no stations have done different things now we as a normal individual station decided the week.

We felt we could go back on Sunday afternoon at a relatively low level we weren't running with the full level of Commercials with a smaller number and then the other groups came back over the course of the next probably 36 48 H the larger groups of course.

I've got a terribly challenging problem because we didn't know this was going to happen until.

30 on Thursday so Friday with the only day the commercial radio would have had to communicate to and advertisers asked whether they wanted their adverts to run your period when we come back to playing cards and the challenges you probably couldn't talk soon you for the bigger groups.

You've got local advertised as well as national couldn't talk to one of them in the space of the day so taken slightly longer to come back, but I think all commercial radio now is running Commercials at some at some level Television Awards has been running at ITV has been running since Saturday on their subsidiary channels, because they build programs stationery couldn't run those programs without having 6 or 7 minutes of Commercials to fill in so there are technical in terms of when you play and don't lads until you are referencing that your presenters.

Maybe talking about the sport the night before but of course some sport has been cancelled and not everyone is hay.

Frank and wonder to what degree within your paper you tried to reflect the fact that some Scottish football fans are unimpressed that matches got cancelled the rugby lots of the bait that can I erase the monarchy had it backstage reunion anything there is a time for those that we don't really carry any other than as you say that was a lot of concern about whether cancelling sport was the right thing to do in Scotland about 50% about 40% of the reading about 10% consistent people out there who don't necessarily feeling the same about this event but we wanted to be respectful, but this is the area where people said towards actually coming together is what we need to do right now.

I don't want to sit on my own and more the death of the

I want to be out there with other people in the same way is with Corbett in when they clap for carers.

We didn't do it in a room for we went out to the edge of our front door.

I did it appreciate it.

Thank you very much.

Thank the editor-in-chief of the Press and Journal thanks to Phil Riley the founder of boom radio Christina from Sky News going to stay with us because next on the media show we're going to talk about the war in Ukraine president selenski and said his forces of retaken more than 3000 square miles of territory from Russia but it is very hard to be sure exactly what's happening in this war because access to the front line is being restricted by both sides understand.

How us organisation make sure they're putting is accurate Christina still here director of content from Sky News with me and the studio is Francis car from BBC monitoring an expert and Russian media and we're also joined by James Waterhouse the Ukraine

BBC News James Harvey start with you when you're telling you is in the UK of you as around the world what's happening.

How do you go about being confident given that the ukrainians are not letting journalist near some parts of the front line.

What was a few things that happened before I open my mouth if you like Francis and his colleagues at BBC monitoring are a part of that we get daily reports from Russian Media outlets Ukrainian Media outlets getting a sense of the conversations there.

We look at footage.

That's been posted on the telly a map of the defining features of this wall for me have been just not instantaneous.

It's been where you can visualise, what is happening across this fast country, where is the verification team at the BBC Who trying geolocator footage try and make sure it is genuine.

It's certainly been an issue when we looked at drone strike recently down here in Crimea we also have BBC teams on the ground not just here in kids, so I think what she bring all of those things.

And you put into context as to why both sides of saying what they are then you can sort of say with a bit of confidence that we have an idea of what is going on strong idea at that us by the government hear that a lot of what the government puts out in terms of messaging isn't for us journalists.

It's made me to confuse, so we're aware of that and it's important for us to put that in context but there is a lot that happens, but personally you also developed a sense as well.

You get an idea of what is realistic and certainly with his recent Ukrainian successes on the battlefield, when you look at their claims the reporting from BBC teams as well as crucially the Russian missiles of them.

They call a regrouping then you know it is clear something significant has happened and if you were to go to the front line or it were one of our colleagues such as all the gear in because you would be that.

Organised with the authorities you can only go where the Ukrainian say.

Broadly speaking yes, you are nothing without your official documentation from the military and as all her has said you have not been allowed to get to the front line.

When Russia was trying to take all of Ukraine and certainly key if there were issues very early on in the Invasion where Media teams with a specific checkpoint for example.

They would start filming their pieces would go out and then those very pieces would be used by Russian forces to launch their own airstrike in relation to the most recent events in the east the country is Deputy defence minister has said after Ukrainian successes.

Look do you see now? Why we're doing it and they have now started to free up a bit of access to the front line, but it is incredibly difficult for teens early on in the Wall in the front line is a lot more fluid and even now with with.

So you're helping us with the Ukraine side of the story Francis car from BBC monitoring you spend a lot of your working days looking at Russian Media how is Russian Media describe a story that on the face of it looks negative for Russia when it's been really interesting actually we've seen involving picture of the last few days initially there were attempts on state tv.

Which is the main source of information for the most Russians to stay pretty close to the official Line this was a regrouping so they spoke of enormous losses on the Ukrainian side 1 presenter on TV so that they have been a process ambulances stretching all the way to Kiev and they were claims made that the Ukrainian forces now found themselves exposed in unprepared and unfavorable positions, but as this the magnitude of this has begun to sunk in there's a definite sense on state tv.

That these people the mouth pieces of the Kremlin who have been aggressively cheerleading this wall for the last 6-months.

I've really been.

And they are beginning to try and point the finger mostly to the other side.

They're claiming that nature has got a sizeable presents in Ukraine we know of course the individual NATO countries are sending weapons to Ukraine and training Ukrainian troops.

They don't have boots on the ground but increasingly Russian state tv.

Is claiming the foreign Fighters are there on the ground sun presenters are going out with particularly for that claims that actually most of the soldiers involved in the Slaters offensive were foreign and when they are talking on the shows sometimes those clips go viral in the west presume.

They are aware of that you sometimes.

What is programs and think this isn't just for a Russian audience.

Well.

I know they are aware because a couple of months ago one of the presenters made an aggressive statement about the need to demilitarise the entirety of NATO rather than just Ukraine and I then posted a clip of this on Twitter it was picked up by a few UK papers.

Following day she paid attention to it and said that in the UK people were watching Russian TV on the sly.

I definitely think there is a sense in which their way, but I think ultimately the people watching Russian TV on following international media and this is their main source information.

Thank you very much indeed.

That's far from BBC monitoring.

Thanks to James Waterhouse the BBC's Ukraine corresponding amount of time to come back to you, but I mention again what Christina was saying which is Sky uses live from Ukraine later on to Francis Frank O'Donnell from the Press and Journal in Scotland and to Phil Riley the founder of boom radio as we always reminds you all editions of the media shown label through BBC sounds but for now thanks for listening, goodbye.