ho ho

Yes, I want to hang in there for a bit. And, maybe I am wrong, but I think I detected a distinct change in mood today. The dogs have largely been called off. Pro tem, OK. A lot of aggressive posting has taken place, but very few have been modded off, and no threads have actually been closed for maybe a day. Feb 22nd was a black day, but Feb 23rd has been less edgy.

There have been a lot of constructive suggestions, solutions offered, and the essentially articulate, educated, and witty AND determined nature of the posters has been revealed as the day has gone on. Mnay times I have laughed out loud at the sheer left-field inventiveness! Feedback (R4) are actively 'monitoring' the situation, one suspects that things are happening behind the scenes, and maybe all have been jolted by the ferocity of the measured, observant and trenchant criticism that has come their way as well as the undiluted fury.

What is seriously damaging to the 'new R3' is, of course, the abject failure - with one notable exception - of the 'production teams' to make good their promise and debate, and interact. Credibility shot to pieces in 72 hrs, from which I think they will find it VERY hard to recover. Does that mean that behind the scenes there is real anger and bafflement at the criminally stupid way in which this was handled? The new programmes have been on a hiding to nothing since they were flagged and almost before they were broadcast. The new boards preclude discussion on more than 80% of the network's total output, and I am sure that the production teams are seething at the way they have been introduced. I also try to imagine what the various client companies like Classic Arts, Testbed etc must be thinking as the rage rose, not to mention the record companies reactions to the way CDR and BAL are being shunted into a siding. A high-profile selling point for them trashed by incompetent placing.

This is not going to go away: this is an ingenious, educated, clever audience core who have a good deal of serious connections off-line between them. and one feels that R3 have made a mega tactical error here that will come back to hautn them. Wright's appearance on Feedback will be scrutinised very closely by many.

Anna,

By the way, I haven't abandonned ship - it's jsut there isn't a lot worth discussing over on Beeb Boards at the moment.  It is a bit sad that the Classical Music board here has fewer posts than the cofee bar, but then again, Waffle made up most of the posts on CMoR3.

I wouldn't say I am unloyal to R3 - I don't really listen to anything else.  For me R3 is primarily the station and not the messageboards.

I will of course write to Rog, answer the thread on each board asking about reactions to board changes, and use the complaint facility, as well as writing to various different publications, but for the mo, I haven't a lot to say about the programmes with beeb boards.

That's sort of what happens when you set boundaries for discussion.....

I wish you the best of luck over there, adn I'll bump into you there again, I'm sure.

Tommo

Rob Cowan, Alyn Shipton and Ian McMillan interact and encourage debate; after a rough spell good nature seems to have prevailed on the jazz bored. out of the darkness blessing - this place is also a uniqely wonderful community, loads of fun and seriousness, and whizzy bits after lights out. i feel better off, but only because Michael started and others supported here, so thanks indeed to all of you!

I am not optimistic about the fight. Here there is request programme from lunch time on, people call in or write and request music to be played. In eight years the classical chanel went downhill. I decided that this is sign of our time, political correctness etc.

I completely agree, Soundwave. As I've said many times, my main gripe about the new boards is that the New Music board was taken away AND the concomitant logic that since the new boards are supposedly tied to programmes, and since R3's commitment to contemporary music appears to be heading in the direction of zero, what's the point of having a board to talk about something R3 is no longer interested in supporting? That is disloyalty, and we're expected to roll over and ask for more, and to say what a great guy Rob Cowan is for allowing offtopic discussion on his "breakfast" board; sorry, that whole business is just too undignified - I for one won't be patronising the other place until some changes take place, and I suggest that anyone who doesn't should ask themselves whether it's some fantasy BBC they owe loyalty to, or the actual one.

Anna
Many others, like you, are fighting 'over there', even if (as in my case) under another name. It's unfair to accuse posters here of disloyalty in that repsect. I have sympathy with Richard's point of view; but it really isn't an 'either/or' situation: despite the waffle, bells and whistles, there's more R3 music being discussed here than there, right now. Fact. It's not about loyalty to a messageboard, it's about loyalty to the radio station.