In this edition, Marcus Stead is joined by Graham Miller, an experienced journalist and broadcaster, probably best known for his years as the face of Saturday teatime sports bulletins on the ITN news.
Graham began his career in hospital radio, but his big break came in 1973 when he joined BBC Radio Birmingham, where he worked on both news and sport. A year later, he moved to BBC Radio London, where he covered the Moorgate tube crash of 1975.
During his radio years, Graham worked alongside some of the giants of radio sports journalism, including Bryon Butler and Peter Jones.
Graham moved into television, where at Anglia he worked as an in-vision continuity announcer and newsreader/reporter on About Anglia. He then moved to HTV West, where he worked as a sports presenter and producer. Colleagues included legendary newsreader Bruce Hockin and long-serving sports broadcaster Roger Malone.
In 1983, Graham moved to Thames News, where he worked alongside veteran newscaster Andrew Gardner, and on 31 December 1992, Graham presented the last ever bulletin before Thames lost the ITV weekday franchise in London.
A move to ITN followed, and Graham quickly became associated with the Saturday teatime bulletin, where he fronted a comprehensive roundup of the day’s sports news and the classified football results. During his years with ITN, Graham reported from around the globe on top sporting events including World Cups and Olympic Games, and he twice won the Royal Television Society Sports Presenter of the Year award.
After leaving ITN in late 2002, Graham set up public relations and media training company Media-Vu. Graham helps a variety of businesses, sports federations and individuals by advising on media strategy. His client list includes executives at Manchester United FC, the banking industry, and a range of individuals.
Graham continued to broadcast as a reporter for Gillette Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports, and he read news and sport for London Tonight and sports bulletins on Sky News.
In the latter part of the podcast, Marcus and Graham discuss modern trends in journalism, including the dangerous mixing up of ‘fact’ and ‘opinion’ in mainstream news and current affairs programming. Graham and Marcus share concerns about the BBC’s move away from the emphasis on ‘facts and analysis’ towards more opinion-led campaigning journalism.
The podcast concludes by Graham and Marcus providing advice to young people starting out in journalism today. The industry is very different to when Graham took his first steps at hospital radio and at the BBC in Birmingham, so what can people entering the industry do to help themselves get on in these difficult times?
You can read more about Graham’s work with Media-Vu by visiting his website.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
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