In recent years, there have been few potential diplomatic crises as grave for the United States as the one sparked by the escape from house arrest of Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng, and his subsequent “retrieval” by US diplomats who then sheltered him in the American embassy in Beijing.  

The decision by Ambassador Gary Locke and others to afford Chen Guangcheng diplomatic protection sparked Chinese accusations that the United States was meddling in the country’s internal affairs.  The story then reached stranger-than-fiction proportions, when Mr. Chen left the US Embassy in Beijing after reportedly striking an agreement concerning his future with the Chinese authorities, only to denounce the arrangement just a few hours later.

Simon’s multi-media coverage of the crisis aired on television and radio stations worldwide.  He set the stage with this story for pan-Asian network Channel NewsAsia:

As the mystery deepened, Simon reached out to one of Mr. Chen’s most-vocal supporters in the United States.  This interview with Bob Fu of China Aid aired on radio stations worldwide:

As the story developed, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepared to travel to China for a previously-scheduled visit, Simon provided extensive live coverage for networks including France 24, Radio New Zealand and Channel NewsAsia:

After Mr. Chen departed the US Embassy in Beijing, and headed to one of the city’s hospitals to secure treatment for a leg injured during his escape from home detention, Simon charted the confusion that rapidly enveloped the case:

Though Mr. Romney still needed to win more primary elections in order to secure a firm lock on the party’s nomination, he argued – in essence – that the remaining contests were academic given the enormous progress he’d made on the road to the Tampa convention.

Newt Gingrich, one of Mr. Romney’s remaining rivals in the race, described the New Hampshire speech as “presumptuous”, but indicated plans to leave the race and work for a Republican victory in November.

Simon covered Mr. Romney’s speech for a number of TV and radio networks worldwide.  Here, you can hear his live report for Radio New Zealand’s award-winning “Morning Report”:

On March 11, 2012 US policy in Afghanistan suffered another major setback after a tragic attack on innocent civilians by a US soldier in Kandahar province.   16 people were killed, including 9 children.

The shooting spree came just as the Obama administration was trying to overcome Afghan hostility to the United States sparked by the burning of copies of the Koran by members of the US military.

As Simon told Radio New Zealand, the latest incident raised enormous questions about the future of US policy in Afghanistan, and the Obama administration’s ability to win hearts-and-minds in the country.

It’s been a while….but it’s great to be back on-the-air on London’s best radio station, LBC.

Almost 30 years ago, my career in TV and radio news began in the basement offices of London’s LBC News Radio.  From a windowless newsroom steps from the famed haunts of Fleet Street, LBC delivered an entertaining mix of news and information from London, the nation and the world.  For this cub reporter, its newsroom – alongside those of Radio Luxembourg and ITN – were some of the principle places where I learned the tricks of the trade.

Through the years, I’ve made several different contributions to LBC.  Back in the early 90s, I covered the revolutions in Eastern Europe for the station, and the Independent Radio News service it then produced for the UK’s commercial radio network.   I was a newsreader for LBC (during the days when the station was branded – for reasons too obscure to dwell on – “Crown FM”, and operating out of new digs in Hammersmith).  Then, when LBC relaunched as a rolling news operation, I was its Washington correspondent for many years, covering a variety of stories from the OJ Simpson trial to Gerry Adams’ historic (and controversial) visits to the US Capital.

So, it’s lovely to be back on LBC from Washington DC, and terrific to engage in the kind of broadcasting – informative, substantive but also entertaining – that has kept audiences in the British capital on top of the day’s news since the station’s launch in 1973.

Take a listen to my Super Tuesday preview on Iain Dale’s program dated March 6, 2012:

0306lbc-supertuesday-preview by simonmarksfsn    

And I was back on Iain’s program the following day, with analysis of Super Tuesday’s outcome:

“Super Tuesday” is one of the biggest days in the American electoral calendar, and on March 6 2012 ten states across the country are taking part in Republican party primaries and caucuses, as America’s “Grand Old Party” continues the process of picking a candidate to take on Barack Obama in the November 2012 election.

For a week leading up to “Super Tuesday”, Simon provided FSN’s clients worldwide with extensive multimedia coverage of the battle for the Republican nomination.  That coverage kicked off with Mitt Romney’s victory in the Arizona and Michigan primaries one week ahead of Super Tuesday, on March 28th 2012.

This report relating to Mr. Romney’s triumph in those two states aired on Radio New Zealand’s afternoon drive-time program “Checkpoint”:

Simon also reported the results of Arizona and Michigan for pan-Asian broadcaster Channel News Asia:

Simon then provided Channel News Asia with a series of reports previewing “Super Tuesday”, beginning with this story explaining the importance and origins of the day itself:

On the even of Super Tuesday, Simon previewed the hours that lay ahead on Radio New Zealand’s “Morning Report”:

Then, on the big day itself, Simon covered the results as they came in for Channel News Asia…..

….and Radio New Zealand…..

…..and a host of other radio stations worldwide, via the FSN World News service:

 

On February 13 2012, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping began an historic visit to Washington DC.   The man widely expected to be China’s next President arrived for a four-day, cross-country tour of the United States that included stops at the White House, the Pentagon, in small-town Iowa and big-city Los Angeles.

Both the US and China pledged that the visit would help improve bilateral ties between Washington DC and Beijing.  But at a time of tension between the two capitals, there were no shortage of divisive issues on the agenda.

Simon previewed Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States for Channel News Asia, the region’s leading all-news channel:

And when Xi Jinping met President Obama at The White House, and then – rarely for Chinese leaders – publicly discussed the country’s human rights situation, Simon filed this report for Channel News Asia:

On January 30 2012, President Barack Obama made a little history at the White House. He took part in the first-ever, completely “virtual” interview – a Google+/YouTube project that Simon produced along with the team at Feature Story News.

The President was questioned directly by members of the public about a range of issues, including the Economy, Foreign Affairs and Innovation. He also answered pre-taped questions submitted by members of the YouTube audience.

Production of the event presented enormously complex challenges. FSN’s team in Washington DC had to create an environment in which the US President could comfortably feel like he was part of a Google+Hangout, while at the same time looking straight into a broadcast-quality camera in the Roosevelt Room of The White House.

Simon produced the event from “Studio G” in Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California. You can watch the program here:

And then, on October 8th 1973, the world changed.  LBC (the London Broadcasting Company) was born, offering Londoners not only Britain’s first licensed commercial radio station….but also its first-ever commercial radio news operation.  One week later, legal commercial pop music radio entered the scene in the form of London’s Capital Radio.

In its first year, LBC struggled through industrial disputes, technical problems, and a general failure to inspire the London audience.  But by the middle of the 1970s, the situation started to stabilize, and LBC found its niche.

Bob Holness  – who died on January 6, 2012, aged 83 – was in large measure responsible for exploiting that niche to the full.  He started out as the station’s traffic reporter – the first radio reporter in the UK ever to hover above London’s traffic jams – American-style -  in a helicopter, reporting on the inevitable daily catastrophe on the North Circular.
LBC Bob Holness Helicopter 417 by Paul Easton

His LBC bosses rapidly realized that he had natural on-air chemistry with morning show host Douglas Cameron, and Cameron’s original sidekick (Clive Roslin, father of the well-known Gaby) was redeployed to make room for Bob Holness on the anchor desk.

The AM program run from 6am till 10am on LBC’s AM and FM (or, as it was known then, VHF) frequencies.  Bob and Doug quickly established the program as the essential wake-up habit for – at its peak – more than 2 million Londoners each day.  Imagine that….more than two million people each morning tuning in to a show that was a smart, articulate, engaging alternative to the (excellent) “Today” program on BBC Radio 4.

You can catch just a flavor of it in this television advertisement for the show, screened in around 1979:

Its agenda was – by today’s standards – stunningly up-market, and LBC had a team of correspondents worldwide contributing to the program, plus full access (via Independent Radio News) to content from a growing array of commercial radio newsrooms across the nation.

Whether the major story of the day was in Romford or Rhodesia, AM brought you the news in a crisp, engaging, skillful manner from its windowless and nicotine-stained newsroom in a Gough Square basement (“Communications House”) just off Fleet Street.   It was on-the-scene reporting of the kind you rarely hear on UK commercial radio today.  And many of the reporters went on to become some of the best in the business:  Peter Allen of 5 Live, Malcolm Brabant of the BBC, Jon Snow and the late Carol Barnes and Joan Thirkettle of ITN among many, many others.
Bob Holness on the LBC Breakfast Show by LBC973

To be sure, there was “lifestyle” reporting on “AM”.  Every year the show broadcast live from the “Ideal Home Exhibition”, with Bob eagerly experiencing the latest mod-cons that every home was encouraged to acquire.  But on “AM”, the hard news always came first, and Bob handled dozens of live interviews each morning, many of them as news was breaking all around him.

My first paid job in radio saw me working in a corner of the Gough Square newsroom as a freelance “wire ripper”.  Armed with a machete – literally – it was my job to keep tabs on about 15 teletype machines, and rip the agency copy they brought to LBC from the newsrooms of Reuters, the Press Association, AP, UPI and a variety of other sources.  I worked overnights, and in mid-shift – at around 4am – Bob would walk through the door to prepare for another edition of “AM”.

It’s hard always to be cheerful.  And even harder always to be cheerful at 4am.  But Bob managed it, day-in and day-out.  He loved his work, and the program’s stunning success was driven by the fact that he and Douglas (with whom I worked when I was Washington Correspondent for LBC in its later years) were not only an astoundingly-talented professional couple, but also the best of friends.
LBC’s Tribute to Bob Holness by LBC973

In a business that is all-too-often dominated by large egos and prima donnas, Bob and Doug set the standards for the production of accessible, engaging and entrepreneurial journalism that appealed to Londoners regardless of their politics or their socio-economic background.  “AM” – now sorely missed, despite the very excellent work of Nick Ferrari on today’s “LBC” – personified the sound of “LBC News Radio”, a station that changed the sound of radio in the UK.

When he retired from LBC (with minimal fuss from which others could learn….”no more shall I say” were his final words to listeners) he went on to enjoy huge success as the host of the “Blockbusters” game show.  And as the host of “Anything Goes” on the BBC World Service, his radio skills reached an enormous audience worldwide.

But for those of us who grew up listening to LBC, and were inspired by its buccaneering, yet serious-minded approach to news-gathering, the death of Bob Holness leaves a huge gap.  And a reminder that at its best, commercial speech radio should be every-bit as informative, serious and up-market as its non-commercial competitors.   If we can all emulate a bit of “Bob and Doug”, we’d be serving our audiences very well.

Finally, here’s a lengthy interview with Bob, conducted by former LBC presenter Steve Jones and broadcast on London Talkback Radio, the successor service on AM to the original LBC, and sourced from Geoff Lumley’s splendid LBC website:

In the hours following Kim Jong Il’s death, the Obama administration said it was “deeply concerned” about the welfare of the North Korean people, and engaged in fevered behind-the-scenes consultation with regional partners in a bid to ascertain more information about the political transition underway in North Korea.

Simon’s multi-media coverage from Washington, included a this report aired on several stations worldwide including Radio New Zealand:

And this television report, seen by viewers of pan-Asian broadcaster Channel News Asia:

During the course of the war, nearly 4,500 US troops lost their lives.  By some counts, more than 100,000 Iraqi civilians were also killed.  And US leaders watched an initially popular military operation become a political millstone.

Simon covered the start of the war in 2003, and its finish in 2011.  Here’s his appearance on Radio New Zealand’s “Morning Report”, discussing the departure of the last US forces from the country.