RadioReview: Weird that the managing director of a major media outlet should come across as a man in desperate need of some media training - or at least the morning session before the lukewarm coffee and bikkies, when they tell you never to sound defensive and above all, don't give any suggestion that you might break into a lip-trembling speech about being unappreciated.
RTÉ radio's managing director Adrian Moynes came on Morning Ireland (RTÉ Radio 1, Tuesday) to answer the charge by the Arts Council's Mary Cloake that moving the station's arts programme (yawn, I know, but the row is still rattling on) to a near-midnight slot marginalises the national broadcaster's coverage of the arts. Cathal Mac Coille was in fine, picky form, not letting his boss get away with a thing.
It turns out that when Dave Fanning moves over from 2fm, he'll be doing a sort of arts show. At the start of the interview Moynes told us the new early evening show would be a version of Fanning's current 2fm show so there would be "listings and popular arts" (whatever that is). Mac Coille didn't let up, pressing Moynes on the actual content of Fanning's show.
"Would there be items on sculpture, that sort of thing?" asked Mac Coille. The boss got progressively testy and astonishingly defensive, so that by the end of the interview what initially sounded like a listings and music programme was starting to appear like the place to hear a deconstruction of the narrative in this week's winner of the Orange Prize. Fanning must have choked on his cornflakes.
If only Moynes had dropped the defensiveness and actually sold the idea. Fanning's programme could, if there is less music, more talk and an experienced production team, be an interesting addition to RTÉ Radio 1's early evening schedule. Listeners who haven't heard him lately might not know that he's doesn't talk so fast any more and that in his 2fm programme he does good items on authors, festivals, movies and theatre.
His interview with Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon (RTÉ 2fm, Wednesday) was typical of his easy-going, entertaining style. He just doesn't spring to mind as an "arts presenter" and, of course, it doesn't solve the daft decision to move the "real" arts programme to such a minority slot.
And pity the station's poor boss. Last year, he said everyone was on to him about his reduction in sports coverage, but "I couldn't paper the walls of my office with commendations about the Beckett Festival," Moynes said, sounding plain silly.
But that's all in the autumn. Meanwhile there were so many new programmes starting on RTÉ Radio 1 this week that this column couldn't possibly cover them all in one go.
Geri Maye began a new series on Fame (RTÉ Radio 1, Monday) and it got off to a very earnest start. The content is there, the programme conducted extensive research among young people about their attitude to fame - most, not entirely surprisingly, wanted fame for the money and fame for fame's sake. There was plenty of talk about Big Brother - 1,500 Irish people tried out for the show this year. But in what should be a bit of summer fun, Maye sounded like she was reading an article in Accountants Monthly, instead of having a bit of Heat-inspired gas.
Psychologist Tony Humphreys (Relationship, Relationship, Relationship, RTÉ Radio 1, Wednesday) began a new series exploring, well, relationships and in the first programme he introduced two couples who have agreed to this very public dissection of their lives.
In the way of all of these types of programmes, I can't decide whether I think these people who are prepared to bare all their intimate problems to the nation are completely daft, or admirable in their honesty and willingness to share a process that could be of benefit to listeners experiencing problems in their own lives.
One person who doesn't have the slightest difficulty baring anything is model-turned-bestselling "author" Jordan, whose massive success illustrates a trend in publishing towards celebrity biographies - a phenomenon fuelled by Tesco's entry into the bookselling business (You and Yours, BBC Radio 4, Wednesday). Apparently people who have never bothered with books find it easier to pop a paperback in the basket along with the groceries than to go to a bookshop. The programme was very sniffy about it all, while the book's publisher happily admitted that a ghostwriter penned it.
"Has she even read it?" asked the presenter, heavily hinting that reading might not be one of Jordan's skills. Meanwhile, Jordan is laughing all the way to the bank. After hawking her book around publishers for over a year she eventually settled for a meagre £10,000 (€14,500) advance. Now Being Jordan has sold nearly one million copies and earned the well-endowed model a cool £1 million (€1.45 million) in royalties. I'd say those digits on the cheque are easy to read.
