Sharing the news

CATHERINE COURTENAY enjoys her very own one-to-one phone-in with broadcaster and journalist Jeremy Vine, a patron of Appledore Book Festival

- CATHERINE COURTENAY

Having finished his lunchtime phone-in news show on BBC Radio 2, Jeremy Vine is on his way home. He’s just about to get on his bicycle when I call. Is it ok to talk?

“As long as there is nothing untoward. I have a very loud horn on my bike for when things are going wrong,” he says, reassuringly.

I’m calling about his role as a patron of the Appledore Book Festival but before we get to books, and Devon, there’s the topic that’s currently on everyone’s mind.

As the host of one of the nation’s most popular radio news programmes, does he feel he’s in a pivotal role, providing information about the coronavirus?

“The media have such a responsibility at the moment; in a sense we are employed by the story,” he says. “We always have a tendency to say it’s worse than it is, but we need to really hold back on that because people are really worried. There are times when I just feel the audience are really needing some reassurance, really needing it and this is one of those times for sure.”

A journalist of more than 30 years, Jeremy began his career as a trainee reporter at the Coventry Evening Telegraph, before moving to the BBC. He’s been a reporter on Today, a political correspondent, the BBC’s Africa correspondent and a Newsnight presenter.

The BBC, he says, “definitely needs protecting”, the reason being primarily the competition from digital.