Bubblin'

At times when the BBC is looking to save money, there are different drivers behind the work of the BBC Correspondents - and survival is a strong instinct.  The "appearance" log - a simple tally of pieces used on key bulletins and outputs, regardless of quality, insight or other added value - used to be the tool used to define success, failure, bonus etc at the end of the year.  And it still may be at work.

Yesterday, NASA issued a press release about "the turbulent sea of magnetic bubbles" discovered by the Voyager probes at the edge of our solar system.  On the Radio 4 Six'Clock bulletin,  BBC News Science Correspondent Pallab Ghosh had a report cued up with the news.  On BBC1, the Six O'Clock News had a report from BBC News Science Correspondent David Shukman, from NASA in Pasadena, which made no mention of the magnetic bubbles. Later that day (last updated 23.11) BBC News Science Correspondent Jonathan Amos had an online version of the story, including a NASA graphic of the heliosphere and an archive video clip of BBC News Science Correspondent David Shukman with models of the probes.  (The same graphic led Jonathan's stories posted on 14 December 2010,  9 March 2011,)

This morning, BBC News Online has a new piece from BBC Science Correspondent David Shukman in Pasadena - it reads a little like a transcript of his Six tv piece, and still makes no mention of magnetic bubbles - though there is a link to Jonathan Amos' earlier piece.  It's headlined "To boldly go beyond the solar system".   The drama is a little spurious - it'll take a decade for the probes to get that far.