Dialogue:

W: You're the editor of Public Eye. What kind of topics does your program cover?

M: Well, there are essentially domestic stories. We don't cover international stories. We don't cover party politics or economics. We do issues of general social concern to our British audience. They can be anything from the future of the health service to the way the environment is going downhill.

W: How do you choose the topic? Do you choose one because it's what the public wants to know about or because it's what you feel the public ought to know about?

M: I think it's a mixture of both. Sometimes you have a strong feeling that something is important and you want to see it examined and you want to contribute to a public debate. Sometimes people come to you with things they are worried about and they can be quite small things. They can be a story about corruption in local government, something they cannot quite understand, why it doesn't seem to be working out properly, like they are not having their litter collected properly or the dustbins emptied.

W: How do you know that you've got a really successful program? One that is just right for the time?

M: I think you get a sense about it after working in it in a number of years. You know which stories are going to get the attention. They are going to be published just the point when the public are concerned about that.

Question: How does Public Eye choose its topics? 

- Based on the poll of public opinions.

- By interviewing people who file complaints.

- Based on public expectations and editors' judgment.


Based on public expectations and editors' judgment.