Graham McKenzie
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Prospero has gone downhill. It seems to be more interested in design than in content. A whole page is wasted with a front-page picture. This is totally unecessary. Prospero is not on the news-stands in hot competition with other magazines. BBC pensioners are going to read it anyway. So no space should be wasted. It only has to be reasonably attractive - a splash of colour here and there, an odd picture.
The BBC Pensioners' Association put out their news in a few tightly written duplicated run-on pages, without design, and I know they are closely read.
Prospero's articles are too long, yet we are often told that space is at a premium and that something or other has been held over. What we need is some journalistic expertise. To be honest, the magazine does not now have the feel of having been produced by professional journalists, skilled in the art of sub-editing.
Yes, we like to read of events back at the BBC. But there is little point in devoting so much space to things which have been extensively covered weeks earlier in the mass media, such as the reduction in the D-G's and executives salaries. These should be noted briefly and only additional information, which has not appeared in the press added, if it is of any relevance.
What readers want is news about pensions, reminiscences and obituaries. Some months go by without any references to pensions. (This is of abiding interest to readers"! There can never be too much information. Prospero has a captive audience here)
Memory stuff is of prime interest, too, but must be kept reasonably brief and not splashed over one, or even two, pages, as has happened. Readers' letters are important, but should be submitted with a maximum number of words rule.
Obituaries are of great interest, but there seem to be a problem. Many deaths go unrecorded. Yet Prospero say there's not always the room for all those which are written some months. There is a solution. A person I know worked for Barclays. Their monhly magazine records ALL deaths. But briefly in just two lines. For instance:
BLOGGS, John, cashier, Manchester central branch, retired June 1989, died August 2011.
This page is avidly scanned. Then, if a written obituary about the person's career comes in from a colleague, it can be printed later. Surely such information is easily obtainable from the Pensions Department.
It is good of the BBC to keep Prospero going. It is appreciated. But, having spent the money on it, really, it has become a five-minute read. What we need is information, information, information, not just
a design product, or fillers like the Money column which can be accessed more professionally elsewhere by pensioners.
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