Post

1/ Here's how it works (for others, Oz knows). A story breaks and every news show needs guests to talk about it. A desperately overworked producer frantically searches Twitter/BlueSky and starts DMing people who seem like they have credentials. The producer likely knows nothing about the topic.

/2 If someone says yes then at most they have a 5 minute chat with the producer to work out some questions. This is mostly used to check name pronunciation. They go on TV/Radio for 3-7 minutes. If they sound coherent, the producer adds them to a shared network CRM database.

3/ The next time an expert is needed, they get a call, often from an entirely different producer. Absolutely no one is going back and updating the CRM by confirming expert predictions against what occurred 4 months later. That is no one's job.

4/ Individual presenters may have experts they particularly like and may be able to do some screening, but most are way too busy to do retroactive monitoring and evaluation. The key criteria in complex topics are credentials, confidence, and clear diction.

Also, I am an expert in one specific subject but I now never accept invites because the process is so exhausting and unproductive. Last time I did live radio I had to cancel meeting my mum, do my hair, do my make-up (it's filmed), then had a completely ludicrious "debate" for no fee.

Do the people who get invited on get paid for it?

They are even more overworked and understaffed now. You used to have dedicated input prods/features prods on GMB, and briefs for the presenters were done by people who DID know the story. Now, you'll be lucky if the runner does it in between booking live feeds, crew and getting everyone a coffee.