Jeremy Vine in a broadcaster/reporter on BBC television and BBC Radio 2. Jezza's Exiles is a message board created by one of his listeners for posters to discuss topics mentioned on his radio programme and other subjects. It is open to all posters not exclusive to listeners of the programme.

Jeremy Vine

Jeremy Vine is an experienced broadcaster, journalist and news reporter. He was born in Epsom in 1965. He attended Epsom College and Durham University.His career in Journalism started with a traineeship on the Coventry Evening Telegraph.

At the BBC

He joined the BBC in 1987 as a news trainee. After his traineeship he became a reporter on the Radio 4 morning news programme Today.He has reported from the US, the Middle East, all over Europe and Africa,where he was Africa Correspondent.
While working on Today he covered a wide variety of subjects including an interview with a redundant ballistics missile expert in Siberia, punishment beatings in Northern Ireland, Neo-nazis in Germany and sheep racing in Dorset.
He has reported on many conflicts including the border war between Eritrea and Ethiopia in South Africa, and wars in Sudan, Angola and Yugoslavia where he was ambushed in a Croatian cornfield.

Newsnight

From 1999 to 2002 he worked on the BBC2 TV programme Newsnight.
In 2001 he covered the run-up to the General Election for Newsnight, travelling the country in a 1976 Volkswagen camper van. The MP Peter Mandelson famously stormed out on him in the middle of being interviewed when he was asked if Gorden Brown (who was then Chancellor of the Exchequer) was having a perfect election campaign.

Awards

During his career Jeremy has received a number of awards.

In 1999 he won the Silver Nymph award at Monte Carlo for his report in a fly-on-the-wall film of the Brixton Flying Squad in Johannesburg, which showed police badly beating up suspects.The film rocked the police service in South Africa and sparked uproar across the country.

Also in 1999 he won an Amnesty International Radio Award for his piece on the Radio Programme 'From Our Own Correspondent' about a former child soldier he met in Sierra Leone.

In 2005 he was awarded a Sony award for Best Speech Broadcaster of the year.

Panorama

In 2007 he joined the BBC1 T.V. programme Panorama He introduces each programme,reports on films for the programme,and conducts interviews.

He also continues to present his Radio 2 programme which is a blend of news stories and music. His favorite musical track is 'This Years Model' by Elvis Costello.

He loves Chelsea football club, the films of Alfred Hitchcock and the poetry of W H Auden.

He is married to Rachel Schofield, also a radio reporter. They have one daughter.

Jezza's Exiles Message Board

Jezza's Exiles is a message board created by one of the listeners to the Jeremy Vine show on BBC Radio 2, who was also a regular poster on the BBC message boards as Belly-Dancing Goldfish (B.D.G.)

She created the board in December 2006 after the BBC closed a number of its programme message boards. She also created a website,
also called Jezza's Exiles. Linked to the board it explains about it and the reason for creating it. Although it is an unofficial board. it now has a link from Jeremy Vine's official BBC page and a personal note from him on the board-related website.

The Messageboard

It was created primarily for listeners to the Jeremy Vine Show to comment on the show and discuss topics mentioned there including events in the news and current affairs. Also to keep contact between posters who had established friendships through posting on the BBC boards. Within two months it had almost 300 members and over 51,000 posts,. It is open to anyone, not just for listeners to the programme.

It is a very well managed board with a friendly atmosphere. It's voluntary hosts are very active and ,with limited resources,manage to be present every day. This is something that even the BBC does not manage to do on all of its boards.

Subjects for discussion

During the first two months the messageboard blossomed into a large forum with a number of sections. As well as discussing Jeremy Vine's show and News and Current affairs, in the Entertainment section listeners can also chat about other radio shows and stations and T.V programmes on any channel. They can also discuss all types of music from disco to classical.

In the Lifestyle and Health section there are discussions about Books, Poetry, Cookery and Recipes among other subjects. There are also sections on Computers and Technology, Sport and Allotments and Gardening.

It is a busy board, and as it reflects topics mentioned in the daily Radio 2 programme subjects are constantly changing. The following is a snapshot of the board in April 2007

World news and Current Affairs

The main topic being discussed at the beginning of April 2007 was Athieism with many of the posters giving their personal views on their beliefs or lack of them. Next was a discussion about a newspaper report that some history teachers were reluctant to teach about the Holocaust as it might upset Muslim pupils. Staying with the Middle East ,the next busiest topic was titled Moderate Islam. Then followed a discussion on "Drug Mules" about one who had been caught and imprisoned and then threatened suicide. The majority of posters were not sympathetic to him, as they had the opinion that he had brought his problems on himself. but a couple of posters were more sympathetic, as they thought the drug barons were to blame by forcing poor people into drug traffiking and the thread developed into a discussion about compassion.

Lifestyle and Health

The Lifestyle and Health section has a wide variety of topics. They range from the lighter discussions about holidays and books to the serious health issues of breast cancer, diabetes , and gluten free diets. Posers can also share poetry here,either their own poems or their favorites by recognised authors.

Entertainment Area.

On 10 April, 2007 there was only one main topic of converation in the entertainment area. This was the last episode of 'Life on Mars' a BBC TV programme about a 1970's style police force with a twist that the main character has travelled through time from the 2000s.
Other recent topics that had a large amount of posts were discussions about the Steve Wright programme on Radio 2 and 'What are you listening to?' where posters could list their favourite music.

Allotments and Gardening

There is a special section on Allotments and Gardening as Jeremy Vines programme has a regular feature on the subject, presented by Terry Walton from his own allotment in the Rhondda Valley in South Wales.
As a result of his broadcasts on the programme Terry has appeared on two series of television programmes, Going to Seed' on ITV Wales and 'The Big Dig' on BBC2, which were filmed at the allotment. He has also written a book about gardening, published in April 2007.

The message board also has a pub, 'The Drum and Monkey' where most subjects can be discussed and a regular Pub Quiz is held.