Sky News launches a completely new programme today - Sky News Unplugged, available only online and on Sky News Active.

Presented by Martin Stanford - it will take a sideways look at the week's news. We don't really know how it's going to turn out yet!

The show  will air first live at 12:45pm on Wednesday May 14th on the Sky News website here: http://news.sky.com/skynews/livenewsevents and for red button satellite viewers on Sky news active.

Afterwards it will be available on demand on here and it will be re-shown on Sky News Active.

Guests for the first show include Nick Pope (http://www.nickpope.net/ ) who used to run the British Government's UFO Project and is now recognised as one of the world's leading experts on the unexplained. Plus Olly Mann and Helen Zaltzmann from the Answer Me This podcasts ( http://answermethis.wordpress.com/ ). Other guests will be announced later.

Please give us your questions or thoughts for Martin and the guests on this blog. Or e mail us at skynewsunplugged@gmail.com

By Simon Bucks, Associate Editor

If you missed it, here's an extract from last night's London Debate: Unplugged - featuring Rory Bremner who happened to be in the audience and joined in the discussion afterwards. Worth a watch.

Our panel were bloggers Iain Dale (Con), Jo Christie-Smith (Lib Dem) and Alex Hilton (Lab) who blogs at RecessMonkey and also at http://www.labourhome.org/.  All three did a great job defending their respective candidates (thanks to all of them) so the least you can do to repay them is visit their blogs!

I think I owe Alex an apology: at 9 pm we were suddenly overwhelmed with guests - Rachel Johnson (Boris's sister), Andrew Gilligan and Stuart Wheeler - so Alex was rather outnumbered. Then Rory Bremner turned up as well, and I needed to turf someone  (Alex) off the panel temporarily to make space.

Anyway, when he got his seat and mic back Alex more than made up for this brief absence. But next time we do an Unplugged show we'll try to even things up a bit.

P.S. Having read Jo's blog tonight I also want to apologise to the whole panel for the truly, buttock-numbingly uncomfortable double-bass player's stools they had to sit on.   

By Simon Bucks, Associate Editor

The Ken and Boris Show (with support from Brian) is in its last week. The curtain comes down on the London Mayoral contest on Thursday, and on Monday night (April 28th) Sky News is mounting the final debate between the trio.

All three - Livingstone, Johnson and Paddick - have been trying to avoid gaffes while sounding important, which has made recent debates seem a bit like a provincial repertory production nearing the end of its run.

London Mayor Election

Sky News meets the candidates.

But the contest itself is undoubtedly gripping not just the Capital but the whole country. Will Boris biff Ken?

And for this final clash of the candidates, Sky News has come up with something extra to spice things up.

The debate starts at 8pm, but from 7:30pm you can watch the London Mayor Debate Unplugged - in which three top political bloggers will give their take on the campaign.

Martin Stanford is in the chair, and the panellists are Jo Christie-Smith (Lib Dem),  Iain Dale (Cons) and  Alex Hilton (Lab). Martin will also have some special guests (tba). 

You can watch this on Sky News and online here at Sky.com/news on the live events player.

The debate itself starts at 8pm (hosted by Adam Boulton) and runs until 9pm. Then Martin Stanford picks up again, with second part of Unplugged, from 9 pm to 10 pm.

This will only be available to viewers online and on Sky News Active.

If you want to add your voice to the debate leave your comments here. We'll monitor the blog throughout the broadcast and add your thoughts to the discussion.

Meanwhile - if you haven't seen the video below yet, enjoy!

By Steve Bennedik, Sky News Networked Editor

It's a story which obviously has real impact and resonance. It's prompted a huge, overwhelmingly sympathetic response from our readers. And it sheds light on a flaw in our welfare state, the burden of responsibility put on families bringing up severely disabled children.

Claire Bates is a colleague and friend of those working in the new media section of Sky News. A pioneer of online journalism, she has always had a thoroughly professional approach to her work. And somehow she's managed to juggle it with bringing up three children, one of them five-year-old Noah, who has cerebral palsy.

Now she has written a powerful and totally honest description of what it's been like to look after her son, and how she once considered ending his suffering. If you haven't read the article, I urge you to do so. And also the hundreds of responses, many from readers who are in similar situations, caring for loved ones with limited support apart from their extended family.

It's strange how we need these personalised accounts to appreciate and react to what is clearly a widespread problem.

Journalists usually prefer to report the news than be at the centre of it. But in this case Claire has looked deep within for the story, and her brave words have brought more than just a lump to our throats, and tears to our eyes.

They have focussed on what many of us, including successive Governments, already know but I suggest prefer to keep abstract because it's more expedient that way. In these cases, care and support relies to a great extent on the uncomplaining, total dedication of mothers and fathers whose love for their children is unconditional.

I'd like to thank Claire for writing such an honest piece and salute her and other parents, working so hard to bring up their disabled children.

Click here for Claire's moving article

By Simon Buglione, Creative Director of Sky News.

Firstly, many thanks to everyone who has contributed to the Re-launch Blog. I’m very please that our new look has been so well received and what is particularly interesting is that many of the comments, both positive and negative, address issues that we grappled with during the design process.

A few of you have commented on both the design of the new logo and the fact that it sits alone.

The logo reflects the broader brand Identity so now has a more 3D feel. I think we got the balance right in terms of size - it needs to be clear yet not dominate the screen.

We did consider integrating the logo with Live and Locator straps. However this either swamped the logo or made it look ungainly –a particular problem given the variability of location text. I felt the landscape logo is more appropriate although you will still see the stacked, square, version still used elsewhere.

Another issue that is raised is the fact that Breaking News is yellow and black on the ticker and not elsewhere. It’s a good question and again one that we did consider. All the information on the ticker is independent of the main output. The reason we have a separate breaking news colour on the ticker is to differentiate it from the picture that sits behind it and any associated straps.

As with any re-launch we don’t get everything right – we’ve had some issues with the international feed some which are being resolved. Similarly with Active: we are still working through the changes.

Overall we are very pleased with the results and we will continue to refine and develop all our graphics. Thanks again for all your comments. Please keep them coming.

Simon Buglione is Creative Director of Sky News which, today, refreshes its on air graphic look.  We asked him to explain the changes for you.

Today we are introducing a new graphic identity for Sky News that will support its reputation for bold, dynamic storytelling and editorial vigour, by providing clear, concise delivery of information.

The new on air graphic look is guided by two core themes: the use of a 3D environment in which to navigate our content - and the desire to provide the same amount of information but not cover up picture unless absolutely necessary.  We are television after all!

Unlike the traditional title sequence we travel through 3D space to reach our content, be that video, text or the website.

You will notice it most at key junctions, such as the build up to the top of the hour and for coming up sequences and trails.

We have also made the ticker more information rich with weather symbols, all the latest market information – and the clock.

We think the new design is exciting, coherent and innovative, both in its creative approach as well as in the use of technology.

We have broken away from a flat one size fits all approach to on screen architecture and put back a bit of television into news. 

It’s a look that befits a commercial channel: crisp, clean, accessible but also very Sky.  We hope you like it.

By Simon Bucks, Associate Editor.

Listeners to the 8 o'clock news on BBC Radio 4 this morning were treated to a hysterical interlude.

Newsreader Charlotte Green got a fit of the giggles, which eventually turned into a full-scale corpse and which seemed to infect the entire studio.

It was much the funniest thing I have heard on Radio 4 for some time.

Ms. Green was reading out a bizarre story about the discovery of what's thought to be the earliest recording of the human voice: a weird and barely audible rendering of "Au Clair de La Lune".

It sounded like an early April Fool, so she could be forgiven for the lapse. Unfortunately the next news item, which she giggled through uncontrollably, was about the death of screenwriter Abby Mann!

These things happen. Let's hope the Corporation has a sense of humour about it.

By Ian Woods, Sky News correspondent

Reporting on the clubbing to death of cute baby seals should be a straightforward assignment. I mean, who wouldn’t be appalled at the sight of animals having their skulls crushed, their bodies hooked with a metal spike and dragged away leaving a bloody trail on the ice?

It would be easy to conjure up emotive language and add it to the shocking pictures to produce a TV report which will anger or distress a lot of our viewers.

But when we decided we were going to go to Canada to produce a comprehensive report on the annual seal hunt, we were determined to present a complete picture and give just as much airtime to the hunters as their opponents.

I watched a lot of footage filmed by animal welfare groups documenting what they believe is an inhumane slaughter; seals gasping for breath as they choked on their own blood, or still showing signs of life as they were sliced open and skinned. There were confrontations with hunters, who tried to intimidate those documenting their behaviour. No wonder many European think that those who kill seals are uncivilised barbarians.

Sitting around the kitchen table as the wife of one of Newfoundland’s most experienced hunters served me cups of tea and home-made cheesecake, you are forced to come to the conclusion that he is not a savage. He’s been a fisherman all his life, and even in his mid-70s he still skippers a boat because sealing is in his blood.

For generations, communities perched on the edge of the North Atlantic have made a living, battling the harsh climate, and harvesting the produce of the sea. That means fish, shellfish and, yes, seals.  They cannot go to sea during the long winter months because the ocean freezes over. The seal hunt at the end of March provides their first income for many weeks.

They know they have a dirty job, and they know that killing seals is a gruesome sight. They’ve tried to find markets for seal meat and oils, but the fact remains that the most valuable part of the animal is its skin. And most of us have an aversion to seeing animals killed for their fur.

I’m a carnivore. I eat all kinds of meat, and I’d rather not know too much about the process in the slaughterhouse. If our local supermarket or butcher killed animals in front of us before carving it into the portions we needed, I expect sales would decline pretty dramatically. So I can’t be too sanctimonious about communities who treat seals as just another animal put on earth for man’s use. 

The Canadian hunters are angered that outsiders are telling them how to lead their lives. And I suspect if foreigners tried to get us to ban the Grand National because horses are whipped and some die jumping fences, there would be huge indignation from those of us who believe it is not cruel and is a proud tradition.

Meeting and talking to the hunters gave me a valuable insight into their way of life. But then I took a helicopter trip out onto the ice floes where tens of thousands of baby seals had just been born. At this age they behave like lovable kittens or puppies, rolling around in the snow, rubbing their faces with their flippers. They stare at with their big imploring eyes. Their white fur makes them look like overstuffed children’s toys. They are so adorable you want to take one home as a pet.

You can’t imagine how anyone could want to club them to death while they are still just a few weeks old. And if they have to die you want it to be done humanely, painlessly, in a controlled environment, rather than beaten over the head by the first human they’ve seen. But out on the shifting ice, buffeted by the wind and the currents, it is impossible to replicate the standards of an abattoir.   

Would we be so appalled by pictures of the seal hunt if seals weren’t as cute and photogenic? Would be travel all this way to report on inhumane treatment of lobsters? Of course not. But lobsters aren’t a big draw in zoos or aquariums. And we know seals are intelligent animals.

In the next few days I will witness first hand the brutal deaths of young seals. I will see their blood staining the pristine white ice. I will hear the yelping of animals which cannot escape, and the thump as a club crushes another young skull. I expect to be disgusted. But I hope I can still be objective in telling this powerfully emotive story.

By Simon Bucks, Associate Editor

In the 1980s and early 90s I worked with one of the nicest, warmest and most genuinely human people you could hope to meet - especially in the cut-throat and competitive world of television news.

Her name: Carol Barnes, or Barnsey as we all knew her at ITN. She was the most unstarry of stars. Sometimes newscasters (as we learned to call them) start to believe their own PR and become very grand, even supercilious with lesser mortals like producers and programme editors.

Not so Barnsey. She was one of us, part of the team. She mucked in, and after the programme she came to the pub with us, drank with us, and chatted and gossipped with us. She was a pal.

She had a wonderful, self-deprecating, throwaway sense of humour and an earthy, throaty giggle when she found something funny, which she often did.

She was also a very serious journalist, with a sharp news sense and a keenness to get things absolutely right. She was a TV natural, so it was no wonder she was one of Britain's most popular and best-loved screen personalities.

Her personal life was not so happy, and the death of her daughter in a sky-diving accident was a terrible blow. But she battled on, playing golf and bridge and keeping in touch with friends despite her obvious sadness.

Barnsey will be missed by her family, her friends and her colleagues - and by the millions of television viewers who knew her only through the small screen.

By Simon Bucks, Associate Editor

Editors in the British media, including Sky News, have known since last December that Prince Harry was fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.

They agreed, in an extraordinary and rare display of unity, not to report the story - in return for media access to the Prince which could be used when his deployment ended.

The deal was brokered by the Society of Editors, of which I am this year's President.

Censorship is an anathema to journalists, and self censorship even more so.  In the lengthy discussions about the wisdom and ethics of doing this deal - many British editors voiced their concerns. Not only were they anxious that it might dilute their future credibility with the public, but some also thought Prince Harry should not go at all because of the risk it would bring to bear on his fellow soldiers.

In the end, though, it was this argument which won over the editors to the idea of a news blackout.  It was evident that the Ministry of Defence had decided it was going to deploy the Prince to a war zone - something he had been pressing for since he was commissioned.

So the choice we faced was stark - if we told the story we would put him and the troops with him in serious jeopardy. Or agree to a deal which would produce (as it has) some extraordinary video, photos and written reports of the Prince at the frontline.

Media blackouts are not actually that unusual. We tend not to report kidnaps, at the request of the police, if a hostage's life might be a risk. We often know about the movements of politicians or royalty (for operational reasons) but don't report them. But Prince Harry's deployment to war was of a  different order.

The deal was blown, not by the UK media but by a foreign website, the Drudge report.  Drudge says by releasing the story he has demonstrated his independence, and criticised sites like the Huffington Post which stayed silent.

Where Drudge got the story from is a mystery - some suspect an element of the British media which wanted to break the story for its own ends.   
Nevertheless, the Chief of the General Staff Sir Richard Dannatt, who is head of the British Army, said he was disappointed the news had leaked.

"I am very disappointed that foreign websites have decided to run this story without consulting us," he said.
"This is in stark contrast to the highly responsible attitude that the whole of the UK print and broadcast media, along with a small number of overseas, who have entered into an understanding with us over the coverage of Prince Harry on operations."

What is the point of a media blackout in the internet age? Well , in this case it lasted more ten weeks, to the surprise of many involved. And although it has now been broken it will, I believe, reflect well on the British media and improve its standing with a public who too often complain about it.

:: Did we co-operate or collude? Read Tim Marshall's blog here