Mistletoe Matters - Mistletoe Media & News page

Mistletoe is a regular, and popular, feature of written, broadcast and online media every winter season. Common themes include the state of the this year's crop, concerns over long-term supplies (especially with the continuing loss of apple orchard mistletoe habitat), the Tenbury Wells mistletoe auctions and, of course, the origin of that kissing custom. The detail, and the accuracy, of the media stories varies, er, considerably.

Jonathan Briggs has been fielding mistletoe enquiries from the press, tv and radio for 18 years, beginning with the attention paid to National Mistletoe Survey he ran for Plantlife and the BSBI back in 1993-5. He also has extensive media experience from other work.

Apart from the usual questions about this year's crop, and the ongoing impact of orchard loss, the most frequent question each season is 'what's the story on mistletoe this year?'. The answer does, actually, vary from year to year, though there are common themes, mostly relating to conservation issues and sustainability of harvesting. One story due this (2011/2012) season will be the Mistletoe League project, looking at how mistletoe survival varies on different apple varieties - more on this later in the season...

News releases for the coming season will be linked below, and some releases from recent years have been added to provide some context.

Jonathan is available for interview and contributions each season - some notes on his availability are outlined below.

We are also developing a mistletoe picture library for media use (at commercial rates), developing a project first begun a few years ago. This will be developed further later in the summer of 2011, but do let us know if you have picture request in the meantime.

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Selected n ews releases relevant to mistletoe are listed here.

Please note that not all of these releases are issued by Mistletoe Matters - but we do add stories that we feel are worth promoting, or those where we have been involved. Relevant contact details are given within each release.

For general news and views have a look at Jonathan Briggs' Mistletoe Diary and for general mistletoe information have a look at the Mistletoe Pages (which include an FAQ page).

2011 mistletoe news releases:

October 2011: The first News Release 'Mistletoe Season celebrated by record showcase of events' for this year's Tenbury Wells Mistletoe Festival is available here  as a pdf file.

November 2011: More information available from Tenbury Wells - a second News Release 'Britain could face Christmas without Mistletoe' is available as a pdf here.

December 2011: Information on the Mistletoe League, a new initiative aiming to gather information on mistletoe management practice - set in the context of the ongoing threats to the mistletoe harvest through neglect and loss of old apple orchards, is now available. Click here for the pdf News Release or here for the League project homepage ( www.british.mistletoe.org.uk)

Mistletoe Matters is now (Dec 2011) tweeting too:

January 2012: Want to know true information on mistletoe rarity?
For accurate information on the background to mistletoe scarcity v abundance stories have a look at entries in the Mistletoe Diary blog - particularly entries for Dec 18th 2011 and Dec 21st 2011. A definitive media statement on these issues is planned for the November/
December 2012 season to try and head off the mis-information!

 

2010 mistletoe news releases:

Some archive releases from 2010:

● The National Trust Mistletoe Campaign 2010
● The 'Where do you get yours?' Mistletoe Survey 2010
● Tenbury Wells Mistletoe Festival Promotion 2010
● The Little Book About Mistletoe - new for 2010
● Mistletoe therapy opens at the Raphael Medical Centre, Kent 2010

Jonathan Briggs has extensive media experience with mistletoe - contributing information to numerous mistletoe features in the daily papers and magazines each season and, in most years, several interviews for TV and radio news and magazine programmes.

These have included numerous appearances on BBC and ITV News, morning and evening, plus BBC's Countryfile, ITV's Countrywise, and Christmas editions of specialist programmes like Grow Your Own Drugs. Most is recorded, but some of the news coverage has been live, including several early morning sessions with breakfast TV and weather crews.

Radio exposure has been similar - current affairs and news on all the major networks (BBC R1, 2, 4, 5 Live etc) and countless local and commercial stations.

Radio work has also included, over the last few years, three half-hour programmes (two BBC R4 and one BBC Scotland).

More light-hearted appearances have included a Christmas-themed Ready Steady Cook (in which the mistletoe/green peppers won, of course) and informal seasonal audience participation programmes with local radio.

(Some typical press-cuttings might be added here later in the season)

Some of Jonathan's own writings on mistletoe, largely for the technical press, are listed at the end of the Mistletoe Matters home page.

The short Little Book About Mistletoe produced for last (2010) season is still available, and a lengthier book is in preparation (though not for 2011).

Notes on availability: Jonathan is usually happy to be interviewed and to help/contribute to media coverage. Contact details are given in the right hand column. Please note that reimbursement of expenses (travel and subsistence) is expected where appropriate. We may request a fee for significant contribution and advice.

We are currently developing a mistletoe picture library for media use, developing a project first begun a few years ago. This will be developed further later in the summer of 2011, but do let us know if you have picture request in the meantime.

This project will be offering pictures at commercial rates, though reductions may be possible for specialist or low-circulation journals.

(click here to return to the Mistletoe Matters homepage)