Over the New Year break we were sitting in front of the idiot box waiting on the evening meal being ready and we watched the early BBC news report. The most interesting thing was the reaction of everyone in the room from the youngest (Eldest Niece) to the oldest (Big Sister’s husband) to the format and presentation and it was anger.
From the intonation of the reporter’s voices to the endless “and now we go live on scene” where you get a reporter shot live in front of nothing happening in the background, unable to supply any more information than already given it was dreadful.
Tabloid television for the 21st Century, where did it all go wrong? I suspect that the rot set in for the BBC when they launched their 24 hour news channel in ‘97, the requirement to fill the air time dictates a less thoughtful approach to the bulletins.
The pointless stories, OK this one was not on air at the time but I hear reports every day on the radio - latest from the “Diana Death Inquest”. For fecks sake why are we spending 6 months and an estimated £10 million on this - there was a car crash, she was not wearing a seat belt, she died, end of story.
It was over 10 years ago, who apart from the lawyers (big bucks time) and the newspapers (Diana still sells volumes for the tabloids) gives a damn.
I gave up on watching BBC television news over 15 years ago and catching that bulletin over the holidays emphasised just why I had. Nowadays I use the internet, radio or I watch the Channel 4 news bulletin at 19:00 to keep abreast of things.
On Channel 4 they will always lead with the most news worthy items of the day, they have a more global approach to current affairs and their interviews are way more interesting. They do fall into the trap of sending their senior presenters around the globe and then linking to them live, but the end product is usually informative.
Rant over, head here to read about the fossil of the world’s largest rodent - at one tonne you would not want them coming out of your skirting boards.
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5 comments:
The news here is just as bad. They aren't even real reporters anymore. They just stand there to state the obvious and ask dumb questions when an official happens by.
I watch very little news. I usually just watch the morning news for the traffic and weather. I read newspapers online.
It's been many years since I concluded that tv news is nigh unwatchable-- the obvious bias is laughable and pitifully obvious. We're better off on our own, combing through the day's news on the internet. Thank goodness for an equalizer like this - it's pitiful to have to rely on manipulative sources for information on current goings-on.
rt, I was tempted to blame the BBC's decline on US news but did not have enough recent experience of it to make a decent case.
Phlegmmy, I concur, what we need are the facts untainted by any other views and the internet does the job at the moment.
dba, I think this is why we go visiting - to be reminded of why we trashed the television a decade and a half ago. About a half hour of teley will do the trick for us for another 5 or 10 years.
Hope you're getting a little sun by now.
Lin, Good to see you getting out and about again.
Wednesday was sunny but that was the one exception this week and large parts of England are under flood alert - but that will not be a problem for DBA cottages.
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