I know this is going to make me sound very very old, but I remember a time when the BBC news was read by a slightly cross looking elderly gentleman/lady with a plummy Oxbridge accent and a vaguely superior air about them. They didn't give me their opinion, or ask me to look at their blog, or leap about in front of fancy graphics. Their job was to disseminate the facts to the viewer. Nothing more, nothing less.
I liked that, it was how the news was supposed to be. There was no sitting on the edge of the desk in a matey "How you doin' " fashion, no slightly risqué flirty chats with their co-presenter (yes, they've turned into presenters now), they just sat behind a desk and told me about things that had happened. The responsibility of opinion was on me. Lovely.
As a result of this I haven't really used the BBC as my main source of news for a while. I know that they all pretty well follow the same format now, but it somehow seems so much easier to deal with when it's not the BBC that is talking to me like we're old mates.
Having said all of that, I was led via a link earlier this morning to the BBC news website. It's worth a look today for entertainment purposes alone.
On the right hand side of the page are a couple of interesting features:
The "Top Stories" box includes news that the editors of the BBC site (I guess) think are particularly noteworthy. Today these include stories about the Japanese nuclear meltdown, concerns over prison procedures and skulduggery in the G20. Pretty much what you'd expect.
Further down the page is "Most Popular". Most of the above appear in this list as you would expect, at position 4, 9 and 3 respectively. So what is the number 1 most popular story on the BBC website?
"Vandal attack on Clarkson fence."
Despite all that's going on in the world, the thing we most want to hear about as a group is the strife poor old Jezza is suffering at the hands of the local hoodies.
And then it occured to me that maybe the BBC is just having to give us what we want. Innit.
NDC
In this weeks Sunday Times there was an article (and accompanying photographs, if you please) about how Sam Cam has a better jogging stride that her husband.
ReplyDeleteIN THE SUNDAY BLOODY TIMES
I resisted the urge to scream aw FFS as I have a new duvet cover and I was breakfasting in bed.
Spilling on The White Company linens would never do!
I'm old enough to remember the shockwaves that went through Britain when Angela Ripon famously shoved back her News desk and danced on the Morecambe & Wise show - SHOWING HER LEGS. Up until then, the whole population thought all newsreaders had none...
ReplyDeleteOh don't get me started on local evening news...where we have to have TWO people sitting side by side and sharing the reading of some rubbish that they have sent another colleague out to report on......3 people being dressed up, made up, and paid to tell us bo--ocks that we don't need to know!!!
ReplyDeleteAG - Spill stuff? on the new linen?!?! Dear god, I can only imagine the pain even contemplating such a thing would cause.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the BBC would send a reporter out to cover the story. After all if it's good enough for Jezza's fence, surely TWC linen damage is newsworthy...
CQ - Ah I remember that too...the world was quite easily shocked back then, wasn't it?
Libby - Don't forget the sports presenter. Heaven forfend the poor overworked news presenters would have to pull in the sports-reading-out-loud too.