The Newsroom

The Sky News Thread

(October 2019)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
GI
Gibsy
He did report fact, of that there is no doubt.
Ratflump, Brekkie and CallumF gave kudos
CF
CallumF
I'm sure there are lots of journalists who wouldn't speak in such way - but as much as that, there are plenty of people who think they should in fact be.

Like you say everyone is entitled to come up with their own judgement on President Trump - but if the journalist is providing reasonable analysis, surely it's fine then? You wouldn't need to dig far to see justifiable proof that he is both of the adjectives Adam Boulton has used to describe the outgoing President there?
AL
alexjac0788
Gibsy posted:
He did report fact, of that there is no doubt.

In your opinion.
LV
LondonViewer
I’m sorry, but Adam Boulton describing the current US President as a ‘pompous, petty little man’ just now is completely unprofessional.

Regardless of what you think about Donald Trump, a supposedly impartial broadcaster should not be dishing out personal insults to a world leader.

Can’t imagine it added anything, or was any relevance to the coverage either. Just unnecessary really.

"Impartiality" is dangerous when it comes to "pompous, petty men" like Trump. We need journalists to call it how it is.

Call it how you see it, you mean? What happens when they’re calling it a different way?
AL
alexjac0788
I'm sure there are lots of journalists who wouldn't speak in such way - but as much as that, there are plenty of people who think they should in fact be.

Like you say everyone is entitled to come up with their own judgement on President Trump - but if the journalist is providing reasonable analysis, surely it's fine then? You wouldn't need to dig far to see justifiable proof that he is both of the adjectives Adam Boulton has used to describe the outgoing President there?


Then those people should be seeking opinion-based news; broadcasters on impartial news channels shouldn’t be undermining the industry by lowering themselves to cheap, personal shots.

I agree that some of his behaviour has been a display of pettiness, but that is still my opinion. Other people would disagree. If he’s unable to provide all opinions of the man, then he shouldn’t provide any.
Last edited by alexjac0788 on 20 January 2021 2:13pm
CF
CallumF
I'm sure there are lots of journalists who wouldn't speak in such way - but as much as that, there are plenty of people who think they should in fact be.

Like you say everyone is entitled to come up with their own judgement on President Trump - but if the journalist is providing reasonable analysis, surely it's fine then? You wouldn't need to dig far to see justifiable proof that he is both of the adjectives Adam Boulton has used to describe the outgoing President there?


Then those people should be seeking opinion-based news; broadcasters shouldn’t be undermining the industry by lowering themselves to cheap, personal shots.

I agree that some of his behaviour has been a display of pettiness, but that is still my opinion. Other people would disagree. If he’s unable to provide all opinions of the man, then he shouldn’t provide any.

You could also argue that without being honest in their coverage that therefore broadcasters are undermining the industry as well?
AL
alexjac0788
I'm sure there are lots of journalists who wouldn't speak in such way - but as much as that, there are plenty of people who think they should in fact be.


Like you say everyone is entitled to come up with their own judgement on President Trump - but if the journalist is providing reasonable analysis, surely it's fine then? You wouldn't need to dig far to see justifiable proof that he is both of the adjectives Adam Boulton has used to describe the outgoing President there?


Then those people should be seeking opinion-based news; broadcasters shouldn’t be undermining the industry by lowering themselves to cheap, personal shots.

I agree that some of his behaviour has been a display of pettiness, but that is still my opinion. Other people would disagree. If he’s unable to provide all opinions of the man, then he shouldn’t provide any.

You could also argue that without being honest in their coverage that therefore broadcasters are undermining the industry as well?


In which case, the impartiality rule book should be ripped up and journalists can be free to insult whoever they like, as long as they’re being honest. That is a very slippery slope.

My opinion on this isn’t limited to Trump - if Boulton was peddling his own, negative thoughts (hypothetically, of course) against Biden, I would be as uncomfortable. I watch the news to hear facts, as well as the opinions of *contributors*. Presenters are not there to provide their own viewpoints. We’re not meant to know who/what they support.
plymouthbloke1974, johnnyboy and LondonViewer gave kudos
GI
ginnyfan
I’m sorry, but Adam Boulton describing the current US President as a ‘pompous, petty little man’ just now is completely unprofessional.

Regardless of what you think about Donald Trump, a supposedly impartial broadcaster should not be dishing out personal insults to a world leader.



It takes one to know one, I guess.....
:-(
A former member

Then those people should be seeking opinion-based news; broadcasters shouldn’t be undermining the industry by lowering themselves to cheap, personal shots.

I agree that some of his behaviour has been a display of pettiness, but that is still my opinion. Other people would disagree. If he’s unable to provide all opinions of the man, then he shouldn’t provide any.

You could also argue that without being honest in their coverage that therefore broadcasters are undermining the industry as well?


In which case, the impartiality rule book should be ripped up and journalists can be free to insult whoever they like, as long as they’re being honest. That is a very slippery slope.

My opinion on this isn’t limited to Trump - if Boulton was peddling his own, negative thoughts (hypothetically, of course) against Biden, I would be as uncomfortable. I watch the news to hear facts, as well as the opinions of *contributors*. Presenters are not there to provide their own viewpoints. We’re not meant to know who/what they support.

I totally agree with you. There have been too many people recently presenting feelings as facts, and other people excusing it because it is about someone they dislike.
DW
DavidWhitfield
The whole crux of presenting news programming is the art of keeping your own feelings to yourself and detailing the facts in a clear and impartial manner.
"Well Donald Trump is an idiot so saying so is factual" doesn't count and we all know it doesn't.
Trump is indisputably divisive but I want to know the information, not what the news presenter personally THINKS of the information.
Whether it's in relation to Trump or someone far less polarising, it's immaterial - that's simply not the role of a news presenter and it's not appropriate in any circumstance.
Last edited by DavidWhitfield on 20 January 2021 4:50pm
JO
Jon
Yes, there are plenty of factual things you can say about Trump’s speeches which are objective that can have just as much impact. For example CNN ended the speech with “it was full of lies”, which at least can be backed up by fact checking.
AP
Applepie
On a positive note (subjective of course), should Sky just offer Omarosa Manigault Newman a presenting job, she's certainly been on enough in the past couple of months.
Ratflump, UTVLifer and skyviewer gave kudos

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