BBC News 8pm 90 seconds slot

News isn't editorial decisions, special reports or glamorous newsreaders - it just means what's happened/ happening around the world.

The News on television, radio, print and [to a lesser extent] internet has chosen to report it generally in a detailed, sophisticated style. That doesn't mean it has to be broadcast that way.

The concept of 'news' isn't 'man-made' - events happening is just part of the way the world works. How we interpret, report and take in the news has all been decided by humans.

So why does all news broadcasting, as someone like itsrobert is suggesting, be 'presented' in this same manner? People who don't watch the news may still want to, just not in the structure used.

News broadcast this way has been around for hundreds of years (i.e. via newspapers), but there is no reason for it to stay soley that way.


And if everyone who owns and watches a TV has to pay the TV lisence, yes I believe the BBC has a responsiblity to fulfill the needs and wants of as many of its viewers as it wants. There is no reason news can't be broadcast in this 'informal' way just as much as it can be broadcast in the 'proper' way...

I'm not sure it's fair to say that BBC News are haemorrhaging - the Ten o'clock News seems to be going from strength to strength, while in the last few years News 24 has over taken Sky as the number one news channel.

The fact remains that there are some people in this country who do not watch the news because they are not interested in it and nothing the BBC does is going to change that.

I suppose when you look at it that way it does make sense. As you said, 1.7 million more people are watching BBC News than prior to its creation, which has to be a good thing. I just wish they'd compensate by beefing up the One and Six to the standard of the Ten and Newsnight. Years ago, if I caught one bulletin of BBC News a day then I was happy and felt fully informed. These days, even if I watch the One or Six I still feel the need to watch the Ten in order to be satisfied. The One and Six feature far too many celebrity and human interest stories and not enough political news for my liking.

If people are now watching the 8pm bulletin and weren't watching before, surely they therefore want this news service - and therefore these arguments about choice are irrelevent. People still have the choice - and are using it to tune into BBC 1 at 8pm to see a short news bulletin. Perhaps they don't choose to, as it were, but they aren't choosing not to, by changing channel, and are therefore learning about world issues and other such current affairs. Thus, it can surely only be deemed a success, without removing 'choice'.

I think the 90 second bulletin at about 20:00 is excellent.

You watch EastEnders, then you know you've got a full 90 seconds to set up your DVD recorders for the rest of the evening's material before Waterloo Road starts.

Well done the BBC, for a guaranteed minute and a half when you're absolutely and definitely certain that there's no need whatsoever to watch.

BBC News is deemed a corner stone of the BBC - and one of the most valued parts. If it becomes less valued because it is less relevant to a section of its audience - that is dangerous for the BBC, and it is part of the Beeb's public service remit to inform its audience...