BBC News Channel Presentation - 21/03/16 onwards

I disagree with the idea that stories such as dick picks etc should not be on a rolling news service, which should only serve politicos and people who want the conventional news agenda. Within the chat about 'box-ticking' and so forth that I see on many forums there's a clear-cut element of men going "well, this doesn't affect me so therefore it's not news".

Derbyshire's on for an hour. If anything catastrophic happens within that hour they'll either cut away and go live, or you can switch over to Sky News. Normally people complain about repeats. When it comes to news channels, it seems that's all some people want.

Not just with news channels but a common thread in television is about trying to appeal to the people who aren't watching rather than the people who aren't, and often gaining that small audience but losing a bigger chunk of the audience you already had seems to be seen as job well done.

In recent weeks though another development of recent years is causing problems - the desire of news organisations to set the agenda rather than report the agenda. The news is probably more complicated now than it has ever been and although it is still important to cover other issues taking an hour out each morning now for a more features based show just does BBC News a disservice

I'd love to switch over to Sky News but they're doing the other extreme. Hardcore politico output, so there's absolutely nothing bar 90 seconds or so of conventional news during Derbyshire.

Accusing viewers/forum members of being sexist because some would rather watch a conventional rolling news bulletin instead of Derbyshire's largely banal human interest filler isn't sexist, it's a fact that for an hour when news is likely to happen, viewers either get a choice between a female skewed feature or Adam Boulton going in hard on Brexit or some other Westminster village niche story.

It's only an hour I know, but the shortened Derbyshire show has showed up even more the jarring format on weekdays than if this format was on a Saturday or Sunday where a features magazine show would be more suitable, alongside Witness, Click, The Travel Show etc.

Today the TOTH before the 17:05 national bulletin started without the headlines and with Shaun Ley on the catwalk, featuring the long titles. The sequence doesn't look too messy compared to last week. I guess someone here from the BBC read this thread!

Better but I'm sure there's a slicker way of doing it.

There was a similar sequence for yesterday evening's bulletin with Ben Brown. Although the normal titles going into E were played out.

I'd run the sequence they usually do when the News channel rejoins viewers after the 6pm weekday bulletin's finished and before they go to Sportsday. Out of the countdown, run the short Newsroom BOTH sequence into the shot of the presenter standing at the catwalk. Presenter says some of the stories coming up later, tease ahead to Sportsday and the Papers, then say the we'll be joined by viewers on BBC One stuff next, play a sting into the filler and then the BBC One bulletin starts.

Basically, this, without the cock up.



That way you're not running a half baked report at the start. Whether that's feasible, who knows.

The issue for me is the idea some people have that stories featured on Derbyshire aren't newsworthy in themselves. Harassment online is a major issue for women and hugely serious.

I suspect part of the problem here is we're arguing at cross-purposes. Some of Derbyshire's stuff is a bit banal, some of it is unconventional but has a PSB angle (the Brexit chats, for example), but some of it is actually hugely important, serious journalism covering an audience which is often ignored by conventional bulletins.

I have a huge amount of sympathy with the general thrust of this point. I would like more time to be spent explaining in plain English stories news shows often assume we've got a handle of. And I do get frustrated when the BBC leads on something because it's their story rather than it being the most important story of the day.

Thing is, I think most of the contextualisation doesn't come from rolling bulletins but from the likes of Newsbeat on Radio 1 and, yes, even Derbyshire at times.

Where has the idea that VD stuff is aimed at female viewers come from?

Louisa Compton IIRC

To quote James Harding back in 2015.



It hasn't been has it? Yes, I agree with p_c_u_k that there have been some worthy stories that the show has generated, but when it's packaged in such a way that it's among the banal, that I've found the various VD packages that have been repackaged for the general NC bulletins later in the day more palatable as part of a general news bulletin than VD who then follows it with a debate.

If there was more money, VD would be perfectly fine on BBC2 at 10am daily as a stand-alone show, yet as it's a NC commission with a NC simulcast with BBC2, it still doesn't work. In any case, ITV's This Morning has the audience to do the subliminal journalism they do for their female targeted audience, such as those health issues VD has made a thing out of newsgathering.

On the other hand, when stand-in presenters have covered, Chloe Tilley has been excellent at the format. Impartial, yet easy to watch and makes the guests at ease.