The Newsroom

BBC Radio Five Live

Where's the news? (January 2006)

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MO
Moz
Don't get me wrong, I love Five Live, but I often think they should concentrate a bit more on rolling news.

This morning there is some huge and important news about the Palestinian cabinet resigning and saying that Hamas must form the next government.

Where is the coverage on BBC Radio? At the moment Five Live are talking about George Galloway on the phone-in.

Five Live is supposed to be 'news & sport', the only place on BBC Radio for this, and while they do cover news with regular bulletins, and in between those the content is news based, but they have a totally different agenda from News 24, Sky News etc.

Phone-ins, guests etc are fine to fill in the gaps between the breaking news, but when a major story breaks, in my opinion they should clear the schedules more easily and act more like News 24.

I agree that they don't have the pictures that TV does, but they could so easily get people on the phone to talk about - in this instance - Middle East politics, what happens next, etc. They could even get people to phone in about the breaking news topic.
IS
Inspector Sands
Moz posted:
Don't get me wrong, I love Five Live, but I often think they should concentrate a bit more on rolling news.

This morning there is some huge and important news about the Palestinian cabinet resigning and saying that Hamas must form the next government.

Where is the coverage on BBC Radio? At the moment Five Live are talking about George Galloway on the phone-in.

Five Live is supposed to be 'news & sport', the only place on BBC Radio for this, and while they do cover news with regular bulletins, and in between those the content is news based, but they have a totally different agenda from News 24, Sky News etc.

Phone-ins, guests etc are fine to fill in the gaps between the breaking news, but when a major story breaks, in my opinion they should clear the schedules more easily and act more like News 24.

I agree that they don't have the pictures that TV does, but they could so easily get people on the phone to talk about - in this instance - Middle East politics, what happens next, etc. They could even get people to phone in about the breaking news topic.


It's not a rolling news station and except for major news stories it never has been, as a station it's always had far more of a national rather than international focus. 9-10 has always been a phone in slot

The resignation of the Palestinian president isn't that big a story and certainly not something they could fill an hour-long phone-in discussion with. It probably isn't something that the majority of the public cares about, it certainly doesn't effect many of them.
MO
Moz
Inspector Sands posted:
It's not a rolling news station and except for major news stories it never has been, as a station it's always had far more of a national rather than international focus. 9-10 has always been a phone in slot

I know all this, obviously! What I'm asking is whether this should change. Should there be somewhere on radio that gives a rolling news service similar to News 24?

Inspector Sands posted:
The resignation of the Palestinian president isn't that big a story and certainly not something they could fill an hour-long phone-in discussion with. It probably isn't something that the majority of the public cares about, it certainly doesn't effect many of them.

So you don't think a terrorist group becoming the government of Palestine is a big story? What planet are you on? It's similar to if Sinn Fein had won the elections in N Ireland 10 years ago. I've not got access to TV, but I bet it's the lead story on both News 24 & Sky News and that they are giving it a large amount of coverage.
IT
itsrobert Founding member
Moz posted:
Inspector Sands posted:
The resignation of the Palestinian president isn't that big a story and certainly not something they could fill an hour-long phone-in discussion with. It probably isn't something that the majority of the public cares about, it certainly doesn't effect many of them.

So you don't think a terrorist group becoming the government of Palestine is a big story? What planet are you on? It's similar to if Sinn Fein had won the elections in N Ireland 10 years ago. I've not got access to TV, but I bet it's the lead story on both News 24 & Sky News and that they are giving it a large amount of coverage.


Whilst this is an important news story, I can see where Inspector Sands is coming from. Your analogy of Northern Ireland is a little misguided - yes, that would have been a very important story here because it is part of the UK. Are you telling me that a radio station in Palestine would have had a phone-in on that? The goings on in Palestine aren't directly affecting the majority of people living in the UK. So, why should they care? We all know it is a big story for the Middle East, but it won't affect Joe Bloggs living in Doncaster, will it?
MO
Moz
itsrobert posted:
Moz posted:
Inspector Sands posted:
The resignation of the Palestinian president isn't that big a story and certainly not something they could fill an hour-long phone-in discussion with. It probably isn't something that the majority of the public cares about, it certainly doesn't effect many of them.

So you don't think a terrorist group becoming the government of Palestine is a big story? What planet are you on? It's similar to if Sinn Fein had won the elections in N Ireland 10 years ago. I've not got access to TV, but I bet it's the lead story on both News 24 & Sky News and that they are giving it a large amount of coverage.


Whilst this is an important news story, I can see where Inspector Sands is coming from. Your analogy of Northern Ireland is a little misguided - yes, that would have been a very important story here because it is part of the UK. Are you telling me that a radio station in Palestine would have had a phone-in on that? The goings on in Palestine aren't directly affecting the majority of people living in the UK. So, why should they care? We all know it is a big story for the Middle East, but it won't affect Joe Bloggs living in Doncaster, will it?

Is it, or is it not, the lead story on News 24, Sky News and BBC News Online?
IT
itsrobert Founding member
Moz posted:
itsrobert posted:
Moz posted:
Inspector Sands posted:
The resignation of the Palestinian president isn't that big a story and certainly not something they could fill an hour-long phone-in discussion with. It probably isn't something that the majority of the public cares about, it certainly doesn't effect many of them.

So you don't think a terrorist group becoming the government of Palestine is a big story? What planet are you on? It's similar to if Sinn Fein had won the elections in N Ireland 10 years ago. I've not got access to TV, but I bet it's the lead story on both News 24 & Sky News and that they are giving it a large amount of coverage.


Whilst this is an important news story, I can see where Inspector Sands is coming from. Your analogy of Northern Ireland is a little misguided - yes, that would have been a very important story here because it is part of the UK. Are you telling me that a radio station in Palestine would have had a phone-in on that? The goings on in Palestine aren't directly affecting the majority of people living in the UK. So, why should they care? We all know it is a big story for the Middle East, but it won't affect Joe Bloggs living in Doncaster, will it?

Is it, or is it not, the lead story on News 24, Sky News and BBC News Online?


That may be the case but it does not necessarily mean people care about it. I bet that the vast majority of people in the UK don't even know there have been Palestinian elections.
MO
Moz
itsrobert posted:
Moz posted:
itsrobert posted:
Moz posted:
Inspector Sands posted:
The resignation of the Palestinian president isn't that big a story and certainly not something they could fill an hour-long phone-in discussion with. It probably isn't something that the majority of the public cares about, it certainly doesn't effect many of them.

So you don't think a terrorist group becoming the government of Palestine is a big story? What planet are you on? It's similar to if Sinn Fein had won the elections in N Ireland 10 years ago. I've not got access to TV, but I bet it's the lead story on both News 24 & Sky News and that they are giving it a large amount of coverage.


Whilst this is an important news story, I can see where Inspector Sands is coming from. Your analogy of Northern Ireland is a little misguided - yes, that would have been a very important story here because it is part of the UK. Are you telling me that a radio station in Palestine would have had a phone-in on that? The goings on in Palestine aren't directly affecting the majority of people living in the UK. So, why should they care? We all know it is a big story for the Middle East, but it won't affect Joe Bloggs living in Doncaster, will it?

Is it, or is it not, the lead story on News 24, Sky News and BBC News Online?


That may be the case but it does not necessarily mean people care about it. I bet that the vast majority of people in the UK don't even know there have been Palestinian elections.

It is the BBC's job to educate them, not pander to their low-brow wishes.
TW
Turnbull and Williams
Moz posted:
itsrobert posted:
Moz posted:
itsrobert posted:
Moz posted:
Inspector Sands posted:
The resignation of the Palestinian president isn't that big a story and certainly not something they could fill an hour-long phone-in discussion with. It probably isn't something that the majority of the public cares about, it certainly doesn't effect many of them.

So you don't think a terrorist group becoming the government of Palestine is a big story? What planet are you on? It's similar to if Sinn Fein had won the elections in N Ireland 10 years ago. I've not got access to TV, but I bet it's the lead story on both News 24 & Sky News and that they are giving it a large amount of coverage.


Whilst this is an important news story, I can see where Inspector Sands is coming from. Your analogy of Northern Ireland is a little misguided - yes, that would have been a very important story here because it is part of the UK. Are you telling me that a radio station in Palestine would have had a phone-in on that? The goings on in Palestine aren't directly affecting the majority of people living in the UK. So, why should they care? We all know it is a big story for the Middle East, but it won't affect Joe Bloggs living in Doncaster, will it?

Is it, or is it not, the lead story on News 24, Sky News and BBC News Online?


That may be the case but it does not necessarily mean people care about it. I bet that the vast majority of people in the UK don't even know there have been Palestinian elections.

It is the BBC's job to educate them, not pander to their low-brow wishes.


That's all well and good, but if people are so bored by what's being discussed they'll then switch off, and the BBC won't be educating (or informing, or entertaining) anyone.

Although the Palestinian elections are a big story on News 24 and Sky News today, they're not spending a whole hour talking about it. They're talking about other things too. As are 5 Live.

And radio is a very different medium to television as well. There is nothing but the audio to maintain the listener's attention, so it's important to keep things lively, interesting and relevant because people are very quickly going to switch off.
MO
Moz
Turnbull & Williams posted:
it's important to keep things lively, interesting and relevant because people are very quickly going to switch off.

So why talk about George Galloway!!!? That made me switch off!
TW
Turnbull and Williams
Moz posted:
Turnbull & Williams posted:
it's important to keep things lively, interesting and relevant because people are very quickly going to switch off.

So why talk about George Galloway!!!? That made me switch off!


You do have a point there, that would have made me switch off as well! Laughing
IT
itsrobert Founding member
Moz posted:
Turnbull & Williams posted:
it's important to keep things lively, interesting and relevant because people are very quickly going to switch off.

So why talk about George Galloway!!!? That made me switch off!


That may be, but there are a lot of people watching Big Brother who would stay tuned to a discussion about George Galloway. It's all about ratings - as Turnbull & Williams said, they are not going to waffle on about something which is going to make people switch off. They want to attract as many listeners/viewers as possible and keep them as long as possible.
AN
all new Phil
itsrobert posted:
It's all about ratings - as Turnbull & Williams said, they are not going to waffle on about something which is going to make people switch off. They want to attract as many listeners/viewers as possible and keep them as long as possible.

Why is it all about ratings, though? They have no advertising revenue to attract. It's all very well saying "well it's what people want to listen to" - if that's the case, there are plenty of commercial stations out there that will be giving just as much airtime to George Galloway. It is the distinct purpose of the BBC to inform, and if there is a major news story such as this today then inform is what they should be doing.

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