HO
I'd argue that ITV News does rival the BBC because it caters for a completely different audience. 'Rivaling' doesn't mean 'being exactly the same as'.
One of the BBC's main stories yesterday was that Julie Andrews is going to return to the West End. The headline aston read - I kid you not - "JULIE ANDREWS SINGS" There must be something going on somewhere in the world that's more important than that, surely. Other days you get silly stories like 'New research suggests that tea and coffee may help to prevent diabetes' - it just isn't news.
However, I think it was right for ITV and the BBC to mention The X Factor because it was one of the biggest shows of the year and the winner will probably have the Christmas number one. They mention Eurovision every year too so I don't see why a competition on the scale of The X Factor is much different to that.
I strongly object to stories about who's going to be the next doctor in Doctor Who though, as well as stories about Strictly Come Dancing judges being sacked or whatever - we don't need a running commentary throughout the series, just a five-minute item about the final and the winner at the end of it will suffice.
Here's a screencap from before the last series of SCD had even started. ITV News wouldn't lower themselves to this.
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b366/webchie/bbcnews63.jpg
My problem is that the BBC are as guilty as ITV - and I for one am sure that if ITV was more focussed on proper, detailed and inquisitive reports rather than who's won the X Factor then Sky and the BBC would have to up their game - instead Sky continues their often blatant bias towards certain parties and/or topics and more tabloid-style reporting, while the BBC is left trying to find a balance between proper stories and ITV.
How can you complain at "Julie Andrews sings" (a story that, as Gavin points out, is quite remarkable) compared to how NaT - ITV's flagship bulletin - goes through fazes of having The X Factor or Britain's Got Talent as the "And Finally" every day that week, often citing it in their trailers.
Baring in mind that ITV News' only rivals on television in this country are the BBC, Sky, Five and (I suppose) Channel 4 News, with both Five and Sky chasing lighter, tabloid style news stories, I struggle to see how ITV providing fluff on their bulletins does provide a real alternative to the BBC.
Despite rarely getting to watch a full C4 bulletin, I do think it offers a good news provision.
The problem is ITV News rarely rivals the BBC or even Sky, and instead both the latter and the former end up dumbing down their news output - the BBC News at Six or 24/7 on Sky News are both prime examples of this.
I'd argue that ITV News does rival the BBC because it caters for a completely different audience. 'Rivaling' doesn't mean 'being exactly the same as'.
One of the BBC's main stories yesterday was that Julie Andrews is going to return to the West End. The headline aston read - I kid you not - "JULIE ANDREWS SINGS" There must be something going on somewhere in the world that's more important than that, surely. Other days you get silly stories like 'New research suggests that tea and coffee may help to prevent diabetes' - it just isn't news.
However, I think it was right for ITV and the BBC to mention The X Factor because it was one of the biggest shows of the year and the winner will probably have the Christmas number one. They mention Eurovision every year too so I don't see why a competition on the scale of The X Factor is much different to that.
I strongly object to stories about who's going to be the next doctor in Doctor Who though, as well as stories about Strictly Come Dancing judges being sacked or whatever - we don't need a running commentary throughout the series, just a five-minute item about the final and the winner at the end of it will suffice.
Here's a screencap from before the last series of SCD had even started. ITV News wouldn't lower themselves to this.
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b366/webchie/bbcnews63.jpg
My problem is that the BBC are as guilty as ITV - and I for one am sure that if ITV was more focussed on proper, detailed and inquisitive reports rather than who's won the X Factor then Sky and the BBC would have to up their game - instead Sky continues their often blatant bias towards certain parties and/or topics and more tabloid-style reporting, while the BBC is left trying to find a balance between proper stories and ITV.
How can you complain at "Julie Andrews sings" (a story that, as Gavin points out, is quite remarkable) compared to how NaT - ITV's flagship bulletin - goes through fazes of having The X Factor or Britain's Got Talent as the "And Finally" every day that week, often citing it in their trailers.
Baring in mind that ITV News' only rivals on television in this country are the BBC, Sky, Five and (I suppose) Channel 4 News, with both Five and Sky chasing lighter, tabloid style news stories, I struggle to see how ITV providing fluff on their bulletins does provide a real alternative to the BBC.
Despite rarely getting to watch a full C4 bulletin, I do think it offers a good news provision.
lol