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Sky election coverage to focus on 'real people'
Jason Deans, broadcasting editor
Wednesday February 23, 2005
Sky News "bored the viewers" with its wall-to-wall coverage of the 2001 general election, the head of the news channel admitted today.
Nick Pollard promised that Sky News would be taking a more "imaginative" approach to covering the campaign for the upcoming general election, which is expected to be called for May 5 - and said he thought other broadcasters would tackle it in the same way.
Mr Pollard added that the satellite channel would attempt to provide more in-depth reports on what the different parties have promised and what that might mean for voters, rather than slavishly covering every press conference, PR stunt and photo opportunity during the campaign.
"In 2001 I don't think we got it right. We did it absolutely wall-to-wall - everything that moved and spoke, we covered. We were very indiscriminate. It was wrong," he said, speaking at a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch today.
"It was very fair - my God, was it comprehensive - and it bored the viewers. I remember there was a senior politician speaking in Elgin High Street in the rain, with about three people listening - and we still had a satellite truck there.
"We've taken a decision to be a little more imaginative, shall we say [with the 2005 general election campaign]. We've got quite a lot of ideas up our sleeve for taking it to real people. We'd like to try to tell people about what politicians have promised - and what they have delivered.
"What is the NHS really like? Not what Tony Blair or Michael Howard say it's like. What are people's real experiences of it? We'd maybe crunch the numbers for a month, look at things like the number of doctors and length of waiting lists. All the broadcasters will be preparing a parcel of ideas and formats, to try and make it a little bit more accessible, rather than just reporting from Elgin High Street."
Mr Pollard said it would require a "quite difficult balancing act" to take this new approach to election campaign coverage and continue to provide fair and balanced reporting of the various political parties.
"My guess is that we will have to cover more than we necessarily put on air. I think we will be more careful about what we put on air, particularly big slabs of stuff. We are going to have to be more fleet of foot, and bolder. If we've heard a politician give the same speech before, we might report that they are saying it again. And then go to a local hospital and find out what people there think."
Sky election coverage to focus on 'real people'
Jason Deans, broadcasting editor
Wednesday February 23, 2005
Sky News "bored the viewers" with its wall-to-wall coverage of the 2001 general election, the head of the news channel admitted today.
Nick Pollard promised that Sky News would be taking a more "imaginative" approach to covering the campaign for the upcoming general election, which is expected to be called for May 5 - and said he thought other broadcasters would tackle it in the same way.
Mr Pollard added that the satellite channel would attempt to provide more in-depth reports on what the different parties have promised and what that might mean for voters, rather than slavishly covering every press conference, PR stunt and photo opportunity during the campaign.
"In 2001 I don't think we got it right. We did it absolutely wall-to-wall - everything that moved and spoke, we covered. We were very indiscriminate. It was wrong," he said, speaking at a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch today.
"It was very fair - my God, was it comprehensive - and it bored the viewers. I remember there was a senior politician speaking in Elgin High Street in the rain, with about three people listening - and we still had a satellite truck there.
"We've taken a decision to be a little more imaginative, shall we say [with the 2005 general election campaign]. We've got quite a lot of ideas up our sleeve for taking it to real people. We'd like to try to tell people about what politicians have promised - and what they have delivered.
"What is the NHS really like? Not what Tony Blair or Michael Howard say it's like. What are people's real experiences of it? We'd maybe crunch the numbers for a month, look at things like the number of doctors and length of waiting lists. All the broadcasters will be preparing a parcel of ideas and formats, to try and make it a little bit more accessible, rather than just reporting from Elgin High Street."
Mr Pollard said it would require a "quite difficult balancing act" to take this new approach to election campaign coverage and continue to provide fair and balanced reporting of the various political parties.
"My guess is that we will have to cover more than we necessarily put on air. I think we will be more careful about what we put on air, particularly big slabs of stuff. We are going to have to be more fleet of foot, and bolder. If we've heard a politician give the same speech before, we might report that they are saying it again. And then go to a local hospital and find out what people there think."