The Newsroom

What will become of the news in 10 years?

(February 2008)

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CO
Connews
Hallo
I thought it would be fitting to ask this. WIth celebrities, sofas and Jeans now gracing the news, I thought I would ask what everybody thought the news would be like in 10 years or so.

It has definitely changed. Ten years ago, we were starting to get used to the prospect of presenters perching on desks, the BBC Evening News was at Nine, and the News At Ten was at its prime with Sir Trev at the helm.

Regions had their own identities - and people like Peter Sissons and John Suchet were at the top of their careers. News was news - with no mention to the celebrities wasting their lives away.

News channels were becoming a new idea - yes, Sky had been in the business a while - but a British rival was just beginning to emerge, News 24.

My question is - what will become of the news in the next 10 years? Content wise? Look wise? Style wise? Set wise? Is it all going down one hell of a slippery slope?

Personally, I do. With five news' relaunch, Sky's crap News Channel and a lack of gravitas across the news, with Trev's comeback on NAT in my opinion, disappointing - I think that Television News will have to pull a hell of stunt to recover from its poor journalism, bad sense of newsworthiness and the lack of viewer trust which was diminished in '07, with nightmares like the Queen incident of Newsnight. It seems to me Channel 4 has been the only channel to maintain some dignity with its programming!

I am a teenager aspiring to go into this sort of thing, and I would find other people's perspectives on this interesting.
BR
Brekkie
As for the look of the news. I think it's alot more conservative today than we'd have expected 10 years ago and the fad for bigger, better newswalls has passed - for now.

I don't think 10 years ago anyone would have expected all ITV's weekday bulletins in 2008 to be duel headed too.


National news wise I don't think they'll be a drastic change in how bulletins are presented in ten years time, though I do think they'll move back away from the desk a bit, but I fear regional news will all but disappear due to the complete myth that digital TV means public service commitments are no longer wanted. IMO regional news especially is more important than ever, and DSO shouldn't be the end of it.


I also expect news on-demand to become much more important in the next 10 years, so where real On-Demand services are available (though cable and IPTV) viewers will be able to create their own bulletins by selecting the reports they want to watch.


Content wise - I think the tide is slowly turning against celebrity thank god, but we're not there yet. Also of course just one event can set the news agenda for years and years to come - September 11th and it's consequences is still dominating the news agenda nearly seven years on.
CH
Chie
Hopefully, regional news will be scrapped. "Nottinghamshire man's plea for breast reduction" (link) is not news and yet back in January, East Midlands Today ran with it as the main headline for a whole day Rolling Eyes So, reigional news is pointless. All of the real news is already covered on the national bulletins, wherever it happens.
TI
timgraham
Chie posted:
Hopefully, regional news will be scrapped. "Nottinghamshire man's plea for breast reduction" (link) is not news and yet back in January, East Midlands Today ran with it as the main headline for a whole day Rolling Eyes So, reigional news is pointless. All of the real news is already covered on the national bulletins, wherever it happens.
One suspect headline on one night of the week, way back in January when everyone's on holiday, is hardly the best basis for an argument to completely ditch regional news altogether..
EY
the eye
timgraham posted:
Chie posted:
Hopefully, regional news will be scrapped. "Nottinghamshire man's plea for breast reduction" (link) is not news and yet back in January, East Midlands Today ran with it as the main headline for a whole day Rolling Eyes So, reigional news is pointless. All of the real news is already covered on the national bulletins, wherever it happens.
One suspect headline on one night of the week, way back in January when everyone's on holiday, is hardly the best basis for an argument to completely ditch regional news altogether..


Its winter in Jan in the UK Razz I bet everyones at home Very Happy
CO
Connews
It doesn't need 30 minute 6pm bulletins, I must say. It needs to be 10 minutes or something, because I find thr first 10 minutes is news and the rest is all filler.

Maybe they should just remain newsrooms or bureaus, with a weekly review of the goings on in the area.

It's only when you have a fire in Cambridgeshire as breaking news in N24 that the regions start to get useful becuse they have a journalist at the ready.

Then again, the National News has to happen somewhere, so I suppose wherever the main news story is happening it will cover it in more detail.

I am indecisive, but do think there should be less fluff more news in the region.

BTW I noticed Britney Spears had the first place on the CNN news ticker: "Britney Spears allowed to see sons."
:-(
A former member
Yes, it must be said that there is potentially more of a news story in someone's fight for breast reductions than some vacuous has-been's kiddies being taken away!

So should we take this as an excuse to scrap the national news as well?
CO
Connews
Oh yeah, let's just scrap all news, Jason!!!

What we are saying is we think the constraints of a regional news programme are too small, because the radius of the news area is too small, not enough newsworthy events are happening.

If ITV's plans go ahead to merge regions to make fewer but bigger areas, it will be more feasible as there will be more news for the programme, albeit a little less personal.
DO
dosxuk
Connews posted:
there will be more news for the programme, albeit a little less personal.


Which to most people will mean less news. BBC regional news has held its ratings while national news programmes have been slowly shrinking. Most people want to know what is going on around them, not over the entire country.

Yes, the breast reduction story may have been a bit silly to put as the lead story, but how many other important stories in the East Midlands region have only been aired because of the regional news?
MA
Markymark
Connews posted:
I thought I would ask what everybody thought the news would be like in 10 years or so.


Best thing would be to ask Chris Morris. He was spot on with 'The Day Today' and 'Brass Eye' from 10 -15 years ago.
:-(
A former member
Connews posted:
Oh yeah, let's just scrap all news, Jason!!!


I wasn't being entirely serious Connews!

Quote:
If ITV's plans go ahead to merge regions to make fewer but bigger areas, it will be more feasible as there will be more news for the programme, albeit a little less personal.


Feasible to whom?

Have you not noticed the fact that some of the affected areas under ITV's plans (Border, Tyne Tees, Westcountry) have some of the highest ITV regional ratings in the country, and the greatest sense of community identity (with the possible exception of Border, but that doesn't stop people tuning in in their droves does it?).

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