17-06-2021, 04:49 PM
Hello everyone.
When TVForum closed down I thought it was the ideal time to slip quietly away and avoid the dogmatism and rancour that would inevitably come to characterise debate herein. I’ve had - and still do have - larger fights to fight.
The creation and launch of GBNews, however, cannot pass without comment
It is a noble idea. To build something from scratch. To create a channel from nothing. To be an alternative source for news and current affairs rather than a source of alternative news and current affairs. Those connected to the station have impressive credentials; from Andrew Neil and John McAndrew to Discovery and Sir Paul Marshall, there is a wealth of experience, knowledge and talent at play. Yet no amount of experience or knowledge or talent is a guarantor of success. Far from it. When mistakes occur - as they are want to do - they are amplified in no small part due to the calibre of those associated with the station. They accrue a greater significance that may - or may not - be warranted.
As this week has demonstrated, investment and resources are as essential to a station’s success (or failure) as much as experience, knowledge and talent. For all the talk of changing how news is delivered, GBNews lacks the basic operational and technological infrastructure required to stay on air. Access to archives and news wires appears to be limited. Equally, for all the talk of representing the forgotten 99% of the country who live outside of SW1, it lacks a network of experienced correspondents, editors, operators and researches around the country that can service that ambition and give voice to those views.
GBNews was not - by any measure - ready to go on air. There are problems in front of the camera and behind. It matters that the public see these problems manifest. The public are creatures of habit. The public are (largely) rational beings and are conditioned to act in a set way. Thus they turn to recognised sources for news - sources that are at once familiar and largely trusted. They conform to a pattern and a structure such as headlines, important stories, sports news and the weather. On a news channel typically there are headlines every 15 minutes. This means that the public are able to obtain the basic information that they require to make informed or rational decisions in short order. In wishing to set itself apart from the competition, in wishing to change how news is delivered, GBNews has failed to address that most basic function of a news channel: to tell people what has happened. It is less a news channel and more a discussion channel. Would five minutes of headlines at the top and bottom of the hour really undermine its aims?
Of course the real challenge that confronts GBNews is its competition. It doesn’t understand it. It doesn’t know who it is challenging. In the weeks leading up to the launch of GBNews, it made much of the liberal bias and woke culture at the BBC and at ITV and at Sky. It was too London-centric and too dismissive of local issues and the regions. Where? Was it on the BBC News Channel? Was it on Sky News? As the viewing figures for this week have shown, the average viewing figures for the BBC News Channel top out at 140,000 give or take. Is that really the source of malign liberal influence and woke culture in this country? On average, the combined audience for BBC News at Ten and ITV News at Ten is 6 million per night. If it wishes to combat a malign liberal influence and woke culture, surely that is what GBNews should be competing against not a relatively small number of viewers who watch the news channels throughout the day. And the reason that people watch the flagship bulletins is that they are sandwiched between local news bulletins that, for all their faults, do cover local issues and stories (however parochial they may seem). Without the aforementioned investment and resources at a local level, GBNews will be unable to compete.
I cannot help but think that the creation and launch of GBNews displays a lack of self-awareness that is rather stunning in its scope.
For the record, the standout (from what I’ve seen) has been Rosie Wright. Both her camera operator and herself have had the good fortune to be on the road, largely distanced from the problems in the studio. Capable. Engaging. Fluent. I wouldn’t be surprised if she isn’t poached by the likes of the BBC in the fullness of time.
When TVForum closed down I thought it was the ideal time to slip quietly away and avoid the dogmatism and rancour that would inevitably come to characterise debate herein. I’ve had - and still do have - larger fights to fight.
The creation and launch of GBNews, however, cannot pass without comment
It is a noble idea. To build something from scratch. To create a channel from nothing. To be an alternative source for news and current affairs rather than a source of alternative news and current affairs. Those connected to the station have impressive credentials; from Andrew Neil and John McAndrew to Discovery and Sir Paul Marshall, there is a wealth of experience, knowledge and talent at play. Yet no amount of experience or knowledge or talent is a guarantor of success. Far from it. When mistakes occur - as they are want to do - they are amplified in no small part due to the calibre of those associated with the station. They accrue a greater significance that may - or may not - be warranted.
As this week has demonstrated, investment and resources are as essential to a station’s success (or failure) as much as experience, knowledge and talent. For all the talk of changing how news is delivered, GBNews lacks the basic operational and technological infrastructure required to stay on air. Access to archives and news wires appears to be limited. Equally, for all the talk of representing the forgotten 99% of the country who live outside of SW1, it lacks a network of experienced correspondents, editors, operators and researches around the country that can service that ambition and give voice to those views.
GBNews was not - by any measure - ready to go on air. There are problems in front of the camera and behind. It matters that the public see these problems manifest. The public are creatures of habit. The public are (largely) rational beings and are conditioned to act in a set way. Thus they turn to recognised sources for news - sources that are at once familiar and largely trusted. They conform to a pattern and a structure such as headlines, important stories, sports news and the weather. On a news channel typically there are headlines every 15 minutes. This means that the public are able to obtain the basic information that they require to make informed or rational decisions in short order. In wishing to set itself apart from the competition, in wishing to change how news is delivered, GBNews has failed to address that most basic function of a news channel: to tell people what has happened. It is less a news channel and more a discussion channel. Would five minutes of headlines at the top and bottom of the hour really undermine its aims?
Of course the real challenge that confronts GBNews is its competition. It doesn’t understand it. It doesn’t know who it is challenging. In the weeks leading up to the launch of GBNews, it made much of the liberal bias and woke culture at the BBC and at ITV and at Sky. It was too London-centric and too dismissive of local issues and the regions. Where? Was it on the BBC News Channel? Was it on Sky News? As the viewing figures for this week have shown, the average viewing figures for the BBC News Channel top out at 140,000 give or take. Is that really the source of malign liberal influence and woke culture in this country? On average, the combined audience for BBC News at Ten and ITV News at Ten is 6 million per night. If it wishes to combat a malign liberal influence and woke culture, surely that is what GBNews should be competing against not a relatively small number of viewers who watch the news channels throughout the day. And the reason that people watch the flagship bulletins is that they are sandwiched between local news bulletins that, for all their faults, do cover local issues and stories (however parochial they may seem). Without the aforementioned investment and resources at a local level, GBNews will be unable to compete.
I cannot help but think that the creation and launch of GBNews displays a lack of self-awareness that is rather stunning in its scope.
For the record, the standout (from what I’ve seen) has been Rosie Wright. Both her camera operator and herself have had the good fortune to be on the road, largely distanced from the problems in the studio. Capable. Engaging. Fluent. I wouldn’t be surprised if she isn’t poached by the likes of the BBC in the fullness of time.