BBC News and BBC World to merge

[Roger Darthwell]

I don't class myself as a full-on news junkie - certainly not the type that watches it for hours every day. I dip in and out mostly at breakfast time and again during the evening. The only time I spend any length of time watching a news channel is when something interesting is happening, such as last week. But, I do expect - maybe rightly or wrongly - that I have access to BBC News whenever I want it with a focus on domestic and international issues from a UK perspective according to the editorial agenda of the day. It's not enough to say 'there's an app' or a website, those just don't replicate the type of rolling news that the audience have become accustomed to having. To expect me to return to the 1990s situation of waiting for a bulletin is ridiculous. The joy of last week was in seeing events unfold and hearing the analysis of the correspondents and contributions of the pundits.

Therefore, my feeling is - as a British citizen - that I would expect the BBC to prioritise serving my needs over and above the overseas audience. Like I said, an international channel is a luxury. If the new BBC News channel focuses too heavily on international affairs and starts treating me like an idiot by explaining who the Chancellor of the Exchequer is, then I will be tuning out and over to Sky News as I have been doing more and more since the simulcasting started. They're effectively losing the casual UK audience by going down that route (and I guess the overseas audience if they focus too much on UK affairs). Maybe that's the plan - alienate the entire audience and one day the whole channel will be closed down?

If this is the plan, then I think it would be utterly horrific and another proof on how the current management of the BBC is hell bent on destroying it