Divided we Stand?

Hi

I've just been watching some YT clips of BBC news and current affairs in the 80's and it made me think whether the approach was better then:

5.40 Evening News
6.00 Local News
6.20 Nationwide

That way the whole dumbing down argument wouldn't exist. All thoughts welcome

Hi there. Good Evening.

Not really sure what you mean, specifically. With regard to "dumbing down". You mean the new running order is dumbed down, or what?

Thanks. James.

What I mean is that BBC news nowadays is IMO slanted towards entertainment which I feel makes the news something light hearted.

Ah. I see what you mean. Unfortunately, I can only see BBC World News now. And on that channel, there is most certainly not any dumbing down of the news agenda, or presentation thereof.

I can't comment about BBC Network News, as I can't watch it, alas.

But, wasn't Nationwide quite a "light-hearted" digest on some occasions? I vaguely recall drunken snails and a man who used to play funny songs on the piano from time-to-time.

There is no piano playing on the current BBC News output, but perhaps on the One Show (closest variant of Nationwide I can think of) is a little more light-hearted than BBC News, although not necessarily dumbed down news.

6.00 National News
6.30 Local News
7.00 The One Show

The timings and names may have changed, but not hugely different to the schedule you suggest. As for dumbing down - when was the last time you saw a skateboarding duck on the news?

Yes, I'm not sure what you mean by 'the dumbing down argument' either.

The One Show was launched as a modern version of Nationwide, which in many ways it is. So the current schedule isn't that much different to what you suggest, except with half hour of each

People pick a handful of things and use it to say that the news content is being 'dumbed down'. I think overall the main news bulletins are fine, news channels are going to have a mix, but usually the order is ok.

Nationwide is one of those shows that was reinvented during its life. Originally quite lighthearted but then they tried to turn it into Newsnight-light as a vehicle for David Dimbleby.

Hello

Sorry I phrased it incorrectly:

What I meant was this, On BBC Network news now there is in my opinion a lot of focus on entertainment stories and the like.

What I would prefer is the news being a news bulletin with no entertainment stuff and The One Show handling all the celebrity stuff.

I enjoy The One Show. Don't shove the celebrity nonsense on to that. If they must cover celebrity news, make a programme for it. Call it Liquid News.

I would prefer it if half the news bulletins weren't filled with football scores, andy murray losing, shots of rained off cricket and other sports "news", but unfortunately, not everyone agrees with me.

You would have a point if on days with significant news stories (like the Norway shootings / death of Gaddafi), they didn't cover those stories in detail before moving on (if there's sufficient time left) to any entertainment news. As for it being a modern thing, I still remember the Oasis vs Blur story leading the six in the early 90s.

And another thing. Don't call it 'entertainment news'. Call it what it is, celebrity news.

Actual entertainment news is fine. Entertainment being books, television, video games, films, theatre etc. not Jordon and Peter Andre news.