Coronavirus | Television News Coverage

And if you are going to voxpop... please don't put it in the headline sequence

(BBC News at Ten)

I didn't see the Ten but I guess if the story is "public don't know wtf is going on with local lockdown rules" it could be legitimate?

I've just decided, the only Voxpops I'm subscribing to now are on Gogglebox

And specifically, the two old ladies talking about the cost of sex toys.

I was using that as an example of how vox pops in the headlines might be appropriate, I don't think we really want to take the thread on that particular tangent!

Tom Newton Dunn from Times Radio being interviewed on Newsnight in studio E. He must be one of the first non BBC people to be interviewed in person in the studio (MPs on the Marr show aside).

An example of a nonsense voxpop tonight, one women saying lockdown should have lasted until the end of the year. When asked what effect that would have on the economy, she rambled some answer that showed she didn't really understand the question.

So its either reinforcing an unsustainable view, or making the women look foolish

You see this really pisses me off. The news plays a role in delivering the message in circumstances like this. The government publishes plenty of information via official channels. If people are confused then the news isn’t reporting it properly. The BBC in particular seem to think they’re above that.

I could go on for hours about this but if I did it would sound like a twitter thread by an angry #DefundTheBBC account.

The BBC, at the moment, seem to love opening bulletins with "anger and confusion as...". Cue angry women or man voxpop.

Not long ago, headlines were (length aside) written quite straight forward..

What in 2020 would be "Tonight at Ten - anger and confusion after local lockdown restrictions are enforced in parts of Northern England and the Midlands" ... (cue soundbite of random person on street and then angry politician from local area)

would once have been:

"Local lockdown restrictions are enforced in the North and the Midlands"

When did we loose straight forward news?

But then how many of those who are vox popped do you think are avid BBC News viewers? How many got the news from their local rag's Facebook page with the usual misrepresentative clickbait headline and misinformed comments?

When it became more important to have opinion over fact.