Watched tonight's 2225 BBC LDN news. It contained 3 feature pieces (Drugs death inquest, forest meditating and recycling Christmas trees) repeated from tonight's 1830 programme and a bit of Tom Cruise in Leicester Square. The forest meditating and recycling stories simply did not deserve airtime. They were not news.
I'm quite sure there must be real news happening in one of the world's largest cities.
I think it happens sometimes, I know it is has happened on North West Today / Tonight. The edition at 10.25 being like the 6.30 one but very short instead. But I remember a few times that when they went out at 3.20 they only covered one story and then it had to go to the Weather and then ended. Though I guess it's quite common on most News programmes to repeat the main story and issue of the day, unless anything major has happened, which tonight in London hasn't.
Well, the network Six was plugging to death the fact that "there'll be lot's more on Ken Livingston rejoining Labour in the BBC LDN News at six thirty".
So what had dear old Ken done by ten thirty to not be newsworthy any more?
I'd have thought he was of more interest to town than recycling a bloomin' Christmas Tree.
Its not the only place that's short of major news stories - most of the time the front page of the weekly North Devon Journal is something along the lines of "cat gets stuck in tree" or "cow stubs hoof on rock" or "dog gives birth to five puppies"....
the front page of the weekly North Devon Journal is something along the lines of "cat gets stuck in tree" or "cow stubs hoof on rock" or "dog gives birth to five puppies"
Well, THIS week's Journal OUGHT to be running with "Nick Harvey's Godson becomes father of baby boy", but that's another story!
Well, the network Six was plugging to death the fact that "there'll be lot's more on Ken Livingston rejoining Labour in the BBC LDN News at six thirty".
So what had dear old Ken done by ten thirty to not be newsworthy any more?
I suppose the bulletin was so short it wasn't worth repeating a major story fom the 10 o clock news. A story from the 6 o clock news wouldn't normally get a repeat in LDN, but a story the size of Ken & Labour can't go without a mention (especially when they got interviews with both Ken and Blair!)
As for the rest of the news.... there is none, it's still a very slow time for news (although not as bad as the last couple of weeks.
Well, THIS week's Journal OUGHT to be running with "Nick Harvey's Godson becomes father of baby boy", but that's another story!
Well that would probably depend on which Nick Harvey we were talking about, Nick, if it was you then it probably wouldn't be front page news, whereas if it was North Devon MP Nick Harvey then it would!
I'm quite sure there must be real news happening in one of the world's largest cities.
Well this time last year not only was a large part of Hackney sealed off due to a 2 week siege, but they also found a biochemical poison in a flat in Wood Green.
This year nothing is happening..... which is a good thing for us, but not for news programmes.
But you see there was real news happening... apart from the Ken Livingston story (which was covered by the national news), there are quite a number of hard stories on the BBC LDN website, none of which were covered by the 2225 "news".
BBC LDN TV news always seems to have a "features" agenda, certainly compared to it's equivalent programmes from Belfast, Glasgow and Cardiff.
I'll add to this rant something else which annoys me... that is, the constant inclusion of the word "London" into news stories on TV and radio in the capital where it's entirely unnecessary. For example, on Saturday morning the worst offenders of this, LBC, had in a story about the NASA Mars probe the line "...have yet to hear from London's Beagle 2 craft". Aaaaarrrgggh.....
BBC LDN TV news always seems to have a "features" agenda, certainly compared to it's equivalent programmes from Belfast, Glasgow and Cardiff.
With so many national news storylines centred in and around London (or happenings in London just presented as national news as is often the case), it's surely very hard to actually find serious news stories for a London regional news service; they will usually either have to take the cat up a tree stories which weren't important enough for the national news, or expand on stories covered in the national news. When this is your news base, a higher 'features agenda' is understandable to still make your programme interesting.
In other regions however, only really big stories (and as you get further away from London the importance a story needs to get on the national news increases) will have got onto the national news, for the vast, vast majority of stories it is down to the regional news to report them, hence other news programmes can be more serious.
