Journalism these days

attica
attica Posts: 2,362
edited August 2009 in Commuting chat
Right, I've been building up to this for quite a while and I think here I can share my feelings amongst friends:-

<Rant Mode>
I sat down earlier and happened to catch a bit of the News at Ten on ITV, I was appauled.
FIrst up was a huge segment on the death of Bobby Robson, all very sad but there was an interview with Gazza where he trailed off into sobs (again!) and the clip ended without him carrying on speaking, there was about 5 seconds worth of TV that served no purpose other than to dwell on the grief of a man who had lost a father figure, why didn't they edit it at the point when he stopped speaking?

This item was followed up with an interview with the father of the British Army Officer who died in Terrorististan recently, not absolutely a news piece but apparently he had some words of advice for Gordon Brown (obviously the minute he lost his son he became an expert on defence spending). Anyway, the journalist cut straight to the heart of the subject with her first probing and relevant question, I can't quote it exactly but the gist of it was "So what did you talk about the last time you and your son spoke?"

Misery seems to be actively chased these days by vouyeristic News Editors

Other things that have annoyed me lately have been such important news items as "Susan Boyle, she can sing a bit" or "Geoff Youveneverheardofhim has won Celebrity Strictly Come Dancing on Ice Brother Get Me Out Of Here", these are not news items, so why are they up there in the "bongs" at the start of news programmes?

I wouldn't be surprised to hear the news start something like "Coming up: All Middle Eastern Nations have declared war on the Western World, apocalypse is inevitable, but first Paris Hilton has a new tattoo on her (already far too famous) backside"

It's not just low rent news such as GMTV news I'm reffering to here, BBC and ITN are both guilty of this sort of pap.

Then there's lazy print journalism: "Can't find a news story? Let's raid B3ta.com for some funny videos/images and not even credit the source."
or
"Can't be bothered to write a news article, I'll cut and past a press release or even a Twitter verbatim that'll fill the page"

Is the quality of Journalism really going downhill or am I just getting old and crotchety.

Oh and before I'm flamed to bits, I do know that there is an awful lot of good journalism out there, it's just that BBC TV news and ITN seem to have dropped their standards at times.

<\Rant Mode>

... And breathe.
"Impressive break"

"Thanks...

...I can taste blood"

Comments

  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,064
    Paris H has a new tattoo?

    Really :P
    Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
    Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
    Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
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  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 19,390
    What nonsense!


    Do you not recall Sky's excellent live coverage of Jade Goody's funeral?
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • @Attica You are Charlie Brooker* and I claim my £5

    *particularly what has become the modern ITN classic 12-15 mins in
  • attica
    attica Posts: 2,362
    I'll take that as a massive compliment.

    Have you seen this? (NSFW)

    EDIT F-ing H! I just watched that "ITN funeral face off" bit, hilarious!
    "Impressive break"

    "Thanks...

    ...I can taste blood"
  • DonDaddyD
    DonDaddyD Posts: 12,689
    Attica, I completely agree with you.

    Big Brother has stopped serious news reporting so that we don't know or worry about the state of the World and the horrors around us.
    Food Chain number = 4

    A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game
  • chuckcork
    chuckcork Posts: 1,471
    Attica wrote:
    I'll take that as a massive compliment.

    Have you seen this? (NSFW)

    EDIT F-ing H! I just watched that "ITN funeral face off" bit, hilarious!

    Care to post a link?
    'Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that caught the cycling craze....
  • chuckcork wrote:
    Care to post a link?
    It's up and down off YouTube as fast as ITN can get it pulled - so no stable links there - but the main bits of the ITN report can be found in the link in my post above at between 12 mins and 15 mins in.

    @Attica: no, I hadn't seen that site before - enjoying it :wink:
  • The best news site I have ever found is:

    www.thedailymash.co.uk
  • DonDaddyD wrote:
    Attica, I completely agree with you.

    Big Brother has stopped serious news reporting so that we don't know or worry about the state of the World and the horrors around us.

    the broadsheets still to a fair old try, but yes tv news is worthless in the main
  • There's a very good book called "Flat Earth News" written by a journalist which shows from research that most "news" is taken verbatim from press releases or from news agencies like Reuters. No checking, no researching of accuracy, just cut and paste.

    My heart sinks when I see things like Panorama. This used to be a benchmark investigative journalism programme. Well researched, serious subjects. Now it is froth, opinion and drivel. Even the news that isn't celebrity driven is either opinion dressed up as fact or suposition. A man was found dead. We think it may have been .... - I don't care what YOU (the journo) think - I want to KNOW what you know. If you don't know then shut up, go find out and then come back and tell me.

    Rant over...
    Pain is only weakness leaving the body