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I don't even look at the news until I get to work - I struggle to get out of the house as it is, without that distraction. I have a look at the front pages of all the papers when I arrive at the office (which is a pretty good way to grasp the day's big picture), then switch on Sky News.
I like Sky News, partly for its sensationalism. It has a tendency to cry wolf with its 'Breaking News' banners, but if rumour is brewing, it'll be the first to make a splash of it. I have TV on my desktop rather than a stand alone set, and just click to it every now and again - so strong visual cues suit me. If anything looks interesting, I can slip headphones on and pick up the story.
I don't tune into any particular daytime bulletins, but watch the Channel 4 News at 7 if I can. I'm very keen on Jon Snow as a broadcaster - there's something about his lack of polish and slightly rumpled demeanour that appeals to me. He is, in many ways, the anti-Trevor McDonald. He's not got the forensic style of Paxman, or John Humphreys' dogged tenacity, but an easy manner can bring out the best from interviewees, particularly on softer subjects. I also like Krishnan Guru-Murthy - there's something everymanish about him. I also like the fact that the programme gives a relatively high priority science and technology stories (credit, I guess, to Julian Rush's skills lobbying behind the scenes).
I probably relatively modest in my aspirations, but I feel pretty much set if I just watch that and Newsnight at 10.30. I'm an unashamed fan of Paxman, but it's Newsnight's women that are its greatest strength, IMO. Kirsty Wark, Martha Kearney, Susan Watts, Stephanie Flanders... all fantastic. Its world news sometimes feels a bit US-oriented, but that feels increasingly pertinent, and anyway complements Channel 4's slight lean towards European news. Also, Newsnight does economics in such a way that even a schmoe like me can understand it.
The Newsnight brand has expanded recently, and along with the Friday night cultural review programme, there have been some quality Newsnight debates and interviews. Panels nearly always well balanced and thoughtfully researched. Newsnight's stance is probably slightly more to the centre than the pinker Channel 4, and panels generally feel fastidiously well balanced and they can normally attract the heavy-hitters. Both programmes do pretty well for exclusives, something that doesn't seem to be part of the brief for BBC1 and ITV.
If there's no Big Brother, rolling news goes on late at night as background - although BBC News 24 more often that not. There's something about the Beeb which I find reassuring. If Auntie doesn't have anything more to tell me from the day, I feel I can go to bed safe in the knowledge.
As for current affairs programmes, there isn't a particular strand I feel a strong loyalty towards, and apart from Question Time, there's none that I'll make an effort to view regardless of the subject. The BBC has fucked around with Panorama so much, some of the corporation's evident loss of confidence has rubbed off on me as a viewer. Trevor McDonald on ITV pulls off some tremendous scoops, but they feel squandered somehow, and it's become much more of a consumer show in the main. Dispatches on 4 is often good, but stand-alone documentaries tend to be stronger than the flag-ship brands on all channels. Pervertedly, I quite like Andrew Neil's Politics Show with Michael Portillo and Diane Abbott, but mostly to gawp at their combined ghastliness.
More to say on this, but it's late and the TV is telling me that it's okay to go to bed. |
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