BBC to mixânâmatch old stories with new
Following the success of its website, which takes visitors to old news items as if they were recent events, the BBC has decided to randomise all news coverage, with old events appearing alongside new. âThe BBC believes in challenging itselfâ, a spokesman said. âThe licence-fee payer deserves a service which is distinct from that offered by other news outlets â CNN, Al Jazeera etc. One question we asked was : why does news have to be so new? Whatâs wrong with classic news? âThe result is a sea-change in our style of reporting. If viewers or listeners just want to know about things which are happening now, they can switch to commercial radio or television. With the BBC they will hear about present events and past events at the same time. Weâre planning an exciting series of vox pop interviews about the sinking of the Titanic, followed by âliveâ coverage of its launch. âThe possibilities are endless. The fall of Singapore, that cat being run over by a fire wagon, Jimmy Savileâs OBE. Taking events out of sequence puts a completely fresh slant on what we mean by âcurrent affairsâ. Our guiding principle will be âno hindsightâ. So, for example, coverage of every England football match since 1966 will be optimistic and dismissive of other nations. âOur racing tipsters are particularly excited about the prospect of getting it right occasionally. The next step will be reporting of future events. This might need a bigger licence feeâ.