BBC must 'think carefully' about the size of its news operation!

slow motion

14-03-2012

This rather surprised me. Worth a read!

Quote:
“"The economic pressures that face print journalism in almost all developed countries are an important and complex topic in themselves, and one that I don't propose to cover in detail this evening," Thompson will say.

"Except to say that I do think it is incumbent on a free-to-air broadcaster like the BBC to think carefully about the boundaries of what it offers the public, especially in digital environments, given the scale of the challenge faced by our colleagues in print."”

Mark Thompson: BBC should consider pressures on newspapers - The Guardian

zz9

14-03-2012

Originally Posted by slow motion:
“This rather surprised me. Worth a read!

Mark Thompson: BBC should consider pressures on newspapers - The Guardian”

Funny how anything Thompson says is "worth reading" if you agree with it but can be dismissed if he disagrees with you...

StevenNT

14-03-2012

Originally Posted by zz9:
“Funny how anything Thompson says is "worth reading" if you agree with it but can be dismissed if he disagrees with you...”

Quite.

slow motion

14-03-2012

Originally Posted by zz9:
“Funny how anything Thompson says is "worth reading" if you agree with it but can be dismissed if he disagrees with you...”

Originally Posted by StevenNT:
“Quite.”

What is it with you guys personalising everthing and point-scoring?!

You really don't know the difference between the Guardian article being "worth a read" and the comments of an individual within the article being "worth a read"?

Well for the cheap seats, or those who just don't get it, or point-scoring, the article is worth a read. Would have thought that was obvious.

Besides, over the last few years it seems I've agreed with more things MT has done than BBC/TVL supporters who seem to want rid of him, judging from comments over the years and the thread announcing his departure.

bluesdiamond

14-03-2012

In this area, local press is two free sheets and a Heart Radio (4 Counties). As for the BBC it is Three Counties.
Not much competition, and with the area of Bedford/North Beds allegedly home to 160,000 inhabitants..and growing judging by house building where is the newspaper (physical or online)? The website for the freesheets is updated it seems Mon-Fri 9 -5. About a year ago BBC News reported of an incident on a Sunday morning (a fatal car accident), and the newspapers...the Journos must have had a session on Saturday in the pubs...no updates/reports until Monday. BBC local news had the information.
But I guess Mr Thompson is another London centric type, and 'local' news has more outlets.

ElMarko

14-03-2012

Im not slow motion's biggest fan but I think you've jumped on him a little too fast here...

mossy2103

14-03-2012

I get the impression that MT is becoming rather too soft and apologetic now that he is on the way out, rather that fighting the BBC's corner.

Having said that, I'll quote this from that same piece:

Quote:
“A BBC source said Thompson's speech was not a precursor to sweeping changes to the corporation's online activities but a reflection of what it had already done.

"This is about us having put our house in order, not an indication of changes that are to come," said the source.

"This is not a Trojan horse, it is merely saying what we already knew, that the BBC has to be mindful about going into areas where it should not be going at the risk of being too commercially aggressive."”

So maybe that provides a bit of perspective and context to what MT said (although if so, he should have worded it much better than he did).

PiazzaCharlie

14-03-2012

Hmm. So the BBC should think carefully about things, rather than be carefree and reckless about things? That is very interesting indeed.

slow motion

14-03-2012

Originally Posted by mossy2103:
“So maybe that provides a bit of perspective and context to what MT said (although if so, he should have worded it much better than he did).”

yes, that's the odd bit.

Why stir up a hornets nest over something already done?