Does anyone else find it incredibly irritating that we’re constantly fed uninteresting/unimportant American news in our TV bulletins, online and radio?
Take last week for example. Bill Clinton had to make a trip to hospital as he’s got a bit of a dodgy ticker (too much weed, cigars and ‘sexual relations’ I reckon). This made it into a fairly prominent position on the BBC website and was one of the leading stories on the telly. Bill Clinton was an excellent President. He helped push through the Northern Ireland peace process, lowered unemployment in the states and brought about unity in the international community. However, he was US President. He had no (direct) control over the UK. No British person cast a vote for him and he certainly hasn’t lived here since being President.
Why then, does this displace UK or European news from the headlines? Had he been involved in a kidnap plot, actually died or maybe had another affair then it might be worth hearing about. What next, is George W having a pedicure going to be the lead story on News at 10?
Our news should cover stories that matter to us. I’m sure that day a pensioner was mugged in the street, or a child was hit by a car. That is unpleasant news but it matters. We need to know that these things happen so that we can lobby for better policing or ensure that people have respect for older people. I couldn’t care less if Bill has a dodgy heart. It’s obviously a concern for his family or any women that happens to find themselves beneath him, but it doesn’t affect my daily life. If there is a mugging in my local area, or somewhere else in the country, then I’ll be more aware and can look out for similar things happening. It’s got to the point where we were being told about record snow on the East coast of America. IT DOESN’T MATTER TO US!!!!!!!! We’re in the UK!!! Tell me about something important.
What makes this worse is that there is rarely any information about anywhere beyond the States or our immediate European cousins. When there is a flood in Bangladesh we hear about it for 5 minutes on one day and then it’s forgotten. If there’s a fire in tower block in Kenya we don’t hear about it at all. Sure, the news from the States might be very easy to get hold of as the TV networks are more developed, but one of the roles of the BBC is to bring the UK news from the whole world. That’s why millions of pounds of licence fee money is spent on sending correspondents to all corners of the globe.
Reporting of banal news only helps to build the general malaise in UK society.
In the UK, and London in particular people have no respect for their local environment. People throw rubbish on the ground, spit in public and let their dogs shit wherever they like without cleaning it up. We need to be energised about local issues, know what the problems are and take appropriate action. Of course, there are local news bulletins and pages on websites but they’re generally poor quality and a lot of the news reporters take the word ‘lightweight’ to a new floatier level.
To summarise I want the following:
- UK news to be given greater prominence across UK news organisations
- Local matters to be made more important
- ‘World News’ to truly be global, not just USA
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