Thinking time

Many organisations use July and August to think of new strategies for a fresh start in September. Expect the merged BBC News channel to do the same.  It's turned into a lumpy porridge, with the UK version topped with bulletins and programmes you can already get elsewhere, sustained by the over-planned rotation of un-reformed BBC World output. Giving 'programmes' daft titles like 'News Now', 'The Daily Global' and 'Verified Live' makes the bland content more obviously bland. 

There is a continuing reliance on poor insight from 'think-tanks' and academics to pad things out (and to give the now highly-paid presenters something to do).  What seemed once like the dynamic use of Zoom is now a tired sign to switch to something richer (and, please, no more two or three contributor discussions, all sliced vertically.) These are now the cheap tools of TalkTV and GB News. BBC News, however financially challenged, must do obviously better. The engine of a 24 hour news service is surely a vital component of a 'digital' future, deserving much more prominence on iPlayer; 'live blogging' is, like silent movies, a thing of its time, but not the future.