Talk is easy

It would be pretty cynical, wouldn't it, if the briefing of a threat to impose a Newsnight Lite on the audience came from the top of BBC News ? The old management were not beyond 'testing the water' for controversial changes, then 'compromising' with slightly less savage cuts. It's possible that the new team have observed the steaming row over the BBC Singers, and decided to bring back the custom of briefing the press before briefing those involved. 

Meanwhile, tv historians refer us to After The News which ran for a majestic four weeks on ITV at the end of 2017. Presented, on different nights, by Nick Ferrari and Emma Barnett, there were some guests from the frontline of politics, but mostly, the content was 23-odd minutes of conversation with a pre-booked panel of familiar faces - June Sarpong, Harry Cole, Susie Boniface, Sarah Vine, Rachel Johnson, Julia Hartley-Brewer,  Esther McVey, Tom Newton-Dunn, Isabel Oakeshott, Andrew Pierce, Kevin Maguire, Jane Moore, Toby Young, Carole Malone, and yes, Ann Widdecombe, Owen Jones, Nigel Farage, Ken Livingstone and Alex Salmond. 

This huge leap forward in the public discourse of London-based 'usual suspects' attracted 550,000 in the overnights, compared with 500,000 for Newsnight. But then, it inherited an audience from News at Ten, at the time returning figures of close to 2m. 

The series editor of After The News was John McAndrew, husband to Daisy, then a regular freelance paper reviewer.  Since January this year, John has been Director of Programmes at BBC News - salary so far undisclosed.  

 

Umm.. There is actually something better to watch; #AfterTheNews on ITV https://t.co/OvcT2FqCFE

— John McAndrew (@johnlucius) October 16, 2017

John had previously launched a chat show on Sky News in 2016 called The Pledge, which had featured, yes, June Sarpong, Rachel Johnson, Nick Ferrari and Emma Barnett. Said McAndrew at the time  "This is something really different for a TV news channel - it's upbeat, spiky and very entertaining."

Deborah Turness was back from the States in 2017 in time to observe After The News. Indeed, after After The News, John McAndrew joined Deborah to work as a 'consulting executive' on NBC's European ventures in London and Lyon. 

Meanwhile, last night's Newsnight led with an investigation into whistleblowing at the Christie Hospital, the sort of report that will be lost if cuts, whoever thought of them, are imposed.