Reality cheques

The £15m Luxury EV Car Showroom of News has had a makeover. It was first introduced to viewers in June 2022 by Huw Edwards. 

At the time, this blog puzzled over the apparently meaningless spiral stairs leading to a dim balcony; and the apparent ability to see through into the newsroom from the desk corner of the vast set, filling 330m2. 

Clearly this has been worrying the current thought leaders for some time, so now they've asked the graphic designers to fill the balcony, letting their imaginations rip. 

Viewers, it's not real. This is not where buyers are taken by EV salesmen to clinch deals on their new wheels. It is not 'perfumery and lace' in Grace Brothers. There are no meetings up there. No actual people working on computers. It is not overflow space for BBC Verify. DON'T FALL FOR IT. 

But of course, consistency is a big feature of BBC News graphic design, so they've had to introduce a pretend second floor to the imaginary newsroom behind Sophie Raworth. 

THAT IMAGINARY BALCONY IS NOT THE SAME AS THE IMAGINARY BALCONY IN THE OPENING SHOTS. Still, I don't suppose CEO Debbie cares. It won't have cost much, will it ?