04 Informed


News Update


A nation gathers around the TV


station was to join local volunteer groups in helping co-ordinate support for the elderly, housebound or at risk. Te BBC opened its PSB offering


beyond increased news coverage by using the One Show to include health and well-being advice alongside keeping fit and healthy eating tips. It said it would “retarget the BBC Food website around collections of recipes and advice on what can be made with essentials, especially for older people, and for low-income families”. It offered families forced to school their children from home more BBC Bitesize content and a daily educational programme for different key stages or year. To entertain people bored at home it would put old favourites such as Spooks, Wallander and Te Honourable Woman on iPlayer. Suddenly wanting to “whack” the BBC doesn’t seem such a good idea. When the new government started its


It was via a six-channel TV broadcast at 8.30pm that the Prime Minister set out strict new measures in response to the Covid-19 emergency.


Behind his desk at Number 10, a union flag at his back, he spoke to the nation. People would be allowed out of their homes for only limited purposes, he said. All shops selling non-essential goods, libraries, playgrounds, gyms and places of worship would close and all social events, excluding funerals, were banned. Police would be given new powers to enforce the new rules. Families gathered round their


television, self-isolators watched their phones and iPads in the atic in the time-honoured fashion during a national emergency. In all 28m people tuned in. As his broadcast unfolded, journalists


swiſtly added to “live” news reports, prepared “what this means for you” podcasts and leader writers and comment writers got to work. It’s times such as this that the media and press are at their best. From the rolling TV news, to the teams at Te


Guardian website puting out updates by the minute and Te Sun’s teatime Covid-19 newsleter, information, news and advice was out there. Coronavirus maps, explainers and videos on how wash hands were published. Te NUJ has been helping, making


sure journalist and photographers are able to do their jobs as key workers and ensuring the press card continues to be recognised for news gathers. Tony Hall, the BBC’s director general, said: “Our core role is to bring trusted news and information to audiences in the UK and around the world in a fast-moving situation, and to counter confusion and misinformation.” Te corporation said it would postpone the planned £40m cuts and redundancies in news as it takes on the challenge of covering coronavirus pandemic and also postpone the introduction of licence-fee payments for the over-75s as well as delaying the closure of the Red Buton text news and information service. Under the umbrella, Make a Difference, every local radio


term, there was much briefing against the broadcaster, with sources talking of a great “pruning back”. Today, geting your news on the Corvid-19 situation from a Fox-style broadcaster isn’t such an enticing idea. People have been turning to the BBC as a trusted source of information. Auntie is back and she’s needed. Te Prime Minister’s statement was watched by 15.4m on BBC One, with a further 2.5m on the News Channel and just shy of 600,000 requests via BBC iPlayer. Of course ITV, Channel 4, Sky and other


broadcasters are important in providing trusted news and information. STV is now producing a 6pm programme for the whole of Scotland. Carolyn McCall, ITV’s CEO, announced a new Monday night show, Coronavirus Report, and said: “As a public service broadcaster, we remain commited to doing everything we can to continue to provide news, drama, entertainment and factual programmes to our viewers to keep them informed about this crisis and to offer them an escape from it.” Research by the European Broadcasting Union has found that even young viewers are tuning in to “mainstream” evening bulletins.


Downing Street


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