The BBC’s newly appointed head of television news, Peter Horrocks,
plans to put rolling news channel, News 24, “centre stage” as the
corporation prepares for analogue switch off in 2012.
Revealing
his aspirations for television news in the BBC’s staff magazine Ariel,
Horrocks wrote: “Continuous news should be like live newsgathering. We
have the biggest news operation in the world. I’d like every journalist
in the BBC to see News 24 as the place where the biggest stories should
be told, preferably first.”
Horrocks also said his background in
current affairs meant that he would be focusing on solid journalistic
values: “All our output should strive to be first (and right) and
original. We should always ask: Is that new? Is that a new fact? Is
that an original thought? Testing every idea and argument should be the
lifeblood of our journalism.”
While announcing plans to invest in
News 24 Horrocks acknowledged the extensive savings programme in place
at the corporation: “Much of the proposed savings in news will be used
to invest in new technology for instance we hope to have the capacity
to increase interactivity further. The range of devices and the ability
of audiences to select the stories they want will broaden editorial
agendas.”
Horrocks also paid tribute to citizen journalists who
he said had shown their deep trust in the BBC on 7 July when they sent
over 1000 images to yourpics@bbc.co.uk “We need to get even better at
inviting such information, taking it in, checking it and getting it on
air quickly.”
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog