Goodbye Auntie. Hello Our Beeb?

Ninety-one years of broadcasting from the BBC has shown a continuing, unbiased standpoint with a view to inform, educate and entertain. Nowadays, however, we are increasingly turning to the web for our daily dose of news, as explained by senior broadcast journalist Rachel Kerr.

Working for BBC North East and Cumbria Online, Rachel was able to show us what brings a news story to life, be it with a video describing a new breakthrough in Alzheimer’s treatment, or a well-known and reputable doctor-turned-presenter making new research into the world of sleep enjoyable and interesting.

The skill that correspondents and presenters – such as Michael Mosley – need to possess, it that of making their content relatable; using everyday analogies and anecdotes to engage the audience. Being the BBC, this can prove challenging.

Attracting a massive audience is good for ratings but may mean falling short of targeting key demographics. This is something that the BBC’s Director-General was keen to address in his speech on the 8^th October 2013. Aware of the changing technological trends, Tony Hall saw the need to cater to a younger audience: the “YouTube generation”, if you will.

Also touched upon in Lord Hall’s speech was the importance of public involvement in the BBC and how those using the public service would refer to it as “our BBC”. This attitude was nicely mirrored by Rachel in her talk, as she encouraged us to give feedback on the different ways that news was portrayed on the BBC website.