Is this really 'news'?

[Kathyan]

On the BBC news website, latest - Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes seen out together in Rome before their wedding! Is this really news?

[ummmm]

Not really cause I couldn't give a si*t what they do

[buildersmate]

No its not news - its about people who the media think should be in the news. We expect that from The Sun, but not the BBC.
The BBC has already stooped to regularly give overprominence to stories that are part of another agenda on another BBC programme - for example Panorama ("and you can watch it straight after this news bulletin") - on the pretext that it's the most important thing that happened that day.
Where's the independence, judgement and impartially from the role of 'Head of News Broadcasting' gone to?

[admarlow]

Its more ''Heat'' news not public service ''BBC'' news

[ianess]

I'm listening to it right now with News24 on in the background. What a load of bl**dy garbage!
Honestly!!!!!..........we're being brainwashed.........the real news is being suppressed.
George Orwell.

[gerkin]

Wow, did she have matching shoes and handbag ?

[brionon]

Who ?

[mushroom25]

itv have always said that they intend to make their news bulletins "more relevant" to the viewers, this is probably just the bbc catching on as well.

coming soon to a news bulletin near you - soap storylines, reality tv updates, celebrity gossip -

and maybe something worthy of the word "news", but only if it's really grisly.

[jake-the-peg]

Well it's more upbeat than the story of the US marine who just got 18 months for dragging a disbled Iraqi out of his house beating him and shooting him dead

[Pippa68]

I'm with jake again...

The 'real' news is so bloody depressing I broke the habit of a lifetime & bought a copy of 'OK' this morning.

[warpig1]

JTP it may be more up beat but is it news?

Personally I don't give a fcuk what Cruise and Holmes do.

[jno]

the BBC have thousands of stories on their website. That one's listed under Entertainment, which seems fair enough to me. Of course a lot of ABers are far above that sort of thing, but the combined readership of Heat, the Sun and all the rest suggests there is indeed widespread interest in showbiz trivia - wide enough for a national news organisation to have to give it a mention, I guess. I'm not that interested either, but the BBC wasn't set up wholly to cater to my whims.

[NH]

jno has a point...but all the same, it ain't news. I mean...to all ABers out there- if you were the editor of the BBC, and you caught me walking about in Rome, would you report it? It's just the most vapid story you can think of. I don't give a French Connection UK about them either.

As for impartiality of the BBC, they've not been very impartial ever as far as my memory goes. Certainly they swung very much to the Conservatives after the Hutton Report, and I don't blame them. But no news channel (or channel that provides news) is ever going to be impartial, because whoever heads it brings their own values to it.

[Kathyan]

I didn't go looking for the story. It was scrolling in the 'latest news' at the top of the home page!

[jake-the-peg]

Damn - missed the irony emoticon in my post!

[warpig1]

JTP, I got it!