Evaluating the Impact of Technology on BBC's Operations and Programming

The provided assignment content discusses the impact of technology on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and its operations, as well as recommendations for improving the news outlet's performance. The report highlights the importance of ensuring no biasness in BBC's operations and activities, prioritizing the safety and security of journalists and international bureaux, providing reliable and accurate information, and conducting regular viewer surveys to determine changing needs and preferences.

Global news
outlet
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction .....................................................................................................................................3
Close analysis of BBC world news .............................................................................................3
Conclusion and recommendation ....................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................9
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INTRODUCTION
In modern era, global news outlets are playing a significant role in delivering global news
to many countries of the world. This report is based on BBC which is a rolling news television
network of United Kingdom which operates 24 hours. The report demonstrate close analysis of
BBC world news and explains various factors associated with the same. It also explains the
techniques which has been used by the news outlet to gather information from different locations
of all across the world. This report also explains social action theory of media and mass
communication which BBC news is using. Along with this, it also reflects the criticism faced by
the news channel and how internet has affected the sales and profitability of BBC. This report
also explains what kind of news channels and programs are being offered by BBC world news.
Close analysis of BBC world news
BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) world news is an international channel which
delivers news and current affairs to different countries of the world. Further it can be termed as
one of the most renowned news channels of the world (Tian and Stewart, 2005). The major areas
which this global news outlet includes are related to documentaries, interviews, bulletins and
lifestyle programs. As per the view of Quandt, (2008) one of the most interesting facts about this
news channel is that it has the highest number of international bureaux and reporters than any
other channel all over the world (Quandt, 2008). It can also be stated that rather than focusing on
few areas, BBC covers various areas such as business, politics, culture, health, technology etc. It
makes people aware about what is happening in all over the world and in different sectors. For
instance, recently in BBC earth it has revealed one of the deadliest hunting animals of the world
along with the reason why it is considered as the most successful killer than any other animal. At
the time of collecting news, there are many challenges and issues which are encountered by the
reporters (Williams Wardle and Wahl-Jorgensen, 2011). One of the best examples of this is that
the reporters went through harsh and very tough conditions in Syria. In one of the news
published few days ago, BBC presented a report on how Paris attacks were planned and done.
On 13th November 2015, a major stadium, restaurant and concert hall of Paris were attacked in
which around 130 people were killed and many people got injured.
On the other side of this Van Dijk, (2013) argued that BBC also presents various
documentaries which provide an insight of particular things or aspects. In order to present a
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documentary, this channel carry out extensive research and investment that are required to deal
with expertise (Van Dijk, 2013). Blue planet is termed as one of the most famous documentaries
of all the times which was presented by BBC. The documentary was based on marine life and
various species of flora as well as fauna. Penguins and blue whales were the two major creatures
on which extensive was carried out by BBC. According to Cushion and Lewis, (2009) another
famous documentaries on BBC was planet earth which was based on wildlife and nature
(Cushion and Lewis, 2009). Other than this, The Nazis, Galapagos, The ascent of Man and
Ancient Rome- The Rise and Fall of an Empire are the other popular documentaries which have
been presented by BBC. However Leetaru, (2011) argued that The channel has also faced
various kind of criticism in different areas and segments (Leetaru, 2011). One of the major areas
in which BBC has faced criticism is mandatory license fees. In UK, people are required to hold a
television licence in order to watch live television and this is termed as mandatory license fees.
The major competitors of BBC have argued that the news channel is using wrong source of
financing. Golan, (2006) has explained that BBC has also been termed as a Stateless Person
Broadcasting Corporation because of the unpatriotic coverage of the war happened in Falklands
(Golan, 2006). BBC has also faced lot of criticism during the broadcasting of America bombing
Libya in the year 1986. In the opinions of some nations, BBC has encouraged racism which is
against human laws and humanity. As per the view of Williams, Wardle and Wahl-Jorgensen,
(2011) once in the year 2001, the general director Greg Dyke of BBC declared BBC as hideously
white and also explained that it has become very difficult to retain the minority staff which
consists of blacks (Williams, Wardle and Wahl-Jorgensen, 2011). In addition to this, the channel
has also been criticised for not promoting social cohesion and integrations.
Collecting news from different areas of the world is considered as one of the most
difficult tasks for any news channel. This is the only reason why the newsgathering department
of BBC is considered as its heart. This department supports BBC by supplying it news report and
live news coverage from different locations of the world. International bureaux and other
reporters always work hard to gather news for BBC (Tian and Stewart, 2005). Newsgathering
department of the channel consists of more than 600 journalists which travel in various places all
around the globe to provide news. The department also consist of producers and other crew
members which are behind the scenes. According to Lewis and Cushion, (2009) all the
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correspondents of newsgathering are divided as per their area of specialization in order to ensure
the fact that the news delivered is authoritative. Some of the specialized areas are home social
policy and education, legal affairs and home, royal coverage and community affairs related to
health. However Déglise, Suggs and Odermatt, (2012) argued that coverage of the news mainly
relies on all the bureaux of BBC. After collection of news, it is the responsibility of resources
and development department of the news channel to manage and edit the information presented.
Along with this, this department also takes care of the fact that all latest technology in terms of
newsgathering are adopted and being used. Some of the nations thinks that the news channel has
become bias and it is not quite good as it used to be in earlier days. On the other side of this, in
many countries it is still considered as one of the best and most reliable source of getting news
and information. In Asian countries such as India, China, some journalist of BBC are treated as
real life hero's as they provide live updates of war-ton countries which is a very challenging task.
For many decades, people are arguing on the fact that whether BBC is bais or not (BBC, 2015).
For instance the recent attack on Paris was a big news which was covered by BBC but on the
same side, Syria receives bombarding on daily basis and it is not captured by the channel
(Quandt, 2008). Further in various researches conducted, it has been observed that to a certain
extent the channel is politically bias.
In order to overcome this of biasness, BBC introduced a new strategy of putting the
quality of information and news on first. This was in the year 2010 when new procedures and
standards were set by the channel. It also ensured the fact that all the procedures remain
transparent and that other people can see its performance. As per the view of Tian and Stewart,
(2005) BBC is using the social action theory of media and mass communication which was
developed by Anderson and Meyer (Tian and Stewart, 2005). According to this theory, the
channel is consider content of news as one of the most important elements. In addition to this, it
can be also stated that the intention of producers are clear at the time of producing at kind of
information or news. BBC presents news of different countries all across the globe. Thus, the
channel is required to take care of the fact that the culture and values of a country are addressed
in best possible manner (Hermida, 2009). With the help of this theory, the producer always try to
make sure that correct and most accurate news is being provided to people. The possibility of
how information will be interpreted by the views is also examined in effective manner.
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BBC is different from the other global news outlets in many ways and one of them is
related to how the news is presented. The attacks of 9/11 and Paris got huge popularity in the
channel by bombarding done on Kenya and Syria was not presented. Other than this, the channel
has also been able to fulfil its commitment of delivering wide range of entertaining programs
and news to general public. Moreover it has been able to attain high degree of viewers loyalty
which is not so in case of other global news outlets (Born, 2011). In terms of competition it can
be stated that CNN and BBC are the main competitor of each other. BBC's coverage of Middle
East is very much but it seems like most of the time the coverage is done from its London base
centre. On the other hand Williams, Wardle and Wahl-Jorgensen, (2011) has explained that
CNN is very serious regarding its coverage of middle east and it has also developed a major
studio in Abu Dhabi (Williams, Wardle and Wahl-Jorgensen, 2011). In terms of comparison of
number of audience, BBC has more audience as compared to CNN. The culture and news
coverage of both news outlets are also different. The news coverage of CNN is more of a kind of
controversial whereas BBC is required to provide news related to world events. Has explained
that both news outlets are well aware of this fact that the if they do well then they will be having
lots of people to view their channel but in case if they don't then their strategies are required to
be revised (BBC News, 2015). BBC is an dominating channel in UK whereas CNN has more
influence in United States. As per the view of BBC can be termed as one of the most reliable,
effective and efficient news service provider all across the world. It has made its presence in
many homes and parts all around the globe.
BBC has four major channel namely BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three and BBC four.
BBC one is primary network corporation which broadcast news, films, drama, sports and few
programmes for children. Along with this, 30 minutes bulletin is also presented by the channel.
BBC two consist of more specialized program and includes comedy shows, dramas, minority
interest programs and program of other countries (Leetaru, 2011). BBC three is the channel
which presents more of youth based shows and programs. BBC four presents television programs
and films based on the other languages. The reporters of BBC travel in different countries of the
world and gather information of the events that took place. For instance the famous attack of
26/11 in India was covered by BBC news. Journalist travelled to India for live coverage of what
happen in the Mumbai attacks (Christophers, 2008). The report and coverage was presented by
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the channel in order to make the world aware about what is happening in India. The entire
coverage during and after attacks was broadcast by BBC.
In modern era, the internet has started to shape news for both consumer and producer. It
can be stated that the television has become more of consumer driven rather than being content
driven. Internet has also resulted in lowering down the overall profit margin of news outlets
(Cushion and Lewis, 2009). Nowadays events and other things are updated on internet at a great
speed as compared to news channels. For example if any the nation gets bombard then the news
will be uploaded on internet before it has been broadcast on any of the news channels (Van Dijk,
2013). People prefer watching news outlets for reason such as viewing documentaries, comedy
shows, news etc. and the same thing can be viewed on internet. Déglise, Suggs and Odermatt,
(2012) has explained that the benefit of internet is that these shows and programs can be watched
as per time and convenience (Déglise, Suggs and Odermatt, 2012). On news outlets such as
BBC, the timings of program are fixed which is one of the major obstacle in its growth and
development. In case of internet people are not bound with timing and can watch these programs
whenever they get time. This has resulted in lowering down the sales and number of viewers of
news outlets.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
From the above report, it can be concluded that BBC is one of the most famous news
outlets all across the world. Further the UK based outlet is getting popular because of its
coverage and content which is broadcast. It can be also concluded that BBC world news is also
popular for its documentaries in which Blue Planet and Marine Life are considered as some of
the most famous documentaries of all times. From the above analysis it can be also evaluated
that the development of such kind films and shows has never been easy for BBC and it was
required to carry out intense amount of research. BBC has various kinds of journalist and
international bureaux which visits different parts of the world and collect's news from the same.
Further these people also travel to war zones in order to make other people aware about the
conditions in those zones. Therefore, it can be concluded that such kind of activities are not easy
to perform and requires lot of efforts. From the above analysis it can be also concluded that one
of the major criticism which has been faced by BBC is related to racism as some people believes
that the news outlets encourages racism. Different nations have different kinds of views
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regarding BBC as some considered it as one of the best and trusted sources of getting news. On
the other side, some nation believes that it has been always bias and the news provided is
covered form BBC's London based center. It can be also evaluated that technology has affected
sales and profitability to a great extent.
Recommendations
 It can be recommended that BBC is required to take care of the fact that no biasness
is being promoted during its operations and activities.
 It can be also recommended that safety and security of journalists and international
bureaux is required to be well taken care of.
 From the above analysis it can be also recommended that the news outlet needs to
make sure that the information which has been provided should be reliable and
accurate. Further misrepresentation of facts and data should not be done and
promoted.
 It can be also recommended that viewers surveys should be conducted at regular
intervals. This will help in determining the changing need and preference of people in
the market regarding content and programs of news channel.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Born, G., 2011. Uncertain vision: Birt, Dyke and the reinvention of the BBC. Random House.
Christophers, B., 2008. Television's power relations in the transition to digital: the case of the
United Kingdom. Television & new media.
Cushion, S. and Lewis, J., 2009. Towards aFoxification'of 24-hour news channels in Britain? An
analysis of market-driven and publicly funded news coverage. Journalism. 10(2).
pp.131-153.
Déglise, C., Suggs, L.S. and Odermatt, P., 2012. SMS for disease control in developing
countries: a systematic review of mobile health applications.Journal of Telemedicine
and Telecare. 18(5). pp.273-281.
Golan, G., 2006. Inter-media agenda setting and global news coverage: Assessing the influence
of the New York Times on three network television evening news
programs. Journalism studies, 7(2), pp.323-333.
Hermida, A., 2009. The blogging BBC: Journalism blogs at “the world's most trusted news
organisation”. Journalism Practice. 3(3). pp.268-284.
Leetaru, K., 2011. Culturomics 2.0: Forecasting large-scale human behavior using global news
media tone in time and space. First Monday. 16(9).
Lewis, J. and Cushion, S., 2009. The thirst to be first: An analysis of breaking news stories and
their impact on the quality of 24-hour news coverage in the UK. Journalism Practice.
3(3). pp.304-318.
Quandt, T., 2008. News on the World Wide Web? A comparative content analysis of online
news in Europe and the United States. Journalism Studies. 9(5). pp.717-738.
Quandt, T., 2008. News on the World Wide Web? A comparative content analysis of online
news in Europe and the United States. Journalism Studies. 9(5). pp.717-738.
Tian, Y. and Stewart, C.M., 2005. Framing the SARS crisis: A computer-assisted text analysis of
CNN and BBC online news reports of SARS. Asian Journal of Communication. 15(3).
pp.289-301.
Tian, Y. and Stewart, C.M., 2005. Framing the SARS crisis: A computer-assisted text analysis of
CNN and BBC online news reports of SARS. Asian Journal of Communication.15(3).
pp.289-301.
Van Dijk, T.A., 2013. News analysis: Case studies of international and national news in the
press. Routledge.
Williams, A., Wardle, C. and Wahl-Jorgensen, K., 2011. “Have they got news for us?” Audience
revolution or business as usual at the BBC?. Journalism Practice. 5(1). pp.85-99.
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Online
BBC News. 2015. [Online]. Available through: <http://www.bbc.com/news/video_and_audio/>.
[Accessed on 23rd December 2015].
BBC. 2015. [Online]. Available through: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/tv/>. [Accessed on 23rd
December 2015].
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