[Omnipresent]

Have to agree with Roger Mosey on Twitter/X that the "On The Road" format doesn't work for Newsnight.

I don't know if it's to fill a quota for out-of-London shows but devoting an entire edition to a general public debate doesn't add anything and obviously means Newsnight doesn't cover the stories of the day.

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[DTV]

Have to agree with Roger Mosey on Twitter/X that the "On The Road" format doesn't work for Newsnight.

I don't know if it's to fill a quota for out-of-London shows but devoting an entire edition to a general public debate doesn't add anything and obviously means Newsnight doesn't cover the stories of the day.

Absolutely. Going to be awfully disappointing if the new Newsnight is just going to rotate between being an evening version of Politics Live and a knock-off version of Question Time, both vastly inferior programmes.

[Brekkie]

Absolutely, and of far less PSB value. Would rather see it cut down to an hour a week of investigative reporting rather than continuing nightly but as a completely different show.

[Stuart]

On Thursday night the first 16 minutes were used discussing the death of an American Sports Player/Actor who was acquitted at at trial 28 years ago. I struggled to find any relevance to the UK, or even contemporary news other than a by-line about someone's death.

In the final 6 minutes, they showed a fascinating report on soldiers being rescued in the field in Ukraine, which is apparently part of a documentary to be shown elsewhere sometime.

I think the Editorial Team need to take a serious look at their priorities when deciding the running order. If this is a display of the future of Newsnight, perhaps it's time to consider the future of the programme.

[Independent]

Even more insulting for UK viewers is BBC Newsnight isn't even commercial and is supposed to be covering news that actually needs to be analyzed. AJE and France 24 correctly put that story near or at the end of their bulletins.

[RhysJR]

But ITV News, Sky News and BBC News all lead with the story, so those in charge obviously thought the story would be popular and resonate with the UK audience (Channel 5 News is not available on My5, it didn't appear until 40 mins into the main Channel 4 News bulletin). Whether that was the right editorial call is a debate that's worth having, but the majority of British TV news outlets seemed to have lead with it.

ITV and BBC's bulletin leant into the racial background of his story and trial, a news topic that is very much relevant to the current day and its audience. I do think there is probably an element of over-prioritising the media talking about the media here, with the two big televisual moments of the car chase and trial.

[freeview87]

On Thursday night the first 16 minutes were used discussing the death of an American Sports Player/Actor who was acquitted at at trial 28 years ago. I struggled to find any relevance to the UK, or even contemporary news other than a by-line about someone's death.

In the final 6 minutes, they showed a fascinating report on soldiers being rescued in the field in Ukraine, which is apparently part of a documentary to be shown elsewhere sometime.

I think the Editorial Team need to take a serious look at their priorities when deciding the running order. If this is a display of the future of Newsnight, perhaps it's time to consider the future of the programme.

OJ Simpson, an infamous character and a story that gripped the world in the 90s. It should definitely have been covered but whether to that length is debatable.

[steve]

I think with the chase, the trial and the debates they all kicked off, it was one of those hugely significant cultural stories that transcended what the actual story (horrific as it was) was about.

Certainly as someone who was a teenager during the trial, it was one of those huge moments that really cut through so I think while there's definitely a debate to be had about editorial priorities, it wasn't a huge surprise it lead the bulletins. If you're younger and didn't live through that, I get though why it seems bizarre.

[Brekkie]

It probably was worthy of the time but should have been at the back end of the bulletin - they should put their investigative reporting front and centre whilst they still can, although there probably is a deliberate ploy to make it less prominent within the programme until it goes completely.

News priorities are an odd thing though - the main headline on the One yesterday (a man being charged with murder) didn't even make the six or so headlines they had on the Ten.

[DTV]

News priorities are an odd thing though - the main headline on the One yesterday (a man being charged with murder) didn't even make the six or so headlines they had on the Ten.

15/20 years ago, the stereotypical view of editorial judgement was that the BBC decided a story's place on the running order based on its political/geopolitical/social impact, while ITV and Sky decided more based on how interested their viewers would be. Obviously a bit of a simplification and the BBC's 'elitist' editorial judgement peak was very much behind it by the mid-2000s (as well as always varying between programmes), but it does feel that the broadcasters have nearly met somewhat in the middle since then - ITV and Sky are definitely more newsy and less tabloidy than they were in the 2000s, while the BBC does noticeably prioritise certain types of story (particularly celebrity, media-related) more than they once would have done.

Newsnight itself does feel a bit like it's gone in that direction too - I suspect part of this is down to the subconscious noticing of their downscaling of their foreign affairs and non-US international politics stuff in the middle of the 2010s - but they certainly have gained a more 'populist' streak in recent years - crime and celebrity will get covered, while they've also developed that obsession with Question Time-style 'on the road' episodes. At the minute, it does feel very hard to give the 'news value' crown to anybody but Channel 4 News.