[Critique]

I know that it has been said before, but it always refreshing to see how much quicker the pace was in those old clips of News 24. A to-the-point intro from the presenters, a short and sharp headline sequence, titles and then straight into it with the minimum of faffing.

By contrast, if the same programme were to be run today then there’d be a two minute headline sequence before the titles and no doubt some further preamble before the singular presenter (double heading seems a distant memory!) actually gets on with the programme properly. I’m reminded of how every simulcast BBC News bulletin during the peak of COVID started with something along the lines of ‘Hello and welcome to BBC News, whether you’re watching in the UK or around the world. Stay with us for the latest coronavirus news and information from here in the UK and around the globe’…

However, I guess the move from analogue is also partly responsible for things feeling a bit slower nowadays, as you’d never see the presenters cued so quickly after the cut from the ident to the studio these days. There’s always a pregnant pause around opt points that didn’t really seem to exist twenty years or so ago.