[lobster]

What happens if the 'who' dwindles down to zero? It's not the most consistent, or best looking, news channel out there. It's trying to be all things to all men, which doesn't work. Compare the latest headlines from Al Jazeera with the ones from BBC News (10am GMT):

Al Jazeera:

[*]Niger's military coup
[*]Conflict in Sudan
[*]Deadly stampede in Madagascar
[*]Making online gaming safer for girls
[*]FIFA kiss scandal


BBC News:

[*]FIFA kiss scandal
[*]Prigozhin plane crash
[*]Train strikes in England


It's not hard to see which is the more comprehensive, and the more globally-focused. Al Jazeera's bulletins actually explain world events, rather than just the endless interviews and 'analysis' with a junior reporter in the newsroom. I like the idea of a proper globally-focused BBC News channel, but at the moment it falls short. They're copying Al Jaz's old 'follow the sun' strategy, so why not copy everything else? Some of the back half hours can even be 'UK Today' slots. Something for everyone!

While I consider in the BBC News channel there are now too many UK stories that are not relevant to global viewers, I don’t think Al Jazeera and the BBC should have exactly the same news agenda. Al Jazeera is much more Middle East / Africa orientated and I don’t think BBC international viewers expect endless updates on Niger, for example. They covered the story extensively when it happened but I don’t think they should be doing daily follow ups.