[Radio_man]

Why do all ‘cost of living’ reports have to be so dumbed down

Last night there was the story about the energy price cap coming down a bit, Reeta explained it in the studio well enough with graphics on the screen.

But then we had a report from Coletta Smith finding out what people in a theme park thought, interviewing them with all the usual lines about how they are ‘cutting back a bit, not spending as much on luxuries’ etc. All completely pointless vox pops that we’ve heard a million times before.

I’m sure they only went to a theme park so they could illustrate the line about prices going up and down with a rollercoaster doing the same, but it was completely pointless

I can't stand these reports - it assumes that every viewer is an idiot. It's just condescending filler. I fast forward without even watching.
No doubt if a BBC exec was asked why so many BBC news reports now contain pointless vox pops, wed be told that "it's important we reflect what the public think in our reports" (sarcastic rolleyes). It's even worse on the local news where they just thrust a mic into whoever they come across on the street, usually pensioners doing their shopping. 

In fact I've been fast forwarding a lot through BBC News bulletins recently. I've managed to get the hour long evening news down to 15 minutes most nights (including the weather).