Channel 5 has revealed that its news coverage, 5 News, will focus on people more than politics in an attempt to offer the younger viewers a fresh current affairs perspective.
In an interview to Press Gazette magazine, Tim Gardam, controller of Channel 5 News, said that the key differences to the Nine O’Clock News and News At Ten will be: far less political news; more reports on work, consumer, lifestyle, entertainment and technological news; less ‘judgmental’ coverage of issues of concern, such as drugs and the environment; more sports news; more follow-ups with a positive angle; and greater variation in story length. Overall, there will also be more stories in news bulletins.
Focus groups have apparently shown that viewers would prefer news stories to have more follow-ups and report on the progress of people who have been in the news. They are put off by the fact that most reporters cover a story and then drop it when the initial interest has diminished.
Mr Gardam said however that while 5 News was obviously aimed at keeping younger viewers tuned to news programmes, it would have “failed” if it alienated the over 45s.
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