Broadcasters Not 'Dumbing Down' News

New research has revealed that UK television news has refused to ”dumb down” over the last ten years.
Analysis of the main bulletins aired by the main UK broadcasters,BBC1, ITV, Channel 4 and Five, found that their was no evidence to prove a shift toward a tabloid agenda had emerged.
Researchers at Westminster University watched more than 350 news programmes broadcast between 2004 and 2009 and analysed 5,458 individual stories.
They said every evening news bulletin had maintained a mainly serious agenda despite industry upheavals, commercial pressure and changing audiences.
Their study found the two main BBC news bulletins had shown no significant change over the past 35 years.
Channel 4’s bulletins were the only ones said to have seen a rise in “tabloid content”, although it remained low, at just 20 % of each broadcast.
(LB)