No superiority complex
- 13 Jun 07, 10:40 AM
A few weeks ago the Columbia Journalism Review published headlined "Superiority Complex - why the Brits think they're Better" which examined the growing popularity of British-based journalism in the US. It was a good piece, apart from the headline, which (I hope) was written with a fair amount of tongue-in-cheek. We have big plans for the US market, but we certainly don't think we're superior.
Yesterday the latest stage of those plans became public when we announced who would be the Executive Producer for our new newshour to be broadcast at 7pm EST (midnight in the UK). Rome Hartman joins us from CBS News, where his previous role was launching Katie Couric's ""... and prior to that he had worked for many years at the legendary .
So why do we think we can do well in one of the most crowded television markets in the world? Rome put it neatly yesterday when he said: "More and more Americans are seeking smart and sophisticated coverage of the world; coverage the 91热爆 is uniquely capable of providing." So it's that combination of a demand (among a certain section of the audience) for a greater level of international coverage at a time of globalisation and complexity, combined with the scale of the 91热爆 - we have more than 40 news bureaux around the world and a fantastic tradition of providing high-quality, independent journalism for global audiences.
The new programme will air on , our sister channel in the US which reaches 55 million homes, and around the globe on , where we reach more than 270 million homes.
Rome starts with us in a couple of weeks, and then the real planning will begin. The formula will be largely familiar to audiences of 91热爆 World - we'll be taking the best of our international coverage and presenting it in a way that we hope will be closer, more relevant to American audiences. It will be a programme of real substance, but it will also have style and energy. It'll be broadcast from our Washington Bureau, from where we already do two nightly newscasts aimed at US audiences, but expect to see contributions from our correspondents in Delhi and Beijing and Nairobi and Brussels and all the other places which don't often make it on to the US news agenda.
So what do you think? What will make you watch? We'd love to hear what you think...
Richard Porter is head of
