A big day for 91Èȱ¬ News
Post categories: 91Èȱ¬ News
| 10:11 UK time, Monday, 9 July 2012
Most of the time a big day in the 91Èȱ¬ Newsroom is defined by the stories. The Japanese tsunami. The death of Gaddafi. The Eurozone crisis. The Diamond Jubilee.
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Today is a different kind of big day for 91Èȱ¬ News. Our new Newsroom in central London is open for business.
At 11:00 BST we broadcast World Briefing live from studio SL1 for World Service audiences and our World online team has been publishing coverage of the US heatwave, the floods in Russia and events in Syria from the new Newsroom for our UK and international online news services.
Many other teams are already working in other parts of New Broadcasting House - including all the 91Èȱ¬'s international language services. But today is the day when the 91Èȱ¬ Newsroom at BH gets up and running.
NBH is a wonderful new home, constructed to the east of the original 91Èȱ¬ Broadcasting House with its beautiful prow fronted by Eric Gill's famous sculpture of Ariel. Now seven floors of striking glass and steel complement the original Portland stone, curving around a new welcoming piazza just north of Oxford Circus. In terms of funding, the new development has been financed by a public-private partnership involving a special bond, and the overall move has enabled savings for the 91Èȱ¬ of an estimated £736m. More details here.
Over the next few months the journalists now working in the Newsroom will be joined by many others. Next, UK Online, World News and the team that produces the summaries and bulletins on Radios 2, 3, 4 and 6 Music will be moving in.
They'll then be joined by the News at One, Six and Ten, the 91Èȱ¬ News channel and our newsgathering staff. Our video editing and graphics teams, studio directors and studio managers are also moving in, developing and testing all the new kit right through until early next year when the newsroom will be fully operational.
Until then, we'll still be making much of our news output at Television Centre in west London. But today is an important milestone, as the 91Èȱ¬'s future Newsroom starts work.
New Broadcasting House gives us new studios, new operating systems and new technology. But more than this, it offers our journalists a purpose-built newsroom fit for the 21st Century, truly transforming the way we work.
We are bringing all our journalists who serve UK and global audiences together for the first time. Our coverage of international news for audiences in the UK will be strengthened by working alongside colleagues from World Service.
And we have the chance to make sure that the right teams are working together to support sharing of ideas and content. We know that audiences get their 91Èȱ¬ news from various platforms - radio, television and digital - from connected televisions to PCs, mobiles and tablets, and in the new Newsroom it will be easy to share what we do across those devices.
Our job is to do the very best high quality journalism we can, and then make sure it reaches you however you choose to get your news. New TV studios also give us the opportunity to refresh the look and feel of our news programmes, and we'll be using the backdrop of the building itself to give audiences a sense of the quality and openness of the building.
In the high-ceilinged space filled with light from the building's windows and atria, our international web team and World Service radio news team are now in place. Our job in New Broadcasting House for years to come is to produce brilliant 91Èȱ¬ news services from an ambitious newsroom. That work starts today.
Mary Hockaday is head of the 91Èȱ¬ newsroom.
Comment number 1.
At 9th Jul 2012, Craig Smith wrote:Sounds amazing Mary - congrats. Makes sense for the physical newsroom to align with the evolving use of social media and other technologies in the - I hope it's designed with some interactivity with viewers in mind!
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Comment number 2.
At 9th Jul 2012, Jordan D wrote:"Over the next few months ... the team that produces the summaries and bulletins on Radios 2, 3, 4 and 6 Music will be moving in".
Of course, the team that make most of the 91Èȱ¬'s Radio News output (5Live) were moved hundreds of miles away to Manchester.
Quite the integrated newsroom - or not.
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Comment number 3.
At 9th Jul 2012, Gael Bage wrote:I prefer to get my news as it happens on the internet, you filter news to feed us what government and big business want us to know, the public are more savvy than you think, and you can't fool all of the people all of the time now we have the internet, I rarely watch TV now and when I do it is with an awareness of your consumer pressure, and government / big business bias
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Comment number 4.
At 9th Jul 2012, SuperSpiv wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 5.
At 9th Jul 2012, BluesBerry wrote:I know how important a sharp, new, properly-equipped & thoughtfully-organized working environment can be; so: CONGRATS & ENJOY!
I can't completely stop thinking about all the people (& number growing) who have no home at all. In tribute to these people & all other people in need, may the 91Èȱ¬ honour them with insightful, objective & quality news - regardless of pressure(s) to do otherwise.
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Comment number 6.
At 9th Jul 2012, Lord Pete wrote:Sorry dear but if you're all so into BIG NEWS DAYS then why do you completely ignore MIXED MARTIAL ARTS? Anderson Silva V Chael Sonnen was one of the biggest pay per view sporting events ever -and not a word about it on the 91Èȱ¬.. too many boxing and rugby stories taking up all the room?
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Comment number 7.
At 9th Jul 2012, captain_insensible wrote:Splendid. Can't or won't improve the journalism, so let's have a new newsroom instead. Any chance of less errors and typos? I'm only partially a tiny minded little git and I find something obvious wrong on your news website almost every day. Oh, and do get the DG's name spelled right.
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Comment number 8.
At 9th Jul 2012, NickyBoy001 wrote:Oh how exciting - any chance of some pictures?
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Comment number 9.
At 9th Jul 2012, RayTay wrote:There are always estimated savings in public-private partnerships. They all soon turn to actual losses - for the taxpayer!
More importantly, is when will 91Èȱ¬ news regain its courage and independence, lost at the time of David Kelly's death.
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Comment number 10.
At 9th Jul 2012, This is a colleague announcement wrote:I'm pleased for those at 91Èȱ¬ news, what with their Big Day.
However, the interest doesn't seem to be reciprocated, in that the 91Èȱ¬ doesn't seem at all interested in whether what's happening in the world makes it a Big Day for any of us, by reducing blog topics almost to nil.
I suppose we kept leaving The Wrong Kind Of Posts, though...
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Comment number 11.
At 9th Jul 2012, englishvote wrote:Maybe by grouping most of the 91Èȱ¬ news in one ivory tower the 91Èȱ¬ want to remove the last bit of outside influence on their one sided opinions?
Surprised this wasn’t announced solely on twitter, every debate and comment from the 91Èȱ¬ seems to be conducted on that medium.
Still twitter does keep any debate off the 91Èȱ¬, we don’t want the public involved in public broadcasting do we!!
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Comment number 12.
At 9th Jul 2012, This is a colleague announcement wrote:13:41 9th Jul 2012, englishvote wrote:
"...Surprised this wasn’t announced solely on twitter, every debate and comment from the 91Èȱ¬ seems to be conducted on that medium..."
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Indeed. It's very effective at preventing any kind of informed or developed forum from arising. Ideal for preserving the status quo, I'd say. Can't think who that might suit...
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Comment number 13.
At 9th Jul 2012, Space wrote:It's fantastic that you now have a large number of teams, all doing exactly the same job, working side by side.
How much could have been saved by having a single teams for TV and Radio, in a much smaller building outside Central London?
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Comment number 14.
At 9th Jul 2012, greenandpurple wrote:Isn't it telling how the Beeb make a big song and dance about the squillions being spent on Manchester... but kept much quieter about another huge shedload of cash being spent on the relocation of the news facilities in London in the current economic climate?
That'll be the same economic climate that the 91Èȱ¬ news keeps telling us is so bad.
Oh, the irony...
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Comment number 15.
At 9th Jul 2012, Farah wrote:Brilliant!
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Comment number 16.
At 9th Jul 2012, LLCh wrote:It looks wonderful - I saw the new room last Thursday from the Media Café - very impressive. I look forward to seeing it in operation.
Unfortunately I'm seeing less of 91Èȱ¬ News these days since the Multiscreen was abandoned a few weeks ago. I'm having to use a competitor's multiscreen for my 5 minute morning catchup!
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Comment number 17.
At 9th Jul 2012, dogfrog wrote:Why isn't the 91Èȱ¬ embracing the Digital Workplace? Do web journos really need an office?
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Comment number 18.
At 9th Jul 2012, pvision wrote:Re #7: "Splendid. Can't or won't improve the journalism, so let's have a new newsroom instead. Any chance of less errors and typos?"
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Ah, I think you'll find it's fewer errors and typos, not less. I'm sure you won't mind the correction...
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Comment number 19.
At 9th Jul 2012, dogfrog wrote:Oh and by the way, it's work anywhere week in the UK this week - and the people who are and should be most capable of working anywhere, have a shiny, expensive new office...
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Comment number 20.
At 9th Jul 2012, MickClayton wrote:So more light in the new building to produce more propaganda like the "death of Gaddafi" how about telling the truth for once in the news in this case that he was brutally murdered and then maybe start remembering what journalism is meant to be about. I will not be holding my breath.
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Comment number 21.
At 10th Jul 2012, Stephen Morris wrote:"The new development has been financed by a public-private partnership involving a special bond - so no licence fee monies have been used for the construction."
Was the financier a philanthropist? Or have you made the usual mistake of confusing "funding" and "financing"?
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Comment number 22.
At 10th Jul 2012, Ivan wrote:A British corporation that is the biggest and most respected news organisation in the world opens the biggest and most technologically advanced news-gathering facility in the world and all some people can do is snark.
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Comment number 23.
At 10th Jul 2012, This is a colleague announcement wrote:10:12 10th Jul 2012, Ivan wrote:
"...A British corporation that is the...most respected news organisation in the world..."
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I fear you may indeed be correct, Ivan.
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Comment number 24.
At 10th Jul 2012, Rhethreg wrote:To the punctilious poster above - captain_insensible (comment No.7) - it's 'fewer', not 'less'. People in glass houses (or even 'seven floors of striking glass') should not throw stones. In fairness to 91Èȱ¬ News, that's not the type of basic mistake they would make.
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Comment number 25.
At 10th Jul 2012, Lord Pete wrote:Rhethreg, my grammar is gooder than yours....
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Comment number 26.
At 11th Jul 2012, father_jack wrote:Any chance the 91Èȱ¬ News team could allow comments on the following story:
/news/uk-northern-ireland-18792010
It is a disgrace that someone can apply for legal aid for this while many more deserving recipients are turned down....
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Comment number 27.
At 11th Jul 2012, Guv-nor wrote:"Most of the time a big day in the 91Èȱ¬ Newsroom is defined by the stories. The Japanese tsunami. The death of Gaddafi. The Eurozone crisis..."
Yes News stories but on Sunday, after waiting for the News bulletin which incidentally was additionally of reduced duration it opened with Wimbledon then moved on to the F1 squeezing in scant seconds on a non-sport story then back to guess what, sport.
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Comment number 28.
At 11th Jul 2012, BoxerMom wrote:Lennox was murdered in Belfast. Plans to visit Belfast or any other place in the country NOW CANCELED.
Animal lover, owner, foster mom, adopter - USA
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