Newsround
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Newsround | |
|---|---|
 The Newsround logo. |
|
| Format | Children's news magazine |
| Starring | List of Current Newsround Presenters |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Georgie Bevan Simon Goretzki (deputy editor) Sinéad Rocks (editor) Ronan Breen (Sportsround) Robert Thompson Clare Youell (online) |
| Running time | 10 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC One BBC Two CBBC Channel |
| Original run | 4 April 1972 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Newsround Extra Sportsround |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
Newsround (originally called John Craven's Newsround, before the departure of Craven) is a BBC children's news programme, which has run continuously since 4 April 1972, and was one of the world's first television news magazines aimed specifically at children. Initially commissioned as a short series by BBC Children's Department, who held editorial control, its facilities are provided by BBC News. The show is now aimed at 6 to 12-year-olds.
Contents |
[edit] History
Originally called John Craven's Newsround, it was mostly presented by John Craven between 4 April 1972 and 22 June 1989, though presenters including Roger Finn and Helen Rollason also presented during the 1980s.
On Craven's departure, the show was renamed Newsround, and its presenters who regularly rotate have included Juliet Morris, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Julie Etchingham, Chris Rogers, Kate Sanderson, Matthew Price, and Becky Jago. Regular reporters on the programme, who have also presented it, include Paul McDowell, Paul Welsh and Terry Baddoo. For over 25 years, it was usually broadcast on BBC One at 5 p.m. then at 5:25p.m. and now Newsround has returned to its original time of 5pm
Newsround was the first BBC television programme to break the news of the loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger on 28 January 1986. As the event was shown during the opening titles, it is often erroneously stated that the tragedy happened live on air, but it in fact happened about fifteen minutes earlier. This edition was presented by Roger Finn, who had only recently joined the programme.
[edit] Current format
The main edition of Newsround is usually broadcast at 5:00pm on BBC One. However it's on BBC Two during the Wimbledon tennis and is currently affected by Euro 2008 football - it's shown at 4.30pm if football is to follow. Main presenter Ellie Crisell is currently on maternity leave with Jake Humphrey taking Crisell's place. Shorter Newsround bulletins on the CBBC channel are read by Sonali Gudka and Gavin Ramjaun.
The reporters on the programme are Laura Jones, Adam Fleming and Helen Skelton. The main presenting team also compile reports for the programme.
Newsround's editor is Sinéad Rocks. The TV producers are Ronan Breen and Robert Thompson. The main online producer is Clare Youell.
[edit] The team
For the main article see List of Current Newsround Presenters
- Ellie Crisell - Chief anchor (currently on maternity leave)
- Jake Humphrey- Chief anchor (in place of Ellie Crissell)
- Sonali Gudka- Deputy Chief anchor/bulletin presenter/reporter
- Adam Fleming- Reporter/bulletin presenter
- Helen Skelton - Reporter/occasional presenter
- Gavin Ramjaun- Reporter/bulletin presenter
- Laura Jones- Reporter/occasional presenter
[edit] Spinoffs
[edit] Newsround Specials
A variation on the regular format of Newsround is a series of short (typically 15-minute) documentary films, previously broadcast under the title Newsround Extra but now called "specials"[1], which have been a regular feature since the late 1970s. There are two or three series of these documentaries during the year, which replace the regular bulletins on one day of the week (for Extras it was usually Monday, although sometimes on Fridays, particularly during the 1980s). On 1 December 2006 The Wrong Trainers[2] was broadcast, a rather dark film consisting of six short animations dealing with child poverty and related issues. In one of the presentations Chris says the Government is not spending money as wisely as they should be. Afterwards, there was a linked BBCi special following up the issues. Newsround - The Wrong Trainers won the Royal Television Society Award for best children's programme 2006[3]. The Wrong Trainers won the factual category at the 2007 Children's Baftas.
On 5 February 2008 the BBC announced two Newsround Specials[4] The first, televised on 19 March 2008 and called The Worst Thing Ever?[5], is about children's experience of divorce. The other was Newsround on Knives[6] broadcast on 27 March 2008.
[edit] Newsround Showbiz
Originally called Newsround Lite, Newsround Showbiz ran from 2001 to 2005. It started as a daily programme and then moved to Saturdays and Sundays. It was hosted by Lizzie, Adam, Rachel or Thalia who were regular Newsround presenters and produced by Sinead Rocks. The show contained entertainment news and gossip and generally took a lighthearted view of the world of celebrity.
[edit] Newsround Investigates
Newsround Investigates was intended as a special half-hour documentary series for CBBC, taking an in-depth look at issues affecting children’s lives. The first and only edition was on May 8, 2006. It investigated the subject of arson in schools.
[edit] Sportsround
In September 2005, a new spin-off of Newsround was launched, entitled Sportsround. It contains reports from major sporting events and local sport competitions. The show is presented by Jake Humphrey, alongside Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes.
[edit] Newsround on the web
Newsround has its own website as part of the main CBBC web site, featuring:
- The latest news headlines, grouped into the relevant sections (e.g. World, UK, Sci-Tech, etc.)
- An RSS feed for each of the sections (e.g. an RSS feed for World news, UK news, etc.)
- A games section, with many Flash games.
- Message boards for different topics (e.g. In The News, Doctor Who, etc.)
- A voting section, where users can vote on different popular topics such as favourite film, etc.
- Quizzes.
- Press Pack reports presented by children.
In February, an online video podcast was released called And Finally [7]. This was a summary of the entire week's news, and a new edition was released every Thursday. There was also a podcast for Sportsround called Action Replay[8]. This could either be downloaded as an MPEG-4 Part 14 file or as a podcast which includes both And Finally and Action Replay. Both services were part of a podcast trial which has now been stopped.
[edit] Newsround Quiz
From 18 December 2006 to 5 January 2007, digital satellite and Freeview viewers could access the free and interactive Newsround Review of The Year Quiz by pressing the red button on their remote control. Viewers watched video questions and then selected their answer by pressing the coloured keys on their remote control.
[edit] Newsround Review of the Year
This is a special 45 minute edition of newsround which features a review of all the years news this programme has featured for many years. Ellie Crisell, Lizo Mzimba and Laura Jones present. But there was no review of the year programme for 2007.
[edit] Criticisms
The programme has been criticized by young people, on its own CBBC message boards, as being "patronising." On diversity, some have accused Newsround of discrimination against LGBT people, pointing out a perceived reluctance to include LGBT relevant issues or stories[9], and alleging that posts about gay rights have been removed from the Newsround messageboards.[10] In October 2007 Newsround's website included an LGBT news item[11] for the first time in 5½ years, although it was not reported on air. Feedback from older children to Newsround's website is alleged to have been "surreptitiously and systematically" discounted since about summer 2006,[12] though feedback from 14 and 15 year-olds has been seen since 11 January 2008.[13]
Newsround's website coverage of 9/11 was criticised by some as biased against the USA. [14] The coverage was subsequently amended.
[edit] Former presenters
| Presenter | Dates presenting |
|---|---|
| John Craven | April, 1972 - 22 June 1989 |
| Paul McDowell | 1979? - 1985 |
| Roger Finn | 1985 - 1991 |
| Helen Rollason | 1986 - 1990 |
| Juliet Morris | 1990 - October, 1994 |
| Krishnan Guru-Murthy | 1991 - October, 1994 |
| Julie Etchingham | October, 1994 - February, 1998 |
| Chris Rogers | October, 1994 - 1999 |
| Kate Sanderson | July, 1997 - September, 2001 |
| Matthew Price | 1999 - 2002 |
| Becky Jago | September, 2001 - February, 2003 |
| Rachel Horne | December, 2002 - April, 2006 |
| Thalia Pellegrini | October, 2003 - 2007 |
| Lizo Mzimba | 1998 - May 2008 |
[edit] References
- ^ Newsround Specials
- ^ Newsround Specials:The Wrong Trainers
- ^ "The jury were unanimous in their admiration for a programme that set itself a bold and challenging objective, and achieved it with stunning results. Clever animation, coupled with heart-rendingly real children’s voices, engaged young viewers with child poverty in a meaningful and relevant way."
- ^ CBBC's Newsround announces two new special programmes retrieved 18 March 2008
- ^ The Worst Thing Ever? retrieved 21 March 2008
- ^ Specials - 2008 - Newsround on Knives
- ^ CBBC Newsround | TV/Film | Newsround And Finally video podcast. Retrieved on 2007-02-24.
- ^ CBBC Newsround | Sport | Sportsround: Action Replay Video Podcast. Retrieved on 2007-02-24.
- ^ Newsround blog
- ^ The following post was published on the morning of 28 December 2006 and removed together with published responses the same day. No reason was given for removing the thread: "Gay rights. Messages 1 - 1 of 1 Message 1 - posted by MzKiedis (U6934819) **, Yesterday I know this can be a sensitive subject and i'm probably not going to be allowed to post this thread here, but we were discussing this the other day so i thought i'd see what all you lot think. I thought our society was pretty laid back and accepting of these people, but then i heard that apparently ours is one of the worst for this kind of thing. Even the ancient Greeks and many other countries learnt to embrace the minority. I know things have changed since the war etc. when it was a punishable crime, but what do you think? Also what about the meaning of the word changing so much? being used as an insult etc. Would like to hear your views. xxx"
- ^ JK Rowling says Dumbledore's gay
- ^ Newsround published feedback comments - study of age distribution 2006/7
- ^ Newsround published feedback - Jan 2008
- ^ Scandal of Newsround's 9/11 bias
