TV News

As the BBC's Washington, DC correspondent from 2002, and Channel 4 News’s from 2011-2013, Frei lived in America for 11 years, and there, he says, the people make the job “incredibly easy,” simply because “everyone wants to talk to you.”

“They love being on camera, they deliver beautiful sound bites. They’re very articulate—despite the fact that their presidents are often known for the opposite.”

It appears the country may have rubbed off on him. There’s a streak of showmanship about Frei, and he’s certainly given to a soundbite or three.

War in Europe, economic instability and non-stop turbulence at Westminster, not to mention the impact of climate change – running a news organisation in 2023 is not for the faint-hearted. Yet Rachel Corp, CEO of ITN since last September, seems remarkably relaxed. And that’s without adding to the mix the challenge that mainstream media faces from digital giants.

TikTok is the new social media kid on the block, but it’s also stirring things up among broadcasters – and not simply because of its controversial Chinese ownership.

Fears that TikTok is mining our data and sending it to Beijing has created a tricky dilemma for media companies. The app has been banned from work devices by a number of governments, international bodies and companies and is under fire from the US Congress.

One of the first original series, comedy-drama The Morning show, has pulled in big names Jennifer Anniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell in starring roles.

Anniston and Witherspoon will play two of the biggest names in US breakfast telly, helping to wake up the people of America every day. 

A teaser for the upcoming series has been released featuring the voices of Carell, Witherspoon and Anniston.

During the video, each give their own unique take on what makes good TV news, while the camera pans around an empty newsroom.

I was sweltering in the heat of a classroom inside the fortress that serves as the headquarters of Vietnam’s state news broadcaster when my phone vibrated with a call from Scotland. I’d been flirting with STV News regarding a move for a few months.

Aside from my translator, none of the 20 journalists I was teaching (digital skills for broadcast journalists, since you ask) could speak English. I didn’t have to step out of the room when I fibbed and said, of course, it would be easy for me to visit Glasgow in a few days’ time for an interview for the head of news job.

When I ask the BBC’s director of news, Fran Unsworth, if the first year in her new role has lived up to her expectations, she gives a hollow laugh.

“I always knew it was going to be a challenging job, let’s put it like that,” she admits. “But quite how challenging it turned out to be – pretty quickly into it – I possibly hadn’t anticipated.

Mornings in the De Pear household are like many across the country. The family chomp down breakfast, dash around to get the three children ready for school on time and Ben and wife Leila listen with one ear to Radio 4’s Today programme on in the background.

But, during the US election, Ben de Pear, who is editor of Channel 4 News, started to turn down the radio when Donald Trump was discussed.